Galapatours Reviews 20

I've already left a review on Tripadvisor, hoping that would help. They responded with a very pretty message saying how they'd action my complain immediately. And nothing... timeline below. Maybe another negative review might jog them. And to clarify, the cruise itself was great. Crew and guide all wonderful as was the itinerary. But...

24th Feb - no return transfers organised. Completely ignored and missed off list when rest of party got picked up. Happy enough to make my own way to airport as I had a bit of time.

Emailed 5 times (including once on the day) asking to recover my money - a mere $36.

Posted a complaint on TripAdvisor 16th March.

23rd March (a week later) the contact replied on email - note that they wouldn't grant me a couple of weeks' extension to the final payment date as I was out of the country at the time and forgot to plan ahead. Spouted some nonsense about a 'new CRM system' meaning emails were lost and said payment would be arranged within a week in the next email on 27th March.

6th April - still waiting.

It's ridiculous and a point of principle now. Maybe someone might actually action something if they see this?

Now I think about it, comms around flights weren't great in advance either as I was sat around waiting both ends of the trip after being advised incorrectly.

Honestly, I now have grounds for a far bigger claim and tempted to pursue.

After initial delays in communication, Galapatours resolved my concern and matched the current price for my booking. I appreciate that they handled this fairly and confirmed everything is secured. Communication could have been quicker, but I’m satisfied with the outcome and looking forward to the trip.

The representative gave outstanding service. Her responses to my questions were virtually immediate. I have nothing but positive things to say regarding this company.

This was an amazing trip. They looked after every detail, from someone meeting us at the airport to give us our plane tickets and luggage check tags in Quito to our guide who taught us so much about the wildlife and geology of the Galapagos. The food was amazing and plentiful, including an ice cold or pipping hot drink and snack following every activity. Nemo II is a beautiful and comfortable sailing vessel and the crew were outstanding. The activities were fantastic, from hikes on each of the islands to snorkeling to kayaking/paddleboarding or just hanging out on board Nemo II with the wind in your hair as we sailed to a new island. Galapatours took care of every detail of the preparations and answered every question we had promptly. This was definitely a trip of a lifetime and we highly recommend Galapatours and seeing the Galapagos Islands aboard Nemo II!

Organisation of everything was amazing. We were met off the plane & the boat on return, so absolutely no worries about where to go. Our add on trips were all booked & arranged very well. The cruise & especially the naturalist guide was brilliant.

A truly incredible Galapagos adventure. Paola V. was fantastic helping us along the way with all logistics and answering questions leading up to our departure. We were met buy another Paola in the airport in Quito, who was incredibly helpful with our luggage and fast-tracking us through. Felt like a VIP experience. Once we arrived at our starting island, we were warmly welcomed and bused to the port to embark on the Montserrat. Everything from day 1 to day 5 / 9 (we stayed the full 9 days) is extremely well thought out and planned from introduction to welcome drinks, evening briefings, time between activities, meals, leaving toasts, etc… The crew are incredibly hard working and attentive and become family after a few days. The food was amazing and the chef catered to my GF allergy. I did not need to eat any of my emergency snacks. Our guide, Yazmany was THE BEST! He went above and beyond and made every excursion enjoyable, exciting and educational. His love and passion for the Galapagos was contagious and having him as our guide made an amazing trip incredible!! TIPS:
Pack active wear, quick drying clothes for trekking / hikes
Boat is very casual so no formal clothes needed
Bring boat shoes (flip-flops) if you don't want to walk around the boat barefoot or in socks. You take your shoes off after each excursion to avoid bringing any contamination (from your treks) onto the boat
Boat had wifi, pleasant surprise
This is an active trip. On most days we had 2 activities in the morning (hike/snorkel) and 2 in the afternoon (walk/snorkel). But you get plenty of time to rest during lunch time and in the evening
You can hand wash laundry if needed and hang clothes on the upper deck (clotheslines and pegs provided)

We had a great experience on our Galapagos trip! Everything felt like a one in a lifetime experience. With everything coordinated and planned out, the logistics overall felt easy and allowed us to fully enjoy our time in Ecuador.

Alya West Galapagos cruise
We have just returned from our 5 night / 6 day trip on the amazing luxury Alya ship cruising the western islands of the Galapagos
We booked our trip through Galapatours, and would totally recommend them. Paola, our advisor was efficient, helpful, knowledgeable and responsive in all communications.
The cruise ship, which was in the luxury category, was indeed luxurious in every way and the staff were outstanding. They were always extremely helpful and friendly, and nothing was too much trouble, even down to the minor details such as helping put on life jackets, board and disembark from the dinghy’s and attentively waiting and helping us organise our snorkelling gear.
The food on board was (mostly) fantastic and always beautifully presented. If there was one criticism, we would say that the food was often tepid / cold. As too were the showers sometimes !
Our itinerary was jammed packed, sometimes a bit too much so, and it felt a bit military. However, the activities weren’t compulsory so what and how much to do was down to personal choice.
Our guide Carmen was exceptional. Her knowledge was extensive and it was only surpassed at times but her absolute delight in all that we did and saw. And some of the vistas and sights were indeed incredible.
We were lucky enough to see giant tortoises mating, sea lions fighting, sea lion pups playing, frigate birds, iguanas ( of course !) a Galapagos’ hawk and many, many other species of birds and wildlife endemic to the Galapagos. We even managed to see some a couple of rarely seen flamingos and Orca Whales !
The animals on the Galapagos have no predators so they are not fearful at all and we were able to get up really close to them. In Puerto Ayora there were sea lions resting everywhere ! Under benches, on steps, in restaurant doorways
Our whole trip could best be described as ‘slick’ and ‘faultless’ and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Galapatours or the Alya cruise ship

This was the trip of a lifetime! We were incredibly happy with our Galapatours contact, Cynthia, who helped pick the right itinerary for us. The ship (Danubio Azul), captain, crew, and guide were all perfect for our family. We were incredibly happy! We saw so much wildlife, birds, sea life. We loved all the snorkeling & learned a ton. The boat was clean & comfortable. The food was phenomenal! Every single moment was special.

The voyage on the BONITA was excellent- not only did the crew feed and entertain us well, the activities off the boat (hikes , kayaking & snorkling) kept us very busy! The nature encountered was mind blowing- so many opportunities to get up close to everything !

We had a great trip! The boat, guide and crew were professional and very accommodating. The food and rooms were excellent. The snorkeling, hiking, kayaking was all above our expectations. We would not have changed anything.

We had a perfect time on our cruise on the Alya. I did a lot of research from the info on Galapatours.com and booked through them. They were quick to answer any questions that I had. When we actually went on the trip, since we booked the travel from the mainland through them, they had someone at Quito airport to help us with the transit card, luggage inspection and he had our boarding passes and luggage tags already. On the Alya, William and Jaime took great care of us along with the whole crew. The ship is beautiful. The crew works so hard and everyone was friendly. Every day would be a hike in the morning and one in the afternoon and some snorkeling events on most days. We combined 2 routes for a 10 day trip and saw most of the birds and animals, along with the unique fauna and geology. The only thing I can think of that was negative was that the water was pretty cold for snorkeling. But that is nothing under anyone’s control and we got used to it. Along with many different fish, sharks, rays, seals we also had a couple snorkeling excursions where there were Galapagos penguins. It is a small ship - as most of the ships in the Galapagos are. The food was good and plentiful and there were snacks and refreshments after every excursion. They accommodated my daughter’s vegetarian diet, which we had notified them of at booking, and always had an option for her. Anyone expecting something like a big cruise ship might want to look into the available bigger ships, but bigger ships are not for me. And also be aware that it’s an active vacation - lots of hikes on various terrain, from easy to challenging, transporting by panga. For us it was perfect.

I can only agree to the other comments! We had an amazing week! We were upgraded from Nemo II to Nemo III and it was awesome! The whole crew was very polite and supportive. The hikes and snorkeling tours every day were super interesting and astonishing. The food was a great mixture and very delicious! Furthermore the trip was planned very good and our contact Hitomi was always available and supportive to answer all our questions in advanced. I can only recommend to do this trip! This was the best we ever did and we are traveling a lot! Thanks to the whole crew and team.

Wow! We were very impressed by the entire experience. We always felt supported from the moment we booked our trip until we boarded the flight back to the mainland after the trip. Booking process was straightforward, and when we had questions they were quickly answered (something we really appreciated). We were met by tour staff at Quito airport on the day of our departure to the Galapagos, we were met by tour staff at the airport upon landing in Galapagos . We had lots of activities every day of our cruise, some of these (snorkeling) were new for us. All of these were supervised by knowledgeable, professional and bilingual staff and they quickly provided options that met our needs and allowed us to participate. We were able to see all the animals, birds and sites we had hope to. Really a trip of a lifetime. We would highly recommend this trip.

It feels trite, but truly the only way to describe Galapagos, and the Legend, is to say that it was the trip of a lifetime. Everything was taken care of, that we saw more than we ever could have expected to in our walks and deepwater snorkles, that the guides were incredible, and that the staff on the ship were lovely and so helpful. Our hashtag for the trip was #Galapagos-Overdelivers. We highly, highly recommend the Legend for a great family trip, our 8- and 12-year old kids were so well taken care of, and we were in a boat (Go Boobies!) that was a lovely community and we and our kids made great trip friends!

Absolutely FIVE star experience from the beginning to end. Booking and planning a trip over the internet can be daunting but Hitomi answered all my questions and inquiries quickly and thoroughly. Any worry I may have had quickly dissipated. The Galapagos boat experience in itself was incredible, the boat was beautiful, food delicious (we never went even close to hungry), staff was attentive, I felt like a VIP. Most importantly the tour blew my mind, i've been lucky enough to travel all over the world and this trip is probably my favorite. If you love nature and adventure this is the trip for you. Don't even think twice. And if you can plan it make sure Louis is your guide!!

This is one of the best trips I have ever taken. I was worried the transportation from Quito to Baltra as there was no one in Quito would contact me from the trip provider and I was on my own, however everything went seamlessly according the trip itinerary, I got the airplane tickets and the ship boarding card at the airport where the people from Galapagos Legend was waiting for me, after landing at the Baltra everything was taken care by the ship staffs. The trip itself is fantastic and exceeded my expectations, most of the stops were attracting and unique, the landscape is beautiful and the animals were lovely, the guides were knowledgeable, the ship staffs were friendly, and the food was nice.

The experience we had with Galapatours and with the staff and crew on the Sirius Galaxy was amazing. It is difficult to find the words to express the awesomeness of this adventure. The staff at Galapatours was knowledgeable about the various experiences and worked with us to ensure our needs were met. Their communication was consistent and timely and we always felt like we had someone to turn to if there were any questions or concerns. The crew on our ship, Sirius Galaxy, was incredible. Their attention to detail is unmatched. Everything from a turn down service at night to consistent cleaning of the cabins was covered. The food was gourmet and had a variety of meals to meet any special requests. I highly recommend Galapatours to plan your next vacation.