A couple of questions about the Isabella II
We will be on "Cruising the Galapagos Islands" in December aboard the Isabella II. We are striving for carry-on only, which likely means doing some laundry. I understand that there are no laundry facilities on the ship. Are there clotheslines in the bath or shower? Also, do magnetic hooks work on the cabin walls? We found them quite useful on our most recent cruise. Thanks!
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I sailed on the Isabella II several years ago. If my memory is correct there were one or two washing machines on the top deck that were often is use. Don't recall if bath offered clotheslines.
Been on the ship twice. I don’t recall any washing machines you can use yourself. There was one point on the tour where the crew were able to take laundry to land for you. Because of the humidity, we got through a lot of clothes on that tour but you don’t really have to take any dress up clothes. Lightweight safari clothes for us that at a pinch would say fit into a Tauck duffle that you could use as carry on. Bathrooms are very small, not much room for laundry, it’s an expedition ship. We loved it, would go a third time if we could, we don’t need fancy big ships. crew are wonderful.
We went this spring. There are washing machines outside near the hot tub There are no clothes lines in the bathrooms, which were tiny. There were racks near the washing machines where you hung your wet suits to dry. Everyone hung up their wet clothes on the outside railings which were inside the windows along the hall to the cabins. Most things dried. We went carry-on and were fine. Not dressy at all and some people wore new outfits every day, (wheeled suitcases the size of a small frig).Others, like us, wore our clothes many times. The last dinner in our hotel, we dressed a little nicer. The magnetic hooks are a good idea, might work.Great trip!
I was thinking it was dryers, rather than washers that were on the top deck, but i could be mistaken. We were there in May. We were on the Peru part also, so we took a regular suitcase. If we were just doing Galapagos, I think we could have done carry-on. Fabulous trip!!
While I admire your efforts to take carry on only,I just want to caution you regardless of what facilities are there on Isabela,the itinerary is tight with most days with AM and PM excursions .Besides you are allowed suitcase on the plane from Guayaquil.A compromise may be just take one suitcase for both of you and avoid washing and have a bit more time to relax.Besides I don’t mind repeating mix and match clothes more than once or twice even.We did this trip in Dec 21;didn’t even check washing facilities;the rooms are not very spacious!Trip was just outstanding because of the itinerary,TD and the crew on the ship!
Dottie, I think you could be correct, I think it was dryers!
It may have been only dryers! I didn't use them but I know some of the people did.
Thanks so much, everyone. This is really helpful! We will need to bring carry-on only because our layover in PTY is only a bit more than 1 hour, and we don't want to take the chance of our luggage not making it onto the plane with us. We'll just plan to pack lightly and do a bit of hand wash. One more quick question--will US-type plugs work on the ship, or do we need an adapter?
I’m pretty sure they were US-type, along with some USB ports, but check your final documents from Tauck. That should say.
Re: the Isabella ll...are hairdryers available in the rooms?
Yes, Tauck doesn’t mention it but if you google ‘hairdryers on Isabella ll’ you can find it. I’ve been on the ship twice and was pretty sure they did. So I checked. It’s a great tour.
Thank you, British. Found the information based on your suggestion.
We have just booked this trip for March 18 2027. Any info you can share would be greatly appreciated.
Debi and Dottie are correct- only a dryer to dry swim suits and rash guars or other snorkel clothes. It has 120V / 60 Hz receptacles. I don't remember USB ports but the Metropolitan Touring website says it has them (where? I didn't see any in the photos) (Metropolitan owns and operates the Isabela II).
https://www.metropolitan-touring.com/galapagos-cruises/yacht-isabela-ii/#cabins
It appears this is a very relaxed dress code.
One of the most relaxed dress codes of any tour.
Hopefully they still do the towel art in the rooms. It was fun to look for them upon return from outings.
The 'art' in the second photo was somewhat startling. The rooms on the Isabella II didn't have locks. When we returned and went into the room we thought we might have gone into the wrong room, finding someone in the bed. The attendant/artists, waiting it the outside passageway had quite a chuckle based on our reactions. They got us. 😁
We love the ship, these photos are adorable. It’s also easy to see how basic the cabins are. Sam, you feet must have hung off the end of the bed!
We are going on the Family Galapagos tour next year, sadly it’s not the Isabella
I apologize for resurrecting this thread however there is no need to start a new one.
I would love information on the Isabella 2. We are in room 12...one of two rooms that have a double bed. Any photos would be appreciated. It also states that this cruise is very relaxed. So what kind of attire would be recommended? I will not be snorkeling but Steve certainly will. It looks like wet suits are provided for this. Am I correct?
When we were first considering the Galapagos...we were looking at Peru and the silver seas cruise but we have another trip going to Peru so this trip is more conducive to our needs.
I would appreciate any information you can share about the trips you have taken. Please share any photos as well. Especially of the animals you captured in photos.
I thank you ahead of time.
@cathyandsteveg__ We didn't go on the Isabella II but I can provide pictures of the animals we saw on the Galapagos. Just scroll from the place pointed to by the following URL.
https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2021-1Galapagos-04.htm#Galapagos
The Silver Origin was a very nice ship. One of the best we've been on. Designed specifically for the Galapagos.
All you need is safari type clothing. It’s a long time since we went, Going again next year on the Bridges tour. As I’ve previously mentioned, the ship is basic. We did not have one of the double bed rooms.
Cathy, this link has a photo of all three types of cabin. Unless you have the Owners suite, you can see how small the rooms are and beds are not that big. We are on a basic ship right now, we have two narrow single beds next to each other. Being narrow, we appreciate this room to sleep better on this trip. We were in Galapagos in a March and it was very humid
https://www.yachtisabela.com/decks-and-cabins/
Thank you British....that's the information I was looking for. Thank you so VERY much for the link. That is beyond helpful! It's a short cruise so I am not concerned about the room size and I expect it is going to be small and simple but I wanted to be prepared.
Suggesting Safari type clothing advice is extremely helpful! I happen to have some of that! We too are going in March so I will be prepared for high humidity. Again...thank you!
Mike...our original plan was to go on the Silver Seas trip with Tauck...but we are now doing the Isabella 2
Cathy, here are some of the birds/animals that you see.
Blue-footed boogie
Flamingo
Flightless Cormorant
Frigates
Great Blue Heron
Nazca Boobie
Pelican
Red-footed boogie
Land Iguanas
Marine Iguanas
Sea Lions
Sea Turtles
Tortoises
That's what i am looking for!!! Thank you Sam!
There is a brand new movie out by Ron Howard called Eden. It’s based on the true story of some people who first lived on the island of Floreana in the thirties. It’s a bizarre true story which I first learned about on my first trip to Galapagos years ago. At the time I read several different books about them and the big mystery that has still never been solved. One of the books is by Margaret Witmer who’s ancestors still live on the island. There is also a documentary called When Evil Came to Eden, narrated by an Australian actress who’s name escapes me…I, am out of the country the moment, if anyone gets to see it please post a review here! Hope the movie is still on when we get home.
I saw an interview with Ron Howard about this movie yesterday.
Here's a couple of links about Margaret Witmer and her book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margret_Wittmer
https://www.amazon.com/Floreana-Margret-Wittmer-ebook/dp/B086HR6YC3/
The book is about $5 in Kindle format.
There's a book called "Satan came to Eden" about the island of Floreana. I think it takes place in the 1930's. You can read the book (public domain) at https://whalesite.org/galapagos/1935-36_satan_came_to_eden_harpers.htm
I also found this film - https://zeitgeistfilms.com/sitelets/galapagosaffair/introduction.html
And here's a description of the film "Eden" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_(2024_film)