OCD Planner's ~ Jewel ~ 8 Night Pacific NW Vancouver to LA w/San Francisco Overnight

[ace1zoe2]

Great review and pictures of the Jewel we sail on her in November :)

 

 

Overall I think she was still in great shape. You will have a wonderful time!

 

Thanks for taking time to comment.

 

Cindy

 

 

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[floatel_lvr]

Overall I think she was still in great shape. You will have a wonderful time!

 

Thanks for taking time to comment.

 

Cindy

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Thanks for your review Cindy. We agree that the Jewel is in great shape. We also feel her crew is stellar.

[ace1zoe2]

Thanks for your review Cindy. We agree that the Jewel is in great shape. We also feel her crew is stellar.

 

 

Hey Rich & Patti! It was great meeting you on the ship. We enjoyed our shared excursion in SF!

 

I think Jewel has an awesome crew. From the always accessible cruise director Dennis, to the very personable & entertaining Captain Thor, right down to our stateroom attendant Ricardo they just couldn't have done more to make our vacation any better!

 

Hope to see you guys again on a future cruise!

 

Cindy

 

 

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[koolforkatz]

Loving your review. We were on this sailing too, i think right beside you. Ricardo was great!

 

Loved the Jewel and her amazing crew. One of our best cruises ever.

[mauimary]

Cindy ....Enjoying reading your review. You should be a travel writer! Turns out we were the stateroom to the left of you in 9660. We thought this was a wonderful cruise and for us the weather was pretty much what we had expected and packed for.. Looking forward to reading as you continue to add to your review.

Mary

[ace1zoe2]

Loving your review. We were on this sailing too, i think right beside you. Ricardo was great!

 

 

 

Loved the Jewel and her amazing crew. One of our best cruises ever.

 

 

 

Cindy ....Enjoying reading your review. You should be a travel writer! Turns out we were the stateroom to the left of you in 9660. We thought this was a wonderful cruise and for us the weather was pretty much what we had expected and packed for.. Looking forward to reading as you continue to add to your review.

 

Mary

 

 

Well hello neighbors! Thank you both for following along & taking time to post.

 

I love itineraries like this one which are out of the ordinary & almost every day is a port day.

 

I'm glad you both enjoyed your trip as much as we did.

 

Have a great day!

Cindy

 

 

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[ace1zoe2]

Skyline shots of Vancouver as we headed out to sea. Canada Place is to the right in the first one.

 

 

 

Canada Place to the left in this one. It is the building with all the sails.

 

 

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

Coming up on Lion's Gate Bridge as we were leaving Vancouver:

 

 

 

The masses on deck for the sail-under:

 

 

 

We just barely squeezed under! I'm sure there was plenty of room but from below it looked really close.

 

 

Lots of folks watching us sail out and probably wishing that they were onboard with us.

 

[ace1zoe2]

Our first port stop was in Victoria, BC which was a new port for us. I think we were the first ones off the ship.

 

 

 

We had reserved a car thru Budget rental which was probably walkable, however it was drizzling rain and windy so we elected to take a $12CAN cab ride. We arrived at the rental office in less than 10 minutes and we're on the road within an additional 15 minutes.

 

We headed out to Butchart Gardens hoping to beat the tour buses. I had pre-purchased our tickets online for $31.45CAN ($26US) per person a few months ago. The good thing about the tickets, if you don't use them (get rained out, port cancelled, etc.) they are fully refundable.

 

After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at the gardens about 8:50am.

 

Let me stop here and say this: I love flowers! I love botanical gardens! If you are not a fan of flora and fauna you may want to skip the next few posts because I will be visually overloading you with pictures of nature at its finest.

 

 

Since they did not open until 9am, they asked us to just sit in the car at the entrance for 10 minutes and they would then open the gates. We parked right up front and headed in to the gardens. It was heaven on earth! The rain had stopped, the wind died down and their was no one in the park but us!

 

 

The Butchart Garden is more than 55 acres of a 130 acre estate. It was the brainchild of Jennie Butchart back in 1904. The area was a former limestone quarry and she was looking for a way to beautify it... I would say she did an excellent job.

 

By the 1920's over 50,000 people were visiting each year. Today more than a million people walk thru the gates each year. The property is still owned and operated by the Butchart Family. In 2004, after 100 years of blooms, the property was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

 

Using the park map they handed us, we followed the suggested routes and were able to see every part of the park and to get some great photos. About the last 10 minutes of our tour the gardens started to get crowded. I was glad that we got an early start and were done before the masses arrived.

 

Near the entrance area:

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

I also want to point out that all of these photos are straight out of the camera. There has been no photoshopping, no enhancing, no brightening the colors, etc. The colors of the plants were bright and vivid and the garden was truly a wonderful experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

The highlight of the garden for me was the Sunken Garden. After taking the stairs down you follow a path to the left which is lined with flowers and trees. Continuing on you come to the Quarry Lake which features the Ross Fountain. The fountain was designed and installed by the Butchart's grandson, Ian Ross, for the 60th anniversary of the garden. The water shots 70 feet in to the air and is illuminated at night.

 

 

Continuing on the path you pass the bog garden on your left.

 

 

As you continue up the path you are presented with this phenomenal site:

 

 

It was just beautiful! I'm not sure why I didn't take the time to walk up those steps and get pictures from the top... what was I thinking!

 

 

Following the path as it slopes upward you are greeted with blooms all around.

 

 

Since it was misty rain earlier in the morning, it made for some great photography with rain drops on the flower petals.

 

[ace1zoe2]

The Children's Pavilion and Rose Carousel are next. The carousel has 30 hand-carved wooden animals and two chariots.

 

 

Just beyond the carousel are two wooden totem poles which overlook the fireworks field. On Saturdays during the summer there is a fireworks show that was designed by the great-grandson of the Butcharts.

 

 

 

 

Continuing past the original Dairy Barn which is now a Pavilion, you are greeted by giant sized dahlias.

 

 

Some of these flowers were larger than my hand and almost as big as my head!

 

[ace1zoe2]

There are several specimen trees in the garden that are 100 or more years old.

 

 

 

The next area is the Rose Garden which features arches leading to a fountain and wishing well. Along the way there are many tea roses marked with their name, country of origin and the year that they were registered with the American Rose Society. Since it was mid-September the roses were not at their peak blooming season which is during July & August.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2015 by ace1zoe2

[ace1zoe2]

Past the fountain to the left was a path that led to the Japanese Garden which was begun in 1906. These gardens feature different green plants and trees with various bridges, streams and bamboo arches. It is a very serene area with little surprises along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

Japanese Gardens continued...

 

 

 

 

These two are from earlier areas in the gardens. Notice the size of the flowers compared to my hand. Also the design of the stairs and handrails are made to look like trees. Very neat.

 

 

[mauimary]

Beautiful photos Of the gardens. Loved them all. So nice that you were able to get out and arrive before the tour busses. Looks like you had the gardens pretty much to yourself!

[ace1zoe2]

Beautiful photos Of the gardens. Loved them all. So nice that you were able to get out and arrive before the tour busses. Looks like you had the gardens pretty much to yourself!

 

 

 

Thank you Mary!

 

It was wonderful being there by ourselves. It made for fabulous pictures.

 

I hope to get the rest of them posted tonight & then move on to Fisgard Lighthouse.

 

Cindy

 

 

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[cruzinlady1947]

Cindy, just got back from my cruise to Canada/New England on Oct. 3. Now I can cruise along with you on this cruise. I love your reviews and was happy when I found this. Will help with my cruise withdrawal. Pictures and commentary are great so far. Can't wait for the rest of your review.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this!

 

 

Gwen :)

[ace1zoe2]

Cindy, just got back from my cruise to Canada/New England on Oct. 3. Now I can cruise along with you on this cruise. I love your reviews and was happy when I found this. Will help with my cruise withdrawal. Pictures and commentary are great so far. Can't wait for the rest of your review.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this!

 

 

Gwen :)

 

 

Thanks Gwen!

 

I bet you had a wonderful time on your Canada cruise. That is still in my top 3 cruises of all time.

 

Thanks for following along and taking time to post. I'd love to hear your thoughts along the way.

 

Cindy

[ace1zoe2]

The Star Pond was originally constructed for Mr. Butchart's ornamental ducks:

 

 

Just past the pond you enter the Italian Garden thru one of two arched entrances. Nearby there is a statue of Mercury. In the center of the Garden is a cross-shaped pond surrounded by flowers and in the center of the pond is a fountain of a child holding a fish. This area was originally the family tennis court prior to 1926.

 

 

 

There is a Gelato shop in this area without door seating and these amazing window box planters.

 

 

The building that the planters are on was at one time home to a bowling alley. Just beyond the garden is this gorgeous display.

 

 

[ace1zoe2]

The back area where the Italian Garden is located:

 

 

The Show Greenhouse has some wonderful plants and blooms such as huge orchids, black calla lilies and more. It is located in the Piazza.

 

 

 

 

The front of the residence which now houses a restaurant.

 

 

Back of the residence:

 

Edited October 6, 2015 by ace1zoe2

[koolforkatz]

Beautiful pictures. I had no idea how pretty it was there. Thanks for sharing :)

[rednancy1]

My DH and I are on the Jewel right now for a b2b Pacific Coastal.

 

We have enjoyed your review. :)

[ace1zoe2]

The final area is Waterwheel Square and it is basically just past where we started our tour. It has a beautiful pond with lilypads.

 

 

 

There is a giant chess board:

 

 

The areas are all so clean, even the trash receptacles are covered in blooming plants.

 

 

We (ok, well I) loved Butchart Gardens, I think hubby enjoyed seeing the big grin on my face at the turn of each corner.

 

It is the cleanest, most well laid out, gorgeous botanical garden that I have visited to date. I loved that there weren't placards posted every where with botanical names on them - it was just like an unbelievable huge landscaped yard. I could have spent the entire day here enjoying the different garden "rooms" and the peaceful serenity. At least with us arriving early it was peaceful for us.

 

We probably spent about 1.5 hours here and were able to see all of the gardens and the shops. I could imagine it being a frustrating day for me personally if we had arrived after all the tour buses got there.

 

Finally... that is it for Butchart Gardens. I can't promise that you will not see anymore flowers along the way... just saying' :)

 

Up next a quick trip to Fisgard Lighthouse and Fort Rodd Hill before we head back to the city of Victoria to explore.

[ace1zoe2]

Beautiful pictures. I had no idea how pretty it was there. Thanks for sharing :)

 

 

You are so welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures.

 

 

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