I'm sure some of you have gone on Polaris or the Islander. I'm leaning towards the Polaris next Feb. because they usually visit Genovese. Any advice? Travellin mentioned in another thread they had an inexpensive room with a window (which room number was it?). Lindblad's lit. says the least expensive rooms have two high portholes, which I can't see me enjoying.

My husband will want to be physically challenged as much as possible - hiking, snorkeling and kayaking, I'm hoping we'll get off the boat enough to keep him happy. Are they very restrictive about when the kayaks can be taken out? Thanks.

You seem to be attracing the travellins/travelynns. Somebody else also thinks it's too good of a name to pass up.

Never been on Polaris or Islander.

Genovesa/Tower Island is well worth including. It was the best place for the red footed boobies on my two trips. Also, lovely tide pools with lava gulls, that I did not see in abundance elsewhere. Good place for swallow tailed gulls flying from cliffs.

I did kayaking from the Sagitta. On that vessel the use of kayaks was limited to about 3 outings. Kayaking was restricted and they could not be taken out at will. The kayaking we did was enjoyable.

Ask how many snorkel trips there will be on each boat. We did one, sometimes two a day. There was very little down time.

As for hiking, you move at a very slow pace so it is not really hiking. More like shuffling along. The slow pace is because there is so much to see every several steps. About as much time is spent stopping and observing and photographing as moving forward. Also for environmental reasons, the group must stick together.

I know of one Galapagos option that does put much more emphasis on physcial activity than most trips. That is the Darwin departure through Galapagos Travel. http://www.galapagostravel.com/
This does a good bit of hiking. I've done 2 trips with Galapagos Travel, but not the Darwin trip yet.

Jan-March the Waved Albatross are out to sea, but the other species are all present.

Have a wonderful trip.

I did the Polaris last November. Here are some pics, including shots of my cabin - the cheapest one on the ship:

http://www.pbase.com/escog/galapagos

My room only had the one porthole, and the view wasn't that interesting. However, I wasn't in the room very much - just for sleeping or changing really. The common areas are very nice for relaxing and there are plenty of places to enjoy the view.

Genovesa was definitely worth visiting. I found Linblad to be an excellent and well-organized operator. I really couldn't think of anything to fault them on.

As noted by atravelynn, this will not be a very strenuous trip. I wouldn't call it hiking so much as "walking" or "strolling". The guides stop very often to discuss the flora and fauna, and the walks don't go very far. The snorkeling was usually broken up into a couple of groups - beginning snorkelers and advanced snorkeling, so you had a choice with regards to how much effort you wanted to put out.

One thing to note is that Lindlbad tends to attract older travelers - 50 years plus, so they always provide activities for people with mobility problems, but they also have options for more active people. We usually had at least 2 excursions a day, and sometimes 3. For each excursion, there's usually a number of choices - hiking, snorkeling, glass-bottom boat rides, zodiac rides, or kayaking. And, they make an effort to allow you to try any and all of the different activities within a given excursion, though it's not always possible. You'll definitely be kept busy.

I went before they introduced the kayaks, so I don't know what sort of restrictions they had.

I used Expeditiontrips.com to book my cruise with Lindblad, and they were excellent. A few weeks after I had booked, Lindblad came out with a deeper discount than I had obtained, and my agent at Expeditiontrips got me the extra discount. I recently got an e-mail from them about some discounts on a number of departures this year, so you might want to check the website to see what kind of deals you can get. I actually booked a last minute departure (less than 60 days out) and was able to get $1000 off the regular rate on a twin share for a Thanksgiving Day departure.

Hi, rickandpat - I am signed on for the Islander for February 3rd. I liked the idea of the smaller ship. I have the cheapest room but evidently it has a window. Thought for sure I would be able to use Alaska airmiles on Continental but it was a no already. I wanted to fly through Houston as it would be much shorter time-wise for me. atravelynn - recognize you from the Africa forum.

Louise,

For wildlife enthusiasts you can't beat the Galapagos or Africa! Your cheap cabin goes the same places as the expensive ones. Have a wonderful trip. Bring Bonine or similar.

Thank you guys for your input. We're not poor by any means, and not even budget travelers. But we're not used to paying over $4000 per person minimum for essentially a one-week cruise (Lindblad 2007 prices). We haven't ruled out the Eric/Letty/Flamingo either, with a similar itinerary and good guides, but less expensive. Our inclination however is to go ahead and go with the best.

We went on the Islander last November - it was great!!! Every day there were a variety of activities, ranging from strenuous and less strenuous. There weren't kayaks when we were there, at least not on the islander.

Here is my review of Lindblad - http://www.epinions.com/content_213523140228 - there are also other Galapagos/Ecuador links at the bottom.

I have tons of pics - including all throughout the MS Islander. E-mail me if you're interested -
[email protected]

Rick and Pat - I agree with your assessment of the pricing - we're not budget travelers either.

This past February we stayed in Puerto Ayora for a month and were able to shop around for last minute specials. We got the Eclipse for half price - $3100 for 2 instead of $3100 each (that's just the cruise portion as we were already on Santa Cruz so no air or Galapagos park fee) The Eclipse is comparable to the Islander in size - same "Luxury class" designation -just not brand new like the Islander, no kayaks and no glass bottom boat. Very similar itinerary.

We had a wonderful time - don't get me wrong - but I can't quite imagine paying full price for the week ....somehow the value equation just isn't there for me, given lower price alternatives like the Eric/Letty etc. One of the guides on the Eclipse works on the Eric too and says it's a very nice boat. Also, it might be more active as I agree with another poster who said that the hikes are more like slow walks and not very physically challenging.

Here's a link to our blog with pix of the Eclipse:

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...gos/index.html

I don't know if you're able to book later in the year to perhaps get a better deal - here's a link to a good web site that lists last minute deals -

http://www.galapagoscruiselinks.com/

Perhaps you could spend some time in Puerto Ayora or on Isabella Island before or after the cruise so you could hike/kayak ? We really enjoyed staying in Puerto Ayora.......good luck - you'll have a great time no matter what your final choice is!

I do apreciate everyone's input! I was not considering the Islander, only because it's itinerary did not include Genovesa/Tower - one of the islands I really want to visit. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

As for going early as Elizabeth S. did and shopping last minute, that sounds great, but my husband can't get away for more than a week or so at a time and we have to schedule several months in advance. I don't want to wait until my husband's retired in 15 or so years, for fear things might change in the Galapagos. We have friends who went last year and they recommended going sooner rather than later.

rickandpat,

Go now! With a little luck for the Galapagos and for you, you can go back in 15 years.

As for Genovese, if you want to see red footed boobies, that is the place. Plus I think the more islands, the better. Each has unique aspects. And you can compare and contrast the islands you visit.

Hi

About five years ago, I was seriously considering doing the Galapagos on one of Lindblad's boats but just couldn't get over the price hurdle. This past February, my husband and I went to the Galapagos on the Letty and had a wonderful time. (Genovesa/Tower Island was one of my favorites along with Fernandina and Isabella)

My general feeling was that I was glad that I waited and went on a smaller boat. With only twenty people on board, we always had small groups (10 or less) when we did the landings. The schedule was very active, with generally four activities each day; usually two shore landings and one snorkel with either an additional snorkel, a panga ride or kayaking.

The one drawback of the smaller ship was a higher likelihood of seasickness. A number of people suffered the first day (including yours truly) but after that we were generally fine.

While I am very glad I waited and wound up with a small boat experience, I don't think you can go wrong with Lindblad. I am sure that had we gone on one of their boats five years ago, we would have had a marvellous trip. The tradeoffs, a little more luxury versus more intimacy, pale in comparison to the ultimate objective, the Galapagos.

Have a great trip!