Victoria

Friday, April 26, 2024

Our "Wine Country and Pacific Northwest" cruise was booked as an eleven-day itinerary. However it could have also been booked as two separate cruises...the first for seven days then followed by a four day segment. That means that for some of our fellow passengers, Victoria was the last port day of their 7-day cruise. Any cruise that originates from a U.S. port must stop at a foreign port and Victoria filled that requirement. Our first visit to Victoria was on our Alaska cruise in 2022 and our time in port then was only from 8 pm until midnight. At that time, with the short late evening hours AND Canada's strict covid requirements, we chose to stay onboard the ship. All we saw of Victoria was what we could see from the upper deck of the Eurodam.

This time we were scheduled to arrive at 2:00 pm and be docked until 11 pm...plenty of time to get off and see a little bit of the city. But with the afternoon arrival time, we still had all morning to occupy ourselves on the Zaandam.

At 10 am, the four of us attended the presentation "A City on the Sea' in the main theater. Through slides and commentary by CD Erin, we got a behind-the-scenes look at what life onboard the Zaandam is like. At the end, crew and staff from the various departments onboard assembled on the stage. 

I knew the buffet would be a zoo with everyone trying to grab lunch before getting off in Victoria. An express lunch was being offered in the main dining room from noon until 1 pm so we chose to sit down and let them wait on us. Only a couple of choices for appetizers and main courses were offered, but it was a much less frenzied experience. We were seated by a large window at the back of the ship so we had the added benefit of enjoying the view as the Zaandam sailed into Victoria.

View of downtown Victoria from the upper deck of the Zaandam.

My orthopedic doctor has suggested that riding a stationary bike might be a good way to exercise my knee so I had been spending some time in the gym working out on a recumbent bike. I wasn't sure, but I "thought" I could ride a real bike and had emailed Victoria Bike Rentals and Tours which had a location right on the dock next to the cruise ship terminal. I had requested bikes for the four of us and although I didn't put any money down, they assured me they would have the bikes waiting when we arrived.

I wasn't so sure how I was going to handle a long bike ride and when Michelle voiced concern over the plan I decided we should scrap the idea. A shuttle to downtown Victoria was available from the pier for $15/person with return trips running throughout the day. Without a tour booked, that seemed to be the best "Plan B" option although I worried about my ability to do much walking once we reached the downtown area.

As we were headed towards the shuttle pick-up, I noticed where the bike rentals were being handled. Although I was pretty sure the answer would be "no", we walked over in hopes that they might have e-bikes. I think both Michelle and I could have made that work. But I was correct. No e-bikes.

While we were visiting with the bike rental guy he suggested we do a pedi-cab tour with his boss. It turns out the boss, Ryan, was who had emailed me when I inquired about the bike rental. He had a 4-person pedi-cab which meant we could go together and he quoted us a price of $85 per person. I really wanted to see Victoria and the pedi-cab would let us see far more than I knew my legs could travel. The bike had electric assist and Ryan assured us that pulling four (some larger than average) adults wouldn't be a problem. And off we went.

Another option to see Victoria.

Victoria is a charming city and Ryan took us by some of the historic homes, through Beacon Hill Park, fisherman's wharf, Chinatown and all through the downtown area. 

The homes we saw were modest in size, but according to Ryan, not modest in price! All were charming and we saw several that had "decorated" their trees!

A little fairy house at the base of the tree.

Arms and legs had been attached to this tree!

And just as strange (although not quite so morbid) this tree was adorned with cups and saucers.

Monkey Puzzle Tree. We saw many of these growing in South America.

The weather was cool, but sunny...a perfect day for the pedi-cab ride. Our next destination was Beacon Hill Park where Ryan stopped and gave us a chance to walk around a bit. So beautiful with all of the spring flowers in bloom!

Ryan had a bag of nuts and let us stop to feed the peacocks.

Beacon Hill Park

The world's tallest totem pole in Beacon Hill Park.

Bob photographing the flowers.

And look who was hiding in the flowers!

Our next destination was Fisherman's Wharf where Ryan stopped so we could explore a bit. There were some restaurants and also quite a few houseboats. It reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle!

Huntingdon Manor Hotel

Leaving the wharf, Ryan took us through the nearby downtown area and then on to Chinatown. A brief stop here gave us a chance to walk down Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest commercial street in North America. (It is less than 3 feet wide at its narrowest point.)

Parliament Building

Fairmont Empress Hotel

Chinatown

Fan Tan Alley...the narrowest commercial street in North America.

At the end of the tour, Ryan gave us the choice of being dropped off downtown to explore more or be taken back to the ship. Jon and Michelle (well mostly Jon) wanted to stay downtown longer. And Michelle really wanted to stop at Starbucks to pick up a souvenir mug so they got off with a plan of taking a cab or Uber back to the ship later. Ryan drove Bob and I back to the pier and dropped us off right at the ship so I had very little walking. In the end, I think the pedi-cab tour was a perfect choice for our group. 

Here you can see "our private deck" on the Zaandam.

Bob and I had dinner on the ship and afterwards he decided he wanted to do a little more exploring on shore. He walked to the lighthouse at the end of the long breakwater while I watched and took some photos with my long zoom camera. To get a better view, I went to the front of deck 6 that has access to an outdoor deck below the bridge. The Koningsdam was also in port with us.

A zoomed in view of Bob walking on the breakwater.

Bob's view...the Zaandam next to the bigger Koningsdam.

My view of the Koningsdam.

Me taking a picture of Bob taking a picture of the lighthouse!

Bob's lighthouse photo.

I stood out on the forward deck for some time taking in the view of the cloud covered mountains and watching as the Norwegian Bliss pulled into port. 

Bob and others watching the NCL Bliss.

Bob's view of the Bliss from the lighthouse.

Comedian, Jose Sarduy, was doing a single show on the Main Stage at 9:00 pm and I encouraged Jon and Michelle to go with us. Many of his jokes were ones we had heard in February but I still enjoyed the show. Jose has a unique background and uses his life experiences as a basis for his comedy. He was deported from Cuba because of his father's political prisoner status, served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and now is a flight instructor in the Air Force Reserves!