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Both the Summit and the Coral Princess are small enough for the old locks.

Wet Landings included: Rabida Island (course red sand beach) Santiago (I think this was Egas Port) (course black sand) Urbina Bay, Isabela (I don't remember what the beach was actually like - I think I was too distracted by the yellow warblers) Las Bachas (softer white sand) Dry Landings included: Tagus Cove, Isabela Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Bartolome North Seymour Sullivan Bay, Santiago Puerto Ayora, Santiago (an actual dock) I don't think you go to Fernandina or Urbina Bay but I think the rest of the stops are on your itinerary.

My husband wore socks with his and it worked great for him. I didn't and did battle some with small rocks although never got any blisters. It helped to bring a foot towel from the ship to drive off my feet and shake the sand out of the Keens after a wet landing. Rockier beaches like Rabida Island were a bigger challenge than the softer beaches like Bachas Beach. I will admit the wildlife often distracted me from any discomfort. On Rabida Island I was more focused on photographing the Galapagos Hawk in a small tree right on the beach than whether I needed to clear my sandals of rocks.

Unfortunately, this is true.

I read the initial post about banning the noise from cell phones not that the OP was trying to ban you from carrying your phone so that you could step away from people for a call.

I don't disagree with you. In my opinion, headphones should be required in all public spaces (not just designated areas) and calls should be kept to a minimum, especially if someone is going to talk louder than they would with someone sitting right in front of them.

To be fair FLL has been a nightmare on cruise days for many years. I can remember a time about a decade ago that was so bad I hoped I never had to fly in or out of FLL again. We returned in 2022 to rent a car from there after a cruise and it was just as bad. The airport just isn't set up for the volume of people that regularly go in and out of there. I'm not finding hotel costs more expensive around cruise ports on cruise day than they are in general everywhere. Hotel prices have skyrocketed everywhere. My favorite hotels along the gulf have priced us out of them even on off-season. That said, I've come across a couple deals in the last months so I'm really hoping that is a sign things are leveling off a bit. I have to believe that the travel craze from being pent up during the pandemic is going to level off. Will they continue making the huge ships? In my opinion, yes. A lot of people actually prefer them because of how much they offer in terms of entertainment and activities and they have to be more cost effective for the cruise line. I think they will get to a point where they can't get any bigger though and I hope we are reaching that point already. I also think there will still be a market for the smaller ships that can get to more ports and provide a more relaxing experience but you may have to pay a premium for that experience. I really hope Holland and Celebrity stay in this mid-ship size and don't follow Princess with their new Sun Princess.

During our bridge tour, some in our group asked more questions about the stabilizers. The Officer who gave our tour said that they don’t use them unless the ship is going at least a certain speed (I forgot how fast.). Considering the ship never goes far and anchors most of the time, I suspect we didn’t often go fast enough to make use of them.

Have your binoculars handy when you circumnavigate Daphne Island. You may see Nazca Boobies either resting on the rocks or in flight. We also tropicbirds (they have a really long tail), frigatebirds, and gulls in flight. The Galapagos Doves are quite pretty. Start your hunt for this “elusive” bird as soon as you land at the Baltra airport. I remember your “elusive” pigeon photos from another live I enjoyed of yours. 😂

On longer excursions that take me further from the port, I’m usually more comfortable carrying my actual passport otherwise, I often just take my driver’s license. Occasionally, I’ve stopped at a port that requires you carry it (not the Bahamas in my experience). Unless, you are told it is required, do what you are most comfortable with. There are pros and cons to both carrying it and to leaving it in the cabin safe.

It dropped in price because of the new uncertainty in the Middle East and the sudden shift in itinerary. Celebrity's trying to make the best of a situation out of their control and fill this ship with all the cancellations from people who wanted Israel/Egypt and not Greek Isles. That doesn't mean it's a cheaper itinerary. It's just shifting demand a bit late in the game. That's all part of dynamic pricing and responding to a changing situation. No itinerary is equal but that doesn't mean you can so easily put a value on one itinerary over another or say that one is worth more than another. The price you pay has to do with how many cruises they offer with that itinerary (supply) and how many people want to book it for that specific time frame (demand). And Celebrity is sharing the pain. It takes time and money to shift an itinerary last minute like they had to do in early October. They don't just snap their fingers and the new itinerary appears. Furthermore, with those cruises that followed the initial declaration of war, it means loss of customers who preferred one itinerary over the other and increased marketing costs to attract those that would like the new itinerary.

Were most of your beaches pretty soft? Most of our beach landings on the Northern Loop were on pretty rocky beaches. Occasionally, I saw naturalists barefoot briefly but except for Bachas Beach (which was less rocky), it was usually only long enough to get off the zodiac and put their crocs back on (which is what most of them wore).

Was that sailing ever actually for sale for the $2,078 price or that is that just the full price they always discount with some sort of ever changing sale? And how does that difference compare to the normal up and down that comes with dynamic pricing? And how exactly do you (and others who have made similar comments on this thread) suggest they figure out the difference in value when an itinerary changes mid-cruise? Cruise lines use dynamic pricing that is constantly changing so passengers on the same cruise usually paid vastly different prices for the same cabin type and cruise. And last week's price is often very different than this week's price. The same would be true for any comparison itinerary you are trying to use to come up with that difference in price.

Let the cruise line know and then talk to your wait staff. They will take great care of you. I am allergic to dairy (I think it's the casein not the lactose so lactose pills don't even work for me). The MDR has always been able to bring me almond milk for my coffee. Cafe al Bacio has almond and other dairy alternative milks. For desserts, the chef always makes something special dairy free for me (aside from fruit none of the desserts on the menu are ever dairy free). For starters and entrees, I usually try to order the night before with the Maitr'D or my waiter so that they can modify any dish that might contain dairy. Most specialty dining can be modified on the spot (although I would definitely give advanced notice for Le Petit Chef). Look for the dairy free label in the buffet (although use common sense as the labels aren't perfect) and look for things labeled vegan (as those are always dairy free). The Eclipse had a vegan taco bar one day for lunch. I made my own tacos by finding some meat elsewhere in the buffet and then enjoying the vegan sauce and cream they had on the taco bar. And don't be afraid to ask staff in the buffet if you have questions or don't see something you think they might have (like a dairy free milk).

I remember them doing something similar on a special sailing of another ship in the last year or two so I wouldn't expect it to be a regular occurrence.

We are out of Birmingham and flew through Atlanta for our flight. Delta is your only option direct. The air credit covered most but not all of our flight costs. The flight to Quito gets you in late evening which isn't bad timing. The flight home from Quito was a red eye that left around midnight but you will have different options as you are doing Machu Picchu so I would imagine you go home from Lima. If you are willing to do a layover, you will have more options going through Miami on American which would have been cheaper for us when we were booking but we didn't want two layovers from Birmingham. I was pleasantly surprised when I called Flights by Celebrity as their rates were noticeably cheaper than what I would have paid if I was booking on my own. I suggest looking at flight options before you call Flights by Celebrity. Although they started by just offering specific flights, when we asked for a specific airline and flights, they were able to find them.

It looks like your itinerary overlaps with most (but not all) of the current northern loop on the Xpedition. We did not get to San Cristobal but did get to Fernandina Island plus a couple different Isabela ports. If you are given an option for a long walk that takes you away from the beach on North Seymour Island, don't miss it. It's a fairly flat walk and not really that hard but the wildlife is amazing. Looking forward to hearing about your thoughts on the Flora.

Interesting. Vicky was not on our sailing, although Jorge was. Their contracts must not perfectly match up.

Enjoy! I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on the differences between the Southern and Northern Loops when you get back.

Have a great trip!

I am allergic to dairy and they make a special dessert every night that is dairy free. You have to ask for it as it does not ever appear on a menu. Sometimes it is something made with an alternative milk like coconut milk. Other times it’s just a naturally dairy free dessert. Often times it is also gluten free so they can serve it to gluten free individuals as well. I don’t recall ever getting a crème brûlée. I’ve never made a special request though and just accept whatever they made. You might be able to though if you talk to the Maitre’D the night before.

This is where you have to know yourself. Some people much prefer newer ships and so that is what they book. Some people enjoy the charm of older ships and so don't hesitate to book them. I have found that overall, Celebrity does a great job maintaining their older ships. I have had amazing service even on the older ships. I do suspect they prioritize entertainment a bit more on the Edge class ships (just as Royal or Carnival does on their newer ships) but I have still enjoyed the entertainment on M and S class ships. The Equinox did get a partial revolution before the pandemic so she has gone through some updating.

I thought that one of the recent updates was to make use of a lounge once or twice a cruise for an elite happy hour (in addition to the drinks you can get at other bars during the elite happy hour). I don’t know if they have started this or not yet. But it was going to just be temporary use of a lounge not a dedicated all day lounge like Royal has.

You can cancel it all the way up until the cruise planner closes which is 2 or 3 days before embarkation day.

My husband has worn black tennis shoes on smart casual evenings a number of times without any issue. I doubt anyone even noticed. The less we can pack, the better.