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Just back from Silversea Galapagos


TGBoss
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no bathrooms on most of the islands. The exception would be when you visit the town or the tortoise sanctuary. Most of the islands are completely uninhabited by humans. So if you need the bathroom, you have to go back to the ship or go in the bushes. I limit my fluid intake in this sort of situation. My husband and I are big outdoors people, so I have learned how to deal with it.

 

My husband did not wear a wet suit for snorkeling, but he loves cold water. I think most people who snorkeled did wear a shortie. I don't know about the scuba.

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I don't remember any chance to Scuba. For snorkeling we wore lightweight "skins" we brought ourselves. The tops were long sleeve and the bottoms to our ankles. There were great for us in January. Wearing them also meant we never got sunburnt, and the sun can be intense.

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If I remember correctly the shore trips were anything up to about two hours. They usually offered "more strenuous" and "less strenuous" hikes and the "less" were always shorter. The snorkeling trips seemed to be less than two hours. If they were done from a beach, then you could relax there until the next tender if you were tired of snorkeling. The kayak trips were about an hour.

 

The dress code was casual, although most people seemed to change to something a little nicer than their "daywear" for dinner. Of course our "daywear" was usually wet - swimsuits, wetsuits, etc., so changing was a necessity! There were definitely no formal nights.

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I echo NanciEA. I wore casual sundresses and sandals at dinner and my husband wore slacks and collared shirts and we were considered well dressed!

 

The morning shore trips seemed to take longer. We usually started loading into the zodiacs between 7 and 7:30. We were usually back by 9:30-10, and there was sometimes an optional snorkel zodiac trip that would take place then. the afternoon excursions usually started between 3:30 and 4 and we were back on the ship between 5 and 6.

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Here are some answers to the various questions posted above.

 

There are no bathrooms on 90% of the sites visited.

You are given a haversack and a water bottle to carry as a lot of the field trips are quite draining on the human body. Take the advice and arm of the guides when doing a wet or dry landing.

Silversea does not do scuba at all but does have snokerling from the zodiacs.

 

It was a very intense cruise be we can only say the animals stole the show and the chef stole our taste buds.

 

Joe

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Here are some answers to the various questions posted above. There are no bathrooms on 90% of the sites visited. You are given a haversack and a water bottle to carry as a lot of the field trips are quite draining on the human body. Take the advice and arm of the guides when doing a wet or dry landing. Silversea does not do scuba at all but does have snokerling from the zodiacs. It was a very intense cruise be we can only say the animals stole the show and the chef stole our taste buds. Joe

 

More great information, background and insights such as above from Joe, plus Rachel's nice sharing, etc. No bathrooms?? That's an interesting "situation" that I had not considered. I am OK with that challenge, but my wife is not quite as "flexible" for those needs. How long are most shore excursions? About 90 minutes to two hours?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Lots of interesting, dramatic pictures can be seen from this live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

Now at 38,319 views for this visual sharing including Cape Town, along South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta area.

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Yes Terry. 2 hours is about the most. There was 1 long exception on my trip - it was advertised as a long hike, and one group got back quite late from it (more like 3 hours). but that was the exception, and they did call it a long hike!

 

They did make extra trips back on occasion - one woman was battling a stomach bug, and was taken back to the boat early.

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Most of the time it is the wildlife which makes one route better than the other. The max in a group is 16 as required by park rangers but usually 6 or 8 and the ship usually moves over lunch to a different spot. I might put some pics on you tube if I can find the time nearly 700 to edit or delete. Again I cannot say how impressed with the crew and guides i was ever willing to help and give knowledge to those of us who ask questions and they will even come to dinner if asked.

 

This was one of my bucket list and I am so glad I took the time to learn a great deal more about Darwin.

 

Joe

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buckeye82 - we wore Keen type closed toe water shoes. we then just kept them on for the walks. The only walks that needed better walking shoes were the "long" hikes. But for each excursion, they will tell you exactly what you need at the briefings the night before. They keep you very well informed.

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Liz (TGBoss):

 

Would you please comment on your observations of any motion sickness among the passengers during your cruise as well as the general need for insect repellent? We will be aboard the Silver Galapagos in June, and some in our party have been susceptible to motion sickness in rough open water. We have also heard that the biting insects can be daunting, but were trying to assess the need for heavy DEET formulations. Thanks much.

 

Ellen (DC4925)

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dc -

 

On my voyage, the boat rocked a lot the last 2-3 days, enough that people were commenting on it. I am sometimes susceptible to motion sickness, but was fine, even without any help. The zodiacs were very smooth - they did a great job with them. As to insect repellant, we didn't bring any. The only thing that bothered us was some gnats - but they didn't bite. This could change at different times of the year. Wouldn't hurt to bring some!

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For wet landings we wore our water shoes with our hiking shoes in a day pack. Our group left our wet shoes near the beach with a towel when we set out on the hike. As said above, they give your all the details at the talk the night before each day's excursions. I am susceptible to motions sickness, so fortunately the seas were like glass everyday. We went in January on the North Central itinerary, so both of those may have been a factor. I am also susceptible to mosquitos - if there is one around it will fine me - so I packed two cans of Deet. I never needed it. Again, time of year could be a factor.

 

This was a very busy trip for us as we did both morning and afternoon excursions everyday. We always signed up for the more strenuous hikes, but on the last afternoon we decided to go for the easier/shorter hike so we could enjoy a cocktail at sunset. Every other day we dashed to our room to get ready for the briefing and dinner. We loved our cruise and wanted to experience as much as we could.

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I would say that is is not a cruise in the normal sense more a educational experience which will if you let it broaden your mind and make you take more notice of the world around us.

 

I was speaking to a friend yesterday and he said that he had not seen me more energised by a trip in many years and thinking about it I am so much more aware of the enviroment and for that I thank the guides, crew and other pax for their help and understanding while I ask all the stupid questions.

 

Joe

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  • 2 weeks later...

Shifting gears slightly, we received cruise documents in which Silversea had incorrectly booked our flights on LATAM from Quito to San Cristobal for a week earlier than our cruise date. After informing Silversea of the error, we were booked on Tame for the correct date. We are concerned that we may not be traveling with most of the other Silver Galapagos passengers now, and that the airline seems to delay or cancel with unfortunate regularity due to recent corporate financial woes. Has anyone had experience with Tame?

 

 

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