Galapagos cruises

We're glad you enjoyed a land-based Galapagos trip with us, especially Bartolome. On the ground, we work with an Ecuador-based company and together we help to employ locals on the islands, book locally-owned Galapagos hotels and use guides are from the Galapagos all of which have to adhere to the Galapagos Park regulations in order to operate. Also, as part of the pre-departure information that we send to all our travelers, we include hints and tips on how to help protect the Galapagos - plastics use, saving energy and water, recycling and more - and for every Galapagos booking we receive we donate to the Galapagos Conservation Trust, to help protect this fragile environment.

Many thanks for your comments, Dalia. We are delighted to hear you had a good time in the Galapagos. Sorry to hear you had problems with sea sickness and we hope it didn't dampen your spirits! We do offer a large selection of boats (and itineraries) for every taste and generally the more high class boats - especially catamarans - are more stable and less rocky.

We are sorry to hear that the Galapagos did not fulfil our clients’ expectations in terms of wildlife. The islands' wildlife and landscapes are fascinating and while there are many differences in subspecies of wildlife from island to island, the main species of wildlife are found on more than one island. We send information on each destination to our customers and recommend that customers read this beforehand to find out whether the destination of their choice can offer them what they would like to see - and therefore hopefully avoid their being disappointed on arrival. The Galapagos Islands are not a beach destination as such and beach time is generally limited in favour of wildlife excursions and snorkelling.

The Beluga boat is classified as a first class boat, which makes it an above midrange boat. We do not sell it as a luxury boat. While emphasis is put on good quality meals, it is important to remember that you are cruising amongst remote islands and food has to be shipped in from the mainland and has to keep for a week long cruise, limiting the selection of food and dessert choices. Sadly, while Ecuador is a leading exporter of coffee, it is not the Ecuadorian custom to drink quality coffee.

We always advise our customers of alternatives to private transfers if there is an option of using public transport, and this customer was advised that a cheaper local bus was available for the transfer from the airport. It was the customer’s choice to book the higher priced private transfer. The option was given. We aim to give all different options in terms of inter-island transport but in this case the customer chose to have free time on Santa Cruz island before moving on San Cristobal island, and for that reason we did not offer the early morning inter-island flight but instead the local boat which leaves later in the day, after lunch, from the town of Puerto Ayora. Numbers on those boats are restricted, and the port authorities control the numbers, but they can be busy. The inter-island flights are somewhat unreliable and you can be hanging around for hours at Baltra airport.

Unfortunately, on this occasion our usually excellent guide, who has worked with the Aida Maria boat for many years, received some distressing personal news immediately prior to joining the cruise. He is now currently on leave and will be back with us when he is back to his usual good form. His performance has, down the years, always been described as a very professional, responsible and knowledgeable guide. We are confident that this was a one-off. We’re sorry that this traveler missed out on his usually excellent guiding skills.