In reading other people's reviews, we noticed a constant theme which was, "trip of a lifetime" and that proved to be the same with our trip. If you are planning on taking this trip as a relaxing cruise, think again and change to another ship. This trip was one of the most active that I have been on and everyday got better and better. However, let me digress back to the beginning.

We arrived in Quito on Wednesday night as we had tacked a couple extra days on our stay to give us more time to unwind. We stayed at the J.W. Marriott so we could roll into the Celebrity pre-cruise package, which I would highly recommend. The hotel is nice, but not as nice as other J.W. Marriott hotels that we have stayed in. We took the Celebrity "city tour" on Saturday and found it to be well organized but somewhat boring. Others seemed to enjoy it and the lunch that was provided was great. Some reviews I read indicated the area around the hotel did not appear to be safe and not near any shopping. That is not correct. There is a three story very modern shopping mall that is a 10 minute walk from the hotel which we went to and were impressed. Anyway, on Sunday, we loaded up on the buses to the airport for our flight to Baltra. We left our luggage in the care of Celebrity and the next time we would see it would be in our stateroom.

The airport was an easy experience and we were soon on the chartered A319 Airbus for the two hour flight. The service on the plane included a great hot meal and any drinks with outstanding service. This was the start of perfect service that would continue throughout the week. Upon arrival in Baltra Airport, we quickly moved through customs and were on another bus being moved to the harbor. That drive took all of eight minutes and we were escorted out to large Zodiac boats for the Zodiac trip out to the beautiful ship. On that note, be sure to wear appropriate clothing and shoes for the Zodiacs. They can be a little challenging to board! Read more