WHY THIS TRIP
The Grace Yacht, once Princess Grace Kelly’s royal honeymoon yacht, is a beautiful and elegant 16-passenger yacht that makes a fabulous home base for a Galápagos tour. She offers impeccable service, longer itineraries, and amazing naturalist guides.
TRIP DESCRIPTION
A Grace Galápagos Islands Cruise is a journey back in time to luxurious days when Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco owned the boat and used it for her royal honeymoon. The cruise offers fine dining, fantastic accommodations, and impeccable service, making this one of the top luxury cruise options in the Galápagos.
There are three categories of staterooms on the Grace, with two Master Suites, two Twin Suites, and five Premium Staterooms. Staterooms are up to 200 square feet in size, and all have private bathrooms with hot water showers and hair dryers, individual climate controls, phone, personal safes, and ample storage space. The public areas are perfect for luxurious lounging on the boat, with a main salon with a bar and entertainment system. Dining is available in the interior dining room our outside, with views of the ocean and passing islands. There is also a sundeck with a bar and an outdoor Jacuzzi.
Each day, you’ll be exploring the Galápagos Islands with your certified, English-speaking naturalist guide who will explain the various flora and fauna you encounter. You’ll also be snorkeling in waters alongside penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions, sea turtles, and Galápagos sharks. On land, you’ll observe Blue-footed boobies, Magnificent frigatebirds, giant tortoises, land iguanas, and fascinating plants. Where permitted by the park, you can also explore by kayak where paddling next to rocky shores lets you observe nesting sea birds up close.
While there are many luxury vessels in the Galápagos, this one stands out from the crowd due to her elegant aesthetics, fascinating history, low passenger to guide ratio, and specialized itineraries. Lots of other cruises will stop mid-way through their 8-day cruise to drop-off and pick-up passengers, but the Grace offers only true week and two-week long itineraries. This means on a Grace Galápagos Islands Cruise you get out to more remote sites, you don’t waste time shuffling passengers around mid-cruise, and your guide can personalize your tour even more.
All meals are served buffet style and include healthy foods with a great deal of variety and with plenty of tropical fruits. Special food needs can be accommodated upon request. There is also a Kids Club on family-oriented departures, with activities for the younger set such as family movie nigh and star-gazing, as well as kid friendly menus. These departures feature child-oriented guides who have experience sharing the Galapagos with kids.
LOCAL OPERATOR: QUASAR EXPEDITIONS
For more than 30 years Quasar Expeditions has built a reputation as one of the most experienced names in Galápagos travel and cruises. With Quasar, you will encounter giant Galápagos tortoises, prehistoric marine iguanas and unique species of penguins, flightless cormorants and flamingos up-close and personal. Guided by the most experienced naturalists, you feel like you could be among the first people to come across this natural paradise.
Quasar Expedition’s love for nature and the magic of the Galápagos Islands is evident in its conservation projects and its mission is to preserve the ecosystem of the Galápagos. The size of its vessels allows guests to experience Galápagos luxury cruises and leave the islands unharmed. This philosophy is applied across all of Quasar’s Galápagos luxury cruises and is reflected in its active participation of conservation projects and support for several environmental organizations.
Emily K –
We had a great time in Quito and Galapagos. Guides were very good. Cruise was terrific with excellent guide. Food only o.k. but accommodations, service and crew were excellent.