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

If you’ve cruised Alaska itineraries before, you’ve probably seen this:

• Arrive in Victoria in the evening
• Spend a few hours in port
• Leave before you really get a feel for the city

That’s the norm.

But on this repositioning cruise, we docked around midday and didn’t leave until the next morning.

That extra time gave us flexibility — and the confidence to skip the structured cruise excursion.

We looked at the excursion options to visit The Butchart Gardens…

…and quickly realized:

• It was significantly more expensive
• It followed a fixed schedule
• It didn’t leave much room to explore beyond the gardens

So instead, we kept it simple:

Uber + buy tickets ourselves

No stress. No rigid timeline.

This ended up being one of the easiest DIY port days we’ve done.

Here’s exactly what we did:

• Grabbed an Uber from the port
• Rode about 25–30 minutes to the gardens
• Purchased tickets on arrival
• Explored at our own pace

Total Uber cost (round trip): $92 USD including tip
Garden tickets: about $120 USD total (priced in CAD)

Total DIY cost: about $212 USD for all 4 of us

For comparison, the cruise line excursion would have been roughly $600 USD for 4 people.

That’s a pretty significant difference — and we still got the full experience.

But honestly, the bigger win wasn’t just the cost…

…it was the flexibility.

We’ve seen a lot of “top attractions” that don’t quite live up to the hype.

This wasn’t one of them.

The gardens were:

• Bigger than expected
• Incredibly well maintained
• Easy to navigate without a guide
• Full of variety

We spent about 2 hours there, which felt like the sweet spot:

• Enough time to see everything
• Not so long that it felt repetitive

If we had booked through the cruise, we would’ve been locked into their schedule instead of our own.

This is where doing it yourself really shines.

After leaving the gardens, we didn’t rush back to the ship.

Instead:

• Ubered back to downtown Victoria
• Found a couple local pubs
• Grabbed drinks and relaxed
• Walked back toward the ship at our own pace

That part — the unplanned, flexible, just-enjoying-it stretch — is something you usually don’t get with an excursion.

And honestly, it’s what made the whole day feel complete.

Would we do Butchart Gardens again?
Yes — especially on a longer port day.

Would we book the cruise excursion next time?
Probably not.

Would we do it this exact same way again?
100%.

Uber + tickets + flexibility = the sweet spot.

Not every cruise stop in Victoria is the same.

Some ships only dock for a few hours in the evening.

In that case, this exact plan may not work.

But if you have:

• A longer port day
• Or an overnight stay

This is one of the best ways to take advantage of it.

This is one of those moments that really sums up how we like to travel:

Not just looking for the cheapest option
Not just booking whatever the cruise offers

But finding the best overall experience for the value.

And in this case, skipping the excursion ended up being the best decision we made.