It started its life waiting. It was sitting dry on an island, not knowing its fate — until finally it transformed into a beautiful, new vessel ready to conquer the waters from Vancouver to Victoria.
It’s the V2V Empress — the new daily luxury cruise ship that services downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria.
“My father had a vision almost 50 years ago, when he was a young man working on tug boats in this part of the world,” says Callum Campbell, general manager of V2V Vacations. “He always thought it’ll be great to have a ferry service from downtown to downtown, so here we are 50 years later.”
This vision became a reality on Saturday, May 6, when the cruise made its first trip from the Vancouver Convention Centre to Victoria’s Steamship Terminal.
New way to explore B.C.
The V2V Empress is a 254-seat vessel that takes passengers on a three-hour journey between Vancouver’s Coal Harbour, past the Southern Gulf Islands, and into Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
On Saturday, the sun was out and most people on the ship agreed it was a perfect day for the ferry’s first trip.
“It’s a beautiful route to take in a beautiful day,” said Annette Rawlinson, one of the V2V Empress passengers on its inaugural voyage.
Workers were helpful and greeted passengers with a smile and friendly attitude as they showed guests the ins and outs of the vessel.
One of the older passengers got lost on his way to the washroom until a staff member tapped him on the shoulder, smiled and pointed him to the right direction.
Campbell says V2V aims to provide friendly service, cleanliness, a safe environment and “an experience that isn’t found in this part of the world in marine tourism.”
Luxury has a price
A regular one-way fare in Premium Comfort class is $120, while First Class costs $199 and Royal Class goes to $240. Children’s fares are the same as adults in all classes except for Premium Comfort where a child’s fare is $60.
The seats all look the same at first, but the kind of services and experience vary by class. For instance, Premium Comfort is situated on the vessel’s main deck and features ergonomic leather seating while Royal Class is tucked in the upper-deck in an exclusive area and features what management dubbed as the “most luxurious leather” and reclining seating on board.
Passengers in the First and Royal Classes will also be served a complimentary three-course meal on fine plate-ware and cutlery. In addition to the meals, guests in the Royal Class will also enjoy complimentary coffee and tea.
Other onboard features include flip-out or built-in tables, food service that showcases a selection of local craft beers, wines and non-alcoholic beverages.
And, yes, there’s onboard Wi-Fi (which is reliable, by the way) and power outlets for charging at each seat. Because what is luxury if you can’t update social media, right?
More trips in the future
Campbell hopes to see a brand new vessel in the next 18 months and two vessels running from each ends daily at least during the summer.
Currently, V2V runs two trips a day. One departing from Vancouver at 8 a.m. and another from Victoria at 2 p.m.
“I hope to see ferries running across Vancouver harbour for commuting passengers,” he says, “and any other opportunities we can muster up.”
Early last year, Clipper, a Seattle-based ferry company announced plans to launch a commuter ferry that will service Vancouver-Victoria in spring 2018.
For more information, go to v2vvacations.com/cruise.
