Silver Galapagos Near to Sailing

[wripro]

I personally do not think it's wise to compare the Silver Galapagos to the other ships in the SSS fleet. The reason for such a trip is the Galapagos themselves and SS will probably still be the best and most luxurious way to see them.

[5waldos]

Well- no problem for me since this will be my first SS trip of any sort. But the previous few posts were specific to the expedition ships or to the S. Galapagos description on the SS website.

[tvmovielover]

Wripro is right. Chose this cruise to see the Galapagos and flora and fauna that cannot be seen elsewhere. Rules for cruises and hikes on the various islands have to do with Ecuadorian efforts to preserve what is left of this special place. The use of Ecuadorian crew and guides helps the economy-they are not that backward even those whose English is less than perfect. The guides were all raised on the islands and have great love and respect for them that they try to share with us.

 

As said by Wripro, this will still probably be the most luxurious cruise available if you want to go that way in the Galapagos even if not the usual SS standard. We were on the last Explorer II trip before refitting and enjoyed having really nice evening meals after a day of hiking, snorkeling, etc. Some people did stay on the beaches by the way. I hope the SS Galapagos will give you pleasant evenings after the sightseeing day. I have been reading here because the only thing that was not great were the dated cabins so I want to hear if they improved them. Just please remember to go on this cruise for the Galapagos experience rather than for the SS experience.

[5waldos]

Today ends the second sailing so perhaps we will get some first hand knowledge of how it is going.

[Mbfrye]

For anyone interested, http://www.fromthedeckchair.com will be reviewing the silversea galapagos cruise live for their blog. I believe they sail November 1st so it might be helpful to get additional details and photos.

[5waldos]

Thanks- that will be interesting for sure. I found these pictures https://www.facebook.com/search/223341647824977/photos-of

None too striking but every little glimmer...

[carefreecruise]

We were reading our itinerary for our Nov 9th voyage and see Abercrombie and Kent will be handling the pre and post cruise excursions, including hotel stays for Silversea. Two top of the line teams working together.... We have heard a lot of good things about this company and look forward to reviewing both the new Silver Galapagos along with the well-known Abercrombie and Kent.

Edited October 16, 2013 by carefreecruise

[mrsm88]

We were reading our itinerary for our Nov 9th voyage and see Abercrombie and Kent will be handling the pre and post cruise excursions, including hotel stays for Silversea. Two top of the line teams working together.... We have heard a lot of good things about this company and look forward to reviewing both the new Silver Galapagos along with the well-known Abercrombie and Kent.

Anxious for your report, sounds like you are #1 cruiser out of the posters here. (March 1st for us) We are doing 3 nights pre cruise @ the Marriott but only 1 night after in Guayaquil & no add ons. We hired a private guide for 2 days in Quito.

[ppiew]

We are taking a pre cruise to Machu Picchu in February 2014 but haven't been able to find who is handling the excursion. It is the 4 day Grand Explorer. Any help here?

[carefreecruise]

PPIEW, If you booked it through Silversea, then they are having Abercrombie and Kent handle it for them with their custom itinerary. We also are on the four day Machu Picchu and received our tickets to leave within two weeks. Silverseas and Abercrombie and Kent representative will meet us at the airport for the land portion of the pre excursion. If you look up excursions with A &K you will see some very similar tours.

Edited October 19, 2013 by carefreecruise

[ppiew]

Sounds very good! I am getting more and more pleased. I do have challenges walking as I have a bad ankle but I WILL push thru! A&K will be the best I am sure. Thank you.

[Lauranne]

Anxious for your report, sounds like you are #1 cruiser out of the posters here. (March 1st for us) We are doing 3 nights pre cruise @ the Marriott but only 1 night after in Guayaquil & no add ons. We hired a private guide for 2 days in Quito.

 

Could you please share the name of your private guide with me. We are looking for someone for one day In Quito.

 

Also I am trying to book flights for our April cruise and want to get back home asap. The Silversea rep tells me that flight should be later than 8pm out of Guayaquil. I find it hard to believe that we don't arrive from Baltra until then as the hotel/transfer package includes a dayroom at the hotel and what would be the purpose of a dayroom if we arrive that late. I really would like to ask someone who has taken this cruise what time they did arrive in Guayaquil.I can get a flight from Guayaquilto to Quito at around 7:30 pm and then catch a 11:55 pm flight home but I am afraid to book this until I hear more. :rolleyes:

[5waldos]

Could you please share the name of your private guide with me. We are looking for someone for one day In Quito.

 

Also I am trying to book flights for our April cruise and want to get back home asap. The Silversea rep tells me that flight should be later than 8pm out of Guayaquil. I find it hard to believe that we don't arrive from Baltra until then as the hotel/transfer package includes a dayroom at the hotel and what would be the purpose of a dayroom if we arrive that late. I really would like to ask someone who has taken this cruise what time they did arrive in Guayaquil.I can get a flight from Guayaquilto to Quito at around 7:30 pm and then catch a 11:55 pm flight home but I am afraid to book this until I hear more. :rolleyes:

 

I have been told that the plane gets back to Guayaquil at about 12:50 pm. We have a 3pm flight to Panama which they assume we will be able to make. However, they cannot/will not guarentee this of course. They say they will have a real schedule available in early Jan.

 

We have a private driver who has gotten very good reviews on Trip Advisor. Name is lincolnjabra@hotmail.com. He has been very responsive to our emails so although I can't actually recommend him personally yet, there is one possibility for you.

Edited October 19, 2013 by 5waldos

[Lauranne]

Thank you 5Waldos for your information. I think I will go ahead with the flights.

[5waldos]

Hope it all works out for you. We made our reservations without even thinking about when we would get in- foolish but it seems like it will work out. We were able to use frequent flier miles for the entire set of flights so just grabbed and figured that we would work it out later if something was amiss.

 

Wish someone who has been on the ship would come and post- I jokingly accused someone at SS of bribing them all to not share these early experiences! I don't think he was amused.

[Lauranne]

We too are using miles so I need to book soon. I'm sure that we can make the flight as all we have to do is stay at the airport and not go to the hotel. It certainly will be nice if someone would post a review but it really won't make a difference to me as we are going! Bucket list trip. :)

[5waldos]

If you have a 7:30 flight to Quito you may want the day room! But your logic is spot on- why have a room available if you won't be getting in until that late. Aerogal (and I think we are flying Aerogal) only has two scheduled flights on Sat. coming in from the Galapagos- one arrives at 12:50, one at 3:50. I am assuming we will be on the former. If the latter we are in trouble. And I don't think that a boatload of SS cruisers is enough to charter a plane although I could be wrong. I figure the worst that can happen is that we miss our flight and go out on the later one.

[carefreecruise]

Just FYI for those interested in what Silversea does with their Silver Sky Program. They put you up in a hotel oro Verde and leave on American Airlines flight 902 leaving at 0:55 AM from Guayaquil to Miami. I don’t see why you just couldn’t go some ware to freshen up and straight to the airport to board the midnight flight. I guess they want you to have an extra day in Ecuador.

[5waldos]

Just FYI for those interested in what Silversea does with their Silver Sky Program. They put you up in a hotel oro Verde and leave on American Airlines flight 902 leaving at 0:55 AM from Guayaquil to Miami. I don’t see why you just couldn’t go some ware to freshen up and straight to the airport to board the midnight flight. I guess they want you to have an extra day in Ecuador.

 

But wouldn't the Guayaquil-Miami flight be the night that you return? So if you get in at say 1 in the afternoon, you would be leaving about 12 hours later? Perhaps I am confused here.

[carefreecruise]

Sorry, I understand my previous post could be confusing. What I was trying to convey was; If we were in hurry and not using Silver Sky to arrange air flights, One might just head to the airport and catch the 0:55 AM flight 902 to Miami. Silversea is going to take their time and get you to a hotel, check you in and let you spend the rest of the day sightseeing. Then the next day at 1:00 PM you can leave the hotel leaving your bags at the hotel and Silversea will pick you up after dinner to catch you flight back to the states.

 

I would like to scan all the pages they sent but they heavily stapled the tops, folded them in thirds and jammed them into a nifty black crocodile (vinyl) document holder. The pages keep getting jammed in paper feeder and I gave up on making a PDF to attach to a post.

Edited October 19, 2013 by carefreecruise

[5waldos]

Ah- so you leave in fact the next day. Thanks for clearing it up. And it is rather odd to keep you the extra day- Guayaquil is supposed to be ok I guess. By the time we disembark I am rather happy to just stay at the airport and take the next flight out. We will do our resting in Panama for a day- a leisurely trip to watch the canal and perhaps a stroll around the old part of the city. Then back to Denver where we will probably have 2 foot of snow. :eek:

 

You really must promise to let us know what you think- this is the one problem with taking a new cruise- no idea what we really are getting ourselves in for. The longest "review" I have read basically said- "Ah- cruising the Galapagos with Silversea was heavenly!", or something to that effect. Complete review.

[Lauranne]

Hi Carefreecruise,

We hope to leave Guayaquil at around 7:30 pm to fly to Quito and then catch a flight to Calgary at 11:55 pm. This will get us home at 10:30 the next morning. My only concern is that the agent at Silversea told me not to book a flight out of Guayaquil until after 8:00 pm as they couldn't guarantee that we would arrive from Baltra. I think that this has more to do with when Silversea has booked the group transfer from the dayrooms at the hotel. I am convinced that our timing is just fine.

[carefreecruise]

After a bunch of flight from South America, I found the majority leave late at night. And yes I agree, nothing special to see in that town, rather be traveling back north taking advantage of midnight departing flights. But in the past Silversea by default puts you in a hotel before and after your cruises. They say sometimes air flight, road blockages have caused problems and they would rather have you’re for an extra day, to be safe. Reading our itinerary, it says getting too and disembarking the Silver Galapagos is done on a Zodiac craft with luggage checks at both ends. This should add some time…? Will have a better idea in a few weeks after we get off the Silver Galapagos and see how far the airport is in traveling time.

[mrsm88]

Could you please share the name of your private guide with me. We are looking for someone for one day In Quito.

We are also using Lincoln (5waldos posted his info) & he was very responsive & had great reviews on the celebrity threads.

We are supposed to stay 1 night in Quayaquil & fly direct to NY on LAN the next day on mileage. Well...LAN just bumped us to the following day! I called AA who is handling this & they told me I need to call back Mon night to confirm the switch back to our original flt (which they said still had seats).:confused:

My flights change every month it seems (I booked 11 months out).

[mrsm88]

will be nice if someone would post a review but it really won't make a difference to me as we are going! Bucket list trip. :)

ditto!:D