Bucket-List Best

This was our first cruise with Celebrity (we've previously traveled with Princess, Norwegian, and Antarctica21) and we loved Celebrity so much we've already booked our next cruise with them. The Ecuadorian crew know that the Galapagos is a typically a once-in-a-lifetime, "bucket-list" trip, and treat you accordingly. It seems as if the crew is aware that every interaction contributes to a memorable (good or bad) experience and they are collectively committed to be one of the best memories you'll ever have. Additionally, it's immediately obvious that Celebrity has been hosting Galapagos trips for a long time, and everything feels very dialed-in; running like clock-work, but in a way that allows you to just relax, enjoy the experience, and trust their expertise. From the warm and/or cold cloths when you're back from an excursion, to the most delicious morning lattes, to the dreamy Dinner Under the Stars, to the (underused) hot tub, the experience is a 7-day delight. I'd like to refute to previous reviews that I'd read that made me a bit nervous before the trip: 1. That the food was bland. Not true at all. Each meal was delicious and exceptionally diverse for a 100-passenger ship (keep in mind, too, that nearly all the food is locally sourced...600 miles from mainland Ecuador). 2. That the excursions lacked sufficient adventure/activity. Also untrue. We had several amazing deep water snorkel swims, where we swam above reef sharks, with the marine iguanas, spent a half hour "playing" with a fun-loving sea lion, and at one point found ourselves surrounded by over 70 sea turtles. It's also worth keeping in mind that the land and water experiences aren't Celebrity-specific, they are offered, regulated, and authorized by the Galapagos National Park, so don't expect any cruise experience to "go off the grid" and offer up something wholly unique from what everyone else is doing. That said, when hiking and swimming every day, it's so wonderful to come back to one of the most comfortable floating hotels on the planet. Anything you need, and even things you haven't thought of, have been anticipated and will be readily available to you. I do agree that you'll enjoy this trip the most if you're at least moderately mobile/active, so don't put it off! In our mid-50's, we were amongst the youngef passengers on the ship, but one thing we all had in come was enthusiasm for and marvel of this special, singular group of islands and their amazing inhabitants.

Best ship and trip, just do it

This ship is near to perfect as any we have been on. Nearly as many crew as passengers. Great service. Great food. Ship is small and easy to get around. Common spaces are comfortable and not crowded feeling. Marina for getting on an off zodiac tenders is perfect. Very safety minded touches. Snorkeling is safe. And magnificent. Naturalists are great at finding wildlife and explaining things in an interesting way. Sights are amazing on land and under the sea. Tender ride tours yield great pics. This hits my top 5 after a lifetime of travel. Here are a few tips. Nice suite with balcony. It has no power on the one side of the bed. The balcony door is very hard to open. The magnified mirror in the suite has a very sensitive on off touch button that we couldn’t figure out how to turn off. They have a 44 lb limit. We believe this is because they give you 5 lbs of stuff to carry home. A nice backpack, insulated metal water bottle and poncho. They do laundry twice. I overpacked. Didn’t need the wet bag we took. Did use iPhone waterproof holders under water snorkeling. You need zinc based sunscreen. The sun is super hot there. All of our group has some bathroom issues off an off. Take immodium. We heard multiple reports of gastro issues after eating under the stars on deck 7. Mild though. Food all week was great. Use the crushed ice to fill your water bottle. The black metal soaks in heat. The hangers can dry wet stuff behind the tv hanging from the ceiling. There is a bit of a shortage of places to hang wet stuff. There is tremendous storage capacity. We didn’t use all the shelves and drawers. They offer various pillow styles. I ordered firm after a night of too soft. Good pillows and beds. The day tour in Quito was nice. Cool there. The trip from the airport to the motel is 45 minutes on not great roads in a nice bus. All busses on the trip were nice and not full. The plane from Quito to Baltra was hot and when you get to the outdoor airport there was a long walk, long wait and it was hot. Wear cool stuff for that day and use sunscreen. I used light colored clothing with long sleeves to snorkel and for long boat rides. Even 50 sunscreen is recommended for reapplication 3x per day. I agree. This is a fantastic trip that should be on bucket lists. The Flora is near perfection. Kudos to the crew!

Fantastic Flora and Galapagos

The trip to Galapagos exceeded my expectations. We chose the 10 day vacation with pre and post cruise stays in Quito. Celebrity representatives met us at the airport and everything went smoothly. JW Marriott was beautiful although we didn't have much time to explore. We arrived late the first night and took a taxi (Celebrity called for us) to a restaurant for lunch to meet our group. Missed tour of the Old City but Equator tour was interesting. The naturalists were the best. Our room was spacious. We had an infinite veranda. Still not sure if I prefer traditional balcony, but we really did not have much time in the room. Two (sometimes three) excursions per day. Really appreciated that everything was included in upfront price. Just a tip for those with infinite veranda--You do not need clothesline. Our room attendant put our wet clothes on hangars and hung them from the rim in the ceiling that separates the space that would be the balcony from the rest of the room

Highly recommend this beautiful ship and itinerary

We did the 2 day pre-cruise and 1 night post cruise stay at the JW Marriott in Quito. Our experience upon arrival at the Quito airport through being dropped off at the end of the trip was outstanding-taken care of every step of the way! We enjoyed a tour of Quito and visited the equator. Meals were included. There was a charter flight to take us to the Galapagos from Quito. The ship, crew, service and overall experience was one of the best we've ever experienced. The Galapagos is such a special place and the experience of seeing these beautiful islands & wildlife with the Naturalists was very memorable. Good to know in advance: Included in cruise: 40 items of clothing for laundry service on the ship, given backpacks, water bottles, rain poncho to keep. Provided a tube of reef safe sunscreen. Have use of nice binoculars that are in the room. All snorkel equipment, wetsuits, walking sticks are provided. Food was top notch, a lot of fresh seafood and ceviche. Fellow travelers mainly in their 60s-70's but ages ranged from 40 to 87. Cannot have mobility issues as you only use the tenders to get onboard and off the ship. The service and crew were excellent without exception. I highly recommend this cruise!