Have been down a fair amount most recently best deals for me

www.guanguiltagua.com Dennis/Eva

got me GREAT discounts last fall

best small ship upscale cruises/itinerary

www.ecoventura.com/home.aspx my current fav

vacationstogo.com for bigger ships Llinblad Celebrity more $$$

BEWARE Tripadvisor scammers will charge you thousands more for

a "pukieroachboat" with bunkbed cabins Archipel Samba Eden etc

So be VERY careful always pay with CC/Paypal never wire money

and insuremytrip.com to be safe.

Happy Travels,

www.cruisecritic.com will have best reviews on the big ships

Sven Llinblad National Geo Cruises are the best of the best

if budget is outstanding...

Join Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic small-ship expedition cruises to kayak, snorkel and explore the Galapagos Islands. Lindblad was the first expedition ...
www.expeditions.com/Destination44.asp?Destination=294&

Thanks so much for all your input. I will now start researching those.

We booked one of the Ecoventura boats with CNH Tours. It's possible to do that directly with Ecoventura, but we wanted someone to handle the flights and add-ons and they have contacts in Quito and Galapagos in case anything goes wrong (nothing did).

On another forum people like Samba a lot. It seems to give very good value for the money and is locally owned; no mention of bugs. We looked at it, too, but opted for Ecoventura boats because we liked the small size and itinerary.. Any boat can make you puke--not just the ones listed above!

I think the best way to approach planning a trip to Galapagos is to buy Barry Boyce's book - A Traveler's Guide to Galapagos

http://www.amazon.com/Travelers-Guide-Galapagos-Islands-Guidebooks/dp/1588433897

It explains the different types of boats and classes and the differences between itineraries (destinations and number of nights) and events on board (do you want to snorkel? kayak? all part of the boat decision).

After reviewing it I was able to make an informed decision about the boat/itinerary we preferred.

We chose the Eclipse - a 48 passenger ship that is big enough to comfortably travel to the western islands but small enough that there is no waiting around for excursions. It fits your description of upscale, but is still casual and fun

http://www.eclipse.com.ec/

In my opinion, a ship is the best way to see the islands. If you have the time and $, you may want to tag on a few days in Santa Cruz or San Cristobal to enjoy some time on land as well.
There are ships that offer passenger numbers from 12 to 100 in the Galapagos. I personally like the smaller vessels, but the large cruises do certainly have appeal as well.
You mentioned you like to travel upscale, so you might want to consider any of the luxury or first class superior cruises available. You´ll have to do some homework and make some decisions about size and itinerary before you settle for something...and this is a great place for research!
Have a wonderful time.