Celebrity Xpedition Review

Great experience

Review for South America Cruise on Celebrity Xpedition
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free101girl
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Mar 2013
Cabin: Xpedition Suite with Veranda

Xpedition is billed as a "luxury" cruise in the Galapagos. The reality is that the Galapagos islands are a long way from anywhere (600 miles off the coast of Ecuador), in a challenging environment, so any cruise line operating there will face challenges. I believe it would be practically impossible to create a true luxury experience in the Galapagos. The Xpedition is as good as you're going to get, but you have to realize that some elements will not be luxurious.

The air-conditioning on the ship strains to keep up with the heat and humidity, particularly on the upper decks (5 and 6). We passed some uncomfortably hot nights in our XS suite on the 6th (top) deck. The motion of the ship is significant. Frequently the drawers, closet door and shower door in our suite would start banging open and closed in the middle of the night because of wave motion. One night the motion was so bad that a wine glass on the counter in a high-sided, boxlike tray provided by the ship, flew out of the tray and smashed all over the place. We are not affected by seasickness, so this was only mildly annoying to us. If you are susceptible, get a patch or pills, because the ship does move a lot.

The food is adequate. Don't expect the quality and presentation you may have experienced on larger cruise ships. They are working with local suppliers, so the quality of the products they get is variable. The fish was always pretty good, as were the pasta dishes. Salads were so-so. A lot of things that should have been cold (sushi, salads, etc.) were lukewarm. I kept expecting to get food poisoning because of that, but we were fine, so I guess their sanitation is good. Like Ecuadorean food in general, we found the food on the Xpedition pretty bland but also relatively healthy (few heavy sauces, lots of grilled stuff). Desserts were very good and breads quite good.

Cabin Review

Xpedition Suite with Veranda

Cabin XS

HOT! This suite is exposed to the sun all day on two sides and from overhead, and apparently is not well-insulated. By evening it is very uncomfortable -- the a/c just cannot keep up. I would say the in-room temp at that time of day was between 85 and 90, no lie. Usually by about 1 or 2 am it became comfortable. Also, because it's at the top of the ship, the wave motion is exaggerated. This suite has a very big balcony but there is almost no shade, ever, because the sun is overhead all the time at the equator! Plus it's a very busy itinerary: you're on excursions or eating or sleeping. We probably spent a total of 15 minutes on the balcony. If I had it to do over, I'd pick a stateroom on a lower deck, and skip the balcony.

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