Question for those who have done the Galapagos ABD

[Bobo912]

I'm considering the Galapagos for next year. For those of you who have taken this trip with ABD, did you feel like you had enough time touring the islands? I'm just wondering if we might come back wishing we had gone on a tour that forgoes the Ecuador part of the trip and spends more time in the Galapagos. Lindblad/National Geographic and Celebrity Xpedition have some interesting offereings, which have great reviews on the internet. Both are strictly visiting the islands, so they visit more of them than ABD. On the other hand, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. From looking at ABD's itinerary on their website, it looks like they spend 3 full days and part of 2 additional days on the ship. Lindblad, in comparison, spends 8 days touring the islands. I saw lots of reviews and comments on the longer cruises, and they were all very positive, but I did find one post that said you really have to love looking at animals day after day. My DS loves animals (and I do too), but I wonder if a longer cruise might become too repetitious for him. TIA for any feedback.

 

[beachbunny]

I did the ABD Galapagos/Ecuador tour last year. I enjoyed it a lot and thought that the split of culture in Ecuador and nature in the Galapagos Islands was well balanced. I really didn't think I'd like the Ecuador part at all because I was there strictly for the critters - but I enjoyed Ecuador almost as much as the Galapagos Islands - my land highlights were Parque Condor and a visit to a rose farm (which was off the itinerary).

Although each island offered something different in terms of landscape and animals, I got the feeling that a couple of the younger kids got bored (or maybe the activities were too strenuous? I don't know) on the cruise. They only came out for maybe half the hikes. It seemed like they had more fun during the land part of the tour.

We spent four nights on the ship and had about seven excursions off the ship. I think the amount of time spent touring the islands was enough to give me a good feel for what each had to offer.

 

[Dahly]

I agree with BeachBunny about the balance between the land and island portions of the trip.
When we booked, I looked at the Ecuador days as just filler until we got to the islands. However, once we got there, we enjoyed the activities quite a lot, and were almost disappointed we didn't have more time to see more of the county.
If I remember correctly from your other posts..your son is 9-11ish or so (i think??) which I think is a great age for this trip.
My DS was 11 when we went last summer. He is very into nature, and wants to be a herpetologist, so the tortoise portion of this trip was made for him. At his age, and even with as excited as he was to see everything, I think the number of trips to the individual islands was just about the right for him.

We had two 7 year olds in our group, and by day two of the island excursions, they were bored.

That being said, we are making tentative plans to return for DS's High School graduation trip, more than likely on one of the National Geographic trips that go only to the islands for 10 days or so. (6 years away, and we are already looking at those trips ) On the ABD, you don't get to go to the Charles Darwin Research Center, and DS was somewhat disappointed we missed that on our trip. We are looking forward to seeing more of the islands in the future.

For a first and for many, an only trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos, Disney does it right. Have fun making your decision!

Leslie

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks, beachbunny & Dahly! I discussed the itineraries with DS and he is very enthusiatic about both. He said he would never get bored looking at the animals, and I think he is probably right, but he liked all the activities in the Ecuador part of the ABD too. So I think we can't really go wrong, either way. He had his 10th birthday last week, so he will be late 10, early 11 depending on when we schedule. So at this point, I'll probably consider itinerary as being equal and see what other factors come into play.

 

[Bobo912]

If you don't mind, one more question for you two, since you may be the only ones on the forum who have taken this trip (but anyone else is welcome to comment ) Did you experience any rough seas? Did you need any sea sickness prevention? I'm fine as long as I can see outside, but if I'm inside and the seas are rough, I'm miserable.

 

[beachbunny]

On the last night, you're going across the current. You could really feel the rolling. That's the only time it got rough. That was the night the entire dining room cleared out as soon as they served dessert. Luckily, my husband is not prone to seasickness. I just lay in bed and "supervised" the packing.

I didn't even feel the ship the rest of the time.

 

[Dahly]

I am prone to motion sickness, and I did have a prescription for the patch. I put the first one on before we left the hacienda on the day we flew to the islands.
My unpleasant experience was actually the first night in the dining room, so I went back to my room and splashed water on my face, laid down for a bit, and then I was fine. No problems the rest of the time. One lady and her daughter in our group had those seasick bracelets on, and they both said they didn't have any issues.

Also, I don't remember there being windows in the dining room. .

My suggestion would be to take with you whatever form of meds you use, and have it just in case. You could probably get something from the ship's dr, but if you know ahead of time what works for you, I would go that route.


Leslie

 

[Turtlemom]

Another quick question--since we are also considering this trip in the future--
How did you like the ship that you were on??? Was it big enough that you did not feel claustrophobic? Were there enough common areas in the ship to hang out in? Was it at all weird that you were sharing the ship with non-ABD passengers, and did you interact with the other passengers at all?

We have taken a few Disney Cruises, and I know not to expect a large "cruise ship" atmosphere, but I'm just wondering how it would compare.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Bobo912]

Another quick question--since we are also considering this trip in the future--
How did you like the ship that you were on??? Was it big enough that you did not feel claustrophobic? Were there enough common areas in the ship to hang out in? Was it at all weird that you were sharing the ship with non-ABD passengers, and did you interact with the other passengers at all?

We have taken a few Disney Cruises, and I know not to expect a large "cruise ship" atmosphere, but I'm just wondering how it would compare.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks!

Turtlemom, as you know, I don't know firsthand, and I'm looking forward to hearing the answer from those who do. But I did find the ship on the web. Here's the link http://www.galapagosexplorer.com/abordo-en/abordo.html The rooms look larger than some of the other ships I've looked into for touring the Galapagos. Probably wouldn't spend a lot of time in the cabin, but it is nice to have room for your belongings and a little space to move around.

 

[Dahly]

Another quick question--since we are also considering this trip in the future--
How did you like the ship that you were on??? Was it big enough that you did not feel claustrophobic? Were there enough common areas in the ship to hang out in? Was it at all weird that you were sharing the ship with non-ABD passengers, and did you interact with the other passengers at all?

We have taken a few Disney Cruises, and I know not to expect a large "cruise ship" atmosphere, but I'm just wondering how it would compare.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks!

I enjoyed the ship and while it is small, I did not find it "small". The deck has a number of table and chairs to sit and enjoy the outside. There is a "lounge" area, and an area with games (chess, battleship, etc) and a couple of computers. The largest common area, other than the dining room, is a meeting type room where they have the welcome aboard talk. That is the only time it felt crowded, because everyone on the ship was in that room at the same time. They use that space for naturalist talks as well, and karaoke one night.

Other than the welcome aboard talk, and dining, we did not have much interaction with the other passengers. With the dining, we were somewhat separate from everyone else with just the way the dining room was set up, however, we were a small group, so other passengers were in our "area" but not at our tables.

For the excursions to the islands we (there were twenty of us) were in two groups and we had two naturalists that switched back and forth between our two groups each time. No other passengers were in our excursion groups.

The staterooms were a decent size (it was just DS and I) and we had plenty of room for the two of us. There is a couch on the wall opposite the beds. The closest was okay size, and there are several drawers in the dresser and a night stand between the two beds.

Not the best pictures, but it might give you an idea. (and for the life of me, i couldn't shrink the second photo)

Please let me know if this helps. I am more than willing to answer as many questions as I can for you. We loved our trip!

Leslie

 

[beachbunny]

The ship's capacity is about 100 pax. It is the largest ship sailing the Galapagos Islands. Since the entire area is a nature preserve, you don't have huge cruise ships like you do in the Carribean, for example.

The dining room is the largest room on the ship and there was only one dinner seating. The meeting room was the next biggest room where they did the shore excursion talk and the not to be missed Ecuadorian chocolate talk (with lots of samples) (ask your ABD guide where you buy Ecuadorian chocolate in Quito). The game room/lounge on the upper deck was smaller and could hold maybe 30 people. There is a teeny-tiny gift shop, a small reception area, and a tiny coffee lounge at the back of the ship. That's kinda it.

Ship size didn't matter because aside from the shore talks (and the bridge tour and chocolate talk), we were either eating, resting, or on shore excursions.

Oh yeah, there are only about a half dozen movies playing on the cabin t.v. which they looped. It was either that or the channel showing all the photos taken by the ship's photographer on all the excursions.

We didn't really see the other passengers much because we dined with other ABDers (no assigned seating but it just happened that way), had shore excursion talks just for ABDers, and our shore excursions were just ABDers. Also, our naturalist guides from the ship (two of them) only escorted the ABD excursions. For shore excursions, we were split into two groups, the bobies (I got censored - add another "o" next to the "o") and the lava lizards.

 

[Turtlemom]

thanks so much for the info! the ship looks really nice from the pictures and its good to hear that ABD seemed to take special care of the group. thanks also for the link!!!!
Sounds like after all the excursions, the down time was appreciated for resting.

One final question though--did you feel the waves or rocking of the boat very much? I don't get motion sickness, but one of my DD's does--so i was just wondering if she would have a hard time on the boat.

 

[Dahly]

Other than the first night, I did not feel the waves, or rocking of the boat at all. I think the first night was just me getting used to the motion. Not sure how much that helps.