November 13, 2014: Santa Cruz and North Seymour Island
	November 12, 2014: Santiago and Bartolome Islands
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As I have done with all our cruises, I want to devote a single page to the Xpedition itself. It was a ship different from any I have been on before- mostly because it was so much smaller. So on this page, we'll take a tour of the ship and our stateroom.

First, though, some facts about the ship. Unlike our other cruise ships, this one is very small by omparison, accommodating only 98 passengers. But the 2800-ton, 300-foot-long mega yacht was quite large enough for its purpose. The ship, launched in 2004 was about 50 feet wide, had a draft of 25 feet, and cruised at a maximum speed of 15 knots.

Public Areas on the Celebrity Xpedition

What we'll do in this section is go through the ship, deck by deck, and show the public areas that guests had access to.

Decks 1 and 2 were mechanical decks, and we had no access to them- except for the fantail, that flat area at the stern where the Zodiacs docked and from which we stepped into and out of them. (Aboard ship, they called this area the "Beach Club".) You have seen this area in most of the pictures of the Zodiacs nosing up to the stern of the ship. What you haven't yet seen is the stairway up from this area to Deck 3.

Deck 3

Deck 3 was the lowest deck with public areas that we used frequently, so let's begin our tour there.
This was the deck from which we embarked and debarked at the stern although, in actuality, the Zodiacs actually picked us up from and let us off on the Beach Club, from which we ascended the stairs to Deck 3.

To orient you to our Deck 3 pictures, I'll use a deck diagram provided by Celebrity. On that diagram, shown below, I am going to mark places we photographed. There will be a little red arrow, pointing in the direction of the picture. For example, here at the stern on Deck 3, we took two good pictures. One was taken looking towards the stairway up to Deck 4, and another was taken looking along the starboard side of the deck at a gangway that led into the kitchens (which occupied the inaccessible area between the Beach Club and Darwin's Restaurant on this deck). To see either of these pictures, just click on the little red arrows:

The larger red arrow represents the series of four photos that we stitched together into a panorama of this area at the stern, and you can see that panorama below:

Now, as I mentioned, the only exits from the stern area of Deck 3 are the gangway into the kitchens and the stairway up to Deck 4. To get to Darwin's Dining Room or the Deck 3 staterooms, it was necessary to first go up to Deck 4, then into and through the Discovery Lounge (which is above both the kitchens and Darwin's Dining Room on that deck) and then back down the interior stairs that you can see just forward of Darwin's Dining Room. So let's assume we have done that so that we see some of the other guest-accessible areas on this deck.

From deck 4, you take those stairs down again to deck 3. I took two pictures- one from deck 4 looking down to the landing and another from the landing looking down to the entrance to Darwin's Dining Room. Click on the two arrows on the Deck 3 Diagram below to see those pictures. (I also took another picture from just outside Darwin's Dining Room looking down the stairs to Deck 2 (a crew deck), and you can see that picture here.

Of course, the main venue on Deck 3 is Darwin's Restaurant, where we took breakfast, buffet lunch and sit-down dinner. There were also meals served at the Beagle Grill aft on Deck 4, but mostly we ate here.

At left a a view into the restaurant, taken from the doorway out to the stairs we have just descended. The center island is a buffet at breakfast and lunch, and a serving station for dinner. Typically, after a day or to, we just sat with the friends we had already made, but we would often get to know other folks as well. On one particular evening, we got together with almost all the other "family" members we had met on board (only two were missing) and we all sat together for dinner.

Click on the thumbnail images below for some other views of Darwin's Dining Room:

I took three more pictures here outside Darwin's Dining Room on Deck 3. One was taken from the doorway to the restaurant looking across the lobby towards the gift shop. Another was taken from the center of the lobby, again looking towards the gift shop entry (and the doctor's office, which was next to it), and a third was taken looking down the hall leading to the staterooms on this deck. You can click on the little red arrows on the diagram below to see these pictures.

Deck 4

This was the deck on which we spent the most time, as most of the public areas were here.

To get anywhere on the ship once you have come off one of the Zodiacs, it is necessary to go up the stairs from the Deck 3 preparation area to Deck 4. Once there, then you can either go up other stairs on the outside of the ship to the other two accessible decks, or go in through the Discovery Lounge to the interior portions of Deck 4.

As we did on Deck 3, we'll use a diagram of Deck 4 to organize the pictures we took. When you first come up the stairs from Deck 3, you are facing the Beagle Grill, and of course, looking "forward". Take a look at a diagram of Deck 4:

From a position at the top of those stairs (marked above by the large red arrow), I took three pictures spanning the width of the ship and put them together into a wide-angle view; you can see that view below:

This aft portion of Deck 4 was a seating area for people taking a meal at the Beagle Grill, just relaxing after an excursion, or waiting before an excursion to be called down to the boarding area on Deck 3. (Each Zodiac held 16 people, so one of the crew counted them off as they descended the stairs to that boarding area.) I took some other pictures out here at the Beagle Grill, and you can click on the small red arrows on the diagram above to have a look at them.

I let my camera make a wide-angle shot of the entire aft deck from a position at the aft starboard corner of it (marked on the diagram above by another large red arrow). You can see that picture below:

Looking forward, there are two ways you can go. As you can see here, there are stairs up to Deck 5 (which we will come back to in a while) or the doors into the Discovery Lounge. Let's go through those doors to have a look at the lounge area.

When you come in those doors, you are at the aft end of the Discovery Bar. There are tables and chairs along the starboard side, then a walkway and then the bar. This area was always a bit congested, as it is the main way people had to get on and off the ship or out to the Beagle Grill. I might have placed the bar against the aft wall of the Discovery Lounge, but then that's just me. I took two pictures of the bar area, both from the forward end of the bar counter, and marked by little red arrows on the deck diagram below. Just click on the arrows to see the pictures.

The ship had a little library, or reading nook, and you can see a picture of it by clicking on the little red arrow above that points to it. One afternoon, there was a kind of art sale going on, and I stopped at the doorway forward from the Discovery Lounge to take four pictures of the lounge (my position is marked by the large red arrow). I stitched these together into the panoramic view below:

We spent a fair amount of time in the Discovery Lounge; it was the gathering place whenever you wanted to socialize. Fred and I each took a number of candid shots here in the Lounge, and you can click on the thumbnail images below to have a look at some of them:

From the Discovery Lounge, let's exit forward out into the Deck 4 lobby. This area had the stairs down to Darwin's Restaurant and Deck 3, and up to Deck 5. (Those stairs did not go up to Deck 6, although there were three staterooms there; I'll show you how one got to those when we take a look at that deck.) On the starboard side of the ship was the Guest Relations office and the little desk area used by Monica, the Cruise Director, as well as the naturalists. And, of course, this area was the beginning of the hallway running forward that led to the Deck 4 staterooms. I took pictures of these different areas, including one looking back into the Discovery Lounge, and these are marked on the diagram below with little red arrows. Click on each arrow to see the picture taken from that position (including the door to our stateroom):

That finishes up with the pictures from Deck 4, except for our stateroom that we will look at in a while. Let's return to the aft area here on Deck 4 and go take a look at Deck 5.

Deck 5

We didn't spend much time on Deck 5, and neither did anyone else whose stateroom wasn't on this deck. It was mostly lounging areas, and we were way too busy to do much of that!

Basically, this deck had a lounging area and the Blue Finch Bar aft, and some staterooms forward. A couple of the Zodiacs and two larger lifeboats were also stored on this deck. I think the bar was actually open a few times, but other than the folks I saw using it while we were taking these pictures, I don't recall much going on here.

Let's take a tour of this deck. We'll begin by ascending the stairs up to this deck from the Beagle Grill aft on Deck 4. Right at the top of those stairs, I took one picture looking forward, then moved a few feet and took another looking starboard aft (you can notice that the Zodiac kept starboard aft here is actually in the water and in use. Click on the little red arrows at the top of the stairs on the Deck 5 diagram below to see these pictures:

Then we walked forward to come to the seating area for the Blue Finch Bar. Most of this area is covered by a blue canopy, and some of the individual tables have their own umbrellas. Standing there at the starboard aft corner of the area, I took a series of four pictures. I had intended to stitch these together into a single panorama, but they didn't fit well, and so you can click on the four little red arrows on the diagram above to see each of the individual pictures.

Fred also walked to the forward starboard corner of the seating area, right by the stairs up to Deck 6, and took a picture of the whole area (including where I had been standing by the blue waste can in the center of the picture. You can click on the little red arrow on the diagram above to see this picture. And, while he was here, he took a more panoramic picture, and you can see that picture below:

Just port of the actual Blue Finch Bar there were two windows and two doors. The door nearest the bar led into the stateroom area on this deck. Although we did not go through into that area right away, but instead ascended the stairs just starboard of the bar that led up to Deck 6 (those stairs are shown here), we eventually did get into where the Deck 5 staterooms were, and I took four pictures there. You can click on the little red arrows on the Deck 5 diagram below to have a look at them:

To have a look at Deck 6, let's go back outside to the Blue Finch Bar and take the starboard stairs up.

Deck 6

We didn't spend much time on Deck 6 either; this was the top deck and while the ship did not have a swimming pool, it did have a spa. But although we did see (one time only) a couple of folks lying on the chaises here, we never saw anyone in the spa.

We came up the stairs from the Blue Finch Bar and found ourselves at the starboard aft corner of the deck. Pretty much as on Deck 5, Deck 6 had the lounging and spa area aft and then three staterooms forward. Also forward were the little exercise room and, apparently, a little massage room as well.

You can get a really good idea of what this deck looked like in just one picture- the panorama that I let my little camera put together. Here is what the outside area of Deck 6 (the top deck) looked like:

This would have been a nicer picture if it had not been overcast; I should have returned to do another on a sunny day.

After I took my panorama, I thought I would experiment and take four separate pictures, stitch them together later and see which panoramic view was better. In this case, the camera won out, but you can click on the thumbnail images below to see the four separate pictures that I took:

As on Deck 5, there was a door leading in to the interior hallway that led to the three large staterooms on this deck. As we walked forward down the hall, we passed the exercise room on our right; as with the spa, I rarely saw anyone here, although I came to use the treadmill a few times.

As I mentioned earlier, the main stairway did not come up to this deck, but the occupants of these staterooms did not have to go outside to get down to eat or to the lounge. Partway down the hall, and off to the left, there was a small back stairway that led down. Curious as to where it went, we went down the stairs. On the landing at Deck 5, we found that the stairs continued downward, but from Deck 5 they were crew stairs only. To get from here down to the restaurant (or anywhere else), one walked out into the Deck 5 hallway, turned aft and proceeded to the top of the main staircase. Quite a little maze, actually.

Well, that completed our tour of the Xpedition. We could have scheduled a visit to the bridge, but didn't. Next, let's take a look at our stateroom

Our Stateroom

Greg had booked Fred and I into stateroom 404, just two doors down the hall from the Guest Services lobby; it was a typical stateroom for this ship, and was pretty convenient to just about everything.

When you entered the stateroom from the hall, there was a closet alcove on your right. In this alcove was also the door to the bathroom which had a commode, sink and very small but quite adequate shower.

Continuing past the closets, you could see the desk area and the foot of the bed ahead of you. When you cleared the closets, you could see the the queen-sized bed on your right. There was a window, of course (only a few of the staterooms have little balconies) and a small but serviceable desk.

Fred took one other picture of the room one afternoon just before we left on one of our shore excursions involving snorkeling. Taken from near the window, it shows me relaxing on the bed in my bathing suit. Have a look at this picture here.

That's it for the ship itself. On all the other cruises we have taken, I have also had a section for ship's decoration; most large ships have artwork and architecture that is picture-worthy. Not the Xpedition, though. While not an ugly ship by any means, little attention was paid to artwork other than some pleasant pictures on what wall space there was.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	November 13, 2014: Santa Cruz and North Seymour Island
	November 12, 2014: Santiago and Bartolome Islands
	Return to the Index for Our Galapagos Adventure