Victoria BC 7p - 11:59p

[califgary]

Question: we just booked an Alaska cruise and the last stop is Victoria BC from 7p - 11:59p. I suppose Bouchart Gardens is out of question (I dont think its even open is it?) what are some (if any) other options on shore during these hours?

thanks for any insight!

[cr8tiv1]

This stop is just to satisfy the PSVA (stopping at a foreign port). Depending on the day of arrival will determine what will be open. My guess is that there will not be much available. Butchart Gardens is too far away to make this a viable excursion (even with the cruise ship).

 

There is a little (tiny) store at the end of the dock. Not much around the area. You may want to walk into Victoria (or take the shuttle) for some night lights viewing.

[Colo Cruiser]

Question: we just booked an Alaska cruise and the last stop is Victoria BC from 7p - 11:59p. I suppose Bouchart Gardens is out of question (I dont think its even open is it?) what are some (if any) other options on shore during these hours?

thanks for any insight!

 

When we were there for the same hours the ship did offer the night tour (in season) of Butchart. We just walked into town and enjoyed dinner.

[califgary]

thanks for the info! a stroll into town sounds good since its the last evening need to make sure everything is packed for debarkation next day

 

thanks again folks

[martincath]

The gardens are open for arrivals as late as 9pm; on firework nights there will be hordes of folks there much later.

 

While it may be poor value and not a lot of time in the gardens, I wager the ship will put on Butchart excursions - if they are very late into port they'll get cancelled. Given the repercussions of missing the ship and the very limited time on these PVSA-only stops, I would never recommend visiting Butchart by any means other than an official ships tour - traffic can be an absolute nightmare getting out of the gardens on a firework night, the half hour drive can easily double in duration.

 

Of course if you don't have Butchart as an absolute must-do bucket list type of experience, don't waste buckets of money on a ship tour. While the experiential sites like the museum, parliament etc. will be closed, you can still wander the very picturesque streets of Victoria and enjoy some top-quality adult beverages - most cruise ships seem to offer official pubcrawls where they drive you around three or four spots but frankly the distances are short and taxis are cheap ($10 to downtown for a carload, cheaper than the shuttles) so it's better to just DIY.

 

Personally I love Swans brewpub, authentic English style beers served at the correct temperature and always at least one real cask-conditioned ale; the Bard & Banker is an excellent clone of the typical Scottish pub design from the old country if you prefer your beer fizzy and cold; Canoe has their own beers and a big patio for those late summer sunsets.

[dharmapath]

We did the gardens on our cruise to Alaska last August. I had the same question but decided to give it a try. If you go in June you should have light till 9:45 and yes a few hours is not a lot to see everything, but we enjoyed the gardens for an hour before sunset and then the fireworks. We had an hour less light in August. It is very crowded on firework nights, but everyone got on the bus and was back to the pier well ahead of all aboard.

 

I enjoyed it but I am sure you will get many options that it is not worth it.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Just make sure if you eat in the DR you get there early. It seemed everyone showed up at 6:30 to eat before the ship docked.

[peety3]

On our Seattle RT last summer, there were definitely excursions to the gardens offered by Princess, and there were costumed ladies just outside the customs building offering direct-sale excursions as well.

 

Here's all of the buses lined up to take people places from the dock:

[geoherb]

We stayed on the ship in Victoria both times we took roundtrip cruises from Seattle. We spent a couple of nights there a few years before our cruises, so we had already seen the major sights. If Butchart Gardens is something you'd like to see, then book the Princess excursion.