Xpedition/Galapagos Family Cruise

[Cortesefam]

We're looking at a family trip to the Galapagos on the Celebrity Xpedition for August, 2009. We would welcome any reviews/responses about this trip for families--our kids will be 13 and 16 when we travel. Based on reviewing these boards, August is not the optimal weather cycle for the trip, but of course fits the school holiday window for us.

 

The extension to Peru/Cuzco sounds wonderful as well--but we're leaning to make that segment of the trip before the cruise, rather than after, as offered by Celebrity.

 

We love cruises, so the kids enjoy being at sea--but this would clearly be a totally different and unique experience!

 

 

 

Thanks

[drfun48]

It really depends on your kids. This is not your typical family fun cruise to the Caribbean,with fun beach activities like parasailing,banana boat rides and jet skiing. The beaches are not made for sun bathing and foo-foo drinking in hammocks. Nor except for porto Ayoro is there much in the way of shopping.

On the ship,there is no rock climbing wall,disco, game room,ice skating or basketball court. There are no activities planned for teens or kids. And while you will find more kids in summer the percent is lower than on most cruises. On my summer cruise there were very few below twenty.

That said it is a wonderful learning experience for the child who is serious about his love of nature,and adventurous, yet self disciplined.It can be great fun,but you have to know what type of experience you children would enjoy.

If they prefer science centers and museums to malls and game rooms ,it's for them.

[Cortesefam]

drfun48: Your observations are well taken, and reflect that the Galapagos are not the "typical" cruise experience.

 

Interest in this trip really originated with the kids, who enjoy a wide range of activities--from lounging on the beach to museums--we're usually able to strike a good balance on family vacations.

 

As our crowd likes to be in the water and snorkel, we're a little anxious that conditions in August may be too chilly. From research it looks like the air temperature stays in the high 70's/low 80's during this period, but the water temperature drops into the mid 60's. We'd welcome any reports on how it works with the wetsuits (never tried them!) and water clarity during the late summer season.

 

Our guess is that the pace of nature experiences in the morning and afternoon will result in tired travellers--no one will miss bingo or karaoke!

 

Thanks

[gooch47]

We went in early April last time. The temperature of the water varied greatly depending on which island you were at. There are both cold water and warmer water currents.

 

Someone may correct me, but it was our experience that except for maybe one "tour" snorkling was mostly an afterthought, not the main activity for the day. You also cannot stay at a beach without a naturalist, so you can't just go off on your own. Your children will have to stay with the groups.

 

We used the wetsuits only once. My husband jumped in from the Zodiac. Believe me he is no wuss, but he looked at me and said "DO NOT COME IN HERE." Others stayed in, he got out relatively soon. Even with the wetsuit he was chilled to the bone. Other places were quite warm and comfortable.

[taxatty]

We took DD (18) and DS (17) with us last June--they are well-traveled for their ages, and they both agreed it was their favorite trip ever. The water temperature had just started to get colder--most people wore wet suits, but the water didn't seem to be THAT cold (and we're from Florida).

 

This is almost entirely a nature cruise--it's a very different experience to being on a giant cruise ship, other than dining room eating and sleeping in a cabin. There is very little entertainment on board except some board games and small TVs in each room showing a limited movie selection. If they really enjoy snorkeling and nature hikes, as did our kids and the other 15 or so on board our cruise, they'll have a fabulous time.

 

We didn't do the M.P. side trip, but the consensus was you're better off doing it by yourself on a package that lets you spend the night there.

 

Les

[chil9704]

My wife and I just returned from our Galapagos/Xpedition trip last week(9/16), and it was a wonderful experience. The youngest people on our cruise were in their early twenties, most people were 50 plus. You are kept pretty busy with the daily schedule, breakfast around 8, morning excursion,lunch, afternoon excursion,7pm briefing on next days excursions, and dinner which usually lasts to around 10pm. This happens every day and because you don't want to miss anything most people go to bed just after 10pm. There is something each evening around 10pm, but not many people show up. Because of the size of the ship (86 passengers) you interact with fellow passengers a lot more than on a large ship and we made many friends.

We are from Massachusetts so the water temperature was fine for us (around 70 degrees plus) although some people thought it was to cold to swim in. Also, the weather was great, mid 70's with no rain.

As someone already said if your children like nature (and are able to entertain themselves) this is an experience like no other. My suggestion is to read every post on the Xpedition here and on other sites, as I found a wealth of information by doing so. This may help in making your decision. Good luck!