Live from the Flora, 10-night Ecuador and Galapagos Adventure, Dec 8-18

[Ken the cruiser]

Hi all! It is time to start getting ready for our upcoming wildlife adventure that includes a 7-night “Inner Loop” expedition cruise around the Galapagos Islands on the Celebrity Flora! We had an awesome time back in 2015 doing the “Southern Loop” on the older Celebrity Xpedition and are hoping this itinerary will be even more memorable!

 

Date Itinerary Arrive Depart         Dec 8 Transfer from airport to hotel 8:45 PM           Dec 8 JW Marriott Quito 10:00 PM           Dec 9 Quito City Tour 9:00 AM 4:00 PM         Dec 10 Transfer from hotel to pier   11:00 AM                         Date Port Location Arrive Depart Date Port Location Arrive Depart Dec 10 Baltra Island   2:30 PM Dec 13 Bartolomé Island 1:00 PM 7:00 PM Dec 10 Daphne Island (cruise around) 5:00 PM 6:00 PM Dec 14 Las Bachas (Santa Cruz) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 11 Egas Port (Santiago) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 14 North Seymour Island 1:00 PM 9:30 PM Dec 11 Rábida Island 3:00 PM 7:00 PM Dec 15 Puerto Baquerizo (San Cristóbal) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 12 Elizabeth Bay (Isabela) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 15 Punta Pitt (San Cristóbal) 3:30 PM 6:00 PM Dec 12 Tagus Cove (Isabela) 3:00 PM 7:00 PM Dec 16 Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Dec 13 Sullivan Bay (Santiago) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 17 Baltra Island 7:00 AM                   Date Itinerary Arrive Depart         Dec 17 Transfer pier to hotel 8:00 AM           Dec 17 JW Marriott Quito 3:00 PM           Dec 18 Private Antisana Reserve Tour 8:30 AM 4:30 PM         Dec 18 Transfer from hotel to airport   6:00 PM         Dec 18 Fly back home   11:45 PM

 

Here is some information about the Celebrity Flora that includes a pretty cool video! One of the unique perks of an expedition cruise like this is being able to do one or more wildlife excursions during the morning stop, have lunch back onboard while the ship moves to the next location, and then have the option of doing more wildlife excursions in the afternoon!

 

As always please feel free to follow along, and if you have any questions let me know and I will try to find the answer. As a side note my DW and I will only be participating in the walking and zodiac excursions. If by chance you have questions about the snorkeling or kayaking ones, here are two recent Live From threads that provide some valuable insights into both.

 

Live: Nov 11 2023 Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos Northern Loop

Live: Nov 18 2023 Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos Southern Loop

 

In addition, here are a couple of weather-related links if you are curious about the conditions in this part of the world:

 

Quito weather forecast

Galapagos (Baltra) weather forecast

 

[KLM3164]

Looking forward to following along! Have a great trip.

[abbydancer2003]

Even though we'll be on the Xpedition in 2024, I'm following.  Have a great trip.

[phabric]

I will be following to places I dream about

[prmssk]

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.  

[Poconolady]

Really looking forward to your live review. We will be doing a family trip ( group of 6, 3 generations) on the Flora in August. Have fun!!

[gardenbunny]

Been waiting for your Live report as we will be on Flora Inner Loop May 10 with Machu Picchu extension.  The other Live posts have been soooo good - and now I can see our actual itinerary.  I will be mostly the walks and kayaks, DH is the snorkler (been a scuba diver for years).  

BTW, did you use the Celebrity air program?  

Safe travels

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, gardenbunny said:

Been waiting for your Live report as we will be on Flora Inner Loop May 10 with Machu Picchu extension.  The other Live posts have been soooo good - and now I can see our actual itinerary.  I will be mostly the walks and kayaks, DH is the snorkler (been a scuba diver for years).  

BTW, did you use the Celebrity air program?  

Safe travels

You’re going to have such a great time! Yes, we’re using Celebrity Air as we just couldn’t turn down the $1500 air supplement they were offering to book the cruise.

[bjahil47]

Following along on your cruise!  Safe travels!

[gardenbunny]

Thanks for your reply.  We also booked with the “air fare” included - we didn’t even know it was until after we made our deposit!  Game changer!  We are in suburb of Atlanta so Hartsfield-Jackson is our departure city.  Were you able to get decent carrier and times with no extra out of pocket?  Of course, who knows what air fares will be by the time we can book.

We are really treating ourselves for this trip on Flora and Machu Picchu.  Reading other posters on their Live report, I am so impressed by Celebrity’s attention and thoroughness on every detail of the trip.  

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

Thanks for your reply.  We also booked with the “air fare” included - we didn’t even know it was until after we made our deposit!  Game changer!  We are in suburb of Atlanta so Hartsfield-Jackson is our departure city.  Were you able to get decent carrier and times with no extra out of pocket?  Of course, who knows what air fares will be by the time we can book.

We are really treating ourselves for this trip on Flora and Machu Picchu.  Reading other posters on their Live report, I am so impressed by Celebrity’s attention and thoroughness on every detail of the trip.  

You should be able to book your flights now if your itinerary starts May 10. We booked our flights early and got nonstop roundtrip flights out of Atlanta in Delta Comfort for just a few $$ more out of pocket. We have definitely learned from past experience that it pays to book as early as possible when booking flights to/from a cruise.

[vickykay]

Ken, looking forward to another wonderful review!

[weacat]

Looking forward to your review.  We are a family of 3 and really want to do a cruise like this.  

No triple rooms.  😞 

[prmssk]

8 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

Thanks for your reply.  We also booked with the “air fare” included - we didn’t even know it was until after we made our deposit!  Game changer!  We are in suburb of Atlanta so Hartsfield-Jackson is our departure city.  Were you able to get decent carrier and times with no extra out of pocket?  Of course, who knows what air fares will be by the time we can book.

We are really treating ourselves for this trip on Flora and Machu Picchu.  Reading other posters on their Live report, I am so impressed by Celebrity’s attention and thoroughness on every detail of the trip.  

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.

[Ciaranaman]

Following!  Lives like these will sure help to get through these snowy days!

~Bernadette

[Shiba_Lover]

19 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hi all! It is time to start getting ready for our upcoming wildlife adventure that includes a 7-night “Inner Loop” expedition cruise around the Galapagos Islands on the Celebrity Flora! We had an awesome time back in 2015 doing the “Southern Loop” on the older Celebrity Xpedition and are hoping this itinerary will be even more memorable!

 

Date Itinerary Arrive Depart         Dec 8 Transfer from airport to hotel 8:45 PM           Dec 8 JW Marriott Quito 10:00 PM           Dec 9 Quito City Tour 9:00 AM 4:00 PM         Dec 10 Transfer from hotel to pier   11:00 AM                         Date Port Location Arrive Depart Date Port Location Arrive Depart Dec 10 Baltra Island   2:30 PM Dec 13 Bartolomé Island 1:00 PM 7:00 PM Dec 10 Daphne Island (cruise around) 5:00 PM 6:00 PM Dec 14 Las Bachas (Santa Cruz) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 11 Egas Port (Santiago) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 14 North Seymour Island 1:00 PM 9:30 PM Dec 11 Rábida Island 3:00 PM 7:00 PM Dec 15 Puerto Baquerizo (San Cristóbal) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 12 Elizabeth Bay (Isabela) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 15 Punta Pitt (San Cristóbal) 3:30 PM 6:00 PM Dec 12 Tagus Cove (Isabela) 3:00 PM 7:00 PM Dec 16 Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Dec 13 Sullivan Bay (Santiago) 7:00 AM 12:00 PM Dec 17 Baltra Island 7:00 AM                   Date Itinerary Arrive Depart         Dec 17 Transfer pier to hotel 8:00 AM           Dec 17 JW Marriott Quito 3:00 PM           Dec 18 Private Antisana Reserve Tour 8:30 AM 4:30 PM         Dec 18 Transfer from hotel to airport   6:00 PM         Dec 18 Fly back home   11:45 PM

 

Here is some information about the Celebrity Flora that includes a pretty cool video! One of the unique perks of an expedition cruise like this is being able to do one or more wildlife excursions during the morning stop, have lunch back onboard while the ship moves to the next location, and then have the option of doing more wildlife excursions in the afternoon!

 

As always please feel free to follow along, and if you have any questions let me know and I will try to find the answer. As a side note my DW and I will only be participating in the walking and zodiac excursions. If by chance you have questions about the snorkeling or kayaking ones, here are two recent Live From threads that provide some valuable insights into both.

 

Live: Nov 11 2023 Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos Northern Loop

Live: Nov 18 2023 Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos Southern Loop

 

In addition, here are a couple of weather-related links if you are curious about the conditions in this part of the world:

 

Quito weather forecast

Galapagos (Baltra) weather forecast

 

I did not do a live report, but if anyone has effective about snorkeling and how the gear works for Flora, let me know.  We just did the trip in October and did all the snorkeling excursions.

[Mah Jongg]

Your "Live From ..." always brings back great memories for us. We will be following along.

[Ken the cruiser]

FWIW we upgraded our "wet landing" shoe inventory the other day after reading a comment @prmssk made in her Nov 11 Live From thread.

 

"For wet landings, we each had a pair of closed toed Keen sandals which we usually would just continue to wear for shorter walks."

 

We were originally going to bring some cheap slip-on wet shoes for the "wet landing" excursions, and then change to our normal walking shoes once on land. However, her reference to the Keen sandal got us to rethink that idea.  Now we don't need to carry a second pair of shoes on that type of excursion. 😉

 

 

Thanks @prmssk for suggesting this great idea!!

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Mary loves to travel]

Looking forward to following along!    
Ken, I must ask: are you and your wife ever at your home on land?   😀

 

best, 

Mary

[DaKahuna]

Ken, I am looking forward to following along on yet another of your adventures. 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

33 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Looking forward to following along!    
Ken, I must ask: are you and your wife ever at your home on land?   😀

 

best, 

Mary

Mary, we battle with our cruising addiction every day while at home waiting for our next embarkation day. We're finding it takes about 30 days to recover from the last cruise, as will be the case for our upcoming 30-day Antarctica/SA cruise in January, before we start getting excited about our next one, and around 90 days before we really start to feel withdrawal symptoms! Thank goodness for CC and FB, which keeps us in sync with the cruising world until that next cruise comes! 🤣

Edited December 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Shiba_Lover]

1 hour ago, Shiba_Lover said:

I did not do a live report, but if anyone has effective about snorkeling and how the gear works for Flora, let me know.  We just did the trip in October and did all the snorkeling excursions.

That's supposed to be questions not effective!  My phone does some crazy autocorrects!!

[Ken the cruiser]

For those interested I just found this web link that gives a little more detail with regards to Flora's Inner and Outer Loop itineraries, and what to expect at each stop.

 

https://www.galapagosislands.com/cruises/ship/celebrity-flora

[Ken the cruiser]

I also found a WWF website that offers some pretty cool wildlife information, to include a Galapagos Islands Wildlife Guide.

https://www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/galapagos-islands/wildlife-guide/
 

In addition, it provides a month-by-month breakdown of what observations might be uniquely encountered in the Galapagos at any particular time. For example,

 

“All Galapagos seabirds are seen year-round except for the albatross, which is absent from January to March. Because birds breed at different times, you can witness courting behavior or hatchlings in nests during any given month. A variety of whale and dolphin species visit the Galapagos throughout the year, from the smallest common and bottlenose dolphins to the largest blue whales, as well as orca, pilot, sperm, humpback and other whale species.”

 

As far as unique wildlife experiences that might be observed during our December visit:

 

- waved albatross fledglings appear and begin departing

- marine iguanas begin mating (through February)

- Galapagos sea lion pups abundant in water at central and southern islands (through February)

- giant Galapagos tortoise laying eggs (through March)

- Bryde’s whale on the western archipelago (through May)

- bottlenose and common dolphin in central and southern archipelago (through May)

 

https://www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/galapagos-islands/wildlife-seasonality/

Edited December 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Barwick Cruiser]

Following!

I’ve very much enjoyed the two Expedition ‘live froms’ (thx @mahdnc and @prmssk) and it will be interesting to read about your journey on Flora. Thank you for all the great details so far!