Butchart Gardens

[KansasScrapper]

Is this worth doing? Also, is it better to do on your own or through the cruise line? We are there from 7pm - midnight so it is a late port. Any info is helpful. Plus, if we were to do it on our own, what is the best way to get to it?

[DaveOKC]

We did this on our own, but given the limited time you have, I would only do a ship's tour. It is a beautiful experience, one not to be missed IMO. Check on how long you will have in the park, as it is a decent drive out there ( at least 30 minutes as I recall) and back and you need to consider closing time (see below):

 

May 1/09 - June 14/09 6:00pm

June 15/09 - Sept 5/09 10:00pm

September 6—15/09 9:00pm

[KansasScrapper]

We did this on our own, but given the limited time you have, I would only do a ship's tour. It is a beautiful experience, one not to be missed IMO. Check on how long you will have in the park, as it is a decent drive out there ( at least 30 minutes as I recall) and back and you need to consider closing time.

 

Are they only open for the cruise ships then maybe? It is listed as 3.5 hrs. They are cgarging $69pp, but it is only $28 to get into the Gardens. Just trying to figure out if it is worth $41pp to go with Princess vs our own. There are two of us so it is $82. Any thoughts?? Not sure how much tansportation is out there and back. Their web site says it is 30 minutes one way.

[rubytue]

We did this on our own, but given the limited time you have, I would only do a ship's tour. It is a beautiful experience, one not to be missed IMO. Check on how long you will have in the park, as it is a decent drive out there ( at least 30 minutes as I recall) and back and you need to consider closing time (see below):

 

May 1/09 - June 14/09 6:00pm

June 15/09 - Sept 5/09 10:00pm

September 6—15/09 9:00pm

 

Except, note the fine print on the page

** Additional late open hours: May 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 and Jun 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13.

Gates close at 9pm with grounds open until 10pm.

Coincidentally, those dates are when the cruise ships are in town.

[ooulio]

I would go there. I took my mom on our last trip together there. It was beautiful there. It is so relaxing and peaceful. Wasn't going to be able to squeeze in the time. So glad I did. She died shortly after. She lived in Seattle. I live in Rhode island.

[KansasScrapper]

How did you get there???? And how much was it??

[WebStir4]

You can take a shuttle from the pier and then take Cruise Victoria or Grey Lines. You cannot take a regular bus because at a certain point the regular buses don't run in the evening and you may not be able to get back to the ship on time. You can take a chance on taking a cab and hopefully the cab will wait for you. In Europe, my cab did not wait for us, but at a certain point we got into another cab, but we had the time. But, what if? If you get into Victoria late you may not be able to get to Buchart Gardens if you don't go through the cruise line. Is it worth planning to pay $7 for the shuttle and then $41 to $50 for transportation and admission. The cruise charges $69 a person. What if you get into port late and there is no transportation to Buchart Gardens. I don't usually take an excursion through the cruise lines, but in this case it is not worth saving about $19 a person and maybe missing out. If you book through the cruise ship, you will get to the Gardens even if your ship gets into port late. You always need to have a pro and con list to make an intelligent final decision.

[kslmp]

Is this worth doing? Also, is it better to do on your own or through the cruise line? We are there from 7pm - midnight so it is a late port. Any info is helpful. Plus, if we were to do it on our own, what is the best way to get to it?

 

 

This is our first Alaskan cruise and I am going with my Mother and a friend from work. Both of them are avid gardners (I kill cactus, but enjoy looking) and we would not consider passing this up. Due to the time in port being so short, I did not even consider traveling on our own since it is so far away from the port. It is worth the little extra money to insure that the boat will be there when we get back. My only concern is limiting my Mother on purchases while there since the airlines impose a weight limit!:)

[Putterdude]

The Gardens are open on evenings that ships are in town, are illuminated and are really quite beautiful. People come from all over the world to see them so if you do like beautiful gardens then it would be a shame to be this close and not see them. CVS Cruise Victoria also offer a tour to the Gardens but as they operate the shuttle service from the terminal they can't take you directly to the Gardens and compete against ships' excursions but they can bring you back to the ship. Here is their website link if you care to follow up with them:

http://www.cvscruisevictoria.com/

[NancyIL]

We are also in port from 7 p.m. until midnight, and I booked the ship's tour to Butchart Gardens. I've been there before, and it's definitely worth the visit.

[erin_cruisers]

DW & I have visited the Gardens a few years ago, and have to say it was an amazing place. :)

However, it took us an entire day to see it.

And we would still go back again, because we do want to

see more.

If you only have a few hours in the evening know that you

will only see a portion of all that there is.

And given the limited time, I would recommend the ship excursion so that you do not have to fret about the time,

and/or missing the ship.

 

The evening time is supposed to be quite something with the special lighting they've installed. They also had fireworks on some evenings as I recall.

[stevecmo]

Wendy - Where in KS are you?

[KansasScrapper]

We are considered in the "north land", but on the KS side. Are you in the KC area???

[Brooks24]

Wendy, I see you are in Kansas. Not much "Cruising" around here. In June, my wife and I are flying to Vancouver and driving over to Victoria to spend an entire day at the garden. We have heard it is spectaular. Our son is flying from So. Cal to join us, then we will drive down to Seattle to fly to Fairbanks for a 6 day land tour through Alaska, then board RCCL for a SB cruise. This is our first cruise.

We are in Overland Park, Kansas.