Lionlove

Nothing over the top, just really good food and staff that is attentive.

qwovadis

http://www.tourvacationstogo.com/lin...cfm?npid...nhr...

Best of breed...

www.guanguiltagua.com discounts on Ecoventura

Eric Flingo Lety more intimate

better price point under $3K for me

lan.com best airline

Beware many scammers touts agents on the boards

particularely the "destination experts" on tripadvertizer

that will try to scam you at inflated prices on buggy

pukeboat motorsailers like Samba Fragata Archipel Eden AVOID!

Caveat Emptor worst scammed on the boards many fake reviews

cruisecritic.com has some honest ones.

Sven Linblad is best guide for luxury try to go with him

to learn the most if you can approved by National Geo.

lifelist

I can recommend Lindblad. It's not over the top luxury, but it's very, very good. The guides are uniformly excellent and the service onboard the ships is top notch. I enjoyed the food, but I'm not a gourmand by any measure.

ztsipapu

I can recommend the Tip Top fleet. We were on the Tip Top II--lovely, comfortable, clean 16-passenger boat. The crew were patient, helpful, and respectful; the food, delicious, plentiful, and fresh; the guide, passionate about the archipelago, humorous, very well-informed. A number of the crew (including the marvelous guide) had long-term contracts with Wittmer Turismo (which operates the fleet)--something that isn't all that common among some of the boats and which spoke to me of how much the company valued excellent staff.

But really, just about any boat in the first-class category will meet your requirements. The luxury class will, IMO, be "over the top"--but lovely, if you can afford that. But personally, I think the first-class boats are luxury enough for most of us and generally have great reputations.

Tina
trip report at http://galapagos2009.wordpress.com/

Elizabeth_S

Eclipse is terrific - nice size (48 pax) and enough zodiacs to move everyone at the same time so no sightseeing in shifts.....

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

Eschew

We are booked on the Discovery II (4000 tons, 100 passenegrs) for November and was told it is one of the "bigger" ships around. I have found good reviews on line but nothing recent.
TA said they have good reputation, and local guide on board.
Price is reasoanble, I think they are cheaper than Celebrity Xpedition and National Georgaphic.

Lionlove

Thank you for your replies: After traveling Africa, I have learned that smaller (camps/lodges) is MUCH better. Do I want to be with 99 other people? Or 49? Is a smaller boat a much rougher ride. From what I know about myself, I'm a good sailor. But who knows. Is motion sickness common/avoidable/a non-issue?

And what time of year do I want to go, ideally?

Lionlove

Also, I hear that Gap takes you on a catamaran tour and to Machu Picchu, for a total of 14 day excursion.

Elizabeth_S. The eclipse looks wonderful, thank you! Did you enjoy it? Were there children on board? I have a child, and so I am hoping for a more adult adventure! Is the whole tour only 7 days? I guess it's up to me to extend the trip and continue on to see mainland on my own?

Elizabeth_S

We loved the Eclipse - staff was terrific and guides were wonderful. Lots of fun and not at all stuffy - open seating at meals and the food was very good. There is an age limit for children on regular sailings and they have family sailings for younger children. Our tour was 7 days which was good for us as we wanted to go West to Isabela Island. Regarding the size of boat/etc - it is more dependent on which islands you want to see/comfort (i.e. roughness).

A great place to start is with Barry Boyce's book - it explains the different islands, itineraries and boats - that's how we came to choose a 7 night cruise and the Eclipse

http://www.amazon.com/Travelers-Guid.../dp/1588433897

Re Gap - a friend did the Galapagos/MP combo and was very happy with Gap (although I think the cruise is fewer than 7 days?). Or you can easily travel to MP independently - several great private guides there who can book hotels/train/etc for you and drive and guide. We recommend David Choque - here's his website

http://www.cuscotoptravelperu.com/index.html

And here's a link to our blog for the Galapagos (note the Eclipse has been refurbished since we were on it)

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...rd_the_ec.html

And the MP portion as well

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...lake_titicaca/

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...ticaca/page/2/

ztsipapu

There's really no bad time to go to the Galápagos. It depends on what you like. If you're into birds, you might want to avoid mid-Dec. thru March; the magnificent Waved Albatross leave their breeding colony on Española during those months to soar non-stop off the coast of Peru. During breeding season (May thru Aug.), the wondrous Giant Tortoises can be harder (but not impossible) to see living free in the highlands, since they move to lower grounds for nesting. Most other endemic species of land-based wildlife can be seen year around, as long as you select your itinerary for the islands that host the species you're interested in.

Weather can be a consideration as well. Jan. & Feb. are the hottest months, with the warm water temps. for snorkeling. Sept. - Nov. have the coolest air (although "cool" is a relative term) and water temps. Sept. - Nov. also have the highest likelihood for rough waters, due to changing currents. However, those changing currents also bring the marine life in close to feed on those nutrient-rich waters as if you weren't even snorkeling in their vicinity.

So, every month has pluses and minuses. You can see a chart of average water and air temps here: http://www.guidetogalapagos.com/topclimate.html. You can get an idea of what the wildlife are up to month by month here: http://www.wildlifeworldwide.com/inf..._calendar.html.

Motion sickness is not inevitable, but it's hard to know who may or may not be affected. We brought scopolamine patches (rx-only, at least in the U.S.) for both my husband and me. (We were traveling in Sept., the month of liveliest waters.) I was totally unaffected by the motion; but surprisingly, my husband (a lifelong sailor) was affected. The patches worked like a dream for him. In our group of 16, about 2/3s used some kind of motion sickness remedy. Personally, I think everyone should bring some kind of prevention/remedy. You just can't know what the seas have in store for you in any month and, unless you've been in an identical situation, you just don't know how you'll react. It would be a shame to ruin this adventure of a lifetime with something that is so easily avoided.

Tina
trip report at http://galapagos2009.wordpress.com/

Lionlove

Elizabeth_S. I too am from Toronto. I just got back from Kenya and I'm already off. Thank you for your ideas. I think the Eclipse is quite nice and will research more.

ztsipapu...Just what i needed to know! Thank you!

Lionlove

Another question. I'm thinking of going in May-June next year. Is the ocean water crystal green and is there swimming with sea life? This is what I heard. I really want to experience a tropical water paradise (that isn't the Caribbean), with adventure in between!

Elizabeth_S

When we were there in February the water was very clear - and since you want to swim the Eclipse is a doubly good choice as they have a lot of snorkeling excursions. We always snorkeled when presented with the option of land or water excursion and had a lot of fun with the sea lions, however I would not characterize the Galapagos waters as a tropical water paradise....not as dramatic as other warmer water places like the Caribbean. We saw a lot of sea lions, iguanas entering the water, penguins (a few - they're fabulous in the water), turtles, tangs, but surprisingly no sharks (we did want to see a hammerhead). And the biggest thrill, and the reason we took the Eclipse, I saw a cormorant swimming under water. It looks just like flight - beautiful. The cormorants are only on the west side of the archipelago which I learned from that book link I posted.

Lionlove

Elizabeth...found the rates. Yikes. A bit steep but now that I've seen it, not sure anything else will suffice! I'm enlisted some help...I am hopeful!

Elizabeth_S

Lionlove - if you have some flexibility on your departure dates there is a travel agent in Puerto Ayora who helped us get a better rate (2 for 1 - an amazing deal) .... since we're both in Toronto email me and we can chat or get together

eseibertca AT yahoo DOT ca

jakester379

Just got back from celebrity expedition to the galapagos. Highly suggest the patch if you are even remotely prone to seasickness. 90+ people was only a problem if you try to get on the first panga. Sit back and wait and all is good. Ship and cre and naturalist are fantastic. Noise level at dinner can be a bit loud depending on the alcohol content of surrounding folks. Boat was great , animals were even better. A must do.

GalapagosExpert

Lionlove,
Galapagos waters definitely aren´t "tropical paradise"...more like "occasionally chilly underwater buffet for the senses!" You´ll have the chance to see some different wildlife, endemic black coral (which looks like a green plant underwater), as well as the fact that Galapagos is the only place in the world where you can swim with iguanas,birds that swim but don´t fly, and sea lions that play tag with your fins! YOu can´t go wrong!

m_bran

Lionlove,

Just came across this thread - I was also on the eclipse (2010) and would highly recommend it. I was traveling with a friend and her teenage daughter for Spring Break - it happened to be a designated 'family cruise' so there were all ages on board.

If you'd like to take a peek at my photos to get an idea of what to expect:
http://galapagoscruise.shutterfly.com/pictures

Hope this is helpful. Enjoy your planning!

Lionlove

Elizabeth_S, I will email you!

Everyone, thank you for your beautiful photos.
m_bran...will buy an underwater camera for this trip!

I am poking around at prices and it seems that for roughly the same amount of money, I can sail a 10-Day Linblad Nat.Geo. Perhaps I will begin a new thread about Linblad.

suoma

Anyone out there have an idea as how to get around the many travel agents (middle men) for the mid-range and 1st class yachts. We are planning a 15 day cruise in the Galapagos for April or May of 2013 and have a good idea what we want to see.
But, the agents seem to want to steer us to boats we would NOT consider our first or even second choice. We are getting the feeling that these choices are the best for THEM and not us. That is, they are either getting special kick backs from boats that are hard to fill or simply overpriced and cannot get customers. We are getting suspicious and are looking for a way to get directly to the boat owners or better travel agents than the big ones on the internet. Please help!
Suoma