Day 1 Embarkation in Toronto
Our embarkation on Viking Polaris turned out to be a rather exhausting exercise. We arrived at DFW airport early for our flight to Toronto. American originally had our flight going out of Terminal C but, on the way to the airport we received a notification that the flight had been moved to Terminal A, so our Uber driver dropped us off there.
We enjoyed the Admiral’s Club in Terminal A and, just as we were preparing to leave to head to our gate, we got another notification that the flight was now departing from Terminal D! We had about 15 minutes to get from Terminal A to Terminal D before time to board.
Several gate changes for our flight to Toronto
Once we arrived at Terminal D, the flight was only slightly delayed departing DFW. Again, we scored exit row seats on the A319 which gave us a lot of extra legroom. The flight was a bit turbulent, but not the worst we have experienced.
We landed in Toronto just a few minutes later than originally scheduled, and this is where the fun begins. After exiting the plane, we walk a substantial distance to arrive at Canadian Immigration. We have traveled all over the world to more than 130 countries and I cannot recall an immigration process this chaotic.
First, you snake your way through the huge lines to finally arrive at a Customs declaration terminal. There are dozens of these terminals and everyone is trying to figure out how they work. After answering several questions on the screen, scanning your passport and getting your photo taken, a printout appears with your photos and some other information. Then, you get into another seemingly endless line until you finally arrive at a Customs official who looks at the form, marks a red line on it, and directs you to baggage claim.
We spend 35 to 40 minutes getting to baggage claim. Once we claim our checked luggage, then we have to stand in another long line to hand the printout to another Customs officer.
When we finally do exit baggage claim into the terminal area, even more chaos ensues. We begin looking for the Viking representative for our transfer to the ship. But, we do not see anyone holding a Viking sign. Turns out, she is there, we just cannot see her. When you exit baggage claim, you can turn to your right or to your left. After walking through the mass of humanity, I finally find her with the Viking sign. She was sitting to the left of the door where we exited to the right. We check in and are told that we have to wait on a few other guests before we can transfer to the ship. Okay, that is pretty normal.
We wait, and wait….and wait. For nearly an hour, we wait. Finally, a few of the waiting guests asked the Viking rep what the holdup was and she said we were still waiting for one guest. I think she and her partner sensed the frustration. After all, it is already after 6pm and the fifteen of us were getting hungry.
transfer process at Toronto airport
Finally, her partner led us through the terminal to a waiting motor coach. Our luggage was loaded down below and we soon were on our way to Viking Polaris.
Then, there was the traffic jam, as you can see in the photo below. It took us more than an hour to get from the airport to the ship.
Insane traffic in Toronto
Check in went smooth. We showed our BRAND NEW passports to the Viking Rep in the terminal building and were given our stateroom keys. By the way, we recently had our passports renewed with the help of Generations Visa Service, which made the renewal process so easy. Generations Visa is a partner with Viking Cruises.
Check In
After we check in, we attend a short demonstration of how to put on the life vests, then drop our hand luggage off at our stateroom. We arrive at World Cafe a little after 8pm, and they end service at 8:30pm. We had a nice meal, then walked around the deck a little before heading to our stateroom.
Tomorrow morning we will still be docked in Toronto. We do not have an excursion booked. The ship will depart Toronto tomorrow at 2pm.
