Jump to content

Recently off the Silver Galapagos


wishIweretravelling
 Share

Recommended Posts

Will post more when I have steadier internet access (am on the post-trip to Machu Picchu now), but I wanted to comment on the staff and crew of the SG. They were absolutely wonderful. Very eager to please and helpful. Any "misses" were minor and had more to do with the ship itself than its personnel. It is to be hoped those will be fixed in dry dock. Staff in all departments were great, and we had a wonderful time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am home now, and with reliable internet. So, here's a bit more on the SG.

 

First and foremost, don't think of this as a cruise. It has elements of a cruise, but it isn't the thing most of us think of and know as a cruise. It is a trip to various Galapagos islands, using a ship for distance transport and for sleeping and dining. Don't go expecting "the Silversea experience." You won't get it. There was one family that actually left the ship mid-trip because it wasn't elegant enough for them. How sad for them.

 

What it is is a trip to the Galapagos. Visits to anywhere in the Galapagos National Parque are highly controlled, and, other than the few towns on the inhabited islands, you can't go anywhere without a licensed guide. It is to protect the species against erroneous damage or transfers of organic materials.

 

So one of the things the SG provides is a selected group of such guides, who are all well-trained and have great facility not only as naturalists, but as helpers, story-tellers, and a host of other skills. Some are a bit better than others, but all are great!

 

Technically, they are not employees of SS. They are free-lancers who are under contract to SS. SS generally requires of them a one-year contract, with a few weeks on and a few weeks off. I got the impression that this was the longest contract term offered in the Galapagos, but that the guides are happy to take it. Several staff and guides remarked that SS is "very demanding" but seemed to regard this as a good thing.

 

They range in age from early 20s to probably somewhere in the 50s. All staff and crew are required not only to be Ecuadoran, but to be from the Galapagos. Exceptions can be made, but there is a process required for advertising for the position in order to get the exception.

 

Even the captain is Galapagoan (?). He actually was the captain under the ship's prior ownership, as were quite a few of the staff.

 

Most days offer 2-3 time segments for excursions: hikes, snorkeling, kayaking, and zodiac tours being the primary means. It's all about the flora and the fauna--you'll learn a great deal about the animals and plants and how the seemingly same species differs from one island to another. Which, of course, is what formed the basis of Darwin's treatises.

 

The snorkeling is excellent, but the water is cold. They have plenty of wet suits: take one and use it.

 

Pretty much all the hiking is over uneven terrain, even the easy/moderate ones. The ship has plenty of walking sticks: if you're at all uncertain on your feet (which I am), take one and use it. It makes all the difference. Particularly on the cooled lava surfaces.

 

There is a briefing every evening. It's important to go, and to pay attention. Also, some of the activities require sign-up (particularly kayaking), which happens right after the briefing.

 

So, that's the activity rundown. Lots of sea lions (who are real actors), marine iguanas, sea turtles, blue-footed boobies, flightless cormorants, giant tortoises, eagle rays, etc., in addition to the occasional penguin and distant flamingos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To continue:

 

The ship always anchors--it never docks--so transport ashore or to snorkeling is always by zodiac. How easy or difficult to embark or debark depended on the water conditions. Sometimes it was as stable as a stair. Other times it was choppy, and you had to wait for the right moment to move between ship and zodiac. The guides, drivers and other crew were incredibly helpful, and I never felt endangered in even the choppiest waters.

 

Landings could be dry (stepping out onto a dock or a rock) or wet (sliding overboard into the water). One was a dry landing, but due to high tide we had to wade through water to get to the good stuff, so it might as well have been wet. Good water shoes may be the most important thing you can bring.

 

On the ship:

 

If you are a SS veteran, it's nothing like what you have come to expect. See my previous posting--it's an excursion ship, and it looks like one. It's made for practicality, not elegance. Dry dock may change this some, but it needs to stay serviceable so I don't know how much it will change.

 

The thing that is in most need of change is the cabins. We were in an Explorer cabin. It had a little seating area, and the bed area contained a large desk that held the TV, phone, clock and other items. The desk lifted up to become a mirrored vanity, but there was no light for it, so it wasn't practical for makeup. On the other hand, the lighting in the bathroom was pretty poor, so that wasn't practical for makeup either. I pretty much just gave up on makeup.

 

The beds are pretty comfortable. There's mirrors on both the foot and the head, and the mirrors on the head of the beds had a bit of a funhouse quality to them, which was pretty weird.

 

Drawers were at a premium. There were two regular drawers and one locking drawer in the desk. Each bed had a drawer at its foot, but the mechanism to open them was such that you'd get a pinched finger or broken nail half the time, so that was the place for rarely-used items. There were two decent-sized closets, each of which had a drawer at the bottom.

 

That was it for drawers. There was an open area in the nightstand where you could stash things. The little flashlight they gave as a pillow gift was useful for finding items in there.

 

The closets were odd. There were two of them and, as noted, were decent-sized. But the hanging rod was up very high, and they used the "we don't trust our guests" type of hangers, with a fixed metal piece that the hanger rod had to fit into. Very awkward for those of us who are not particularly tall.

 

The bathroom was just big enough to be serviceable. BTW, as is true throughout Ecuador, do not put TP in the toilet. There's a little pail next to the toilet for it.

 

The shower always seemed to have plenty of hot water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And more:

 

The food was better than I'd expected. For the most part, they have to source it there, so there are limits to what they can offer. Two things the galley does exceptionally well: ceviches and vegetables. Every day at lunch was a ceviche of the day, each better than the last. And, any time there was a cooked vegetable, it was done very nicely.

 

There are two places to eat: the main dining room, and the outdoor grill. The main dining room felt a bit more like a ship's mess than a real dining room. Quality of food here was uneven, but generally something decent could be found. Breakfast was a buffet of the basics, plus you could order a fresh-cooked omelet. Lunch was also a buffet. Dinner was table service.

 

The grill was open for lunch and dinner. There was a salad bar, the ceviche, and a desert bar, plus you could order from a menu of changing specials--4-6 items each day. Dinner required a reservation, and involved cooking your entree on hot lava rocks. One thing--the rock you cook it on is what you were expected to eat it from. We quickly learned to remove it to the bread plate before it overcooked. The meats and fish tended to be better here. Alas, lobster season was over, so no lobsters every night for us. But note, that area could get windy and chilly some evenings.

 

Service varied. The waiters tried really hard, but several were still learning, and so didn't always get things right, particularly in the main dining room. The more seasoned staff seemed to be up at the grill. But all tried hard. And many succeeded.

 

The staff were quite noticeably working on the SS trick of learning passengers' names and greeting us by name. It was very endearing, as you could see their pride in having done so.

 

There were some language issues. Think of it as going to a hotel in Ecuador. You would not expect the entire staff to be fluent in English, and some were not. But I was surprised at how many had a substantial facility with English.

 

One of my favorite places on the ship, after the day's excursions were done, was the piano bar. Alfredo, the pianist, was quite good, and was a very nice person. The waiters there were terrific, and bent over backward to please.

 

Unfortunately, the ship is short on nice outdoor spaces. There are a few decent seats by the hot tub (which is in the sun most of the day), and a nice seating area behind the piano bar (but alas this is also the smoking area). There also is a "secret" seating area on deck 5 forward, but tended to be rather windswept each time I checked it out. But, again, this trip is all about the islands and not so much the ship.

 

One thing I particularly appreciated is that they did not try to overload the trips. The legal maximum per zodiac is 16, and they only came close to that when they were using it purely to transport people. When they were doing a zodiac "cruise", they tended to keep it to 8-10 people. Same with when they were sending groups for a hike. Each zodiac had its own naturalist/guide, so this kept the group sizes manageable for when you got to the island and the guide was explaining what you were seeing.

 

 

 

These are the things that come to mind now. I'll be happy to answer any questions I can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It might be worth adding to Crys's excellent report that the ship was one of seven Renaissance class vessels built in 1989-91. The Silver Galapagos was originally called Renaissance III and was operated by the now defunct Renaissance cruise line.

 

The ship is virtually identical to the Island Sky and Caledonian Sky, on permanent charter to Noble Caledonia (UK), as well as Corinthian which is chartered by Travel Dynamics (USA).

 

As far as Silver Galapagos is concerned, she is quite big for the Galapagos trips - the ideal size in these islands might be half the size such as the well-known La Pinta and Isabella.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly the information I was looking for... Excellent.

 

If you have the time, we too, are thinking of adding Machu Pichu to this trip.

 

Can you post your logistics and how that went.

 

Thank you so very much.

 

J.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have the time, we too, are thinking of adding Machu Pichu to this trip. Can you post your logistics and how that went. J.

 

J, I was on this cruise with crys. Our Peru land trip was booked through our travel agent.

 

We flew from Guayaquil on Saturday with the others on the SG, then on to Lima, overnighted there at the Ramada Costa del Sol, literally a walk across the street from the airport. On Sunday AM we flew to Cusco, found our guide and driver that began our adventure to the Sacred Valley for one night at Sol y Luna (we had a wonderful casita with hot tub). On Tuesday, we took the Vistadome to Aguas Calientes, then the bus to the Sanctuary Lodge for two nights. On Wednesday evening we took the Hirham Bingham train to Poroy, the train station for Cusco, arriving at the Hotel Monesterio around 10:15pm. We had two days in Cusco and the surrounding area before our flight back to Lima, then a 1:00am flight to Miami on Saturday.

 

We were really on the go. Wished we had had two nights in the Sacred Valley to rest up for Machu Picchu.

Edited by NCCruzQueen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me this has been one of the shortest, yet most informative threads ever!!!

 

Thanks so much to crys and NCCruzQueen for such detailed reports.

 

I have printed out their reports and saved them in my travel folders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic review Crystal. Thank you for taking the time to post. I would love to see everything you all saw and did, but don't think these old knees will allow it to happen - even with a walking stick. So happy it worked for the two of you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks so much for the detailed review of the ship and the information on Machu Picchu. What a fabulous experience! I would need a holiday after the trip.

 

I have filed this away so it is there for when we decide to take the same journey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will post more when I have steadier internet access (am on the post-trip to Machu Picchu now), but I wanted to comment on the staff and crew of the SG. They were absolutely wonderful. Very eager to please and helpful. Any "misses" were minor and had more to do with the ship itself than its personnel. It is to be hoped those will be fixed in dry dock. Staff in all departments were great, and we had a wonderful time.

 

Thank you for initiating this thread. We too are just off the wonderful Silver Galapagos one and a half weeks ago. I am still recovering from the expedition activities. She is now in dry dock for a face lift. I posted my review and awaiting CC to approve it and post it on the Review section. If you have time please check it out. It is not a long review.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for writing all your detail info. I have decided to book with the Isabela 2 over and over folks have said is was not worth what they paid for on Silver Sea. Thanks for being so honest. Any tips for going to the Galapagos in May 2015? jo

 

Just wanted to say that my husband and I had a wonderful experience and that the cost of our Silver Sea Galapagos Expedition was well worth it.

 

I hope that your trip in May is as magical as ours and that you have a great experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...