Galapagos north vs south

[furrrball]

Can anyone tell me what is the difference between the north and south route.  it looks the same on the celebrity cruise site

[GeorgeCharlie]

Which ship & travel dates are you querying about?

[furrrball]

We haven't booked yet just getting information.  We were thinking the Celebrity Xpedition.  What is the best time to go

[GeorgeCharlie]

We have yet to visit the Galapagos. We spent a fair bit of time looking at cruises a few years ago, but unfortunately COVID brought all that to a standstill.

 

From what I can remember, the best time to go generally falls into a couple areas.

 

From a cost point of view, the summer/fall (June - November) period is normally viewed as off-season, with lower prices. Whereas the other six months is high-season - i.e. higher prices.

 

In contrast, the June - November period is their dry season, and the December - May is their wet season.

 

So, the best time for you to go will depend on if your deciding factor is cost, or weather. For us, there is another factor, that being getting away to warmer climates during our cold winters!!  

 

With respect to your initial query regarding the Xpedition's Northern, vs Southern routes. From what I can see on Celebrity's website,  the routings are completely different - with very little overlap on ports-of-call.

[furrrball]

yes the routes are different.  my husband pointed it out and said I was probably looking a the same cruise twice.  Thanks for your response  I am still researching this holiday.

[macaroni]

We went in mid to late March and had great weather…..was on the xpedition…

[onyx007]

So I hope you're still looking for an answer about the differences between North and South;

or if not, that answer might help someone else:

 

Firstly it even has different routes on both direction as I've seen on the itinerary...and both have their advantages; if you can (and if available) book back-to-back and visit North AND South...as you really visit different Islands and places...

 

I just was on a trip with a smaller yacht (only 16 passengers in 8 rooms) and visited 14 Islands in 15 days (including Baltra Island, where the airport is) and both North and South are pretty amazing; 

 

if you have preferences "North" is the only way to see the Pinnacle Rock on Bartolome Island, but South is probably better for wildlife sightings (especially if you have South Plaza Island on the tour)

[waterbug123]

On 2/7/2024 at 11:43 AM, onyx007 said:

 

I just was on a trip with a smaller yacht (only 16 passengers in 8 rooms) and visited 14 Islands in 15 days (including Baltra Island, where the airport is) and both North and South are pretty amazing; 

 

 

 

were you on Celebrity Xploration by chance?  I read somewhere that luggage doesn't fit under the bed on Xploration and just wondering if that's true or not. 

[onyx007]

18 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

were you on Celebrity Xploration by chance?  I read somewhere that luggage doesn't fit under the bed on Xploration and just wondering if that's true or not. 

No as I wrote I was on a small yacht with only 8 rooms, the Celebrity has 50 rooms...of course if you bring along a really big hard case suit case you might have problem anywhere at sea...better to bring along a soft duffel bag

[waterbug123]

4 hours ago, onyx007 said:

No as I wrote I was on a small yacht with only 8 rooms, the Celebrity has 50 rooms...

 

We will be on Celebrity Xploration, which only has 8 rooms.  That's why I thought perhaps that's the vessel you'd been on.  (And on 40+ cruises regular cruise ships, I've always been able to fit my larger hard-sided case under the bed)

[onyx007]

Sorry, no it was a vessel called Eden and yes if it's the same you will not be able to fit a large hard-sided case under your bed...better travel with something soft which is bendable...

[waterbug123]

On 2/12/2024 at 11:58 AM, onyx007 said:

Sorry, no it was a vessel called Eden and yes if it's the same you will not be able to fit a large hard-sided case under your bed...better travel with something soft which is bendable...

 

And therein lies my question.  I will keep trying to find someone who has been on Xploration and can answer definitively.  Thank you.

[PhillyTravelBug]

I just began my search for Celebrity Flora and was wondering what the difference was. I see south, north, inter loop , outer loop.  

[flare3192]

we came back from the Galapagos a few weeks ago. We chose to go with ecoventura which has 3 ships that hold 20 passengers each. We chose that one because they are required to have a guide for every 16 passengers so we had 2 guides. Also the women's wet suits are full length. Most lines have full length for men and shorties for women.

The islands are volcanic islands with the ones to the east having been formed earlier and they are older and any hotels etc are on them. The western islands are newer with no civilization on them. We chose to do that itinerary. 

Every ships itinerary is decided by the park service that is in charge of the islands. the order and activities are predetermined by them. That said our trip was magical and I can't say enough good things about it.

No ship is allowed to have more than 100 passengers. The smaller ships can get into places  the larger ships can't go. We landed on islands every day for about a 2 hour walk. We also snorkled every day. Sometimes we had an additional landing. Sometimes we had a zodiac ride. Sometimes we kayaked. 

My concern was the rooms are small. However, suitcases fit under the bed and there were drawers, a closet and several hooks to hang things up. The shower was excellent and about 4x3 feet. 

Ecoventura is aligned with relais and chateaux brand. Our guides were wonderful. Both were born in the Galapagos and had about 30 years experience.

I do understand Celebrity has 3 ships -- one with about 100 passengers, one with about 50 and one with about 16.

The number of ships in the Gallapagos are all that are allowed to be threre. If, for example, Viking wanted to go there they would have to buy an existing ship and they could replace it with their own but it could not have more than 100 passengers. And the crew will be Ecuadorian.

We combine this with a boat cruise on the Napo river which is part of the Amazon basin.