May 7, 2023 Seattle arrival and journey home
Early this morning Westerdam entered the Juan de Fuca Strait from Vancouver Island to Seattle and was docked by 7 a.m. The sky was mainly overcast although patches of blue sky started to show after noon. The temperature was 10° C with a south wind at 12 km per hour.
We gathered the backpacks, made a final sweep of the stateroom and went to the dining room for breakfast. We walked a short time on Deck 3 which was partially closed. Our departure number to leave Westerdam was scheduled for 9:15, but it was called half an hour early which was fine.
Passengers were scanned off Westerdam and directed into the terminal to collect our luggage before boarding the bus for the transfer to the airport. The bus was on its way by 9:23 a.m. with passengers from both Westerdam and Discovery Princess ships. The driver gave some commentary on the 25 minute ride to the airport using the tunnel “freeway” under downtown Seattle. While above ground we could see the Seattle Needle and the cargo port which is four miles long along the waterfront. It is the fourth largest American port.
Once in the bus parking lot, passengers were given directions to the departure check-in area, adding another 1,000 steps to our step count. We also booked business class to return so there was no line to check-in at Air Canada. At security we could use the priority lane even though we do not have NEXUS, but we did have to remove our runners.. It took less than 25 minutes from leaving the bus to clearing security. We followed signs to our gate. We needed to takes two flights of 35 stairs down to the train platform to take a minute ride to another smaller terminal. Then back up two flights of stairs to the main level. After walking around we found a place to connect to wi-fi and post the blog entries for the past few days and check emails. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 3 p.m.
It was a surprise that when we walked through the doors, after the agent checked the boarding pass and our passports, that we were outside on a sheltered concrete ramp down to the tarmac where a two propeller 78 passenger Bombardier Q400 plane awaited us. The flight from Seattle to Vancouver was less than an hour, enough time for the flight attendants to serve juice. The Vancouver Customs area was empty of passengers with two dozen kiosks available for the passengers to submit their declarations. No more ArriveCan apps to complete on your phone. There was just one Customs Officer taking the declaration forms at 4 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. From leaving the plane to being seated in the Maple Leaf Lounge took about 1,500 steps in 25 minutes. We had a light lunch after 4 p.m. when we remembered that it was over eight hours since we ate breakfast.
The layover was almost five hours. The Airbus A320 jet plane was full with 146 passengers. There was a meal, but the flight attendant apologized for the lack of menus. The meal consisted of a salad, chicken in a creamy sauce, a roll and carrot cake. There was complimentary wine, beer and other drinks. The flight was a little over 2 ½ hours. In a little over 20 minutes after the plane hit the runway ,we had our luggage and were in a taxi going home in a light drizzle.
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Steps 13, 865 Flights of stairs 15
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