More Galapagos/Origin Questions

[RELS]

Our air is ticketed and we leave for Quito in about seven weeks! I'm back again with more questions for those who have been on the Origin recently.

 

1. Is there a guest laundry room on board? I was unable to find one in the deck plan. We have a total of 12 days travel. The opportunity to do laundry once would be very welcome.

 

2. When you filled out the Traveler's Health Attestation for Ecuador, what did you put for your contact information while in Ecuador?

 

3. I see there's a "Quito by Night" excursion included. Is that on the first night in Quito or the second? Can you provide any other info, such as the timing, whether dinner is included, etc?

 

4. Is there time to take a (non-Silversea) excursion for the day in Quito between the two nights, such as a 10-hour trip to the Otovalo market, or an 8-hour trip to the Cloud Forest?

 

5. At the end of the cruise, approximately what time do we arrive in Guayaquil after disembarking in San Cristobal?

 

Thank you in advance for any info you can provide.

[Carol From California]

3 hours ago, RELS said:

Our air is ticketed and we leave for Quito in about seven weeks! I'm back again with more questions for those who have been on the Origin recently.

 

1. Is there a guest laundry room on board? I was unable to find one in the deck plan. We have a total of 12 days travel. The opportunity to do laundry once would be very welcome.

 

2. When you filled out the Traveler's Health Attestation for Ecuador, what did you put for your contact information while in Ecuador?

 

3. I see there's a "Quito by Night" excursion included. Is that on the first night in Quito or the second? Can you provide any other info, such as the timing, whether dinner is included, etc?

 

4. Is there time to take a (non-Silversea) excursion for the day in Quito between the two nights, such as a 10-hour trip to the Otovalo market, or an 8-hour trip to the Cloud Forest?

 

5. At the end of the cruise, approximately what time do we arrive in Guayaquil after disembarking in San Cristobal?

 

Thank you in advance for any info you can provide.

1. I honestly can't recall if there were laundry machines on the ship, but I don't think there were. Where did you see it on the deck plan?

 

2. I think we just put the JW Marriott.

 

3. We did not do the Quito By Night tour, but it was the second night, the night before the cruise. We were told it was more of a bus ride, drive by tour. We hired a private guide and we spent two days with him. Let me know if you want his information.

 

4. See #3.

 

5. I don't remember the exact time but I remember we had dinner at the hotel. Then we stayed at the hotel until going to the airport for our early morning flight. I think it was at 2 or 3 am. 

[RELS]

8 minutes ago, Carol From California said:

1. I honestly can't recall if there were laundry machines on the ship, but I don't think there were. Where did you see it on the deck plan?

 

I didn't see a laundry on the deck plan. I was hoping there was one, so I could pack less.

 

10 minutes ago, Carol From California said:

We hired a private guide and we spent two days with him. Let me know if you want his information.

Yes, please, especially if you think he did a good job.

 

Thanks for your answers!

[labrasett]

I dont believe there is a laundry room on Origin, there is a laundry service via butler but no "do it yourself".

 

[cruiseej]

17 hours ago, Carol From California said:

We hired a private guide and we spent two days with him. Let me know if you want his information.

 

We're planning a Galapagos cruise for 2024, and I'd appreciate the name of your guide if you had a good experience with him. (I forget if you can mention guides here on the forum, but if not, you can email me at jacobsedj at gmail.) What did you do in your two days with the guide? Thanks!

[tmichael28]

Just got home from 10-day Galapagos Origin cruise. Answering your questions:  There is time to take a full day tour in Quito.  The SSea desk in the lobby will help you out with this if you like. No laundry room on ship.   At the end of the cruise, we were off ship by 8am in St Cristóbal  and in Guayaquil by 2pm. (Delayed flight).  Latam was the airline they booked us on. Not great.  The JW Marriott is Quito is quite nice.  The Guayaquil hotel is mediocre.   SILVERSEA does a fantastic job on this cruise.  The ship is wonderful and the staff is earnest and caring. The amount of wildlife we saw was extraordinary. 

[RELS]

On 1/8/2023 at 8:57 PM, Carol From California said:

We hired a private guide and we spent two days with him. Let me know if you want his information.

@Carol From California, still hoping for this guide's name and/or contact info 🙂 Thanks!

[TakingFlight]

Speaking from personal experience, I would be cautious of doing too much in Quito,  especially physical activity such as hiking. I had a major headache from the altitude the entire time I was in Quito. I was fine with a city tour and walking around town with my friends. I enjoyed the Quito by night tour; we got off the bus and walked to several sites even though it was pouring rain. As soon as we got to Guayaquil my headache was gone. Guess I just can’t tolerate altitude anymore.

[Carol From California]

Our guide in Quito:

Dennis Yepez

info@guanguiltagua.com

 

Tour 1 - Pick up from the JW Marriott at 9:30 am. Drive through Guayllabamba valley, visit to Guayllabamba village for fruit tasting. After this we stop at Santa Rosa view place to see the landscape of Guayllabamba valley and Cayambe valley. Drive through the north part of Cayambe valley and watch beautiful cultivated green areas and get to the Cajas pass at 10000 ft. to reach Imbabura province. We stop at Miralago view place from where we observe an amazing view of San Pablo Lake and Indian villages around plus the Imbabura volcano. Then we go to Otavalo Indian Market, where you can have time to see the goods and buy some souvenirs. (Instead of going to the leather factory spend more time at Poncho Plaza (Indigenous Market). Drive north towards the Historical Hacienda Pinsaqui to take lunch with Garden View. Drive back to Quito and drop at the JW Marriott at 5:30 pm. This trip will take 8 hours.

 

Tour 2 -  Pick up at 9:30 am from the JW Marriott.  Scenic drive along the Amazonas Avenue to drive towards the Equatorial Line zone in order to the see Pululahua volcano view place within its geobotanical Reserve where you will have the chance to admire one of the largest populated calderas along the planet (5 km. of diameter) plus interesting species of Andean plants and flowers including orchids. Drive down towards the Real Equator Inti Ñan in situ Museum where we will learn about Coreolli's theory and its influence around the globe plus some other fun experiments that will give us proof that we are on the Real Equator. After this we will drive to one of the most beautiful suburbs of Quito: "Cumbaya" in order to have lunch at the best Ecuadorian fusion food Garden Restaurant: "La Octava de Corpus".  Later we will drive up on the Spanish Conquistadors XVI road in order to discover the marvelous Colonial Guapulo XVI century church and village. After this we will drive up to the Guapulo view place to see the amazing adjacent Guayllabamba Andean valley to learn about the topography and configuration of the Eastern and Western Andes from Quito. Once we are finished with this we will drop you at the JW Marriott at around 2:30 pm.

 

We ended up modifying the above and spent some time walking around the old city of Quito instead of doing the night tour with Silversea.