Days Six and Seven: Northern Pacific and Victoria, BC

Mary relaxes on deck during the last afternoon of the cruise.

Tomorrow we fly back to Arizona, bringing our 11-day honeymoon to an end, and I still haven't finished blogging our cruise!  We've spent these past 3 days in Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR.  Ed and I have been on the run constantly, so there's been no computer time.  But more about that later.  For now, allow me to finish up the tale of our cruise. 

We begin to see land in the distance as we approach Victoria.

A view inside the Sapphire Princess

Friday (Day Six), we spent the entire time sailing on the northern Pacific, surrounded by nothing but steel-blue seas. Ed and I explored areas of the ship where we hadn’t gone before. We walked the decks and watched for whales. We ate and we napped. Friday evening was another “formal night’ and we had reservations at the Santa Fe. We enjoyed a dinner of lobster and shrimp, followed by the “Marriage Game Show” at the Explorer’s Lounge.  It was light-hearted fun!
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Mary outside the Canadian customs office

Day seven (Saturday) was mostly spent at sea, as well. We didn't reach our final port of call until 7:00 that evening: Victoria, British Columbia. It was my first time to ever set foot in Canada!  We were in port for only 5 hours, but we made the most of it.

Again, we played it all by ear, heading into Victoria without a plan.  Within minutes we were hooked up to tour the town via a bicycle rickshaw, piloted by a winsome young college student.  He was a native Canadian and I had to force myself not to chuckle each time he said "aboot" instead of "about."  He did a great job.  He even parked us in front of a candy shop so he could run in to get us some free samples!

Victoria's parliament house, comparable to the capital building of a county seat in the U.S.

This young man was quite knowledgeable about Victoria.  Even though it's located on Vancouver Island, separated by sea from mainland British Columbia, Victoria is the capital city of the province.  Our guide took us through Chinatown and the Old Town, as well as the governmental buildings.  He shared fascinating information about every area.  For instance, Victoria's Chinatown is the oldest in Canada and the second-oldest in North America. 

This bulding was originally a school for Chinese children who could not speak English yet.

Ed and I were back on the ship by 10:30 p.m.  When I took the below picture, I realized it was the first and only time we were ever off the ship after dark!  The Sapphire Princess set sail at midnight and arrived in Seattle at 7:00 Sunday morning.

We were off the ship by a little after 9:00 a.m.  We headed into Seattle for more adventures, but that tale has yet to be told.  Sadly, our honeymoon cruise had reached its end, but we'll enjoy those wonderful memories forever!