Hopefully, Live From the MS Amsterdam May 17 - June 1, 2014

[Alberta Quilter]

Still in Victoria but wanted to tell you about something we did this afternoon, that may be of interest to future cruisers to Victoria, particularly if you have a short stop. There is a lovely little garden, called Abkhazi Garden, that is about a 15 minute drive from downtown.

 

It is about an acre. Entry fee is by donation. There is a little tea house where one can have afternoon tea or a light lunch. I believe it's open only from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Walking the garden takes about 45 minutes; with tea, probably an hour and a half.

 

With our two taxi rides, our donation and tea, it came to about $60. To do a day trip from our hotel to Butchart Gardens, it would have cost us over $110 and would have taken several hours with travel time.

 

Just wanted to let others know there is another option to Butchart Gardens, for Victoria.

[NextOne]

Clipper - thanks for all your posts. Now I'm even MORE excited about our July cruise, if that's possible!

Safe travels home!

Edi

[jaspersmycat]

For the free cruise:

 

Have your TA contact HAL. They will give the TA the $ value and it can be applied to any cruise not just a Mexican or Carribean. I used it for a partial Panama Canal cruise.

[RuthC]

Still in Victoria but wanted to tell you about something we did this afternoon, that may be of interest to future cruisers to Victoria, particularly if you have a short stop. There is a lovely little garden, called Abkhazi Garden, that is about a 15 minute drive from downtown.

Thank you for the idea! I have a long port stop in Victoria, and a short shore excursion booked. I am pretty sure I can do this, too. It sounds perfect! I've added it to the list of things I don't want to forget.

[Susie51]

Thank you for sharing the garden info.

[SunLakesBob]

AQ - did Holland offer full service laundry/dry cleaning specials while on Board?

[Alberta Quilter]

Yes they did. I'll look it up when I get home tonight with the details. I was going to mention that to you guys when I got around to my wrap-up.

 

We purchased the unlimited laundry but found it would have been cheaper, for us, to go by the bag. The pricing hasn't changed from recent years in Alaska. $98 for unlimited, $20 by the bag. A few days before the cruise ended, we got a notice of a price reduction on the "by the bag" laundry - I just can't remember what the reduced price was.

 

For us, we sent out laundry 4 times in total which would have cost $80 at full "by the bag" pricing. For that, we paid $98. We were unable to change it, even though we inquired about it (they hadn't yet charged our account for the unlimited laundry).

 

It would be different for you if you were to send out laundry every day, or had more than two people in your cabin. We will either have to take less clothing (not a bad thing, anyway), or really figure out how much we would use the laundry service.

[Alberta Quilter]

Still in Victoria but wanted to tell you about something we did this afternoon, that may be of interest to future cruisers to Victoria, particularly if you have a short stop. There is a lovely little garden, called Abkhazi Garden, that is about a 15 minute drive from downtown.

 

It is about an acre. Entry fee is by donation. There is a little tea house where one can have afternoon tea or a light lunch. I believe it's open only from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Walking the garden takes about 45 minutes; with tea, probably an hour and a half.

 

With our two taxi rides, our donation and tea, it came to about $60. To do a day trip from our hotel to Butchart Gardens, it would have cost us over $110 and would have taken several hours with travel time.

 

Just wanted to let others know there is another option to Butchart Gardens, for Victoria.

 

 

Here is the link to the website for Abkhazi Garden: http://blog.conservancy.bc.ca/properties/vancouver-island-region/abkhazi-garden/visiting-abkhazi-garden/

[Alberta Quilter]

Thank you for the idea! I have a long port stop in Victoria, and a short shore excursion booked. I am pretty sure I can do this, too. It sounds perfect! I've added it to the list of things I don't want to forget.

 

 

I'm glad you found this of interest. We found it to be quite enjoyable.

 

But, you get in at 1:00 pm, the garden closes at 5 pm, last entrance at 4 pm. When and how long is your tour? Check the link I provided in my prior post. I hope you can fit it in...

[RuthC]

But, you get in at 1:00 pm, the garden closes at 5 pm, last entrance at 4 pm. When and how long is your tour? Check the link I provided in my prior post. I hope you can fit it in...

Good thought.

I'm taking the trolley tour, and I'm pretty sure it's an afternoon tour (doesn't the ship arrive very late morning?). Maybe I can't get both in.

 

Thanks for the head's up on this. I will check.

[SunLakesBob]

Good thought.

I'm taking the trolley tour, and I'm pretty sure it's an afternoon tour (doesn't the ship arrive very late morning?). Maybe I can't get both in.

 

Thanks for the head's up on this. I will check.

 

We are scheduled to arrive at 1pm leave at 11pm

[Alberta Quilter]

We are scheduled to arrive at 1pm leave at 11pm

 

That's the schedule we had, too.

 

I hope, Ruth, that you can fit it in but don't rush about to try to get it in. Unless you can change the timing of your trolley tour...

 

You can always save the garden for another visit to Victoria.

[SunLakesBob]

AQ, did you "do" the high tea at the gardens? Do you know how it compares to the tea at the Empress? We have done the Empress 3 times. Looking for alternatives

[vbmom87]

For those contemplating laundry. my DH and I really got our money's worth with the $98 laundry package back in 2011 on this itinerary. If memory serves me right we sent out 1-2 bags almost every day until the last day or two. We did try to pack light on this trip, so the unlimited laundry was a good investment for us. We began our vacation with a 4 day stay in Washington State so as soon as we got on the ship we sent off a few bags of laundry. Our room stewards left us two bags in our closet rather than the usual one bag.

[Alberta Quilter]

AQ, did you "do" the high tea at the gardens? Do you know how it compares to the tea at the Empress? We have done the Empress 3 times. Looking for alternatives

 

We did not do high tea at the Garden. However, because Mom was still feeling poorly, we did stop for tea for her. For $9.50, she got a huge pot of tea, two scones, cream and jam. It was a nice pick-me-up for her.

 

I've never done high tea at the Empress so cannot comment on that. I would say this is a whole lot cheaper, though! I've also heard that one can do a sort of high tea at Murchie's Tea Shoppe, which is also less expensive than the Empress.

[Alberta Quilter]

For those contemplating laundry. my DH and I really got our money's worth with the $98 laundry package back in 2011 on this itinerary. If memory serves me right we sent out 1-2 bags almost every day until the last day or two. We did try to pack light on this trip, so the unlimited laundry was a good investment for us. We began our vacation with a 4 day stay in Washington State so as soon as we got on the ship we sent off a few bags of laundry. Our room stewards left us two bags in our closet rather than the usual one bag.

 

Funny thing, only once did we get a new laundry bag from the room stewards. I had to call the other times for a laundry bag. I wonder if it had been provided when they delivered the laundry, if we would have used the service more often. We used it frequently on our last two cruises which is why I never gave it a second thought for this cruise.

[Susie51]

If you request cold water wash, will they do that?

[Alberta Quilter]

If you request cold water wash, will they do that?

 

I don't know for sure but my guess is no. I purposely did not send anything that needed special instructions.

[vbmom87]

Funny thing, only once did we get a new laundry bag from the room stewards. I had to call the other times for a laundry bag. I wonder if it had been provided when they delivered the laundry, if we would have used the service more often. We used it frequently on our last two cruises which is why I never gave it a second thought for this cruise.

 

We just asked our stewards to supply us with two bags in the closet and every day they were left for us. I think I was just so excited to have someone doing my laundry that it was high on my priority list. :D

 

If you request cold water wash, will they do that?

 

I have read posts of people who said they have requested cold water washes. However, I don't think it is something you can be 100% assured of. We were very happy with the laundry service. I will say the whites took on a dingy look, so they either use cheap soap, or they mix colors. However, when I got home I did my laundry "magic" and they were as white as before. My biggest concern was shrinkage, but I am happy to say nothing shrunk. :-)

Edited June 4, 2014 by vbmom87

[smokeysmum]

This is out of order, I know, but I had to share this news with you all!

 

I won a cruise at Bingo, this morning! What a pleasant way to end our cruise!

 

DM will sacrifice herself to go back to the Caribbean with me (she's not overly fond of the Caribbean).

 

Another trip to plan.... What a first world problem!!

 

Hi, What a wonderful way to finish your cruise!

 

Glad to hear Mum is feeling better. We had a safe flight back to UK. So glad to have shared the Kodiak tour with you both, and having you as a jigsaw partner (except for the stinker that you started!)

Janet and Brian UK

[Alberta Quilter]

Hi, What a wonderful way to finish your cruise!

 

Glad to hear Mum is feeling better. We had a safe flight back to UK. So glad to have shared the Kodiak tour with you both, and having you as a jigsaw partner (except for the stinker that you started!)

Janet and Brian UK

 

Stinker?! It wasn't that bad. At least, I finished it before leaving on Saturday! Did you see it or did it get put away quickly?

 

Glad you both made it home okay, safe and sound.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

Mary

 

did you drive to the Washington parks. I am thinging of Doing MT Rainier.. I don't like to drive in strange cities. My frind is short and will not be able to use nost cars. So I am looking into daily bus tours.

 

Thanks

Mary

[vbmom87]

Hi

 

Mary

 

did you drive to the Washington parks. I am thinging of Doing MT Rainier.. I don't like to drive in strange cities. My frind is short and will not be able to use nost cars. So I am looking into daily bus tours.

 

Thanks

Mary

 

We did Mount Rainier and spent a couple days there before our August 2001 cruise. It was awesome. However, I am not sure how many trails will be open in June. You could go on the Mt. Rainier forum on Trip Advisor for some current info. We LOVED Mt. Rainier. We wished we had stayed an extra day there rather the time spent in Seattle. We liked Seattle, just not as much as Mt. Rainier.

 

Driving to Mt. Rainier was not bad, but we did have a GPS with us. The worst part of the drive is in Seattle. We could not wait to turn the car in.

Edited June 4, 2014 by vbmom87

[Watson's aunt]

Thank you Mary

[carri cruiser]

AQ, did you "do" the high tea at the gardens? Do you know how it compares to the tea at the Empress? We have done the Empress 3 times. Looking for alternatives

 

A nice high tea can be had at the " James Bay Tea House" they have great scones with clotted cream, or you can order high tea or even lunch, I think.

James Bay is just a couple of blocks up from the wax museum, an easy walk, I suggest you google it!! It is not very costly....