Galapagos Islands, Ecuador & Peru Vacation Review: Lima, Island Cruise, 8-Day Tour

Review by traveler

randy w.

12.16.2019

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Galapagos / Ecuador

Peru

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

overall trip was great. arrival in Galapagos could have been better planned/managed..ie should have been prepared for a day of activities and dressed appropriately.
Airport hotel in Lima was terrible. Bad customer service. Good rooms on initial leg, terrible rooms on last night. Customer service at hotel terrible.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Galapagos...Ship and crew were outstanding!

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

plan arrival day better.
different hotel in Lima.

Travel Company Comments:

Thank you Randy for taking the time to post your comments about your trip. I know that from our private correspondence that overall you were very pleased with the trip. I just want to take a moment to address those couple of issues that you faced during your trip.

Being better prepared / dressed for the first day in the Galapagos: With most Galapagos cruises the first day of activities starts with a flight from mainland Ecuador west to the Galapagos Islands. From there you are met by naturalist guides which start your Galapagos adventure from the airport. Typically most Galapagos cruises will start with an overland trip to the highlands of Santa Cruz (the main inhabited island close to Balta Airport. Later in the afternoon after a half day of activities you arrive on the actual boat around 3- 4 pm in the afternoon. This is done so that the crew aboard the boat have time to prepare the cabins for the incoming new guests after the previous guests have departed that same morning. I am aware that you felt that you were not dressed appropriately for this day and that you should have been better informed that you would start the day with activities from the outset. We take this into consideration and will be sure to advise our clients heading to the Galapagos in the future. For a detailed description of the activities you can expect for your time in the Galapagos we always supply the full cruise itinerary.

Regarding the service in the Lima Airport Hotel: This is a hotel which we include in many of our trips. It is of course considered a 4-star hotel and we are aware that this is an aging hotel too. It is used primarily for its super location (in the carpark of the airport), which is convenient for travellers transiting Lima and flying onto another destination the following day. It removes the need for a 60 80 minute transfer to downtown hotels in Miraflores. Although we use the hotel frequently, we rarely receive complaints about the hotel. However, I shall get my quality team to take another look at this hotel (especially the service) and decide if we should consider using this hotel for future guests.

I know that we are in communication about another potential trip for you and your group to Patagonia in 2020 for which I know we'll do you a great job. Once again, I thank you for taking the time to write your Zicasso review.

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