Leaving Our Princess Cruise and Back in Seattle

After a week on the Royal Princess, it was time to leave. Sometimes I am anxious to get off a ship—especially in hot weather when my only escape is a too cold ship. This was not the case during our voyage to Alaska.

Everything had gone pretty much according to plan and Princess Cruises had treated us very well.

We had to get up very early to have breakfast and get the last of our carry-on packed up and ready to be off by about 9:00 am. We had decided, instead of rushing to the airport, we’d take an 11:30 pm flight home and explore more of Seattle.

The Hilton Motif had generously agreed to let us spend the day and have dinner before heading to the airport. I had taken advantage of Seattle’s excellent Port Valet program, so we didn’t have to worry about our luggage.

 

Brittany and I went to the dining room for our final breakfast. The food and service were as good as usual, even though it was clear the staff needed to get everything turned around quickly for the arriving passengers on the next cruise.

I also pre-arranged an accessible van to pick us up and take us to the hotel. It was running late so we did have to wait outside for a while, but there was no rush. The Hilton Motif was only a few minutes away from the pier.

The hotel had a modern feel, and we were welcomed and invited to breakfast at their Frolik restaurant. By this time, it had been about four hours since our light meal on the ship, so we gladly accepted. We both had the pancakes with banana puree, and they were delicious.

Hilton Motif is just a couple of blocks from Pike Place Market, and then a short walk from there to the Seattle Aquarium, harbor cruises, the Great Wheel, and Miner’s Landing, a popular spot for restaurants and shops. We decided to start at the market.

We left our carry-on luggage at the hotel and Brittany walked aside me as I rode my scooter. It was a Saturday and it got quite crowded as we approached the market, especially where the original Starbucks was located. It didn’t seem to make sense to wait an hour to get the same cup of coffee we could get at home, so we headed across the pedestrian street to the actual market.

If you’ve never been to Pike Place Market (this was my third time), it can be overwhelming, especially on a crowded day. There is so much to see, and it goes off in various directions. We had more planned for our day, so we just went through the basics.

We purchased some souvenirs and watched them toss the fish at one of the vendors where you can see the freshest seafood you ever imagined. There are also vegetables that look just picked, flowers, arts and crafts, and small businesses selling just about anything you could imagine.

We still had more attractions left on our Seattle CityPass and decided to go to the Seattle Aquarium. It’s actually one of the smaller aquariums I’ve been to, but we saw exhibits on marine life that call Seattle home, including salmon. I was impressed with how many hands-on experiences they had for kids—and adults—to participate in.

After the aquarium, we decided to have lunch a block away at Miner’s Landing. To be honest, we were so hungry and ready to get out of the heat, we didn’t pay much attention to where we ate, but Wing Dome turned out to be very good. It was nice to be on the water with the breeze too.

We did some more shopping for gifts before heading back to the hotel. We were both really tired and I thought I might be coming up with a flare from a long week of activity. There was time to rest before our dinner.

Frolik Kitchen at Hilton Motif is on the rooftop. It is indoor and outdoor. We started with cocktails inside and then went outside to have dinner.

The menu was impressive, and we had plenty of time to enjoy it because our 11:30 pm flight had already been delayed until 12:30 am. We started with one of the biggest hot soft pretzels I’d ever seen. The Tavern Pretzel also came with a beer cheese fondue. I decided I’d better take most of it to go if I was going to eat any dinner.

 

I had a cranberry brie sandwich with homemade chips and Brittany went with the seafood pasta. We both loved our dishes. The dessert menu sounded great, but we weren’t hungry for more. We knew we had a long night and took a bread pudding and warm chocolate chip cookie sundae to go. Mine only made it about 15 minutes before I decided I couldn’t wait to eat it!

We got changed into comfortable clothes for our red-eye flight and waited for the accessible van to pick us up. We were understandably exhausted, but we also didn’t feel great. By the time we got to the airport, sick was a more accurate term.*

We managed to rest on the plane and get out of the airport for our two-hour ride home. As exhausted as I was, it was well worth the experience Brittany and I had over the previous nine days. She was hooked on cruising after her first time.

I want to thank Princess for all of their hospitality. I hope to be back on board with them in the near future.

 

 

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own. 

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*It turned out we both had Covid. I got right on Paxlovid since I am immunocompromised and recovered in a few weeks, without major complications.

Victoria is the Last Port Stop on Royal Princess

Our cruise on the Royal Princess was coming near the end, but we still had one stop left and it was one of my favorite cities—Victoria, Canada. I had been three times prior and looked forward to this trip.

When I first found out we were doing this cruise I immediately thought about Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Empress hotel. It was something I had never gotten around to doing in Victoria. Unfortunately, the ship wasn’t getting into the British Columbia city until nighttime so that wasn’t going to work.

I was intrigued when the public relations rep for The Empress told me, since there were so many cruise ships coming in later, the hotel had added a Sunset Sips program for those who had wanted Afternoon Tea. I agreed that we would come try it.

We had many hours to go before our scheduled 9:00 pm arrival in Victoria. I wanted to take it easy, so I didn’t overdo it during the day.

The International Café became the standard for our breakfast, and we didn’t change that on this last sea day. We loved the specialty coffees and, since we were on the ship for the day, a few little quiches and pastries were more than enough to begin the day.

After breakfast we went to play bingo. As far as we knew, it was the only bingo offered on the cruise. It was fun. We didn’t win anything, though.

 We headed to the Concerto dining room for the English Pub lunch after Bingo. While the menu wasn’t one of my favorites on the cruise, Brittany enjoyed the Bangers and Mash.

 We skipped dessert with lunch because we wanted to go to the Gelato Shop for one last premium dessert. Those were hard to give up! They are so good.

After a little time in The Enclave thermal suite in the Lotus Spa, it was then back to the cabin for a nap and some packing. It was the night we had to leave our luggage outside to be picked up for the morning debarkation.

 We showered and got ready for the Farewell Dinner in the dining room. Although the waiters didn’t carry the Baked Alaska as I had seen on nearly every other cruise, they did sing a farewell song to us while we ate. 

Brittany started with the Alaskan Cocktail with shrimp, scallop and cod in a citrus mayonnaise. For a main course she had the Slow Roasted Prime Rib.

I did the Spinach Ricotta Ravioli and Princess Love Boat Dream (layered chocolate-raspberry and vanilla-raspberry cream on a shortbread cookie cut into a heart) for dessert. I also had a latte to keep me awake for the night out

As dinner was ending, there was a magnificent sunset we could see from the table. I moved closer to get a better look. Sunsets had become the time I was winding down from the exhaustion of the day. This time it was our day that was restful preparing for the night.

We went up to the cabin to get jackets and see the end of the sunset. The announcement came shortly after we had docked in Victoria, and we could get off.

The entrance into the country of Canada was quick. Outside there were buses waiting to take us downtown. The lines were long by the time we got down there, but the wait wasn’t too long.

 The bus was accessible and there was a spot just behind the driver for me to park my scooter in. I had to wait for the rest of the bus to get on and off before me so he could get me hooked in and taken out, but we weren’t in a major rush.

 

The first stop was right in front of the Fairmont Empress hotel. It looked even more spectacular in the dark night than the daytime I had previously seen it in. It was just the beginning as the inside was just as opulent.

We made our way to the Lobby Bar. They had our reservation and welcomed us to our seats by the window, where we could see the city lit up. We checked out the menu and it was quite unusual, but everything sounded like it would be good.

To pay homage to their famous Afternoon Tea, the cocktails in the Sunset Sip menu are poured from a teapot at the table. They are referred to as “Teapot Temptations Secret Libations.” Most of them also have a tea connection

I had the Lady Whistledown, with Botanist Gin, cucumber, chamomile tea syrup, and prosecco. Brittany ordered the Daisy Ricky, a concoction of citrus punch, tea infused Bacardi Rum, Coconut Ciroc vodka, lime, mint, and simple syrup.

The food was also served afternoon tea style in tiered trays. There was an assortment of sweet and savory. We decided to go with mostly the food, with a little dessert because we needed a variety. They were all delicious and large enough to share:

Warm White Cheddar & Chive Biscuit

Vegan Mushroom Pâté

Prime Rib Stuff Yorkshire Pudding

Grilled Avocado & Tomato Tartine

Chocolate Profiterole

 We had to be back on the ship by midnight, so we left soon after we finished eating to take a short walk around Victoria and pick up some souvenirs. Then we got back on the bus and onto the ship. It was a too short trip to Canada.

  As tired as we were, it was hard to fall asleep after all the excitement and a little bit of sadness that we’d be leaving our first Princess Cruise early in the morning. >

I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own.  

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