Xpedition - Just returned from 12/4/05 sailing

susiesan · December 17, 2005

I asked Mario the hotel director about drydock-he says next September. The ship look just fine right now though. Nothing torn or worn. We´re having our third dinner on deck tonight for the last big meal and a party. I hate to leave tomorrow. It´ s bben great.

mjarens · December 19, 2005

Glad to read your review Sandy, and I couldn't have said it better. We have come home to 40 degrees and windy. I would like to be back in the Galapagos right now!!

I can add useful info re: snorkeling. I did 5 snorkel trips during our week together (Dec 4th - 11th). Two trips were billed as "Advanced snorkelers only", and they weren't kidding when they stated that. The first was a snorkel around two rock formations that come up out of the ocean, with no sand, beach or landing in sight. In other words, it is a sheer rock wall that goes straight into the ocean. You are hugging the rock where there is great sea life. But there are currents, swells, and sea lions competing for your attention. The meek, timid, or even tired or cold snorkelers should definately not go on the advanced snorkelers trips. This snorkel (our first of the week) lasted about 1 1/2 hours of non-stop snorkeling... and I mean kicking those fins for all you are worth the entire time. And, to top it off, EVERYONE, except me, was FREEZING all the way back to the ship. All snorkelers wore shorty or full length wetsuits (provided at no charge on board). For some reason, I never got cold on any of our snorkel trips, however others on the same trips were always affected by the water temps.

Many of the snorkel trips were from the beaches, and were as fruitful at spotting wild life as the deep water dives (two during our week). Micheal, Vincent & I were four feet from two penguins on the shore rocks, and a sea lion came out to greet us and do an underwater ballet with us right in front of the penguins...and this was on a beach snorkel trip! Swimming with the sea turtles, sea lions, watching a blue footed boobie dive in front of our fellow snorkelers mask was an unbelieveable underwater sight. One trip it was mostly sea turtles, another mostly sea rays. One trip had several marine iguanas on the ocean bottom munching sea weed, only 10 -12 feet below you. And that is not to mention the vast array of fish that are decorating the rock and lava formations under water. However the water is not, repeat NOT, anywhere near the temps you experience in say ... Hawaii. Wear a wet suit; it is not an option.

I read from several people on the boards that you need two swim suits. I disagree. My suit was always rinsed, wrung and hung in the shower to dry, which it always was by the next morning. We brought our own snorkel and mask, but used ship board fins and wet suits. If you like your own mask, pack it. It doesn't weigh that much.

One word of caution for snorkelers: On our last snorkel Saturday morning, we were about 3/4 way through our trip and I was stung on my leg (only wearing a shorty wetsuit) by a jelly fish. I can only be so happy it didn't sting the top of my head, or get down my wetsuit at the neck (keep the velcro tight). It stung like hell!! I tried to keep snorkeling but got kind of freeked out so I waved over the zodiak pilot and he picked me up. Bad stinging, red welts, and iritation that my last snorkel trip was cut short. Freddy (our trip naturalist) cleaned the sting with alcohol and applied a gel to relieve the string. But it was all worth it for the great snorkeling!

We have cruised 16 times. We have traveled to Hong Kong, Mexico, Hawaii, 16 Caribbean islands. This Galapagos trip was far and above any other vacation experience, land or sea desitination, that we have taken in our 22 years of travel. My husband did all land excursions, I did land and snorkel excursions. This cruise seemed to last two weeks, not one week. We know it is because there were two distinct adventures each day. Also, the Quito portion of our trip was excellent too. And when Sandy says it is "all inclusive" as far as the price, she wasn't kidding. The 76 passengers on our cruise were a wonderful mix. The entire Xpedition staff and naturalists were outstanding.

Do not put this off. It is truly a unique experience. We would do it again in a minute if we could! Any questions, please reply or email. Sandy, can you send me the link to your pics? Thanks.

Marta

mjarens@comcast.net

SandyR5 · December 19, 2005

Marta - Thanks for including all that snorkeling information for the future Xpedition travelers. It's also great to hear from you. We came home to temps below 20 for the first few days. Now its a balmy 32. Better on the ship. :)

I will e-mail you a Shutterfly album this afternoon. Wasn't it just the most wonderful trip?

poultry_in_motion · December 19, 2005

Ann (of Ann & Keith here), otherwise known as "the lady in orange." Hope everyone made it home safely and with a minimum of hassle. Couple of tips to "future travelers" regarding luggage: We took two substantial suitcases but checked them at the Quito Marriott and just took large duffle bags to the islands, to keep the weight down. When you check out of the hotel on Sunday morning, they ask you not to lock your luggage; but have no fear, the Celebrity staff puts plastic locks on everything after the Park Service has finished its inspection for anything ecologically hazardous. On the return from the ship to Quito, we asked and were told it was okay to lock our bags. Most people did not, but, again, Celebrity "banded" the bags. Several people had trouble opening the bags when they were delivered to their hotel rooms, as their scissors and pen knives were, of course, packed, but I think they used hotel corkscrews successfully. One of our new friends said her duffle was rifled on the return to Quito was rifled but nothing was taken.

Shopping tips: Saturday in Quito you will visit a small roadside market on your bus tour; give the rugs serious consideration, as I did not see a selection that diverse or reasonably priced anywhere else. They are llama wool and very good quality. Also, on the return, allow time for shopping at the Quito airport. There are some lovely little shops, including a great one that sells silver jewelry and another that sells very upscale local crafts (not tacky). The prices are very competitive.

Other than that I second (third?) everything my fellow vacationers said: shoes are important, seasickness was a non-issue for most of us (although quite a few of us still felt "rocky" for a day or so after we were back on dry land), and the experience (creatures and crew) is amazing.

eknightley · December 19, 2005

SandyR5, mjarens, and Poultry in Motion, Thank you for sharing your wonderful experiences. All tips from snorkeling to shopping are much appreciated. Fantastic snorkeling adventures and lovely llama rugs--I can't wait! Thanks also to susiesan for inquiring about the dry dock. We made our reseervations for May back in October, and I'm so excited that we get to keep them! My husband especially enjoys clear night skies away from city light pollution--did you get to do much stargazing and seagazing at night? Is the first lights off and the second lights on? He doesn't have time to read the boards, but I like to share tidbits to whet his appetite. Thanks again! Emma

SandyR5 · December 19, 2005

Ann - I never knew you were poultry-in-motion! :( I loved your orange shoes and matching outfits. We went on many excursions together.

Emma - We had stargazing, officially, one night. (Cloudy weather the other night we were supposed to have it.) The sky was amazing. You went up to deck 6, forward, and there was a crew member/astronomer who used a flashlight to point out the various constellations. The sky was absolutely amazing. All lights were off so it really was incredible. Other people would go up there on other nights to relax on the lounges and star gaze, but we just fell into bed after drinks, dinner and more drinks. We knew we'd be setting a 6:50 wake up call for the next morning's adventure. :)

poultry_in_motion · December 19, 2005

The ship's "lecture" on the constellations is not all that enlightening (no pun intended), so if you are a serious stargazer/astronomer you might want to take along your own celestial map. Check out starmaps.com for a free printable star map for the Southern Hemisphere that should help you. But I've gotta say that just lying on your back on the top deck of Xpedition is like being inside the best planetarium ever!

As for seagazing, there's not much activity at night. There are Night Gulls that circle the ship, watching the wake for yummy little squid. Also the occasional pelican. And we even saw a couple of sealions swimming under the ship one evening when we were close to shore.

Thursday morning they got us up early as we were cruising along the coast of Isabela Island to look for whales and dolphins: saw one of the former and a handful of the latter, but not that much of a "show" except maybe if you're from the Heartland and never saw them before. (We're from New England.)

One of our best seagazing experiences was the Medium-Intensity Isthmus Hike on Bartolome Island. You hike up a sand dune at an approx. 45-degree incline then down the other side. Very tricky, as the path is narrow with thorny cactuses on one side and an embankment on the other. But WELL worth it: At the bottom is a cove where the White-Tipped Reef Sharks and Pacific Green Sea Turtles hang out. We saw dozens of both, and when the incoming waves lift the sharks up, you can see them with the sunlight behind them, suspended in the wave. Just breathtaking. (P.S. Ignore the ship's suggestion about sandals, and wear good hiking shoes for this one.)

susiesan · December 20, 2005

What a bummer-after a week of 80+ temps it's back to the snow. After inquiring more, I found out there were closer to 12 people on my sailing who were sick. It lasted 2 days then they were fine. My husband got a raging headache in Quito the last night from the altitude.

Shopping tips: at the craft market in Quito the last day here are the prices we paid: $2.75 ea for the lesser quality alpaca scarves (I bought 12 from the same guy), $4.00 for the better alpaca scarf, $10 for an alpaca sweater with a zipper up the front for me, $15 for an Aztec style wool sweater/jacket for my husband. I am quite pleased. You do need to bargain and reming the vendors it's the end of the day near closing time. Those are the only things exept for a few t shirts we bought (the sweater cost less than the tees!)

Everything on my trip went perfect, no glitches. I would do this trip again in a few years, in the opposite season. For us it was very dry and everything was brown. But no shortage of animals. I really like the all inclusive idea, not having to pay for anything extra. As I said before, this trip is a must do once in your life. I'll never forget the experience.

barryw1111 · December 20, 2005

Sandy, that was a great review of our trip. I wholeheartedly agree. It was the cruise of a lifetime. The only thing that could have made it better were for it to have been 14 nights instead of 7.

Sandy, do you by chance have Vicky's address. She and her husband were our fellow cruisers from Quito.

Having passed out gifts since returning home, we have all decided that we would like 50 more scarves. At $2 each, they were a real bargain.

Give Vanessa my regards when you see her in New York.

Barry

SandyR5 · December 20, 2005

Hi Barry - Don't have Vicki's address, but maybe Vince and Michael do. I know Michael filled out that form in the office, that we didn't see, that had e-mail addresses. Maybe even Vicki's is on that. You still haven't told me why you all were still in the airport when we ran by. :) Hi to Leslie.

snelson66 · December 20, 2005

Thanks for all of the great information about snorkeling. We will be going on the Exhibition in March and had a few questions. I am not that great of a swimmer so should I bring along a snorkelers vest or are the provided or not needed? Should we also bring wetsuits or do they have enough available for everyone?

Thanks again for all of the great information.

susiesan · December 20, 2005

There are plenty of wetsuits onboard. You can use the life vest you wear each time you are on the zodiacs but they get in the way. I used it once then took it off. The wetsuits make you very buoyant. if you tend to get cold, bring a wetsuit hood-it really leped me to stay in longer as the water was 66-72 degrees-chilly!

So you are on the Exhibition, eh?

susiesan · December 20, 2005

There are plenty of wetsuits onboard. You can use the life vest you wear each time you are on the zodiacs but they get in the way. I used it once then took it off. The wetsuits make you very buoyant. If you tend to get cold, bring a wetsuit hood-it really helped me to stay in longer as the water was 66-72 degrees-chilly!

So you are on the Exhibition, eh?

snelson66 · December 21, 2005

Sorry, I was thinking Xpedition, but I wrote Exhibition. I guess I could be an exhibitionist on the Xpedition but they would throw me overboard.

NCtom · December 24, 2005

Everything you have read from Sandy, et.al., is very accurate. However high your expectations, this trip will exceed them!

A few additional tips:

1. Absolutely take and use sunblock and bring a hat that covers your head and forehead. In Quito, you are at 9,000 plus feet above sea level. Sun radiation can do damage. Also true while tromping around the Galapagos Islands for a couple of hours in the AM and again in the PM.

2. Altitude sickness in Quito can be a problem. I wasn't affected, but my wife had a low-grade headache. The Diamox (perscription drug) quickly ended the problem. She only took it the first day.

3. Don't confuse 'high, medium, low' intensities with being macho. Take the trip that interests you. The only really strenuous excursion is the trek to the top of San Cristobal, but even for that climb up 360 or so steps, the naturalist stops four times.

A lot of the walking is over seriously irregular lava surfaces. But, that didn't stop an octogenarian on our cruise from going on those hikes. The naturalists go at a pace suitable for the terrain and the people in the group.

4. Definitely go to the evening briefing about the next day's excursions to decide what you want to do.

5. The anchor thing is nothing. You will be awake and up before every anchor drop and raise. We were one cabin from the bow of the ship.

6. There were at least two people on our trip who were affected by the food, but not from the ship's food. They made the mistake of eating salad in Quito. Unless you know you are immune, don't eat it in Quito unless it's burned or peeled! I am not aware of anyone having a problem eating what was served on the ship. I ate everything on the ship and I am quite sensitive to 'foreign bacteria.'

7. The bridge tour and the engine room tour are both quite interesting and informative. But, they are booked quickly, so get in your name early.

8. A curious fact: the equator monument and the line drawn on the ground in Quito are off by about 600 feet. One of our cruise members brought a GPS which showed the error. The navigation officer on the Xpedition later confirmed our suspicions. He pointed out that the monument was erected when the measuring equipment were not as accurate as we have today.

For those of you booked for the trip, congratulations and enjoy a life experience. For those of you waffling about whether or not to go, it is worth every cent and more!

Celebrity, the crew and naturalists do a superlative job. If you are reading this web site, Mario and Jorge, thank you for a wonderful trip. We now have a great appreciation for the unique gift of the Galapagos Islands.

Tom

NCtom · December 24, 2005