Cruise Victoria ?

[KAWS]

I did a search on the Alaska boards to see if there were any independent operators to do the Butchart Gardens excursions, other than just taking a taxi there. (I understand the taxis are pretty expensive to go there.)

 

I saw someone said that if you call Butchart they will give you the name of an operator called Cruise Victoria. Has anyone used them before and can give a review of their service?

 

I'm booked through the ship at the moment because we're only in port from 7 pm - midnight, but if others have used them I'd be interested to hear and would consider changing over.

 

Thanks in advance.

[rubytue]

I don't know if it is through Cruise Victoria, but I know it is possible to get a bus tour independently. We did it at Christmas in 2007 when we came to Victoria on the ferry. I think we went with Gray Line which picked us up near the Empress Hotel. Trip Advsior has some information on how to get there.

[Yukon]

With these short evening visits, you're best to go with the ship tours. Cruise Victoria uses the same type of large coaches to do the trip - http://www.cvscruisevictoria.com/butchart%20gardens.shtml

[NancyIL]

According to Cruise Victoria's web site, the bus to Butchart Gardens is $47 CAD per adult vs. $69 US on our Princess ship. However, with the ships arriving in Victoria so late and everyone wanting off the ship at the same time, you could be quite delayed getting to your independently-booked tour bus.

[KAWS]

I have to admit, this was my main concern. I emailed Cruise Victoria and a gentleman named Gary responded quickly. I thought I'd post what he said for anyone that might want to do this independently and had an earlier port time (like 5 pm).

 

Here's what he said:

 

Should you wish to take our CVS product, you may take our shuttle bus from the Cruise Ship pier to downtown Victoria, once downtown our tours depart close to where your shuttle bus drops off and will take you to the Butchart Gardens. All evening tours return directly to the Cruise Ship pier for convenience. Cost of our service is $48 CDN per adult passenger and includes the $28 admission to the Gardens plus all taxes.

 

 

Tour departure time from downtown Victoria will be 7:30pm and shuttle run approximately every 10 minutes.

 

I asked for clarification about the shuttle buses and he responded with this:

 

Sorry if this sound confusing, it really is not. As soon as you come out of the Customs area at the end of the pier you turn to the left, follow the large signage to the Shuttle Buses - we are the large Blue Buses. We have set this up so we are easy to find and easy to make the connections that you need. Our Shuttle Buses provide the exclusive downtown shuttle service to the City from the Cruise Ship Terminal, so there will be many guests just like you looking for us. It is very straight forward - promise.

 

We depart from the Butchart Gardens at approximately 9:45pm, however your tour driver may update this time in the event the ship arrives in late - we want to ensure that guests have at least 1hour and 45 minutes at the Gardens. We will get you back to the ship not later then 10:30pm.

 

 

I'm still not sure whether we'll give this a go or stick with the cruise line one, but wanted to share what I found out.

[NancyIL]

I appreciate the info, Kim. Is there just one tour bus that leaves for Butchart Gardens at 7:30 from downtown, with a shuttle bus between the cruise ship terminal and downtown running every 10 minutes? If that's the case, and with a 7 p.m. arrival - I'd be concerned about getting off the ship in a timely manner and taking the shuttle bus to downtown in time for the 7:30 bus to Butchart Gardens.

[flames9]

I lived in Victoria for 10 years. keep in mind,Victoria is a small city!! and the cruise ships dock very close to downtown. Victoria is a tourist city, so its very tourism orientated, so companies know how to cater to their clients. And no I have never heard of any of these companies that do tours, as of course I just drove myself,lol I would think there are a handful of companies that do tours out to the gardens as every one wants to see them. Even the city bus makes a trip out there,lol Best of luck

[KAWS]

I appreciate the info, Kim. Is there just one tour bus that leaves for Butchart Gardens at 7:30 from downtown, with a shuttle bus between the cruise ship terminal and downtown running every 10 minutes? If that's the case, and with a 7 p.m. arrival - I'd be concerned about getting off the ship in a timely manner and taking the shuttle bus to downtown in time for the 7:30 bus to Butchart Gardens.

 

No, there's more than one. I asked him the same question and this was his response:

 

We ensure we always provide enough coaches for those wishing to take the tour so you can wait if you wish and purchase on the night of departure from our driver. We ensure that the times all work, so if the ship operates a shorex tour, we will operate a Butchart Gardens tour that will ensure you make it back. We have been operating for years and we always ensure guests are returned to the ship prior to all aboard.

[NancyIL]

I lived in Victoria for 10 years. keep in mind,Victoria is a small city!! and the cruise ships dock very close to downtown. Victoria is a tourist city, so its very tourism orientated, so companies know how to cater to their clients. And no I have never heard of any of these companies that do tours, as of course I just drove myself,lol I would think there are a handful of companies that do tours out to the gardens as every one wants to see them. Even the city bus makes a trip out there,lol Best of luck

 

The problem is that most cruise ships that stop in Victoria are there for only a few hours in the evening - arriving between 5-7 p.m. and staying until 11:59 p.m. With 2000+ passengers on most cruise ships all wanting off the ship at the same time, you could have quite a bottleneck trying to get off the ship quickly.

[Putterdude]

I agree with Yukon, given the short time you are likely going to have in Victoria the only way to do the Butchart Gardens is with a ship's tour.:mad: The gardens are a full 35 mins drive from downtown Victoria and the Ogden Point cruise terminal is 5 or so mins beyond that.

[cruiseryyc]

To add to what others have said - I totally agree that this is one stop where you should take the ship's tour. There could easily be more than one cruise ship in port, so you have more than 2,000 people going through the same process. I'm sure the private tours are great, but all it takes is one accident on the highway coming back from the Gardens and your tour is stuck there. At least with a ship's tour, the ship will (most times) wait for you to get back.