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AT LAST—cruising again—Live from the Silversea Origin August 28-September 4, 2021

RachelG

By RachelG,
in Silversea

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Stumblefoot

Stumblefoot

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2 hours ago, RachelG said:

Again sorry about the upside down pics.  I have tried to figure out how to fix it but am unable to.

Pics of the bird nest were very interesting.  Chicks look healthy!


RachelG, if you are using the mobile site of CC and selecting your pics all at one time, try uploading them one by one and then insert manually into your message.  I’ve run into issues when trying to upload multiple photos at the same time and letting CC insert them instead of myself.

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CruiserJax

CruiserJax

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What an amazing trip, thank you for sharing. My wife and I are interested in Silversea cruises, after some research it seems to be our dream cruise line. Is it true that each room has a butler assigned? Also, are there complimentary excursions available for each stop? We also have a rather delicate question since we've never had the butler experience before, what would be the tipping etiquette for the butler? If this topic is too sensitive to share publicly, please feel free to private message me, would really appreciate your input as an experienced Silversea passenger. 

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mchell810

mchell810

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13 hours ago, RachelG said:

September 1, 2021–Floreana island, Galapagos

 

We sailed through the night on open ocean, so felt a little bit of movement, just enough to realize we were on a ship.  When we awoke, we were in Post Office Bay on Floreana Island.  It was very overcast and slightly cool, in the upper 60s.  But no wind.  Ahead was a wide crescent shaped sandy beach with lava rocks on both ends.  There were bushes, the type you see at the beach in a lot of places, but no real trees, and fairly flat.

 

George and I were on the first zodiac over for a wet landing.  You could walk on the beach or snorkel in the area by the lava rocks.  George saw a huge sea turtle while snorkeling with little fish eating something (algae?) off his shell.  From the beach, I saw several seals and a lot of birds, mostly finches, but also a pelican and a frigate bird.  The beach was really good for walking as the sand was pretty hard packed.

 

They had zodiacs running back and forth to and from the ship all morning, so you could come and go as you pleased.

 

George again pizza at lunch while I had a delicious face falls pasta dish with sundries tomatoes and mushrooms.  Deep water snorkeling was after lunch.  George went and came back totally frozen.  He did see a lot of fish but thought the water was much colder today.

 

We had a nice hike in an area where we had been previously.  It was a wet landing but pretty easy.  We saw a bunch of blue footed boobies nesting,some with cute fluffy white chicks then hiked to a lagoon where there had been a bunch of flamingos last time.  None today, so we hiked on an easy trail to the other side of the island to a wide white sand beach where we could see stingrays in the water as well as a small snark about 3 ft long.  We hiked back to be picked up by the zodiacs.

 

No zodiacs.  All the groups and guides were there, but no zodiacs.  It was starting to get dark.  One of the guides radioed the ship.  They told him it was going to be a little longer.  Finally the zodiacs arrived.  We loaded on, and the guide made an announcement.  There was an electrical problem on the ship, and they were not able to lower the marina where the zodiacs load and unload.

 

SO—-we would be getting back on the ship via rope ladder into the cargo bay.   Yes, you read that correctly.  And we did it.  Something I have never done before.  The guides and sailors gave good instructions and helped.  Fortunately everyone who had gone on the hike was reasonably fit, and we got to see a restricted part of the ship.

 

Recap and briefing was pushed back by 15 minutes.  Very unusual dinner menu—lamb which was braised and on top of big potato cake, a blue cheese and fig mousse, a Camembert cheese cheesecake.  It was tasty but not for the unadventurous eater.

 

Yikes! Rope ladder into the cargo bay!  I'm glad it worked smoothly and it certainly makes for an fun story on what seems to be a great trip.  Thanks for taking us all along with you.

 

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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Brian,I tried your suggestion regarding the pictures and it does seem to help, though some still up load upside down.

 

as far as food, the chef is really good particularly since she has to use only locally sourced meat and produce.  The Galapagos have a lot of rules about imports.  She said she can’t get jalapeños.  Produce is very fresh.

 

service is excellent.  Remember, all the crew is Ecuadorian, most from the Galapagos.  During the covid shutdown, they had no income, so all are really happy to be working again.

 

as far as tipping, tips are included.  That means no extra tipping required.  Now if I had my butler do something far beyond the range of normal service,I would offer a tip.  But you should definitely mention crew members who have done a great job on the end of cruise evaluation, and donations to the crew welfare fund are always  appreciated.

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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Rachel, enjoying your review and pictures😀

 

CruiserJax,  yes, everyone has a Butler and you don't need to tip him extra. As Rachel mentioned, if they go totally above and beyond? That would be your choice of course.  But no extra tipping is expected.

 

And the private messaging function does not work on here.........it never has.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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40 minutes ago, Emtbsam said:

I am a bit surprised that it is as cold as you report.  Is that normal?  We are reserved for next September and I was dreading the hot weather.  Really enjoying your blog.

Their seasons are opposite ours.  When we went in November, it was much hotter than it is now.  The first time we went was June, and it was about like now, maybe a little warmer.

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Jaz1994

Jaz1994

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Glad to hear there are at least a few things to purchase… our cruise fare came with a $1000 onboard credit, but can’t imagine how we would even use that?! Expensive gifts, expensive wines? Anything else that “costs extra” while onboard?
This will be my first Silverseas experience!

They said we can’t use it towards the crew fund (already asked)

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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45 minutes ago, Jaz1994 said:

Glad to hear there are at least a few things to purchase… our cruise fare came with a $1000 onboard credit, but can’t imagine how we would even use that?! Expensive gifts, expensive wines? Anything else that “costs extra” while onboard?
This will be my first Silverseas experience!

They said we can’t use it towards the crew fund (already asked)

Are you on an Expedition sailing? Or  a classic ship?

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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September 2, 2021–Puerto Ayora, Galapagos

 

We awoke to a very overcast cool morning.  The ship was in a harbor along with lots of small fishing boats and medium sized dive boats.  Of course, Origin was the nicest and newest.

 

Today was to be all about the giant tortoises.  We took the zodiacs to the dock, then boarded small buses to travel through town and up to the highlands.  The countryside was lush and green, covered with grass and large trees, a whole different climate than we had previously seen on this trip.  Pretty soon, we started seeing what looked like large boulders in the fields, but some of them moved slowly—the giant tortoises.

 

We arrived at a farm where they grow coffee, raise horses, and also have a lot of the tortoises.  We were able to walk around the field and get up close to them.  They move so slowly, and if you get too close, they just retract into their shells.  We then had a coffee and chocolate tasting.  The chocolate was very high quality and the same brand as they put on your pillow at night on the ship.  I bought some to take back to my office girls.

 

Back to town, we had to go directly back to the ship.  On previous trips, we had been allowed to walk around, shop, and eat lunch in town if we wanted, but none of that was allowed due to covid.  I really hate that as it is a nice little town and clearly needs our money.

 

The sun was out and it had warmed up, so we ate upstairs outside.  They have different fresh fish there every day.

 

After lunch, we went back to shore and were bussed to the Darwin Center which is where lonesome George lived before he passed.  He is now taxidermied (is that a word) and on display in a refrigerated room, so we were able to pay our respects.  They breed tortoises here then release them into the wild.  

 

Afterwards, we were bussed back to the dock.  Again no shopping, interaction with people not from the ship, etc.  Our naturalist lives in town here, and his wife brought him some things.  She had to stay 6 feet away from him.

 

Dinner was in Hot Rocks.  It was a nice evening.  The menu is more limited than that of the other Hot Rocks, with only beef, Prawns, and pork as main dishes.  One of our dining companions is vegetarian, so she just had a salad and the vegetables.  There are a couple of Ecuadorian appetizers as well.  

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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1 hour ago, cruiseej said:

This is a thread about cruising on the Origin in the Galapagos.

Hi, I know......I was asking the new cruiser.  I was just attempting to help them to make sure they realized it..........the Expedition ships are quite different from the Classic ones.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

Oh that's sad that they stuffed Lonesome George! I have pics from when he was still alive (10Y ago) and I prefer to remember him that way. It would be sad to see him now, just a shell of his former self...

Love you play on words, JP, but actually is kind of how I felt.  He looked sort of deflated and dehydrated.

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tsavorite

tsavorite

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When I was there (late 2018 on Silver Galapagos) our guide (obviously local) was so angry about  the decision to stuff Lonesome George as an attraction that he would not enter the small chamber, but met us again as we exited.  I can understand how he felt, especially as he would have known George when he was alive.

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Kayak lk

Kayak lk

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Thanks for your trip report, it is very helpful. We will be cruising there in August 2022. I have a question about snorkeling. Do they provide the snorkeling equipment? If so is it satisfactory? Does it include a wet suit or did you bring you non?

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alithecat

alithecat

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Thank you RachelG for your posts. We did this same itinerary on the old ship a couple of years ago. We enjoyed the entire experience, and were especially impressed by the naturalists. They were all from Ecuador (had to be) and many from Galapagos. One told us that Silversea always gets the best naturalists because they pay better than the other cruise lines. I can't recall his name, but remember the man who was most experienced was older, had a beard, and had worked at the Darwin Center in the past, and was a bit weird (but in a good way). And there was a lovely younger woman who specialized in studying and photographing the penguins. They made the cruise special for us.

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