Galapagos Islands - April, 2024

Schedule:

              After eating breakfast downstairs at the buffet and refilling our water bottles, it was time to finish packing the carry-on luggage and to make our way to the lobby for the hour ride back to the airport.  We were given our boarding passes and park entrance forms and loaded into the bus. 

              Upon arrival at the airport, we said goodbye to the guide and driver we had all weekend, then were quickly ushered through bag check, then security and arrived at our gate with about 10 minutes before boarding. 

              The flight from Quito to Baltra was on an Avianca AirBus 320 that is chartered only for Celebrity guests.  They left all of the middle seats unassigned, so you either got an aisle or a window.  During the nearly 2 hour flight, there was a lunch service with salad, a choice of either salmon or a Mexican chicken wrap and dessert.  Wine, beer, soda and juices are all available at no extra charge.

              After landing in Baltra, we exited the aircraft old school with rolling stairs brought to both the front and back of the plane.  

            We walked from the tarmac into the airport, presented our passports and park entrance forms, then dropped off our agricultural forms and had our carry-ons X-rayed.  We would not have to pick up our checked baggage since they were taken directly to the ship and brought to our cabin.

              Next, we checked in for the cruise and were given our SeaPass cards, then queued for a bus to take us to the pier—about a 5 minute trip.  Upon arrival at the pier, we were given life jackets and waited in another line for the Zodiac tenders to take us to the ship.  The Flora does not dock anywhere in the Galapagos;  all entry and exit is from tenders.

              It was on the tender ride to the ship that I realized that I had left the camera bag with our Canon DSLR on the plane.  I was so focused on getting the passports and forms together that I totally forgot the camera bag under the seat.  We were on the very last tender, so I was resigned to the fact that even if someone turned in the bag, I probably wouldn't see it again until we arrived back in Baltra at the end of the cruise.

              When we got to the Flora, we were greeted with champagne and introduced to the captain (Vladimir Armas) and I mentioned the lost camera.  He immediately jumped to action and called over the hotel director (Andres) , who took down the information about the bag and left to go call the airport.

              We were escorted to our cabin, given a quick tour, and dropped off our carry-on bags.

              In selecting our cabin, we knew that we wanted an actual balcony and not an infinite veranda, which meant we needed to pick something on deck 5.  We decided on 518 because it looked like it would be a quiet location.  It turned out to be a great choice; only 520 is directly adjacent to it.  The other side is a housekeeping area (you are on an excursion or at dinner when the cabin stewards are doing their thing) and across the hall is the "spa" (I put that in quotations because the spa on Flora amounts to  one room with a single massage table).

              The only noise we ever noticed inside the cabin was occasionally when the ship was travelling between islands you would very faintly hear these "wind chime"-like sculptures in the elevator lobby:

518:

              Unlike most cruises, you are not given a daily schedule of activities.  You get this one at the start of the cruise which lists out the schedule for the entire week:

              Tip:  Before you leave on the flight from Quito, turn off automatic time updates on your electronic devices (cell phone, smart watch, iPad, etc.)  Why, you ask?  Because there is a time change in the Galapagos Islands to one hour earlier, but for some reason, Celebrity Flora stays on Quito time.  Lunch is served on Deck 7 at the Ocean Grill & Bar on boarding day until 3:15.  Our devices had all automatically reset to Galapagos time and we thought it was 2:00, but no, it was 3:00 Flora time and we had 15 minutes left to eat!

              We headed up and grabbed some food.  While we were eating, a crew member came around to our table and asked our cabin # and told us we had successfully completed the muster drill.  Most casual muster drill ever! 

               It was at this time that Andres, the hotel director, walked over and brought our camera.  It had been turned in and one of the naturalists brought it to the ship!  Yay!!

               After lunch, we toured the ship, then stopped by Guest Services on Deck 3 and reserved Glamping.  We decided to schedule it for the next night (Monday) because we were afraid we would be too tired to enjoy it later in the week.

               At 5:00, they began calling people down by Suite # to the Marina on Deck 3 to get outfitted with your wet suite, flippers, mask and snorkel.  Once you collected all of your gear, you packed it all in a dive bag and hung it on a hook with your cabin # on it.

               Next, we headed off to the Discovery Lounge on Deck 4 for the Captain's Welcome Toast and the excursion briefing for the next day.  The captain informed us that there were 89 guests on this sailing (out of a possible 100 at full capacity).

              At the end of the briefing, naturalists are stationed at various points throughout the lounge with iPads so you can sign up for the excursions you want to do the next day.  You give them your cabin # and names and off you go.

              By the time we got back to the room, our checked bags had arrived and we unpacked and met our Cabin Steward (Ximena), then decided we were too tired to go to dinner in the dining room on Deck 4, so we opted to order room service.  We had a room service menu, but couldn't find the number to call.  We ended up dialing Guest Services who informed us they also took the room service orders (okay, it's a small Celebrity ship.  That takes a minute to get used to!) 

              This was the how the call went:

Us:  "May we please have two orders of Spaghetti Bolognese and two glasses of Merlot?"

Guest Services: "You want two Spaghetti Bolognese and two watermelons?"

Us: "No.  Two Merlots.  It's a drink?"

Guest Services: "Oh, a drink.  You want Spaghetti Bolognese and two glasses of watermelon juice?"

Us: "No.  No watermelon!  Two glasses of Merlot.  It's red wine!"

             Sigh.  We finally got on the same page, they said our order would arrive it about 40 minutes, then I looked around for a place for us to eat.  I asked my wife if she wanted to eat on the balcony or on the tree stump.  She looked at me like I might have a head injury.

  The tree stump/table in the room:

We ultimately decided to eat outside on our balcony.  Then we called it an early night after a long couple of days.

Final step count for Day 3