Here is a bit of advice about choosing a holiday in the Galapagos, and an overall critique of Galapagos Explorer I (VJV holiday) and Galapagos Explorer II (the ship/cruise).
Advice
One of the prime reasons for going to the Galapagos (in my humble opinion) is the wildlife - in the air, on land and under the sea. Decide what you really want to see/do and also bear in mind what you may be prepared to sacrifice/not see or do. Check out which boats best suit your requirement - there are numerous websites available that outline the itineraries of the various vessels and land visits. Investigate tour operators that do what you want - many offer a variety of options - or book independently. Looking at "package tours" is worth the effort it may work out cheaper!
When to go - no idea what to suggest here, you'll probably be impressed whatever time of year, but here is a programme of a year in the Galapagos (250kb image).
E.g. Our requirement was to see the wildlife peculiar to the
Galapagos Islands - Boobies (Blue-footed, Red-footed and Masked), Waved
Albatross, Galapagos Penguin, Flightless Cormorant and Giant Tortoises (Lonesome
George). This essentially boiled down to Espanola, Genovesa, Fernandina and
Santa Cruz as a minimum.
We also fancied Post Office Bay (Floreana), but were prepared to miss this for
the sake of the convenience offered by a package satisfying wildlife
requirements - VJV tour.
The Galapagos Explorer
There is no other way to say it, this is an excellent value tour on a ship that will show you the key elements of the Galapagos.
Galapagos Explorer II
Before commenting further let me say that this is an excellent trip and it is possible to get a lot out of it, if it suits your needs. This is a big ship, it is designed as a cruise ship, and the rooms/cabins are nicely spacious and very comfortable, indeed. The food is excellent, too, and the staff very helpful. There are about 6 guides of varying quality and enthusiasm and the group size does not exceed 16..
If you like socialising you can team up with others in your landing groups for meals and drinking if you don't then you don't have to socialise at all, it is up to you. Dinner tables will hold from 2 onwards. There were a few evening events - a games evening and disco/party but these were very poorly attended by the passengers. In fact each evening, after dinner, you would be hard pushed to find more that about 20 people, from the manifest of about 90, lurking in lounges or bars - where do they all go?
The itinerary of the cruise changed from when we first looked at it (not for the better) so a couple of the days were not as good as I had hoped. You'll read about this later.
The boat can have up to 100 passengers - usually less off-peak, I understand. It may take a little longer to offload the groups for landings than it would on a smaller boat, but it's not as bad as some people might have you believe. Once on the island you stay with your guide and group (up to 16 people, often less). The trails are fixed and you walk along them at a pace that gives time to observe the wildlife. Not always enough time for photography - you can't always wait for the bird to get in just the right position for that perfect picture - but this isn't billed as a photographic expedition.
The itinerary, when we went, visited the islands that give you the opportunity to view the key Galapagos wildlife as well as providing some beach time for snorkelling and diving. Not enough beach time for some, but this isn't billed as a snorkelling/diving expedition.
All-in-all this was pretty good.
San Cristobal : Back : Galapagos Contents : Contents