This was a stop made because of the Jones Act, which requires an internationally-flagged ship to stop at at least one non-US port. Otherwise, the ship must abide by US labour laws.
So this is not like the other stops we made on this cruise. I said to La Prof. at lunch that it felt good to come back to civilization.
Oceania made a day-long stop here, docking at 11 and leaving at 10. However, since this is the last day of the cruise, we also have to have our luggage ready to take out by 10pm, but we had a dinner reservation at 8pm, so we really needed to have our luggage by 8, which means we’d
have to be packed by then. So, La Prof really needed to be back by 6:30pm. I’d already halfway packed the day before, so I only needed 1/2 hour.
We booked an “orca-watching” excursion today, but there was no orca, so it became a whale watching excursion. It was funny to see the naturalists on this trip getting excited about seeing two whales, when yesterday our ship sailed through 15-plus during dinner. As far as whale-watching goes this wasn’t very exciting, but I did get to see some harbour seals, which I hadn’t seen on this trip. At least the weather was beautiful, though chilly, especially on the top deck. Most people eventually figured out that you can get a better view closer to the water and less cold on the middle deck. The ship was very nice - it’s got 3 decks, a wrap-around viewing track around the second deck, bathrooms with two stalls each on the bottom deck, and large windows around, and a concession stand on the first two decks. The top deck has two rows of seats and fits at most 20. It looked like a converted ferry. It was fill to maybe half capacity, so we never had to jockey for spots.
After the tour, it was already 2:30. We took a double-decker shuttle to town (after being confused no one was manning the shuttle booth), which was very nice. The enthusiasm La Prof. had to taking a double decker bus amused me - it’s a novelty to her, but I commuted on those when I was in school. I had planned to walk back to the dock from downtown via Beacon Hill Park, but since the bus went to downtown on that route, I decided to walk back along the waterfront.
We had poutine at Bard and Banker, then shopped for souvenirs along Government street, then walked around the legislative buildings, then to fisherman’s wharf to get ice cream (it was hot by then) and watch floatplanes take off, and then back to the ship. La Prof. went back to the cabin to pack while I went on to visit the breakwater, which had a decent view, but not impressive considering I’d just been on a trip on the water.
By the time I got back, I only had time to shower, pack, then get dressed for dinner. And by the time dinner was done it was time for bed.
Victoria Fisherman’s Wharf
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