Alaskan Cruise: Victoria BC

Posted on July 10, 2016 By Joe Hardenbrook

All aboard time from Ketchikan was 12:45pm. We wouldn’t dock at our next port, Victoria BC, until around 7:15pm the next day. So, it felt like an extra “sea day.”

Again, we were itching to get off the ship as soon as Victoria came into view. Canadian immigration authorities slightly delayed our docking. We were off the ship just after 7:30pm and we had to be back on at 11:30pm. Another short port. Too bad, because Victoria was lovely!

Welcome to Canada

This was the only port where we didn’t have a set excursion. We only had plans to walk around and eat at a restaurant. We did book a shuttle through Princess Cruises to take us downtown and back. You can also walk, but it’s about 20 minutes and we didn’t want to spare the time.

The shuttle dropped us off at The Empress Hotel.

The Empress Hotel

Then we made our way over to the British Columbia parliament buildings.

BC Parliament Buildings

After that, we walked along the Inner Harbour.

Inner Harbour

Feeling hungry, we took the shuttle driver’s advice and headed down Government Street, passing lots of charming pubs. They say Victoria is the most “English” city in Canada and it definitely feels like it.

At Bastion Square, we walked down the pedestrian alley to Wharf Street. There we found The Docks restaurant. The menu looked good, so we went in and had dinner–a lovely piece of fresh wild-caught salmon along with lobster mashed potatoes. Yum!

Following dinner, we retraced our steps along Government Street, did some souvenir shopping, and went back over to the BC parliament buildings to see them all lit up at night.

BC Parliament Buildings

We made our way to the shuttle bus and back on board the ship at just after 11pm.

Our visit to Victoria BC was much too short. A lot of people on the ship booked the Butchart Gardens excursion. I’m glad we did not since we were short on time. Victoria is a lovely city and we plan on returning someday to do some more exploring.

Here is the Princess Patter for the day: