Infinity to Alaska 8/15-8/22 Part 7 Victoria

[CruisinNewb]

Last full day :(

 

Breakfast.. waffles... yummm....enough said.

 

I attended the diembarkation talk at the theatre which was given by the Cruise Director, Allen King. Informative and humerous. Finished packing and lunch in the Trellis where I had a cowboy bbq burger and fries. It was just ok again, a little too well done and not much taste. Brownie sundae was great, brownie full of nuts and very tasty. Headed back and finished packing.

 

I attended Brent Nixon's talk on sea lions and seals and it was good as all his talks were. He flopped all around the stage, great show.

 

Met the kids and we attended a matinee show which combined the ventriloquist, comedian and the acapella singers from the lounge. We had to leave early to finish dinner early because we had a 7:15 excursion. Comedian was still great, singers were good and ventriloquist was still not that great.

 

We had originally planned on eating early at the buffet or grabbing some pizza because we wanted to get off the boat on time. Our waiter had convinced us to come to dinner and he would get us out on time but it wasn't the case. Reminded him but we barely made it through the main course. Butternut Sqash soup very good, they also had a chilled cherry soup which my daughter really liked. Coq AuVin was good as well. Said goodbye to our new friends and out waitstaff and got off the boat.

 

Walked thru the terminal and found our bus for the Enchanting Butchart Gardens trip. Bus driver was informative but gruff and hawking tips. Gardens were beautiful. I think that it is a wasted trip in August due to the small amount of time (30-40 minutes) that you see the gardens in daylight. The gardens are lit at night but it is more to see the paths and shapes, a lot of the color and majesty is lost. Probably would be spectacular in June with the longer days.

 

Drive made an "extra" stop for photos of the legislature building all lit up.

 

Hit the small gift shop at the terminal with the usual touristy gifts.

 

Got back on board at 10:45 PM for our midnight departure and put our luggage in the hallway.

 

Some general thoughts while they come to mind.

 

Condition of the ship: I was expecting a hovel from some of the reports here. The ship is in great shape, a lot of things look new and some have minor wear. They had just revarnished the railing to our balcony and still a "wet varnish" sign on it when we boarded. The furniture, the bedding, the carpets, the bathroom all fine.

I kept looking for the frayed and well worn stuff that people reported and never found any.

 

Food: As I reported many times in this report. The main courses were mostly just ok. The quality was good, the variety was fine, the presentations were beautiful but the taste just wasn't anything more then ok. Food at the buffet was very good, lots of variety and taste. Hot foods were hot and cold foods cold. Coffee was good as well. Desserts were excellent for the most part, excellent tastes, combinations and presentations, even at the buffet. Appetizers were the big dissapointments. Salads were ok. Some soups, expecially the cold ones were good, some were bland.

 

Room: We stayed in a balcony 2B room and it was good. Tight for 4 but it worked. Balcony was great.

 

Smooth ride even from Saettle :)

 

Kids Clubs. Not much going on at the teens place (12-14 group) It was more a place for the kids to connect then for activities. The kids, at least my girls' and their friends, got easily bored there and tended to head out to find their own fun.

Better for the 9-11 group but my younger one got bored towards then end of the week as well.

 

Staff: Overall they were excellent. Ralph our staeroom attendant was great; tried hard to please. Never met the asst chief housekeeper. Waiter Ignatius was great, his asst whose name I forgot was good.

 

Only real negative point, and it is a small point, is the constant push to buy buy buy, especially from the cruise director. One thing to let you know it's available but it got tiresome after a while.Yes we could just say no, but it got annoying to have to do it all the time.

[DrKoob]

Just wanted to say another big THANK YOU for your review. It really us get through this last week before we sail on Friday. I kept telling Kathleen (my lovely bride of nine years tomorrow) that you are totally hooked on Cruise Critic.:D

 

We see this affliction sometimes on people who return from their first cruise and become totally hooked. I have a friend from Texas who had that happen to him. You have a worse case than him. I have a feeling if you haven't booked your next cruise, you will soon.

 

And I share your one quibble. The food is too bland. But that's just the cruise lines catering to middle America. I can't wait to see what you think when you can go back aboard and have dinner in the United States. We always try and get our fill of Mexican, Southwest, Italian, Thai, Greek, Indian and other interesting and spicier cuisines before we go. For instance, tomorrow night before we sail we are doing Southwest. Hot and spicy, Southwest.

 

And once your kids are grown and gone, you and your lovely bride will love it even more. It's the best way to travel. If you liked Alaska, try Europe. WOW! Sailing into Istanbul at 2:00 in the afternoon. Amazing.

[CruisinNewb]

Just wanted to say another big THANK YOU for your review. It really us get through this last week before we sail on Friday. I kept telling Kathleen (my lovely bride of nine years tomorrow) that you are totally hooked on Cruise Critic.:D

 

We see this affliction sometimes on people who return from their first cruise and become totally hooked. I have a friend from Texas who had that happen to him. You have a worse case than him. I have a feeling if you haven't booked your next cruise, you will soon.

 

And I share your one quibble. The food is too bland. But that's just the cruise lines catering to middle America. I can't wait to see what you think when you can go back aboard and have dinner in the United States. We always try and get our fill of Mexican, Southwest, Italian, Thai, Greek, Indian and other interesting and spicier cuisines before we go. For instance, tomorrow night before we sail we are doing Southwest. Hot and spicy, Southwest.

 

And once your kids are grown and gone, you and your lovely bride will love it even more. It's the best way to travel. If you liked Alaska, try Europe. WOW! Sailing into Istanbul at 2:00 in the afternoon. Amazing.

 

Hey Jim:

 

I think you are right, I'm hooked on cruising for sure. Hopefully this one will be representative of our future cruises because I couldn't really ask for more on this one. Great times, great weather, great people and the kids had fun. We are already making plans to get together with our tablemates from the cruise so add to all the above that we made some new friends as well.

I also feel that I like to give back when I take. I got a tremendous amount of informartion from here and as a new cruiser it gave me such a head up that I was able to optimize our enjoyment. I know I didn't get alot of responses on the thread but there were a lot of views so hopefully I was able to help some others as well and hopefully some of the other veterans here didn't mind seeing another post when I added a new day.

 

I'll try to finish the report up later today so you guys will be able to read it before you board tomorrow.

 

 

Book a future cruise? I guess you didn't see my signature. We booked while we were on board. Solstice to the Eastern Med next July!

 

Ron

[southcarolinagirl]

Thank you so much for your reviews. I have enjoyed reading all of them. You have helped me so much- I am leaving tomorrow with 3 other people on Infinity. I am so excited I can't even work:D I'm sure I won't be able to sleep tonight. This is a long way to go from South Carolina.

[CruisinNewb]

Thank you so much for your reviews. I have enjoyed reading all of them. You have helped me so much- I am leaving tomorrow with 3 other people on Infinity. I am so excited I can't even work:D I'm sure I won't be able to sleep tonight. This is a long way to go from South Carolina.

 

 

You are very welcome. Have an awesome trip; you will love Infinity.

 

Ron

[xamsx]

What excursion did you take in Victoria? We had some question in our roll call as far as what was worthwhile for an evening excursion.

 

 

Thanks again for your reviews. They have been very helpful. :)

[CruisinNewb]

What excursion did you take in Victoria? We had some question in our roll call as far as what was worthwhile for an evening excursion.

 

 

Thanks again for your reviews. They have been very helpful. :)

 

Glad it helps. Guess you missed the excursion info among among my rambling :)

 

 

Walked thru the terminal and found our bus for the Enchanting Butchart Gardens trip. Bus driver was informative but gruff and hawking tips. Gardens were beautiful. I think that it is a wasted trip in August due to the small amount of time (30-40 minutes) that you see the gardens in daylight. The gardens are lit at night but it is more to see the paths and shapes, a lot of the color and majesty is lost. Probably would be spectacular in June with the longer days.

 

Drive made an "extra" stop for photos of the legislature building all lit up.

 

 

Ron

 

 

 

[hcat]

Thanks for the review & info.

 

Sorry the garden were disappointing.. We did the combined trip to the gardens & the winery/chocolate tasting..from Mercury on a late Sept cruise. The guide--dressed with a top hat was spectacular & we had such a great day(even with a threat of rain) The tour went through the highlights of Victoria & then out to the gardens--quite a long ride...The gardens in Sept. were magnificent, we saw everything & had some time to shop. Then we enjoyed the winery --perfect for an anniv toast. We got back just in time...so not any time to actually enjoy the city itself --saving that for our next visit--looks like such a great place to explore..

[xamsx]

Glad it helps. Guess you missed the excursion info among among my rambling :)

 

 

Walked thru the terminal and found our bus for the Enchanting Butchart Gardens trip. Bus driver was informative but gruff and hawking tips. Gardens were beautiful. I think that it is a wasted trip in August due to the small amount of time (30-40 minutes) that you see the gardens in daylight. The gardens are lit at night but it is more to see the paths and shapes, a lot of the color and majesty is lost. Probably would be spectacular in June with the longer days.

 

Drive made an "extra" stop for photos of the legislature building all lit up.

 

 

Ron

 

 

Thanks :)