20240615 Celebrity Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip, Day #17 - Lima, Peru to The Villages, Florida

Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip - 15 hours from Lima to The Villages

Yes, that's 2:30 AM. In the morning. That's when the alarm went off. A quick trip to the bathroom, a quick brush of the teeth, last-minute items into the suitcases, and down we went to the lobby of the Westin, Lima.  Waiting there was our Celebrity escort for this morning, Ruben, as well as a driver.

We departed the hotel right at 3:00 as planned. The upside of this crappy hour is that the crazy Lima traffic was, for the most part, missing. Still, it is a hike to the airport. We expected to get dropped off, but nope, that's not the Celebrity way. Ruben grabbed a luggage cart and pushed our luggage into the airport. He waited for us as we got our bags checked and then escorted us upstairs to security. This is where we said farewell to Ruben and Celebrity and were on our own for the remainder of the trip home.

We cleared security with plenty of time before our flight. We wandered through the duty-free shops and picked up a couple Coke Zero sodas for our morning caffeine jolt. 

We considered picking up some new home decor but then reconsidered

We also posed with a couple of the statues installed in the international terminal.

We arrived at the gate with plenty of time to spare

We boarded right on time.

Seated, buckled, ready to go, but...

The captain came on and said that we were holding due to a "lavatory maintenance issue". Well, poop. Ultimately, they solved whatever the issue was but we took off just over an hour late. With only about 90 minutes in Panama City to make our connection, we were a little concerned. 

A final look at the Andes

And, hello, Panama

We made great time, giving us a little wiggle room. That was a good thing because right after getting off the plane, we had to go through security. That seemed odd since we couldn't possibly have gone anywhere after passing security in Peru. Whatever. Computer out, belt off, pockets empty, still patted down because my hip sets off the metal detector.

We had to hoof it from terminal #2 to terminal #1 for our connection. When we got there, we had to go through another security screening for a flight to the U.S.  Belt off, shoes off, computer out, pockets empty, still setting off the metal detector because of my metal hip. Getting patted down for the third time this morning. Priceless.

As soon as we cleared security, our flight was boarding.

On board and launching on time

We landed in Orlando and headed toward baggage claim. Let me say that this was our first experience in the brand-new Terminal C in Orlando, and the designers were...idiots. As soon as you deplane, you walk up the entire, exceedingly long jet bridge. Then, you walk uphill to get into the terminal. Then, you see the signs stating that it is a five-minute walk to baggage claim - all uphill. What were they thinking?

We were concerned that our tight connection might mean our bags didn't make it. After a bit of a wait, we were happy to see our bags and head to Customs.

Global Entry rocks and we zipped through Customs and headed outside to meet our driver.

Just over an hour later, we pulled into our driveway at 7:00 PM. Fifteen hours door-to-door.

A quick unpack and it was time for comfort food - Arlona's stovetop kettle corn.

So, let's review these past 17 days. I'll start with Celebrity. Without any hyperbole, the service we received from Celebrity, from the moment we walked out into the terminal in Quito to arriving at security in Lima, was absolutely stellar - the best we have ever received on any trip we have taken. I can't emphasize that enough. Every guide, the Xpedition crew, the naturalists, the drivers, the local guides, simply everyone was terrific. We were always informed, always taken care of, and always valued. It was amazing. All the hotels they used, all part of the Marriott Bonvoy family, were top-notch. The restaurants they used for additional meals were equally terrific. 

If I have to complain about something, I'll complain about the middle flights. We upgraded to Business Class Air through Celebrity for the trip. We found out that this only applied to our fight into Ecuador and our flight home from Peru. In between, we had flights from:

• Quito, Ecuador to Baltra for Galapagos on Avianca
• Baltra to Quito on Avianca and then Quito to Lima, Peru on Latam
• Lima to Cusco, Peru on Latam
• Cusco to Lima on Latam

These flights had limited premium seating available, and even though we booked almost a year in advance, we were in basic economy in cramped seats. All-in-all, it is a minor whine.

I'll explain the Galapagos fairly simply. If you've thought about going, go. If you're on the fence about going, go. If you're not sure that you'd enjoy it, go. If you're not really into that sort of thing, go. We were blessed with terrific weather all week. We had one morning with a little mist, but other than that, blue skies, sunshine, and moderate temperatures. I know that it isn't always like that. Still, it is an amazing place to visit and I highly recommend it.

For the Galapagos, the choice of ship got much simpler with Celebrity's recent announcement of the sale of Xpedition and Xploration to Lindblad / National Geographic, leaving only Flora in Celebrity's Galapagos fleet. The all-suite Flora certainly isn't a second-class choice.

The Machu Picchu extension is a little trickier. If you don't really care about ruins and the history of such things, then the Peru extension with Machu Picchu might not be for you. We thought it was great and really impressive to see. And, the additional visits in Peru were wonderful as well.

If you are mobility-challenged, then you might want to think hard about this trip. Nearly everything involved walking. climbing, and traversing rocks and uneven surfaces. The altitude is also no joke with significant time spent at 8,000, 9,000, and 11,000 feet or more. For the Galapagos portions, you have Quito at 9,400 feet. For the Machu Picchu extension, you add The Sacred Valley at 9,000 feet, Machu Picchu at 8,000 feet, and Cusco at 11,000 feet with stops closer to 12,000 feet.

Finally, if you're going to Peru and are looking for a tour guide, check out Jenny (https://www.instagram.com/jbs_jenny17/ or WhatsApp +51 990 361 622). She runs independent tours and was outstanding to work with.

So that's a wrap on our Galapagos and Machu Picchu adventure. Coming in August, our first river cruise from Bucharest to Amsterdam. Come sail with us then.