Going to this Galapagos cruise, I was very nervous about sea-sickness, inadequate staterooms or standard of food, etc. on the ship. None of these fears were realized. The stateroom (Suite 602) was very comfortable though admittedly smaller than I have experienced on several other Celebrity cruises. I did not experience any problems with the air conditioning in this room as had been reported in several previous postings.

The quality of food was very good, though, again, not quite up to the "usual" standard for this cruise line. There was virtually no entertainment, but this cruise is full-up with hikes, snorkeling etc, that more than fills the day up, and the entertainment wasn't missed. I never heard any complaints from other passengers in this regard. Biggest complaint I heard on the trip was that the captain wasn't mixing with the passengers as much as he'd expected and wanted. Nitpicky, I think. The other crew were very friendly, approachable and competent.

The real highlight to the trip however, was the island experience. Think snorkeling with Moorish Idols and a penguin, simultaneously. Or a sea lion pup playfully cavorting, dipping, surfacing and weaving through a group of us snorkelers. And I could 't stop taking pictures of the animals, The creatures were so familiar, no, OBLIVIOUS to us that I felt like I was filming BBC special. I had been nervous that, by day 2 or so of this trip, I would be developing a sense of deja vu at the "sameness" of the flora and fauna from one day or island to the next. The naturalist guides really helped us all to appreciate the subtleties of nature and marvel at variety and beauty of this somewhat barren land. The activities (we virtually always took the "strenuous" option when picking the next day's activities) were quite easy; never had anyone lagging behind and the average age on board seemed to be about 65. Lots of breaks, but not annoyingly so. Read more