What to do in Vancouver before flight at 1:40pm after disembark cruise?

[susiesan]

Our Coral Princess cruise arrives Vancouver June 26@7:30am. We will walk our luggage off, go through customs, and store at Canada Place. Our flight is UA298 @1:40pm. to Chicago, so int'l flight.

 

Is there time to do anything in Vancouver before heading to the airport by Canada Line train? Is there a nice place close by to take a walk and then have lunch before heading to YVR? Should we just hang around Canada Place? I am not interested in shopping. I detest sitting around airports any longer than I have to, would rather stay in the city as long as possible. Looks like we need to leave for the airport at 11:00am.

 

Suggestions for a short 2-3 hour visit are welcomed.

[Heidi13]

The Skytrain to the airport is just under 1/2 hr.

 

The waterfront area from Canada Place towards Stanley Park is a pleasant walk. In the opposite direction is Gastown and the Steam Clock.

 

For restaurants, we normally go to The Lion Pub or Steamworks, but they don't open before 11;00. However you will find a number of options.

[martincath]

FlyOverCanada ride at the pier? That's a max of one hour including queue time unless it's REALLY busy (and you can prebook a timeslot to cut it down to 45mins or less total). NB: that pretty much nothing requiring tickets opens until 9am in Vancouver - so Heidi's suggestion of a walk on the Seawall makes a lot of sense. In Gastown you can see the most historic section of the city, head from there to Chinatown, perhaps tour Dr Sun Yat Sen garden (the single best example of it's type anywhere outside Suzhou, China) when it opens (they do a guided tour that takes about 45mins, so you could be heading back toward Canada Place to collect luggage by about 10am).

 

I'd agree that an 11am departure from downtown will get you to YVR by 2 hours preflight, a sensible amount of time. Given that, I think lunching at YVR after security but before boarding is your only remotely-sensible alternative to eating on the plane (blech). There aren't any fine-dining options, but if you check YVRs website you can see exactly what your options are for snacks or sitdown food in the D-gates area (where all US-bound flights leave from during the day).

[susiesan]

Thanks, Martin, for the Sun Yet Sen Garden suggestion. We have actually been to Suzhou and seen that garden. Is it likely in Chinatown that a restaurant will be serving dim sum in the morning?

[susiesan]

Can anyone recommend a restaurant in Chinatown that serves dim sum before 11:00am on a Wednesday?

[martincath]

Shoot - totally missed your reply before SS!

 

Dim Sum is served at Floata from 8am daily. I'd be lying if I said I found the food outstanding, but it's adequate and the place certainly looks the part (it's the largest Chinese resto on the continent seating 1,000) - even they don't do carts anymore though, at least I haven't seen any for a few years now. Jade Dynasty is marginally better on food, but not as nice looking. Kam Wai offers the best traditional Dim Sum in Chinatown (they are primarily a factory producing the food for other restos and local markets) but with the worst environment for dining in (basically they're takeout, but have a token seating area).

 

Service is across-the-board aimed at local Chinese seniors, who know what they want and don't muck around ordering - if you have to order in English expect some surliness and potential communication problems!  In short, Dim Sum in the morning in Chinatown is not a super-enticing proposition - but it's cheap as you usually get 10-20% discount before 11am.

 

Edit - there are some very swank dim sum options around downtown, but these fancier places are not in Chinatown and generally start serving later. With a flight to get to, you really don't have any options to feasibly partake in the more delightful dim sum experiences we can offer!

Edited April 23, 2019 by martincath

[susiesan]

Thanks for that referral, Martin. I usually know what to order when it comes to dim sum. The surliness coming from Chinese waiters is part of the experience of eating in Chinatown restaurants. Doesn't bother me in the least.