Wet suits and Snorkle equiptment on Galapagos Xpedition

Can any recent returnees on the Xpedition Galapagos trip comment on the type and quality of wet suits provided? Also are the trips still the fantastic experiences previously reported? Thanks, Maxine

We went last month and there were ample wetsuits (shortys) and snorkling gear. It was all good equipment. This was the best vacation we have ever taken. As capitaviting as the islands are, the real beauty is under the water. The sea is so incredibly full of life and color. Having a sea lion swim with you is something you will never forget. If you dive, try to do as many as possible even though they are an additional charge, it is worth every penny.

Cayohueso,

My husband & I are booked for 12/5 on the Xpedition and would like to know what information you have on the diving on this trip. Particularly how often/how many are dives offered, do they conflict with other shore excursions, are there any must do dives? What depths are done and what is the water temp? Is there a dive master on the ship or does Celebrity use a local dive operator? Sorry for so many ?? Anything else would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dara.

I would like the same diving information. My trip is scheduled for eary March.

How difficult are the dives and is a shorty wetsuit enough insulation at 80 feet deep?

John

The shortys that the Xpedition provides are suitable for snorkling only. We had two- two dive trips arranged by the head naturalist aboard. He arranged directly with a Puerto Ayoro dive shop that sent a boat out the the Xpedition and we were shuttled via the ship's tender. We paid the divemaster for the trip directly, one was $80 and $110 plus tip (cash or traveler's check). They have all the dive gear included. There are very strong currents but it was one of the best series of dives I have ever taken. My son, 18 and daughter 13, both went too. Be prepared though. I am used to warm water diving with no wetsuit. We had a full wetsuit plus a shorty, hood, gloves & booties - the works including 30 pounds of weight. It was almost overwhelming but worth it. It is serious drift diving in water as cold as 68 degrees and 3+ knot current. The divemaster the ship selected was a PADI facility and well equipped with good gear and very professional crew.

The conditions determine what dives you go on. Our's were all incredible. The visibility was 40 feet and something to see wherever you look. There are sharks too, we took one dive to see some but were disappointed by the few that were there. A few black tips and hammerheads. We also saw some large rays and massive schools of fish.

You do have to make a trade-off to go diving and miss one of the activities for the day. The naturalist will help you select the best schedule.

I have to say that this was one of, if not the best trip we have ever taken. It is far from a traditional cruise though. It is very active if you choose. It is very much an eco-adventure trip. There is some time to lounge around between the morning and afternoon activities, but in our case, it involved resting since we always took the most active level.

Thanks Cayohueso for the scuba info. Did you bring your own full wetsuit? I have a full 5 mm suit I am thinking of bringing as I am always cold diving. Maybe the water will be a touch warmer in December :) I am tossed up as it will take up precious poundage in the 30 lb allowance. Did you adhere to the luggage weight limit?

We brought our own longsleeve 3 mm shortys for snorkling, the ship's are 3mm shortsleeve. These are mostly adequate but I rarely get in water under 80 degrees, so I wanted a bit more. On two snorkling trips, I wore my longsleeve with one of the ship's shortsleeve. I like to be warm. The water will be somewhat warmer, but still cold, especially at depth. For snorkling in December, the ship's suit should be adequate and the dive boat has good gear so I would probably not bring a full suit. If you have a hood, I would bring that. The 30 pound limit wasn't really enforced strictly but we made an effort to pack light. If you are doing the 10 day package and staying at the Marriott, you can leave your bags there while on the cruise. We brought 2 sets of luggage, hard for the flight to and from Ecuador and packed duffel bags for the ship. We left our tourist purchases at the hotel and had plenty of room to bring back the stuff we bought. You really don't need much aboard, it is very casual mostly shorts and tee shirts. You can dress snappy for dinner, but would not be out of place in jeans or the like. Nothing remotely formal. Bring good hiking shoes and more film or memory than you think you would ever use. If you have an underwater camera, bring it too. Also, if you are going to Quito, be prepared, its at over 9000' elevation. One person on our ship had altitude sickness and almost had to miss the trip. Drink plenty of water, no alcohol and move slowly.

Thanks again for the great info. We have a Cannon S400 digital camera with an underwater housing that takes pretty good pix. I guess it's time to stock up on memory cards! I also appreciate the advice about altitude sickness. Was there much stuff to buy in Quito?

Thanks again.

My wife found quiet a bit to buy, weavings, carvings, jewelry, baskets and lots of handicrafts. Real Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador, so I bought a fino montechristi hat at one of the markets for around $70.00. There are plenty of shops easily within walking distance of the hotel, once you can get across the traffic circle right out front with no crosswalks. You just have make a break for it, cars don't really yield that well. We walked quite a bit and went into shops along the way and to a market. The area seemed quite safe and we had no inkling of any threats. It was during the daytime though. Celebrity takes you to a market in a park on the day you return to Quito from the cruise. It had some nice handicrafts. It's really a mater of taste, but we spent a lot, mostly in the shops found while walking. One thing to be aware of is that outside of the hotel, little english is spoken.

We have an Canon S230 with a housing, it worked well. Those are really great housings that Canon made.

Cayohueso - you have been so helpful. Besides memory cards I better back an extra duffel for all these purchases. I think this trip will be a good opportunity for me to practice my "Spanglish" - somehow I manage to get my point accross. 4 years of high school spanish really comes in handy when traveling!

We really like the Cannon underwater housings - they are priced well compared to a lot of the housings on the market. We took it to Tahiti on the Windstar last November and got some great shots.

I am simply amazed the water is 68 degrees as the water here in Newport Beach is 68 also and we are 35 degrees North of the equator. I am surprised as well that water is only 40 feet in clarity.

Here we use 7mm suits with full hood and gloves. Yikes! I am going to miss the warm tropical water.

I have a Canon digital as well, but it is the GS-5, for which I needed an expensive Ikelite case and strobe, so it is one heavy, bulky piece of hardware. Fitted with a 1 gb chip you can take all the photos needed. I then download to my CD burner on the small Sony laptop.

Is the naturalist a certified diver too?

Any other pointers would be very welcome.

John

The water is cold due to the upwellings from the Humbolt current - a deep water current from the Anarctic that carries a lot of nutrients and oxygen. So, even though they are on the equator, unfortunately the water of the Galapagos Is are cold.

I wish the ship had a computer with cd burner that guests could use so we wouldn't have to lug around the laptop. I wonder if Celebrity would consider it.

Goldendaze,

Thank you for your explanation of the cold water.

A couple of digital workstations on board would be a great help. A pile of 1 - 4 gb cards would be more than the cruise itself. My land camera is a S-2 pro with Nikon lenses. I am planning to bring my 500 mm and 300 mm lenses and they are big and heavy. This camera can shoot 12 megapixel images in RAW mode.

John

Starsjohn,

I just sent Celebrity an e-mail requesting them to provide some CD burners aboard the Xpedition as it would save a bunch of us from having to purchase a large amount of memory cards that would never be used once back home.

Maybe they will consider it. Anyone who is interested should also sent an e-mail to Celebrity so they could see that there is interest.

The head naturalist on our trip was a divemaster, he came along with us on the second dive trip. I believe that most of the naturalists are also divers also. This isn't a tropical dive although there are a number of tropical fish. There is also plenty of soft coral and sponges with an occassional small spot of hard coral. The water where we went diving was very active both with waves and current which impacts the visibility. On our trip, there were only 5 passengers who went diving. My wife found the water too cold so she didn't go. Diving is a secondary activity on the cruise, however I found it to be the best part, but I live on an island and go diving all the time. If you are a cold water diver and use to all the gear, you'll have no problem. I just suggest you take every opportunity to get underwater, even snorkling.

Was the snorkeling also very cold? Will the wet suits that Celebrity provides be sufficient? Thanks.

Im a full figured woman. would they have wetsuits for me...size 4x. are they shorty's or full. should I be safe and purchase one myself. im worried about the weight. are there any limitations on a persons weight as well.

also need a vegetarian diet other than burgers. do they have both of these?

Im a full figured woman. would they have wetsuits for me...size 4x. are they shorty's or full. should I be safe and purchase one myself. im worried about the weight. are there any limitations on a persons weight as well.

 

also need a vegetarian diet other than burgers. do they have both of these

 

I would definitely check on weight restrictions. You have to get on/off the Zodiacs each time you do an excursion. There is a lot of walking on uneven ground and very narrow paths. We hired and worked out with a personal trainer for 6 months before we took this cruise. Even the mild excurions were taxing. The Zodiacs hold 16 guests, 1 naturalist and 1 driver and it was quite close quarters. I have noticed age and weight restrictions on some of the shore excurions as of late. Check before you spend your $$$$$$$$.

The water temperature veries through out the year. Check with local dive operators for temperatures of water. We're going in early November and the water temperature expected 70-73 F. That equates to a 5mm jump suit with hood & for me gloves. This is for snorkeling only. For scuba, most arranged by Celebrity will supply the needed suit. I assume they would supply 7mm jump suits for diving at depth. I hear the visibility is around 40 feet. The only negative is strong current.

Starsjohn,

 

I just sent Celebrity an e-mail requesting them to provide some CD burners aboard the Xpedition as it would save a bunch of us from having to purchase a large amount of memory cards that would never be used once back home.

 

Maybe they will consider it. Anyone who is interested should also sent an e-mail to Celebrity so they could see that there is interest.

There must be a dvd burner on board Expedition. At the end of our cruise last month we were each given a dvd containing hundreds of photos of passengers and sights from our sailing.

As far as needing a lot of memory cards, the 600 pictures and videos we shot ourselves consumed less than 3gb of our 32 gb card.

There must be a dvd burner on board Expedition. At the end of our cruise last month we were each given a dvd containing hundreds of photos of passengers and sights from our sailing.

 

As far as needing a lot of memory cards, the 600 pictures and videos we shot ourselves consumed less than 3gb of our 32 gb card.

I've heard people who use multiple cards for protection rather than capacity. If they lose or damage a card they don't lose everything.

Im a full figured woman. would they have wetsuits for me...size 4x. are they shorty's or full. should I be safe and purchase one myself. im worried about the weight. are there any limitations on a persons weight as well.

 

also need a vegetarian diet other than burgers. do they have both of these

 

I would definitely check on weight restrictions. You have to get on/off the Zodiacs each time you do an excursion. There is a lot of walking on uneven ground and very narrow paths. We hired and worked out with a personal trainer for 6 months before we took this cruise. Even the mild excurions were taxing. The Zodiacs hold 16 guests, 1 naturalist and 1 driver and it was quite close quarters. I have noticed age and weight restrictions on some of the shore excurions as of late. Check before you spend your $$$$$$$$.

 

Do you know what the age restrictions are on some of the excursions? I can't find any info on this. Thanks!

Appended to my last post, along with shorty (wet suit) another thing, the fins are shoe style. I'm bring my own open heal style fins allowing the use of wet suit boots to keep my feet warm. The boots can also be used for wet landings.