martincath

Dunno how I missed this first time around! OP @Sea-n-Ease, my opinion on embarkation is consistently to do it as late as you possibly can. You can drop bags literally any time until they stop accepting them - the only difference is when you are too early, during the time when folks are still having things unloaded from the ship, the regular bag drop becomes a more casual 'longshoremen with a cage down in parking' affair. If this is one of the 'Royal Class ship arriving and leaving a bit late because of when low tide is' days, that does mean their Disembarkation will run later than normal, and Embarkation therefore start later for folks boarding that ship. For the folks on the other ship though, assuming those times are correct it can fit under Lions Gate more flexibly like almost every other ship based in Vancouver that isn't Royal class, so I expect a normal pattern - folks getting kicked off by 9:30 at the latest so the ship can be zeroed out. Honestly though, depending where you pulled those times from it could be a total non-factor because they're wrong - Princess are notoriously incapable of planning for tide times, every season we see the arrival and departure times of all the Royal class vessels start shifting, and sometimes even when they've finally remembered that the ships only fit under during a really tight window they still don't alter the whole season worth of data at the beginning but spread it out, giving folks notice a month ahead of time that they are actually sailing in and out at 3am not 5pm! There's literally one accurate place - the official timetable from the Port of Vancouver on this page - and even that isn't always accurate for Royal class on a future date unless it lists something unusual (any overnight visits, and arrivals/departures outside a 6am-6pm zone, are almost certainly corrected for tides - but anything inside that 6-6 period could simply be what Princess originally booked last year and haven't gotten around to checking tide timetables yet before revising!) Assuming your times are correct though, if you show up at 2pm there probably will be more people than usual at that time of day for the same total pax load just because ship 2 couldn't start boarding until later, but you'll still lose out on absolutely nothing onboard (there's never any exciting activities on embarkation day, and tax still applies in port so even if you have a booze package every drink'll cost ya something!), gain time in one of the best cities on the planet, and even if it takes you ~90mins to get onboard will still still have only spent basically the same amount of time waiting around as if you went straight to check-in at 10am! The only added risk by having a a fun half-day in Vancouver is if you do something silly, like being over on the North Shore at 1pm and expecting to get back to the pier for 2pm - yes, in theory those Capilano shuttles allocate a 30min drive time and in no traffic scenarios that's accurate, but with very limited route options even a minor slowdown on the bridge could cause serious problems. Even midday can see backups, because the bridge centre lane is dynamically controlled from ~9am to 3pm, so as soon as southbound cars threaten to cause backups on Highway 1 they flip the middle lane to southbound to clear them - while commuter hours are consistent, which way gets 2 lanes and which way just 1 can be a crapshoot in-between! So go do that right away if you're mad keen - if you are sensibly here for a pre-cruise night in a hotel, try dropping bags earlier, at 9am, and hopping right on the shuttle outside the pier, so you can be safely back downtown by noon. But if you don't have Cap on your bucket list, just stick to sensibly close by downtown attractions - FlyOverCanada is right on the pier, the Harbour Centre viewing tower a few minutes walk, the cobbled streets of Gastown start barely a quarter mile away. As long as you know that from where you are at 1:45pm you can walk to the pier in <15mins, as long as you don't walk into traffic your risk of missing the ship is perfectly well managed!

Love me a train ride, but I'm 100% with Bruce on this one - absolute minimum the day before on a long ride like that! Empire Builder was still only up to 64% on time as of last quarter, and on an almost 48hr ride which arrives barely in time for making a same-day cruise (11:29am on the current schedule), even three hours late and you are in serious danger of missing the boat! Transpo from King St to your hotel then on to the pier next day - cabs, Uber etc. if you use their apps are probably the simplest options to get people with typical cruise luggage where they're going. From a downtown core hotel to 66 you will likely find it cheapest and easiest to also use a cabuber to the ship next day; if you're out in an airport hotel though, one of the shuttles like Seattle Express might be a bit less if you're a couple rather than a big family.

In terms of advice, especially specific times, I'm not going to say 'definitely do X' because only you know your exact tolerance for queue-standing vs. panicking that you may not make your gate in time... but it sounds like rolling into the airport at 4:00am might be more your thing, especially if you insist on doing check-in old school. Using check-in-at-the-counter is extra risk, because at this stage even people who have zero clue and show up 5 hours early can be in the lineup! Until they get told that they can't proceed to bag drop yet there is no check to remove anyone from the system ahead of you even if they shouldn't be there, and unless you're flying first class or similar you can't do anything to reduce your time wasted at check-in by other people. Always check-in in advance (sign up for the Fairmont membership program before your arrival and you'll get free WiFi in your room; use the free airport WiFi; but given you're staying at the Fairmont I would simply visit the self-service kiosks the night before when you arrive at the hotel - as long as it's less than 24hrs you should have no problems checking-in and they print out proper sticky bag tags and paper boarding passes if you're the kind of person who likes those - personally I still prefer a paper pass, no worries about cellphone battery life!) Also, take the opportunity of your hotel location to wander the airport briefly the night before - check the signs, find bag drop, find where your gates are, minimise any confusion at oh-dark-hundred! By getting all that out of the way the day before, you can walk from your hotel straight to bag drop - personally I'd aim to leave the hotel by 4:30am here, so that you can make use of a T-90 YVR Express security slot just in case there's any kind of Security backlog. Even if you can't pick a time less than 90mins preflight, the 'slot' has official leeway of 15mins so if you choose a T-90 slot you can actually roll in at T-75 with no problem. Passing through Security in the 4:30-4:45 bracket, you will almost certainly still find a queue at CBP - but with doors open and folks already moving through. There are lots of kiosks, they're much more common in airports all over the world these days, so even factoring in a few first time users, folks who put their passports and boarding passes back in mom's purse, that sort of inefficiency, it's still a very short turnaround for each person so once the queue starts moving it does flow nicely. With NEXUS we do get a smaller queue for our trusted-traveler kiosks at CBP as well as at Security, but we walk right past the Regular Joes so have a decent idea how much busier that side is and it always looks smooth (they've had more than enough time to clear the backlog). Our preferred time to fly to the US is that first batch of 6/6:30am flights, and we roll in on the first SkyTrain of the day (5:09am - so a flight we need to check a bag for needs to be 6:30, to get to bag drop in time). We do have to hustle, but I'll take that over standing about in a queue for ages!

No problem - we just won back 'best North American airport' from Skytraxx after briefly losing it to Seattle, so it's safe to say once more that YVR is the least-worst airport on the continent of all time (we had like ten in a row until Covid!) so enjoy! As to the CBSA screening, yes, it's all about your Port of Entry so on this trip that means Victoria unless the weather is too rough to dock. You won't be aware of any immigration unless something pings on your file - pax manifests get submitted remotely in advance, we run the checks before you arrive, and anyone who's been naughty will be identified for a meet'n'greet with CBSA on arrival in port (announcements for passengers X,Y,Z to go to Location A - everyone else can just walk off). In terms of Customs, you will likely be issued a card in your cabin to complete and hand in aboard at least the day before the Victoria stop - again, if there's anything of concern on the cards those pax will be flagged for a chat with CBSA. So while it's possible you might see an officer or two at the pier on arrival in Vancouver, just in case anyone buys some expensive stuff aboard on the last night that they should be declaring, having completed both Immigration and Customs means you probably won't need to do any more paperwork.

You're confusing both the country of the agency concerned and the location! CBSA = Canadian border folks, who screen at the pier because most ships cruising in have arrived from US waters; CBP = US border folks, who prescreen US-bound flights at YVR starting at 4:30am (with a shift briefing, so no actual work for at least 10mins, and a huge queue of folks on those 6am, 7am, even 8am flights who have no idea about CBP hours so showed up to check-in only to find locked doors after they'd gone past Security... it usually takes until 5am to clear that first backlog, which is why I like taking the first SkyTrain - arriving 5:09am - to YVR for a flight before 7am)

Loads - basically any seafoody resto, any time of the year, as we have 7 different zones in BC with differing availability so there's almost always some around. If you want a resto that's very likely to have fresh seafood in general, try Fanny Bay Oysters near the central library. They've got their own boat for true 'tide to table' cusine as they term it, a Michelin Guide 'recommended' nod, are very convenient for most downtown core hotels, and will also sell you seafood To Go as they operate a marketplace as well as resto in the same location.

Gangway off the ship is a 'stacked ramp' job, no stairs; inside the terminal building you have elevators, escalators, and stairs that need used (you will not be allowed onto the escalator, or I believe the stairs, unless you have a hand free - staff guard the top for health & safety reasons). Elevator queues can get bad because every wheelchair and scooter user as well as folks with too many bags have to use them.

I might already have written this info on one of the links Bruce suppied above, but just in case: if by crab you mean e.g. Dungeoness, then anywhere you can see them live and watch them get cooked is fine (I doubt there's going to be much variance in price/lb anywhere convenient to the pier) If you're expecting fresh King crab though, you won't find it in Tracy's! Like everywhere else in Alaska, it's 'steamed then frozen at sea, reheated ashore' when it comes to Kings in cruise season - cruise season does not overlap with fresh availability, so you eat the same frozen precooked crabs as literally anywhere on the planet... except Vancouver, where live Kings are shipped in and kept in tanks. If you have at least half a dozen big eaters, or up to 10 regular appetites, an AKC Feast here might be just the thing for you - you do need to order a whole crab (~10lbs) but it comes served three ways, with plenty of side dishes, family style at several of our larger Chinese restos. While pricing varies a lot each season, I have one specific pricepoint this year already - a local resto offered 90mins of AYCE King Crab for CAD$198pp a few weeks back, but given that factored in still making money on folks guzzling as much crab as possible, $100pp remains plausible for a more normal 8-10 folks split one crab as part of a feast. If you're happy with dungies, which despite being a lot cheaper are frankly also a better tasting crab anyway if you ask me, they're almost certainly also cheaper here than anywhere in AK thanks to USD vs CAD let alone the tourist premium in AK ports - for maximum crab, minimum frippery, I'd go with The Lobster Man on Granville Island. Pick your crab out of the tank, have it steamed or boiled for you, they'll do you a 'picnic pack' with bread, butter, lemons etc., even crackers and picks (although if you're visiting the public market anyway, it's cheaper to buy your own bread, lemons etc. over there as the Lobster Man adds a wee premium for the convenience, and dollar store tools work fine for a 'one and done' rather than something nicer you want to take home and use again in future).

Safe as houses compared to any US large town let alone city; very short; not much longer and downhill; and if you check this map you can virtually walk the entire route by Streetview to see exactly how ludicrously easy it is (very close to a straight line, Howe is the only street you'll need to walk more than part of a block on!)

Taxi is CAD$41 now to the pier - but unless you get lucky and a van rolls in, as mentioned you will struggle to get 4 bums on seats and luggage in the boot of the Priuses which make up ~83% of local cabs! Carryons on knees during the 35ish min drive would not be fun, especially since fixed rate fares mean cabbies put their foot down as much as possible! Savings on SkyTrain are not huge in comparison inbound though, with the extra $5pp AddFare. Senior Fares, if on a weekday, will be a little over $32 total (weekends all one zone, so closer to $28). Consider an UberXL for this trip if you all want to go in one vehicle - it'll likely be a little higher than cab fare even without Surge but you'll definitely get a big enough vehicle to fit you all - or split up between a cab and SkyTrain. Maybe send all the big bags with the cab folks though, so save schlepping two bags each from the station (although the trains do have plenty room for baggae under every seat, and as YVR and WaterFront are both terminus stations it's easy to get a seat and maneuver yourself and bags oyut at the far end).

I honestly can't recommend any Chinese restos in Victoria - but then, my baseline for tastiness is here in Vancouver! If you're on a Vancouver RT don't waste your time eating in Victoria when more and better is available pre/post cruise - Victoria has some good locavore western options, classic fish & chips, and several poutineries if you're looking for something different that might be another hard to find thing in your home area, but the Chinatown there is so tiny that all the restos are basically tourist traps. Probably 90% of folks in that neck of the woods probably rank Jam Cafe as the best resto in the blocks immediately around Chinatown (personally I think it's extremely overrated and never worth the wait, so Swans brewpub would be where you'd find me dining nearby - although the food is very much a secondary concern compared to the beer, which is superb... their perfectly serviceable pub grub does help soak up the booze though!!!!)

Cabs should be lined up waiting. Cheapest I've seen anyone mention for an Uber fare was still over CAD$30, depending on hotel location Cab fare will most likely be $37 ($41 for the few fancy hotels right by the pier). I'd be inclined to walk out and see how many folks are waiting in the cab line - if lots, fire up Uber app and check how long nearest car is and whether Surge applies, then decide at the time what looks the best combo of time vs. money!

YYZ has a handy guide to all the steps - for an Air Canada flight from RDU, connecting to a YVR-bound flight, here you go! Specific expectations for Immigration/Customs here (Kiosk info, Advance Declarations - your connection time should be enough, but I would recommend always doing all things in advance that you can to expedite your way through the steps in case your incoming flight is running late and your Enough Time becomes Worryingly Short)

I just found a definitely-fancy Brunch option for you, with availability, on Mothers Day! Bacchus (the Wedgewood's in house resto) has always been on our secondary rotation - it's one of the very few quiet fine restos in Vancouver, off the radar enough to be always bookable and also literally quiet with lots of heavy fabric - but I only just found out that the normal far-too-overpriced hotel breakfast has been supplemented by a Bavarian Brunch starting this weekend, helmed by ex-Michelin Star winning Chef Stefan Hartmann himself for a ludicrously low price considering (as in, half the price of the hotel's regular 'bacon/sausage/2 eggs' American brekkie plate!!!) They're also offering specific extra-fancy Mother's Day Brunch and Afternoon Tea service - and actually have availability right now for both! They're way pricier than the regular brunch menu, but the same ballpark as the PP/Fairmont brunches. If you haven't already decided on something else to do, go have a shufty at menus on the Events page and get booked ASAP if they look good. Ordinarily I'd never recommend a resto experience I have not had myself at least a couple of times, but the combination of the impossible timing to sample before your visit and my total faith in any Hartmann kitchen he's actually working in make me feel this is worth the risk for once (long story short, our first Hartmann meal was in Berlin almost 20 years ago before he got his first Star; we were super pumped when he got hired by Uwe Boll of all people to come head up Bauhaus in Vancouver in 2015; he's not just a good cook, he runs a super-tight kitchen - I fully expect Bacchus to move up from the Recommended list to an actual star in the next edition of the Michelin guide this Fall, and when it does I'll be annoyed because getting a table will be much harder!!!)

Elon Musk has extended his project to Alaska and hired whales now...!? 😉