![]() Galapagos Adventures by Disney is an 8 night package that includes 1 night on land and 7 on the ship. You need to purchase round trip flights into Quito separately. Your adventure begins with 1 night stay in Quito and the following morning you will fly over to the islands to get on the ship. This internal flight is included in your cost along with transportation. Your ship the Galapagos Legend is a good size holding around 100 guests. As expected with Disney they chose a ship that will offer some rooms that will accomodate families. You will have the Disney Adventures Guides along with Naturalists and other special guests. It is a 7 night cruise around the Galapagos with lots of adventures like hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and wildlife viewing, included each day. After the cruise is over you will be flown back to Quito to catch your flight home. There are 5 dates to choose from in 2022 for this Adventure and most are starting at $6279 per adult (thanks to a nice $750 early booking savings offer). There is a minimum age of 8 to travel to Galapagos. Let's compare this to something very similar offered by another of my favorite vacation suppliers - Avalon Waterways. Avalon offers a 7 night package but it is just a 4 night cruise with 3 nights on land. You would also fly round trip into Quito with those flights not included. You would spend the first 2 nights in Quito with that second day including sightseeing in Quito. Then fly over to the ship on day 3 (those flights included). The ship is the Treasure of Galapagos which holds just 16 guests (yes that does mean it is a nice small group on each cruise). You will have a tour director and naturalists onboard which will also lead your excursions doing things like hiking, snorkeling, and wildlife watching (that are included). On day 7 you get off the ship and fly back to Quito to spend the night and fly out the following day. There are 12 dates scheduled for this trip in 2022 but 2 are already sold out. Rates start at $5254 per adult for most dates. Avlaon also offers some add on options if you would like to extend your vacation into the Amazon or Peru. Both options will include all meals on the cruise and some meals while on land. Both options include many excursions and both give you the VIP entrance into the must see stuff. Disney is one day longer and includes more time cruising but at about $1000 more per person. Disney is also on a much larger ship so there will be more people. I know that both companies will offer you a luxurious adventure that you will never forget but if I had to pick one I would go with Avalon mainly for the small ship experience. ![]() Antarctica I know the end of the world is on a lot of people's bucket list and I think it is great that Disney is offering an option now. I also love that they are doing it on Ponant which is a small ship cruise company that I think is the best choice for Antarctica! This comparison will be a little different from the Galapagos because in this one I will compare booking the Adventures by Disney package vs just booking a regular cruise on Ponant. Adventures by Disney will be using the Ponant ship and as far as I understand it Disney has chartered the ship for 2 dates so that means everyone onboard is part of Adventures by Disney. The ship has 132 staterooms so will have less than 300 guests onboard. It is a 12 day Adventure where you need to purchase round trip flights into Buenos Aires. Spend the first night in Buenos Aires and then the next day you will be flown to Ushuaia where you can ride the End of the World Train, experience the Tierra del Fuego National Park, and End of the World post office. Then you will board the ship for your 10 night cruise. At the end of the cruise you will be flown back to Buenos Aires where you can catch your flight home or maybe add the land package also offered by Adventures by Disney (3 night Buenos Aires Escape). During the cruise with Disney you will have your Adventure Guides and some special events that won't happen on the regular Ponant cruise but most of the rest will be the same. Ponant runs these cruises November - March so you do have more dates to choose from if you are Ok without the Disney touches. They do offer the same itinerary as Adventures by Disney along with some other longer options as well. The pricing seems to come out very similar to what Disney is showing as starting rates so price shouldn't be a factor in choosing. Here is how Ponant describes the 10 night cruise - PONANT invites you on a polar expedition cruise to the heart of the icy realm that is the Antarctic Peninsula. Embark on an unforgettable 11-day voyage and succumb to the enchantment of the breathtaking landscapes inhabited by astonishing wildlife. The start of your cruise will be marked by the crossing of the mythical Drake Passage, during which you will probably be escorted by several albatrosses and Cape petrels, the sentinels of these often-choppy waters. Your ship will then reach the White Continent, realm of the unexpected. Weather and ice conditions permitting, this extreme environment where nature reigns supreme will reveal to you its most beautiful secrets through numerous discoveries. On this uninhabited land, which wasn’t explored until the 19th century, your encounters with the wildlife will no doubt be one of the highlights of your experience. The Gentoo, Adelie and chinstrap penguins, humpback whales, seals and seabirds will provide you with cherished lifelong memories. Each day, whether on land, aboard your ship or during a Zodiac® outing, you will be surrounded by a grandiose decor ranging from icebergs to ice floe and ancient glaciers. We have only seen Disney's starting price as of now and I am sure there will be higher price points for upgraded rooms but until Disney opens these for booking next week this is what we have to go on. The starting price for Adventures by Disney's 2 dates is $12,459 per adult (that is for the January 30, 2002). The December 20, 2021 starts at $12,769 per adult. For many dates Ponant is already sold out of the lower priced rooms so the Adventures by Disney option might allow you to get one of those rooms that can be harder to get this close in. Of course if you might need more than a year to save up you can always look to book for 2023 or later too with Ponant. The earlier you book with Ponant the better your options for rooms will be as this one does sell out early. You could also hope that Disney will keep up the partnership and start saving now for when they open booking for the next year. Either way on this one I think you will have the most amazing adventure! If you would prefer a cruise that will have less families than going with a Ponant booking might be better for you.
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Paris - Day 1
Sadly our cruise ended this morning but the good news is our Avalon vacation isn't over yet. We booked a package that included 2 nights in Paris after the cruise. Since it is all one package we will have the wonderful Avalon service even while off the ship. Last night we were told when to have our luggage ready and the color tags we needed to put on our bags. After some breakfast in the dining room we boarded a shuttle to the train station while our bags were transported by car so they will take a bit longer but we won't have to lug them around so that is nice. It was a quick ride to the train station where our Avalon cruise director, Barbara, is joining us and lead us to our train and we were all seated together for the 3 hour ride to Paris. It went by pretty quick and we were met at the train station by our bus that took us to the Paris hotel that would be our home for the next 2 nights. We were very close to the Paris Opera House which is a nice central location. Our lunch and dinner are not included in this part of the package so while we were waiting for the official check in time of 3 pm we went off and found some lunch nearby. We were able to get into our room after lunch so we took a short break before going out to explore Paris on our own. We headed towards the river and walked around the outside of the Louvre and then headed up the river towards Notre Dame. We couldn't resist walking across Pont de Arts, which used to be the love locks bridge but all the locks have been removed. I think we heard there were over 13 tons of locks that removed so that was a lot of extra weight for a bridge that really seemed to be barely standing without all that. It was a great spot to enjoy sunset though. When we got to Notre Dame it was getting late and you cannot get close as it is all gated off and guarded. Paris - Day 2 Breakfast is included with our stay so we started with that before meeting the group for our included city tour. We are a small group of just 18 which is nice. Our included tour was a bus tour around the city with a stop at the Pantheon. At first I thought it was really odd that they would include the Pantheon on a Paris tour but when we got there I realized why. We went all the way up to the roof of the Pantheon which gave us a spectacular 360 view of Paris. Definitely worth a visit! We also drove by all of the other main sights and our driver did a great job of going slow enough for us all to get the photos we wanted. Our tour ended just before lunch. Avalon also offered a Paris foodie tour that was an optional excursion. Some of our group chose to do that so they were off on that as soon as we got back to the hotel. Food is not my thing so we opted to find our own tour for the afternoon and went off to Versailles. I chose a small group tour through Project Expedition so we were picked up directly from our hotel and went in van with just 6 other people and after dropped off right at our hotel. Our driver was also our guide through Versailles and she was wonderful, even with how crowded the palace was inside. She guided us through each room and pointed out a lot of interesting things. After walking through inside we had some free time in the gardens. I would have liked more time in the gardens and I could see why our guide said you really need 2 days to see Versailles. I guess next time we will just go and explore the gardens which we also learned is free to do. This was our last night stay in the city of Paris but we our vacation still isn't over yet as we head to Disneyland Paris in the morning. How could I go all the way to Paris and not go to Disneyland! Lyon
Today is a full day in Lyon which is a pretty big city and also our last stop for the cruise. We will overnight here and disembark tomorrow morning. We chose the Active excursion which was an Urban Hike through the Traboules. The traboules are the sort of tunnel like stairways in the old city that used to be part of the old silk work that Lyon was famous for. The tunnels helped the worked and merchants get the silk products easily to the river. I am not sure I would call this a hike as it turned out to be more of a classic city walking tour than a hike but I guess all the stairs made it a little more active. Our guide was very informative and explained that the traboules are private and for awhile they were all locked so that the public couldn't use them anymore but in the 90s the city was able to convince about 10% to open back up so the public could explore. Our guide said that families will come to visit on the weekends and go on a hunt to find which gates will open. They are really just shortcuts through the city but I guess it is fun to see if you can find all the ones that will open. The other options for today were a Discovery which was to be a French Chef for the day and learn to cook a Lyon specialty. The Classic option was a foodie walking tour. There were also a couple optional excursions that had an extra fee - a wine tasting at a private vineyard or a Rooftops of Lyon excursion. It was sad that our river cruise had come to an end but it is not the end of our vacation yet! We added 2 nights in Paris to our cruise package and after that we are headed to Disneyland Paris so stay tuned for more on our visit to France! Viviers
Our ship left Avignon at 4:45 am to make our way to Viviers. Along the way we passed through the deepest lock on the Rhone - the Bollene Lock. When you go through the locks on a river cruise your ship really fits snugly in the lock so if you were to open your balcony you really only have a couple inches between you and the wall. When you enter in low if feels like you went into a tunnel and then you slowly rise up and see sunlight again. We arrived in Viviers after lunch. When we docked it was easy to see that Viviers is a very small and old village. There was even a Renaissance faire going on so the townspeople were dressed for the occasion which made it feel even more like we had stepped back in time. Today we chose the Active option and are "canoeing" again but just like yesterday we learned that canoeing actually means kayaking. Today's kayak was an included option so we had a few more people going but it was still a nice small group. However when we got to the river we quickly realized it was a Saturday and that definitely changes the crowd. Even though the weather was overcast and only in the low 60s the river was very crowded. We were kayaking through the Gorges de l'Ardeche. Our guide said that during the summer there is usually around 5,000 kayakers on the river each day. There were only a few hundred today and that seemed too crowded for me. I guess we got spoiled yesterday having that river all to ourselves. Our guides did a good job keeping us together and made us aware of what was coming as there were a few rough patches but it was really fun. The gorge was really impressive with lots of great walls of limestone. We all got wet but no one flipped over so it was all good. Today there were a lot of included options to choose from. There was another Active that was a hike through gorges so they saw a lot of the same things we did but from a different perspective. There was a Discovery which was underground wine tasting. There were 2 Classic which were either to the Lock Bollene or to a crocodile farm. After dinner we were all treated to a guided walk through town to learn more about the history which was very interesting. The town of Viviers floods a lot but it sounds like the townspeople adapt. Viviers is home to the smallest cathedral in France about 1/8 the size of Notre Dame. I love getting to stop in these cute little places! Last night we arrived in Avignon pretty late at night but we were able to catch a view of the half bridge of Avignon under an almost full moon. We pulled up next to another river cruise ship which happens a lot with the river cruises because there is limited docking space. Unfortunately for us the ship we pulled up next to had neon green lighting that ran the length of the ship and they did not turn it off at all so our room now had a green glow overnight. I thought it was pretty rude that they wouldn't turn that off when a ship tied up next to them so I quickly made a note on which cruise line that was and will remember not to book them. Personally I wouldn't want to cruise on a ship that was lit up like that every night.
Today we were in port long enough to not only choose an included morning excursion but also there are some afternoon options that you could purchase. We really enjoy kayaking so I signed us up for the afternoon option to do that. This morning I chose the Discovery option which was described as going to discover more about Essential Oils at the Musee des Aromes et du Parfum and it said we would get to create our own scent. I really enjoy using essential oils myself so I liked the idea of learning more and making my own scent. Being in the lavender capital of the world and that being my favorite oil I was thinking this would be an interesting excursion for me. Unfortunately it wasn't really as described and we didn't get to create a scent and really didn't get to do anything with essential oils. The museum had some neat collections but I would not call this a Discovery or hands on excursion at all. The only saving thing was we also stopped in St Remy which was a totally adorable French Village that I enjoyed wandering around. We were there too early in the morning though so most of the shops were not open yet but I actually enjoyed getting photos of the empty streets and cafes. The Active Adventure for today was an ebike ride through the Gard with a little wine tasting included. I heard that was a very good excursion and a much better bike ride than our first one. The Classic excursion for today was a city tour including the Palace of the Popes and a picnic. It sounds like the picnic was more of a tasting of a few samples but it sounds like everyone that went enjoyed it. I was glad that I had booked us on the optional afternoon excursion to kayak on the Pont du Gard. It was a little chilly and raining a little but I was excited to go kayaking. We were a small group of just 10 guests going kayaking (I am thinking the weather had a few change their minds). It was raining for the first few minutes but it cleared up and turned into a great day and we had the river to ourselves. We paddled right under an old Roman Aqueduct which is the highest of all elevated Roman Aqueducts. The river did most of the work so it was an easy and enjoyable paddle down the river. Day 2
This morning we woke up and it was nice and sunny with less wind. Today we have our second Active excursion. We boarded a bus to head over to Val d'Enfer for our hike. The name comes from the unique white limestone rock formations. We learned that this location was the inspiration for Dante's inferno. The hike was so much better than the bike ride! It was a nice climb with lots of wonderful views to stop and see along the way. At the end we visited the old quarry which now hosts the Carrieres de Lumieres which was just amazing! You entered what seemed like a cave with lots of perfectly flat walls and many square columns. The show started and it was a moving collage of Van Gogh paintings set to music that were projected all over the walls, ceiling, and floors. You felt totally immersed in the experience and I just couldn't stop looking everywhere to take it all in. I could see how some people might feel a bit dizzy though. Our guide mentioned that the show changes every year so make sure to visit again next time we are in the area. I really enjoyed the Van Gogh theme since it really seemed to tie in with everything else we have been seeing in Arles. The Discovery option for today option was a painting class where you got to paint in the same spot as Van Gogh once painted. The Classic option today was a tour of Arles with a bullfighter who took them into the Roman arena and explained the games they do there with the bulls. We arrived back at the ship for lunch and since it was so nice the ship offered a bbq lunch on the top deck which was just perfect. After lunch we headed back into Arles to do a little shopping and exploring. Arles is a very old town with lots of Roman influence. We explored the arena which looks like a mini colosseum and they still do bullfighting in there. We learned that it is not the same as the Spanish bullfighting though in that they do not kill the bull but instead it is more of a game where were are pulling the ribbons from the bull. There are plenty of shops and cute French cafes to enjoy. We did have to be back onboard before dinner time because the ship was moving onto our next stop, Avignon. On the way we did go through our first lock and it is a tight squeeze but we made it. We only had the one night in Marseilles, and the transfer to the ship left at 10:30 am so we didn't get a lot of time to explore here and I am a little bummed about that. I would definitely go back to Marseilles. Our transfer to the ship was included with our pre-night stay we booked as part of our package which was nice since it was about an hour ride. We are boarding the ship in Arles where we have free time that first day and we set sail at 4:30 am. Our first stop is Port Saint Loius and this will also be our first active excursion choice.
Let me back up a little to explain what makes this cruise different from an ordinary Rhone Cruise. This is an Active Discovery cruise and it is the first time Avalon is doing this type on the Rhone. For all my Disney fans Adventures by Disney is doing something very similar next year (so I am sort of giving you a preview of what that might be like). On your typical river cruise you will have maybe 1 or 2 included excursions to choose from each day and most times they will be a pretty basic walking tour of the city you are stopped in. On the Active Discovery cruise we had at least 3 included options, and most times more than that. There is always the Classic type option similar to what is offered on the regular cruises. We also had Discovery options where you are doing a bit more hands on and in depth learning about something in the area, such as painting where Van Gogh painted or making your own chocolate bar. There is also an Active option which includes things like Biking, Hiking, and Canoeing. Day 1 Our first Active choice was for biking in the Camargue Regional Nature Park. I was expecting a scenic bike ride along the nature park where we might see the pink water along with the flamingos and wild horses. I was wrong, it turned out to be a rather strenuous 15 mile ride in total. We biked to a ferry that took us across the river over to the park and then we biked pretty much to the end of the park which was close to the delta of the river. Here we got off the bikes and walked through some areas of the park to see birds and learn more about the landscape. It was interesting to learn that the land we were standing on came down from the Alps and really is only a few hundred years old. Before that the area we were standing on was under the Mediterranean Sea. After that we hopped back on the bikes to go back the same way we came. The wind was not cooperating at all and actually seemed to shift just in time to be in our face both coming and going making the ride less enjoyable. After this ride I am not sure I would sign up for another Bike Ride on an Active cruise without asking how far we will be going. Some of the other options for today were a hike around the nature park which we heard was about 5K and doesn't sound like they saw much more than we did. Another option was a visit to the Oyster farm on the nature park. After lunch the ship headed out for us to sail through the Camargue a little before going back to Arles. It sounds like we are one of the only ships to do this. We arrived back in Arles in time for people to opt to eat dinner in town if they chose. We headed to bed early after that exhausting bike ride and a hike on the schedule the next day. |
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