Galapagos Islands on HAL?

[iamaphisig]

Forgive me for being geographically challenged, but does HAL do a "Galapagos Island" cruise? I've done South America/Antarctica and we didn't go... Wondering if there's another itinerary that would include the Galapagos.

 

Any ideas?

[buelah111]

As far as I know, the only large cruise line that does a Galapagos route is Celebrity. They have a small ship (100 passengers) that does a seven day route year-round.

[VAtravelers100]

Forgive me for being geographically challenged, but does HAL do a "Galapagos Island" cruise? I've done South America/Antarctica and we didn't go... Wondering if there's another itinerary that would include the Galapagos.

 

Any ideas?

 

 

Going to the Galapagos is best experienced on a very small ship. We went there with GAP Adventures on a boat with 16 other passengers (we went on the comfort class boat), and it was the trip of a lifetime! But, a very different experience from a massive cruise ship.

[Koshlong]

HAL offers a multi-day side trip to the Galapagos from our October Veendam repositioning cruise.........it's pretty expensive!

[kyriecat]

Celebrity is the only large cruiseline that I know who regularly offers Galapagos cruises. My husband and I took the cruise a few years ago after researching the options. We contemplated a smaller (under 30 passenger) cruise but decided on Celebrity for the extra touches they offer. We had a wonderful time. Xpedition doesn't have a casino or a pool (there is a hot tub) and dinner is all open seating. However, the focus is on the natural experience and not on the traditional cruise experience so it's not a typical cruise.

 

We stopped each morning at one of the islands and had a variety of tour choices that ranged from very active to not active. The active tours usually were hikes over rough, steep terrain to see inland wildlife. The less active tours had shorter hikes on better trails or were rides around the island in the Zodiac boats to watch marine wildlife. The groups are kept small - no more than 12 people per guide.

 

We would get back onboard around lunchtime. While we we eating, the ship would move to the next location. Lunch was served on the back deck and was buffet-style. After lunch there was a lecture about aspects of the Galapagos - animals, geology, plants, etc. We would usually reach our next stop around 2 PM and have another tour that would last until around 4 or 5.

 

Dinner was always an adventure. It was open seating with tables of 6 to 8. We met two other couples onboard that we really enjoyed so dined together most nights. The food choices were more limited than on a normal cruise since it's much harder to get ingredients. There was usually only 3 or 4 appetizer choices and 3 entree choices. Most of them used local ingredients and recipes. I didn't recognize everything but I did try a variety of things, most of which I liked.

 

After dinner, there was a presentation of the next day's excursion options. The guides had photos of the trails, animals that might be spotted, and a description of the physical requirements so people could choose the right excursion for their activity level.

 

Some nights there were additional presentations in the evening. One night there was information on the stars and another they turned on the underwater lights so we could see the marine life under the ship.

 

Since I haven't tried a smaller vessel for the Galapagos, I can't compare that to the Xpedition experience. I was extremely happy with my experience on Celebrity and feel that I got a "trip of a lifetime" from them. I saw birds (including the mating dance of the albatross), penguins, giant tortoises (including famous "Lonesome George"), sea turtles, an abundance of fish, and too many sea lions and iguanas to count. Truly amazing!