Machu Picchu and Galapagos on Avalon - 9/16/2015

What a great experience! From the time we landed in Lima to take off in Quito everything was handled for us expertly.

 

Great hotels with all the amenities. Excursions were adventurous and doable. Never thought I could climb Machu Picchu but I did. Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Quito are wonderful.

 

The Galapagos Islands are fantastic. The small ship used for our expedition was perfect. Just the right amount of inside and outside space.

 

The naturalists were so knowledgeable.

 

I'm now an expert in wet landings from a zodiac.

 

Go and find out all the wonders of this trip.

Sounds like a trip of a lifetime!

Another one for the bucket list! Good for you with the zodiac. I used one for the first time myself this summer. . .you need to be in pretty good physical condition.

I have a lot of friends that have done Celebrity's Xpedition so I'm interested to hear your feedback about Avalon's boat they chartered in the Galapagos. Were you comfortable in your cabin? What did you think of it and the food, especially the meat that's so restricted there?

This is a bucket list trip for us too. I am also very interested in hearing more details about your experiences good and bad (?) More details, please.

This is a bucket list trip for us too. I am also very interested in hearing more details about your experiences good and bad (?) More details, please.

I will make some general comments. I have been to Ecuador several times; once to the Galapagos with Celebrity Xpedition (fantastic!, but not having been on the Avalon boat it may be equally good). I have been to Machu Picchu twice, once on my own coming down from 15000 feet in Bolivia so I was well adjusted, once with a tour group. The Avalon time is the M.P. area is better than most tours - many trips attempt to do M.P. in much too short a time, and the risk of altitude sickness is high. Celebrity offers a quick extension to M.P. that I have not taken, but would strongly discourage you from taking - it is grossly overpriced (I could do a two week privately guided trip to M.P. for what they are charging for 3-4 days) and gives you absolutely no margin to recuperate from altitude sickness. Both Galapagos and M.P. are highly recommended, but look carefully at the scheduled timeline if you are going to M.P.

 

Thom

I will make some general comments. I have been to Ecuador several times; once to the Galapagos with Celebrity Xpedition (fantastic!, but not having been on the Avalon boat it may be equally good). I have been to Machu Picchu twice, once on my own coming down from 15000 feet in Bolivia so I was well adjusted, once with a tour group. The Avalon time is the M.P. area is better than most tours - many trips attempt to do M.P. in much too short a time, and the risk of altitude sickness is high. Celebrity offers a quick extension to M.P. that I have not taken, but would strongly discourage you from taking - it is grossly overpriced (I could do a two week privately guided trip to M.P. for what they are charging for 3-4 days) and gives you absolutely no margin to recuperate from altitude sickness. Both Galapagos and M.P. are highly recommended, but look carefully at the scheduled timeline if you are going to M.P.

 

Thom

 

I doubt this fixes the cost issue you raise (probably makes it worse), but Celebrity recently extended the time of their M.P. extension -- expressly to deal with the altitude sickness issue.