Trevor

I grew up in Victoria and love going back every year! 1. My suggestion to alleviate the walk to the Inner Harbour is to do the shorter walk to Fisherman's Wharf. It's a really fun spot with restaurants on the docks and houseboats. Barb's Place Fish and Chips is the original and there are lots of others now too. From there you can get the Harbour Ferry, I don't remember the cost but it's a fun boat trip to the Inner Harbour and then you are right in the action. https://victoriaharbourferry.com/water-taxi/ That being said, the walk is not bad if you choose just to go for it. 2. Victoria relies on tourism so anywhere downtown will accept US cash. 3. Butchart Garden is spectacular but if you are not interested in it, it is not close to the port and would be a long bus ride so for sure stick with your original idea and pass. If you do end up having bad weather, as another suggested, the Museum is world class, Royal BC Museum. Let me know if you have any other Victoria questions.

We were on at the end of January and Adventure Ocean staff picked up at 6:00 I believe. Both our kids loved it. Just make sure you let your waiter know you are using the Adventure Ocean pick up.

Every cruise I have done some extra but nothing crazy. I think a rating of 10 on the post cruise survey is also very valuable for them and to let them know how much you appreciated them and that you won't forget them on the survey is another way to show appreciation that they seem to be very happy about.

I think you can ask for an extra room key card for your room which would probably mitigate confusion....

The pack n play they have is a bit smaller and it was tight squeeze for us with the smaller one. I would not suggest a full size unless you're in a larger room.

I think any excursion or transportation option on a bus does not require car seats. We have one still in a car seat and one in a booster and I am having the same dilemma just not with the added bulk of twins in full size seats. Good luck! As I think more about this, It would be a really valuable service for Royal to have a few child seats/booster seats available for use while in ports. I am guessing there could be liability issues but it would be so nice!

Is Air2Sea worth considering for a day of booking? They may be able to assist in the event of a hiccup.

Sounds like what we did a couple of years ago. I don't remember the exact amount of time the walk was but I want to say 35 minutes? It was uphill a bit but nothing too crazy. I just printed google directions before we went because I knew I wouldn't have my phone. Try to check the opening time. We ended up there about a half hour before they opened and just hung around the grounds with very large resident chickens! We bought a bottle of rum there and just had it in the backpack, not a big deal and I don't recall seeing it for sale anywhere else. We asked for directions from the Distillery to Queens Staircase and they all said we would need a taxi. Based on my prior research I ignored this and we walked! It was great and not too crazy either. We really enjoyed both the distillery and Queens staircase. I feel like we were done by about 12:30-1:00 pm and could have gone back to the ship for lunch but we decided to taxi over to check out Atlantis. I feel like we would not have been disappointed if we skipped Atlantis. We then did the Straw Market and would definitely skip this next time. Hope this helps. A lot of people will say they feel unsafe in Nassau but we didn't feel unsafe once and walked around lots that day!

Still has not happened but we have booked Hotel Morrison for our night prior. The price was right and it looks new enough!

Vancouver tends to be one way itineraries while Seattle has the round trip option. I would choose based on ship and itinerary more that Seattle vs. Vancouver as both cities are great.

My current booking for January 2020 is through Costco and I have had full access to Cruise Planner since we booked and have not made final payment yet. They should be able to resove this quickly enough to purchase the Key before any price changes!

Thank You, we will have our two boys aged 3 and 6 and the entire afternoon the day before the cruise to kill. Ice Cream will have to happen!

Have not stayed yet but I booked Hotel Morrison for January. Looks new and clean and should do the trick. Close to the port and was cheaper than a lot of the options others have suggested on here. Needing 4 rooms and possibly with varying budgets in the group it might be a good option?

The only other thing that almost made me consider getting the Key is that we have a tendered port which could be a long line. I still decided it's not worth it for our family. Especially with 4 of us in one cabin having to purchase it.

I would just book it in whichever direction has the best flight/transportation prices or timing if not extending the trip on either side.

Based on my experience last year, those prices are great deals even it didn't include transportation! I am jealous and would probably splurge on the Fairmont for both location and a bit of luxury! Edit: I did not read that very well. Per person makes a big difference. I would continue to look on your own. Sorry I got little excited there!

Is it possible you had prepaid gratuities on the first reservation and they didn't add it to the new one? I have also noticed when I reprice the taxes and fees have gone up but they continue to charge them from the original booking so it is slightly lower than what I find doing a mock booking! These are the only two reasons I can think of and I doubt it would account for $600 so congrats!

I have not booked a hotel through RC but did cruise out of Seattle last August. The hotel options are not that close to the pier. We ended up settling on Marriott Waterfront and really enjoyed it. They have a shuttle sign up when you check in and it was definitely a popular pre cruise hotel given how busy that shuttle was! I think it was $15 per person but I don't remember. We were a large enough group that it made more sense to book a private transfer. I would highly recommend Marriott Waterfront, I did manage to book a gov rate at about $250 I think.... Book early too! Also if you happen to be driving to Seattle, I found really cheap parking close by to the hotel by using the Clipper parking lot (passenger Ferry between Victoria and Seattle).

If you don't mind coming back after and letting me know how it went with 4 that would be awesome? Our kids will have to share the pullout couch but realistically that is better than trying to have our 3 year old on the Pullman bunk. Another reason for the switch as it just wouldn't be safe. Last cruise he just slept with us as we weren't comfortable with him on the bunk.

Thanks for the replies, I just switched our inside cabin for a panoramic ocean view. I got the kind of pie shaped one - cabin 1864 so it has a huge wall of windows! Won't have to worry about kids being on the balcony alone this way! Excited about the view as our last 2 cruises were inside rooms!

Hi, Hoping for some advice. With today's Kids Sail Free,we have a pretty good savings! We are on Adventure of the Seas and originally in an Interior. With the current promotion I'm considering upgrading to either a Balcony or Panoramic Ocean View. It is my wife, two boys (6 and 3) and myself in the cabin. We have done Interior twice with both kids and can manage the space ok. My question is, who has sailed with two kids and used the pull out sofa instead of the pullman bunks of the interior rooms? I feel like any extra space would be reduced with the bed pulled out?! I may just keep the savings and stay in the Interior. Might put the savings towards trying the Key or more excursions? Thank you for any tips or advice on the Panoramic or Balcony! Also for anybody who has done both, do you prefer the Balcony or Panoramic? Thank you

We brought an umbrella stroller that had recline for the exact reason that we thought our youngest might nap. It is a Maclaren I think. Folds up nice and small and weighs very little. If you do bring it, the smaller the better given tight spaces on the ship (elevators, hallways). Another bonus to the stroller is airport security always sends us through the family line and at times it has probably saved us 45 minutes to an hour not standing in line! For these reasons I would suggest bringing it if it's small enough.

Probably not a popular idea but..... You could wait until they are 3 and able to enjoy Adventure Ocean and give you a break as well. We cruised when one was old enough for Adventure Ocean and the other was not. It gave us some quality alone time with our youngest but would have been nice to be be able enjoy even an hour or two a day with just adults. If you are booking it for now, consider your ship. Some have the nursery that you could utilize while others don't have any option for kids under 3. Also they won't be able to use the pool which was a big deal for our little guy and we didn't realize until after we had booked. So try to find a ship with a splash area and nursery or wait and do something land based until they're 3 would my advice having gone on a ship with a young one with no splash area and no nursery (Explorer).

If you are booking privately, my opinion is that Prince of Whales is the company to go with for Victoria Whale Watching! I grew up in Victoria and gone with them few times and it was always good! Also it's super easy to cab from the ship to downtown. When we were there this summer the cabs were charging $10 flat fee from ship to town.

I surprised my wife for our first cruise. I added Royal Caribbean logos to a blow up ship bath toy and taped our itinerary to the bottom of. It was wrapped up for Christmas! The bonus was or kids got an additional toy too! I had pre-planned with my in laws that they could watch our kids too so it was our first kid free trip in a long time!