Flora/Galapagos: Recent Experiences, Staff, Quality?

[TLCOhio]

Right now (through the end of February), Celebrity is offering on the new, upscale Flora a special 20% off pricing that puts such an adventure trip to the Galapagos at a much better pricing than what Silversea and some others might offer.  Both the Flora and SS Origin are very similar in their luxury designs, room sizes, high-end features, etc.  We are considering an early August 2022 booking on the Flora and would love to learn more from those who have recently been there on the Flora.

 

Specially, how was the quality, enthusiasm and experience of the on-shore excursion staff?  Good?  Very Good? Great/Super Excellent?  Added reactions on the food, service, wines offered, etc.?  How full was your sailing?  Half of the 100-passenger capacity? Two-thirds full?  75% or more?  Other insights, tips, secrets to share, etc.??

 

Also, any added thoughts as to the pro/con factors as doing the Inner Loop versus the Outer Loop??  Additional, is doing the added time pre-cruise and/or post-cruise in Quito worth it?  What did you enjoy and strongly suggest most for in and around Quito?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 234,657 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

[Lastdance]

39 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Right now (through the end of February), Celebrity is offering on the new, upscale Flora a special 20% off pricing that puts such an adventure trip to the Galapagos at a much better pricing than what Silversea and some others might offer.  Both the Flora and SS Origin are very similar in their luxury designs, room sizes, high-end features, etc.  We are considering an early August 2022 booking on the Flora and would love to learn more from those who have recently been there on the Flora.

 

Specially, how was the quality, enthusiasm and experience of the on-shore excursion staff?  Good?  Very Good? Great/Super Excellent?  Added reactions on the food, service, wines offered, etc.?  How full was your sailing?  Half of the 100-passenger capacity? Two-thirds full?  75% or more?  Other insights, tips, secrets to share, etc.??

 

Also, any added thoughts as to the pro/con factors as doing the Inner Loop versus the Outer Loop??  Additional, is doing the added time pre-cruise and/or post-cruise in Quito worth it?  What did you enjoy and strongly suggest most for in and around Quito?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 234,657 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

 

[as3369]

43 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Right now (through the end of February), Celebrity is offering on the new, upscale Flora a special 20% off pricing that puts such an adventure trip to the Galapagos at a much better pricing than what Silversea and some others might offer.  Both the Flora and SS Origin are very similar in their luxury designs, room sizes, high-end features, etc.  We are considering an early August 2022 booking on the Flora and would love to learn more from those who have recently been there on the Flora.

 

Specially, how was the quality, enthusiasm and experience of the on-shore excursion staff?  Good?  Very Good? Great/Super Excellent?  Added reactions on the food, service, wines offered, etc.?  How full was your sailing?  Half of the 100-passenger capacity? Two-thirds full?  75% or more?  Other insights, tips, secrets to share, etc.??

 

Also, any added thoughts as to the pro/con factors as doing the Inner Loop versus the Outer Loop??  Additional, is doing the added time pre-cruise and/or post-cruise in Quito worth it?  What did you enjoy and strongly suggest most for in and around Quito?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 234,657 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

We were on the Oct 31st sailing.  Crew, captain and Naturalists - SUPERB.   Service - SUPERB.  Food selection/quality was not the best but we didn't book this cruise for the Culinary experience.  There are 2 stops daily and you select your excursions the night prior as the Naturalist has a slide show presentation in the Lounge.

 

We did the 10 day package.  Upon arrival Celebrity staff is there to take care of your luggage and escort you to the hotel (approx 45 minute drive).  First night at Marriott is just to decompress from your travel.  Day 2 is a full day tour around Quito - morning you drive to the old town, take a walking tour and then have a buffet lunch (which was very good).  Afternoon bus ride to the Equator museum.  Dinner was at a local restaurant.  Day 3 drive to the airport and flight to Baltra (approx 2 hours).  The airline staff was delightful and they even served a lunch aboard!  Arrival to Baltra airport and a short 5 minute drive to the dock.   

 

This was a once-in-a lifetime experience.  There were 63 passengers and 84 crew on our sailing, but the Captain said that every week the passenger count was nominally increasing.  

 

[BellKat]

We were on the 1st Flora cruise back in action on July 4th. It was the most wonderful trip ever! We loved it so much, we are going back in 2024. We did the Outer Loop and will try the Inner Loop next. Everyone onboard was amazing. Sometimes the Captain or Hotel Manager would come to the deck and help people get back onboard from the Zodiacs. The food was very good (except the beef but they may have solved that problem by now). If you love seafood you will be in 7th heaven - my husband was. The wines are not bad, we didn’t have one that we didn’t like. You just have to remember that EVERYTHING is local (by Ecuadorean law). We were at about 55% capacity with several important Celebrity personnel onboard. One recommendation is do your flights through Celebrity. We don’t normally do this but we did this time and were glad we did. They take care of everything that way. Please check out my husband’s day by day thread from these boards 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2788623-live-blog-of-first-voyage-of-flora-in-the-galapagos-post-pandemic/#comment-61390924

[DrKoob]

My bride is getting you a longer response but GO! GO! GO! We were on the July 4 sailing. It was the first post pandemic. How much did we like it? Well we did the Outer (AMAZING) and will be going back to do the Inner in 2024. We have done more than 30 cruises and hundred of land trips and Flora was the absolute best. I did a day by day post of everything including cabin, food, wine, etc. You can read it on Cruise Critic in my bride's (BellKat)answer.

[Lastdance]

2 hours ago, Lastdance said:

 

I was not allowed to comment due to something strange happening earlier with my computer, or CC.  What I was going to say...

Be careful when you book, as Celebrity is using some very funky math calculations with these cruises under the sale.  I repriced mine and the math was truly based on an original figure that was no where to be found.  My TA was on the phone for quite awhile getting clarity and asking lots of questions.  The so called sale was not what it was made out to be, but did give me 2,800 off, so not complaining as they really wanted me to take the cruise package for 11 days.

[dani negreanu]

5 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Also, any added thoughts as to the pro/con factors as doing the Inner Loop versus the Outer Loop??  Additional, is doing the added time pre-cruise and/or post-cruise in Quito worth it?

 

Hi Terry,

 

So glad to see you posting 😁

 

My two cents, since I've done the Xpedition in May 2012 ...

 

Then the itineraries were called A and B, but what I'd strongly recommend is one that includes North Seymour. Ideally, a sail through Elizabeth Bay on "top of it".

 

Celebrity runs a very smooth operation with the Galapagos cruises. Take at least the 10-days one, where absolutely everything is taken care for you. Top-notch experience.

 

Flying from Israel (~27 hours "door to door" Tel-Aviv to Quito), I decided to arrive even earlier, Thursday, and slept at a much cheaper hotel than Marriott at the time. The hotel had a free shuttle from the airport, and that also helped clinch the deal. 

[TLCOhio]

On 1/9/2022 at 5:29 PM, dani negreanu said:

Hi Terry,  So glad to see you posting My two cents, since I've done the Xpedition in May 2012 ...Then the itineraries were called A and B, but what I'd strongly recommend is one that includes North Seymour. Ideally, a sail through Elizabeth Bay on "top of it".  Celebrity runs a very smooth operation with the Galapagos cruises. Take at least the 10-days one, where absolutely everything is taken care for you. Top-notch experience.

 

Super appreciate ALL of these great comments and follow-ups.  Very helpful and interesting.  It was very good to read the specifics from Dani in Israel.  Your background as to the itinerary differences has encouraged me to dig deeper.  There are differences as to where the different cruises will visit at these different islands.  Have been checking more to determine which sailing best fits our interests and personal needs.  For me, part of the key is about photography and what my lens will best capture and enjoy the most.  

 

Keep up the excellent sharing!  Enjoy learning more.  This will probably be both our first and only visit to the Galapagos, so we want to do things right and best to maximize the experience.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Barcelona/Med: June 2011, with stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Great visuals with key highlights, tips, etc. Live/blog now at 254,261 views.

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[DCPIV]

We recently booked Flora for summer 2023 (I don't recall the exact dates at the moment), and we did the 16 day package that goes down to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. 

 

We most certainly will use flights by Celebrity and let them work out those logistics. They also were doing their free-ish fights promotion at the time.

 

It's good to hear all the good reports! We had been scheduled to be on the Silver Origin's inaugural cruise in 2020, so this is how we're making up for that.

[TLCOhio]

Appreciate these great comments and follow-up from DCPIV in Texas.  Very interesting and helpful.  Keep up the great sharing of informative info.   

 

From the AP/Associated Press newswire within the past week, they had this headline: “Tallest Galapagos volcano erupts, spewing lava, ash” with these highlights: “The tallest mountain in the Galapagos islands was erupting on Friday, spewing lava down its flanks and clouds of ash over the Pacific Ocean, according to Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute.  A cloud of gas and ash from Wolf Volcano rose to 3,793 meters (12,444 feet) above sea level following the eruption that began shortly before midnight Wednesday local time.  Ecuador’s Emergency Operations Committee said the new eruption on Isabela Island, the largest in the Galapagos chain, didn’t represent a risk to humans or to native local species. The Environment Ministry said eight people, including national park guards and scientists doing field work on pink iguanas living on the volcano’s slopes, were evacuated from the area.  The 1,701-meter (5,580-foot) volcano is one of numerous active volcanos in the Galapagos, which are nearly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from mainland South America.”

 

Full story at:

https://apnews.com/article/science-caribbean-south-america-pacific-ocean-geophysics-54268c4583a84bdc709ddf02e02ad075

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 243,339 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[sippican]

Wealth of information here:

We've sailed on Xpedition twice (most recently in October of 21) so I can't comment specifically on Flora. I have had clients on Flora that rave about it. In the end, it'a all about the islands!

We only had 35 onboard when we sailed as Xpedition was built to hold 100, but only has licensing for 46. Celebrity does it exceptionally from start to finish! There is no "better or best" season or itinerary. 

[jogruffy]

We sailed on the November 28th sailing on the Inner itinerary. The ship had 80 passengers for that sailing. I would agree with what most people have said about the Flora. The staff is excellent - can't do enough for you. The naturalists are also excellent. We had a variety of the naturalists on our excursions and they were all very knowledgeable and made each excursion interesting. The food was fine. Not as good as on Azamara (the line we usually sail with) but as someone else said they are limited to local produce (not that this is bad but limits them) and I don't imagine you go on this trip for the food. They certainly take every precaution as far as Covid is concerned. I believe on the Outer itinerary you would go further south to Espanola and Floreana. There you will see the Albatross but as the naturalists told us you see similar flora and fauna on both itineraries. You certainly will get plenty of photos. The snorkeling for us wasn't very good. Only one of the trips was clear enough to see much. There was lots of sediment that made it very murky. I would think this can change from day to day. We were on deck 5 in a balcony cabin and loved it. Normally we don't waste money on balcony cabins because we never use the balcony but this was different. Not only can you dry your bathing suit out there but it was a place to relax after a long day of walking on the excursions.

The only thing that didn't go well were the flights. Celebrity Air for some reason would only book American Airlines even though I showed them Delta flights that were far more convenient. We are flying from Canada. Before the trip American changed the flights 4 times and every time it got worse. Longer lay-overs, more stops, etc. We didn't arrive in Quito until 3:00 am in the morning. Great when you are supposed to get up early for the tour of Quito. On the way home we were booked on an early flight out of Quito at 1:00 am. Arrive at the airport at 11:00 pm and the Celebrity rep took all of us to the American Air area and left. Maybe he should have seen the large lineup and realized something was wrong. Or maybe he should have checked before we left the hotel to see if everything was on time. American kept delaying the flight until finally they admitted it was cancelled and we would be on the morning flight at 7:00 am. So we sat in the Quito airport from 11:00 pm until 7:00 am. The people who were booked on the 7:00 am flight got to stay at the hotel all night and were provided with a boxed breakfast. Obviously neither flight was full so American combined the two flights without telling anyone. The USA passengers were furious since they were going to miss their connecting flights in Miami. We were lucky that originally we had a 7 hour layover in Miami so still made our flight to Toronto. Anyway it wasn't a great way to end the cruise!

Other than the flights the trip was well worth it. 

[sippican]

Thanks for your review.

We had a horrible experience with a flight booked through Celebrity Air in October. No one from Celebrity was of any help whatsoever (and we knew before we even disembarked Xpedition).  

I'm glad your experience in the Galapagos was great. We loved it so much we returned!

 

[TLCOhio]

7 minutes ago, sippican said:

Thanks for your review.   I'm glad your experience in the Galapagos was great. We loved it so much we returned!

 

Appreciate these great comments and follow-up from jogruffy.  Very interesting and helpful.  Great sharing!!  

 

From MSN News and this key travel website late last week, they had this headline: “9 things I wish I had known before taking a Galapagos cruise” with some of these highlights: “The trip exceeded all expectations: The abundant wildlife was surreal, the scenery stupendous and the guiding some of the best I’ve ever experienced (and I’ve been on dozens of African safaris).  If I ever get back to see the playful sea lions, the easy-going boobies and the technicolor marine life, here’s what I would do differently.  Prepare for the sun: Ecuador is on the equator.  I anticipated strong sun and made sure to load up on SPF 50+ sunscreen\, but we still felt the effects of the straight-on rays.  Pack a guide to birds, plants and wildlife: The Galapagos authorities require that every visitor to the islands be in a professionally guided group of no more than 16 people and on a boat that doesn’t exceed 100 people. However, there are a LOT of birds in the Galapagos, and a guide wasn’t always available to point out each one. I’m talking 13 types of finches, each with a special niche, plus hundreds of other species of rare fauna and flora.”

 

Here are a few more samples of the writer's nine tips: "Bring more U.S. currency than you think you’ll need:  Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar as currency, so I didn’t need to exchange money before or during my trip. Therefore, I mistakenly thought my travel finances would be smooth sailing.  Not so. ATMs are scarce in the capital city of Quito where I started my trip and almost nonexistent on the islands. Power up for a cruise:  Ecuador uses the same electrical current as the U.S. — 110 volts — so I left my converter at home. I forgot that my travel converter has several lightning cord slots, so it doubles as a plug extender, allowing me to power up all my devices at once when I’m on the road.  With only one plug in the room, and two people sharing the space, we were constantly shuffling our electronics."

 

Full story at:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tips/9-things-i-wish-i-had-known-before-taking-a-galapagos-cruise/ar-AATcZ2H?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio 

 

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!  Is one of your future desires or past favorites? See these many visual samples for its great history and architecture.  This posting is now at 94,089 views.

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[btaylor1200]

We were a party of four (2 cabins) on the January 2nd outer loop sailing with a pre-cruise package in Quito. We have cruised dozens of times with several lines. Our most recent cruises have been on Azamara. This was our first experience with Celebrity, and we loved it. We were very impressed with how organized the pre-cruise transportation, touring Quito, Covid testing, and flight to Baltra were. We had only 47 passengers on board, so the service was fantastic. The ship is beautiful and has a modern resort feel. The food exceeded our expectations, and we were impressed with all of the Covid precautions. The naturalists were proficient but not as friendly and engaging as Azamara crew. Most of the interactions on board felt like "business" interactions though we did enjoy interacting with our dining servers. We never wanted for anything, and we felt safe throughout our time in Quito, on cruise excursions, and throughout the ship. The ship doctor was also very helpful in treating two people in our party (one for knee pain, the other for an eye infection). The itinerary is fantastic with a lot of options for exploring the islands, kayaking, and snorkeling. We were exhausted by the end of our week, and we all agreed that it was an extraordinary experience. Unfortunately, the last day transitioning back to Quito was a long day with hours of sitting around the airport to wait for the chartered Celebrity flight. We played cards to pass the time. The last night was spent back at the JW Marriott, where we were all tested again for Covid in preparation for our flights home. We cannot say enough about how smoothly everything went from beginning to end. Highly recommend!

[4774Papa]

We booked our Galapagos cruise for 30 April on the other large Celebrity ship, since Flora was more expensive.

Looking forward to this amazing trip.

[josh1324342]

We did the Galapagos trip last September on the Silver Origin.  It was a good trip that I would recommend.  For photography, most of the animals are easy to capture as they aren't afraid of humans at all.  It's the only place I've ever been where you have to be careful to not step on birds as the literally will not move even as you are about to step on them.  The snorkeling was the highlight of our trip for us.  We saw so many amazing animals under the ocean.  

 

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

[josh1324342]

I forgot to mention that I really enjoyed our pre cruise day in Quito.  I thought it was a really cool city.  We did a food tour on our own and the included Silversea tour at night in downtown.  

[jogruffy]

Your "Power up for the cruise" advice is certainly true. We took one of those plug extenders that had multiple USB ports and plugs. Sure was useful when trying to charge  camera batteries, cell phones and tablet.