Victoria is the Last Port Stop on Royal Princess

Our cruise on the Royal Princess was coming near the end, but we still had one stop left and it was one of my favorite cities—Victoria, Canada. I had been three times prior and looked forward to this trip.

When I first found out we were doing this cruise I immediately thought about Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Empress hotel. It was something I had never gotten around to doing in Victoria. Unfortunately, the ship wasn’t getting into the British Columbia city until nighttime so that wasn’t going to work.

I was intrigued when the public relations rep for The Empress told me, since there were so many cruise ships coming in later, the hotel had added a Sunset Sips program for those who had wanted Afternoon Tea. I agreed that we would come try it.

We had many hours to go before our scheduled 9:00 pm arrival in Victoria. I wanted to take it easy, so I didn’t overdo it during the day.

The International Café became the standard for our breakfast, and we didn’t change that on this last sea day. We loved the specialty coffees and, since we were on the ship for the day, a few little quiches and pastries were more than enough to begin the day.

After breakfast we went to play bingo. As far as we knew, it was the only bingo offered on the cruise. It was fun. We didn’t win anything, though.

 We headed to the Concerto dining room for the English Pub lunch after Bingo. While the menu wasn’t one of my favorites on the cruise, Brittany enjoyed the Bangers and Mash.

 We skipped dessert with lunch because we wanted to go to the Gelato Shop for one last premium dessert. Those were hard to give up! They are so good.

After a little time in The Enclave thermal suite in the Lotus Spa, it was then back to the cabin for a nap and some packing. It was the night we had to leave our luggage outside to be picked up for the morning debarkation.

 We showered and got ready for the Farewell Dinner in the dining room. Although the waiters didn’t carry the Baked Alaska as I had seen on nearly every other cruise, they did sing a farewell song to us while we ate. 

Brittany started with the Alaskan Cocktail with shrimp, scallop and cod in a citrus mayonnaise. For a main course she had the Slow Roasted Prime Rib.

I did the Spinach Ricotta Ravioli and Princess Love Boat Dream (layered chocolate-raspberry and vanilla-raspberry cream on a shortbread cookie cut into a heart) for dessert. I also had a latte to keep me awake for the night out

As dinner was ending, there was a magnificent sunset we could see from the table. I moved closer to get a better look. Sunsets had become the time I was winding down from the exhaustion of the day. This time it was our day that was restful preparing for the night.

We went up to the cabin to get jackets and see the end of the sunset. The announcement came shortly after we had docked in Victoria, and we could get off.

The entrance into the country of Canada was quick. Outside there were buses waiting to take us downtown. The lines were long by the time we got down there, but the wait wasn’t too long.

 The bus was accessible and there was a spot just behind the driver for me to park my scooter in. I had to wait for the rest of the bus to get on and off before me so he could get me hooked in and taken out, but we weren’t in a major rush.

 

The first stop was right in front of the Fairmont Empress hotel. It looked even more spectacular in the dark night than the daytime I had previously seen it in. It was just the beginning as the inside was just as opulent.

We made our way to the Lobby Bar. They had our reservation and welcomed us to our seats by the window, where we could see the city lit up. We checked out the menu and it was quite unusual, but everything sounded like it would be good.

To pay homage to their famous Afternoon Tea, the cocktails in the Sunset Sip menu are poured from a teapot at the table. They are referred to as “Teapot Temptations Secret Libations.” Most of them also have a tea connection

I had the Lady Whistledown, with Botanist Gin, cucumber, chamomile tea syrup, and prosecco. Brittany ordered the Daisy Ricky, a concoction of citrus punch, tea infused Bacardi Rum, Coconut Ciroc vodka, lime, mint, and simple syrup.

The food was also served afternoon tea style in tiered trays. There was an assortment of sweet and savory. We decided to go with mostly the food, with a little dessert because we needed a variety. They were all delicious and large enough to share:

Warm White Cheddar & Chive Biscuit

Vegan Mushroom Pâté

Prime Rib Stuff Yorkshire Pudding

Grilled Avocado & Tomato Tartine

Chocolate Profiterole

 We had to be back on the ship by midnight, so we left soon after we finished eating to take a short walk around Victoria and pick up some souvenirs. Then we got back on the bus and onto the ship. It was a too short trip to Canada.

  As tired as we were, it was hard to fall asleep after all the excitement and a little bit of sadness that we’d be leaving our first Princess Cruise early in the morning. >

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own.  

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