3426 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

^Amazing. Imagine the stories he'll tell everyone for the rest of his life: "Victoria--huh. Just a big parking lot and a few houses, don't bother". 

 

I bet he went to London and said, "Eh, we flew into Heathrow, got out of the terminal and walked around for half an hour, all we saw was a bunch of parking lots and a BP station. Waste of time"

[Rob Randall]

Victoria needs a fast, cheap shuttle to Downtown but I'm also glad to hear about the people that rented a limo and had a great time around the city. 

 

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

 

Actually, if you take the train to Venice, the exit from the terminal is one of the most spectacular city entrances. You walk out of the terminal and bam, it's all in front of you. In fact if I were to rate amazing city entrances I would say:

 

1. Victoria BC from the Coho

2. Venice by train

3. Cologne by train

[aastra]

It's been ~25 years but I remember a million-dollar cruise past the city to the ferry terminal (coming from Greece), and the terminal itself was standard-issue craptastic. From the ferry it was maybe 10-15 minutes walk to get into the thick of what everybody comes to see.

[aastra]

 

It's been ~25 years...

 

Which means I must have been four years old at the time.

[Mike K.]

You think those are sad stories? Imagine being the guy who spent his Victoria vacation in Sidney, never to think to venture down the 17.

[aastra]

Check out this thread from the beginning...

[Mike K.]

Funny, since I’m heading to Sidney today.

I mean Victoria.

I mean Sidney.

I don’t know.

[Victoria Watcher]

^Amazing. Imagine the stories he'll tell everyone for the rest of his life: "Victoria--huh. Just a big parking lot and a few houses, don't bother".

I bet he went to London and said, "Eh, we flew into Heathrow, got out of the terminal and walked around for half an hour, all we saw was a bunch of parking lots and a BP station. Waste of time"

unless there is a way to have cruise staff talk to every single passenger about victoria some small percentage will have no idea. but also note that some passengers might think that there is very little to see since some cruise ships only allocate 4 hours to the stop. and that might be on purpose.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 May 2019 - 05:54 AM.

[Mike K.]

But if you think about it, only a tiny percentage of people feel inclined to write these reviews, so if they're popping up with regularity that means there could be hundreds of individuals on each sailing of 2,000-4,000 passengers who actually believe Victoria is all they immediately glean from the ship.

 

The short stays are also problematic, in that they sell Victoria short, but that's by design. In all the other ports the cruise ship companies have an ownership stake in retail outlets. In Victoria they don't.

[Victoria Watcher]

I doubt the numbers are that high. highly sociable people are less likely to write reviews and are also more likely to talk to others on-board about victoria prior to arrival too.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 May 2019 - 06:23 AM.

[Mike K.]

Do we have stats on how many people disembark the vessels when docked in Victoria? I recall reading that quite a high percentage remain on deck.

[Victoria Watcher]

yes it’s fairly high. many you can’t blame. it’s always the last day of their cruise and they might be tired. plus the added burden here of passports etc.

also some percentage of Alaska cruisers do not have a valid passport so can’t get off.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 May 2019 - 07:11 AM.

[mbjj]

I have a friend in Texas who came on a cruise ship with his family and they stopped here for those few hours in the evening. They went downtown and had a drink and he said they were really impressed with the Inner Harbour area. I was pretty sure there were some maps down by the ships showing the way to town. Sometimes in the evening we'll sit down there and watch people get off. An awful lot of people do get off, too bad they have such a short time.

 

Last night we went to the Maya exhibit at the museum. I was very impressed with the entire display, esp. when we were told that the Guatemalan government had changed after the arrangements had been made and they'd threatened to cancel the whole thing. The museum ended up getting a lot of things that weren't planned for and were really scrambling at the last minute to get it completed in time. Really well done and beautifully presented. We may go back again as there's so much to see.

[aastra]

 

...unless there is a way to have cruise staff talk to every single passenger about victoria some small percentage will have no idea...

 

Some small percentage will always have no idea, for sure. But all of that comes back to how the city promotes itself. Cruise ships are full of promotional info, videos to watch, etc. I mean, come on. You're on a short cruise. If even a small percentage of the passengers are inclined to miss the last stop because they've had their fill of one-note tourist trap towns -- and Victoria would surely be more of the same -- then something isn't right. It's especially ludicrous when you consider how different Victoria is from all of the other stops on the trip. Somewhere in the reviews there's somebody who says she enjoyed Victoria more than Alaska. Imagine if she hadn't bothered to get off.

[tedward]

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?

 

There are lots of large signs showing the way downtown via multiple routes with estimated walking times for each to downtown. You would have to a special kind of misanthropic moron to think the terminal and adjacent couple of blocks were the whole of Victoria.

Edited by tedward, 22 May 2019 - 07:30 AM.

[aastra]

Somebody who gets it:

 

 

Amazing. Astounding. The only excellent stop on this cruise. Beautiful scenery and architecture. Tons of interesting local businesses. Awesome food. Everything about this place was magical.

 

*****

 

Another one:

 

 

The very best port. Took a taxi in to town for 1/2 the price of the bus. We walked the docks where there was a wooden boat show going on. We fell into line with the tourists and enjoyed everything. We hopped a water taxi for a tour and got off at Fisherman's Warf, which was wonderful. Headed back to the Empress Hotel and then back to the ship. I will go back to Victoria soon.

Edited by aastra, 22 May 2019 - 07:37 AM.

[lanforod]

I'm taking a cruise in the fall that stops here. I won't bother getting off, of course; I'd rather have more time to enjoy the ship with less folks on board as I live here. Another category there.

[aastra]

Nobody cares what Ogden Point looks like, right? Keep in mind, these people have just come from the various Alaskan towns (let's just say they don't look like Monaco):

 

 

Horrible stop. I love Victoria and looked forward to stopping here. This shouldn't even be considered a port stop. Arrived around 7pm and left around 11pm on the last night of the cruise. Docked in ugly industrial area, a half hour walk from anything worth seeing or pay the cost of a cab to take in what at 8pm on a Monday night? A gift shop at the end of the dock reminded me of a Chevron quick stop. Dark, dingy and very rest areaish. Very disappointing. This is NOT a viable port given these conditions.

[aastra]

 

What an awesome surprise! We had no excursions.. No plans.. No expectations.. We got off the ship and asked a volunteer where to start. She suggested Fisherman's Wharf. So we went .. Holy Crap.. Seals, Boats, Water taxi's, and the most polite people I have ever met. Fisherman's Wharf is a gem.. Even the people that own their houseboats are as friendly as you could ever hope for.. We took a water taxi to the inner harbor. Had Poutine out of a food truck!! Yummy!! Got on the double decker bus for a bit.. Then decided to walk around town.. Its rich with culture and history.. When we go back.. Ill make sure to do more.. It was just a blast to relax!!

 

****

 

Such a pretty town. Take the big bus hop on hop off. There's more to the town than you think.

 

So what do they think? And why do they think it?

[aastra]

 Victoria was my favorite port! I wish we would've gotten more time there, and during the day. We were there from 6pm-midnight. We took a tour bus from the dock to the city for just $10 USD/person roundtrip. We walked around the city, saw the Empress Hotel, Parliament building, and went into some shops. There are beautiful flowers all over the city!! This was the least commercialized/touristy port. I would consider coming back just to Victoria and doing more sightseeing/historical stuff! I saw that there are day trips from Seattle to Victoria via boat.

 

***

 

These folks made it as far as Fisherman's Wharf:

 

 

It is a long walk to the little dock. Most of the businesses are closed. Transportation is expensive. The little park above the dock is nice.

 

***

 

 

We just went out the the duty free store to say we had been in Victoria. Did enjoy the artists' booth. Beautiful and creative stuff

 

***

 

 

It was really hot out, and without an excursion there wasn't much to do. We visited the Craigdarroch Castle and it was interesting, but then we spent the rest of our time waiting in line at a restaurant.