Table Of Content
Here's everything to know about cruising in the Galapagos, from frequently asked questions to the best itineraries to book now. Whether traveling with your family or a group of friends, on a vacation or honey moon, Galapagos Travel Center will help bring your dream of a Galapagos cruise to life. All-inclusive 8-, 5- and 4-day cruises are available to visit the Galapagos Islands' remote and untouched points of interest, all in comfort and with high quality service. Return to the ship for a freshly-prepared lunch as you recall the morning’s adventure. After lunch, suit back up, hop into your tender and get ready for another afternoon of excursions.
Southern Islands
You will be able to visit the breeding center and walk through the Research Station. You will also have the opportunity to take a bus ride to the highlands to observe giant tortoises in the wild and walk through a lava tunnel. In addition, you will have an exclusive opportunity to participate in the Scalesia reforestation project. You’ll have comfortable accommodation on the boat each night as you cruise around the islands of the Galapagos. As a rule, expect your days to be filled with walking treks and snorkelling, all accompanied by an experienced naturalist guide, as well as a variety of optional activities.
A Typical Day Aboard a Galapagos Cruise
The dry season brings the Humboldt Current from the south to cool the air and water. While the highlands of the larger islands stay green with the atmospheric mist that creeps over the skyline, there’s little precipitation around the sea-level islands. The warm season brings higher temperatures to the islands and the water that surrounds them, while the skyline gets a little cloudier, with rain a daily occurrence. That being said, there’s something to see all year round, with giant tortoise eggs hatching in January, blue-footed boobies dancing their way through courtship in May, and fur sea lion pups abundant in October.
Best Time for Galapagos Islands Cruises
In other words, booking at the last minute is unlikely to get you a deal. Because of the length and price of most Galapagos sailings, you'll likely want to plan at least six months in advance, if not further. Ideal for hikers, the walk to the top takes about a half hour, at which point you'll be rewarded with vistas of nearby Daphne Minor, Daphne Major and Santiago Islands. A call on Genovesa Island, one of the northernmost in the Galapagos group, features a unique hiking opportunity in the form of Prince Philip's Steps (also called El Barranco). The island of Rabida is an aesthetic standout, thanks to its pristine red-sand beaches.
Day 8 Saturday - PM
Our cruising vacations combine the perfect blend of sailing and land expeditions, so you can see wildlife on and off the boat. This intimate, 48-passenger yacht is operated by Metropolitan Touring and offers popular four-night and six-night itineraries. The most famous local dish is the ceviche, made with freshly-caught lobster, octopus, squid, or shrimp. The 16-passenger Celebrity Xploration is arguably the most luxurious catamaran in the Galápagos. Its eight suites and junior suites feature extras like binoculars, personal refrigerators, a pillow menu, and room service. The catamaran cruises two routes, a northern route and a southern route, both lasting seven nights.
Guests have donated $1.5 million to the Galapagos Fund and helped plant 50,000 trees. Celebrity Flora, our newest ship here, features dynamic positioning to protect the seabed, silicone paint to glide with less fuel, solar panels to make electricity, and no single-use plastics. Since the animals here don’t fear humans, you can truly get up close and personal, looking into the eyes of a Galapagos marine iguana, and walking among penguins – the only penguin species north of the equator. Here, you’ll discover creatures whose very existence forms the basis for one of the most famous scientific theories in history.
Best Galapagos itineraries
The popular 48-guest Celebrity Xpedition® is the ship that put us on the map in the Galapagos. The intimate 16-guest Celebrity Xploration® is the most personal way to explore here. All of our ships feature service so attentive, so intuitive, yet so unobtrusive, that the things you want tend to appear before you even realize you want them. These islands may be primitive, but your time with us will be anything but. In the Galapagos, modern explorers come eye to eye with ancient tortoises, comical birds, and other amazing beasts—plus landscapes as fantastical as the animals—for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Fernandina, the Galapagos' youngest and westernmost island is best known for its not-infrequent volcanic eruptions, the most recent of which was in 2009.
Discover the extraordinary creatures of the Galapagos Islands—in the extraordinary creature comforts of Celebrity Cruises. Rich in history, this site is home to the post office barrel established in about 1793, where pirates, buccaneers, whalers and others could leave their mail to be picked up by outbound ships. The tradition continues today, as visitors leave addressed postcards in the barrel and sort through left mail to deliver at home.
A Galápagos Cruise Challenges the Mind, Body, and Spirit — Here's Why I'm Glad I Took My 7-year-old Son - Travel + Leisure
A Galápagos Cruise Challenges the Mind, Body, and Spirit — Here's Why I'm Glad I Took My 7-year-old Son.
Posted: Mon, 16 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Once in a lifetime, you can walk in the footsteps of Darwin, getting closer to the natural world than you ever have or ever will, coming home with a radically new understanding of the planet. With us, you'll encounter flora found nowhere else, come face to face with fauna that has not learned to fear humans, and hike moonscapes that barely resemble Earth. Take account of all four, and lovers of wildlife and geology are in for an unforgettable time. Here are a few tips that cover the pillars, as well as two pieces of practical info. Rabida makes a bold statement when you arrive at its iron-rich red beach. Just inland is a brackish lagoon where visitors frequently see flamingos, heads plunged underwater to spoon up crustaceans and algae with their bowl-like beaks.
Included activities are different for each day and trip, but as a rule, most guided walking treks and snorkelling activities are included. We’ve taken care of the details so you can focus on spotting wildlife. All our cruises include all meals onboard, tea and coffee, water, beach towels and snorkeling equipment.
It has a stargazing platform on its top deck and provides binoculars to help guests spot constellations as the ship cruises along the equator. The modern expedition ship also offers a glamping experience that includes a naturalist-guided stargazing session and a luxurious night of glamping under the stars. Have dinner under the stars at the ship’s restaurant before heading back to your suite. The Celebrity Flora’s Galapagos itineraries range from seven to 16 nights. With pleasant temperatures all year long, the best time to visit the Galapagos Islands is whenever you’re ready to go. While you can see wildlife all year, December is hatching season for the giant tortoises, and July is mating season for blue-footed boobies and short-eared owls.
Perhaps the coolest experience on board is glamping on the top deck, overnighting under the stars in a cabana equipped with a double bed. There is also the luxury of space to spread out, indoors and out, amid gorgeous contemporary furnishings. Ultraluxury line Silversea Cruises delivers everything on a silver platter on the 100-passenger Silver Origin. The yacht is also stocked with kayaks and paddleboards for guests to use. The 96-passenger National Geographic Endeavour II has Wi-Fi, a doctor, SUP gear, a clear-bottom zodiac, a free digital photo kiosk with iMacs, and a spa. Like the Islander II, food brought from the mainland is carefully prepared and packaged to prevent the introduction of invasive species to the Galápagos Islands.
Known for its favorable snorkeling opportunities, Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island offers plentiful chances to get up close and personal with underwater life. Onshore, you can spot sea lions, marine iguanas and beautifully colored Sally Lightfoot crabs. Quasar Expeditions' 32-passenger Evolution stands out among the crowded Galapagos market. Open deck space is plentiful, and Quasar even offers an onboard Kids Club that keeps younger discoverers happy with activities like stargazing, movie nights and the opportunity to keep their very own expedition journal. Celebrity's first Galapagos-based expedition ship may not be the new kid on the block anymore, but this vessel still packs a punch.
Located on the main deck at the back of the boat, for your entertainment on board, the lounge has a TV, DVD player, small library and toy library. The windows give a beautiful light and a very appreciable view of the sea. During World War II, Baltra served as a U.S. military base protecting the Panama Canal from enemy attack. Now the cactus-strewn landscapes of Baltra are home to the region’s main airport and where you will meet the ship. From the airport, it is just a short bus and tender ride to the ship.
On the main deck, besides the 3 cabins, we have the Dining room with the coffee station, as well as the Living room and a Boutique Briefing area. We have 4 double kayaks included in the price, to enjoy a great experience, where you can navigate on your own for a while. Though there is no risk of yellow fever in the Galapagos Islands, a vaccination certificate is required for travellers coming from infected areas. The airline that we use for our Galapagos trips has a check-in baggage allowance of 23kg per person and a cabin baggage allowance of 10kg. You can also read our guide to beating seasickness for alternative methods of combating seasickness. However, we continue to strongly recommend that all Intrepid travelers and leaders get vaccinated to protect themselves and others.
The waters around the Galapagos Islands are usually pretty calm, with seasickness a minor issue for most passengers. Bearing in mind the unpredictability of nature, big swells and major storms are a rarity. If you suffer from seasickness you may want to reconsider travelling during this period. The islands are also one of the places in the world that are best explored by cruise ships. We always recommend a minimum of 5 days to adequately experience the Galapagos Islands and strongly advise 8 days to truly appreciate their incredible endemic species and otherworldly landscapes. To comprehensively explore every major island of the archipelago, consider an epic 15 day Galapagos cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment