Anyone have any personal recommendations? We will be there a couple of nights pre-cruise. Nothing fancy needed, just good food.

We had High Tea at Buchart Gardens the afternoon we spent there. It was much more reasonable than tea at the Empress and the surroundings could not have been more beautiful.

Olivia - hope someone can help you with restaurants - you'll be very hungry after all that tea

Olivia, here are a couple of recommendations from Chowhound that look yummy:

Blue Crab

Cafe Brio

I've emailed my friend Hedy; hopefully, she'll get back with me in time to do you some good. She knows Vancouver Island well, and she took us to some wonderful places when we were there two years ago. But I lost all the information when my hard drive fried.

Kathy, my very first cruise on RSSC, Joanna and I had lunch at Butchart Gardens at that pretty restaurant, and it was great!

Looking for dinners in Victoria. I think I was saying, don't send me to Louis XIV in Paris, or the Chanticleer at Negresco in Nice, or Empress in Vancouver. Wanting a little more country club casual sort of places!

Andrea, I will check out those places! I always forget to go to chowhound, but it is a great site for research, much like trip advisor.

Unlike high Tea in England, the High Tea in Vancouver can be more extensive than just scones and tea.

Butchart Gardens looks neat -

Olivia, the places we went were far more casual than "country club casual". One was on the waterfront and we ate outside on a deck. Does something like that appeal, or are you looking for something dressier than that?

Thank you, Pam!

Let's see what Hedy says, if she answers. My bro said today from what he heard (from gosh knows where) lots of mediocre restaurants on main drag (I am assuming waterfront?), but get off on side streets and there is some WONDERFUL food. But what does he know, he has never been there! That's why I'm asking for personal rec's.

Wahoo! I found the place that she had raved about, that we ate outside. Here's a link for it:
wharfside eatery

I'm still looking for the place we stumbled on by mere chance.

JoAnna, if you have never been, it's an amazing place - very beautiful. I wish the ship were stopping there.

I would never have gone there on my own, were it not for having that as a port stop on my first Navigator cruise that was 10 days. Back then, they had Haines and Valdez as ports in one day. No one liked them, but Victoria was great!

I was there in July, lots of flowers, roses still blooming. This time, I am thinking just mumms dahlias and some annuals.

Victoria is a very special place. We loved it.

If planning to visit Butchart Gardens, try to stay as late as you can; preferably until closing. The gardens take on a whole new beauty after dark.

On our non-cruise trip to Victoria we stayed at the Empress. The room was superb (club level overlooking the harbor) but the food was very poor.

There are several restaurants nearby that offer excellent fare. I don't remember the name of the place but there was a Greek Italian place (what a combo) around the corner that served the best food we had in Victoria.

There is also an excellent deli on the street corner by the Empress. They have a nice outside eating area.

At Butchart Gardens we had a simple lunch on the upstairs terrace overlooking the gardens. T'was quite memorable.