twangster

Ultimately your complaint is with CBP. Often they waive the fee for violating US Federal law in the case of medical emergencies but ultimately it is CBP who decides. If they went the credit card dispute path I'd love to hear how that goes. I'm guessing the cruise contract has enough verbiage to cover them since the fees are from CBP. I'm sorry your family is having to deal with a medical emergency and I wish you the best.

Currently it's almost 7pm on day two. Great day in Genovesa today with three excursions. Unfortunately that means I've got a lot of pictires to go through. A recap discussion and lecture on the Galapagos is about to start, then dinner. Today's photo dump when I can.

The information in mycruise.com indicates the breakfast buffet goes from 6:10am to 7:30am tomorrow morning as an example. If you wanted to sleep in perhaps the room service option would work for you. Hours for room service breakfast delivery are 6 - 10am on the hang tag.

After dinner I ventured outside to see how the night sky was looking. The cloud cover from earlier remained so I returned to my cabin to go through some pictures. Around 10:00pm I went out on my balcony and saw what I thought might be the Milky Way off my balcony. Sure enough an app confirmed it so I went out to the deck eight forward star gazing deck that I took the pictures of Kicker Rock from. I haven't spent a lot of time tweaking this just yet, but here is what I captured with a long exposure.

Two passengers who I sat beside on the plane invited me to join them for dinner. Who am I to turn down two beautiful ladies? I ordered the Beef Tenderloin. Our waiter informed me due to Galapagos regulations beef has to be cooked before Silversea can bring it to the Galapagos. Consequently only medium through well done is available. The steak was good but about what one would expect for a reheated cut of meat. The ladies enjoyed their Salmon. We all enjoyed a very nice glass of red wine.

The ship offers a premium internet option which I knew I'd have to purchase if I wanted to post very much at all. $183 unlocks higher speeds and up to four devices.

The destination talk. I'm not going to post these for every day but here is how the rest of today and day two will play out.

At 7pm we had our destination talk specific to our next day at Prince Philip's Steps. This back in the Explorers Lounge. The bar menu for the lounge. I saw the dinner menu outside the main dining room while walking through this area.

At 4:30pm we had the mandatory safety briefing. We had been instructed a number of times to watch the safety briefing on our cabin TV's and acknowledge the video on the cabin TV. After the safety drill we all gathered in the Explorers lounge on deck four for our first orientation talk. After the talk some groups were asked to meet in the marina on deck 3 to secure snorkeling equipment. I headed up to deck 8 forward to see Kicker Rock up close as we had been sailing slowly in this direction since the start of the safety briefing. Sunset was taking place and a National Geographic ship had completed their sail past Kicker Rock. With the naked eye you could easily spot hundreds of birds flying around or nesting on the rocks. With that it was my turn to visit the marina to get my snorkel gear.

Basic internet is included and the Silver Origin has Starlink internet service. A look back at the harbor. Kicker Rock in the distance. How the island looks from the sea, At 3:30pm our suites were ready. I'm staying in a Classic Balcony cabin. Walking into the cabin the bathroom is on the left and a walk in closet is on the right. The bathroom. A sliding mirror panel allows you to see through the balcony door to the sea or it can be closed for privacy. This cabin connects to the suite forward and the connecting door is in the walk in closet which can be closed off with a set of sliding mirror doors. The balcony. A bottle of Prosecco was waiting for me on ice.

Radio chatter gave us permission to proceed so away we went to catch our first glimpse of the Silver Origin. Our guide points out a Blue Footed Booby near us. A glass of sparkling wine was waiting for us. After a brief wait to check in it was up to lunch. Not a bad lunch view...

It didn't take long to begin to see some marine life. They can only accommodate one zodiac arriving at a time followed by the check in process so we took a tour of the harbor while waiting our turn to arrive to the ship.

Once through immigration we collected our luggage and rolled them outside to a waiting truck. From there we would board busses for the short 10 minute trip to the harbor. There are a limited number of busses on this island and so we had to wait for a bus to drop off the first set of guests and come back for us. A benefit of waiting is that our naturalists were talking about various things and wait... along comes a giant centipede measuring about six inches long. These are pretty rare apparently and our guides were excited to see one. Some of the sights around the village on the ride to the harbor.

Departing Guayaquil we were able to see more of the extent of this large city. The flight over to the Galapagos islands was smooth and pretty much a straight shot. Soon we were able to get our first glimpse of the Galapagos islands. Kicker Rock, something we will see more of later. I inadvertently captured the Silver Origin in this next photo. The ship is towards the left near land waiting an anchor for us. With that we had arrived to the Galapagos Islands.

FWIW - So far I see four passengers wearing face masks.

Right on time our bus left for the airport. On the bus ride they handed out our Galapagos entry and exit card with the fee already paid along with our LATAM boarding pass. I scored a window seat, sort of. It's an exit row so I'm over the wing. A few minutes later we were at the airport. At the LATAM check in counter our luggage was arranged nearby with a blue tag locking it as proof of the agricultural inspection. LATAM requires every individual passenger to check in with their luggage so we collected our bags and checked in just as you would for a normal flight. Once that was complete we went through security. Laptops out but shoes stay on. When I landed here the airport terminal reminded me of the old LaGuardia experience. This flight is operating from a different terminal that is new and modern. Our chariot to the Galapagos.

TMobile cell phone user. Ecuador is included. Here is a speedtest from my hotel as I wait for the shuttle bus. Tick tock, tick tock.

Origin Sailing Guide PDF SG_Origin.pdf

It's Saturday morning just before 6am. My bags are I packed and I'm ready to go! Checked luggage due down stairs by 7:45am but first a hotel buffet breakfast that opens at 6:30am. Lots of time. As SilverSea advised me to do, I cleared my hotel bill last night after dinner. Apparently the front desk can get very busy on a Saturday morning and they warned me another ship is also using the hotel this weekend. I waited a few hours after dinner to make sure it had posted to my account. My three meals with drinks cost me $73 USD. That was two dinners and a lunch with beers and a cocktail. Breakfast is complimentary. I'm in the blue group with a scheduled bus transfer at 10am so I'll have some time to wait after dropping off my luggage at the Silversea hospitality desk. I met another solo guest on the tour yesterday afternoon. She had inquired and was told there are ten solo guests on this sailing. I was told the seats on the charter flight are assigned but I won't find out my seat number until later this morning.

Across the street from City Hall we walked over to the Malecón. Ecuadorian Presidents who are from Guayaquil are honored in statue. Jefferson talks more about Guayaquil and the commerce associated with the river. Back on the bus for a short ride to another area along the river. Cerro Santa Ana is only accessible by stairs. A number of houses and shops are all only accessible by climbing the stairs. We don't climb the stairs but instead we walk along a cobblestone road around the base. Several older houses have been converted to businesses and we stop by an art studio in a former house along the shore of the river. We continue along the shore... Eventually we reach a newer area with modern buildings. This brings us back to the building I saw on my first tour called The Screw. Here we board the bus and head back to the hotel.

The complimentary sightseeing tour offered by Silversea met in the hotel lobby at 4pm. We filled two busses. Our first stop was a 10 minute ride from the hotel. We started at a park known for Iguanas. Our guide Jefferson tells us the Iguanas are not afraid of humans. Turtle pond. A short walk a few blocks away led us to the Guayaquil Town Hall. Here our guide Jefferson explained the history of Ecuador becoming an independent country.

Once back across the river we left the cable car and started exploring the Malecón 2000. Our first area would be a botanical garden open to the public. After leaving the Malecón and exploring some city streets on foot we visited the Cocoa Museum. I didn't take any pictures inside the museum. It's a nice museum that goes over the history of cocoa in Ecuador. It is multiple stories with stairs between floors. Each floor offered something related to the history of cocoa and the financial impact to the city such as the banking system that evolved from it. A chocolate store nearby smelled really great but I resisted the temptation, for now. Around Guayaquil you will find a number of murals and wall art such as this one that captured my essence as a photographer. This discoteque was closed by day but features several prominent people from the history of Guayaquil. This one is a tribute to the shipbuilding history of the region going back several centuries. We continue walking around the city streets of Guayaquil with Corina explaining quite a bit of valuable history and information. The Church of San Francisco. Shortly after a car picked us up and drove us back to the hotel. I'm really glad I booked this tour and the one on one interaction offered by a private tour.

I booked the optional Chocolate Museum and Cable Car tour. Given it was a private tour I was able to pick the time. My tour guide would be Cordina and she was waiting for me in the hotel lobby when I went down 10 minutes early. We start with a short walk to the Cable Car station. Cordina explained that many cars are empty due to the high cost of the gondola service compared to other options like city busses. At $1.40 round trip it may not sound like much but for a typical blue collar worker the $0.60 that the bus charges is easier on the budget even though the bus takes a lot longer especially in traffic. I found it quite enjoyable, much more so than I think I would in a bus. A cemetery we pass is watched over by a statue of Jesus Christ on the hill behind it. Cordina explained a lot about Guayaquil and I enjoyed the full attention and interaction that a private tour offered. She talked a lot about the city, it's beginnings in the 1500s and things like the first modern hospital we passed along the way. Soon enough we approached the Guayaquil river. We passed the Malecón 2000. She explained that would be included in the sightseeing tour offered by Silversea and that we would explore parts of it later. The tallest building in Guayaquil called The Screw. Once across the river in Duran we didn't venture far from the cable car base as it isn't the best area for tourists. There was a bathroom available at the cable car station should it be needed. We got back on and made the return trip across the river all the while Cordina talked about more than I could ever recount in this post. It was all very informative.

Buffet breakfast in the hotel's 'El Patio' restaurant is included. Hotel internet has been good enough for several wifi calls and is also included. Dinner last night was a burger and a couple of beers that came to $25 USD including tip. The burger was $17 and the beers were $4 each so not bad as hotel pricing goes. As someone who doesn't speak Spanish I've had no issues so far.

Hotel Oro Verde included in cruise fare.