Silver Galapagos- any updates?

[soxmom]

The water temperature was between 72 and 75 F when we were there, but it will be getting warmer as the winter wears on. We were in the western islands, where the water is a bit colder (which is why the penguins are there), as opposed to the other itinerary that does more central and eastern islands. The water was "refreshing" but not painfully cold. I could have done the snorkeling without a wetsuit if need be, but havng one made it more pleasant.

As for snorkeling and doing the glass bottom boat, yes, you can definitely do that, though not necessarily at the same stop. We had two snorkeling opportunities where you just waded in from the beach, and two where you jumped in off the side of the Zodiac. For either, though, you can snorkel for however long you want. The boats stay there, and you just hold up your arm when you want to be picked up and they come and get you. If you do it for 10 minutes and decide you don't like it, no problem. Then you can just do the glass bottom boat instead next time. But I really encourage you to give the snorkeling a try -- it was BY FAR the highlight of our trip.

[RachelG]

When we were there in the month of June, my husband snorkled without a wetsuit. The penguins actually used his back as a diving platform which was very cool.

 

The water was way to cold for me, even with a wetsuit, but I am a wimp when it comes to water temps.

[Lauranne]

When we were there in the month of June, my husband snorkled without a wetsuit. The penguins actually used his back as a diving platform which was very cool.

 

The water was way to cold for me, even with a wetsuit, but I am a wimp when it comes to water temps.

 

That is amazing! My DH made a comment about swimming with sea lions close by. Is there some danger in this?

[RachelG]

The penguins are small and very non threatening. In the Galapagos you are prohibited from touching the wildlife; however, if they decide to touch you, that is ok. They would land on my husband's back, then dive off. It was very cool to watch, and he enjoyed it immensely.

[drron29]

The old bull sea lions on the beach can be dangerous if you get in their way-of course you are told not to which some people ignore.

I snorkelled in August without a wetsuit.Had an incredible experience with a young sea lion.I was trying to imitate him underwater.On the third time I surfaced he was right beside me,flipper on my back looking straight into my eyes as if to say-don't give up your day job.

 

The Galapagos is the one place a David Attenborough documentary doesn't do it justice.

[mrsm88]

Just a quick update: the trip was fantastic!! Yes, the boat could use updating, the A/C isn't perfect & the food isn't to die for....but the trip was phenomenal & I cannot spend my time nitpicking on the small stuff!

The team led by Israel was great-loved Javier, Juan Carlos & Desireee. The zodiac drivers were all incredible, getting us so close to things & safely ferrying us back n forth. The wildlife cooperated & we saw frigates during mating season, blue, red & naz boobies, a hawk, sharks, mantas, so many iguanas of all types, a penguin (which is rare on our itinerary), incredible fish & other birds too numerous to mention & of course the sealions from just born to retired bachelors. We kayaked 2x & took most of the exertive hikes. Did 2 deep water snorkels & 1 off the beach. The water was warm but we work shorty wet suits- they have plenty of equipment.

We spent 2 days (3 nights) prior in Quito (someone in our group suffered from altitude but we were able to get oxygen at hotel & that helped.) It rained when we were at Mindo so our hike didn't happen as we had to turn around as trail was getting washed out. We still saw the hummingbirds & butterflies & I had one on my finger). We toured Old Quito & went to the Equator line.

I am exhausted but so happy...(just back late last night). Will put otgether some tips & a review when I can, but rest assured, if you booked on Silver Sea, you will not be miserable as some others were unless you are looking to find fault. We ate in the Grille restaurant (need a res( most nights & every day for lunch. I had lobster & prawns to my heart's content. The food in the dining room was not wonderful, but breakfast was a decent buffet. Ramon who head the dining rooms was wonderful & so was Douglas the waiter. Your butler is just a room attendant, nothing more. No diet coke or gatoraide to be had for suites on ship, but I heard the medical facility has electrolyte tablets if needed, It was HOT!

The video Daniella made is incredible, worth buying.

I am rambling at this point & need to get to work. More to follow~~~

[jpalbny]

Glad you had a great time and looking forward to more details - but hope you have a chance to get some rest these next few days. Was Juan Carlos a geologist with the last name Restrepo, perchance? He was with us in Svalbard a few years ago - was great.

[NCCruzQueen]

Wow, thanks, mrsm88, for your great review. The five months I have to wait until my SG cruise is going to be difficult. So looking forward to all the wildlife!! If it is the same Juan Carlos, he was also on the Silver Explorer in Antarctica in 2012. He was the "rock star". Looking forward to more info from your cruise.

[Stumblefoot]

Thanks for the quick review mrsm88! Glad you had a good time and enjoyed yourself. Looking forward to further details after you are able to catch your breath a bit and get rested up.

[findacruise]

Thank you so much for your post. We leave in less than 3 months and are very excited. Final payment made and starting to think about packing list! Going to Quito first and Machu Pichu after.

 

Looking forward to your review once you are rested and reinvigorated!

[joek]

findacruise, what cruise are you on? We're on the June 7th cruise, going to Quito on the 5th.

 

Esther and Joe

[mrsm88]

You do not need dress clothing, You do need a solid, good pair of hiking sneakers, water shoes for wet landings (I preferred closed toe so you could also do the walk in them), lightweight shorts/shirts & lightweight pants (I wore jeans, but the hiking pants with the zip off legs would be better) for the highlands (turtles). A sun/bug repellent shirt (LL Bean) was useful. Bug spray, lip sun protection, hats, suntan lotion & immodium! (we all had travelers stomach)

The ship had rain ponchos in closet with life preserver & binoculars in room but a smaller pair is good for hikes. They give you a backpack & a heavy refillable water bottle- they have 2 refill stations on ship, We brought ours to breakfast & they refilled for us.

Breakfast in dining room starts @ 6:30 am. You are off the ship very early, 7:30 for the most part. Back on ship usually by 11:30-12. If you want to eat outside at Grill for lunch, to get a shaded table, arrive by noon. Menu is always the same, I couldn't tire of having lobster & salad bar for lunch & we would sometimes order a pizza starter for our table for 4. They have lemonade, iced tea, you can order a smoothie...you can also do a combo (same for dinner at Grill) with shrimp/lobster or fish or surf & turf for dinner (which you cook yourself on a hot stone). We only ate in dining room for dinner 2x- it is much warmer in there & you need long pants. They did let guys in with jeans but no shorts. You can order a burger or a chicken sandwich for lunch at Grill- & I did see someone bring a plate from dining room buffet to Grill- guess they wanted something different.

They pour 2 wines every day- a red & a white. You can order & pay for a bottle, but we only did the house selections. We went to the bar on deck 4 before the 7pm briefing each night & generally brought our drink to the briefing on 3. (warning- that room is very warm, occasionally ok).

Bring plenty of memory for your camera (we took 3000 pics!).

The kayack trips are incredible & the strenous hikes are just a bit longer. the terrain is rocky & walking sticks are available if needed. It was 82 degrees at 7:30 am, so it is hot.

I did the deep sea snorkels 2 out of 3 times & was well rewarded with sharks, mantas, incredible fish & a sealion. I do not love to snorkel but I did it. The snorkel off the beach was also pretty incredible although I did get some jelly fish stings & so did my brother. They had vinegar spray on the beach to sooth it & nothing else was needed.

The zodiac drivers watch out for you when you snorkel, so a wave of a hand gets them to come pick you up. They are incredible drivers.

The naturalists onboard change as they don't work 52 weeks/year. We found them to be incredibly knowledgeable & to have lead interesting lives. Sadly we didn't attend any lectures as they were generally when we napped to get energy to do the afternoon activities.

The trip was wonderful, the few issues with Silversea cannot dampen anything that you experience.

If you spend time in Quito, the Marriott was beautiful. We hired a private guide & did old town, the Equator, and Mindo cloud forest. Quito was cooler than islands, we all wore a light jacket/sweatshirt & we did need our rain ponchos. We ate dinner at Zazu & Theatrum (very pretty). The hummingbirds & butterflies at Mindo were highlights for us. We stayed overnight in Guayaquil, but only so we could catch a direct flight back to JFK next day.

As I think of things, I will add....

[mrsm88]

Glad you had a great time and looking forward to more details - but hope you have a chance to get some rest these next few days. Was Juan Carlos a geologist with the last name Restrepo, perchance? He was with us in Svalbard a few years ago - was great.

Nope, a naturalist from Equador.

[findacruise]

findacruise, what cruise are you on? We're on the June 7th cruise, going to Quito on the 5th.

 

Esther and Joe

 

 

We are on the June 7 cruise, too. We fly in to Quito on June 5. We are with a group being escorted by our TA. After the cruise he is escorting a 5 day trip to Lima for a night and then on to Cusco and Machu Pichu. Look forward to meeting you on board. This will be our first Silverseas cruise, although we have done many other cruises.

 

Joanna (&Miles)

[RachelG]

Food report sounds definitely better than what was aboard xpedition. We are looking at this cruise for 2015.

[joek]

Thanks for the update, mrsm88. We aren't the nitpicking type, so we won't be looking for things to complain about. Poor AC or malfunction is a worry though. The schedule of cruises for the Silver Galapagos shows that there are none on Apr 26 and May 17. The ship might be chartered those weeks or hopefully laid up for repairs and upgrading. Let us hope! Do you think that the stomach problems were from food on the ship or from the prior tours?

 

findacruise - We're flying Miami to Quito on American 939 on June 5th, but not going on to another tour afterwards.

[5waldos]

... Do you think that the stomach problems were from food on the ship or from the prior tours?...

 

On the 15 Feb sailing, a number of us began to have significant stomach problems the last morning- as we were trying to leave. There was a line at the little clinic onboard- probably six people or so. I immediately began cipro since I was going to be flying to Panama several hours later and it was pretty clear that this was not going to be a passing/minor attack. We had not been on any prior tours in common with anyone else. We had had two people who took to their cabins for a day or two a bit earlier in the week and a couple who were trying a course of pepto bismol before hitting the cipro. We had eaten nothing ashore during the cruise so we pretty much definately got whatever it was onboard. Bring your cipro and pepto bismol and use it sooner than later.

Edited March 13, 2014 by 5waldos

[joek]

Thanks, 5waldos. Could have been a bug passed on by a passenger or at worst, from the water supply. Do they have bottled water available on board? Hate to have to bring our own. We'll have to watch posts about future cruises.

 

JoeK

[5waldos]

They do have bottled water but they are trying hard to decrease the plastic being used so much of our water came in chilled carafes. I would think if it were water it would probably have taken down many more people and the majority of people were not bothered. Doesn't sound like there was an outbreak on the next ship out so it was most likely spread by someone. The doctor was keeping pretty good records best we could tell so I would gather it did not approach reportable levels. Bring along your cipro- and if necessary, use it sooner rather than later. I am not a big fan of trying the alternative lesser approaches for several days before hitting the serious treatment- most people can tell if what they have seems to be beyond a low level disorder.

[mrsm88]

On the 15 Feb sailing, a number of us began to have significant stomach problems the last morning- as we were trying to leave. There was a line at the little clinic onboard- probably six people or so. I immediately began cipro since I was going to be flying to Panama several hours later and it was pretty clear that this was not going to be a passing/minor attack. We had not been on any prior tours in common with anyone else. We had had two people who took to their cabins for a day or two a bit earlier in the week and a couple who were trying a course of pepto bismol before hitting the cipro. We had eaten nothing ashore during the cruise so we pretty much definately got whatever it was onboard. Bring your cipro and pepto bismol and use it sooner than later.

I just started on cipro last night (I went for the testing & started right after), I had it with me on the trip but hubby's episode passed within 36 hours, so I thought mine would too. Mine was being keep at bay with immodium & got worse after returning home. Who knows the when, where or why, but it is common in S America.

5waldos, how was your trip???

[mrsm88]

Thanks for the update, mrsm88. We aren't the nitpicking type, so we won't be looking for things to complain about. Poor AC or malfunction is a worry though. The schedule of cruises for the Silver Galapagos shows that there are none on Apr 26 and May 17. The ship might be chartered those weeks or hopefully laid up for repairs and upgrading. Let us hope! Do you think that the stomach problems were from food on the ship or from the prior tours?

 

findacruise - We're flying Miami to Quito on American 939 on June 5th, but not going on to another tour afterwards.

Hopefully that is their dry dock for upgrading. A couple on deck 4 told us their room was very war. We had Terrace suite 505 & had no issue, my bother/nephew had 506, their room was warmer. The biggest issue was on deck 3 where we would meet for the overview for the next day & leave for each departure from. The 1st night- it truly was unbearably hot in there & most nights uncomfortably warm. We tried 2 different area in dining room for dinner & both were very warm, temp was fine for breakfast though.

My stomach was a bit iffy in Quito, but was fine when I got on boat. I never ate/drank anything (except for bottled gatorade) off boat, so it was definitely ship related. 3 out of 4 of has had this, only 1 of 3 did not come home with it.

It still does not dampen the high I am on from this wonderful trip...:)

[findacruise]

 

findacruise - We're flying Miami to Quito on American 939 on June 5th, but not going on to another tour afterwards.

 

We are on the same flight - our entire group is. I imagine we will see each other - or you will spot our group! I think there are some louder voices :rolleyes:among them. We don't know everyone, as we are from different cities, but met some of them on a trip last year.

[dkepcruiser]

Got home this AM from a wonderful cruise on the Silver Galapagos! That being said, while the overall experience was truly wonderful, I have to agree with other reviewers that the ship has a ways to go. We've never cruised with Silversea before, only Crystal, but to my way of thinking, if you're going to charge 5 star prices, then you need to deliver a 5 star experience. At this point I would say this is more of a 3-4 star experience in terms of the ship. And you certainly have to keep in mind that there are tradeoffs being on a larger ship as opposed to some of the smaller ones. However the wildlife is truly incredible, which is why it was still a fantastic experience.

 

Just some notes - husband and I (mid 50s) traveled with our 2 adult children so we didn't socialize a ton. We had cabin 506, one of 2 terrace suites, it was quite spacious although the decor was dated and needs some sprucing up. Our kids' cabin, 334, was more average. The terrace outside our cabin is "public" space but there were only maybe 6-10 other people who seemed to know about it and we generally had it to ourselves which was great, it's on the front of the ship, some misc seating (not terribly comfortable) but for our group of 4 it was perfect. The biggest complaint that everyone has is the room temps and the inability to control it. It wasn't awful, and it was unseasonably hot this past week, but I would have preferred the room to be at least 5 degrees cooler for sleeping to be comfortable. We got a lightweight cotton blanket after the first night which definitely helped but this is a big problem. Our "butler" was very pleasant and, like most of the staff, tried hard but still has a ways to go to really be a "butler". Some days we had the extra towels I requested, some days we didn't….some days there was extra Coke Light in the minibar, some days not. But he did replenish the bottle of white wine before we had finished the first one, and was very solicitous one evening when I wasn't feeling well, offered to bring me tea, etc so a solid work in progress. The bathroom was adequate although the drain in the shower was quite slow, I asked to have it checked but didn't really seem any better. Was a bit of a concern when hubby and I showered back to back and the ship was rocking a bit, worried that the water would slosh on the floor, but never quite did!

 

Food was pretty good given the limitations put on all the ships. We had breakfast each morning in the restaurant and lunch each day in the grill, got a little repetitive but what do you expect on a ship with only 100 passengers? I'm sure the smaller ships were even worse. Quality was above average but not great. We got bored after 3 nights for dinner at the grill, the hot lava rock concept is cute but the novelty wears off when it takes too long to cook a thick cut of meat and your companions are already done with their prawns. Also had the same salads offered each night and same desserts, so the only thing that varied was the fish of the day. So we opted for the restaurant more. We just drank the house wine which was adequate, nothing great but we just didn't bother to check the wine list because we were sort of all over the place about what we all wanted, it just wasn't something that was important to us. Same spotty service issues, some of which I think are attributable to language difficulties. My daughter speaks fluent Spanish which definitely came in handy more than once!

 

The briefings each night were helpful although I suggested on my comments that they consider doing them around lunch time instead as we found 7 PM to be awkward, we often didn't get back from the afternoon excursion till 6 or even 630 which left very little time to shower, etc and pretty much no time for a pre-dinner drink unless you don't eat till 830 or so. There was an option to buy a $150 photo and video package, you get to see the video portion before purchasing, decent footage, especially the underwater stuff, but we didn't think worth $150. There are also some presentations by the guides most nights about the wildlife, etc in addition to the briefing about the next day's activities.

 

They use an old school sign out/sign in sheet when you leave the ship, surprised they don't have the ability to scan your ID, would in all honestly be pretty easy to leave someone behind! The zodiacs work fairly efficiently, about as good as you can expect when you're dealing with a ship with 100 passengers as opposed to the smaller 30-50 ships. I think the only way to avoid not having some waiting around would be to assign departure times, which they did do for some excursions but not all, they would assign maybe 2 decks at 830 and the other 3 at 900.

 

The excursions were quite simply wonderful. Each day was different - typical was maybe a hike for 90 min around 8 or 830, then motor to a different spot for snorkeling around 1030, back on board for lunch while puttering off to somewhere else, then another hike or zodiac tour in the afternoon around 3 or 4. The guides were wonderful, found out they are independent contractors and work for different ships different weeks so no way to know who you might have, but they were all pros. We did the Western itinerary, really wanted to see penguins - LOVED the snorkeling!!! Champion Inlet was particularly spectacular, that was the last of the 5 snorkeling opportunities and it was great, sea lions everywhere! Fernandina is incredible, the iguanas freak me out a little and they were everywhere, but they couldn't care less about us. Even the slightly less "exciting" walks into the interior of some of the islands were still interesting, each island truly has it's own personality.

 

So all in all still a fantastic experience, even if I don't really feel we totally got our money's worth. Happy to answer any specific questions people might have!

[RachelG]

I was pretty sure I recognized the names of some of the naturalist guides from our xpedition cruise, so your explanation about them being independent contractors makes sense.

I don't know why they don't scan key cards getting on and off the ship. I suspect this will happen after the dry dock, as on explorer, they scan cards.

Hopefully they will get the air conditioning fixed as well.

I am encouraged with what I am rading, and I would consider one of the terrace suites as it seems it is reasonably private.

[NJ Cruiserman]

On the 15 Feb sailing, a number of us began to have significant stomach problems the last morning- as we were trying to leave. There was a line at the little clinic onboard- probably six people or so. I immediately began cipro since I was going to be flying to Panama several hours later and it was pretty clear that this was not going to be a passing/minor attack. We had not been on any prior tours in common with anyone else. We had had two people who took to their cabins for a day or two a bit earlier in the week and a couple who were trying a course of pepto bismol before hitting the cipro. We had eaten nothing ashore during the cruise so we pretty much definately got whatever it was onboard. Bring your cipro and pepto bismol and use it sooner than later.

We embarked on February 22, the day you disembarked. The digestive problems started on Monday in our group of eight travelers and affected at least six of us. Many other passengers were affected as well. Imodium was helpful but not effective for everyone.

 

However the guides and excursions were wonderful and the zodiac drivers expert. I find dkepcruiser's review above almost spot on, but I would not have rated the food as favorably. Also, cold drinks should have been available at the nightly 7 PM briefings. One of the couples traveling with us was in 334 like dkepcruiser's family, and the butler never offered to store their luggage and they never thought to ask.