My spouse and I took the Celebrity Xpedition cruise to the Galapagos in late-February 2011. So much has been written about this cruise and ship that I'm not sure that I have much new information to share, so I’ll just focus on some of the things that I haven’t read before. We booked a suite, which we felt was worth the additional money. It was wonderful to have a balcony so that we could be outdoors in a private area without other guests. Some of the other benefits of the suite included thrice-daily maid service, which was actually needed because we were showering two and sometimes three times a day before and after excursions and meals. We also received a bottle of champagne, daily fruit in the morning, and daily hors d'oeuvres in the afternoon after we returned from our excursions. We were not invited to the captain’s dinner, though, which was supposedly a perk of the suites. Some suggestions that we wish we had known prior to the cruise follow.
• Get
the correct luggage limits before leaving home (it seems that the cruise line
has changed the air carrier between Quito and Baltra, and the lower luggage
limits that the cruise line gave us no longer applied).
• Do
not wear brightly-colored clothes on the excursions; stick to neutrals so that
you blend in with the surroundings.
• Invest
in a pair of Keen sandals, preferably a pair with the toe-protection feature;
it won’t be necessary to change your shoes after a wet landing and before
beginning your hike.
• Bring
your iPod; there’s a docking station/clock in the cabins, and it will provide
entertainment (there is a TV, but we can’t comment on its usefulness because we
didn’t turn it on).
• Be
sure to attend the 7:30 briefing to learn about the next day's activities and
sign up for the appropriate fitness level; hors d'oeuvres are hand-passed
intermittently prior to the briefing.
• The
“strenuous” activities (rather than the “easy” activities) are not all that
strenuous. The cruise line doesn’t even use those terms; more often, the
activity choices are described as either “long” or “short”.
• It
is better to sign up for an excursion and then cancel/not participate than to
try to squeeze onto an excursion for which you haven’t registered.
• Don’t
forget to sign out when you leave for an excursion and then sign back in when
you return to the ship in order to ensure that no passenger is left behind.
• Upon
returning to the ship, use the sanitizer and cold towels (although oddly, these
are presented to you on deck 3 before you remove your life jacket, not
on deck 4 where it would make sense because it’s right before you begin eating
and drinking).
• The
automatic wake up telephone calls work well.
• Sign
up for your dinner selections ahead of time (the night before, following the
7:30 briefing), to reduce organic waste aboard the Xpedition by 25%.
• The
smallest table in the dining room seats 4 people, so a party of 2 will find it
difficult to ever dine alone; however, you can request your meals anywhere on
the ship, so it is possible to find a private spot.
• The
outdoor terrace on deck 5 isn’t just for the use of the suites; it was rarely
used on our cruise.
Prior to booking the cruise, we were concerned that we might
not be able to participate in our desired activity level because of staffing
issues. We wondered, “What if the two of us are the only ones who want to take
the strenuous/long excursions? Will they make us take a less active/shorter
excursion because they can’t possibly dedicate one naturalist to guide just two
people?” But we needn’t have worried; the activities director somehow works
magic each day, and everyone participates in their desired activities with no
need for compromise.
