Galapagos – WOW! What a trip!!! (Cabin 506)

[Gillian2]

Emdee and Janman,
(hi also to cruisergal and goldendaze!!)
I am just back from 12 days in England. The Peru contact is [url]www.orquidea.net[/url] and they have an 800 number you can call. It is based in Lima and the agency was excellent. We looked at their 'package' offerings and then designed our own tour with their assistance.
You def. need overnight in Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) and Lake Titcaca was unbelievable.
For some reason I booked our hotels in Lima, but the agency could do that too. Great hotels in Lima..Hotel Melia..fabulous with great food and go to book at asiahotels.com for the best rate. Less expensive but cute is Hotel San Antonio Abad (they have a web site). That hotel is small and we just stayed the first night as there was free transportation from the airport and we arrived at midnight. ($55 including pick-up, breakfast and taxes!!!). The travel agency had sent a fax to the hotel and a driver picked us up after breakfast and we started our tour with them, going straight to the airport to catch a flight to Cusco.
The Melia was not near anywhere inparticular but we went everywhere by cab anyway so it didn't matter. We only spent $12 for the whole day and went all over the city. The archeological museum is incredible. Get a private English speaking guide. I think they asked for around $5 (a 'tip') but after a fantastic 2 hour plus tour we gave a lot more!
Any questions let me know.
Jetlagged Gillian

[goldendaze]

We did the prophylactic Pepto (actually the large size Target brand) and hand sanitizer regime and did not get sick on our trip in December. Be careful of taking too much pink stuff or you may have the reverse results!

[SheilaNC]

Good point about not taking too much Pepto...also beware of getting a black tongue. I'm serious - it's a side effect and some people get pretty scared if it happens. I'm sure we'll all be fine if we just take appropriate precautions especially handwashing. Sure wish someone else who is sailing on May 8 would post on this board or the Roll Call board I set up. My husband and I are going to be pretty lonely, but think of the good service we'll have :)

Sheila

[califgary]

Thanks to everyone contributing to this thread. My wife booked this cruise and happen to have cabin 506! All this info is great and is helping us get a better idea of what to expect!
thanks again
Gary and Gwen

[thrpy]

Sorry, but have spent too much time looking back for it, one of the post mentioned about a crafts bazzar with some really neat/interesting items. Artistic stuff. If anyone remembers, where was this place?

[Kami's pal]

This is found beside the Middle of the Earth Monument park. You will visit the park on Saturday, after the lunch at EL Crater. As you enter the park, with the wide yellow stripe representing the Equator, face the museum and look to your right. You will see a village, described by my guide as a type of "heritage park". The little homes are now occupied by artists who are very welcoming to tourists. The guides did not allot any extra time to shop there. I suspect that the artists have refused to pay a commission to the guides, so they aren't "recommended". But, if you go through the monument museum quickly, without waiting for the guide to shepherd you through and read the signs (they are in many languages including English), you can shave off 30 - 45 minute to visit at least one artist's workshop. It is very worthwhile. I bought a hand crafted sculpture made from semi precious stones, 6 - 8 inches high. Richard's shop is #5 and is to your left as you walk through the village toward the bus park. Ricardo was very accommodating. He signed his piece as I watched, and posed with his daughter. Bring cash. I only had $60 so I was limited or I'd have bought more. And bring bubble wrap. They don't have wrapping material.

I'd make this a private trip if you have extra time. It's one place that is so definitely not the T-shirt type tourist booth that you are taken to by the guides.

[jruth]

[quote name='goldendaze']SandyR5,

I am going to jump in here on the digital camera storage issue. I think cruisergal's husband used a Roadstor device (cruisergal correct me if I am wrong). We brought a nice device called an Archos G mini 400. It is like a jazzed up Ipod. Has 20 gig of storage and accepts compactflash cards directly (others with an adapter). It has a small color screen so you can review your pictures. My husband downloaded our card each evening to this unit so you don't need a lot of cards. Some people do like the hard copy of a cd. Once we got home we downloaded all the pictures from the Archos onto our computer. The unit also will hold lots of music and come with headphones. It is small enough to fit in a pocket.

Just another option.




Cruisregal, I hope you had a good cruise and a happy New Year. By the way its 22 degrees here in NJ....[/QUOTE]


Where do you get this Archos gadget, and about how much does it cost? Also, did you have any problem taking digital pictures in the intense bright sunshine? I just got a polorizing filter for my camera and I hope it does the trick.

Now, for us it is just a few days before we leave for Quito on Feb 3rd. We're busily trying to get all of our last minute things done, and are really looking forward to this trip. This is the last chance for anyone to come forward who is on the Feb 6th cruise. Is anyone out there?

-Judith

[thrpy]

jruth
try bracketing with changing EV, exposure values. This will reduce the light intake, that plus the polarizing lens should do the trick. Leave something for me to shoot, we leave on the 11th to cruise the 13th Feb.

[goldendaze]

Judith,

We bought the Archos G-mini 400 on Amazon.com for about $300. We shot digital and left the camera on automatic mode most of the time and got some very good pictures. There were clouds at times. You could always tweak the photos on the computer when you get back home with Adobe Photoshop.

Have a fabulous time (don't forget the prophy Pepto and Purell and you should be good to go!)

Dara

[Gillian2]

Dara: Just got an email from Maria with diving info!
Hope you and Andy are well and sailing off somewhere soon!
We're off to Mexico on Saturday.
Gillian

[Lube]

[quote name='califgary']Thanks to everyone contributing to this thread. My wife booked this cruise and happen to have cabin 506! All this info is great and is helping us get a better idea of what to expect!
thanks again
Gary and Gwen[/QUOTE]
Have a great time.....you are in a nice cabin.....we were in 508!

[goldendaze]

Gillian,

Happy Ground Hog's Day!! We are stuck in NJ until April and are waiting for the snow to melt (boo hoo). Mexico sounds sooooo good right about now. I would be interested in Maria's e-mail. You can forward it to me at [email]djsperber@optonline.net[/email]. I have a picture I must send you one of these days (hint: behind the bar). Have a great trip.

Dara

[thrpy]

Anybody that is going might want to go to
[url]www.wunderground.com/global/stations/84008.html[/url]
which is Weather Underground, you can find the temps and forcast for Quito and the Galapagos islands, with a short projection - 5 days.

[Kami's pal]

Read this as I listened to the weather warning of another cold front advancing from 'north of 60' with snow and wind chill making running to Galapagos look very attractive!

[ingrid295]

Do the naturalists have internet access on board the ship or do they respond to email when they are at home or in port? Seems to take them quite awhile to respond to email... surely the schedule has a lot to do with it..... anyone know?

Ingrid.

[narob]

We went in December and the internet in the ports with population was very cheap. Don't remember the cost, sorry, but very cheap!! You can also make internet phone calls---very cheap from those same locations. Nothing available on the ship! Usually we travel with our laptop, but leave it at home---total waste. Bring large storage media for your digital cameras--1 MB, if you want short movies, in addition to stills.

Have fun!

Nancy aka narob
[email]shesurfs@comcast.net[/email]

[ingrid295]

Smart Travel News:
[url]www.smartertravel.com[/url]

"Celebrity also has plans for 2006. The premium line announced that it plans to sail to the Far East and the South Pacific in 2006. The Summit will offer itineraries to Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. You can book your Celebrity Asia-Pacific cruise beginning in April 2005."

"Celebrity has also expanded its Xpeditions program and now offers an Xpeditions experience on each major cruise itinerary. Sample excursions include treks through the Alaskan wilderness in search of bears, marlin fishing in Los Cabos, lava tube cave explorations in Hawaii, and tours of Easter Island."

Ingrid

[PEBLaw]

We are scheduled to leave 7-1-05 for the Galapago Island trip on the Xpedition and can't wait. We are considering on traveling Machu Picchu in Peru either before or after the cruise for 3 to 5 days. Any suggestions as to tours and whether this is a good idea or whether this is too much to try to fit in. Also,has any one heard of recent GI problems pn the ship? We would appreciate your Emailing to me at [email="PEBLaw@aol.com"]PEBLaw@aol.com[/email].

[Cruisergal1208]

Check out postings by Kami's Pal. She has written quite a lot about the GI problems. Click on her name and the look at all postings by her. It will lead you to another thread about the problems. This is a wonderful trip and can be enjoyed with proper precautions.

[J00ls]

I was planning to book a 2006 holiday to the Galapagos Islands & am really glad I found this thread. I can't say it has totally put me off, but I think I'll hold off booking until later on to see if the GI situation improves this year. This trip will be to coincide with significant birthday and I don't want to spend it being ill. I think I'll also have a look at some of the alternative cruises around the islands.

I'd actually thought booking with a reputable company like X would be the safest bet. However, the only way to vote is with your feet, as they say.

[SheilaNC]

I don't believe that the GI problems are specific to X - in most developing and third world countries travelers have to be proactive in attending to handwashing, what they eat and prophylactic medications. This is not to defend Celebrity for any problems that they might be able to avoid in the future, but to suggest that the problems won't go away by booking a different cruise company. See [url]http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/CruisingTips/cruisingtips.htm[/url] and [url]http://www.cdc.gov/travel/[/url] for the most up-to-date information from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.

Sheila

[mikiew]

The ship stays on the same time as Quito just to keep things simple. Actually the Galapagos are one hour earlier. Quito is on Eastern Time.

[Gillian2]

I agree, don't be put off by GI scares. I have had 'stomach troubles' [COLOR=DarkOrange]frequently [/COLOR] on foreign travels, and on this trip they were much less of a concern than usual. We had Cipro as a safeguard as we were also in Peru for 10 days, but did not use it or even use Pepto Bismol. We are now off to Egypt and will take the same Cipro with us just in case!! I read on Fodors that even ex-pats in Egypt will not eat a salad which they have not prepared themselves!!!!!

[starsjohn]

I leave on the Xpedition trip in less than a couple of weeks.

I have been on third world mountain climbing and travel for years and only got sick from the local water twice (the pure water bottles had been secretly refilled with local water and resealed). The resulting sickness was nowhere as intense as reported on this thread.

On the other hand, I got decked but good on the Celebrity Summit in Alaska, with the N virius.

I am not allowed to take Pepto Bismo as it interacts with my Coumadin medication, which might make me subject to internal bleeding.

My game plan, for this trip, is to drink water only from carefully inspected purified water bottles, drink wine, avoid salads and most dairy products like the plague, eat lightly in Quito, not swallow any seawater while diving and snorkeling, wash hands frequently, use anti-viriual spray, carefully observe the ship's crew and naturalists for sterile cleaning and food serving procedures. What have I forgot here??

John

[SheilaNC]

Sounds like you've got it covered, John. Only other suggestion that I would make is to bring Hand Sanitizing Gel with you and use it often. I'm also taking Chlorox wipes with me...may not help, but will make me feel better :)

Let us know how your trip goes when you return. We're getting excited about our May trip!

Sheila