Northern & Southeastern Galápagos

Einmalig! Es war Einmalig! Besatzung und Guide haben stets ihr Bestes. Eine tolle Zeit. Quelle: https://goo.gl/McedHj

Amazing! Amazing experience! Staff is great, naturalists are wonderful. Went with Tauck. Lovely time. Feedback from: https://goo.gl/McedHj

Eine tolle Reise Wir hatten eine ganz tolle Reise auf der Isabella II und empfehlen das an zukünftige Passagiere weiter. Quelle: https://goo.gl/LsCTUz

Amazing trip! We had an amazing trip on the Isabela ll and would highly recommend this trip Feedback from: https://goo.gl/LsCTUz

CruiseCritic Review of the Isabella II 40-passenger Isabella II is an expedition yacht offering year-round cruises in the Galapagos Islands. The former supply ship was built in 1979 and reconstructed for Metropolitan Touring in 1988. Like its sisters, the ship is regularly refreshed; the most recent dry-dock occurred in September 2012. Here's what you can expect aboard Isabella II Galapagos cruise: Cruise fare: what's included. The cost of the cruise includes excursions (island treks, snorkeling, kayaking, etc.), all meals and snacks, lectures and snorkeling equipment (masks, fins, snorkel). Three-millimeter "shortie" wetsuits, which are recommended during the June/July to December cool season, can be rented onboard. Wi-Fi, which is available in Isabella II's lounge and small library, and sodas/adult beverages are also extra. Expedition essentials. Passengers cruise with one expedition leader and two naturalist guides. Other expedition accouterments found on Isabella II include sit-on-top sea kayaks, a glass-bottom boat, and three "pangas," the omnipresent water taxis that facilitate ship-to-shore transportation in the Galapagos. A doctor is also stationed permanently onboard should passengers run into any minor issues with the equatorial sun, wasps or seasickness. Cabins. Isabella II features 18 139-square-foot inside cabins (Classic), one 128-square-foot inside cabin (Standard) and one 170-square-foot Master Suite Cabin with picture window. (These snug accommodations are par for the course in expedition cruising.) There is some variation in cabin configuration; the Classic cabins feature either fixed twin(ish) beds that run parallel or fixed twin(ish) and singles that form an "L." The one Standard features a twin-sized bed, and the Master Suite has a queen. Cabins amenities include hair dryers, telephones, safes and 110-volt, U.S.-style outlets. Dining. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served open seating at designated times in Isabella II's dining room. Breakfast and lunch are buffet-style while dinner is served course-by-course. The occasional meal is also served alfresco on a top-ship (covered) secondary venue. Post-excursion snacks (juice and pigs 'n blankets, say) are offered daily. Public spaces. The social hub of the yacht is the comb bar-lecture room, which is used for evening briefings, video presentations and as a destination before-and-after dinner drinks. An adjacent mini-library houses a pair of Web-ready computers and a collection of books about South America, the Galapagos and wildlife. (Wi-Fi is available in the library and bar/lecture room.) Isabella II's lobby features a small boutique selling logo hats, shirts and jackets, as well as a variety of travel essentials for forgetful passengers (sun block, aloe, sunglasses). An exercise room contains a bike, elliptical and treadmill. The yacht's sun deck features a smattering of wicker loungers and a jacuzzi with room to comfortably accommodate six passengers.

Trip Report - Isabela II Galapagos - Amazing!!! The boat was really nice. It was a 40-passenger boat, but there were only 33 people on our trip, so we had a little extra space. The bottom floor had a bar / big lounge where we did our evening briefings about what we would see the next day. It also had the dining room, gift shop, and hospitality desk if you needed anything. There was wifi on board and it could be accessed on this floor. I believe it was $15 for the week (that could be wrong), but there was also a little computer lab if you didn't want to pay that and needed to get online. The second floor had all of our rooms. Although not huge, the room was actually a little bigger than I expected. We had two beds, a little couch, a desk, two small bedside tables, and a closet. There was an outlet under the desk and one in the bathroom which we used to charge our phones and cameras. The third floor had an open deck with another bar, a hot tub, workout room, and a place where you get all of your snorkeling equipment to use for the week (mask and flippers are free; wet suits can be rented for $15 for the week). Food: The food was really amazing on this boat. We had buffets for almost every meal, and there were several options for entrees (multiple types of meat, seafood, and vegetarian options). You could eat as much as you wanted and everything was very tasty. In between meals, they served hot appetizers when we came back from afternoon adventures and gave out free juice and water. Drinks from the bar were extra -- sodas were $2, beer was $3, wine was $8 a glass. You just tell them your room number and you settle up the tab at the end. Passengers: My friend and I (both mid-30s) were a little worried that we might be the youngest people on the boat. We weren't. We were actually pleasantly surprised by the nice mix of people on the boat. There were some older retired couples, a few families, other 30-somethings, teenagers, etc. We actually really enjoyed getting to know the fellow passengers on our boat and didn't have anyone annoying on board! Illness: I was really scared that I was going to get seasick on this boat. I've had experiences where I've been really ill on other boats, so part of why I chose this one is because they had a 24-hour doctor on board. I brought two packs of dramamine with me too. Didn't need any of it! The boat was very nice and I didn't feel sick at any point. Didn't even need to take the dramamine! Snorkeling: I was scared to death of snorkeling before coming on this boat too. They ask if anyone is new at snorkeling and helped me through everything. They fitted me for the equipment, helped me get a wetsuit, taught me how to clean the mask so it wouldn't fog up, and the guide let me stay close to him the entire time I was in the water. As it turns out, snorkeling is amazing. We saw tons of cool fish, sea lions, sharks, sting rays, etc. in the water. At the end of the trip, a sea lion swam up to my face and smiled at me before swimming underneath me and disappearing. I really appreciated the guides helping to teach me how to overcome my fear on this trip! I owe them a lot! The day-time adventures to the islands were really fun and we saw tons of animals. I made a 5-minute video of the animal footage I captured if you'd like to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eadFvdBKiNs On the last night of the boat trip, they served us a farewell cocktail and showed us a slide show of our adventures. I believe they're going to post all of the pictures on Facebook, so you can download them later if you didn't bring a good camera with you. We also had a karaoke party on the last night and all of us sang and had a great time. This was probably the best vacation of my life. John, Carlos, and Mariuxi were amazing guides. I would highly recommend Isabela II to anyone I know.