My mom and I had a Galapagos cruise and land-based adventure! I enjoyed the larger ship more than expected. Such a great destination to kayak, snorkel, experience wildlife up close and personal such as blue-footed boobies, iguanas and giant tortoises. This trip was such an action packed adventure and I am so happy that I had my mom by me.
The beautiful 100-passenger Galapagos Legend (Jenna Fedyschyn)
Going into this Galapagos trip, I thought for sure that I’d have a strong preference for a small vessel, something in the 16-20 passenger range. Quaint and cozy, where everybody knows your name. After my cruise on the 100-passenger Galapagos Legend, I now see major advantages to both and was surprised by how much I loved a larger crowd and more room to roam on board. In the cruising world, relatively speaking, a 100-passenger ship is still quite small! But for some travelers who wouldn’t necessarily want to identify as a “cruiser,” it can sound like an intimidating leap in size.
Large ship misconceptions. Let’s clear the air, shall we?
Bigger groups? Not at all. Since the Galapagos National Park service enforces a strict 1:16 guide-to-passenger ratio for all guided services, each ship will have an appropriate number of naturalist guides on board in order to not exceed this ratio.
Long wait times? Not to worry! On the Legend, we were always summoned to the disembarkation area by groups - rotating the order in which we were called - and the process from start to finish would take about 10-15 minutes. This didn’t eat into our time for excursions, and we were never standing around waiting. Remember, these cruises are offered year-round, and the crews have it all down to a science.
Crowded excursions? Nope. The guides do a great job of starting in slightly different locations so that the groups aren’t on top of each other, competing for space and air time. If you’re on a smaller ship, you can expect to see a few other vessels at your landing sites in order to maximize the number of travelers that can be in a location at one time. The larger ships will usually max out that particular landing site, so you’re rarely landing with other ships nearby.
Would a bigger boat be the right fit for me?
If you’re seriously worried about seasickness, a larger ship is definitely something to consider.
If you're an older traveler with more limited mobility, the larger ships will often have more amenities on board to make your experience more comfortable. Most ships over 40 passengers will have a doctor on board (the Legend did), and the Legend always had the glass bottom boat ready to go for travelers who weren’t comfortable with snorkeling in open waters - a great alternative!
If you’re looking for a few more creature comforts - fitness center, lounges, bars, pools, libraries, hot tub (all of which the Legend has) - a larger vessel might be for you.
If you’re stressed out at the thought of sharing each excursion and meal time with the same 16 travelers, you might enjoy the ability to meet more people and/or blend in with your surroundings - nothing wrong with a bit of anonymity when on vacation!
If you're a large family traveling with young children, the larger ships will usually have more options for triple cabins and interconnected rooms.
We were a group of three that initiated our research by independently searching for the best agency to help us in the somewhat complex experience of traveling to the Galapagos. We chose adventure life because they were the most responsive in the website provided the most comprehensive overview of the trip. Their reviews were also very good.
Adventure, life splits up its booking process in two parts. First Jeff, the booking agent helped us decide which experience best suited are interests. We chose a small 14 to 16 group sized yacht. Once the booking was made with Jeff, we were handed off to Coleene, who oversaw the complex process of assembling all of the necessary documents and making sure we had everything we needed to make the trip go smoothly. The adventure, life website, then becomes your personal place of reference for all things related to your trip from door to door. It’s a lot of information to assemble, especially for three travelers, but the website makes it easy and Colleen‘s gentle reminders kept us on track. In all, from the beginning, we had four months from the time we started our research till the time we departed. We felt that was, a good amount of preparation time and don’t think it would be wise to do it in less than four months. Mostly because I think you have more options with that amount of time. There were others on our trip that took six months and more from the time they started planning.
The trip itself was outstanding. We ended up on an excellent yacht (Galapagos Angel II) with a great group of guests that we were able to connect with and put together a really nice google photos album to share.
Jed
6 days ago
Mary was very helpful. Quick to reply with helpful information and closure on arrangements.
Nicola Maxwell
1 week ago
Mary Curry and Elma are always so responsive and nice to deal with.
Michael
1 week ago
I enjoyed working with Jess to put together a private N.Z. trip. Jess has been my go-to person at Adventure Life over the past several years. She listens to what my husband and I want in a trip, and is always responsive to questions. Nothing seems to be too much of a bother for Jess.
DIANNE GRAY
1 week ago
Jane was my AE agent for the 2 months of helping me decide that this will be the most amazing trip we will ever experience in our lifetime and a memorable way to celebrate our 40th!
I was also able to work with Mike from Quark who was also very helpful.
Once I had decided to go ahead with my booking Kevin took over to assist Jane while on vacation.
Kevin was able to tweak the quote even more
and truly sealed the deal! He was patient with receiving my full payment as it took time to “round up that much cash” Were booking a delux balcony and there’s no looking back
I feel confident and very satisfied that I have made the best decision choosing Quark Expeditions and look forward to a top notch experience aboard the Ultramarine.
Both Jane and Kevin are sincere, professional and courteous. They met all of our needs
to ensure my process was stress free.
I’m looking forward to all our daily excursions then enjoying a Sauna and my own cold plunge in the tub! My back up plan
to the “Antarctic Plunge”
I look forward to getting to know and dealing with Mary Rose for all the final details that will make our trip complete. Great company!