lidodeck03

***UPDATE*** We had an 11:40 AM flight out of Vancouver on Saturday 5/4/2024. We were on the Discovery Princess and had stopped in Victoria, Canada the day before(Friday) which made the whole process much easier. I will detail the timeline below: Arrived at Vancouver Terminal at approximately 10:00PM Friday May 4, 2024. Gangway was put in place sometime around midnight. We walked off the ship with our luggage (self assist) at 6:02AM Saturday morning. As we were walking into the parking garage on our way to the Sky Train, a Vancouver Taxi pulled into the garage and offered us a ride. We asked him the fare to the airport and he said $40.00. We loaded our bags into his mini-van and at 6:09AM we were off to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 6:43AM and went to the kiosk to get our luggage tags and boarding passes for our flight. Once we had the bags tagged, we proceeded to the counter for the attendant to verify the bags. She said it was too early to verify and check the bags, so I found a place to get some coffee and some baked goods. As a side note, the place was called Pure Bread and they had really good baked goods! After returning to the kiosk area, the attendant told us that she had checked again and that she could in fact check our bags in whenever we would like to. We finished our coffee and Blueberry Scone and proceeded to the bag verification counter. After weighing our bags, checking our passports and boarding passes we went to the "bag drop" area and sent our bags on their way. It is now 7:18AM and we are headed to security and customs. We only waited about two minutes in security to be processed, however putting on our clothing and rounding up our belongings took much longer! Next we proceeded to Customs (no waiting time at Customs) and the gentleman asked how long we had been in Canada and if we had anything to declare. After that 30 second interview while he verified our passports, we were off to find our gate. We made a few stops along the way to look at the offerings in the Duty Free shops and locating the restrooms or "washrooms" as they are called in Canada, we arrived at our gate at 7:47AM. This gave us almost four hours before our flight would leave. We had a lot of anxiety before and during this cruise do to the fact that so many people on this board (and other Social Media sites) had stated that anything before noon would be a bad idea. Of course anything can happen, but we spotted several other people from our cruise that came in between 9-10 AM, and nobody was running through the airport. I would think that 99% of the time you would be OK taking the 11:40 AM flight. If there is an unfortunate incident on the highway or Sky Train, you may not make a 1:30PM or 2:30PM flight either! The caveat to this scenario is the vessel clearing customs the day before in Victoria, Canada, and the gangway being operational throughout the night and morning once docked in Vancouver. Hypothetically, we could have made a 6:00AM flight if we would have needed to under this scenario. The airport itself is not very busy at all compared to Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta etc. It is almost too quiet in the airport at times! It is a very nice airport, well maintained and very clean! So that is my report and account of what we did...your experience may be different, but hopefully this will allow others to not have undo stress about making a "before noon" flight from Canada back to the USA or wherever your final destination may be because we actually have done it!!

****UPDATE**** We went to The Fish Market as was suggested by several people on this thread! There were four of us total and were able to get a table inside with a view of the water. The food was outstanding and the service was exceptional. I had the Cioppino, and it was one of the best I have ever had, and I have eaten a lot of Cioppino! I have no problem recommending this restaurant to anyone that is a seafood lover!

Thank you for the clarification! As I said, I have not flown International before. This will be a first for us. I am looking forward to see how YVR compares to Atlanta Hartsfield, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth, Orlando International, as we frequent those airports most often. One other question.. If the ship leaves the USA (Astoria, Oregon) and stops in port at Victoria, BC the day before arriving in Vancouver for disembarkation, does it still have to go through the same CBSA process for both locations? Thank you!

I have never taken an International flight so I have a "crazy" question! I see a lot of early morning flights (6:00AM - 9:00AM) leaving YVR with a destination being in the USA. If CBSA doesn't start the screening process at the airport until 7:00AM, how are all those people getting on the airplanes at 6:00AM - 9:00AM? Thank you!

Thank you! That was one that we had thought about trying!

Looking for recommendations for restaurants near San Diego Cruise Terminal. Seafood, Steakhouse, or Italian is preferred. Price range $$-$$$. Thank You!

I eat Lutefisk whenever I can find it. Have never seen it on a cruise, maybe they would have it in port at one of the Scandinavian countries.

I eat Pickled Herring (fish) when available on the buffet.

We will be taking our third Pacific Coastal Cruise in April. We have family in San Diego so that will be a full day that we will get to spend with them. San Francisco has become one of our favorite cities to visit. So much to do and lots of good restaurants. We always start planning to take the Mexican Riviera Cruise but always end up booking the Pacific Coastal Cruise. Not sure what the ports are on the cruise you are considering, but Santa Barbara and Catalina Island are both very nice ports. Just my two cents worth!

Has anyone purchased and filed a claim with Detour Travel Insurance. Wondering since I am just seeing it advertised for the first time. Rates look very good and Detour is the Primary insurer. Also underwritten by Nationwide Insurance.

Well.. we get to Vancouver at 11:00PM on Friday night and they show “Operational Overnight” and disembarkation at 6:00AM Saturday morning.

I have a 11:40AM flight booked in May from Vancouver. We got a quote on Princess EZ Air and the flight that they had us on was a 10:30AM flight so I felt better about booking the 11:40AM flight.

We are planning on leaving on Princess Discovery leaving LA on May 27, 2024. We leave from Victoria, Ca. at 4:00pm on May 3, 2024 and arrive in Vancouver on May 3, 2024 at 11:15pm. and disembarkation on May 4, 2024 at 6:00am. It also states on the itinerary that between 11:15pm on May 3, and 6:00am on May 4 that it will be “Operational Overnight.” Does this mean we could disembark and carry off our own luggage and catch an early flight?

Capt BJ states there is parking across from Terminal 10 and that they are building a parking garage. Lots of general information but nothing specific to a passenger parking garage that is now open.