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We are at Portland Airport waiting to board our flight to AMS connecting to HEL and arriving Thursday evening. Spending 3 nights in HEL before boarding and looking forward to it. We are onboard all the way to Reykjavik. Is there any meet and greet being planned?

Will be on the Explorer this August in the Kimberley. Looking forward to that low key, less corporate vibe.

You were actually very clear. You just fell victim to a smarmy attempt at humor directed at a newbie.

You can use a TA to book a cruise and still book your own flights.

We are departing from Tower Bridge in May of 2024 and are also getting the Conrad St. James. Interesting that our reservation already shows hotels (It’s the Hilton Nordica in Reykjavik) but for two of our cruises this year, it only says Simply Hotel.

We are entering the U.S. for the first time after being in Europe. No different from flying to the U.S. from Europe or anywhere else. You go through customs and immigration for the first time you arrive in the U.S.

We recently used them one way. They do not service Portland so we got a $100 credit for the outbound. Our return was to NYC and we were very pleased with their service. BTW, their website states that tips are included.

Oceania does not sail to the Galapagos and never has.

No one is plugging Oceania. The question asked was does any cruise line have high quality breakfast pastries. And by the way, two of Oceania’s ships were built in 2010 and 2011.

The bread on Oceania is excellent, especially the croissants and baguettes, thanks to Jacques Pepin. Rumor is he has a secret grain mill in France which supplies flour to Oceania ships.

We have a BA reservation on October for a land trip. FCO-LHR-PDX. BA just notified us that the FCO-LHR leg will now be on Iberia. It appears that many of their intra-Europe flights are being handed off to other carriers. Friends had a BA flight switched to Finnair.

Looks like you were a week or two ahead of when the unrest began. Good timing!

Shipless, Thanks for your report. We will be on the Origin on July 23 if all goes well. Hoping the current unrest in Ecuador will not be a problem for us by then.

That was interesting. Thanks for posting.

Good luck. We are a week behind you. Keep us posted if you can. Right now, the U.S. State Dept. puts Ecuador at Level 3 - Reconsider Travel. Certain areas are at Level 4 - Do Not Travel.

I can’t give you advice or reassurance but I hope it works out for you. We are scheduled for the July 23 sailing and are already checking our trip cancellation insurance. Looks like we may be covered if Silversea does not cancel. We are covered if there is a travel warning issued by the State Department due to terrorism. As of today, there is a Level 3 warning - “Reconsider Travel” due to civil unrest and crime. Will have to follow this further. Please report your experience to us and Good Luck.

You should ask your TA to try to get you better routing. SS Air will be slow to respond as they only communicate by email but your TA should see what he or she can do.

Our air through SS for our July 23 trip arrives in Quito and departs from Guayaquil.

Have only taken the train and it is quite pleasant. A nice experience with some narration and a meal included.

Cruise Critic does not allow recommendations of travel agents but does allow recommendations of tour guides: “We welcome the legitimate review or recommendation of tour operators, guides, property & business owners in ports of call.” We have been in touch with Vivian Vera through Tours by Locals. She looks very good. Might she be who you used?

Wineasmusic, Can you recommend the guide you used in Quito? Thanks.

Wineasmusic, Thanks for your reports. Very helpful. We are booked on the Origin 7/23/22. The package did include two nights in Quito. We did a deviation and added a third night. Our flight arrives near midnight and we wanted two full days to adjust to the altitude and get over our jet lag. The cost to add a night and deviate was reasonable. We were in the Galapagos in 2006 with Lindblad. It remains one of our most amazing trips and we are looking forward to returning.