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CVS Tours versus Big Bus to Butchart Gardens


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I was going to book the transportation and tickets to go to Butchart Gardens through CVS tours. I then noticed that Big Bus Victoria also offered the transportation and entrance tickets for a lot less money. Anyone use Big Bus or know the difference to justify such a large price difference?

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It looks like a pretty clear example of Big Bus trying to expand their offerings and undercutting CVS to give them a better chance to do so. Note the more limited shuttle times, and restricted days of operation compared to CVS, and the oddity of the Saturday Fireworks being sold as a separate item at a higher price (included for same charge with CVS, they just alter the time of their last shuttle to accommodate them).

 

Plus, as noted, the Butterfly gardens seems to have reappeared on the CVS summer schedule which did bump their price up again. CVS also sell walk-ups, useful for cruisers as Victoria can be impacted by weather, can have visits deliberately shortened by cruiselines if there's an upstream problem and they are behind schedule, and the length of time it takes to get the ship processed and have pax able to walk off is also variable. I don't know that Big Bus would not sell walkup tickets also, perhaps they do, but with 2 hour gaps between buses it's still a lot less flexible than CVS for the day time cruise stops...

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  • 1 month later...

We'll be in Victoria on the RCI Explorer next week. We were planning to do a walk up for a bus to Butchart Gardens - the plan had been CVS; looking now also at Big Bus. Is it better to book and pay ahead, or due to potential weather impacts, wait till we get there? Either way, will we be ok exchange-wise using a credit card or should we try to exchange for cash? I always get so confused with exchange rates!:loudcry:

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We'll be in Victoria on the RCI Explorer next week. We were planning to do a walk up for a bus to Butchart Gardens - the plan had been CVS; looking now also at Big Bus. Is it better to book and pay ahead, or due to potential weather impacts, wait till we get there? Either way, will we be ok exchange-wise using a credit card or should we try to exchange for cash? I always get so confused with exchange rates!:loudcry:

I'd buy as a walk-up, especially this late in the season, just in case of a delay or entirely missed port.

 

Unless your credit card has a truly obscene markup it will be the cheapest way to pay. Typical cards charge the actual interbank rate plus 2.5%; many have no extra fees at all but you'd have to check your own credit card paperwork to find out. The only way to beat even the typical 2.5% padded rate is to have a Debit card without fees and use that to withdraw cash at an ATM - any 'cash for cash' exchange on the ship or in a Forex on land will have a wider margin (i.e. cost you more US to buy the same amount of CAD).

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I'd buy as a walk-up, especially this late in the season, just in case of a delay or entirely missed port.

 

Unless your credit card has a truly obscene markup it will be the cheapest way to pay. Typical cards charge the actual interbank rate plus 2.5%; many have no extra fees at all but you'd have to check your own credit card paperwork to find out. The only way to beat even the typical 2.5% padded rate is to have a Debit card without fees and use that to withdraw cash at an ATM - any 'cash for cash' exchange on the ship or in a Forex on land will have a wider margin (i.e. cost you more US to buy the same amount of CAD).

 

Good advice, thanks! Our credit card doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, so I think that'll be the way to go. Now just crossing our fingers we'll actually stop at the port!

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