I think you will have a much better and intimate experience on the smaller boat, assuming the itineraries are the same or similar.

Thanks! Always willing to abandon my dignity when necessary! Your comments were quite helpful!

welcome

for what its worth did an 8 day cruise down there this past September. Ship had 8 cabins. There was an older couple on the ship. I didnt ask their age, but they were older than me. Im 62.

Everyone mingled at meal time. There were jsut about 16 seats/places for mess and so you coulnt leave the area unless you wanted to head and eat in the lounge, but there was only a coffee table. I didnt see anyone going to their cabin to eat either.

So, agian, everyone mingled at meal time. Some did it at other times too. It just depends. If you didnt want to you could head to your cabin. Or if you want head to some space around the boat to sit/soakup the sun or not.

As far as the pangs/dingys....you really want to contact the ship you will use about this. here is a photo link if you want to one of the ships...

https://img.liveaboard.com/picture_library/boat/5577/Kayak-9---Monserrat-Galapagos-Cruise_2024.jpg?tr=w-857

But you need to keep in mind that how easy/difficult will be based on ocean conditions.

If you have EVER used a dock and boat, you may understand this. So it was no different out there.

I will say this, on our ship, there was 1 or 2 people on the transom helping you in/out of the dingy and the guide/driver doing the same. Im not sure how it is on other ships, but thats how it worked on our ship. The older gentleman did tumble into the digny since the swell dropped at the moment he decided to step into the dingy. he was ok.

also, on our ship we had to have our life vest on BEFORE getting into the dingy too.

re Sea lion pups. THere were a couple that had gave birth on the islands. It was just a matter of being where they were. on San Cristabol, there were several.

good luck

We did the Road Scholar trip on the Tip Top V early last November. I think the age range on our trip was 50s to 80s. We were fine in the water with full wetsuits. The baby sea lions are adorable. We saw a newborn with mom on one of our walks. The crew is very adept at helping guests in and out of the pangas. Road Scholar made everything very easy. The ship, crew and guides were great.

some hints...

"... We are concerned that we should rethink the timing if the ocean will be too cold...

you want ot consider ACCLIMATION when and where you travel. Its not just "hot" or "cold" but its hot or cold relative to what you are acclimated to.

and there is alot of statistical info on the web. The weather is one of them. here is a site i use and if you were to use a travel book, it may have similar info.

take a look at the ocean temperature and see what you think. note, i didnt bring a thermometer with me, but considering what i have for local ocean temperatures, its was "warm".

https://www.holiday-weather.com/galapagos_islands/averages/

good luck

I was on the Monserrat earlier this year. My hubby and I are in our early 50's. We were among the youngest on the boat. Staff were great about helping people in and out of the dinghy. My husband has a very bad knee and used his hiking poles every day when we had land excursions. The boat only has 20 passengers when it's full. We were worried about it being too small, but we loved every second of the cruise. I don't think we would have enjoyed a bigger boat as much.

Mistakenly posted, sorry