Review: Celebrity Flora 04/07/24 - 04/14/24 : Galapagos Outer Loop

[Fedic]

Galapagos Islands - April, 2024

 

In March of 2022, this email arrived in my Inbox:

 

 

            At that time, the Galapagos Islands weren't really even on our radar.  But our curiosity was peaked and after some research and discussion, my wife and I decided we needed to add this trip to our vacation schedule.  We eventually landed on April as the time of year we would want to go for a couple of reasons;  the rainy season is just ending and the water temperature would be warm enough for comfortable snorkeling.

           We already had an Alaskan trip scheduled for 2023, so we booked for April 2024.  Note: Celebrity offers several different options here:

• Cruise-only.  This is for the 7-day cruise and nothing else.  You are responsible for any hotels (pre or post cruise), for getting yourself to Baltra, and for paying the park entrance fee.
• 10 or 11 night package
• 16 night Galapagos and Machu Picchu package

            We chose the 10-night package, which included 2 nights pre-cruise at the JW Marriott in downtown Quito, a full day of touring, meals, all transportation, a private charter flight to/from Baltra, park entry fees and, one final night in Quito post-cruise.  Once  you land at the Quito airport, you really don't have to worry about anything during the entire trip; Celebrity takes care of everything.

            As noted in the email, we could have booked air-fare through Flights by Celebrity, but I like to be in control of our destiny when it comes to airlines and flight changes and not have to go through a middle-man, so we opted for an immediate discount on our package price and booked the flights ourselves.  We just needed to call the Celebrity Galapagos desk and give them our flight information so they knew when to pick us up.

Fast forward 2 years later and it was finally time for our trip!

 

            Flying from Tampa, most airlines require you to fly hundreds of miles north (to Atlanta or Charlotte, for example) in order to make a connection to your destination, adding hours of extra flight time to your trip.  For this reason, we ultimately decided on American Airlines since their hub is in Miami.  This was our selection for Tampa to Quito:

 

 

Day 1 – Travel and arrival in Quito, Ecuador

Friday, April 5

 

             We arrived at the Tampa airport for our 7AM flight at about 5:15AM.  Check-in at ticketing for American Airlines was absolute chaos.  When we booked this trip, I did lots of research on best time of the year to go to the Galapagos—rainy season vs dry season, water temperatures, different wildlife you might see.  What I totally missed was that this is the start of Spring Break week for a lot of colleges and is one of the heaviest travel weeks of the year. 

             On top of the airport being packed with travelers, American Airlines chose to force everyone to use their kiosks to check in.  This would be okay, except there are about 12 total kiosks—one of them was broken, one was out of paper to print luggage tags, one of them wouldn’t scan passports and another totally froze up while we were there.  So add 100 people to a line with 8 working kiosks and a total of one employee to help with any issues.  Fun times!

 

 

              We finally got our luggage tags printed and bags dropped off only to find the security line with about 500 people waiting to be screened.  We were fortunate enough to be able to maneuver ourselves to the one Xray machine at the F terminal that has the newer technology that doesn’t require you to remove your electronics or liquids for scanning.  I would take the time-savings wherever I could get them at this point.

              We managed to make it on the plane to Miami for the short 37 minute flight and had Exit Row seats on both that flight and the one to Quito, Ecuador (about 4 hours gate-to-gate).  Both flights were pleasant and uneventful.

              After deplaning in Quito, you go straight to Immigration—note that there are no restrooms between exiting the plane and the loooong line.  Also nothing at baggage claim, which is the next stop.  Fortunately, our bags were waiting and we were able to grab them, put them through an Xray scanner and quickly exit the area. 

              Celebrity greeted us in the next room, checked us in and took our bags.  And there were restrooms here.  45 minutes after leaving the plane, relief was in sight!  [Note to self:  Don’t drink an entire can of soda before the plane lands if you ever come back to Quito.]

 

 

              There were about 15 of us on the flight who were are also on the Celebrity Flora this week.  They loaded us all on a comfy bus for the 50 minute drive into downtown Quito.  Once we arrived at the JW Marriott, we were given hot towels, led to a special Celebrity check-in desk in the Marriott lobby, given a welcome drink, our personalized water-bottles and room keys.

              The room:

 

            Since it was now almost 3PM (or 4PM Eastern time) and we hadn't really eaten much today, we went back downstairs to the Kaori Sushi Bar in the hotel.  

 

     

 

 

         Here's the water bottle refilling station in the lobby of the Marriott.  When we were on the bus from the airport, our guide gave each of us a bottle of water and said, "This is the last plastic bottle you will see on your trip."

    

 

Pictures from around the JW Marriott:

     

 

 

 

 

 

              We stopped at the podium for the hotel’s South American restaurant (Raices) and made reservations for 8PM for dinner.  They offered an 8-course tasting menu with wine pairing, which we agreed to.  Note:  An 8-course menu takes about 2 ½ hours.  Even after skipping one of the courses, we didn’t finish until 10:30PM.  And the time zone is an hour behind what we are used to in Eastern time, so our bodies felt like it was 11:30PM and I had slept a total of about 3 hours the night before.   I think I almost fell asleep twice at the dinner table.  Oops.

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

    

 

        At this point, we called it a day. 

 

Final step count for Day 1:

 

 

[Beachlover1989]

Loving your trip report!

[JackE]

Following! We are booked for the 10 night Inner Loop in December 2026! Have a great journey!

[Fedic]

Day 2 – Quito, Ecuador

Saturday, April 6

 

 

          I'll admit I spent most of my pre-trip research time on the islands themselves.  I probably should have looked a little more into Quito (pronounced key-toe).  One thing I did learn in advance was that Quito is at a high elevation and some people experience altitude sickness.  I dismissed this because I have spent some time in Denver and if the "mile high" city didn't bother me, surely I'd be fine (serious voice:  I was not).

 

For comparison:

 

 

 

          Even though I was exhausted from the travel, I woke up in the middle of the night after about 4 hours with a massive headache and could not go back to sleep. I was later advised you really shouldn’t drink alcohol in the first 24 hours after arriving due to the high altitude. That would have been a useful fact to have picked up ahead of time!  Did I mention the 8-course dinner with wine pairing from last night?  Ugh.

          Fortunately, water, caffeine and Advil eventually tamed my headache and, although somewhat sleep deprived, I was ready for the day's planned activities.

          We went down to breakfast, enjoyed a great selection on the Marriott’s buffet, then got ready for a VERY packed day of activities arranged by Celebrity.  We were sorted into groups of roughly 15 people (our group consisted of 13) and loaded onto five different full-sized buses.  This is the group we would travel with throughout the day and tomorrow to the airport.  I will say that Celebrity really shines here.  They could have easily packed us all on to 2 or 3 buses.  I don't know if small groups were put in place after Covid or if they've always done this, but it was nice to be able to spread out and not be shoulder-to-shoulder with 30 other people on the bus.

 

 

 

One other note about Quito:  Due to the elevation, the temperatures are about 20 degrees colder than the islands; 40s at night and 60s during the day.  You definitely need to pack jeans and a jacket for your time here.

 

Here is the schedule for the Quito tour day:

 

 

1st stop:  Virgin Mary Statue on El Panecillo hill

 

          As someone feeling the effects of altitude sickness, I was ecstatic to learn we were journeying further up the mountain to 13,000 ft elevation!  As it turns out, I didn't experience any issues and the view of the city was nice:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fedic]

52 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Loving your trip report!

Thank you!

[Fedic]

49 minutes ago, JackE said:

Following! We are booked for the 10 night Inner Loop in December 2026! Have a great journey!

Glad to have you along!

[Fedic]

2nd stop:  Old town and Iglesia de San Francisco

 

           After a brief walking tour of the old town, we visited Iglesia de San Francisco, which is the oldest church in Quito; construction began in the 1500s and it took about 100 years to complete.

 

 

 

 

3rd stop:  More old town and La Compania Jesuit church

 

          No photos or videos are allowed in this church.  Part of the inside was destroyed by fire during conservation work in 1996.  A restoration was completed in 2005.

 

 

 

[Fedic]

4th stop: Independence Plaza and lunch

 

          We stopped in Independence Plaza and snapped some photos of the Presidential Palace, then it was off to a buffet-style lunch at a Monastery.

 

 

 

          After lunch, you are presented with the option to go back to the hotel or continue on approximately an hour drive to the Equator line.  Based on the amount of sleep I got over the last two days, I would have been tempted to take this option if the order had been reversed, but we definitely wanted to visit the Equator, so off we went.  No one from our group opted to go back to the hotel.

          Once back on the bus and on our way, I was very happy that the guide stated she would not be talking on the intercom during the trip and encouraged us to take a nap if we wanted.  I wanted!  Zzzzzzzzz....

 

5th stop:  Intinan Solar Museum - On the Equator

 

 

 

 

 

          Then, back to the hotel.  Our original schedule had us arriving by 4:30, but we were running late and didn’t get back until 5:00, which meant we had about an hour before we needed to report back downstairs to go to dinner.  And they gave us homework to do.  Form filled out, we decided to work on packing, re-filling our water bottles, getting more coffee pods and change at the front desk, then it was back on the bus for about a 10-minute trip to the restaurant.

 

6th stop: La Gloria restaurant

 

          Five of us were seated at a table.  As luck would have it, we got along great and proceeded to have dinner and go on excursions together throughout the remainder of the trip!  We had the choice of one of 4 appetizers, one of 4 entrees and everyone got a sampler plate for dessert.  I chose not to order any alcoholic beverages based on this morning’s fun, but little did I know it still wouldn’t be a great night sleep!

 

 

          Back to the hotel.  It’s now close to 9:00 and we’ve been going pretty much non-stop for about 12 hours.  But we’re not done yet!  Now we have to put our cruise luggage tags on our checked bags, take out something to wear tomorrow and take the bags downstairs to drop off at the Celebrity desk so they can be inspected tomorrow morning before being loaded on our bus. 

          Finally, we got to bed for some much-needed sleep by 10:00PM.  But no, fate wasn't on my side.  I woke up about every 30 minutes feeling nauseous, and had to sit up long enough for the feeling to pass, then back to sleep until the next 30 minutes.  So this ended up being day 2 of only getting 4 hours of sleep.  Looking at my Garmin watch stats, it looks like the elevation of Quito is taking its toll on my body;  resting heart rate is up, Pulse Ox down to 82% from it’s normal of the high 90s.  HRV is in the red.  At least we fly back to sea-level tomorrow!

 

Final step count for Day 2:

 

[Barwick Cruiser]

Thank you so much for all the details you’re including in your report. I’m very sorry you suffered so badly with the altitude sickness at the beginning and I’m hoping you felt better the next day or so. This is a trip we’re hoping to do so the details are very helpful. Are you using a camera phone? 
Cathy

[1Virgo]

Thank you or your detailed report and photos AND for mentioning the altitude affects.  do hope your body recovers quickly.  Takes time to post, so thanks 

[mahdnc]

Nice report and photos,  Cannot wait to see more.

[PhillyTravelBug]

This is exactly the Galapagos / flora report I’ve been waiting for. I have been eying this exact itinerary for 2026 or 2027. Thank you!

[Fedic]

10 hours ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Thank you so much for all the details you’re including in your report. I’m very sorry you suffered so badly with the altitude sickness at the beginning and I’m hoping you felt better the next day or so. This is a trip we’re hoping to do so the details are very helpful. Are you using a camera phone? 
Cathy

 

All of the pictures so far have been from an iPhone 14 Pro Max.  I did also bring along a Canon EOS Rebel T7 DLSR (which I temporarily lost as you will see in Day 3!) that I take along for the excursions on the islands.

[Fedic]

10 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Nice report and photos,  Cannot wait to see more.

 

3 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

This is exactly the Galapagos / flora report I’ve been waiting for. I have been eying this exact itinerary for 2026 or 2027. Thank you!

 

Thank you both for following along!

[Fedic]

10 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

Thank you or your detailed report and photos AND for mentioning the altitude affects.  do hope your body recovers quickly.  Takes time to post, so thanks 

Thank you.

[Fedic]

Day 3 – Travel to Baltra and Celebrity Flora

Sunday, April 7

 

Schedule:

 

 

              After eating breakfast downstairs at the buffet and refilling our water bottles, it was time to finish packing the carry-on luggage and to make our way to the lobby for the hour ride back to the airport.  We were given our boarding passes and park entrance forms and loaded into the bus. 

 

 

              Upon arrival at the airport, we said goodbye to the guide and driver we had all weekend, then were quickly ushered through bag check, then security and arrived at our gate with about 10 minutes before boarding. 

              The flight from Quito to Baltra was on an Avianca AirBus 320 that is chartered only for Celebrity guests.  They left all of the middle seats unassigned, so you either got an aisle or a window.  During the nearly 2 hour flight, there was a lunch service with salad, a choice of either salmon or a Mexican chicken wrap and dessert.  Wine, beer, soda and juices are all available at no extra charge.

 

 

 

              After landing in Baltra, we exited the aircraft old school with rolling stairs brought to both the front and back of the plane.  

 

 

 

            We walked from the tarmac into the airport, presented our passports and park entrance forms, then dropped off our agricultural forms and had our carry-ons X-rayed.  We would not have to pick up our checked baggage since they were taken directly to the ship and brought to our cabin.

              Next, we checked in for the cruise and were given our SeaPass cards, then queued for a bus to take us to the pier—about a 5 minute trip.  Upon arrival at the pier, we were given life jackets and waited in another line for the Zodiac tenders to take us to the ship.  The Flora does not dock anywhere in the Galapagos;  all entry and exit is from tenders.

 

 

 

              It was on the tender ride to the ship that I realized that I had left the camera bag with our Canon DSLR on the plane.  I was so focused on getting the passports and forms together that I totally forgot the camera bag under the seat.  We were on the very last tender, so I was resigned to the fact that even if someone turned in the bag, I probably wouldn't see it again until we arrived back in Baltra at the end of the cruise.

 

 

              When we got to the Flora, we were greeted with champagne and introduced to the captain (Vladimir Armas) and I mentioned the lost camera.  He immediately jumped to action and called over the hotel director (Andres) , who took down the information about the bag and left to go call the airport.

              We were escorted to our cabin, given a quick tour, and dropped off our carry-on bags.

 

 

              In selecting our cabin, we knew that we wanted an actual balcony and not an infinite veranda, which meant we needed to pick something on deck 5.  We decided on 518 because it looked like it would be a quiet location.  It turned out to be a great choice; only 520 is directly adjacent to it.  The other side is a housekeeping area (you are on an excursion or at dinner when the cabin stewards are doing their thing) and across the hall is the "spa" (I put that in quotations because the spa on Flora amounts to one room with a single massage table).

              The only noise we ever noticed inside the cabin was occasionally when the ship was travelling between islands you would very faintly hear these "wind chime"-like sculptures in the elevator lobby:

 

[Fedic]

Cabin 518:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fedic]

              Unlike most cruises, you are not given a daily schedule of activities.  You get this one at the start of the cruise which lists out the schedule for the entire week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fedic]

              Tip:  Before you leave on the flight from Quito, turn off automatic time updates on your electronic devices (cell phone, smart watch, iPad, etc.)  Why, you ask?  Because there is a time change in the Galapagos Islands to one hour earlier, but for some reason, Celebrity Flora stays on Quito time.  Lunch is served on Deck 7 at the Ocean Grill & Bar on boarding day until 3:15.  Our devices had all automatically reset to Galapagos time and we thought it was 2:00, but no, it was 3:00 Flora time and we had 15 minutes left to eat!

              We headed up and grabbed some food.  While we were eating, a crew member came around to our table and asked our cabin # and told us we had successfully completed the muster drill.  Most casual muster drill ever! 

 

 

               It was at this time that Andres, the hotel director, walked over and brought our camera.  It had been turned in and one of the naturalists brought it to the ship!  Yay!!

               After lunch, we toured the ship, then stopped by Guest Services on Deck 3 and reserved Glamping.  We decided to schedule it for the next night (Monday) because we were afraid we would be too tired to enjoy it later in the week.

               At 5:00, they began calling people down by Suite # to the Marina on Deck 3 to get outfitted with your wet suite, flippers, mask and snorkel.  Once you collected all of your gear, you packed it all in a dive bag and hung it on a hook with your cabin # on it.

               Next, we headed off to the Discovery Lounge on Deck 4 for the Captain's Welcome Toast and the excursion briefing for the next day.  The captain informed us that there were 89 guests on this sailing (out of a possible 100 at full capacity).

 

 

 

              At the end of the briefing, naturalists are stationed at various points throughout the lounge with iPads so you can sign up for the excursions you want to do the next day.  You give them your cabin # and names and off you go.

              By the time we got back to the room, our checked bags had arrived and we unpacked and met our Cabin Steward (Ximena), then decided we were too tired to go to dinner in the dining room on Deck 4, so we opted to order room service.  We had a room service menu, but couldn't find the number to call.  We ended up dialing Guest Services who informed us they also took the room service orders (okay, it's a small Celebrity ship.  That takes a minute to get used to!) 

              This was the how the call went:

Us:  "May we please have two orders of Spaghetti Bolognese and two glasses of Merlot?"

Guest Services: "You want two Spaghetti Bolognese and two watermelons?"

Us: "No.  Two Merlots.  It's a drink?"

Guest Services: "Oh, a drink.  You want Spaghetti Bolognese and two glasses of watermelon juice?"

Us: "No.  No watermelon!  Two glasses of Merlot.  It's red wine!"

             Sigh.  We finally got on the same page, they said our order would arrive it about 40 minutes, then I looked around for a place for us to eat.  I asked my wife if she wanted to eat on the balcony or on the tree stump.  She looked at me like I might have a head injury.

 

  The tree stump/table in the room:

 

 

We ultimately decided to eat outside on our balcony.  Then we called it an early night after a long couple of days.

 

 

 

 

Final step count for Day 3:

 

 

[mahdnc]

The photo of the island from the air that you posted is North Seymour Island. 
 

Don’t forget that you’ll be taking a trip back to Quito from sea level so you are not out of the woods altitude sickness-wise. 
 

There is prescription medication for high altitude sickness called Diamox. Depending on how long you’ll be in Quito on the back end of your Galapagos trip, you should look into getting some. 
 

The moon is not currently in the evening sky. Take advantage of that and be sure to look at the stars. A pair of binoculars will come in handy.  Be sure to look for objects not visible or not easily visible from the more northerly latitudes such as the famous Southern Cross, the Large/Small Magellanic Clouds (companion galaxies to our Milky Way which are naked eye objects), and the very bright star, Alpha Centauri, which is the closest star to our solar system.  Very bright areas of the Milky Way will be visible from the Galapagos, too. Since you have good onboard WiFi, be sure to download any number of sky gazing apps to help you locate stars and constellations. 
 

I’m glad you got your DSLR back.  Enjoy your wonderful cruise. 

[Fedic]

Day 4 – Espanola Island & Glamping

Monday, April 8

 

 

            There's no Cafe Al Bacio on this ship, but the bar in the Discovery Lounge also serves specialty coffees and a small selection of pastries every morning.  After finally getting a good night's sleep, we were up bright and early this morning and got coffee right at 6:00AM when it opened.

            Breakfast is always served starting at 7:00 at the Seaside Restaurant buffet-style and also includes a made-to-order omelet station.

            The night before, after the excursion briefing, we chose Option 3 for this morning, which was a beach walk and optional swim/snorkel, starting at 8:45AM.  Even though you are signed up for the excursion, you aren't given a tender number until you check-in for whichever option you chose.  The naturalists begin the check-in process 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the excursion and you are assigned to one of the tenders on a first-come, first-served basis.

            We checked-in at 8:30 and at exactly 8:45, our tender number was called.  We headed down the back stairs to Deck 3 to collect our dive bags with the wet suit and snorkeling equipment, put on a life jacket (you must wear them at all times when on the tenders), scanned our SeaPass, then boarded the Zodiac.

            This was a wet landing, which meant the tender got as close as possible to the beach, then you step off into several inches of water:

 

 

Beach walk (Gardner Bay):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fedic]

            After the walk, you had the option to take a tender back to the ship immediately or stay for a swim/snorkel.  I sat down on the beach and enjoyed the day while my wife snorkeled.  We ended up taking one of the last tenders and arrived back just in time to get ready for lunch.

            You have two choices for lunch every day:  The Seaside Restaurant on Deck 4 which has a themed buffet, or the Ocean Grill on Deck 7 which has hamburgers, hot dogs, wraps, etc.  We chose the Seaside buffet (theme of the day: Ecuadorian)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Beachlover1989]

What wonderful customer service to rescue your camera from the plane and get it back to you so soon!!!

[Fedic]

7 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

What wonderful customer service to rescue your camera from the plane and get it back to you so soon!!!

Agreed.  The entire Celebrity team was amazing.  I'll have some other examples of them going above-and-beyond later in the review.

[Fedic]

            After lunch, we had a 3 hour break before our 4:45PM tender ride, so we went back to the room and took a power-nap.

 

Tender ride (Punta Suarez):

 

 

 

 

Photo credit:  This one with the dolphins jumping out of the water was captured by one of the naturalists.  (All other photos are mine)