« Lindblad Expeditions

Passenger Reviews

• Wow--What a Trip

  Passenger Rating:

  My husband and I just got back from a trip with National Geographic/Lindblad expeditions. We traveled the Inside Passage of Alaska. Not your typical cruise--maximum of only 62 passenger on board. The entire crew from the Captain on down did everything they could to make the trip something you would always remember. Being such a small ship--they could get into areas a regular cruise ship could only dream about. If space was too tight for them--we were placed into zodiacs. Plans would be changed to make the most of moment. For example, Killer whales were spotted as were were traveling to a cove and the ship was stopped and we got into Zodiacs moved and moved as close a allowed so that we could observe the whales in their environment. Cannot say enough about this trip---would not hesitate to travel with them again!

  My husband and I just got back from a trip with National Geographic/Lindblad expeditions. We traveled the Inside Passage of Alaska. Not your typical cruise--maximum of only 62 passenger on board. The entire crew from the Captain on down did everything they could to make the trip something you would always remember. Being such a small ship--they could get into areas a regular cruise ship could only dream about. If space was too tight for them--we were placed into zodiacs. Plans would be changed to make the most of moment. For example, Killer whales were spotted as were were traveling to a cove and the ship was stopped and we got into Zodiacs moved and moved as close a allowed so that we could observe the whales in their environment. Cannot say enough about this trip---would not hesitate to travel with them again!

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• Galapagos and Land of the Polar Bear - WOW

  Passenger Rating:

  Pros: Quality/knowledge of staff

  Cons: Time/$$$-not enough to go on all of the Lindblad trips we want to

  The Bottom Line: GO! GO! GO! You will thoroughly enjoy yourself.

  Our first trip with Lindblad was their Galapagos trip on Polaris in Nov 2004 (and still our favorite all-time trip). Not too long before the trip, they had changed the starting point to be Quito instead of Guayaquil-luckily we had them book our airline tickets - they were also changed by the time I had called to inquire about them. Arrived in Quito quite late (early? 1AM) due to late flights out of Miami. Despite the hour, the local Lindlblad folks were pleasant and very accommodating, as was the hotel. The flight to Baltra went off without a hitch. Polaris was there ready and waiting for us, even though the previous guests had only left 2 hours prior! Accommodations on the…

  Pros: Quality/knowledge of staff

  Cons: Time/$$$-not enough to go on all of the Lindblad trips we want to

  The Bottom Line: GO! GO! GO! You will thoroughly enjoy yourself.

  Our first trip with Lindblad was their Galapagos trip on Polaris in Nov 2004 (and still our favorite all-time trip). Not too long before the trip, they had changed the starting point to be Quito instead of Guayaquil-luckily we had them book our airline tickets - they were also changed by the time I had called to inquire about them. Arrived in Quito quite late (early? 1AM) due to late flights out of Miami. Despite the hour, the local Lindlblad folks were pleasant and very accommodating, as was the hotel. The flight to Baltra went off without a hitch. Polaris was there ready and waiting for us, even though the previous guests had only left 2 hours prior! Accommodations on the ship are what we expected - not a glamorous 'cruise ship'; but functional and appropriate for the adventurous spirit of the trip. Staff and crew were all wonderful. The naturalists are all top-notch. We had booked a photography cruise, so there were also professional photographers added to the staff -- all being top-rated and rather well-published. We spent the entire week amongst the flora and fauna that Darwin made 'famous', although they didn't realize they were 'celebrities' - they just went about their business without a care in the world! When people mention that you can get 'up close and personal' with the sea lions, iguanas, boobies, etc. - they mean it! The naturalists, however, did their job to ensure that the guests respected the wildlife. We had seen some other groups (not very many, as the Galapagos tourism board does limit the numbers) who were not being as respectful, so we applaud the Lindblad staff for their diligence! Food on the ship was delicious - there was even an Ecuadorian Feast. Being a photo expedition, we had a few different experiences (there were photo and non-photo options for the daily expeditions) - sometimes went onshore just after dawn or had a late dinner so we could take advantage of the lighting conditions. Flexibility in schedule is key word of all Lindblad trips; daily itineraries are distributed, but sometimes changes occurred. Each day was an 'adventure'. The reason this is still our all-time favorite is the quantity/availability of the wildlife, coupled with the top-notch staff. No where else in the world will you be able to experience the variety of wildlife at in such close proximity.

  Our second trip with Lindblad was in July 2007 to Norway and Svalbard, the Land of the Polar Bear. We opted for the pre-trip extension to some of the fjords and Bergen and Oslo. This was the first time we did a 'land tour' with Lindblad, and as usual,they lived up to their great reputation with the quality local/national guides. There was also a Lindblad staff member with us at all times (she was busy a lot of the time trying to track down some of the guests' missing luggage, which, thanks to the tenacity of the Lindblad staff was found and retrieved!). Hotels we stayed at were all very comfortable and well-chosen (especially the Ullensvang Hotel, on the banks of one of the fjords). We joined up with the group in Oslo for some touring and then flew to Longyearbyen, Svalbard, where we boarded National Geographic Endeavour, another of Lindblad's expedition fleet. Again, the quality of staff and naturalists is unrivaled - the resident geologist even got us looking forward to studying rocks (not an easy feat)! The ship's captain did a marvelous job maneuvering through the ice and 'acting like an iceberg' to get a reasonable, but not too close, distance to wildlife and glaciers. Some of the eagle-eyed spotters found polar bears, walruses, whales and birds....some of which the rest of us couldn't see at all until we had gotten much, much closer. That speaks for the knowledge and ability of the staff. One of the naturalists had lived on Svalbard as as trapper for a year and spoke to us about his experience. We had a National Geographic photographer aboard for most of the trip, until we dropped him off at one of his 'work locations' for an upcoming NG issue. Learning about the area is one of the big pluses of traveling with Lindblad -they have put a lot of effort into making each trip an experience that you will always remember and to educate their passengers on the areas they travel in.

  Lindblad has a video chronicler on board each trip, and although pricey, the videos they produce are studio-quality and capture the essence of the trip perfectly.

  Dietary restrictions of passengers (gluten-free; garlic allergy; low-sodium) were accommodated without question. Repeat passengers make up a large portion of the guests (we were in the small 1/3 of the passengers who had not already been on Lindblad's Antarctica trip). Some of our fellow passengers have been on 70 Lindblad trips or more! Granted, the trips are not the least expensive trips to the areas they travel to - however, the extra expense is worth is, as far as we can tell.

  PS - we are booked on their Panama/Costa Rica trip in 2008!

  Recommended: Yes

  Tour type: Group

  Tour format: Various

  Tour length: Over a Week

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• Traveler Beware of Lindblad Expeditions

  Passenger Rating:

  Pros: The egyptologist was excellent.

  Cons: To expensive for what you receive and very poor customer service.

  The Bottom Line: I would not recommend Linblad Expeditions to anyone because of the cost of the trip and most of all their poor customer service.

  We recently took a 2 week trip with Lindblad to Egypt and definitely did not get what we paid for. We cruised the Nile for 7 days of the trip. Initially we were suppose to cruise with the luxury yaht the Triton but within a month from the trip the Triton burned down and it was replace with a ship called the Salencia. We had booked the bridge suite on the Triton which had a 180 degree view of the Nile River. We immediately contacted Lindblad's customer service department and let them know that this was not satisfactory to us. They gave us no alternatives and basically…

  Pros: The egyptologist was excellent.

  Cons: To expensive for what you receive and very poor customer service.

  The Bottom Line: I would not recommend Linblad Expeditions to anyone because of the cost of the trip and most of all their poor customer service.

  We recently took a 2 week trip with Lindblad to Egypt and definitely did not get what we paid for. We cruised the Nile for 7 days of the trip. Initially we were suppose to cruise with the luxury yaht the Triton but within a month from the trip the Triton burned down and it was replace with a ship called the Salencia. We had booked the bridge suite on the Triton which had a 180 degree view of the Nile River. We immediately contacted Lindblad's customer service department and let them know that this was not satisfactory to us. They gave us no alternatives and basically said take it or leave it. We had planned this trip at least 8 month in advance, paid for the trip which was in no way inexpensive and had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. When we boarded the ship the accommodations aboard the Salencia were not even close to being a 4 or 5 star ship like the Triton was suppose to be. They had no rooms with a veranda, your view was of one side of the river not 180 degree bridge suite view, it was dirty, no service, people were getting sick and worst of all we paid $3300.00 more for the only 'master suite' on board the Salencia. Lindblad assured us it was the same as the Triton??!! When we returned home we sent Lindblad a 2 page letter letting them know how disappointed we were about this and we have never heard anything from them. We will not be traveling with Lindblad Expeditions ever again.

  Recommended: No

  Best Suited For: Couples

  Tour format: Various

  Tour type: Group

  Tour length: Over a Week

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• Antarctica Cruise Review w Lindblad Nov. 2009

  Passenger Rating:

  In November 2009, we went on a Lindblad-National Geographic Cruise in Antarctica on the National Geographic Explorer. The expedition operations (site selection, Zodiacing, hiking, kayaking, etc.) were spectacular. We never felt rushed and everything was professionally run. There were usually 2 landings a day, weather permitting. One day the Captain drove up onto the ice so we could take a walk on ice. He also made a stop so we could swim along a thermally heated shoreline. Regardless of where we were, the mountains, ice flows, and sunsets were always incredible. We saw tens of thousands of penguins, many other types of birds, seals, and whales. Oftentimes the penguins would walk to within a foot or so of us. The enormity of it all has to be experienced, it can’t be described.

  We had equally high hopes for the educational activities, given National Geographic’s preeminence in nature education and the…

  In November 2009, we went on a Lindblad-National Geographic Cruise in Antarctica on the National Geographic Explorer. The expedition operations (site selection, Zodiacing, hiking, kayaking, etc.) were spectacular. We never felt rushed and everything was professionally run. There were usually 2 landings a day, weather permitting. One day the Captain drove up onto the ice so we could take a walk on ice. He also made a stop so we could swim along a thermally heated shoreline. Regardless of where we were, the mountains, ice flows, and sunsets were always incredible. We saw tens of thousands of penguins, many other types of birds, seals, and whales. Oftentimes the penguins would walk to within a foot or so of us. The enormity of it all has to be experienced, it can’t be described.

  We had equally high hopes for the educational activities, given National Geographic’s preeminence in nature education and the alliance formed in 2004 between National Geographic and Lindblad. We were surprised there was no use of any National Geographic materials in presentations. The one short film we were shown appeared to be a BBC production. Our official National Geographic photographer gave two presentations. One was about shooting a small wedding service in Alaska?! There was no channel on the in-room TV with National Geographic films and no DVD players to play any Nat Geo DVDs bought in a gift shop.

  Most days there were one or two talks given by one of the many naturalists. The individual talks were interesting, but they paled in comparison to the quality of the presentations Regent Cruise lines provided on our Alaska cruise. It appeared we had a collection of talented, knowledgeable, motivated naturalists with no one in charge. Note this is not the presenters’ fault – it’s a management problem. The presenters and naturalists were as enthusiastic, helpful, and fired up as any group of workers we’ve ever seen. They just need direction, access to Nat Geo materials, and help with presentations.

  The dining experience was mediocre. Among menu selection, food quality, food preparation, buffet replenishment, and service, two of the five were usually bad, two OK, and one good to very good. Ordering off menu was “tolerated”. Language barriers appeared out of nowhere when we tried to order things as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich. It seemed odd there wasn't a lobster or crab night. Fresh crab appeared to be the local specialty at Ushuaia, our departure point. On the plus side, the selection of moderately priced wines was quite good and many were available by the glass. (Note our food experience may be a fluke. One of the guests had been on many Lindblad expeditions before and said the food operation on this one was “just bad”.)

  We were surprised there were basically no organized social activities at all beyond morning stretches and a recap of the day’s events before dinner. After dinner one could work out, visit the lounge, or watch the one movie that ran repeatedly (but was changed each day). Some attempt to break up the sameness over the 10 days at sea would have been much appreciated, especially after dinner.

  Our cabin was nicely laid out and reasonable for the price. We always had lots of hot water, but heard from numerous folks on the 3rd deck they had problems throughout the cruise.

  In summary - not a good value for us and our last Lindblad National Geographic Cruise. If expedition operations are far more important than everything else to you, this trip is worth considering.

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• Antarctica Cruise with Lindblad/National Geographic December 2009

  Passenger Rating:

  In November 2009, we went on a Lindblad-National Geographic Cruise in Antarctica on the National Geographic Explorer. The expedition operations (site selection, Zodiacing, hiking, kayaking, etc.) were spectacular. We never felt rushed and everything was professionally run. There were usually 2 landings a day, weather permitting. One day the Captain drove up onto the ice so we could take a walk on ice. He also made a stop so we could swim along a thermally heated shoreline. Regardless of where we were, the mountains, ice flows, and sunsets were always incredible. We saw tens of thousands of penguins, many other types of birds, seals, and whales. Oftentimes the penguins would walk to within a foot or so of us. The enormity of it all has to be experienced, it can’t be described.

  We had equally high hopes for the educational activities, given National Geographic’s preeminence in nature education and the…

  In November 2009, we went on a Lindblad-National Geographic Cruise in Antarctica on the National Geographic Explorer. The expedition operations (site selection, Zodiacing, hiking, kayaking, etc.) were spectacular. We never felt rushed and everything was professionally run. There were usually 2 landings a day, weather permitting. One day the Captain drove up onto the ice so we could take a walk on ice. He also made a stop so we could swim along a thermally heated shoreline. Regardless of where we were, the mountains, ice flows, and sunsets were always incredible. We saw tens of thousands of penguins, many other types of birds, seals, and whales. Oftentimes the penguins would walk to within a foot or so of us. The enormity of it all has to be experienced, it can’t be described.

  We had equally high hopes for the educational activities, given National Geographic’s preeminence in nature education and the alliance formed in 2004 between National Geographic and Lindblad. We were surprised there was no use of any National Geographic materials in presentations. The one short film we were shown appeared to be a BBC production. Our official National Geographic photographer gave two presentations. One was about shooting a small wedding service in Alaska?! There was no channel on the in-room TV with National Geographic films and no DVD players to play any Nat Geo DVDs bought in a gift shop.

  Most days there were one or two talks given by one of the many naturalists. The individual talks were interesting, but they paled in comparison to the quality of the presentations Regent Cruise lines provided on our Alaska cruise. It appeared we had a collection of talented, knowledgeable, motivated naturalists with no one in charge. Note this is not the presenters’ fault – it’s a management problem. The presenters and naturalists were as enthusiastic, helpful, and fired up as any group of workers we’ve ever seen. They just need direction, access to Nat Geo materials, and help with presentations.

  The dining experience was mediocre. Among menu selection, food quality, food preparation, buffet replenishment, and service, two of the five were usually bad, two OK, and one good to very good. Ordering off menu was “tolerated”. Language barriers appeared out of nowhere when we tried to order things as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich. It seemed odd there wasn't a lobster or crab night. Fresh crab appeared to be the local specialty at Ushuaia, our departure point. On the plus side, the selection of moderately priced wines was quite good and many were available by the glass. (Note our food experience may be a fluke. One of the guests had been on many Lindblad expeditions before and said the food operation on this one was “just bad”.)

  We were surprised there were basically no organized social activities at all beyond morning stretches and a recap of the day’s events before dinner. After dinner one could work out, visit the lounge, or watch the one movie that ran repeatedly (but was changed each day). Some attempt to break up the sameness over the 10 days at sea would have been much appreciated, especially after dinner.

  Our cabin was nicely laid out and reasonable for the price. We always had lots of hot water, but heard from numerous folks on the 3rd deck they had problems throughout the cruise.

  In summary - not a good value for us and our last Lindblad National Geographic Cruise. If expedition operations are far more important than everything else to you, this trip is worth considering.

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