Xpedition - Just returned from 12/4/05 sailing

[Susan-M]

Sheila, Did you book your own flights or do it thru Celebrity. I was wondering about the detour.... if the same thing happens to us and we've booked our own flights, will they take care of all of those extra arrangements?

 

thanks,

[SheilaNC]

Susan,

Sorry that I didn't include that we did book our own flights. Our TA gave our flight plans to Celebrity and they treated us in the same way as those who booked with them.

[Susan-M]

Thanks for clarifying.... it's reassuring to know that Celebrity takes such good care of their clients!

[bunnybear]

We will contact the Marriot about airport transfer. I will also contact your suggestion regarding a tour on Friday.

 

Is there a dinner on Friday night that is provided by Celebrity? Somewhere I read that everything is paid for from Friday on.

[drfun48]

We will contact the Marriot about airport transfer. I will also contact your suggestion regarding a tour on Friday.

 

Is there a dinner on Friday night that is provided by Celebrity? Somewhere I read that everything is paid for from Friday on.

I believe most everyone arrives in Quito after 10pm ...we did so it was complimentary drink and to bedBreakfast,lunch at the crater( a very steep but short walk)and dinner on Saturday was at the hotel...very nice, including wine.

[SandyR5]

Hi - We, and many travelers on our Xpedition, arrived in Quito about 8:30. AA has an earlier flight out of Miami that arrives then...instead of the later flight. I think it was all of us that booked ourselves instead of with Celebrity air. ;) We were also the ones leaving for the airport about 8:30 for our return flight instead of before 6:00 in the morning.

[frankpc]

Susan,

 

You will be on your own for dinner the first night ... if you choose to go out taxis are recommended in Quito. They're cheap. A little Spanish helps too. Ecuador "dollarized" a few years ago so the money is the same. The Marriott also has a restaurant and a surprisingly good sushi bar.

 

You'll also note a change in the Marriott (especially the restaurant) when Celebrity "invades" ... our first morning at breakfast it was like being in South America (greeted in Spanish, etc.). The next morning the same folks greeted us in English (maybe they didn't want to hear me speak Spanish again?), even the coffee was different :-). Ecuador has some great juices .... we were a little skeptical about drinking them because of the water issues but we didn't have any problems ... We did pop some Pepto while in Quito as a precaution - thanks to great advice from Spengle (who, by the way, is a very gracious host).

 

Net-net is it's all good. If anything, they do too much to accommodate us Northern Americans ....

 

Take care,

 

Frank

[Susan-M]

Thanks very much Frank (I think it was Bunnybear that asked about Friday's dinner) but it's useful info for me as well!

 

Would you stay at the Marriott if you were staying on for a few extra days... it looks really nice, but I'm wondering about location?

[drfun48]

Thanks very much Frank (I think it was Bunnybear that asked about Friday's dinner) but it's useful info for me as well!

 

Would you stay at the Marriott if you were staying on for a few extra days... it looks really nice, but I'm wondering about location?

The Marriott is a fabulous hotel...I did not see anything comparable...great shops,pool, bar,business center and restaurants.No problem with location...except for the altitude.

[frankpc]

Agreed that the Marriott is a pretty nice place. Good location between the airport and the "old city".

 

Lonely Planet - "Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands" - is a good place to get more info on Quito and other destinations in Ecuador.

 

FWIW - the other books I read:

 

"A Traveler's Guide to the Galapagos Islands" by Barry Boyce provides history, an overview and island by island info

 

"Birds, Mammals & Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands" by Andy Swash and Rob Still is a nicely organized "spotters guide" type of book with lots of color pics

 

Enjoy,

 

Frank

[atlas]

Hi everyone,

 

I read this thread daily but didn't contribute as I was on the Galapagos Explorer II. I just wanted to say this is truely an experience of a lifetime and anyone considering going should do it if they can. I've gone to many places if my life but this was by far my favorite trip. Amazing encounters with God's creatures.

 

Thank you all for the information you've been sharing, it was a wealth of much needed information and really helped prepare me for our trip.:)

[Kamper]

Thanks for the guidebook info Frank. I posed this question along with several others under the thread Xpeditions Questions yesterday. I realize I should have typed Xpedition but, I can't figure out how to edit the title now.:confused: I don't know how I'm going to last until November!

[Susan-M]

Thanks for the feedback on the Marriott drfun and Frank, and also for the guidebook suggestions! I picked up a few books from the library to get started ... Lonely Planet, Voyage of the Beagle, and a Wildlife Guide.

Atlas - great to read another post saying that it "was the trip of a lifetime!"

 

Kamper, why don't you cut and paste your other posts into this thread, or if you send an email to the forum moderator, maybe they can edit your title?

[Kamper]

Susan-M, Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like we will be on the cuise the week before you. I would like to also suggest that you leave Peru to another trip. You don't want to rush through Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, trust me.

 

So here is my other post ----

 

Hi, This is my first time to post but, I have been lurking for some time. (To be truthful I am not a cruiser but, I am a travel agent.) I have really enjoyed reading all of the threads about the Xpedition Galapagos cruise. Excellent information, insights and excitement. I have just booked the Nov. 5th 11 night option. WOOHOO! I have a few questions that I hope some of you veterans can answer.

 

We are using FF miles on Continental arriving on Thursday night.

 

Did anyone else besides Frankpc use the Marriott shuttle? Was your experience also positive?

 

For those of you that arrived early, did they put you in the block of rooms with the other Celebrity cruisers? When and where did you meet up with the Celebrity reps?

[Kamper]

We will have two days to do tours on our own. What was the market at Otavalo like? Since we wouldn't be going on the actual market day (Saturday) I was worried it will just be tourists. We have been to the market in Pisac, Peru and I was kind of disappointed with it because, the majority of it is set up for tourists.

 

I'm also considering a tour on Monday (after the cruise) to the Cotopaxi National Park for some hiking. Did anyone do this?

 

I know the ship provides walking sticks but, did anyone take their own? I have a set of telescoping poles that I use for hiking (bad ankles) that I'm really comfortable with.

 

If you are a diver and you did OR did not please tell me about your experience or why you chose not too. I'm not a big cold water fan (I wear a full suit diving Cozumel) but, I will cowgirl up if it sounds worth it.

[Kamper]

What guide books and/or field guides do you recommend for the Galapagos? Did the ship's library land and marine guides?

 

Any Quito restaurant recommendations? My DH is allergic to seafood (leaves more for me :D ).

 

Did they have yogurt at breakfast on board? It's what I usually eat and I find that my stomach behaves better when it fuel up with what it is use to.

 

That's it (for now).

[Susan-M]

Susan-M, Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like we will be on the cuise the week before you. I would like to also suggest that you leave Peru to another trip. You don't want to rush through Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, trust me.

 

Thanks Kamper - we've decided not to squeeze Peru into this trip ... it sounds like we'd probably be too tired and too rushed, so we'll stay on in Quito to do some day trips. We've booked the 10 day trip with Celebrity and then an additional 4 nights directly with Marriott.

 

We are also interested in day trips to Cotopaxi N.P., Otavala and Bellavista Cloudforest. Frankpc recommended: http://www.sangay.com/ecuadorattractions.html (it's in a post on this page.)

[drfun48]

Susan-M, Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like we will be on the cuise the week before you. I would like to also suggest that you leave Peru to another trip. You don't want to rush through Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, trust me.

 

So here is my other post ----

 

Hi, This is my first time to post but, I have been lurking for some time. (To be truthful I am not a cruiser but, I am a travel agent.) I have really enjoyed reading all of the threads about the Xpedition Galapagos cruise. Excellent information, insights and excitement. I have just booked the Nov. 5th 11 night option. WOOHOO! I have a few questions that I hope some of you veterans can answer.

 

We are using FF miles on Continental arriving on Thursday night.

 

Did anyone else besides Frankpc use the Marriott shuttle? Was your experience also positive?

 

For those of you that arrived early, did they put you in the block of rooms with the other Celebrity cruisers? When and where did you meet up with the Celebrity reps?

Marriott shuttle was reliable...there was no block of rooms when we were there.We were spread out but it didn't matter...the walkingsticks were more than adaquate and you only needed them once in a while. Save your limited space. Don't sweat the small details ---this is a great trip.

[Susan-M]

I'm thinking of booking my air arrangements now with AA as there is a lot of availablility and prices don't seem too high. Toronto/Quito return is around $900 U.S. - but the cruise isn't till Nov. Do you think this is too early to book flights?

[SheilaNC]

My suggestion is to book, but...keep watching the fares. American will often adjust downward if the fare drops. Good luck.

[Susan-M]

Thanks Sheila... our airfare for the med cruise was a lot higher than this - so this looks like a bargain. Did you fly through Miami? There is only 1 hr 10 mins between flights on the way down. I can book a flight with more space in between, but if 1 hr. 10 mins. in Miami is enough, I'll go with that. There are later flights, so if we're late leaving Toronto, I think they'd be able to put us on a later flight from Miami to Quito.

[SandyR5]

Susan - If you don't want to start your trip with anxiety, I strongly suggest leaving more room between flights in Miami. We also had about 1 hour 15 minutes, but our flight from NY was 1/2 hour late taking off. We worried the entire way to Miami but, as our good luck would have it, our gate for the Quito flight was right next door to our arrival gate. WHEW! Others onboard told us about running through Miami's huge terminals to make the Quito flight. We boarded when they were calling the last group. Miami has a huge airport and flights come in at different terminals which are sometimes quite a distance away. I'd go for a longer layover so you can begin more relaxed.

[Susan-M]

Thanks Sandy... It might be worth the peace of mind...we could leave Toronto 2+ hours earliers and have a 3 1/2 hour layover in Miami. This would probably ensure that we made the 4:20 flight out of Miami...otherwise, the last flight is 6:50 and could be fully booked. We had a 5 hour delay leaving Toronto to Frankfurt in Sept.... boy does that get your flight plans in a mess! It put us into Barcelona about 7 hours late.

[Susan-M]

I know there has been talk of 'what clothing to bring' but I need a quick reminder of where the posts are ... or a quick answer here please.

Dinners on the ship = nice casual - nothing fancy?

At the Marriott - slightly dressier?

 

thanks,

[SheilaNC]

Susan,

Yes, we flew through Miami - had a long walk between gates but I think your time would work. I'd book the earliest possible flight out of Miami to avoid the fog in Quito which is why we ended up spending the night in Guayaquil. The fog apparently is more likely to hit the flights coming in after 10 at night. Don't know the choices you have but wanted to share our experience.