Victoria, Canada Alaska Cruise

[momsdumplin]

We're going to Alaska in June. I have all of the excursions I want for the other stops, but I have nothing for Victoria. The ones Carnival is offering are not appealing and/or have horrible reviews. Anyone have some suggestions? The port stop is only 4 hours to satisfy the Jones Act. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

You can walk into DT Victoria and grab a beer or a drink at a pub/bar.  Some of the shops may still be open in the evening.  The walk is easy and scenic.  You can always grab a cab back to the ship.

 

If you just want to get off the ship and walk, you can walk in the opposite direction of DT Victoria (Turn right after leaving the pier) and walk along the shoreline.

[cruiseryyc]

Yup Ferry_Watcher has it right - just walk off the ship and either turn left to go into town or right for a walk along the waterfront.  A couple of other options:

 

https://victoriaharbourferry.com/

 

https://www.victoriacarriage.com/

[martincath]

Port arrival and departure times are very relevant to your question OP - if this is an evening stop, your options drop dramatically as Victoria pretty much rolls up the sidewalks soon after 5pm... Back in TheBeforeTimes Butchart stayed open much later in the evenings - if they have sorted out staffing they might do so again this summer, so an evening tour there might be on the cards...

 

Otherwise some touristy shops stay open, especially around the inner harbour, but otherwise it's beer, food, beer, walking around the pretty downtown with many illuminated buildings, beer, a carriage ride if that's your thing, beer, 'afternoon' tea for a ridiculous cost in the Fairmont Empress until as late as 9pm some summers, or beer. Did I mention the beer? Victoria does have the distinction of not just one but two different brewpubs offering traditional naturally-carbonated and served at the correct cellar temperature 'Real Ales' - both Swans and Spinnakers operate dual cellars, so the poor unfortunates fooled into believing beer tastes best at barely-above-freezing can drink with civilized folks who know it should be consumed at ~10C/50F in the same establishment.

 

If your stop is in the afternoon a whole mess of other attractions will be open - if you're lucky enough to be able to schedule a tour of parliament, do so (free, interesting, nice art) or go check out some galleries, gardens, historic homes, the bug museum, miniature world, food tours, beer tours, bike tours, bus tours (incl a HOHO, but last loop of that even in summer finishes by 6pm). The Royal BC Museum should also be open June - a planned multi-year shutdown to rebuild it was cancelled last year, haven't heard anything yet about revised plans, and it's well worth a visit if it is open.

 

If you are in port early enough in the day that things are open, come back and tell us more about you & your traveling companions if you want advice which attractions you should focus on - with such a short time, heading straight for the best things for you is crucial.

 

I'd be inclined to go whalewatching only via the cruiseline just to play it safe, as indy tours usually run at least 3 hours with a mandatory check-in time at least 30mins beforehand, timing would have be be absolutely perfect to get you back on time...

 

 

[arpie05]

I also would say you are several months out - they could still add excursions to a June cruise. I was glad our Victoria stop was a daytime and not the nighttime that a lot of ships do.  I think we went whale watching and then walked into town - I wanted to see the Fairmont Empress which we walked through and went to gift shop. We walked around town and walked back to ship from there. I recall we took a taxi to the Empress. (this 2019 so before covid so don't recall 100%).

[david,Mississauga]

On 1/8/2023 at 12:08 PM, cruiseryyc said:

Yup Ferry_Watcher has it right - just walk off the ship and either turn left to go into town or right for a walk along the waterfront.  A couple of other options:

 

https://victoriaharbourferry.com/

 

https://www.victoriacarriage.com/

 

On the last two times we arrived in Victoria on a ship I found it to be a shorter walk to downtown to go right for a few blocks, then turn left to get downtown. I found it doesn't matter which street you take, but a map is helpful. I concede it is more scenic to take the recommended route - left from the pier - but it will take longer.  

[PH2]

This thread is helpful. We're doing a Celebrity Alaska cruise 2nd week of September and our Butchart Gardens tour was just canceled. It might be staffing, or maybe it's because it will be a September night? Sounds like we should just save our money and depending on weather when we arrive, just walk around town.

[martincath]

14 hours ago, PH2 said:

This thread is helpful. We're doing a Celebrity Alaska cruise 2nd week of September and our Butchart Gardens tour was just canceled. It might be staffing, or maybe it's because it will be a September night? Sounds like we should just save our money and depending on weather when we arrive, just walk around town.

The referred-to-partly-in-jest season of 'Canadian Summer' runs between the May Two-Four (Victoria Day, the last Monday before May 25th) and Labour Day (same as USA, 1st Mon in Sep) holiday weekends - but it does often correspond with better staffing/longer hours in tourist destinations.

 

Odds are high that even if Butchart does manage to staff up for decent evening hours this summer, they'll be leaning heavily on Students labour so they will cut back again by the time of your visit - and frankly even if you could do an evening cruiseline tour, unless the port time is 6+ hours your trip to Butchart would be annoyingly short anyway with likely 2 hours max on-site. Unless you really hustle around, I'd rather not do Butchart at all than spend less than 3 hours there - and that's in daylight. After dark, despite the lights, photos require much more care to set up and folks walk slower as there are many uneven paths and stairs so you need even more time to navigate around the place.

[slidergirl]

Martincath - nice to see you are still around.  You turned me onto some good Vancouver eating awhile back.

 

I've got a similar 4 hour late stop the first week of May.  I have a People's Drug stop planned to pick up some goodies, but I want food.  I was thinking Chinese, but nothing on the usual boards was sounding worth the money.  Do you know of any?   Or, do I stick to Red Fish Blue Fish for some tacos?  

[martincath]

2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Martincath - nice to see you are still around.  You turned me onto some good Vancouver eating awhile back.

 

I've got a similar 4 hour late stop the first week of May.  I have a People's Drug stop planned to pick up some goodies, but I want food.  I was thinking Chinese, but nothing on the usual boards was sounding worth the money.  Do you know of any?   Or, do I stick to Red Fish Blue Fish for some tacos?  

Sorry, Chinese in Victoria I can't help you with - when we first moved here all the local foodies I met said the same thing, not to bother with Victorian Chinese food if I wanted the good stuff, and while we have visited often enough to get curious/a craving while in town, what we did eat was fine but nothing worth writing home about!

 

It's been long enough pre-Pandemic that I did any serious dining there I'm loathe to make any specific recommendations for Vic food these days - but those operations which were focused with tight menus in TheBeforeTimes and have survived until now are definitely the best bets IMO, which should include RFBF!

[Heidi13]

32 minutes ago, martincath said:

Sorry, Chinese in Victoria I can't help you with - when we first moved here all the local foodies I met said the same thing, not to bother with Victorian Chinese food if I wanted the good stuff, and while we have visited often enough to get curious/a craving while in town, what we did eat was fine but nothing worth writing home about!

 

It's been long enough pre-Pandemic that I did any serious dining there I'm loathe to make any specific recommendations for Vic food these days - but those operations which were focused with tight menus in TheBeforeTimes and have survived until now are definitely the best bets IMO, which should include RFBF!

 

I concur, Victoria was never great for Chinese. When our head office was on Fort Street, we used to go to J&J Wonton House for lunch. I've been retired for 10 yrs and the office moved before then, so it has been almost 15 yrs since I had lunch there. It was good, but certainly not comparable to where we go in Richmond for our regular reunions.

 

In Victoria, we often use the Irish Times for lunch, as they have live football. We have also been to the Shine Cafe a few times for breakfast/brunch. Another breakfast/brunch place we enjoy is John's place on Pandoro.

[Buckeye10640]

On 3/23/2023 at 9:28 PM, PH2 said:

This thread is helpful. We're doing a Celebrity Alaska cruise 2nd week of September and our Butchart Gardens tour was just canceled. It might be staffing, or maybe it's because it will be a September night? Sounds like we should just save our money and depending on weather when we arrive, just walk around town.

We too have an evening stop in May on Princess and our Butchart tour was also cancelled. I have visited during the afternoon hours previously and was looking forward to taking my daughter this time. The pubs do not interest us so unfortunately it looks like we will be staying on the ship. It seems many cruises I looked at when booking have the 7pm stop. This timing and options available are unfortunate. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Buckeye10640

[suefrankw]

we took the shuttle downtown (can also walk) and shopped a bit and went to this great Irish Pub for food & irish cider. We really enjoyed it. Beautiful city.

[Nataly1982]

Is it safe to walk from downtown back to the cruise terminal after 10pm? 

[martincath]

On 5/7/2023 at 6:27 AM, Nataly1982 said:

Is it safe to walk from downtown back to the cruise terminal after 10pm? 

Very - Victoria makes Vancouver look like a war zone! You're probably more likely to be attacked on the ship than on the mean streets of James Bay 😉

[Heidi13]

On 5/12/2023 at 10:20 AM, martincath said:

Very - Victoria makes Vancouver look like a war zone! You're probably more likely to be attacked on the ship than on the mean streets of James Bay 😉

 

Don't forget the James Bay teacup tree. Although it is a little out of the way of the quickest route downtown, you could be assaulted by a falling teacup when walking below.😁

 

Only could happen in Victoria.😁

[adamsmom]

On 4/26/2023 at 4:40 PM, suefrankw said:

we took the shuttle downtown (can also walk) and shopped a bit and went to this great Irish Pub for food & irish cider. We really enjoyed it. Beautiful city.

 

Tell me more about this shuttle....

[martincath]

5 hours ago, adamsmom said:

Tell me more about this shuttle....

Not to step on @suefrankws toes since you asked them, but in case their visit was a prior year rather than early this one, here is the link to current pricing, and that page should remain relevant with an updated price for future years in case someone finds this thread in 2024 or later!

 

For crew - great deal at $5! Everyone else - you could take a cab just by yourself to where the shuttle drop is, in bad traffic, for maybe $13 Canadian dollars. Typical Victoria evening stop, rather than rush hour, probably $10 on the meter.

 

So for a solo - worthwhile as a return trip but very marginal one-way as US$8 may actually be as much as cab fare! For a couple? Cab takes you anywhere you want, not just the official stop, and you're quids in already with just two bums on seats.

 

Without luggage to worry about, why not share a cab with some fellow pax you got to know onboard? Vic has a handful of 6-seater Vans, mostly 4-seater Prius like here, but even with lavish tips and 4 people you'd be looking at maybe US$5each total for a round-trip from pier to shuttle drop or nearby!

Visa/MC accepted in all cabs, at interbank rates, even if your card is a 'bad' one with a Foreign Transaction Fee the odds of any negotiated price for US greenbacks to the cabbie are going to be much worse value, just use a card! Same at anywhere in Vic which offers to take USD, there are a few - unless they display the exchange rate and it proves no padding, never let them charge you in USD cash or credit 'for your convenience'; best rate I've ever seen on these conversions is 4% shift in their favour, worst CC FTF 2.5%.

[ctrinco]

On 1/8/2023 at 6:25 PM, martincath said:

Port arrival and departure times are very relevant to your question OP - if this is an evening stop, your options drop dramatically as Victoria pretty much rolls up the sidewalks soon after 5pm... Back in TheBeforeTimes Butchart stayed open much later in the evenings - if they have sorted out staffing they might do so again this summer, so an evening tour there might be on the cards...

 

Otherwise some touristy shops stay open, especially around the inner harbour, but otherwise it's beer, food, beer, walking around the pretty downtown with many illuminated buildings, beer, a carriage ride if that's your thing, beer, 'afternoon' tea for a ridiculous cost in the Fairmont Empress until as late as 9pm some summers, or beer. Did I mention the beer? Victoria does have the distinction of not just one but two different brewpubs offering traditional naturally-carbonated and served at the correct cellar temperature 'Real Ales' - both Swans and Spinnakers operate dual cellars, so the poor unfortunates fooled into believing beer tastes best at barely-above-freezing can drink with civilized folks who know it should be consumed at ~10C/50F in the same establishment.

 

 

 

 

 

You mention beer....and beer...and beer.  Are there local breweries within walking distance from port?  Pubs that offer local beer?

[martincath]

14 minutes ago, ctrinco said:

 

You mention beer....and beer...and beer.  Are there local breweries within walking distance from port?  Pubs that offer local beer?

Swans is the closest brewpub to the pier - from there, Spinnakers is another ~15mins over the bridge, Hoynes a bit closer to Swans (shorter opening hours there though, as it is a brewery with tasting room rather than real pub) and you'll find various local brews especially from Phillips and Driftwood, two of the largest breweries on the Island, well-represented on the tap lists at most local bars. Walking map to the mentioned spots from the pier. Walking up Government, as almost everyone does if they leave the ship and head to the Inner Harbour area, you should easily spot Bard & Banker and Sticky Wicket - Garrick's Head is off to one side, less obvious to non-locals, so it's going to have a few less random tourists. All of these are 'cold and fizzy' pubs though, Swan's & Spinnakers are the only reliable spots for cask-conditioned hand-pulled ales.

[ctrinco]

Awesome!  Thanks for the tips martincath!! 

 

The hubby loves beer, so it sounds like a perfect way to spend a few hours during our nighttime port.

 

Much appreciated!