Cruise With Christine Pappin: Galapagos - Onboard Celebrity Xpedition

Monday, January 19, 2009

Galapagos - Onboard Celebrity Xpedition

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Before we depart the Celebrity Xpedition, I'd like to tell you more about the ship and life onboard during the past seven days. She is small compared to the mega ships that are being built today, like Celebrity Solstice for example. Xpedition weighs in at 2,842 Tons and has a capacity of 92 Passengers. It is 296 feet long (about the size of a football field).

Despite the small size, there still are multiple locations to gather with the crew and your fellow passengers. Because of her size, and the size of the passengers and crew, you can't help but become a n extended family by the end of the cruise.

The first location that you'll become familiar with once you board the Xpedition is Discovery Lounge. It is the hub of the ship serving as meeting room, cocktail party room, and entertainment center. For those wishing to stay in contact with the outside world, it also serves as the internet cafe.

Before dinner each night there was a cocktail party in Discovery Lounge along with a briefing about the next day's activities. Unlike other ships, you don't have to pull out your cabin key to pay for your drinks - they are included in the cruise price. You can try the special of the day or enjoy your favorite drink. Mine drink of choice while cruising is a chocolate martini. I am happy to report that the bartenders made excellent martinis (as well as many other drinks).

For the past ten years, one of the first things we do is check out the spa once we get onboard. Xpedition does have a spa and fitness center. There is a hot tub, sauna, and massage room along with treadmills, stationary bicycles and other fitness equipment on the Sunrise deck. My husband and I both booked Swedish massage appointments for one of the afternoons.

Later in the week we spent some time on the Sunrise deck in the hot tub and laying on one of the lounges. We didn't use the exercise equipment since we figured we were getting enough of a workout on our activities. Whether you want to relax or workout, the facilities on the Xpedition should be satisfactory.

Safety is an important concern on any cruise ship and the Xpedition does have lifeboats in addition to the Zodiacs which provided transportation for all our activities.

You may be wondering about the restaurant facilities. We'll talk about food in my next post. For now suffice it to say that this cruise had all the amenities of larger ships including parties, musical entertainment, and several enrichment opportunities.