Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

We are planning on doing the excursion to Butchart Gardens when the
Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria. Does anyone know how far it is
from the ship and if we get to see any of the town while driving there?
My beloved keeps asking me questions AFTER I hang up with Princess. LOL.

Marcia

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

Depending on the traffic the approx travel time should be about 40 minutes.
The trip usually starts going through town but will soon get on the highway
for the remaining portion

"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
We are planning on doing the excursion to Butchart Gardens when the
Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria. Does anyone know how far it is from
the ship and if we get to see any of the town while driving there? My
beloved keeps asking me questions AFTER I hang up with Princess. LOL.

Marcia

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

steve wrote:
Depending on the traffic the approx travel time should be about 40
minutes. The trip usually starts going through town but will soon get on
the highway for the remaining portion

"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
We are planning on doing the excursion to Butchart Gardens when the
Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria. Does anyone know how far it is
from the ship and if we get to see any of the town while driving
there? My beloved keeps asking me questions AFTER I hang up with
Princess. LOL.

Marcia


Thanks Steve. We just wanted to be able to see something, since we're
not going to be there very long. When we book a shore excursion, the
price should include the admission, right?

Marcia

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:58:59 -0800, "Marcia R."
wrote:

steve wrote:
Depending on the traffic the approx travel time should be about 40
minutes. The trip usually starts going through town but will soon get on
the highway for the remaining portion

"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
We are planning on doing the excursion to Butchart Gardens when the
Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria. Does anyone know how far it is
from the ship and if we get to see any of the town while driving
there? My beloved keeps asking me questions AFTER I hang up with
Princess. LOL.

Marcia


Thanks Steve. We just wanted to be able to see something, since we're
not going to be there very long. When we book a shore excursion, the
price should include the admission, right?

Marcia
If you book through the cruise line, yes. If you go into town you can
catch a bus to Butchart Gardens
Joseph Coulter
Joseph Coulter Cruises and Vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

John Sisker wrote:
"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
steve wrote:
Depending on the traffic the approx travel time should be about 40
minutes. The trip usually starts going through town but will soon get
on the highway for the remaining portion

"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
We are planning on doing the excursion to Butchart Gardens when the
Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria. Does anyone know how far it is
from the ship and if we get to see any of the town while driving
there? My beloved keeps asking me questions AFTER I hang up with
Princess. LOL.

Marcia


Thanks Steve. We just wanted to be able to see something, since we're
not going to be there very long. When we book a shore excursion, the
price should include the admission, right?

Marcia



Marcia,

If you arranged this shore excursion through the cruise line, it will
include admission. Likewise, depending on the actual time of this
excursion, they may drop you off in town on the way back, as an
alternative to going directly back to the ship. Of course, you then need
to get your own transportation back to the ship after exploring the
town. If I recall correctly, I think the cab fare was around $7.00 -
Canadian money.

In town, we were dropped off right by the Government Buildings, and
close to a really good restaurant called Milestones, overlooking the
harbor and Capital Building. That, and our shore excursion itself, made
this one memorable trip.

John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com / www.tinplatedesign.com
Facebook/Twitter/Blog/Flickr/MyPage


We're not in port very long, so we are arranging through Princess and
coming back with the tour. I don't want to miss the ship. Thanks for
all the info.

Any tips on what to see or do at the gardens, or is it all just there.

Marcia

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

Marcia R. wrote:


We're not in port very long, so we are arranging through Princess and
coming back with the tour. I don't want to miss the ship. Thanks for
all the info.

Any tips on what to see or do at the gardens, or is it all just there.

Marcia

Any trip to the Butchart should include a stop at the Butterfly Garden,
which is along the way.

http://www.butterflygardens.com/

We rented a car and drove to Butchart, as is was far cheaper than using
the Princess tour (for 5 people) and were able to do the butterfly tour
too, which the Princess tour didn't go to.

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

John Sisker wrote:
"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
steve wrote:
Depending on the traffic the approx travel time should be about 40
minutes. The trip usually starts going through town but will soon get
on the highway for the remaining portion

"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
We are planning on doing the excursion to Butchart Gardens when the
Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria. Does anyone know how far it is
from the ship and if we get to see any of the town while driving
there? My beloved keeps asking me questions AFTER I hang up with
Princess. LOL.

Marcia


Thanks Steve. We just wanted to be able to see something, since we're
not going to be there very long. When we book a shore excursion, the
price should include the admission, right?

Marcia



Marcia,

If you arranged this shore excursion through the cruise line, it will
include admission. Likewise, depending on the actual time of this
excursion, they may drop you off in town on the way back, as an
alternative to going directly back to the ship. Of course, you then need
to get your own transportation back to the ship after exploring the
town. If I recall correctly, I think the cab fare was around $7.00 -
Canadian money.

In town, we were dropped off right by the Government Buildings, and
close to a really good restaurant called Milestones, overlooking the
harbor and Capital Building. That, and our shore excursion itself, made
this one memorable trip.

John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com / www.tinplatedesign.com
Facebook/Twitter/Blog/Flickr/MyPage


If we decide to just take the shuttle from the ship into town, is there
anything to do there besides have dinner? We want to get off the ship,
but since we're not there very long I'm kind of stumped. I've been
reading reviews of the gardens...pro and con...and it is kind of
expensive. I'd only feel comfortable going that far in the time we have
with a shore excursion booked through the ship. This will be on a
Saturday night.

Thanks,
Marcia

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

If we decide to just take the shuttle from the ship into town, is there
anything to do there besides have dinner? *We want to get off the ship,
but since we're not there very long I'm kind of stumped. *I've been
reading reviews of the gardens...pro and con...and it is kind of
expensive. *I'd only feel comfortable going that far in the time we have
* with a shore excursion booked through the ship. *This will be on a
Saturday night.

Thanks,
Marcia

Hi, Marcia, haven't we visited about Butchart Gardens in the past? I
can't recall if it was you, but I know I was gushing to someone in the
past few months.

Anyway, I am not a "gotta see the gardens" person when we travel--my
husband is the one who adores gardens, so my appreciation of them has
been acquired over many years of garden visits! (And I do have
whatever is the opposite of a green thumb--no plants in our home.
Pitiful.) Nonetheless, I thought Butchart was amazing--well worth the
money. Like anything, YMMV...I simply have a hard time understanding
how there could be "con" opinions, and I'm a person who could easily
relate to a "con" garden opinion!

On Sat. nights in July/Aug (roughly), there are fireworks at the
gardens...spectacular ones (very different, old-fashioned). Don't know
if that coincides with your trip.

But...if you skipped the gardens, would you suffer and beat yourself
up over missing that "must see?!" Not at all. In fact, for a first
visit, spending all of your port time wandering the town is a
perfectly wonderful plan. "Charming" is probably the adjective you've
read ad nauseum, but it fits. Victoria is quaint, has lots of
character, is situated in an incredibly scenic setting--all in all, a
totally delightful place. What will you do? Stroll, window shop, shop,
eat, stroll some more, sit and look out over the harbour, etc. If you
arrive in time to space it out, you could take tea at The Empress and
then have a late dinner. Fabulous bookstore, Munro's, if you like that
sort of thing. No doubt there'll be live music in a variety of venues
on a Sat. night. Could rent bikes and see a little more. (We did that
once...or was it mopeds? I can't recall, but easy and fun.)

Good luck making your decision! You can't go wrong either way.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

On Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:35:25 -0800, "Marcia R."
wrote:

If we decide to just take the shuttle from the ship into town, is there
anything to do there besides have dinner? We want to get off the ship,
but since we're not there very long I'm kind of stumped. I've been
reading reviews of the gardens...pro and con...and it is kind of
expensive. I'd only feel comfortable going that far in the time we have
with a shore excursion booked through the ship. This will be on a
Saturday night.

It's a pleasant (but long) walk from the dock through a residential
neighborhood to the town center.

You might want to take a taxi back - not that it's unsafe, but to save
time.

Victoria and Butchart Gardens
 

Jack Hamilton wrote:
On Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:35:25 -0800, "Marcia R."
wrote:

If we decide to just take the shuttle from the ship into town, is there
anything to do there besides have dinner? We want to get off the ship,
but since we're not there very long I'm kind of stumped. I've been
reading reviews of the gardens...pro and con...and it is kind of
expensive. I'd only feel comfortable going that far in the time we have
with a shore excursion booked through the ship. This will be on a
Saturday night.

It's a pleasant (but long) walk from the dock through a residential
neighborhood to the town center.

You might want to take a taxi back - not that it's unsafe, but to save
time.

Princess offers a shuttle that runs between the pier and the
town...whatever that means.

Marcia