Canodros Cruises--Galapagos Explorer II

[j2ink]

Has anyone been on a Galapagos Explorer II cruise recently? It is one of the largest ships cruising the Galapagos, and I believe it operates year around, but there is only one very old thread with any mention of this ship (from 10 years ago). I'm inferring from this that the typical passengers must not be CC members.

 

In any event, I'm booked on a cruise on this ship in July, and I'm wondering about the condition of the ship, quality of the tours, etc. Thanks in advance for any information.

[SEFlyer]

My wife and I had 4 nights on the Explorer II in Galapagos about 2 years ago. It was very good. The condition of the ship was good. The onboard service was very friendly and good. We enjoyed great breakfasts on the balcony of our suite which were promptly and cheerfully delivered. All in all the ship is a very pleasant experience. The food is good but not great.

 

If you are taking a charter flight which you purchase individually from Conodros departing from Quito you need to be very aggressive in looking for check-in at the Quito airport. The signage for check-in is terrible and Conodros seems only interested in catering to groups not individuals.

 

The shore excursions are guided by naturalists who are employees of the national park. I would describe them as self-absorbed and not overly attentive to visitors. They were invariably late and we wasted too much time waiting to board zodiacs for shore excursions. If you've never taken an expedition cruise with zodiac landings you may find them OK but if you've done an Antarctic expedition, for example, you will find them less than great.

 

But the greatest attractions are the islands and the animals and flora. I regret we didn't take a 7 night cruise because the Galapagos are so spectacular a place to visit. I would take the Explorer II again.

[j2ink]

Thanks for the information. I've made a note about the possible problem of finding the Canodros rep at the airport. I've already had a little problem communicating with Conodros through my TA, who is not one of its preferred agents. I believe everything is straightened out now, and hope that things will go smoothly from now on.

 

We also are booked on only a four night cruise. However, I have booked an additional two nights on San Cristobal at the end of the cruise. It probably still will not be enough.

 

Conodros has a fairly extensive website, but some of the information on different pages does not seem to agree. For instance, the descriptions of the daily itineraries do not seem to agree with a chart of the daily activities.

 

One particular question I have is about snorkeling. Is there an opportunity to snorkel every day? Is snorkeling done after the excursions, or if we choose to snorkel, will we miss excursions? We want to do some snorkeling, but we don't want to miss anything.

 

A related question is whether there is more than one excursion to choose from on each island, or does everyone do the same excursion. It appears to me that some of the smaller islands have only one visitor site in the area being visited.

[SEFlyer]

Your comment about trouble communicating with Canodros thru your agent reminds me that I had the same problem. In our pre-trip materials we were told in writing to reconfirm with Canodros 24 hours before flying out of Quito by calling the company at a Quito number. The problem was either the phone was busy or nobody answered. I had to call my travel agent back in Canada to communicate with them and complete the reconfirmation. The next morning we had the airport check-in experience.

 

None of these things is the end of the world but it is unsettling when you are on holidays and it is level of service well below what you have a right to expect for the price Canodros charge.

 

Your decision to add 2 nights in San Cristobal is a good one. Maybe not as good as a 7 night cruise but it will still enable you to spend longer in the fabulous Galapagos Islands. Given your interest in snorkeling you can probably easily get a day long snorkeling trip while on the island.

 

I am not into snorkeling so I didn;t pay much attention to that part of the trip. I do recall you can snorkel at Bartolome and Santiago islands. And there may have been another opportunity but I think the opportunity is most days but not every day.

 

There is not much difference, if any, in the tours offered. Most are everyone doing the same. On one or two you may be offered different routes but you essentially all see the same sights.

[j2ink]

Thanks for the additional information. We have a few months to go, but I always like to find out as much information as possible before we go, so I know what to expect and not have any surprises.

 

For instance, I'm trying to match up each of the ship's descriptions of the twice-daily excursions to one of the 48 visitor sites in the islands, so I can read more about what we will see on each specific day. However, even when there are long descriptions of the ship's excursions, I'm finding it difficult to determine exactly which visitor sites will be covered.