Back from The Celebrity Flora's Galápagos Inner Loop: A Review

[deabic]

We were in that exact cabin last week!  We just finished up our week fl doing Machu Picchu.  Excellent review!
 

I also agree that, while expensive, do it when you are young and healthy.  Hubby and I are both mid-60s and healthy but wish we could have done more.

[maryogreen]

46 minutes ago, deabic said:

We were in that exact cabin last week!  We just finished up our week fl doing Machu Picchu.  Excellent review!
 

I also agree that, while expensive, do it when you are young and healthy.  Hubby and I are both mid-60s and healthy but wish we could have done more.

deabic, I hope we left the cabin in great shape for you!😊 So glad you liked the review. It was truly a fabulous cruise, and I'm sure Machu Picchu offered another wonderful and vastly different experience. Here's to continued good health and travel!

[hiccups]

1 hour ago, deabic said:

We were in that exact cabin last week!  We just finished up our week fl doing Machu Picchu.  Excellent review!
 

I also agree that, while expensive, do it when you are young and healthy.  Hubby and I are both mid-60s and healthy but wish we could have done more.

We looked at Galápagos cruises a couple years ago, and I wish we’d booked then.  We’re younger than you, but our knees are already not what they used to be!  Thinking we may go ahead and do it anyway in the next year or two (and start some joint supplements in the meantime!).

[TFree]

I am wondering what the opinions are as to the best time or times of year to book this cruise?  We booked it onboard the Apex last month, settling on a date in late September of 2023.  We might have to change the date anyway, so I am wondering what the best times are supposed to be?

 

Tom & Judy

[maryogreen]

2 hours ago, TFree said:

I am wondering what the opinions are as to the best time or times of year to book this cruise?  We booked it onboard the Apex last month, settling on a date in late September of 2023.  We might have to change the date anyway, so I am wondering what the best times are supposed to be?

 

Tom & Judy

That's a really good question and a tough one to answer. I had read so many month-by-month reports about Galápagos weather. January to June is considered the "wet" season, and June to December are the "dry" months. We chose May because of the transitioning weather "shoulder season" and the wildlife we had hoped to see. I'd also read that summer and the holiday season in late December and early January are popular with families. The bottom line seems to be there is no bad time to visit because of the mild climate along the equator. If you Google "Galapagos weather my month" or "Galapagos wildlife by month," you will find more information than you may even want!😊

 

[WNcruiser]

3 hours ago, TFree said:

I am wondering what the opinions are as to the best time or times of year to book this cruise?  We booked it onboard the Apex last month, settling on a date in late September of 2023.  We might have to change the date anyway, so I am wondering what the best times are supposed to be?

 

Tom & Judy

This is the best site I found. It gives a month to month synopsis of each month. For us I think April will be perfect as we want to do all the snorkeling tours and this is when the water is warmest. 
 

https://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/trips/galapagos/when-to-travel-best-month/

[silby]

Thanks for the great review.   How/why did you chose the inner itinerary?   We are booked on inner next may, but started wondering why not the outer itinerary.     We haven't been able to find any good discussions on the differences.

[maryogreen]

4 hours ago, silby said:

Thanks for the great review.   How/why did you chose the inner itinerary?   We are booked on inner next may, but started wondering why not the outer itinerary.     We haven't been able to find any good discussions on the differences.

silby, I'm glad to know you enjoyed the review! I know what you mean about trying to figure out the differences between the two itineraries. The winning points for choosing the Inner Loop for us were the "iconic view" hike on Bartolomé Island looking out over Pinnacle Rock and the chance to see all three species of Boobies (San Cristóbal) as well as the great frigatebirds (North Seymour). If you want to see the waved albatross, the Outer Loop is the only chance to do that. 

 

I've just finished posting all my blogs from the Galápagos, which may help give you a better idea of what you will see on the Inner Loop. Here's the link:

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/category/ecuador/

 

There is also an excellent – and extremely long! – thread on the Cruise Critic Celebrity Flora Roll Call page called "recently returned on Flora" which has quite a bit of helpful information. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/832-celebrity-flora-roll-calls/

 

The bottom line seems to be that both itineraries are fantastic and that travelers are happy with the one they chose. Best of luck with your plans, and please feel free to contact me if future questions arise!

Mary

[silby]

6 minutes ago, maryogreen said:

silby, I'm glad to know you enjoyed the review! I know what you mean about trying to figure out the differences between the two itineraries. The winning points for choosing the Inner Loop for us were the "iconic view" hike on Bartolomé Island looking out over Pinnacle Rock and the chance to see all three species of Boobies (San Cristóbal) as well as the great frigatebirds (North Seymour). If you want to see the waved albatross, the Outer Loop is the only chance to do that. 

 

I've just finished posting all my blogs from the Galápagos, which may help give you a better idea of what you will see on the Inner Loop. Here's the link:

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/category/ecuador/

 

There is also an excellent – and extremely long! – thread on the Cruise Critic Celebrity Flora Roll Call page called "recently returned on Flora" which has quite a bit of helpful information. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/832-celebrity-flora-roll-calls/

 

The bottom line seems to be that both itineraries are fantastic and that travelers are happy with the one they chose. Best of luck with your plans, and please feel free to contact me if future questions arise!

Mary

Thanks so much for the quick response.  And yes, I did start to read your blog - great information for sure!

[slewis7]

Great review and a lovely travel blog site!  Thanks.

[maryogreen]

23 hours ago, slewis7 said:

Great review and a lovely travel blog site!  Thanks.

@slewis7, Thank you so much! 

[voyager1964]

@maryogreen Thank you very much for your review!

A small question: your cabin 526 is marked as "connected verandah" (with 524) on the deckplan. What does this mean? Is the balcony of a non-"connected" cabin, say, 518 (no "shared verandah") in any way different than yours?

 

Thanks again,

voyager

[maryogreen]

16 hours ago, voyager1964 said:

@maryogreen Thank you very much for your review!

A small question: your cabin 526 is marked as "connected verandah" (with 524) on the deckplan. What does this mean? Is the balcony of a non-"connected" cabin, say, 518 (no "shared verandah") in any way different than yours?

 

Thanks again,

voyager

@voyager1964 Glad you enjoyed the review! We were confused by the "squiggle" marking between some cabins on the deck plan as well, but it turned out not to be an issue. All cabins on Deck 5 had their own non-shared verandahs. There was a locked latch on our verandah divider, which I imagine could have been unlocked if a family or group of friends had cabins next to each other and wanted to go between them from their verandah rather than the hallway. We loved having a verandah and spent a surprising amount of time enjoying the views and taking photos from there. I hope this helps answer your question!

[voyager1964]

32 minutes ago, maryogreen said:

@voyager1964 Glad you enjoyed the review! We were confused by the "squiggle" marking between some cabins on the deck plan as well, but it turned out not to be an issue. All cabins on Deck 5 had their own non-shared verandahs. There was a locked latch on our verandah divider, which I imagine could have been unlocked if a family or group of friends had cabins next to each other and wanted to go between them from their verandah rather than the hallway. We loved having a verandah and spent a surprising amount of time enjoying the views and taking photos from there. I hope this helps answer your question!

I see. Do you think any of those starboard S3 is better than the others in terms of balcony privacy?

 

Thanks again!

[maryogreen]

2 hours ago, voyager1964 said:

I see. Do you think any of those starboard S3 is better than the others in terms of balcony privacy?

 

Thanks again!

@voyager1964I can only speak for our cabin 526, but we had no issues at all with lack of privacy on the verandah. I also don't recall hearing anyone in our area mentioning balcony privacy as a problem. A really nice feature of that location is the access to the back stairway, which is a quick route to the Discovery Lounge on the deck below. Several of us in the S3 section commented on how it felt like we had our own private entrance!

[djbarnes]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:46 AM, MBP&O2/O said:

I am awaiting a quote from Celebrity for a Galapagos cruise ... but not on the Flora, which I would generally prefer. I am told that the suite bathrooms have see through glass doors which is my main sticking point. 

Your comments would be appreciated.

Ta

Just returned from the Flora (7-24-22 sailing).  Yes, I heard a lot about the bathroom window and now that I've experienced it I understand it fully.  The bathroom sits between the bedroom and the inner ship hallway.  There is a 10 foot piece of glass between bathroom and bedroom that is frosted at the bottom but transitions to clear at night.  Even with this partial frosting you can see from the bedroom or balcony into the bathroom and if someone is showering they are in full view.  If someone is on the toilet you can see their top half.  The worst part is that at night, you cannot turn on the bathroom light without fully illuminating the bedroom.  Whoever designed this should have put a blind on either side that you could pull down if you preferred.  While this was someone annoying, the cabin was fantastic.

[directionfinder]

Thank you so much for this wonderful report! 

And I just got lost in your travel blog! 

Some years ago I have done a land based tour over the Galapagos islands which was also very nice. 

We stayed in little hotels on the islands and travelled with small boats from island to island.

I remember that there was a limit of the group size a guide could have, 10 or 12 people, for walking and snorkeling and so. Is this still the case? And how is this handled on a 100 passenger ship?

And for going ashore zodiacs are used? 

 

[sippican]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:46 AM, MBP&O2/O said:

I am awaiting a quote from Celebrity for a Galapagos cruise ... but not on the Flora, which I would generally prefer. I am told that the suite bathrooms have see through glass doors which is my main sticking point. 

Your comments would be appreciated.

Ta

 Not sure which ship you are considering.  

We've cruised twice on Xpedition. Once at full capacity of 100, and last fall with 38 on board. We love the ship and never even considered Flora. I have clients who have sailed on all three ships. and all absolutely loved the experience. 

There is no better time of year - the Galapagos is a year-round destination because you will experience different experiences depending on the season. As far as itineraries, they are all fantastic.  In fact, on the same day, one group may see something and the next group, something else. My advice is to read up a bit on the seasons in the Galapagos. If there is something that is an absolute "must see" for you (such as young sea lion pups), aim for that period. Otherwise, book what is comfortable for your timeframe and wallet.

Edited August 3, 2022 by sippican

[dcbiker97]

deleted

Edited August 3, 2022 by dcbiker97

[maryogreen]

11 hours ago, directionfinder said:

Thank you so much for this wonderful report! 

And I just got lost in your travel blog! 

Some years ago I have done a land based tour over the Galapagos islands which was also very nice. 

We stayed in little hotels on the islands and travelled with small boats from island to island.

I remember that there was a limit of the group size a guide could have, 10 or 12 people, for walking and snorkeling and so. Is this still the case? And how is this handled on a 100 passenger ship?

And for going ashore zodiacs are used? 

 

@directionfinderI love that you got lost in my travel blog! Many thanks for the kind words. Your land-based tour sounds terrific as well and would be interesting to compare with a Galápagos cruise. The group sizes for expeditions are limited to each zodiac, which I believe is about 10 or 12 people, just as you experienced. Celebrity held a meeting each evening to discuss the next day's expeditions. We signed up for our preferences and were given a departure time slot. Everything was handled seamlessly. And yes...zodiacs are used for going ashore!

[directionfinder]

Hallo Mary,

i have some more questions! 

Did you do any snorkeling? Or was the water too cold? Is this offered at the Flora and do they offer wet suits? 

Are there offered different tours/hikes each day?

On the photos you are wearing a lot of clothes, so I suppose it wasn't too hot outside.

When I was there years ago in March, it was on some days very hot, too hot for long hikes, but just perfect for snorkling, which we did a lot. 

 

 

[maryogreen]

3 hours ago, directionfinder said:

Hallo Mary,

i have some more questions! 

Did you do any snorkeling? Or was the water too cold? Is this offered at the Flora and do they offer wet suits? 

Are there offered different tours/hikes each day?

On the photos you are wearing a lot of clothes, so I suppose it wasn't too hot outside.

When I was there years ago in March, it was on some days very hot, too hot for long hikes, but just perfect for snorkling, which we did a lot. 

 

 

@directionfinder Great questions...thanks for posting! We did not snorkel, but quite a few people did. There are two options – beach snorkeling after some of the hikes and deep water snorkeling for experienced snorkelers, which is offered several times as a separate activity in addition to the two daily excursions. The water was cold in May, but Celebrity provided wet suits, and some people brought their own.

 

The Flora visits two places each day – sometimes two different islands and sometimes different landings on the same island. Every evening there is a meeting to learn about and sign up for the following day's excursions. We were typically offered about four options for each excursion, and there was never a problem with getting our preferred excursion.

 

The weather was lovely – in the 70s and never feeling too hot. My husband and I wore hats, long-sleeved tops and long pants on most of the rougher terrain hikes and shorts on the beach hikes. The big issue is sun protection, and it's easy to forget that you are on the equator! We found that light-weight, moisture-wicking exercise and hiking clothing, some with SPF protection, worked really well.

 

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have additional questions. I'm delighted to share any information on this wonderful itinerary!

 

Mary

 

[NouCruzer]

6 hours ago, directionfinder said:

Hallo Mary,

i have some more questions! 

Did you do any snorkeling? Or was the water too cold? Is this offered at the Flora and do they offer wet suits? 

Are there offered different tours/hikes each day?

On the photos you are wearing a lot of clothes, so I suppose it wasn't too hot outside.

When I was there years ago in March, it was on some days very hot, too hot for long hikes, but just perfect for snorkling, which we did a lot. 

 

 

 

Directionfinder,

 

We were on the Inner loop itinerary just after Mary, late May into early June.  Flora provides shorty wetsuits, masks and fins; these are fitted to each passenger on the first day and used throughout.  We did just about every snorkeling excursion that was offered.  The crew did not say that the water was cold, rather defined it as various degrees of "refreshing".  Chilly when one first entered but after a minute, we were comfortable in the shorty suits.  We were also told that the cooler Humboldt current arrived early this year and that the water was cooler than usual for May/June.  Again, nothing that made us uncomfortable; we typically stayed in the water for up to 45 min on each excursion.  One positive note is that the cooler waters meant more varied marine life.  One one excursion, we were able to snorkel with a 10 foot manta ray.  One last note; deep water snorkeling meant that you entered the water directly from the zodiac rather than from shore; don't expect to be able to stand with feet on the bottom; depths ranged from 10 - 40 feet.

 

There were multiple excursions offered each day; one could easily participate in three per day.  If you didn't want to snorkel or take a long hike, shorter hiking options or zodiac rides were offered.  As for the hikes and other land excursions, our daytime temperatures were in the low 70s.  We wore shorts and short sleeve tops and were very comfortable.  Just remember the hats and sunscreen and you shouldn't have to worry about burning.

 

 

[maryogreen]

@NouCruzer, thanks for adding that...very helpful perspective. And yes, not cold..."refreshing!" 😊 Sounds like you had as much fun as we did!

[directionfinder]

Hallo Mary, hallo Noucruzer,

 

thank you very much for this information! 

If it would not be so complicated getting there, I would be ready now to go again! 

30 hours to, but only 20 hours back! I have to work on this.