Choosing a Galápagos Cruise

Passengers pose in front of Kicker Rock. Photo by Crit Minster

The most important things to consider when deciding on a cruise are your expectations for price, boat quality, trip length, and itineraries. In the Galápagos, the adage “you get what you pay for” tends to be true. Accordingly, the tourist vessels in the Galápagos Islands are regularly inspected and categorized according to a set of fixed standards, including facilities, amenities, construction, maintenance and safety.

Because new tourist boats occasionally arrive in the Galápagos, antiquated boats stop running tours, and Galápagos boats are periodically renovated or rebuilt, the class system is dynamic: tourist boats can move up, down, or straddle the line between two categories in the class hierarchy according to specifications set in a particular period of time.

Boat Categories

Generally speaking, there are five categories of cruise yachts: luxury, first class, tourist superior class, tourist class, and economy. V!VA Travel Guides includes a sixth, superior first class, to highlight the cruise boats between luxury and first class in the price spectrum.

Luxury yachts are the most expensive, since they have the most lavish accommodations, the most professional crews, the highest quality food, and the most in-demand (level II or III) naturalist guides. Yachts receiving this designation have air conditioning, hot water, ocean-view cabins with private facilities, and spacious social areas (dining room, living room, sun decks).

Luxury yachts also have extravagant extras-swimming pool, jacuzzi, on-board medical facilities, gift shops and more. They also tend to be bigger and more stable (all of the large cruise ships fall into this category) and have the best cruise itineraries (i.e. they visit more outlying islands).

Eight-day luxury cruise tours cost between $2,500 and $4,000, or around $315 to $500 per day. Four- and five-day tours aboard the luxury yachts are not very common, but they do exist. Four day tours range in price from about $1300 to $2200, while five day tours cost from $1500 to $2800. These prices do not include airfare, national park fees, or onboard beverages.

The superior first class category is not always recognized as an autonomous category, since it overlaps luxury and first class in terms of price and service. This designation encompasses the upper echelon of the first class category: boats with elegant furnishings, spaciousness, and a slightly higher price tag. Eight-day cruises generally cost between $2000 and $3000, or $250 to $375 per day.

First class cruise yachts have spacious, comfortable and handsome accommodations, very experienced crews, gourmet food and some of the most knowledgeable naturalist guides. Yachts in this category also have air conditioning, hot water, ocean-view cabins with private facilities, and spacious social areas. Although first class yachts have unique, distinctive features that contribute to an extra-pleasurable experience, they lack the extravagant perks that would catapult them into the superior first class or luxury class. These boats can range in size, but most are well-designed, stable, and fast; as such, many make trips to outlying islands in their itineraries.

Prices for eight-day tours aboard these yachts range from $1500 to $2400, or about $200 to $300 per day. Four- and five-day tours are more common on first class cruise boats, and they range in price from around $800 to $1250 for four days or $1000 to $1600 for five days. Again, these are cruise prices only and do not include airfare, national park fees, or beverages.

Boats in the mid-range categories—tourist superior and tourist classes—tend to be slightly smaller (capacity of eight to twenty passengers), less private, and less adorned. Yachts receiving a tourist superior designation have air conditioning and hot water (although it may not be fully functional), double cabins with private facilities that they may be below deck or with access to the outside, and moderately spacious social areas. These boats have good quality food, a highly trained crew, a level II or III naturalist guide, and a good cruise itinerary.

Prices range from $1000 to $1450 for an eight-day tour, or $125 to $180 daily. Four- and five-day tours aboard tourist superior yachts are very common and are often your only last-minute option. Four-day tours cost about $650 to $800. Five-day tours cost about $700 to $1000.

Tourist class boats may or may not have air conditioning and hot water, double cabins with private or shared facilities, and small social areas. The food is average; the yacht crew is competent; the naturalist guide has a I or II certification; and the itinerary is decent. Cruise tours range in price from $800 to $980 for eight days, or $100 to $125 per day. Four-day tours ($450 to $650) and five-day tours ($550 to $700) are also very common on tourist class yachts.

Economy class boats are the least expensive, and as such, offer the lowest level of service. Conditions can even be cramped and primitive. These yachts usually do not have air conditioning or hot water (or any water at all), double, triple, or quad cabins with private or shared facilities, and small social areas. The food, crew, naturalist guide, and itinerary are all decent but pale in comparison to the higher category yachts. These yachts offer budget travelers and last-minute shoppers (these boats generally always have availability) an opportunity to experience the wonder of Galapagos, but unless you have a thriving spirit of adventure and zero claustrophobia it is worth spending a few hundred extra dollars to travel comfortably. 

Economy class boat tours cost between $550 and $720 for eight days, or $70 to $90 per day. Four-day tours cost around $300 to $400, and five-day tours are about $375 to $500. Shorter itineraries are almost always offered in this class (and may just coincide with the maximum lenght of time you can tolerate the sub-par conditions!).

Trip Length

Because park rules limit the number of boats visiting each island, each boat carries a fixed trip length and itinerary. Voyages vary in length from four to fifteen days, although most cruises are excursions lasting four, five, or eight days.

You can get a taste of the Galápagos in four days, but since each island has its own unique characteristics, you will see a broader variety of plants and animals with each additional day’s visit. Besides, since the first and last days of the tour include a morning flight, a four-day tour yields only two full days and two half-days in the islands. Because of travel time required on each end of the trip, an eight-day trip is recommended.

Trip Itineraries

Generally, four-day tours web through the northern islands; five-day tours follow the southern route; and eight-day tours offer both. Sometimes, eight-day tours are simply a combination of a four- and five-day tour, resulting in a mid-tour transition day when new passengers arrive and other passengers leave. This results in one lost visitor excursion, since you will probably spend the afternoon at a beach near Baltra while they coordinate the shuffle, so try to avoid this.

Fewer tours go to the western islands of Fernandina, Isabela, Darwin, and Wolf, due to distance, fuel, and price constraints. If visiting these islands is a priority, your choices are probably limited to a first class or luxury tour (the most expensive) or a charter. Most of the mid-range boats visit the same set of islands on different days, so boat quality and price are often more important considerations than itinerary when booking a trip.

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