Galápagos cruise prices: real fares per night, by class and by month

By David Brito, Galapagos Dana Tours · Mindo, Ecuador · Updated 13 November 2026

This is our price index for Galápagos cruises. It is built from every departure with places that we sell: 5,337 departures on 42 yachts as of November 2026, with fares per person in a shared double cabin, as each yacht publishes them. No sample, and no “from” price picked for a headline. We refresh it with each update of this guide, so the tables describe the schedule you can actually book.

Why a cruise costs what it does is explained in cruise costs explained. This page answers a narrower question: what do the fares look like right now, per night, per length and per month?

Price per night by class

Per night is the fairest comparison, because it puts a 3-night and a 7-night cruise on the same scale. The median fare is US$815 per person per night in mid-range, US$970 in first class and US$1,475 in luxury.

What the classes mean:

• Luxury (23 yachts): designer catamarans, classic yachts and small expedition ships, many with two guides, suites and more included in the fare. The detail is in luxury cruises.
• First class (15 yachts): modern yachts and catamarans, almost all for 16 guests, where most of our guests sail. See first-class cruises.
• Mid-range (3 yachts): renovated 16-guest yachts with private bathrooms. Economy boats are not in the index because we do not sell them; budget cruises explains why.
• Diving liveaboards, when they have places, get their own row. Their fares pay for dive itineraries, so compare them only with each other.

The ranges overlap, sometimes a lot: a first-class cabin in a quiet month can cost less than a mid-range cabin at Christmas. That is why we lead with the median rather than the cheapest fare.

Price by length and class

Each cell is the median fare for the whole cruise, per person, for that length and class. A dash means there are too few departures of that length in that class to give a median worth printing.

Across all classes, a 4-night cruise has a median fare of US$4,651 and a 7-night cruise US$7,375. Our guide to choosing a cruise calls 4 nights the best value in the market: three full days, one region done well. We agree for most first visits. A week earns its fare when you want two regions and most of the headline species in one trip.

Price by month, next 12 months

Each row counts the departures that start in that month and still have places, in every class except diving, with the cheapest and the median fare per person per night. Three things move the numbers, and only one of them is the season:

• The season. Demand follows the holidays in the countries our guests come from as much as the weather in the islands. What each season brings at sea and on land is in the best time to visit Galápagos.
• The class mix. A month with many luxury departures still open shows a higher median even if no yacht has changed its fare. Read the departures and yachts columns before the median.
• What has already sold. The cheapest cabins usually go first, so a popular month can show a higher “cheapest” a few weeks out than it did when the fares were released, while a slow month can show reduced last-minute fares.

Each month has its own guide: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.

Last-minute fares

Right now 796 departures in the index carry a reduced last-minute fare. The median reduction on the published fare is 7%, and the largest is 50%. Those reduced fares are already counted in the tables above, so the “from” and “cheapest” columns include them.

Operators release reduced fares inside the 90-day window and cut hardest in the final weeks; the timing, and what you give up by booking late, is in last-minute cruises. Our last-minute page lists the current ones. Flights and the park fee never get cheaper close to departure, so the saving on the whole trip is smaller than the discount on the cruise.

What the fare does not include

The fares in this index cover the cabin, all meals on board, every guided excursion with a naturalist, snorkel gear on most yachts and transfers between the airport and the yacht. They do not cover:

• the national park entry fee (US$200 per foreign adult, in cash on arrival) and the TCT transit card (US$20 per person, bought online before the flight);
• the flights to the islands from Quito or Guayaquil;
• tips for the guide and the crew;
• drinks on most yachts, and wetsuits on some;
• a fuel surcharge that some yachts add as a separate line.

Every line, with the amounts, is in cruise costs explained.

How we build the index

• The source. Our own departure inventory, the same one behind our cruise finder. It is copied every night, and this page uses the copy of November 2026.
• What counts. Every departure that has not yet sailed and still has at least one place, on every yacht we sell. Full departures drop out.
• The fares. As each yacht publishes them for that departure, per person in a shared double cabin, including any last-minute reduction in force on the day of the copy. Per-night figures are the whole fare divided by the nights, then rounded.
• Medians, not averages. Half the departures cost less than the median and half cost more. One top suite on one yacht cannot pull it up the way it would pull up an average.

The honest limits:

• Solo travellers pay a single supplement on most yachts, and the index does not show it. The options are in our guide for solo travellers.
• Promotions released after the copy appear only in the next update. The live fare in the cruise finder always wins.
• “Places” means berths, that is people, not cabins. A departure with one berth left counts as open, even when no double cabin is free.
• The index covers the yachts we sell, not the whole fleet.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Galápagos cruise cost per night?

On published fares as of November 2026, the median is US$815 per person per night in mid-range, US$970 in first class and US$1,475 in luxury, in a shared double cabin. The full range for each class is in the first table on this page.

How much does a 4-night Galápagos cruise cost?

Across 1,452 departures with places, 4-night cruises run from US$1,897 to US$12,790 per person, with a median of US$4,651. Flights, the park fee and tips are extra.

How much does a one-week Galápagos cruise cost?

Seven-night cruises run from US$2,847 to US$20,490 per person across 1,657 departures, with a median of US$7,375.

Is it cheaper to book a Galápagos cruise last minute?

Sometimes. 796 departures currently carry a reduced fare, with a median saving of 7% and up to 50%. The choice of yachts and dates narrows as departure approaches, and flights do not get cheaper.

When is a Galápagos cruise cheapest?

It changes with what has already sold, so we do not print a fixed answer. Check the monthly table on this page: it shows the cheapest and the median fare per night for each of the next twelve months, from the latest copy of our inventory.

Does the cruise price include flights?

On almost every yacht, no: the flight to the islands is bought separately, and we book it with the cruise. The national park fee and the TCT card are extra too.

Book a departure from the index

Found a month and a class that fit? Open the cruise finder, set your dates and see every departure with its live fare and places. When one fits, ask us: we check it with the yacht and place a free cabin hold, usually 5 to 7 days, while you decide. Every cruise booked with us also includes complimentary nights at Las Terrazas de Dana Boutique Lodge & Spa in Mindo Cloud Forest; the complimentary nights guide explains what is included.

Related reading

The layer-by-layer budget is in cruise costs explained; the classes are in budget cruises, first-class cruises and luxury cruises; the decision in the right order is in how to choose a Galápagos cruise; and the timing is in the best time to visit and last-minute cruises.

Sources

• Live cruise fares and departures, Galapagos Dana Tours
• Last-minute cruise fares, Galapagos Dana Tours
• Our guides: cruise costs explained, how to choose a Galápagos cruise, luxury cruises, first-class cruises, budget cruises and last-minute cruises

Last verified: November 2026