My wife and I (mid-50's) did the 10 night Quito and Flora Inner Loop with our two adult children (19, 22). Overall this was a great experience except for covid which I will save for the last paragraph for those of you cruising during covid (hopefully limited to just the rest of 2022). I have tried to provide info here that I wish I had known prior to sailing (so my apologies if it is long).

Pre-Quito: the Quito pre-tour was excellent. The JW Marriot is a beautiful hotel and Adrianna our guide was awesome (she even remembered us a week later when she met us at the airport upon our return from the Galapagos). The 7 hr day tour of Quito was interesting and we especially enjoyed the trip to the Equator line. The group buffet lunch at the monastery during the tour and sit-down dinner that evening at a local restaurant was good as well. I am very glad we did the Quito tour. All transfers and meals were included (except for the arrival day - but we ate in the hotel and that was excellent).

Ship: the Flora is a beautiful ship. If feels like your own private yacht. There is plenty of space to make your own on this ship both outside and in. The staff was absolutely amazing. I had multiple staff members who knew my name within the first day or two. I cannot say enough positive things about the ship. In the age of the ugly mega-cruise ship it was refreshing to find a ship that not only felt like a ship but looked good doing it. We are not a seasick-prone group but be advised that this little ship does rock a bit. We had 2 nights (at the eastern side of the Galapagos) where she rolled pretty good all night long. I found that enjoyable, but I could tell many passengers did not. Read more