Xpedition Review - A trip of a lifetime!

[bunnybear]

We left Houston on Thursday night, April 13 at 5:50 pm on a direct flight to Quito. We had sent an email to the Concierge at the Quito Marriott to request a hotel shuttle to pick us up and their representative was waiting for us in the exit lounge area. We were driven to the hotel and promptly checked in. The Marriott is a beautiful hotel. The rooms are very nice with a nice bathroom and very comfortable beds. We crawled in bed at 12:30 am.

 

Since we had arrived a day early we had made arrangements with Grayline Tours to visit the Mindo Cloud Forest. Their guide and driver picked us up at 7:00 am and we rode for a little over 2 hours to Mindo. It was quite an adventure and we are glad we went. I will be happy to give more details on this tour if you are interested. We got back to the Marriott around 5:00 pm. We cleaned up and went to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner and then headed up to our room to rest up for what was to come. Celebrity had already placed information in our room about our schedule for Saturday.

 

Saturday morning we had breakfast in the buffet restaurant. Breakfast was covered by Celebrity along with one drink per person. We ordered extra drinks and were charged for those but it was only $3.00. We were to meet in the lobby at 9:00 am for our city tour. I was impressed that when we went down early most of the passengers were waiting and Celebrity reps were preparing for us to be on our way. The entire trip was run very timely – and it was great that the passengers showed up on time, as well.

 

The Quito tour was great. We were separated into four buses which made each group to be about 15-17 people. Our guide was very informative and was very positive about her city and her country. We had lunch at the El Crater Restaurant. It was a good meal and the first chance to begin meeting our fellow passengers. We had opportunity to shop several times on the tour.

 

A hint I want to give is arrive in Ecuador with a lot of one dollar bills. When shopping the vendors don’t like to break $20.00 bills and since they use their own coinage you will end up with a lot of Ecuador coins for change for smaller purchases. Through the duration of the trip we bought quite a few of the beautiful woven scarves whose prices varied from $3 to less than $2. It would have been simpler to just have the single dollars. We were forced sometimes to purchase additional items because they couldn’t/wouldn’t make change.

 

We arrived back to the hotel before 5:00 pm and headed up to our rooms to clean up before dinner. We were provided restaurant vouchers to use at any of the hotel restaurants. A seafood buffet was set up in a ballroom. I think most of the Xpedition passengers selected the seafood buffet. It was a really nice meal with wine provided.

 

For Sunday’s departure to Baltra we were notified to have our checked luggage outside our hotel room by 7:00 am. We didn’t leave the hotel until 9:00 am so there was plenty of time to have a nice, leisurely breakfast and then pack up our carry-on luggage before we headed down to wait in the lobby. We were loaded in the buses and quickly driven to the Quito Domestic Terminal. We were quickly escorted to the security gate and then headed for our gate. Our flight left at 10:30 am and was a non-stop to Baltra. We were served lunch on this hour and half flight. When we got close to the airport we spotted the Xpedition just offshore and our anticipation increased. We landed and immediately guided to the VIP lounge. After a short stay they called us to start loading the buses. It was a very short ride from the airport to the dock. It was then time to take our first of many to come zodiac rides. Upon arrival at the Xpedition we were escorted into the Discovery Lounge where we served fruit juice and welcomed. Very quickly we were taken to our rooms. Our luggage appeared shortly after our arrival and we unpacked. The rooms are small but very adequate. We were able to put everything away and tucked the luggage under the beds. After unpacking we headed to lunch at Darwin’s Restaurant.

 

There was a briefing at 3:15 to describe our afternoon’s excursion. There were two choices, a High Intensity Hike at North Seymour Island or a Low Intensity Zodiac Ride with a landing at North Seymour Island. From the moment we landed the wildlife was abundant. Everyone started shooting pictures of every animal in sight. Those poor sea lions and boobies must have had their picture taken over a hundred times. But it was a great way to start the trip. Virtually at every turn there was something to see. We saw large amounts of Frigate Birds doing their mating ritual, Blue Footed Boobies, Land Iguanas and Marine Iguanas. After about two hours on the island we headed back to the ship.

 

We made it a habit to attend the nightly briefings. I think this was beneficial to make the right choice for excursions for the next day. We would grab a cocktail and sit back and enjoy Jason’s update for the next day’s activities. Afterwards we headed to the dining room. The dining room is open seating and you are seated very promptly. We enjoyed all of our dinner partners but by the end of the week we had teamed up with three other couples and ate together for the last four meals.

 

The food was good. I have certainly had better on cruises but with their limited availability there was certainly a good assortment of items available for all meals. I had read to stay away from the beef. I thought it was good, not great, but certainly worth trying.

 

The rest of the week went by so quickly. We had breakfast around 7:00 am, left for an excursion at 8:00 am. We were usually back on board by 11:30. Most of the time, we took a quick shower and then headed to lunch. Lunch was always available on deck 4 or in the dining room. We did both and truly didn’t have a preference.

 

We then rested, read or attended the lectures or special programs provided in the afternoons. We would leave at 4:00 for the second excursion and be gone until 6 or 6:30 pm.

 

Every day was different so you never knew what to expect. I can’t pick a favorite place. For the most part we took all the High Intensity choices. We snorkeled almost every day and it was the best snorkeling experience I have ever had. Swimming with sea turtles and sea lions was so exciting. We also spotted some 5 ft. white tipped sharks on one snorkel. It was thrilling. Don’t miss any of the chances to see the under water life.

 

The staff was fabulous. We enjoyed the naturalists. They were also very different from each other with different interests. Some focused on the plants, some knew the most about the wildlife and some knew a lot about the history of the islands.

 

I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who loves adventure, enjoys physical activity, loves nature and wildlife and wants to feel like you are a world away.

 

My other hint is that there is good shopping at the few places along the way, but the market in Quito that you will visit on your last afternoon is fantastic. You can certainly wait to purchase the beautiful scarves, ponchos, silver jewelry, sweaters and hats. You will see these items during your Quito City Tour but we found the prices to be the best at the market.

 

There is a laptop available to use to email home. It is located outside Guest Relations. You just have to ask to use it. By the end of the week I saw a majority of the passengers using it from time to time. It was nice to drop a note and not worry about the cost per minute.

 

Neither my husband or I ever had any stomach issues. We both ate everything – fresh fruit, vegetables, salad, etc. We did us the bottled water in Quito to brush our teeth and drank bottle water all week. I didn’t hear of anyone getting extremely ill like I had read on the boards. Everyone seemed to truly enjoy all aspects of the week.

 

Feel free to ask any questions. It was the trip of a lifetime. I don’t know how we will be able to beat it on a future trip.

[Wormy53]

Thanks for a great peak at the Galapagos. This is one of our "when we've got the time" cruises! You gave me a nice preview!

[Babo02]

My husband and I are heading to the Galapagos in less than 5 weeks and can't wait. Thank you for all of the information about shopping in Quito. I do like to bring back gifts and your information was most helpful.

 

Glad your trip was stomach problem free and that you had such a wonderful time.

 

Bonnie :)

[gooch47]

We couldn't agree more. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime. I am so happy to hear that the stomach bug (or whatever it was) has abated. It was so sad to miss even a few hours of this fantastic trip.

[SandyR5]

Hi and welcome back to the Xpedition cheerleading section! :) Don't know how anyone wouldn't think this as the trip of a lifetime. Glad you had a super time.

[deec]

thanks for the great review!!

what type of shoes did you wear for the wet landings and then hikes?

 

did anyone on your cruise scuba or was is all snorkelling?

 

we are going in November

[drfun48]

Saturday morning we had breakfast in the buffet restaurant. Breakfast was covered by Celebrity along with one drink per person. We ordered extra drinks and were charged for those but it was only $3.00.

 

 

 

Feel free to ask any questions. It was the trip of a lifetime. I don’t know how we will be able to beat it on a future trip.

Glad to see that you had no health issues---neither did anyone on out July '05 trip.

I am curious about what kind of drinks you had on Saturday morning before your departure.

We also had a folk dance show in the hotel on Saturday night during dinner,did you? ...or just the one on the last night on the Xpedition?Was your last night's dinner in Quito at the Opera House? How was it. Some on our trip were disappointed-I wasn't,but maybe many were tired and depressed about coming home.

You like just about everyone who's been there says-"trip of a liketime"Yet I haven't heard of any others planning to go back.I think going at a different time will be fun.How about you?I'm counting the days until December.

[Meribeth]

We were on the same cruise as Karen.

 

No one opted to dive on our cruise but it was available if we wanted. They said the currents were strong - assending & decending currents. The visability isn't great. The cost was between $150 and $180 for a 2 tank dive. They make arrangements with a dive operator on the islands. The snorkling sites were good.

 

We wore low hiking boots for the hikes with dry landings and Teva sandles for the wet landings and hikes. The hikes after the wet landings didn't require closed toed shoes. I did see some people land in bare feet and then put on hiking shoes.

 

I had bottled water with breakfast and it was $1.36.

[cruiselover20]

We were there Jan 2006, and it was lovely. So glad you enjoyed yourself. Celebrity needs more of this kind of experiences.

[cruiselover20]

One comment about shopping. The gift shop in the hotel has some lovely items, and good prices.

 

We did stay longer and went to Otavalo, but frankly there was not much to buy. However, do not overlook the jewely store and gift shop at the Marriott. Nice items, and excellent prices.

[CSloan]

Bunnybear - Thanks for taking the time to do a review! We don't go until November, but we're really looking forward to it.

 

What clothes did you pack? Did you feel you took too much, too little, or just the right amount?

[Kamper]

Karen, Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear that Celebrity continues to please. A couple of questions - How did you find the weather to be? Did you take the excursion to the Intereptive Center in Puerto Baquerizo? Was something else offered? I seem to recall that earlier cruises had an advanced snorkeling offered. How many where onboard when you went? I don't suppose you have photos to share?:D I know those who have been and those who are still to go would love to see them.

 

Meribeth, $150 to $180 Ouch! I thought $90 for a 2 tank dive in Hawaii was expensive. Maybe that was a factor in nobody wanting to go.

[bunnybear]

I have hundreds of photos and as soon as I can get them in some sort of order I would be happy to share. I hope to have them loaded on a webshots site by the weekend.

 

As far as clothes for the Galapagos, I wore the Columbia style shirts, knit camisoles and shorts every day. You are going to perspire quite a bit but I was able to come back to the ship, wash out the shirts and the cami's in the bathroom sink and hang them up in the shower and they were good to go by the next morning. I brought only two shirts and made it fine - three would have probably been better. I also brought a pair of windshorts to wear over my suit on snorkeling trips and those washed out and dryed very easily. In fact, I would probably have been fine with all wind shorts. Since many of the times you hiked and then snorkeled you were wearing your suit under your shirt and shorts it would have worked better to just bring the shorts that could easily be washed out. I did bring two swimming suits. I used them both, but I could have made it with just one. We did bring hiking boots and I enjoyed them on the longer hikes on uneven terrain. I wore my Teva sandals on the more even terrain hikes.

 

The entire dress code is very relaxed. Most women tended to dress nice casual for dinner. Guys wore shorts or slacks with either a polo or button short sleeved shirt. I took two pair of regular sandals to wear to meal time but could have worn my Teva's. As everyone told me - you could easily pack everything in one suitcase.

 

I did wear everything I brought but could have easily done with half of what I packed. We left a suitcase in Quito, as did most of the other passengers. That worked out well so that we had somewhere to pack all the goodies we bought at the market on Sunday.

 

I live in Houston and the weather in the Galapagos felt just like home. Warm and humid but very pleasant in the evenings. You must wear sunscreen and a hat. Some passengers on our trip chose not to wear a hat the first of the trip and got blistered. Have your hat available when you arrive in Baltra. You will need it on the zodiac ride to the Xpedition. We made it a ritual to lather on the sunscreen (I used a 30) before we got dressed each morning. Neither of us ever were burned or uncomfortable.

 

I looked back on the daily agenda and on Monday the only choice for an excursion is a "Dry Landing at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno" with a visit to the Interpretation Center and then shopping on the main street. We enjoyed everything we did so I would not suggest missing this stop. My husband and I enjoyed talking with the people of this small community and watching the people live their lives. Everyone has a different level of entertainment value of each place. We happened to enjoy this small town.

 

We had 84 passengers which meant that most of our groups for excursions were 16 people. There was a group of doctors and their families that attended lectures in the afternoons on our cruise. The week after us had 74 scheduled to be on board. One naturalist said the trips usually run about 65-75 so ours was a bigger group. I never felt crowded, we never waited in line to be seated for dinner. The only wait was when we got back from our afternoon excursion everyone ran into the bar for a quick cocktail before cleaning up. It became almost a joke on who could get to the bar the fastest but everyone enjoyed the competition.

[gooch47]

I took way too many clothes, especially dressier things. I felt overdressed in the evenings, but t-shirts or tank tops didn't seem quite right, either.

 

You can get by quite nicely just getting out of the boat barefooted on the wet landings. It was just sandy.

 

There were only 59 on our trip. That made EVERYTHING uncrowded.

[Meribeth]

Don't forget to put on sunscreen or a hat in Quito. That's when I got burned.

[SheilaNC]

Thanks for the latest review. One other little known fact is that there are good prices and georgeous Ecuadorian pottery in the gift shop at the JW Marriott/Quito. I bought a few pieces thinking that I could always order more...the prices from the few places in the states that carry them are more than double....

 

Wonderful to relive our trip from others' reviews. I'm with Sandy...welcome to the cheering section.

[eknightley]

Hi all,

 

First, Shelia, thanks for responding to my previous question about the itinerary. We received our documents last week for the May 26 trip, and the itinerary given there was the same as that on previous voyages. The latest wonderful review--thanks, Bunnybear--adds to our excitement and anticipation. Glad to hear no one was ill.

 

1) Would someone please describe the exercise equipment onboard the Xpedition? Is it located inside (in the air-conditioned part of the ship?) or outside, perhaps in the shade? How's the view? Is there much time left to use the equipment?

 

2) Bunnybear, was use of the laptop with internet access free?

 

3) Did you have evening viewings of stars and sealife with the ship's lights out?

 

4) Things I've forgotten from other reviews: should we take an adapter or just borrow one on the ship? The cabins have televisions? If yes, what kinds of programs? Are there any programs about the islands?

 

5) During the stop at the equator monument, is there enough time to find the true divide?

 

Thanks to all for advice about avoiding sunburn. I have a long-sleeve sunproof shirt that I might pack.

 

Thanks again,

Emma

[bunnybear]

1. The exercise equipment is half in the AC and half in the shade. There are two bikes and a treadmill on deck 6 and the rest are in the spa area. To be honest I never saw anyone use the equipment. There was so much physical activity during the excursions that I think a lot of people didn't do their normal workout routines.

 

2. The internet access on the ship's laptops was free. You were just asked to use it for no more than 20 minutes at a time.

 

3. There was a couple of night's that were advertised as star gazing on deck 6 where they turned out the lights. Also they had a spotlight shining down on the water and you could see sharks, sea lions, numerous fish and baby turtles. The best viewing was on deck 4 but you could see them from 5 or 6.

 

4. We had an adapter already in our room. We always bring a power strip and plugged it into the adapter and was able to plug in our battery chargers, laptop with no problems. The TV in your room only has 3 channels. One channel had movies and the other two were old sitcoms. Frankly you were not in your cabin very much so I never watched a complete movie.

 

5. The visit to the equator monument/museum was about 40 minutes. It all depends on how long lunch took on the amount of time you are there. I think normally they are there a bit longer. They want to stay on schedule and get you back to the Marriott on time. We got back about 15 minutes later than the scheduled time.

 

I love talking about this trip. You are about to have best vacation. All the excitement and research will be worth it. Enjoy

[Kamper]

Karen (& Meribeth) thanks for re-iterating about the need for a hat. I'm clipping these comments out for my DH. He usually wears a ball cap but, I expect resistance to a full brimmed hat. I've already started looking for one for myself. Good to hear that you found Puerto Baquerizo interesting and were able to check out the town. A previous post had lead me to believe that all of the shops were closed. I like going to grocery stores when I'm in foreign countries. I think it's interesting to see the differences and the similarities. Did the naturalists have any comments on the itinerary changes coming this summer? Did many people bring and use tripods for their cameras?

[bunnybear]

All the shops were open in Puerto Baqurizo and we did pop into most of them. My husband is in the construction field so he was interested in the construction projects that were going on along the main street. We also walked out to the shore to see the boats that were in the harbour.

 

The naturalists said that the itineraries would change as the National Park dictated. There was nothing specific but there had been some discussion to close some areas for awhile but then open other areas. I would suspect the passengers that travel right ahead of your scheduled time could address the current itinerary. I believe our itinerary was slightly different than one I had read from December.

 

Regarding tripods, one fellow brought his tripod. He carried it on most of the hikes and would then set it up to capture the current wildlife. We had some serious photographers on our trip but there was only this one guy that used a tripod. It was kind of an issue because he was always lagging behind his group because he would stay at the point to continue to take pictures when the next group was waiting to view the area. On some of the High Intensity hikes I would think it would have been difficult to carry the tripod.

 

I wish I was preparing to go again. It is still such a pleasant memory.

[deec]

I haven't seen any discussion on bugs...are there mosquitoes or no-see-ums...perhaps they never made it to the islands...that would be very nice..

 

thanks again to all of you for your great information

[bunnybear]

We only used the repellent two days out of the 7 but keep it with you. The mosquitos were bad at Post Office Bay. Otherwise there were some issues with biting flies a couple of places. Jason will discuss that during his first briefing.

 

There are no poisonous snakes in the Galapagos. The snakes are all constrictors. We did see a couple of snakes during the week. Otherwise I never saw any other creatures that may cause concern.

[bunnybear]

Feel free to go through my pictures. They are sorted by date. Our trip dates were April 14 - 23.

 

http://www.dropshots.com/karenebrown

[chily3]

:)With your pictures, which are wonderful, will make our wait that much longer. :rolleyes:

[maztoz]

Karen you are a treasure. Thanks so much for all the great info. Did the Xpedition supply you with full-foot fins or the back strap type that can accomodate booties?

 

Kelly -- As far as I'm concerned there is only one hat worth owning. A TILLEY! Go to the Tilley website or look on Ebay. I never leave home without mine.