The Galapagos - Final Thoughts
What an amazing trip. When people use words like trip of a lifetime and bucket list, it is not an exaggeration. A Galapagos vacation is by no means a relaxing vacation, but what you get to see and do are things you can do nowhere else on earth. You can certainly find ways to do it cheaper than on the Flora, but Celebrity provides opportunities to see and do things for every ability, from the most fit person in their 20s, to the over 80 young at heart as long as you are mobile enough to to get in and out of the tenders. The staff were all very friendly, extremely knowledgeable and accommodating. There was at least one older gentleman traveling alone. He said he had a most wonderful time. Most of the passengers were couples or 2 couples traveling together. We were the only large group. There were 9 of us. The crew accommodated us so we could eat together, and participate together on excursions.
We loved the trip so much, we are going to come back to do the ‘outer loop’ in 2024 with the same friends, and hopefully more.
As for packing, I would do a few things differently. Here is my packing list with notes for changes I’d make. You do get 2 bags of laundry at no extra charge which needed and we took advantage of.
3-4 bathing suits - a necessity - a wet bathing suit is no fun to get on.
6 pair of quick-dry shorts - I could have done with 4
5 quick dry T-shirts - only wore 3
2 rash guards (quick dry shirts with sun protection) - 4 would have been better - always used them in the water and sometimes on land. I found them more comfortable that loads of sunscreen and the provided protection from bugs.
1 light dress for evenings on the ship - I wore it but not necessary - you can have dinner in whatever you are wearing at dinner time if you want.
1 pair of long pants (and 1 to wear on the plane) - my 2nd pair was leggings and glad I had them for locations with bugs - I also brought a pair of very light, quick dry pants
6-8 pairs of socks - only used 3 but if you do long walk excursions you might use more
dry bag to protect camera and phones on the small water transports - absolutely
Shoes for wet landings and shoes with treads for walking on dried lava and rocks. Crocks worked great for wet landing and many of the guides wore them. Foot coverings are required when the tender is moving. Unless you are doing the long walks, good sneakers would be fine instead of low cut boots. Keens are ok but walking on sand will get in them
Sandals for walking around the ship - flip flops are fine
reef safe sunscreen - the ship provided 1 tube that worked well - glad we had 2 more tubes
sunglasses
brimmed hat - make sure it covers the back of your neck and has a chin strap - tender rides are very windy
SLR camera with 2 lenses (24-70mm and 70-200mm) - I brought. 1.4x multiplier and wished I had a longer lens. If I can handle it I would do it. I did not carry my second lens on any excursions. I used it onboard and in Quito.
Lots of memory cards - lots -I had 3 - 128 gb cards and 2 - 64 gb cards and almost filled them. I would also bring a way to backup the cards. Don’t plan on the cloud. The ship internet goes out and gets weak pretty often.
Ibuprofen - we used quite a bit
I would also make sure to bring:
a comfortable backpack. Celebrity provided us one but not sure if every room got one. I was also glad we had a small light backpack.
a light sweater for outside decks in the evening
underwater camera
walking stick if you are uncomfortable walking on uneven ground - Celebrity has wooden ones.
bug spray if you go in the rainy season.
prescription underwater glasses if you have a strong prescription.
