3426 replies to this topic

[sdwright.vic]

Why is the snark justified? How on earth would parking enforcement know the situation?

Really? A huge friggin fire within the same area.

Guess it is true, common sense ain't that common anymore. 😞

[vortoozo]

they did say the tickets will be cancelled BUT you have to go down to city hall and speak them them and ask to get it cancelled... a tourist isn't so likely to do that

 

Maybe if they don't have internet access. Anyone can request a parking ticket review online: https://www.victoria...cket-review.htm

[Victoria Watcher]

the wilms’ will be fine ticket or not. nobody expected a fire for their anniversary. the article makes out like there is blame.

[aastra]

This is why I complain about tourism honchos and their inordinate promotion of comparably irrelevant things out in the remotest reaches of the CRD:

 

 

Mount Tolmie:

This was an amazing treat! After a lifetime of exploring this area somehow this particular location escaped me until now.

from TripAdvisor.com...

[G-Man]

Mt Tolmie is pretty amazing. I still think it should have a restaurant up there. And a gift shop with Tolmie Mole Hats. They don't exist but the tourists wouldn't know.

[Jackerbie]

Mt Tolmie is pretty amazing. I still think it should have a restaurant up there. And a gift shop with Tolmie Mole Hats. They don't exist but the tourists wouldn't know.

 

Making a "Mount" out a molehill, eh?

[Nparker]

I think the mascot should be a mole marmot that sings jazz named Mel Tolmé*.

 

* I appreciate that most VV-ers are probably too young to get the joke

Edited by Nparker, 10 May 2019 - 09:07 PM.

[sdwright.vic]

REALLY... you think VV'ers are to young to understand that joke?

Doesn't the sjw and bicycle lobby complain that we are all just a bunch of old white men?

[jonny]

Well the joke's on Corey Burger 'cause I'm a few years younger than him.

[DustMagnet]

I think the mascot should be a mole marmot that sings jazz named Mel Tolmé*.

 

* I appreciate that most VV-ers are probably too young to get the joke

 

I do wonder what percentage remember Night Court...

[kxl]

Are there not tour bus companies that include Mt Tolmie in their itineraries?

The #4 bus also used to have “Mt Tolmie” on their signs but you’d still have to walk a bit to the entrance and then climb up yourself for the view.

[Victoria Watcher]

cvs goes there.

 

the gray line hop on-off does not.

[aastra]

Has anyone here ever checked out the reviews on cruisecritic.com? Suffice it to say, many cruise visitors seem to think the Ogden Point area IS Victoria. I'm not joking:

 

This port was boring....the ship docks in the middle of a neighborhood. We went walking for several blocks in 2 different directions. Never saw anything other than houses and apts. It was only there for 4 hours from 730p to 1130p. We went back on board after we found nothing within walking distance

 

We got to this port around 7pm. Was told via announcement that we were waiting for customs to clear. I never heard any announcement subsequently that we were cleared to leave the ship... It was nothing at this port besides a small gift shop and people standing around waiting to show you around for a ridiculous price. We stopped by the gift shop, purchased a few items and got back on the ship. If you wanted to explore Victoria Canada, you definately had to leave the port.

 

Meanwhile, some cruise visitors actually do get it. They get what Victoria really is and how it's nothing like the other stops on the itinerary. For example:

 

GET OFF THE BOAT.. GO IN TO TOWN... TAKE YOUR CAMERA !!!! We just took a taxi downtown, walked around, had a few drinks.. and enjoyed the town. I didn't think I would need my camera.. Boy was I wrong...

 

Victoria was beautiful, had a vibrant downtown and a ton of places to eat. Bad part: the port doesn't offer a free shuttle, so shell out $13 or walk 30 minutes. Good part: Once you get downtown, you'll forget about all of the terrible jewelry shops from your previous ports. Friendly Canadians, comic books stores, restaurants, boutique clothing stores and some great bars. Wish we could have been there longer - the port stop was only for 4 hours.

 

I highly recommend renting a limo, we did four people $300.00 for 5 hours and well worth it. He brought us to a place where the Royals stay and saw an amazing Evergreen that you could sit under. He also brought us to a beautiful park that had a redwood tree with Peacocks in it. He brought us to beautiful beaches showed us around the city where we sat with our wine in the back and enjoyed!!!

 

Beautiful, clean, safe city to explore by foot. The dining options are quite varied, excellent and offer something for everyone. Night life was abundant. I wish we would have come to port earlier for tea time, but it wasn't to be. Still, a lovely short taxi drive to downtown, shopping, dinner at Tibetan Kitchen (amazing lamb curry!!!) and a 30 minute stroll back to the ship led us to architecturally impressive areas and through a very clean safe neighborhood.

 

 

Best port of all for just walking and shopping. We walked to Fisherman's Wharf (10 minutes) then took a water taxi to Chinatown and worked our way back towards ship. Nice way to see the city and its waterfront. Flowers are spectacular, shops were classy and restaurants looked amazing. Not junky tourist stuff like the other ports.

 

Imagine that. Real stuff, real stores, real restaurants. Stuff to see and do. Architecture. City sites. Almost as if it were a real city or something. The guy's admission that he didn't think there would be anything worth taking a picture of is a severe indictment of Victoria's tourism industry. This is why Victoria MUST start promoting itself, for real. Start showing pictures of Victoria in the frickin' marketing materials, for crying out loud.

 

Anyone who ever said Ogden Point needed to make a better impression was absolutely 100% correct. If you give the impression that a port is just a formality stop then many people will assume it's just a formality stop. If the promotional materials are de-emphasizing the city then many people will assume the city has nothing to emphasize. Every one-horse town in the world will promote itself proudly and excessively. Exhibits A, B, and C: every town on the Alaskan run promotes itself proudly and excessively. Meanwhile, Victoria promotes wilderness in Port Renfrew and Goldstream, which nobody would have time to see even if they wanted to.

 

Seriously, Victoria needs to take the clamps off and start promoting itself in a genuine way. The whole "pretend the city doesn't exist" marketing strategy is cuckoo bananas. I wonder, how many people rent limos and tour around Ketchikan or Juneau? It occurs to me that this may be WHY Victoria's marketing is emphasizing distant nature instead of the city itself... because they're trying to frame Victoria in the same terms as those other stops on the Alaskan run. Nature! Wilderness! If so, it's nuts. Dead on arrival. EMPHASIZE VICTORIA AND ITS UNIQUENESS.

Edited by aastra, 21 May 2019 - 06:36 PM.

[aastra]

I enjoyed the Alaskan towns for what they were, but obviously the tourist trap factor is through the proverbial roof with all the souvenir shops and the jewellery stores (link for those who don't know what I'm referring to).

 

Let me put it this way: if I had walked around a corner in one of those Alaskan towns and found the inner harbour scene, or Government Street, or Chinatown, or lower Johnson Street, or Beacon Hill Park, or Fisherman's Wharf, or the Hudson market etc. I would surely have been dumbstruck from the sheer delight of such an unexpected discovery. I can't imagine how anyone would feel if they skipped getting off in Victoria and then learned a lot about the city later on. It would be like going to Disneyland and missing one of the big rides simply because you didn't know it existed. You were there. But you missed it. Why didn't somebody tell me?

Edited by aastra, 21 May 2019 - 07:02 PM.

[LJ]

They need to have a huge map up at Ogden point showing where downtown is, how far it is, and what you can see there. Or do they have something like that?

[aastra]

No idea. But now you're making me think a 3D-printed model of the harbour/downtown area would make for a great introduction. Where's Mike K. and his dogged determination when you need it?

[aastra]

I mean, come on. Just consider this:

 

 

What a waste of a port and a day. We walked to the end of the breakwater and back. Not a very nice port, and kind of a head scratcher as to why it's even a destination for this cruise.

 

No kidding! You didn't even get off the terminal property!

[aastra]

Imagine getting off the ferry in Venice and assuming the terminal was it, nothing more to see.

[aastra]

But... don't you want to see the forest 50 miles out of town?

 

 

the flowers at the Empress were just about the happiest flowers I think I've ever seen. had what seemed like a more authentic (not to mention delicious) Japanese lunch than normal at Gozen. the weather changed several times in just a few hours. got some prince Charles tea at murchie's. I could just stand in front of the empress for hours and watch the harbor.

[aastra]

It almost breaks your heart:

 

 

I was disappointment that we were there during the evening when we felt it would have been a waste of money to go anywhere as it was dark.