Thursday morning we woke up about 7:30 and had breakfast in the Lido buffet, just Wendy & I. We were scheduled to arrive in Victoria at Noon, and remained on schedule. I played some solitaire on my netbook in our room for an hour, showered, then headed up on deck 8 to watch the arrival. The day was beautiful out, clear and sunny yet a bit cool as we slowly moved west thru the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Olympics were clear, and a Coast Guard helicopter buzzed us close as we were about midway between open ocean and Victoria. A navy subhunter did the same thing, and 5 miles out we saw the ferry Coho headed from Victoria to Port Angeles.
About a mile out, the harbor pilot came out to take us the rest of the way. We ever so slowly eased our way into the dock, where two other cruise ships were already tied up. It was obviously a busy day in Victoria.
Wendy & I, Dad & Mary opted to stay on the vessel, while Karen & David went for a long walk into town. With cell phone service back, I got the computer out and went online, and talked to the office as well. I found a quiet and empty bar up in the Crows Nest, which is above the bridge looking 180 degrees out the front of the boat. I ordered a Jamiesons and enjoyed what was left of our last full day on board. Dad & Mary showed up a little while later and ordered drinks, and we chatted. Wendy took a long nap in the quiet and still room, so didn’t show up until late afternoon. After dinner, she went to see a movie, The Blind Side. After that we met up in the Piano bar to enjoy our last night with Michael Sara and any other guests that showed up.
I was first one there at 9 when Michael was setting up. We chatted privately while waiting for Wendy or anybody else to show up. The Mix trio of bars was closed that day while in port, an apparent requirement of the Victoria or Canadian government. Since no one was showing up or at least very slow to(most people were either still on shore or at a late dinner), and no one was bartending the piano bar area, Michael was wondering why he didn’t get the day off. He was almost ready to walk off the job, but soon Wendy and then others showed up, and by 10pm all the chairs around the piano were full, and Michael was happy and ready to continue entertaining us. Since we had to get up early to disembark, we forced ourselves to head back to the room at about 12:15am. It appeared everyone else was going to do the same, so Michael got some hugs and well wishes from the women, and hand shakes or kudos from us men. He seemed almost sad at that point that a number of new friends would not be back the following nights.
We were in bed by 12:30 knowing we would likely be getting up at about 7am so we decided to put our breakfast order out on the door handle that night so room service would prompt in the morning.
Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/cattrain1989/05082010SanDiegoToVancouverBC