Our one-week Galapagos cruise on the Ocean Spray (Luxury class catamaran) in April 2022 was simply outstanding. I cannot overstate how much we enjoyed the trip and how much of our experience was attributable to the fantastic crew and boat.
Starting with the boat: it’s beautiful, well-kept, spacious, stable, and comfortable. With only 16 passengers, there was always room to stretch out on the giant daybed on the skydeck. There were no significant queues to get food at mealtime or for any activities. The overall vibe was incredibly relaxing, despite going out for three or four activities every day.
I found our two-person cabin on the upper deck surprisingly large, and apparently the same type of cabin on the main deck below us was even larger. We really appreciated the king-size bed, as many boats have only a queen. We also learned to be very thankful for the balcony with chairs; there were a few times when the sea was a bit rough (not terrible), and staving off seasickness was way easier sitting outside. Plus, on the day when dolphins were swimming in the wake, we had a front row seat to the show from our balcony.
Our daughter had the one single cabin, which was perfectly sized and also had its own balcony. Of note, Ocean Spray does not charge a single-supplement for that room, which makes the boat perfect for a three-person family. I think this arrangement with two cabins and two bathrooms was far better than some other boats on which we would have had a triple-cabin with one bathroom.
As for the food, it was far better than we expected. Our favorite meals were definitely the lunches, which tended to be the largest meal of the day. The seafood was plentiful and very tasty. There were two days when we ate BBQ outside on the bar deck - octopus, lobster, crab, fish, meat, poultry - it was amazing. There were always plenty of vegetable options to go along with the main protein. Breakfast included a few slightly different choices each day, but there were several staples, including a cooked-to-order omelet or any type of eggs every day. Dinners were very good, though the portions were much smaller than at lunch, so there were a few times when we could have eaten more. Pro tip: there were pre-dinner appetizers every night on the bar deck, but we didn’t always take advantage of those - we should have. Cocktails/wine were about as pricey as you would expect for a venue like this, but the pour was 1.5-2x as generous as what I would have poured myself, so I found it reasonable.
Regarding the activities, we generally had 3 off-boat excursions every day, split between the morning and afternoon. At least one of the daily excursions was snorkeling (occasionally we snorkeled twice in one day). If you don’t want to snorkel, you could kayak or use one of the two standup paddle boards.
Obviously, the snorkeling and the short hikes were mind-blowing; that’s why you’re going to the Galapagos, right? The only weak part of our trip, in my opinion, was our naturalist. While he was extremely knowledgeable and perfectly nice, his delivery was somewhat robotic. We often found ourselves losing the thread of his narration. We would have preferred a guide who wove stories into the narration, but he was more of a just-the-facts type of guide. I must stress that a few others on the trip seemed to love his guiding, and our lack of connection with his style did not dampen our overall enjoyment of the trip. Further, he works for multiple boats and companies, so I would not use this as a strike against taking this particular boat.
Upon return to the boat from a snorkeling excursion, a crew member would put a dry, hot towel around our shoulders the second we had stripped the wetsuit down to our waist. This sounds like such a small gesture, but after being in the water for 40+ minutes in a slightly ill-fitting wetsuit, I was cold. So I loved this. The crew also would have different types of hot drinks to hand us after snorkeling, and there was also a tray of appetizers prepared by the chef to snack on. We felt completely cared for.
I’ve alluded to the great crew above, but I should explicitly state that every member of the crew was eager to please - not in an overly obsequious way - they just wanted you to feel taken care of and happy. As just one minor example, our cruise director quickly learned that we liked to bring a thermoflask of ice on excursions. A few minutes before the pangas were about to leave, he would seek me out and ask if I wanted him to fill my flask with ice (the ice machine was below decks in a restricted area). There were so many little things like this that made the trip great.
In summary, I strongly recommend the Ocean Spray for your bucket-list trip to the Galapagos - you will not be disappointed!
