Getting there
Victoria Clipper -

Seating: Economy Panoramic - we picked seats in the front of the boat with 2x2 sitting facing each other and a table. In the future we would opt for Economy Panoramic seats in the middle. Views are much better. We considered some of the higher end seating options, but with Riley we figured it would be best to stay on the bottom of the boat. You can always go to the "upper class" area and check out the back deck at any time during the trip.

Food: they provide onboard snacks and have someone go seat by seat to help with your order and delivering.. I would recommend bringing your own snacks with you though, food was typical airline style..

Other "tips":  
Carry on your luggage.
Try to put your baggage as close to the door as possible.
We brought Riley's Doona Liki Trike for the entire trip and it was easy to bring on board.

Hotel Accommodations

We ended up staying at the Fairmont Empress, in the heart of the harbor. We took a look at other places, including airbnbs, but decided to stay at the empress. The walkability was a key reason we picked it. Plus the great deal we got thanks to our American Express Platinum Card . THIS IS NOT AN AD - Just overall a pretty dang good deal, and as you know I get excited for deals.

The Empress Gold Room Staff brought my faith back about the post covid hospitality industry. They went above and beyond and I think the service was better than our Mexico trip to Grand Velas which also had pretty good service.

• We used American Express Fine Dining and Travel on our Amex platinum card
  • $200 credit for first time using fine dining and travel
  • $100 credit for any spending
  • Free Breakfast which also works for 80 dollar credit of room service every day
  • 4th night free promotion

While not guaranteed - we were also able to get upgraded to a suite. I used this line which seemed to work - "we are willing to wait for a room if it would mean we get some more room with a crib or pullout for our toddler"

Other Tips / Thoughts:

• Check-in for Gold rooms is on the first floor, not in the normal check in area.
• Empress teatime is just OK, definately for tourists not sure the value to cost ratio was worth it and since Mandy and I don't particularly drink tea - we didnt have anything to benchmark it against. The pastries were MEH and tasted a bit old.. The snacks in the lounge were better in our entire families opinion
• Riley loves swimming so we took use of the toddler pool a few times - it was heated and felt like a bathtub which was nice.
• Toddler Robe was cute and Mandy really liked that.
• Because we stayed during Canada Day the Lounge was full of two types of people: really old or families similar to us. We didn't feel bad at all of letting Riley be a toddler while in the lounge, there was a group of kids who played with each other each day.

Things to do

We generally planned for 2 activities a day, One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Riley still naps for about an hour or 2 so it was a nice way to transition between places. Some of the days two activities felt like alot, and we would get home pretty tired and order room service and watch a movie/tv.. something Riley had never done before so it was a special treat.

Just walking around Victoria was fun as well. lots of cool areas to explore.

• The Beacon Hill Children’s Farm

  • Walkable from the hotel, you will most likely need a wheeled device as a toddler will get tired. Pretty cool little petting zoo. Suggest you get there for the running of the goats.
  • Running of the goats at 10:10 and 4:10
  • Afterwards Beacon Hill park is beautiful, has a playground and also the worlds tallest totem pole

• Victoria Harbor Cruise This was really fun. They offered to drop off at fishermans wharf which was very touristy, overpriced and the food was subpar. Suggest you just go for the cruise. Next time we goto victoria we might explore a private charter since Riley loved being on a boat so much. It was a good way to "test the waters".

  • you can also use this service kind of like an on demand uber to take you to various areas of victoria. if we were to do it again we would take the water taxi to CRAFT Beer Market

• Victoria Bug Zoo

  • It always amazes me when you meet people so passionate about a subject. The people at the Bug Zoo are definately passionate about bugs, and love sharing their enthusasium with children. This was Rileys favorite part of Victoria. We got there right at opening and suggest you do too, as it can get kind of crowded. They will take bugs out of their cages and depending on the bug, even let the kids touch them!

• Butchart Gardens

  • We opted to take public transit ($5pp) there instead of the overpriced doubledecker tourist buses (180pp).
  • Kind of cool to see how an old rich guy hired people to create gardens for himself and family. Carousel was really cool, but Riley was in a mood and screamed the entire time.
  • We didnt eat there as we knew it would be sub par. Gelato was OK though.
  • If you arent into plants, I would suggest you skip this attraction.

• Fan Tan Alley

  • Cool aesthetic area in china town.
  • get bubble tea at bubble tea place (I dont like things too sweet and would ask for less sugar next time)

• Kaboodles Toy Store

  • Riley got a Microphone

Food

We ended up eating breakfast at the hotel but here is a short list of other places we went. I am sure I am forgetting a few.

• Bard and Banker

  • English themed bar - allow kids even though it seemed like a bar.
  • Had Highchairs and kids menus

• Earls

  • This would be OK to go for an early dinner - had high chairs, but no kids menus.
  • good happy hour
  • Knew what to expect based on bellevue location

• Frankies Modern Diner

  • Ended up eating here twice, because it was easy with Riley who would get a bit moody after a long day of adventures. very kid friendly, low key, had high chairs.
  • "upscale" diner food.

• Craft Beer Market

  • Favorite place we went during the trip
  • Lots of different beers on tap
  • Had a little section with logs for kids to play
  • Kid friendly and got to watch the float planes fly in all throughout dinner

• Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria - Market Square

  • Chain pizza place that had OK pizza
  • most affordable place we went this trip