We arrived in Quito Friday at midnight. Celebrity reps took us in hand, helping to gather and expedite our bags through the baggage claim check-out process and speeding us through customs. Our room at the Marriott Quito was very nice. We got to bed at 2:30 a.m., then had breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and a city tour from 9:00 to 4:30. By mid-afternoon I was feeling ill. By late afternoon my husband was feeling ill. We skipped dinner and were violently ill all night. With little sleep Friday night, no sleep Saturday night, and being too sick to eat breakfast, we were taken by bus Sunday morning to the airport for the flight to Baltra, with a stop-over for refueling in Guyaquil. Before leaving Quito, a Celebrity rep found us some Gatorade (at 5:30 a.m., no less!) to fight our dehydration. We found out that at least six other people suffered the same fate. Food poisoning? (Important note about touring in South America: always have tissue and paper towels with you as public bathrooms typically don't have any. Sometimes there is someone who will gladly sell you some, but don't count on it. Obviously, hand sanitizers are also good to have on hand.)
As soon as we got into Baltra, we were taken by bus to the dock and loaded onto a Zodiac for the ride to the Xpedition. There are sea lions hanging out at the dock and you have to be careful to not trip over one. We were taken to our suite at 11:00. We skipped lunch but went to a briefing about the afternoon excursion choices and a life-vest muster. Our first excursion went from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. We chose the high-intensity excursion even though we were still ill because we didn't want to miss a thing. From there things got better every day. The daily routine: breakfast 7:00-8:00, morning excursions 9:00-11:30, lunch 12:00-1:30, documentary series about the Galapagos 2:00 2:45, afternoon excursions 4:00-7:00, cocktails and canapes 7:15-7:45, briefing about the following day's excursions 7:45-8:15, dinner 8:15-10:00, stargazing, then in bed by 11:00. This is a very busy, challenging cruise. You're there to see and learn.
There are typically 6 excursions to choose from each day, one of 3 for the morning, and one of 3 for the afternoon. They are categorized as high-intensity (hiking and climbing over rough terrain), medium-intensity, and low-intensity (a Zodiac ride with an optional landing for light exploration). We did as much of the high-intensity as we could, although we found you could see a lot from the Zodiac rides also. During lunch, the Xpedition moves to the next position, either another island, or another bay on the same island. The wildlife and scenery: fantastic. Land iguanas, marine iguanas, lava lizards, albatrosses, boobies (red-footed, blue-footed, and masked), flightless cormorants, pelicans, penguins, flamingos, frigate birds, the Galapagos hawk, too many other birds to name, sharks, giant land tortoises, sea turtles, too many fish to name, and sea lions. We even found an octopus in a tide pool.