Hope you enjoyed reading Part 1 of my Galapagos Islands Cruise. Now I will continue with how the rest of the cruise went. Also, make sure you look over the photos of my new friends.
Once we got on the ship, which was like being on a yacht, the fun really started. There is no casino or theater and there are only 6 decks for passengers and staff. The main deck had the restaurant and a lounge, which is where we had our meetings regarding the excursions of the day. Each day offered between 5 to 6 different excursions to choose from. Some tours were walking and others were tender rides that you didn’t have to go on land. Why? All of the islands were formed by volcanoes and the walking tours were usually on rough or uneven walkways or lava rocks. Right now, most of the volcanoes are inactive but there was some volcanic activity in 2024 when the Fernandina Volcano erupted. From what we were told, these volcanoes erupt from the bottom and all the lava is what makes the different islands. From the top only comes the white clouds of gases.
Everyday there were tours in the morning, then the groups would come back to the ship for lunch and then there were more tours in the afternoon. If one was snorkeling, the ship provided all your equipment. We did have to wear life jackets every time we were on a tender, which is how we got from the ship to the islands. If you didn’t want to go on an excursion, it was not a problem. One could go into the lounge and watch various documentaries on the islands. Several of the days, our tour would take us to various restaurants for either lunch or dinner where we experienced different local meals. One of the walking tours was on a beach with lots of sea lions. As you can see from the photos, Judy Nagel from The Village of Buttonwood is on the beach with the sea lions. These sea lions could care less if Judy was there or not.
One of the excursions I went on, a young sea lion was trying to get into our tender. As you can see from the photo, he succeeded and of course I didn’t have my cell phone available. When he jumped onto the tender he sat right in front of me with his big brown eyes, looked straight into my eyes and then smelled my left knee. Why I don’t know, but it was an experience I will never forget. Then he turned sideways and decided to go back into the ocean. This was one of the many highlights of my trip.
Of course, after dinner, the ship also offered different activities like Silent Disco and Karaoke Night. More people enjoyed the Silent Disco, including myself. I even got some of the staff, including the Captain, to join us.
On our next to the last day of the cruise, our excursion took us to many places including a Giant Tortoise Breeding Center at Charles Darwin Research Station. Here we saw tortoises that were over 300 years old and weighed more than 600 lbs. At one time, tortoises were becoming extinct because pirates, etc were killing them for food. Now these great creatures are no longer in the danger zone, as you see from my photos. Our next stop was to plant a Scalesia sapling because many of the trees died and many species of finches were leaving the island of Isabela. By Celebrity working with the Galapagos National Park, the birds are returning which is a good thing for the island.
Do any of the Galapagos Islands have humans living there? I was under the impression that NO one lives on the islands, but I was wrong. Santa Cruz Island has approximately 22,000 residents but the primary town of Puerto Ayora, has about 18,000 residents and many of them work on the Celebrity Flora.
After we left the ship, which was hard to do because of making so many new friends, we went back to the Marriott for our last night. No tours, but again our meals and gratuities were included. Then we got on a bus which took us to the airport and, of course, someone from Celebrity escorted us.
As you can see, yes, this trip is more experience than regular cruises, but so much is included. If you could take all the extra’s away (Marriott, excursions, Wifi, etc) it really isn’t that much more than a cruise that you are paying for all these extras. So, what are you waiting for? I would love for you to join me next time.
For more information on any of my trips and cruises, make sure you go to my updated website, www.carols-trips.com. To book a trip, contact Carol Cane, Travel Professional, at 352-787-9253. Carol’s Trips, LLC is a full-service travel agency.
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