Back

View all destinations
  • Africa

  • Asia

  • Caribbean

  • Central America

  • Europe

  • Middle East

  • North America

  • Oceania

  • South America

Africa

Through its extraordinary wildlife safaris, environmental majesty and ancient traditions, Africa is an epic storybook adventure. Experience unparalleled luxury via rainforest, coastline, dessert and mountain.

Asia

Intoxicatingly beautiful and rooted in custom, Asia reveals a heightened mysticism and generosity of spirit throughout each celebrated region. Discover centuries of culture and engaging hospitality with every step.

Caribbean

Choose from an ever-increasing portfolio of luxury resorts and private islands along the azure waters of the Caribbean. Marine adventure, culinary perfection and complete seclusion all have a spot on the day’s agenda.

Central America

Soothing vistas and diverse eco-adventure await in Central America. See the sun rise over the rim of a volcano, roam the ruins of the Mayans, ride through nature conservatories and paddle through jungle mangroves.

Europe

A multitude of environs– coast, country and city – make for a feast of diversity in Europe. The unique histories, gastronomic extravagance and cultural riches bring a deluxe profusion of Old World elegance.

Middle East

Ancient cultures and modern pleasures coalesce in the fascinating nations of the eastern Mediterranean and those ringing the Persian Gulf. Encounter pockets of immense historical significance, refined opulence and breathtaking beauty.

North America

For enjoying a stateside sojourn, drinking in Canada’s natural wonders or exploring the magnitude of Mexico, this continent offers spectacular diversion. Find flavours to arouse every taste bud and an array of cultures to match.

Oceania

A world of exotic wonder awaits in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands. Drift through romantic nights and endless days of natural splendour, aquatic adventure, decadent resorts and epicurean delights.

South America

From the beaches of northern Brazil to the southern tracts of Patagonia, this continent is the sum of a thousand parts. Experience ancient cities and heritage haciendas, volcanic hot springs and vibrant café cultures.

Explore a world of luxury

View all destinations

Cruise Destinations

Whether you dream of island-hopping your way down Caribbean island chains, connecting the ocean waters with a Panama Canal cruise, or sailing into an exotic Mediterranean port at cocktail hour, our expert Travel Designers can curate the luxury cruise vacation of a lifetime.

Explore a world of luxury cruising

Search all cruise types

Safari Destinations

What can you expect from a Tully Luxury Travel safari? In a word: magic. You will witness extraordinary wildlife amid untamed beauty and unparalleled luxury. You will take a thousand pictures – and make a thousand more memories.

Podcasts

Luxury travel’s most inspiring stories told by its most celebrated icons. From wildlife experts, fashion designers and artists, to historians, chefs and more, this inspiring podcast series is designed to show you the world’s most exclusive travel experiences through the eyes of the people that know them best.

See all Podcasts

Explore our media

View all media

Our Partners

What is the Tully Difference? The most satisfying travel experiences are the ones that captivate and transform you as a person and that deepen your connection to the world around you. It is that belief that fuels our desire to create rewarding travel experiences for people who are passionate about discovering the essence and heart of a destination.

View all Travel Partners

The Tully Difference

Learn more

[{"term_id":554,"name":"Ecuador","slug":"ecuador","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":554,"taxonomy":"countries","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},{"term_id":352,"name":"Gal\u00e1pagos","slug":"galapagos","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":352,"taxonomy":"countries","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"}]

Team Tully: Lore and Loretta Travel to the Middle of the World

By Tully Luxury Travel | 01-20-2020 |

Uncategorized Ecuador Galápagos

Our travels designers Lore and Loretta recently travelled with Celebrity Flora on a 5-day cruise to Quito Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. The islands are one of the world’s most foremost destinations for wildlife viewing! Charles Darwin himself visited in 1835 and his observation of Galapagos species later inspired his theory of evolution. We sat down with Lore and Loretta and asked them all about their trip! Here is what they had to say: 

Highlights of the Trip

The highlight for sure would be standing in the middle of the Earth. North of the city in Quito there is a monument for the Centre of the World. At this monument, you can sand at 0 degrees, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds! This is just something very different and completely memorable. Being able to stand on both hemispheres at once is something we will never forget!

Loretta: I also learned that due to the location the sun rises at 6 am and sets 12 hours later all 365 days of the year!

Celebrity Cruises has been working on giving back for years. As of our trip, they had planted over 41000 new trees which takes the place of an invasive blackberry plant. We were part of that as well. But beyond nature, Celebrity has also given back to the communities by helping to build a soccer pitch for the locals.

Lore: Aboard the Celebrity ship I noticed that all the cuisine was inspired by the Ecuadorian culture. Everything was sourced from Ecuador including fresh fruit and vegetables as well as fish and meat! Even the furniture on the ship was created by Ecuadorians in Ecuador.

What was it like getting onto the ship?

Embarkation is easy. A 10 minute ride from the Baltra airport gets you to the pier, you get off load your bus, and take a zodiac to the ship. Each zodiac takes about 10-12 passengers the Flora has about 6 of these zodiacs so they fill up a zodiac and head to the ship and fill up another etc. etc. Getting on and off the Zodiacs is a breeze as they are state of the art and actually have a hydraulic lift at the front along with stairs and a hand rail for more stability.

What was the design like onboard?

Cabins are modern, with plenty of wood and stone accents. The colors are browns, grey and yellows, all modern décor. Pictures in the hallway are all nature shots of scenery or animals of the Galapagos. The designer of the ship is a well known Ecuadorian designer, Andrea Hoyos and she also designed the airport VIP lounge in Quito too. Her husband also designs the furniture used onboard. The furniture was made in Ecuador by Ecuadorians. WIFI in your cabin and on the ship was quick and really good for that part of the world. The cabins all face out so that the scenery is the prime focus.

What was the cuisine like?

The cuisine onboard is all sourced from Ecuador, the fruit and vegetables along with fish and meat. Interesting is that any meat MUST be slightly cooked and then packaged before entering the Galapagos this is to prevent any contamination of the islands. Plenty of fresh fish and ceviche always available. Fruits readily available are strawberries, bananas, melons apples.

What was the On-Deck Experience like?

The main dining room elegant and feels more residential with display cases and artwork.

The ship has a hot tub and a small plunge pool. They can do dinner out on deck under the stars as well. Something unique is they have star gazing located forward on the ship where experts tell you the different stars and constellations they see, they use a laser beam to point them out in the dark sky.

Everything on the ship is a “green” as possible, no plastics onboard, no straws, no single-serve plastics, the ship is quiet and uses less energy as well. Each cabin is equipped with a water filtrations system so you use your refillable water bottle to get fresh cold water –no plastic water bottles to waste.

What Excursions did you do?

We visited Santa Cruz island and Espanola island. Both islands are visited by the zodiacs, Santa Cruz has a pier while Espanola you do a wet or dry landing. The ship’s zodiacs have a hydraulic lift at the front raising or lowering a platform making it much easier for getting on and off the ship. t’s a real game-changer for any passenger who might not easily swing your legs off the zodiac to get off.

All excursions require walking. So you need good walking shoes and the paths you follow vary from sandy beaches to dirt to loose rocks. Some islands have sea lions, others have birds, some have Galapagos iguanas, and the tortoises too.

Top Tips and Takeaways

Quito’s new airport is only about 3-4 years old. We stayed at the EB Hotel which is about 45 minutes out of town, but only ten minutes from the airport. Taxis do not take credit cards for the most part so essential to have US Cash as the country is on the US Dollar. Uber is new not really recommended for safety.

JW Marriott hotel built in the ’90s but all the rooms have been redone. This hotel is in the city and has more of a resort feel.  You cannot easily walk out of the hotel and explore have a car take you around if possible. Quito is very hilly to walk around and extremely crowded.

– Lore and Loretta

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Inspiring travel ideas and advice from our travel designers delivered straight to your inbox.

Submit

Subscribe to our Newsletter

And gain access to travel promotions exclusive to Tully Luxury Travel through our vast network of some of the largest service providers in the travel industry.

We hope to show you the Tully difference on your next journey.

Tully Luxury Travel | Newsletter Subscription

  • Send

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

false