5arbusto

@Blackduck59 @victoriaj thanks you so much for your advice!!! exactly the info i needed and so a treat to get a local's perspective. I will take your advice and do our own walking tour and hit up the key spots you two mentioned. my current working plan is to walk from the cruise terminal to fisherman's wharf [google map says its abt 0.5miles] and explore and then take a water taxi to empress dock at the inner harbor. from there explore inner harbor and check out empress hotel and parliament bldg. possible carriage ride depending on weather and the kids' interest level. from there, i plan to go to chinatown [ maybe bastion square too on the way] .... is it a far walk or should we take a taxi? then from chinatown, i read that we can take a water taxi back to fisherman's wharf and then walk there back to ship.

Hi- I will be sailing on Royal Caribbean to Alaska in late August and our last port will be Victoria BC. I've been so pre-occupied with the ports in the Alaska that I'm just looking into things to do in Victoria now. It seems that the big attraction is Butchart Gardens and would like to have first hand input on those that have been there on a port day. we will be in port from about 9-6. For context, my wife and I are in our 40s and my kids are 9 and 12 year old and we will also have 2 active senior citizens with us. a very diverse group with different interests and activity tolerance. Our group [more like my daughter & wife] is the type that can't do an all day trip in port.... i would say 4-5 hours would be our [their] time limit. It will be late August, so are the flowers/garden [specifically the roses] in full bloom? is that a good time to go? how many hours do people general spend time there? is it super crowded. in hindsight was the visit worth it to you? Im debating on going to Butchart garden vs exploring downtown and the wharf. if we do butchart garden we would probably just visit the garden [3-4 hours] and then grab lunch somewhere in town and then head back to the ship. the alternative would be to explore the city... specifically parliament bldg and the fisherman's wharf. maybe do a carriage ride, water taxi or do the hop on hop off bus. is butchart garden a must see... is it worth the time and energy to go all the way out there?

Hi all- I'll be cruising to Alaska this summer and really want to document the trip. I plan to bring a gopro for video and a mirrorless sony for photography. my problem is that in my previous trips, I feel like i'm all over the place. confused on when to video versus when to take pics. when i get home, i would kick myself for missing good photo opportunities and for filming long drawn out frivolous segements. any suggestions out there what others have done? any pattern, rhyme or reason on when you video versus when you take a pic? I'm not trying to do a vlog or a fancy travel video. the goal is to create a family vacation video with combo photography and video. I will be traveling to alaska... any suggestion on what's great to video vs photograph and vice versa? thanks