Celebrity Flora - Deborah Dishes

Day 2 we had to reverse course to head back to the airport, so a taxi, a ferry, a bus and then a check in with the cruise ship company. We were greeted at the airport by the naturalists from the Celebrity Flora who then took our names and luggage, gave us our suite keys, and offered us drinks and snacks. We had to wait for the several flights to arrive as the bus trips to the cruise ship tender dock were completed with all passengers at once. We’d been in the archipelago the night before, and they’d told us to get back to the Celebrity desk at the airport before noon, but since the busses didn’t leave until after 2PM I wondered why we’d been summoned so early. Confusingly we were on Galapagos time (an hour earlier than mainland Ecuador) and the ship uses mainland time, possibly for the extra hour of daylight, so perhaps we could have arrived at 1PM if we’d known that. Oh, well.

Several passengers were visibly irritated by the long wait (some had arrived at 11AM and expected to be aboard by lunch), but I think the short bus ride to the dock, being greeted by a sea lion and her pup and the beautiful sea and sky made everyone take a deep breath. I think the quick tender ride to the ship, ice-cold hand towels, and cold champagne to greet us continued to diffuse the situation.

We were shown to our beautiful rooms with a waiting bottle of Ecuadorian Sparkling Wine. We were instructed on the amenities (powered drapes, the lighting keypad, the potable water tap with refillable water bottles, etc.). Our shower had a view of the ocean! We dropped off our carry on luggage and we were treated to a sumptuous late lunch buffet in the Seaside dining room, then we had the required muster drill after which our luggage was in our room ready to be unpacked.

We took a tour of the ship so I could grab some photos before every space was occupied by guests. Celebrity Flora has 7 decks, the top being the Bridge, and the Ocean Bar and Grill, which is the al fresco dining option. There’s also a hot tub and loungers around. Deck 6 is all suites; 5 is suites and the workout room; 4 has the restaurant and the Discovery lounge; the Marina, guest services and medical facilities are on 3 and the decks below are crew, tender stowage and engine rooms. There are 100 guests on Flora, and 89 crewmembers. We were very well taken care of.

The Flora is state of the art. Solar panels provide electricity, diesel generators power electric motors, the desalinization plant provides clean, good tasting water and their water recovery systems clean the water to standards higher than The London Protocol require before returning it to the ocean. The food is locally sourced and the menus reflect the Ecuadorian culture (while also having basic choices for those less adventurous). And because she flies the flag of Ecuador 80% of Flora’s personnel must be Ecuadorian. Many of them were born and raised in Galapagos. One obvious outlier is Hana, the director of hotel services who is from Bosnia–Herzegovina. She is a high-spirited, very lithe spitfire with a big personality. And she is very good at her job.

The Discovery Lounge was the nightly meeting place for a review of the next day’s excursions, enrichment lectures, and nightly movies. The weekly itinerary was handed out upon arrival, so we could peruse our options and ask questions if necessary. No one is allowed on the islands in the Galapagos without a licensed naturalist, and there were 8 on board, one each for the excursions and one or two to assist in landings on shore, as well as the tender drivers who did nothing but keep us safe in the inflatables. The staff was overly cautious regarding how fit one needed to be to partake in some of the excursions. And, quite frankly, there were a few people who should not have been on the trip. The joke with the naturalists at the end of the day was how many incident reports did they have to write up? And were they running out of Band-Aids. People were told that if a hike was too much to inform their guide who would arrange to have them escorted back to the tender. We saw that happen a few times. All landings were by tender, either wet or dry. And dry didn’t always mean dry. But the Flora’s crew was very organized and managed to get us off and on without too many incidents.

Each island we visited was very different. The flora and fauna changed from place to place, and learning how and why was fascinating. But after two solid days of travel it felt good to unpack the suitcases and know we’d sleep in the same bed for the next week.