We Skipped the Excursion in Victoria… and It Ended Up Being the Best Part of Our Cruise

Sometimes ships arrive in Victoria late in the day, stay a few hours, and then leave before you really get a chance to experience much of the city.

That can make Victoria feel like a quick required stop instead of a real port day.

Because this was a repositioning cruise on Norwegian Bliss, we docked in Victoria around midday and stayed until the next morning. That gave us something incredibly valuable:

Time.

Time to get off the ship without rushing. Time to visit The Butchart Gardens on our own. Time to come back downtown. Time to find a couple pubs. Time to walk back to the ship at our own pace.

That longer port day is what made this plan work.

The cruise excursion would have been easy, but it also would have been more expensive and more structured.

For some people, that is exactly what they want. There is value in having transportation arranged, a set schedule, and the comfort of being on an official cruise line tour.

But for this particular stop, with this much time in port, we felt comfortable doing it on our own.

So instead of booking the excursion, we kept it simple:

We took an Uber to The Butchart Gardens, bought our tickets ourselves, explored at our own pace, then took an Uber back to downtown Victoria.

No bus schedule. No group timeline. No need to head straight back to the ship when the gardens were done.

That flexibility ended up being the best part.

Here is exactly what we did:

• Grabbed an Uber from the port
• Rode about 25–30 minutes to The Butchart Gardens
• Purchased tickets on arrival
• Explored at our own pace
• Ubered back to downtown Victoria afterward

The transportation was simple, and buying tickets at the gardens was easy.

Our DIY cost:

• Round-trip Uber: $92 USD including tip
• Garden tickets: about $120 USD total for four people
• Total: about $212 USD for all four of us

For comparison, the cruise line excursion would have been roughly $600 USD for four people.

That is a difference of almost $400.

And we still got to see the gardens, spend the amount of time that felt right for us, and continue exploring Victoria afterward.

The savings were great, but the bigger win was the flexibility.

The gardens were larger than we realized, incredibly well maintained, and easy to explore without a guide. There was enough variety that it did not feel like we were just walking through the same type of flowers over and over again.

The whole place felt peaceful, colorful, and surprisingly easy to enjoy even if you are not someone who normally plans trips around gardens.

We spent about two hours there, and that felt like a really good amount of time for us.

Long enough to see a lot. Not so long that it started to feel repetitive. Flexible enough that we could move at our own pace.

That is one of the biggest benefits of doing it yourself. We were not trying to keep up with a group, and we were not waiting around for a bus full of people to be ready.

If we had booked the excursion, there is a good chance the day would have been mostly about transportation, the gardens, and then returning to the ship.

Instead, once we were finished at The Butchart Gardens, we took an Uber back to downtown Victoria and kept the day going.

We found a couple local pubs, grabbed drinks, wandered around, and enjoyed the city a little more before walking back to the ship.

Because priorities.

That extra part of the day made the whole stop feel more complete. The gardens were beautiful, but downtown Victoria gave the day more personality.

It turned the port stop into more than just one attraction.

And that is exactly why we often like doing some ports on our own when the timing and logistics make sense.

If your ship only stops in Victoria for a few hours in the evening, this may not be the right plan. You would need to factor in travel time, garden hours, ticket timing, and how comfortable you are getting back to the ship on your own.

But if your ship has a longer stop, or especially an overnight like we did, Victoria becomes a much easier port to explore independently.

For us, the combination was perfect:

• Long port time
• Easy Uber transportation
• Significant savings compared with the cruise excursion
• Time to explore The Butchart Gardens
• Time to enjoy downtown Victoria afterward
• Easy walk back to the ship

That is what made the day feel relaxed instead of rushed.

Would we visit The Butchart Gardens again on a longer Victoria port day?

Yes.

Would we book the cruise excursion next time?

Probably not, assuming we had similar timing and felt comfortable with transportation again.

Would we do the same basic plan?

Yes — Uber to the gardens, explore on our own, Uber back downtown, find food or drinks, and walk back to the ship.

For us, that was the sweet spot.

It was cheaper, more flexible, and gave us a better overall day than we likely would have had by simply booking the standard excursion and heading back to the ship.

Before deciding whether to do The Butchart Gardens on your own, check:

• What time your ship arrives
• What time your ship leaves
• Whether you are in port overnight
• Current garden hours
• Transportation availability
• Your comfort level with DIY port days
• How much buffer time you want before all-aboard

We are comfortable doing some ports on our own, but we still think through the logistics carefully.

A DIY port day is not automatically better just because it is cheaper. It is better when the timing, transportation, cost, and experience all make sense.

For this stop, they did.