Galapagos Island Cruises

[lostqeba]

Are 3 day cruises too little time, 5 days just right, 7 days to long????? would like some feedback.....thinking of combining with Machu Picchu tour to Peru Bruce

[nowornever]

We did 7 days on the Lindblad Polaris (see their thread) & I can, without hesitation, recommend at least that amount of time. You would think that you would get a little tired of seeing birds, iguanas, penguins, etc., but I can assure you that you can't get enough of it. Each island will have something unique to only that island & a good naturalist, and I can't overstate how important a good naturalist is, will be able to put each new island in perspective in relation to each other island. It's amazing how it all forms an overall picture. It's a fascinating place that really gets under your skin & it really takes a week to let it all sink in. I urge you to find a great company, Lindblad is fabulous, with a solid reputation & go for as long as you can possibly go. You will not regret it.

[lostqeba]

Nowornever...thank you for info...another question...did you include any land excursion as part of your trip i.e Ecuador, Peru ? ....what was your package with Linblad? Bruce

[nowornever]

Bruce, I have elevation issues so chose not to do the Machu Pichu extension. Our travel buddies did & loved every minute of it. Probably almost half of the passengers on Polaris did it. We chose to do a pre-trip to Amazonia in Peru to a river camp, Inkaterra. It was fabulous - a real schlepp to get there, however. The cost of Lindblad may (or may not) be a bit higher but they practically invented Galapagos travel & know everything there is to know about it. From the "panga" drivers to the naturalists on each panga, if there is something there to be seen, they will find it. They also have different activity levels on each day's excursions so you can gear your daily program accordingly. It's a most congenial group on board, at least it was on ours, nothing stuffy about it. Each afternoon you have a debrief of the day & a preview of the next day over cocktails & snacks in the lounge. Our friends did a log of the trip & if you'd like a copy, let me know your e-mail (it includes Machu). good luck with your decision. Bonnie

[cruisinlivin]

Bruce, I have elevation issues so chose not to do the Machu Pichu extension. Our travel buddies did & loved every minute of it. Probably almost half of the passengers on Polaris did it. We chose to do a pre-trip to Amazonia in Peru to a river camp, Inkaterra. It was fabulous - a real schlepp to get there, however. The cost of Lindblad may (or may not) be a bit higher but they practically invented Galapagos travel & know everything there is to know about it. From the "panga" drivers to the naturalists on each panga, if there is something there to be seen, they will find it. They also have different activity levels on each day's excursions so you can gear your daily program accordingly. It's a most congenial group on board, at least it was on ours, nothing stuffy about it. Each afternoon you have a debrief of the day & a preview of the next day over cocktails & snacks in the lounge. Our friends did a log of the trip & if you'd like a copy, let me know your e-mail (it includes Machu). good luck with your decision. Bonnie

 

Hi,

 

I know this post is a couple of years old but I am hoping you may still be able to send a copy of the journal to my address below.

 

Also, could you tell me how you booked the trip?

 

Thanks, :)

[mscno]

Hi Gail

 

Saw your post here asking for info on Galapagos, Machu Picchu, etc... We are going next month with www.Vantagetravel.com (Peru, Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands )

 

another choice might be Grand Circle Travel. Same type of company and much the same itinerary. (brothers own each company)

 

Will post results of the trip upon return.

Connie

 

PS. Love your website!

[cruisinlivin]

Hi Gail

 

Saw your post here asking for info on Galapagos, Machu Picchu, etc... We are going next month with www.Vantagetravel.com (Peru, Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands )

 

another choice might be Grand Circle Travel. Same type of company and much the same itinerary. (brothers own each company)

 

Will post results of the trip upon return.

Connie

 

PS. Love your website!

 

Thanks for the connection.

 

I was originally looking at the OATS(part of Grand Circle) trip. We are actually cruising around SA on Carnival, right now booked for 3 legs but I think we will cancel a leg and do the Galapagos and Macchu Pichuu instead. The OATS tour looked very interesting but now I have heard it is real easy to do MP on your own so I think will disembark in Santiago, fly to Lima, Cusco and do MP that way then fly to where ever to do the Galapagos. I am also thinking it would be better to do a 7 night tour instead of 4 night.

 

So it looks like I have a lot of planning again, rather than someone else look after the details for us. We travel a lot on our own and I usually do all the planning, so I'm used to it.

 

I look forward to your review or posting. Enjoy your trip!

 

Happy you enjoyed our site. It is fun doing it.

 

:)

[mscno]

Hi Gail

Sounds like you have a plan! I see a lot of positives in doing this the way you described... and one surely is taking advantage of location out of Santiago...

 

Great idea and I look forward to reading about it when you return.

 

Connie