Victoria - Butchart Gardens - Princess Shore Excursion

[big_schots]

I am hoping to find a few individuals that have taken the Butchart Gardens shore excursion through Princess cruise lines. We arrive on the Crown Princess into Victoria at 7:00 P.M., this July. The excursion documentation says that the tour starts at 7:15 P.M., to arrive at the Gardens at 8:00 P.M. We are to have (a short) 1.75 hours at the Gardens, before leaving to return to the ship. My skepticism comes from the fact that the tour is supposed to start a mere 15 minutes after docking. I have seen how slow things go, on most cruise piers, when trying to round-up all the people taking tours and herding them towards the tour busses. It is always a mass of confusion with the ENTIRE group having to wait for the handful of cruisers who show up late. That is my biggest concern. With such a short time at the Gardens, I would hate to lose 20-30 minutes because of this kind of hold-up. Maybe I'm wrong, and Princess has this down to a science, and everything is as smooth as silk. I would love to hear from anyone who has taken this late night ship sponsored excursion (through any cruise line) and hear how their experience was.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[Langley Cruisers]

The excursion documentation says that the tour starts at 7:15 P.M., to arrive at the Gardens at 8:00 P.M. We are to have (a short) 1.75 hours at the Gardens, before leaving to return to the ship. My skepticism comes from the fact that the tour is supposed to start a mere 15 minutes after docking.

 

Hi Eric,

 

I haven't taken this tour but I lived in Victoria for 35 years and of all things, we just returned from an Alaskan cruise where Victoria was the last port stop as required. I fully understand the time limit in wanting to do the Gardens. What happens is this: all passengers filled out a Canadian Customs declaration card and handed it to Guest Relations a few days prior to us porting in Victoria. Then, all passengers and the ship are cleared (they read/scan the declaration cards and do whatever they need to do). There were several announcements that said due to the high number of International passengers, it would take at least an hour to clear the ship. They said this at least twice, and then finally announced when we could go ashore which was about an hour later. We used to live there so we just walked into town and had dinner and reminisced, but I could definitely see how someone who had booked a tour (more so a private tour, not even a ship's tour) would be anxious.

 

Having said all of that - if you book a ship's excursion, you will be taken care of. Do not worry about this, but indeed, your time at the Gardens will be short and sweet. Yes, it does take 45 minutes to get there. But, I'm sure they will leave as late as they can while still getting you back to the ship at the required time.

 

Did I help? :D:p Maybe not. Just wanted to throw some things out there.

 

Have fun.

.

[Putterdude]

You may get a better response if you post the question on the Alaska board or even the Princess board. However, my sense of the matter is that Princess has this pretty much down to a science; that said as you are likely aware you are often waiting for a that straggler when you go on a large group tour. Unfortunately with your arrival time in Victoria you really don't have a choice if you really want to see the Gardens short of taking a taxi which is very expensive and then risking that one is available to take you back to the ship on a timely basis.

[martincath]

Concur with both of the above - if you really want to see the gardens, this is your only realistic option without dropping cash on cabfare (~$50+tip each way, NB: metered so could be more) so your choices are limited.

 

Should there be say three other people who want to go and you can fill a cab with 4 people, splitting cabfare and entry price would end up a total of around CAN$250 and you'd probably be there at least 15mins quicker than with the bus.

 

Cruise excursions seem to usually run about US$65-70, so you would actually be likely to save a few bucks right now using cabs (CVS of course price in Canadian too, but their last departure is 7:15pm from in front of the Empress and that's just not going to work for you if you arrive at 7pm).

 

NB: at best if everything runs bang on schedule you will get barely an hour of daylight even going by cab (sunset is 9:03pm July 24th in Victoria, twilight until 9:41), but you're going to have the chance for some 'golden hour' photography so this trip may still be worth it to you.

[big_schots]

Thank you all for your quick response. What everyone said makes perfect sense. I'm not worried about saving a few bucks by going it independently. With only 4.5 hours in port (all aboard is always 0.5 hours before departure), time is SO limited. I'm just wondering if it is all worth it. If the ship arrived at 6:00 P.M. instead of 7:00 P.M., it would be a no-brainer slam dunk excursion. The Gardens close at 10:00 P.M., and I would prefer as much daylight as possible. I may post this question, on the Princess board, in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, after 5 weeks into the 2015 Alaskan sailings, someone on the Crown and/or Ruby, will have experienced this first hand. I know this is the most popular ship sponsored tour in Victoria. Thanks again.

 

Eric

[Putterdude]

Yes, trying the question on Princess in a few weeks would be a good idea. You may know this but in late July sunset is not until about 9 pm and there is twilight for about another 45 mins after that. The Gardens are also illuminated at night and really are spectacular.

[Langley Cruisers]

With only 4.5 hours in port (all aboard is always 0.5 hours before departure), time is SO limited...

 

Well, is this something you really WANT to do, or you have been told you might want to do it because the Gardens are pretty? I'm seriously asking. Obviously, a longer port stop would be ideal to go to the Gardens, even 6 hours would be better. But 4.5 total hours is pushing it, in my opinion. I don't know....

.

[big_schots]

Well, is this something you really WANT to do, or you have been told you might want to do it because the Gardens are pretty?

 

You are correct in that I really want to go. But, I don't want to go and end up being disappointed and upset because of the abbreviated experience. It would be like someone putting a giant hot fudge sundae in front of you, and then taking it away after three bites.

[xlxo]

A few tips for those on short times I'll share within the garden...

• do not dawdle.... with 2hrs... the garden will appear never ending.
  
• do not waste time in the parking lot... I'm amazed so many people think the parking lot is the garden and spend 30 minutes with photo there.
  
• skip the first photo stop (Entrance sign) and get the picture as you leave to avoid congestion when the bus unloads.
  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Butchart_Gardens_Entrance.jpg
  
• Waterwheel square near the entrance is another spot to skip and get your pictures as you exit if you have time. When there's a tour bus dump... many find themselves trapped and dawdle there.
  https://www.google.ca/search?q=butchart+gardens+waterwheel+square&tbm=isch
  
• 7pm cruisers should pay attention to official sunset times. Budget extra 20 minutes for twilight.
  
• make sure you get to the "sunken garden" before it gets dark. It's your must-do first highlight photo.
  http://www.harbourair.com/media/resized/1550_680x382.jpg
  
• pay attention as you enter the "rose garden". Half the people make the wrong turn and miss the Japanese garden exit that takes you into another 1/3rd of the park.
  http://www.butchartgardens.com/gardens/map
  

 

Also check out YouTube videos on whether it's what you want to spend your time at.

 

[YOUTUBE]z8qZdrX7dHA[/YOUTUBE]

 

For 7pm cruisers... I say spend your daylight in Butchart and darkness in the city. Again pay attention to sunset times on your cruise date.

Edited June 2, 2015 by xlxo

[wack001]

Did it with a CC group, private with "surfside", lots of fun and met other cruisers.

cruisinbob