We are going to the Galapagos in 2011...

[Bobo912]

I don't have anything particularly exciting to report, but I thought I would update everyone on the differences between Lindblad and ABD so far. I received and signed the "contract" for the trip. It was one page, front and back, so much shorter than ABD's. The front was all personal information - name, address, passport number, etc. and a couple of questions about any dietary restrictions or mobility issues. Back of the page was a reminder of Lindblad's cancellation policy, which is not nearly as restrictive as ABD's, and a recommendation about purchasing travel insurance. That was it. Something that they offer that I like - if you purchase their travel insurance, Lindblad allows you to cancel for any reason up to 72 hours before your departure date. You pay a penalty of $150 per person, but they give that back to you in a travel voucher. The "cancel for any reason" clause isn't part of the insuance policy, it's provided by Lindblad, I suppose as an incentive to purchase travel insuance. I compared the policy Lindblad offers vs other companies/options on insuremytrip.com and the price and coverage were comparable. Also, not a big thing, but nice, they gave a free year's subscription to a National Geographic magazine of my choice. I selected National Geographic Traveler...no big surprise.

 

[Pakey]

Bobo, I posted a comment on the Egypt thread but thought I'd add to yours here too since I'm doing a Lindblad (Egypt) vs your tour.

We are 2.5 months out and I received a packet that has optional tours that can be taken at both the start and end of the trip. These are not extensions (which they do offer two of those) but just short day tours, anywhere from 2 hours to almost a full day. We are not going in early or staying late due to my work schedule but it was nice to see that Lindblad was presenting us with some options if we had decided to come in early. AbD did not do this (we went in 2 days early to London and were completely on our own as far as arranging our amusement for those days).

There were several to choose from, 2 pages worth.

 

[tufbuf]

To Bobo and Pakey, do share how your expeditions went. I am interested in knowing how the Lindblad expeditions operate. They look very interesting. Pakey, are you doing the 10- or 15-night cruise? The Egypt itineraries sound really exciting! But it looks more like the tours are catered to young adult/adult group? We still have a 9 year old who swears she'll never tire of anything Disney so we're doing the Egypt tour with them in August. The Galapagos is in our list too. Please report how the water conditions are since I can a bit seasick.

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks for posting, Pakey. I like that Lindblad offers add-ons as well. There is a Quito add-on for the Galapagos trip, but unfortunately we also have to get back home and can't spend the extra days in Ecuador. This is a Spring Break trip, leaving early morning of the first day of break. Our return flight is scheduled to land around 11:30PM on Sunday night and my poor DS has to go back to school the next morning. tufbuf, I'm not sure about Egypt, but my impressions as regards the Galapagos trip is that during Spring Break, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and during the summer months there are a lot of families with kids on the trip, along with many older adults. There were some dates during the school year that were all adults, but the dates wasn't restricted to adults only. It just worked out that way. Lindblads reps are very forthcoming with information about the number and ages of children who are booked, so if you ever have a destination/date in mind, you can definitely call them and get that information.

 

[Pakey]

tufbuf, we are going Nov 15-24th. We are doing the shorter of their 2 itineraries without doing either of the overnight extensions they offered. I took this tour/this date because they offered a sweet discount for it. Since we fly home the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, I'm thinking that perhaps they were not having success filling this tour. Our dates were flexible so I was more than happy to take them up on a discount.

It is/was not restricted to adults only and I did not ask regarding the makeup of the group that has booked thus far. We are two adults but we don't mind if children are in the mix so it's not something I thought to ask.

Bobo, when I was talking about add-ons, I didn't mean the extensions. I was talking about just little 2-6 hour excursions that they offered to book if we got in a day early. There were many to choose from. Honestly, if I hadn't already booked my airfare, I would have been tempted to go in a day early just to take advantage of some of the excursions they offered around Cairo for the one day. I thought this was a great little extra they offered that AbD did not.

 

[tufbuf]

Thanks for the input! I love scientific stuff and I enjoy watching the National Geographic and Discovery channels and absorbing all the facts. It might just be a bit of knowledge overload for hubby and kid, honestly. Both trips (Galapagos and Egypt) look awesome so I hope both of you will have tons of fun!!!

 

[Bobo912]

tufbuf, we are going Nov 15-24th. We are doing the shorter of their 2 itineraries without doing either of the overnight extensions they offered. I took this tour/this date because they offered a sweet discount for it. Since we fly home the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, I'm thinking that perhaps they were not having success filling this tour. Our dates were flexible so I was more than happy to take them up on a discount.

It is/was not restricted to adults only and I did not ask regarding the makeup of the group that has booked thus far. We are two adults but we don't mind if children are in the mix so it's not something I thought to ask.

Bobo, when I was talking about add-ons, I didn't mean the extensions. I was talking about just little 2-6 hour excursions that they offered to book if we got in a day early. There were many to choose from. Honestly, if I hadn't already booked my airfare, I would have been tempted to go in a day early just to take advantage of some of the excursions they offered around Cairo for the one day. I thought this was a great little extra they offered that AbD did not.

Oh, I didn't know about those. I don't know if they offer anything like that for our trip. We're taking the Lindblad group flight from Miami that departs at 7:00PM and we leave for Baltra at 5:30 the next morning, so we won't have time for any signtseeing before the tour anyway. Maybe I'll get some additional info as the date of the trip approaches. I'd like to know about it, even if I can't take advantage of it myself. At least I can pass the information along to my Dis board peeps.

 

[Bobo912]

Well I guess I booked too early, because Lindblad now has this offer:
"Book by Oct. 29 & receive free roundtrip (Miami/Guayaquil/Galapagos) airfare on select departures"
I got the free airfare from Miami to Guayquil, but paid $630 for the two of us for the internal flight. I'm going to tell myself that "select departures" doesn't apply to my date, but chances are that it does. Oh, well.

5 minutes later ... I've decided that I did the right thing by booking early. There were only 2 cabins available at the price I wanted to pay when I booked and one was at the rear of the ship, which I wanted to avoid since there's supposedly more motion in the rear. So if I had waited I would have had to book a more expensive cabin and it would have been at least an additional $1400. So I'm back to being happy now.

 

[sayhello]

Well I guess I booked too early, because Lindblad now has this offer:
"Book by Oct. 29 & receive free roundtrip (Miami/Guayaquil/Galapagos) airfare on select departures"
I got the free airfare from Miami to Guayquil, but paid $630 for the two of us for the internal flight. I'm going to tell myself that "select departures" doesn't apply to my date, but chances are that it does. Oh, well.

5 minutes later ... I've decided that I did the right thing by booking early. There were only 2 cabins available at the price I wanted to pay when I booked and one was at the rear of the ship, which I wanted to avoid since there's supposedly more motion in the rear. So if I had waited I would have had to book a more expensive cabin and it would have been at least an additional $1400. So I'm back to being happy now.

Glad to hear it! Sometimes you have to look at the situation from a different perspective to realize the positives! ($630 is definitely less than $1400!)

Sayhello

 

[Pakey]

Well I guess I booked too early, because Lindblad now has this offer:
"Book by Oct. 29 & receive free roundtrip (Miami/Guayaquil/Galapagos) airfare on select departures"
I got the free airfare from Miami to Guayquil, but paid $630 for the two of us for the internal flight. I'm going to tell myself that "select departures" doesn't apply to my date, but chances are that it does. Oh, well.

5 minutes later ... I've decided that I did the right thing by booking early. There were only 2 cabins available at the price I wanted to pay when I booked and one was at the rear of the ship, which I wanted to avoid since there's supposedly more motion in the rear. So if I had waited I would have had to book a more expensive cabin and it would have been at least an additional $1400. So I'm back to being happy now.

I did the same thing. In the end, I'm still happy with the cabin assignment I have.

 

[brazilgirl]

Hello!

I am also going to the Galapagos with my kids (ages 14 , 11 and 7) in July 2011. I was seriously considering the ABD trip , but in the end I opted for the Celebrity Expedition. I am planning a pre and post cruise trip -on the pre trip portion we will stay at a hacienda (Rumiloma) , visit Otalavo market and a trip to the Cloud Forest. Plus we will stay one day pre cruise on the Galapagos.

On our post trip , we will spend a couple of days skiing in Chile.

I will be interested in comparing our experiences !

Kim

 

[Bobo912]

Hello!

I am also going to the Galapagos with my kids (ages 14 , 11 and 7) in July 2011. I was seriously considering the ABD trip , but in the end I opted for the Celebrity Expedition. I am planning a pre and post cruise trip -on the pre trip portion we will stay at a hacienda (Rumiloma) , visit Otalavo market and a trip to the Cloud Forest. Plus we will stay one day pre cruise on the Galapagos.

On our post trip , we will spend a couple of days skiing in Chile.

I will be interested in comparing our experiences !

Kim

I considered Celebrity too. I saw nothing but fantastic reviews about their Galapagos trip. Hope you have a fantastic time! Would love to hear about your experience when you return home.

 

[brazilgirl]

I have also read excellent reports on the Expedition...our family has had the opportunity to take some great trips on Celebrity. In January ,we took a trip to Antarctica/Patagonia ( a real adventure-30 ft waves!) and we also did the Baltic and Med cruises with them.

I really enjoy planning pre and post cruise adventures , as well as doing private tours while in port. I loved ABD´s itinerary for Ecuador , but felt that there wasn´t enough time in the Galapagos. I have my eye on an African Safari with ABD or Micato.

I am enjoying all the ABD trip reports!
Kim

 

[Techtravler]

Hi bobo, I have been out of pocket lately and am just getting caught up on your new trip. This sounds great, my wife has always wanted to go to the Galapagos, so this may be a good option for us. The bigest issue I see is the 10 days during spring break, my daughter only gets 1 week, so I will have to see if it will work with the weekends and the travel needed, if not it would have to be this summer.

 

[Bobo912]

Techtravler, I hope it works out for you. The trips start on Friday and end on Sunday. Luckily our first day of spring break is Friday and then we have exactly 10 days, so I hope we don't have any flight delays coming home. Although, if this isn't an educational opportunity, I don't know what is! I think each season has some variations in wildlife and there is no bad time to go. I chose March in the hope of having some slightly warmer ocean temps, and, of course, not having to wait a whole year for our fantastic vacation to come around. Good luck with your planning!

 

[czycropper]

We went this past March/April with Lindblad/NatGeo and it was fantastic!!!!!

Staff & Naturalist are top notch; ship is great; food beyond delicious; islands visited were above & beyond our expectations; an overall great adventure with them. My DDs will be talking about it for years to come . My youngest DD10 is on one of the videos on the Lindblad website (March 30th, I think).

You'll have a great time with Lindblad - say hi to Mauricio (the Matre'D) for my DDs - he really made all the kids feel like they were as special as the adults and even had "special" drinks for them !

 

[Sharkbyte]

How does the cost compares with ABD? I want to do this trip but ABD is too expensive.

 

[Bobo912]

I booked this ocean-going adventure, where snorkeling is a must, as far as I'm concerned, and did I ever mention to you all that I don't know how to swim. Well, today this middle-aged woman had her first swim lesson ever. And guess what? I can swim! I'm no Michael Phelps, but I'm not bad. I've always been a little apprehensive in the water, but today my confidence went up by about 1000%. I have lessons through mid-Dec and I'm going to bring the snorkeling gear to the pool and we'll practice with that. This has been my one concern about this trip and I think I'll have this worry well behind me by the time March gets here. I'm so excited!

 

[marcemch]

I booked this ocean-going adventure, where snorkeling is a must, as far as I'm concerned, and did I ever mention to you all that I don't know how to swim. Well, today this middle-aged woman had her first swim lesson ever. And guess what? I can swim! I'm no Michael Phelps, but I'm not bad. I've always been a little apprehensive in the water, but today my confidence went up by about 1000%. I have lessons through mid-Dec and I'm going to bring the snorkeling gear to the pool and we'll practice with that. This has been my one concern about this trip and I think I'll have this worry well behind me by the time March gets here. I'm so excited!

Good for you, Bobo912! I think it was a wise thing for you to do to get your confidence up. I know that non-swimmers do snorkel (even my 70 yr old father did it when we were on a cruise a couple of years ago), but frankly, as a swimmer, I'm not sure I'd have the guts out there in the big ocean! It's a little different out there in the ocean with no "side of the pool" to grab onto and with some waves in the water.
I LOVE, LOVE to snorkel! My DD10 and I just went to Beaches Turks & Caicos (which we loved, by the way - I wasn't sure I would - a GREAT family all-inclusive resort), and we snorkeled a lot. One thing I would recommend is that if they give you those little blow up life jackets that you test it out prior to getting in the water. The one I got last time had a slow leak, so I had to keep blowing it up in the water, which I would think would be a bit scary if you weren't a swimmer. Sometimes people work too hard when they are in the water. It's more work to tread water and stay "standing up", than it is to float and breathe through the equipment. It is definitely a good idea, which you are planning to do, to take the time to practice with equipment before you go too. Anyway, just a few observations....
Have fun! I can only imagine the cool creatures you will see there.

 

[sayhello]

I booked this ocean-going adventure, where snorkeling is a must, as far as I'm concerned, and did I ever mention to you all that I don't know how to swim. Well, today this middle-aged woman had her first swim lesson ever. And guess what? I can swim! I'm no Michael Phelps, but I'm not bad. I've always been a little apprehensive in the water, but today my confidence went up by about 1000%. I have lessons through mid-Dec and I'm going to bring the snorkeling gear to the pool and we'll practice with that. This has been my one concern about this trip and I think I'll have this worry well behind me by the time March gets here. I'm so excited!

Congrats! That's so very cool. So not only are you making it less stressful for your trip, but you're learning a new skill. I'm sure it's something you'll use many times in the future! You're going to *LOVE* snorkeling!

Good for you, Bobo912! I think it was a wise thing for you to do to get your confidence up. I know that non-swimmers do snorkel (even my 70 yr old father did it when we were on a cruise a couple of years ago), but frankly, as a swimmer, I'm not sure I'd have the guts out there in the big ocean! It's a little different out there in the ocean with no "side of the pool" to grab onto and with some waves in the water.
I LOVE, LOVE to snorkel! My DD10 and I just went to Beaches Turks & Caicos (which we loved, by the way - I wasn't sure I would - a GREAT family all-inclusive resort), and we snorkeled a lot. One thing I would recommend is that if they give you those little blow up life jackets that you test it out prior to getting in the water. The one I got last time had a slow leak, so I had to keep blowing it up in the water, which I would think would be a bit scary if you weren't a swimmer. Sometimes people work too hard when they are in the water. It's more work to tread water and stay "standing up", than it is to float and breathe through the equipment. It is definitely a good idea, which you are planning to do, to take the time to practice with equipment before you go too. Anyway, just a few observations....
Have fun! I can only imagine the cool creatures you will see there.

I've been wondering about Beaches Turks & Caicos... It looks wonderful, but how do you think it would be for someone traveling solo? Is it *too* family oriented? I hate just sitting by a pool, so it has to have stuff to get me out & doing on my own, or get me involved with others.

Thanks,
Sayhello