NOT INCLUDED IN THE CRUISE PRICE:

Airfare from your home city to Ecuador (either Quito or Guayaquil)

*Airfare from the mainland to Galapagos (approximately $500 per person - children under 12 approximately $300)

Overnights and transfers on the mainland (between $75 to $250 per room per night depending on the hotel)

*Galapagos National Park entrance fee    $100 pp (children under 12 - $50)

*Transit Control Card                                   $20 pp

Bar consumption on board (some yachts include some of this)

Crew and Guide tips - unless otherwise indicated.  Each yacht has their own recommendation for tip but it is usually between $25 - $35 per person per day for both the guide and the crew.

 

Some but not all yachts/ships charge a fuel tax surcharge

 

Note:  The prices of the air tickets to Galapagos, the national park fee and the transit control cards are subject to change without notice right up until the day of your departure.

 

*Some but not all yachts will mark up the price of the airline tickets. 

Some passengers attempt to avoid this mark up by purchasing their own airline ticket to Galapagos.  This is NOT recommended for the following reasons:

 

If you book your own ticket to Galapagos you need to make sure you are on the SAME flights as the other passengers.  There are multiple flights per day and 2 different airports.  You MUST be in the right place at the right time or you will miss your cruise.

 

If something happens and you don’t make it on the flight that you purchased on your own but the rest of the passengers traveling in a group do, you will miss the cruise (and yes although rare, I have seen it happen).

 

Sometime for various reasons the yacht may need to begin the cruise from a different port that is accessed from a different airport.  If you purchased your ticket with the yacht, they will make the switch for you and you will not even notice a difference.  However if you purchased your own ticket, you will fly to the wrong airport and miss the cruise.

 

Some but not all yachts will charge you a fee if you decide not to purchase your airline tickets through them.  This is because the airlines allocate cargo space on the planes based on the number of tickets the yacht purchases.  The yachts need this cargo space to get provision out to Galapagos from the mainland and therefore they need to purchase additional cargo space to make up for the space they did not receive when you purchased your ticket on your own.  

 

Therefore despite the potential slight difference in price, I recommend ALWAYS highly recommend you purchase your airline tickets to Galapagos from the yacht you will be traveling with.