Even the 100-passenger Celebrity Flora, debuting in June, feels yacht-like to a certain extent. It’s courting luxury travelers with all-suite accommodations that include 1,288-square-foot penthouses with big, porch-like verandas—billed as the largest cabins in the Galapagos. Some other suites replace step-out verandas with virtual Infinite Verandas, just like the ones recently introduced on the line’s Celebrity Edge. Guests will have easy access to innovative yacht tenders (think hydraulic ramps for wet landings, interior seating) for such shore landings as spotting Galapagos penguins in the moonlike landscape of Bartolomé Island.
Special Considerations
Of course, true wilderness enthusiasts will want to make sure their trip can check certain boxes. Divers, for instance, will want to choose one of the half-dozen or so scuba-equipped boats in the region, even though they’re more basic than the new yacht offerings. Avid birdwatchers may also want to examine their itineraries with a fine-toothed comb: Seeing some of Darwin’s finches can require pilgrimages to certain islands off the beaten track.
But most will be more than satisfied with the close encounters that any standard Galapagos itinerary can offer. In this corner of the world, wildlife is shockingly unbothered by the presence of humans, whether it’s a frigate bird puffing his red throat to show he’s ready to mate or a large marine iguana slowly turning its head to look you in the eye.
That applies to little humans, too. Correia says multi-generation families, including children as young as 6 years old, are among the fastest-growing segments in the islands, largely due to the fact that they can often charter a small yacht for themselves. “People are realizing that it’s an awesome family destination,” says Correia. “It’s a wildlife paradise, like taking your kid to the zoo on steroids.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.