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

[DaKahuna]

23 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! Hopefully my iPhone, iPad and the internet service on the Flora will be up to the task. I’m also glad I learned how to transfer photos from my iPhone to my iPad using Bluetooth because I’ll be taking a bunch of them with my mighty iPhone SE! 😂

 

 I transfer photo's between my iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Air.  I normally post my reviews from my MacBook Air from our cabin and it's nice to have all the photo's there.  

 

 In the past I used a SanDisk USB drive with a lightning connector on one end and an USB-A on the other to move photo's from my iPhone 13 Pro to my Air.  Now that I have upgraded my iPhone to the 15 ProMax I use Apple Cloud or AirDrop to do it. 

 

[DaKahuna]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:35 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

OK, our bags are packed, and we have checked into our flight heading to Quito tomorrow morning by way of Atlanta. So without further to do, I think it's time for Freddie to get this party started! 🕺💃

 

 

 I love me some Queen but this is my normal traveling song. 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 2  - Dec 9 - Celebrity sponsored excursion around Quito - Part 1

 

This morning we headed out on our morning tour around Quito.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Off in the distance is the old town of Quito where we were headed next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The elusive Quito pigeons were definitely not in short supply in the Old Town that’s for sure! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Then after visiting the convent, we had a buffet lunch in the same complex. After lunch, we headed to the Equator which I will post the photos from after dinner this evening. 😁

Edited December 9, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[DaKahuna]

Beautiful pictures Ken.

Edited December 9, 2023 by DaKahuna

[theopup]

Lovely pictures, enjoy your cruise 

[Ken the cruiser]

10 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Very nice.  Enjoy your tour.

 

If you think of it, ask your Quito guide how many Flora passengers are taking today’s tour. Assuming that your sailing is full (99 passengers), I’m curious as to how many passengers booked “cruise only”. 
 

During our Xpedition sailing, I estimate that 15 passengers out of 47 booked just the cruise (32%). I was surprised that the figure was that high. 

I checked with our guide and there are 86 guests currently booked in the Marriott with 12 guests either flying straight to Baltra and/or possibly on a B2B, for a total of 98 on our cruise.

[mahdnc]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

I checked with our guide and there are 86 guests currently booked in the Marriott with 12 guests either flying straight to Baltra and/or possibly on a B2B, for a total of 98 on our cruise.

 12%.  Thank you, Ken.  I look forward to seeing your equatorial photos.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Great pictures, thanks for posting and glad that everything is running smoothly for you! 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 2  - Dec 9 - Celebrity sponsored excursion to the Equator - Part 2

  
Our afternoon trip took us to the Quito Intinan Museum where we were entertained by a 45 minute guided tour of this venue located on the equator.

 

 
I have to say they did have some pretty flowering plants at variously locations around the area.
 

 

 

 
They also had some pretty cool totem poles.

 

 
Then we went to a hut where we learned how chocolate is made. The only thing missing in this picture is the bin they would put the juicy cacao seeds wrapped in banana leaves for 5-6 days causing them to turn brown, as seen in the bowls on the left. We also got to taste some 100% cacao power created by smashing the brown seeds in the bowl in the center, and it was super tasty! 😁

 

 
We then headed to the “equator” where they had various displays and demonstrations associated with being on the equator.

 

 
Did you know … 🤔

 
One of the demonstrations was to try to balance a raw egg on a flathead nail.

 

 

 
In another hut we stopped by along the way, we saw some cute little guinea pigs, which I had to take a picture of. 😁

 

 
But then to finish off our tour after buying some 100% chocolate, there she was. The elusive and very photogenic Equator Pigeon! 😂

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[mahdnc]

no picture of the shrunken heads?

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, mahdnc said:

no picture of the shrunken heads?

I have to say that was quite the display. Another one I avoided taking pictures of was in another hut that showed how an indigenous man protected “himself” while swimming in the river for food. Then there was the presentation of the most dangerous fish in the world that was only about 3 inches long, and it wasn’t a piranha. 
 

I decided that taking pictures of those “displays” would not do them justice when compared to experiencing them first hand by visiting their museum! 😂

[mahdnc]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have to say that was quite the display. Another one I avoided taking pictures of was in another hut that showed how an indigenous man protected “himself” while swimming in the river for food. Then there was the presentation of the most dangerous fish in the world that was only about 3 inches long, and it wasn’t a piranha. 
 

I decided that taking pictures of those “displays” would not do them justice when compared to experiencing them first hand by visiting their museum! 😂

 

I was expecting to be bored and dreaded going there after lunch.  But I was wrong.  It was done quite well.

 

Where was lunch?

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I was expecting to be bored and dreaded going there after lunch.  But I was wrong.  It was done quite well.

 

Where was lunch?

Our last stop on the morning tour was at the Convento San Augustin. Afterwards, we walked across the inside courtyard and had a buffet lunch at the same restaurant we ate at when we did our Xpedition cruise 8 years ago.

[mahdnc]

Thank you.  Have a good night and a pleasant day tomorrow boarding Flora.

[Ken the cruiser]

While waiting to get our boarding pass and other paperwork to fly to Baltra, I thought this was a pretty cool Christmas tree they had decorated in the hotel lobby. 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

And now we wait as the excitement builds!

 

[Gardenbunny50]

Great posts and very interesting.  My excitement is also building to see your Flora photos and the itinerary we will share in May.  

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 3 - Fly to Baltra and boarding the Flora!

Flying over the Galápagos Islands
  

 
If you look closely you can see 3 wind turbines in the foreground.

 

 

 

 
As we entered the covered walkway heading towards the Baltra terminal, we were met by the initial greeting committee, a land iguana! 😁

 
Then we were guided over to the buses to take us to the pier where we would go by zodiac the rest of the way to board the Flora!

 

 
On the ride over, we were greeted by a Galapagos pelican!

 

 
An interesting point about our zodiac. They were nothing like we remembered when we were on the Xpedition 8 years ago. The Flora zodiacs are much wider, have a padded rear seat that seats 3-4, a center section where carry-on luggage was placed, and we were told the wet landings will use the electronically controlled gates you see in the rear where you just walk off and step into the water. From what we were told, the Xpedition zodiacs are still like the ones they used 8 years ago.

 

 

 

Our awesome S2 sky suite with veranda!

 

 

 

 

 

Our muster drill up on deck 7!

 
Then we headed down to the Discovery Lounge to receive the introductory briefing on the excursion portion of the cruise, and subsequently sign up for tomorrow’s morning and afternoon adventures.

 

 

 
Then we headed back to the cabin where I subsequently headed out on our balcony to edit my 200+ photos I had taken so far today.

 

 
Then while I was quietly going through them, a group of Frigatebirds which was totally awesome!!

 

 

 

 
And then we were off, leaving the airport off in the distance, and heading towards Daphne Islands!!

 

 

[Gardenbunny50]

Looks amazing.  We have the infinite veranda - not sure what the difference is.  We booked on board back in August 2022 after a presentation.  We thought we had booked just a veranda but when we looked at our paperwork when we got home it was the other.  Couldn’t change or would have lost the on-board deal we got.  But all good.  

Interesting zodiac.  If you find time can you please find out if we just do a walk option, with no snorkle, can you still go back to ship after walk? DH is snorkle person, but I just want the walks.  Thanks. 

Get some rest for a full day tomorrow.

[Ken the cruiser]

While on our way to do our drive by the Daphne Islands, we had our preordered dinner delivered to our cabin a little after 6 pm. In fact it appears since my DW needs to eat early and the dining room doesn’t open until 7:15 pm every night, she worked it out with the maitre d’ to have our preordered dinner delivered every night at 6 pm. So besides being on this awesome cruise, we get to dine on our balcony every night as the sun is setting!! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

While dining on the balcony we cruised around the Daphne Islands.

 

 

 

 
After dinner we walked all around the ship while the sun continued to set. We couldn’t figure out why there was practically no one around until we later learned they were all in the Discovery Lounge waiting for the Captain’s Welcome Toast along with a few speeches before heading off to dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Forward observation lounge

 

 
Up on Deck 8 forward with a clear view from the front of the ship!

 

 

 

[RichYak]

Was there no excursion scheduled for the afternoon of boarding day?

[Ken the cruiser]

A couple of interesting tidbits we learned today. 
 
- Each guest gets the 4 device Internet service option instead of the usual 1 device

 

- Each guest gets 1 free bag of laundry containing up to 20 pieces and you have up until Thursday to submit them both.

 

- If it’s after 8 pm and you are in your cabin, turn the lights off and then go out onto your balcony or to your infinite balcony window opening, and look outside. The amount of stars we’re seeing right now is tremendous! In addition in our case there are also some rather large birds, with at least 2’ wing spans with a white or gray underside, flying next to the ship which we can only see by way of the ship lights reflecting off their wings.

 

- You have a filtered water dispenser in your bathroom which you can use to fill the water bottle they gave you when you checked into the Quito hotel, and the water is quite tasty! 😁

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Gardenbunny50 said:

Looks amazing.  We have the infinite veranda - not sure what the difference is.  We booked on board back in August 2022 after a presentation.  We thought we had booked just a veranda but when we looked at our paperwork when we got home it was the other.  Couldn’t change or would have lost the on-board deal we got.  But all good.  

Interesting zodiac.  If you find time can you please find out if we just do a walk option, with no snorkle, can you still go back to ship after walk? DH is snorkle person, but I just want the walks.  Thanks. 

Get some rest for a full day tomorrow.

If I might ask, what onboard deal did you get? We booked this cruise onboard in Dec 2021 and didn’t get any special deal since it was a Galapagos cruise. We did get the $1500 off because we were Elite as well as the $1500 towards airfare if you book through Celebrity Air. But those two perks have turned into regular incentives, regardless if it’s booked onboard or not. But I will say if you book an S2 veranda with balcony, you only get 8 CC points per day whereas you get 12 points per day if you book an S1 Infinite Veranda suite.

 

As far as booking the long walk with a snorkel or kayaking option afterwards, yes, you can opt to go back to the ship (like we will) rather than going on the optional snorkeling or kayaking excursion.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Was there no excursion scheduled for the afternoon of boarding day?

No, just all the introductory stuff and cruising around Daphne Islands before heading towards our tomorrow morning stop.