Curt From Canada

I am certain my "Canadian" is showing. @twangster has said, in the past, that Canadian humour is sometimes hard to get.
We are booked on the Antarctic portion of the World Cruise (18 days Buenos Aires to Valparaiso).  It was "dirt" cheap when it came out, so we booked a refundable fare.  The airfare is almost the same price as the cruise.  We are "World Cruisers" for only 18 days.  Still, is sounds nice ...
We always plan cruises like it is an Apollo Moon Landing, and Antarctica will be our biggest challenge.  We hope this thread will contain some valuable information and inspire others to jump on this first attempt by Royal.
The dynamic of 18 day cruisers vs 274 day cruisers could be an "interesting" Netflix series called:
"Beachfront Bargain Hunt meets Selling Sunset".
😉
@deButler ... there were too many smaller legs of this cruise that were of interest to us.  Some of the itineraries are on our wish list.  We are on the second leg and will try to keep people in the loop on how it goes.  I would not be surprised if we booked another leg while on the cruise (although the prices are skyrocketing at the moment).
Curt from Canada

There were a number of Frigatebirds gliding above the ship.

There were dozens and dozens of Galapagos Shearwaters skimming the service.

Then the sun made an appearance.


 

I've got to take a break from posting the morning session.   An excursion is departing.   Back in a bit.  

There were a couple of drivers for me that led me to Silversea.
Celebrity rarely offers a reduced single supplement on the fleet.  Even when they do on ships elsewhere in the world their policies are still unfriendly to the solo guest.  Even if you do find a solo fare their Always Included packages remains priced for two guests.  For example you pay for two drink packages but as a solo you only get one, and what would as a solo guest do with a second drink package?  Drink twice as much? It makes no sense. When X does offer a solo fare it's generally 'no perks' because it never makes sense to pay for two perks for a solo guest.  Plus, I've never seen a solo fare for Flora in the Galapagos.   
Silversea sometimes (but not often) offers a solo fare on the Silver Origin.  When you can get a Silversea solo fare it's actually several thousand less than Flora would be for a solo guest.  I can sail Silversea and fly business class for less than the cruise fare alone on Celebrity.
Silversea has always intrigued me.  I've wanted to try Silversea to experience a level of cruising above and beyond Royal or Celebrity.   
The Galapagos Islands are not going to be an inexpensive experience no matter how you choose to come here. If I am going to invest this much into a Galapagos visit I might as well do so in luxury.  
When I was on the Edge I attended a Galapagos presentation.  Everything looks fine and for a couple it would be a different equation but for me Celebrity rarely makes sense as a solo.  It's why I don't sail them that often.  Their ships, their rules.  I generally cruise other lines mostly but I do have an X booking next year.  
Putting all of these factors together and choosing Silversea and the Silver Origin was the perfect choice for me.

I KNEW you were a "bot".  Everyone ... it is confirmed.
@twangster ... thank you for taking us along on your incredible journey.  
(I think I am going to forward this blog link to a ton of people and buy shares in cruise lines that go to the Galapagos.)
😉
Thanks again ...
Curt from Canada

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

At 4:30pm we had the mandatory safety briefing.  We had been instructed a number of times to watch the safety briefing on our cabin TV's and acknowledge the video on the cabin TV.   After the safety drill we all gathered in the Explorers Lounge on deck four for our first orientation talk.  

After the talk some groups were asked to meet in the marina on deck 3 to secure snorkeling equipment.  I headed up to deck 8 forward to see Kicker Rock up close as we had been sailing slowly in this direction since the start of the safety briefing.
Sunset was taking place and a National Geographic ship had completed their sail past Kicker Rock.





With the naked eye you could easily spot hundreds of birds flying around or nesting on the rocks.





With that it was my turn to visit the marina to get my snorkel gear.

At 7pm we had our destination talk specific to our next day at Prince Philip's Steps.  This back in the Explorers Lounge.
The bar menu for the lounge.

I saw the dinner menu outside the main dining room while walking through this area.

 

The destination talk.


I'm not going to post these for every day but here is how the rest of today and day two will play out.

 

After dinner I ventured outside to see how the night sky was looking.  The cloud cover from earlier remained so I returned to my cabin to go through some pictures. 
Around 10:00pm I went out on my balcony and saw what I thought might be the Milky Way off my balcony.  Sure enough an app confirmed it so I went out to the deck eight forward star gazing deck that I took the pictures of Kicker Rock from.
I haven't spent a lot of time tweaking this just yet, but here is what I captured with a long exposure. 

 

Day Two - Genovesa
Three excursions today starting early with an advanced nature walk.  
After a short ride in the zodiac we climb a set of steep stairs to reach the top of Genovesa.
A Frigatebird.

The path is clearly delineated.  Our guide talks about the nesting grounds we are about to explore. 

There are birds nesting just about everywhere.

These birds have no natural predator in the Galapagos so they are not afraid of humans.

Juvenile Red Footed Booby.  Later in life their feet will become red.


A very young Booby waits for it's parent to return.


There are a couple of Finch varieties in the Galapagos.


A juvenile Frigatebird.


A Nazca Booby with a chick.

The Red Footed Booby.

Red Footed Boobies are the only Booby that nests in trees.

Marine Iguanas have adapted for life on the Galapagos islands.  Their food source has become algae on rocks in the sea and they excrete excess salt their cousins on the mainland don't have to worry about.





Everywhere around us Boobies are nesting.


A Galapagos Mockingbird.

Our walk takes us closer to the edge of Genovesa where we hope to see an Owl that is not nocturnal as most owls have become.  The Owl is the top of the food chain here since there are no hawks on Genovesa.  Consequently they hunt in the daylight.

There are hundreds of birds in the sky in every direction.

Everywhere you look there is a bird.


And of course more Marine Iguanas.

A Finch and an Iguana ignore each other as they don't compete in any way.

Mockingbird.



Lava Cactus.


 

Boobies and a dove living side by side with each other as they each do their own thing.

A finch looking for seeds.




Nazca Booby tending to a chick.

A young Frigatebird.

Galapagos Dove.

A Nazca Booby chick attempting to get a meal from an adult. 

A Booby using it's feet to keep an egg in the nest incubated.

An adult Frigatebird.

Not bad as our first expedition excursion but it was time to return to the ship going back down the steep set of stairs roughly carved out of the rocks.  Our guide explains how best to proceed.

Silver Origin waiting for us.

This is considered a "dry landing" as we don't get wet getting in or out of the zodiac.


Looking back at Prince Philip's Steps.

The short ride back to the Origin.

Our guide points out some Manta Rays mating on the rocks below.


Then along comes some Sea Turtles.



Further along our guide finds another Sea Turtle resting in the rocks.  They can stay down for several hours when resting like this.

The waters were teaming with life.

Another curios Sea Lion swims past.

After approximately 45 minutes it was time to head back.  It was a great experience.

Time for a bite to eat, and an Ecuadorian beer. 

Not a bad view at all.

Just breathtaking. 😍

Our first ship and one of our favourites.  Hope the future sailings get back to something more "normal".
Curt from Canada

One of our party found out that she couldn't go on the cruise, which leaves in seven days. We were able to call RC and change the guest name without any problem at all. It even updated all of our reservations for the new guest. Really excellent service. 

Appears to be poor seas conditions (30 ft waves) as the reason.  New itinerary:

Curt from Canada

I think the cruise line “process” is extremely flawed for getting feedback on their food service.  Putting customers in a “vulnerable” position at the table surrounded by family, friends and onlookers is a great way to:
1). Not get Feedback: Our cruising friends now just say “10” as the wait staff approaches on the last two nights in the MDR.  They do not even wait for the question. 😂
2). Minimize Feedback: Most people we cruise with think the food is average.  When asked even below average food gets a nod that it was “OK”.
3). Encourage “One & Done” Feedback:  I might do it once, but the “bad taste” (pun intended) left after a dramatic appearance by the Executive Chef would cause me to save it all for the post cruise survey.
Their post cruise survey process is fairly good and we use it every time.  In the main dining room or speciality restaurants it has become a waste of my time to give any deep, honest feedback ( the more I give feedback … the more the experience becomes average or mediocre ). 
 
The strategy is clear (across the major cruise lines) … drive down the base cost for cruising and make profit on the onboard spending.  I am comfortable with this approach because we have changed our cruising strategy over the last 5-10 years.  We will eat the average food on the ship and if we want something extra special eat off the ship.  There are no Michelin Star meals that we can see on a cruise ship.  We did this on our Norway cruise twice … it was wonderful.  This allows us to:
1). Get the Cheapest Fares available:  We are fortunate that we can cruise during slow periods.
2). Go to places in the world that cruise ships excel: Alaska twice and Norway once Antarctica, Panama Canal and Greenland/Iceland up next.  Too many places in the world to see to let average food hold us back.
3). “Drink Up” All the Complimentary Offerings:  We will continue to drink our D+ drinks, dance endlessly to the live music on board, watch the shows and “ride the rides”as much as we can, spend time with family and friends (that we rarely have time for this back in the “real world”).  
4). Hold Each Other Close and Share the Experience:  Life is too short and it is easy to miss the pure joy of shared experience. Back in March we spent over an hour by ourselves overlooking the sea from the Enchantment pool bar that cantilevers over side of the ship. We talked, we laughed and drank up both our drinks and the sun. There was no one else in the world for that hour … just us.  A memory we will not forget. 
 
These experiences far out way the disappointment of the average food we put up with.  
Just stop asking me for feedback on your average food.  😂😂😂
Curt from Canada
 
 

WWRY is one of the best shows in the fleet!  However I like the music of Queen so that helps a lot.  
Like Mamma Mia! on Allure, I see WWRY every time even though I've seen it before.  

We love WWRY too.  We've seen it many times but will go and see it every time we get the chance.  Silly storyline ?  Yes....but still fun.

Single cruiser....she....ooh lala !