Galápagos Deals?

[FlaLove]

Just wondering if anyone has seen the Galápagos cruises heavily discounted? It seems they are always around $4600-$5300 per person whenever I check. Has anyone ever seen Galapagos itineraries go below $3000?

[Jane2357]

Just wondering if anyone has seen the Galápagos cruises heavily discounted? It seems they are always around $4600-$5300 per person whenever I check. Has anyone ever seen Galapagos itineraries go below $3000?

 

 

I've never seen them discounted although maybe someone else has. Due to the size of the ship (now ships as they added 2 addition - both smaller than Xploration) - fewer people have the opportunity to sail.

They book up years in advance - we just booked for 2/2019. So unless there are last minute cancellations - I doubt that there are any big bargains.

[GottaKnowWhen]

Just wondering if anyone has seen the Galápagos cruises heavily discounted? It seems they are always around $4600-$5300 per person whenever I check. Has anyone ever seen Galapagos itineraries go below $3000?

I am not a dedicated price watcher, so I can't say "never." But I don't think $3000 is going to happen.

In December 2015, just about 17 months ago, the itineraries for spring 2018 opened up. We booked a March 2018 Galapagos trip that first day. I occasionally check the price and have not seen it budge since then. From others' comments on these boards, I expect, if anything, that the price will climb.

 

(Actually, full disclosure, our particular date is sold out right now, no price is shown, so my price checks have involved looking at similar itineraries before or after our date. But I am pretty sure that my expectation of a flat or climbing price is still about right.)

 

Do note that it can be tricky to track Celebrity's Galapagos prices as they have a basic price (buried someplace), then a 10-day price assuming you stay at their preferred hotel in Quito for 2 nights prior and one night after the 7-night Galapagos voyage, then an 11-day price, then another price for a 15 day trip which includes a Machu Picchu extension. If you try to make comparisons, be sure you don't get into apples vs. oranges.

 

Stan

[FlaLove]

I kind of figured that may be the case. Thanks all for the input.

[donaldsc]

Just wondering if anyone has seen the Galápagos cruises heavily discounted? It seems they are always around $4600-$5300 per person whenever I check. Has anyone ever seen Galapagos itineraries go below $3000?

 

There are a lot of non-major cruise lines that do the Galapagos besides Celebrity. Many of them do an excellent job. We did one on Metropolitan Touring's La Pinta. There are also lines that offer fewer amenities than Celebrity but offer a good experience and lower costs. .Another thing is that the ship operators are not necessarily the same as the cruise operators.

 

You need to spend some (actually a lot) time on the internet and do some research. I spent many hours comparing ships before I decided on the La Pinta.

 

I certainly would not want to deprive you of the fun of spending hours surfing the net.

 

DON

 

DON

[Jane2357]

For what we are paying for our Galapagos 10 night trip - we would be in a PH on a 7 night cruise :eek: One thing to remember is that it is pretty much all inclusive. Meaning that your airport transfer, your pre-cruise hotel, pre-cruise meals, Quito tours - are included - under the optional 10 or 11 night trips.

Charter transfer to and from Baltra, included. Then once on the ship all your food & drinks including alcohol. So as you compare companies - I would keep all of that in mind.

If you look at the reviews of these cruises on X - they get very high ratings.

[herbanrenewal]

When it comes to the important part - the tours in Galapagos - they are all with guides certified locally. The Galapagos cruise tours are virtually the same, so if the experience is your primary concern any cruise line will be similar. Also food sources must, by local law, be local, so thats another point of similarity. So the differences are onboard experiences, and they are NOT the same as the cruise line's regular features on Galapagos ships with 100 passengers or less.

 

So shopping around may help you find bargains. I found that Silver Seas had a Galapagos sale that saved us lots for our 2018 planned trip. By booking early and paying in full (fully reimbursable if we should have to cancel) we saved 15%. Also they included the pre-Galapagos stay that is priced by some of the other lines as a 10 day itinerary rather than 7 days. To top it off, they had a $199 deal for airfare. All together we save at least $2000pp over any other provider.

 

I'm not sure if those deals are still available, but my point is that shopping around may save some money even though the base price is remarkably similar.

[Arzeena]

For what we are paying for our Galapagos 10 night trip - we would be in a PH on a 7 night cruise :eek: One thing to remember is that it is pretty much all inclusive. Meaning that your airport transfer, your pre-cruise hotel, pre-cruise meals, Quito tours - are included - under the optional 10 or 11 night trips.

Charter transfer to and from Baltra, included. Then once on the ship all your food & drinks including alcohol. So as you compare companies - I would keep all of that in mind.

If you look at the reviews of these cruises on X - they get very high ratings.

 

The all inclusive quote from Celebrity (on board booking) for 10 or 11 night was around $24K per couple. It included everything you stated above: transfers, air, excellent hotels like Sheraton and Westin, meals, tours. Not included was spa services and laundry. The on board presentation was very nice.

 

Again, different strokes for different folks: A friend had done it via national geographic years ago and again via X and said it was no comparison, X won by far! Another friend had done it via Globus twice and had excellent reviews. I have not done it yet, but from all the info presented to me by X, and the two friends, I would be inclined towards X.

[chawkjewel]

The all inclusive quote from Celebrity (on board booking) for 10 or 11 night was around $24K per couple. It included everything you stated above: transfers, air, excellent hotels like Sheraton and Westin, meals, tours. Not included was spa services and laundry. The on board presentation was very nice.

 

 

 

Again, different strokes for different folks: A friend had done it via national geographic years ago and again via X and said it was no comparison, X won by far! Another friend had done it via Globus twice and had excellent reviews. I have not done it yet, but from all the info presented to me by X, and the two friends, I would be inclined towards X.

 

 

Hi Arzeena . We actually booked on board Summit. The 10 day price in an XD was about 14k. We will have to pay airfare but...

 

It's a bit pricey and we may ultimately opt for something different but their presentation was spectacular and really gave us the desire to go.

 

 

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[Jacqueline]

Silversea ended up being a better value for us. We had the flexibility for dates and our cruise consultant helped us there. Also free airfare from New York (and we requested a different departure day and got our flight time), Same hotels as Celebrity.

Our cabin had a balcony, too, another upgrade.

They try hard to say yes.

My son did Celebrity and loved , but it was too booked up for us which is what lead up to alternatives.

[ghstudio]

Not sure why the buzz is that the galapagos cruises are sold out months/years in advance. I look every so often and find (good) cabins available more often than not on cruises 6-12 months out.

 

We have been on the Xpedition and the only cabins to avoid (other than cost) are the ones at the very front of the ship because of anchor noise. There is no value that we saw in booking XP over XD other than being on deck higher...but you are never in your cabin other than to sleep. I guess those who feel they need a suite/balcony of their own on a 297' yacht (that's what the Xpedition is technically...it's a yacht) can have problems...but this isn't a cruise where you need either space or the privacy of a private balcony.

 

My opinion is that the cruise, whichever one you pick, is outstanding....and if you can find an XP/XD cabin....book it and enjoy.

[sippican]

Along with cabin category levels, you can find fairly significant differences in pricing on Celebrity depending on when you travel - even from week to week within the same month.

Do your homework on the seasons so that you know what to expect during any given time period (rain, water temps, animal activity ..).

We booked the 10 day package originally, then after attending a presentation onboard, upgraded to the 15-day with the extensions in MP and SV. From speaking with quite a few previous passengers and scouring the Galapagos boards, it doesn't seem as though there's a bad time to travel to the islands. We also shopped quite extensively for independent tour options to MP and, after adding in all of the associated add-ons, found the Celebrity package to be almost equal in cost.

[Arzeena]

Hi Arzeena . We actually booked on board Summit. The 10 day price in an XD was about 14k. We will have to pay airfare but...

 

It's a bit pricey and we may ultimately opt for something different but their presentation was spectacular and really gave us the desire to go.

 

 

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Hi!

I agree about the presentation! It was great! By the end I was so sold on this. But we will have to wait to do that trip. It is on our list, for certain.

[Jane2357]

The all inclusive quote from Celebrity (on board booking) for 10 or 11 night was around $24K per couple. It included everything you stated above: transfers, air, excellent hotels like Sheraton and Westin, meals, tours. Not included was spa services and laundry. The on board presentation was very nice.

 

Again, different strokes for different folks: A friend had done it via national geographic years ago and again via X and said it was no comparison, X won by far! Another friend had done it via Globus twice and had excellent reviews. I have not done it yet, but from all the info presented to me by X, and the two friends, I would be inclined towards X.

 

$24,000? Was that the penthouse on Xpedition because that seems way high! Wait - you must mean the MP add on also. That does add quite a bit more than the 10 or 11 days. We booked ourselves an Xpedition suite and the 10 night trip and with our Elite 5% discount it came in just under $17,000.

Right now on our cruise you can get an XO for $5,899 per person - XD for $6,099 - XP for 6,449. Higher suites are showing not available - kinda hard to believe that.