Overall solid cruise. Friendly staff. Luigi (Cruise Director) Lauren and Chico (Activities) were all great and extremely personable.
Dining room was great — I tried a lot of the fish, lamb, pork. Didn’t go for any of the up-charge dining rooms, although they pushed them a lot. Dining staff worked their tails off as usual to accommodate people.
Ship is easy to navigate -- it's a good size, not a 'mega ship'.
Cabin 3049 (inside) was small and a bit smelly and showed wear, but was very quiet and dark, so easy to sleep. The location was very convenient, near the gangways and not far from the main atrium and show theater. We always maintain we don't spend much time in the cabin, so why spend a lot of money on it?
We embarked in our home city. Unfortunately, it was very overcast, but that's typical for May in San Diego.
We did our own thin and took the waterfront shuttle for 50 cents to the downtown and walked around.
Took the free shuttle and walked around Cannery Row.
Did a hop-on/off bus the first day and visited Pier 39. The second day we stayed on the ship as one of us was having knee problems.
Took the shuttle to the downtown area and walked along the waterfront. Cute little town with gift shops. Would have like to have seen more like the tower and Nat'l Park site, but one of us was having mobility issues.
Recommend the Chihuly exhibit near the Space Needle. We took a taxi from the ship.
Arranged our own tour through CVS tours to Burchart Gardens, which is about a 30 minute drive out of downtown Victoria. There is a $15 CAD shuttle from the ship to the downtown.
Took a city bus to Granville Island Market, then walked around the downtown, looked in the shops and walked along the waterfront. Flew out that evening.