I actually prefer to fly out of a US city, in my case Bellingham or Seattle, whenever I travel. Going through immigration at the border via car is an easy, usually 20 second interaction and the Bellingham airport is so small that clearing security is almost as easy. Friendly TSA, no lines, and much less rigid. Even with a 1 hour drive from home to BLI, my overall travel time is much, much less than it would be flying out of YVR considering security lines and clearing US and Canadian customs/immigration there and back.

So back on topic, don't worry about the TSA. Take your deserving wife on that cruise and enjoy.