Before I go on, I’d like to share some observations on large cruise ships, which I take from my travel diary:
I find cruising odd. There are no public trash cans. The staff takes care of everything. When you finish eating, you walk away from the dirty dishes; the staff will pick them up. I discovered that some people make cruising their hobby; it appears to be the only way this group takes vacations. It’s all kinds of people – fat, thin, young, old, disabled, active, with and without kids. They’re mostly very chatty and friendly. Cruises have activities every waking hour. In addition to the obvious – movies and music – there are towel animal folding competitions (I’m not making this up), game shows, lectures, and auctions. Many bars have live entertainment. The ship had 2 jewelry stores but no “convenience” store: I couldn’t buy a pencil, or a candy bar, or a bottle of water. Or, per my roommate, a hearing aid battery. Except for in your room, or outside, there is no silence; and it’s kept air-conditioned a little too cool for my taste. Now, on to Victoria.
Our last stop on the Wade in the Water cruise was Victoria, B.C. I like Victoria; my husband and I have visited it several times, the last in 2016, making our own reservations. There are some very nice bed and breakfasts there. Our option on this trip, of course, was one of several bus tours – only one, because the ship was scheduled to leave at 1:30PM! Cruise tours do not leave much time for contemplation. There was a bus tour option to the fabulous Butchart Gardens, which is a solid half hour north of Victoria; I doubt they had time to view the whole thing. Last time my husband and I toured it, we took most of a day.
All my photos from this stop are in my gallery Victoria, which I encourage you to check out; I took many more photos than I’m sharing here.
