MS Santa Cruz II
---
MS Santa Cruz II
The MS Santa Cruz II is an expedition ship from HX Expeditions designed to explore Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands in an intimate and immersive setting. It provides opportunities to discover the archipelago’s exceptional biodiversity, including giant tortoises, sea lions, seabirds, and numerous endemic species that make the Galápagos unique. Itineraries combine island-to-island sailing, guided landings, hiking, wildlife observation, and activities designed to explore both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. On board, guests enjoy comfortable cabins, welcoming public spaces, and an experienced expedition team dedicated to exploration and nature discovery. This expedition cruise emphasizes environmental awareness and conservation, offering an immersive experience focused on biodiversity, wildlife observation, and responsible exploration of the Galápagos’ pristine landscapes.
Itineraries of the MS Santa Cruz II
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
Technical specifications
- Tonnage: 2664
- Speed: 10.0 knots
- Passengers: 90
- Decks: 4
- Length: 71 m
Frequently Asked Questions
The company says it two ways. Its ship page announces them as included, with an asterisk whose footnote does not appear on the page. Its own frequently asked questions reserve them for suite guests and leave them to your discretion elsewhere. We do not settle it for them: ask for the written list for your departure.
Depending on which text you read, yes or no. The March 2024 announcement promised daily activities included fleetwide. The company's frequently asked questions describe most excursions as optional and booked separately, with some ports offering one at no charge. Get written confirmation of what your departure includes.
Free access exists but it is limited, and paid packages are sold beyond it. At polar latitudes the satellite link drops regularly whatever the package. Do not sail planning to work on board.
House drinks are: water, soft drinks, draught beer and house wine at lunch and dinner, with tea and coffee all day. Cocktails, champagne, fine wines and the minibar are charged, and the terms and conditions exclude them except for suite guests.
The ships are declared accessible, with specific conditions. You bring your own wheelchair and it must be no wider than sixty centimetres. The operator also asks that you be agile enough to board the inflatable boats, since that is how landings are made.
Five years old at minimum for Antarctica and the Galapagos. Landings for children under twelve are at the captain's discretion, depending on the sea and the site. That is not a formality: in rough weather a landing can be refused to a child who has been waiting months for it.
With HX US Inc, a Delaware company, for departures sold in the Americas. The contract is governed by English law and names the courts of England to the exclusion of all others. There is no arbitration clause and no class-action waiver.
Two years for personal injury, death or luggage, one year for everything else. Away from US ports the Athens Convention caps liability; elsewhere it is capped at three times the total booking price.
Nothing establishes a Quebec licence for this operator. Your protection comes from here: Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence from the Office de la protection du consommateur, your payments pass through a trust account, and your departure is covered by the compensation fund for travel agency customers.
Rubber boots are, where they are mandatory: Antarctica, Svalbard and East Greenland. Hiking boots are not and remain yours to bring. The company also announces an expedition jacket, but that promise sits in its marketing announcement and not in its conditions: have it confirmed.
Antarctic voyages require a medical form completed six weeks before departure. And nobody may travel who will be twenty-four weeks pregnant or more by the end of the voyage. Both rules apply whichever ship you take.
No. She is owned by Metropolitan Touring, an Ecuadorian operator, flies the Ecuadorian flag and is registered in Guayaquil. HX has chartered her since June 2021, her first departure under those colours was 5 January 2022, and the charter runs to 2029.
Yes, and that is normal. The owner sells the same hull under its own brand, with its own itineraries and departures. You will find the same cabins and the same guides under two names. In the Galapagos almost every ship is run by an Ecuadorian company: that is the shape of the market, not an anomaly.
Four naturalist guides, which works out at about a dozen guests per guide. In the Galapagos that number matters more than the size of the ship: the national park sets group sizes, trails and timings, and the guide is the difference between a walk and a biology lesson.
From the ASENAV yard in Valdivia, Chile, in 2002, as the Mare Australis. Seventy-one metres, fifty cabins including three Darwin suites, ninety guests and around fifty crew. A full 2021 refit rebuilt the cabins and public areas and added a science space.
