jenny19

Greetings,

I am planning a trip for my husband and I to the Galapagos Islands this June and while I've just started my research, I'm already overwhelmed with the options!

From what I've read it seems as though the most popular way of seeing the islands is by cruise, but I really do like the idea of staying in a nice hotel and then taking day trips. However, I'm assuming that there must be drawbacks to staying on land since most people don't, but what are those drawbacks?

If we do decide to go the cruise route, can you point me in the direction of which operators might be a good fit for us? We are in our early 30s, no kids yet, like peace, quiet, no glam or glitz, but definitely quality and sophisticated. We also enjoy dining out as one of our favorite pastimes so food on the ship is important. I'm not keen to be with the masses like a typical cruise (although I realize these are much smaller). We are also fairly adventurous and in pretty good shape so we appreciate a good challenging hike or trip (but like a comfortable bed and a nice glass of wine afterwards!).

If we go the land route, we're looking at Royal Palms and Finch Bay hotel as options. Any ideas on how long it takes to get from those islands out to the other islands? Is there good siteseeing on the island the where the hotels are located?

As you can see, I have a lot of questions, but we are SOOOOO excited about this trip!

Thank you!

Percy

It is doable to stay at a hotel and do day trips but not that practical, as some of the islands are further away.

I did the 7 day cruise and it was better than doing day trips.

Depends on how much you want to see and how many islands you want to visit.

I had Martin Slater ,who operates a Travel Agency in Quito book everything for me and it all went sooo smooth.

Martin Slater's e-mail is:

[email protected]

Tell him Percy told you to contact him as we stay in touch several times per year.

Percy

ChiDad

Jenny,

We cruised last year on the Eric and would highly recommend it. Ten couples were on board, early 30s to late 50s, and very good food. My understanding is that you see much less from a hotel-based visit.

You will LOVE it.

travelersusan

We also cruised on the Eric this January and had an amazing time. We booked though Zenith, but the boat is run by Ecoventura (and you can book directly through them). I don't know much about staying in a hotel and doing day trips, but I would think that would limit the islands you could visit.

The food on the Eric was great. As far as hiking, there really isn't much of that in the Galapagos. The itineraries report day hikes, but these are really nothing more than leisurely strolls (especially if you are active). To get our adventure activities in we spent a week hiking and rafting on the mainland, and spent 2 days on San Cristobal before the cruise.

Philbill

We cruised on Celebrity Xpeditions and loved it!! Just look on the Celebrity cruises web site. Very reasonable and a wide range of passengers (around 90 on the boat).

Mat1lda

I beg to differ with some of the other comments here. The Galapageños are now recognising more than ever that not everyone wants to go on a cruise, especially if they are not fond of time at sea. These days there are more land based options. One of the drawbacks is that you most definitely will not see the variety of creatures and islands that you would see on a cruise. When I was looking, I found details on a website that specifically provides info about tour companies that offer land based tours, and how to go about it. I hope this helps:

http://www.vivatravelguides.com/sout...lapagos-tours/

koala

I too was overwhelmed when I first started researching our trip to the galapgos next month. We are active 30 somethings from Colorado. Unfortunately I have motion sickness issues, so wanted to do a land based trip, but it boiled down to the fact that it was going to cost us more and we would see much less. So in deciding to finally take the cruise option we knew that larger ships would mean less motion (although not zero motion). However, we too wanted to go on the smaller more personal experience. What I figured out was that we could still very much get that on the larger ships because the excursions are still in small groups of 12 or so. Don't expect to go anywhere on the unihabbited islands by yourself, you will always be accompanied by a guide, so this is not a see it on your own kind of trip anyway. What I think will be nice about the boat we chose (Celebrity Expedition) is that there are two stops each day, and each stop has a choice of three different excursions you can choose from (low, med, high intensity). Some of the High Intensity Snorkeling options seem to always catch people off guard, so I'm sure you can get some excercise in with these. We think that by having more choices we can enjoy and be able to customize our trip more than if we went on a small boat where everyone takes the same excursion each day. My other friends did the small boat experience, and had a good time, but they said if they went back they'd go on the nicer larger boats next time. Mind you these are 30 somethings that met in the Peace Corps in Nepal and are used to poor living conditions and they aren't even that prone to motion sickness and spent the whole first day throwing up. From what I hear the general age ranges on the Expedition are in the 50-60's with a few outsiders like myself in the 20- 40's range, and occasionally a family or two. We are traveling with another couple in their 30's so I figure at least we'll have someone we know to eat dinner with, but from what I gather everyone is very friendly and you end up knowing at least half the people on board by the time the trip is over, I suppose a common interest in nature makes this easy. I learned more about the Celebrity Expedition trip on cruisecritic.com, tons of detailed info there. Also if youreally want to stay at Finch Bay, you could add a day or two before or after the cruise to do so. It did look like a nice place online. Good luck planning your trip.

SusieQQ

I went to the Galapagos with Lindblad travel on the Polaris...the age range was from pre-teen to 80+. There were around 80 passengers. The organization was outstanding...everyday we had multiple choices with various levels of activity. I can't imagine being on a smaller boat without the variety we had.
http://www.expeditions.com/

Philbill

The Galapagos according to Celebrity...(and others).... 'where the spoiled meets the unspoiled'....you are totally pampered (met with wet towels and drinks by a tuxedoed waiter as one steps off the zodiac for example) and although the rooms were not huge they were fine. Groups of 10 to 12 people for each excursion and lots of choices as mentioned previously. I wasn't feeling great on one excursion and the guide called to have the zodiac come to shore to pick me up and take me back to the boat. We had a wide age range into the 80s but maybe the majority of people 35 to 50ish
Quito was great too, although we were perfectly fine with the 10 day rather than the 11 day package offered when we went.
We flew to Lima first and went to Cusco and Machu Piccu and then on to Lake Titicaca, back to Lima and then to Quito and the Galapagos.

LABruin

To me, cruising on a large ship isn't what the being in the Galapagos Islands is about. I was there in October & wish I were still there. Check out the cruises w/ Happy Gringo online. I sailed on the Samba due to it's itinerary & yes, I did get a little sea sick but I would do it all over again in a second. There were only 13 tourists so we all became family by the end of our week. The food was excellent & not once did we have the same meal. I think they pretty much know how to cater to worldwide tourists tastes as those of us on my trip were American & European. I prefer the smaller sized boat. I learned so much about Ecuador, the islands & life working in this booming tourism industry chatting w/ my guide & crew while on our long journeys.

StanKase

We went on a 7 day trip with a ship called the Rina Silva , owned by the Queen of Sweden, though she probably doesn't know she owns it for it is only in satisfactory condition and the food was not good that year.
But, my main point is if you can find a ship that goes out for 4 full days, could reach 5 islands easily with 75-90 passengers that would be ideal. We and others found 7 days too much seeing different but very similar birds and lizards, and fauna. Seven days is overkill unless you want to be on a cruise ship and not go off at every stop. Also, cabin size can be an issue. You really need 140-150 sq. ft.to enjoy the cabin.I also, am not a big fan of Quito so I would suggest 1 full day there is enough.

2136

My family and I went on a Galapagos cruise on the Letty, one of the Ecoventura boats and a sister ship to the Flamingo and the Eric.

3 out of 4 members of my family and 7 out of 22 people on the boat contracted a stomach virus with symptoms including fever, diarrhea and vomiting.

I'd stay away from those boats.