Curt From Canada

Although this is disappointing, for my next cruise I have devised a strategy for forgetting about most of it:
At 7:00AM, I will have Lovely Latte in the Diamond ... er Crown Lounge. At 9:00AM, I will have a Celebratory Caesar on the pool deck. At 12:30PM, I will have a Resplendent Rose with lunch.  (I can not believe they have one as good as they do on RC ships these days). At 5:00PM, I will have a Marvellous Martini at my favourite Bar (with a Bartender I have "trained" to make the Martini absolutely perfect 😉). At 7:30ish PM, I will have a glass of Wonderful Wine (probably as big a red that they can find). At 9:30PM. I will have a Superb Scotch in the Schooner Bar (probably one of their best MacAllan's) AND gladly pay the additional charge. As I roll into bed, none of the changes will matter.  I will sleep well.  If, and when, I wake up the next day, and I am a little bit down ... I will "rinse & repeat" steps 1 to 6 above.
I hope this helps ...
Curt from Canada

You know what? I think I was hacked. You are right. Honeymooners SHOULD! try out for the LMS. It's looks so fun and I wish I did it during my honeymoon. And with those amazing prizes, we were dumb.
Or - y'know, do it because I need to be entertained.

You know the saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." 🤣
And I agree with @OCSC Mike, clearly pre-gold. The pros carry empty ziploc bags lmao, don't ask me how I know

Satellite internet at sea is never guaranteed.  This is real opportunity for poor performance or outages due to weather and other issues on all ships and all cruise lines regardless of the satellite provider.
If you need a guaranteed internet connection stay home.  

I like this name better than SkyPad.

Booked this World Cruise segment.  Exciting itinerary.  It will take a while to figure out excursions.

Be careful what you ask for ... because there will be lots of pictures of gears, engine rooms and bridges and no pictures of wildlife, scenery or cultural activities.
Curt from Canada
Professional Engineer and extremely poor photographer.
😂 

It's time to play the "Blame @twangster Game":
Galapagos has been booked for NOV 2025.  I told my soulmate that is was all @twangster's fault and she agreed.  I cheated (a lot) by showing her all his pictures first.
There was very little coaxing required.
Everyone feel free to use this not-yet-patented process.
😉
 
Curt from Canada

It's time to play the "Blame @twangster Game":
Galapagos has been booked for NOV 2025.  I told my soulmate that is was all @twangster's fault and she agreed.  I cheated (a lot) by showing her all his pictures first.
There was very little coaxing required.
Everyone feel free to use this not-yet-patented process.
😉
 
Curt from Canada

It's time to play the "Blame @twangster Game":
Galapagos has been booked for NOV 2025.  I told my soulmate that is was all @twangster's fault and she agreed.  I cheated (a lot) by showing her all his pictures first.
There was very little coaxing required.
Everyone feel free to use this not-yet-patented process.
😉
 
Curt from Canada

I think that anyone who does this type of Galápagos cruise should get some graduate level course credits from SOMEwhere.  I was exhausted just reading @twangster’s accounts.  This seems more like research than leisure cruising.  I guess anyone that does this kind of cruise understands that, going in.

Be careful what you ask for ... because there will be lots of pictures of gears, engine rooms and bridges and no pictures of wildlife, scenery or cultural activities.
Curt from Canada
Professional Engineer and extremely poor photographer.
😂 

It's time to play the "Blame @twangster Game":
Galapagos has been booked for NOV 2025.  I told my soulmate that is was all @twangster's fault and she agreed.  I cheated (a lot) by showing her all his pictures first.
There was very little coaxing required.
Everyone feel free to use this not-yet-patented process.
😉
 
Curt from Canada

It's time to play the "Blame @twangster Game":
Galapagos has been booked for NOV 2025.  I told my soulmate that is was all @twangster's fault and she agreed.  I cheated (a lot) by showing her all his pictures first.
There was very little coaxing required.
Everyone feel free to use this not-yet-patented process.
😉
 
Curt from Canada

It's time to play the "Blame @twangster Game":
Galapagos has been booked for NOV 2025.  I told my soulmate that is was all @twangster's fault and she agreed.  I cheated (a lot) by showing her all his pictures first.
There was very little coaxing required.
Everyone feel free to use this not-yet-patented process.
😉
 
Curt from Canada

Here are the daily Chronicles in PDF format specific to this cruise.
Day 1 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 2 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 3 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 4 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 5 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 6 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 7 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf
Day 8 Chronicle_North Central OR230916007.pdf

Cruise Summary
This has been hands down one of the best cruises I have experienced.  It was so worth it.  When can I come back?  I want to do the Southern Galapagos itinerary next time.
It’s hard to put into words just how incredible this experience has been.  
The Galápagos Islands have been on my bucket list for some time.  What a phenomenal way to get there.  I realize now there are mistakes I have made.  The first is that I waited too long to visit the Galápagos Islands.  The second is that I didn’t book a back to back cruise to see even more.    
There were so many nights I put my head on the pillow thinking about the amazing experience I had earlier that day.  Can it get any better I thought?  And then it did the very next day.    
Silversea made it all very easy.
As far as food goes we are all unique with our preferences and tastes.   I try not to comment on food because my tastes are different than everyone else.  What I crave or dislike shouldn't matter to anyone.   Having said that I ended up eating more fish than I normally do and I found myself liking it more than I normally do.  I enjoyed the wines offered each night.
Leaving the ship for the last time yesterday was a little emotional.  Over a lot of non-expedition cruising on a variety of cruise lines I have never felt that before.  I'm really going to miss the Silver Origin and the phenomenal team that made this trip something I'll never forget.
I haven’t seen many threads about the Galápagos Islands as a destination so I hope you have found this helpful and I thank you for viewing.  

Incredible @twangster.  You are the pinnacle rock of this forum.  Thanks for the time and vast amount of effort it took to bring us along with you.  I'm very grateful.

Geeeez @twangster ... off the charts (and you adventure is just beginning).  I have too many questions, so just a critical one.
If a "bot" did not do their homework, I would be shocked.  Therefore, did you consider Celebrity's Galapagos similar sailings, or was the SilverSea "expedition style" a deciding factor?  
We would be very interested in your thought process in booking SilverSea over Celebrity (and others as well).  Galapagos is very high on our wish list.
Thanks for taking us along ...
Curt from Canada

Lunch before we ride back to shore for the afternoon excursion, shopping, both or staying on board to do whatever.

 

Your pace sounds exhausting !  Hope you’re having some “down” time, too.

We continue to explore the area.


The horses a bit closer.


Montemar also is a coffee plantation.  They host a coffee tasting for our benefit.



A Montemar representative walks us through the coffee tasting process.



Afterwards we are free to wander on our own, do some shopping with the local artisans they brought in or use the bathroom.
The view to the sea from our perch in the highlands of Santa Cruz.  The Tortoises make the fifty mile trek to lay their eggs. 

Geeeez @twangster ... off the charts (and you adventure is just beginning).  I have too many questions, so just a critical one.
If a "bot" did not do their homework, I would be shocked.  Therefore, did you consider Celebrity's Galapagos similar sailings, or was the SilverSea "expedition style" a deciding factor?  
We would be very interested in your thought process in booking SilverSea over Celebrity (and others as well).  Galapagos is very high on our wish list.
Thanks for taking us along ...
Curt from Canada

What an awesome report and more awesome journey. Thanks for taking the world along on your cruise!

Destination Talk followed by dinner.
Tomorrow is going to be giant!