cruiseej

Loved Chef Jess! He left Seabourn several years ago and runs a restaurant now. I can't remember the town; somewhere in the UK, I believe.

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I found it to be in fine form. For starters, the crew was excellent, from the expedition team to the restaurant teams to the housekeeping teams. Although the Cloud lacks a large atrium or central lobby, the ship was nicely decorated for Christmas. The was some rust below the anchor and chipped paint on the hull around the water line (likely due to rubbing along ice at times), so one could say there was some wear and tear, but it didn't detract in any way. There may have been a few areas of carpeting showing a little wear; I didn't notice, but a few of my traveling companions mentioned it when we were trying to assess if the ship was showing its age. Our veranda suite was in fine shape. Of course, the ship lacks the extra restaurants that the newer ships have, but it's hard to hold that against her. I will say that the lack of an all-day drink/snack venue like the Arts Cafe on the newer SS ships (or Seabourn Square on the Seabourn ships) is something we noticed. The lack of a bar in the forward Observation Lounge is a big design miss, in my opinion, but that's the way she's built. I've seen people say the ship is drafty; I didn't find that to be the case. There were no sewage smells or water/sewage problems that we saw/heard about from anyone on board. All in all, I felt the ship was in fine shape… for what it is: an older, smaller, expedition ship.

Good tracking @Fletcher 😉 We were on that Cloud cruise which ended Wednesday. The ship's captain and expedition leader made several weather-driven decisions which affected our schedules — and all worked out favorably for us. Going to South Georgia Island, there were some forecasted heavy winds and swells, and so they put the ship on full speed as soon as we left the Falklands, and got us to South Georgia in one day instead of the normal two. After three great days in South Georgia, we weren't sure whether our "extra" day would be spent there, and again, the winds drove the decision: a big storm was headed for South Georgia, so we left after our scheduled three days and headed for the Antarctic peninsula. We assumed we'd then spend our extra day in Antarctica, but the weather forecast for the Drake drove the decision to leave in order to thread our way between two systems of high winds, resulting in an only slightly bumpy crossing. But that brought us back to the Beagle Channel a day early, and I was hoping that didn't mean we'd just sit there for another day waiting to disembark. I was impressed to learn what the leadership had to do in order to make that a useful day: cruising up the Beagle Channel into the Chilean fjords required a local pilot for that region, and they were able to arrange for one to fly in (I believe from Punta Arenas) and pick him up so we could spend our extra day cruising this region instead of sitting at anchor off Puerto Williams. The weather wasn't great that day, but it was calm enough in the morning to get zodiacs in the water and take a nice 90-minute zodiac cruise along the shore viewing sea lions and the Garibaldi glacier (from a bit of distance due to ice). I don't know what it cost Silversea to pull off those machinations, but everyone aboard appreciated the efforts to deliver us a unique bonus experience. It was a fine end to a cruise which had an unusual 100% success rate with two landings/zodiac cruises per day for each of our days in the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antartica.

No, but you didn't see how much I ate the night before! Most mornings when I woke up, I was not ready to attack breakfast right away, excursion or not! 😉

The other option we ended up doing most days we had an early excursion was to get up, dress, go on the excursion, and then enjoy breakfast after returning to the ship. (If you have a 6:45 excursion, you'll likely be back onboard by 8:15; plenty of time to change and go for breakfast.) We did the room service breakfast before an early excursion twice, but found we had to get up even earlier, rush to eat and get dressed, and maneuver around the table of food while putting on our layers of clothing. We generally at dinner late enough that we didn't wake up hungry, so the excursion-before-breakfast approach worked better for us.

I'll just try to add on to the great replies you've already received... You will arrive and find you have been pre-assigned, but on that first day, you can get them to re-assign you so you're all in the same group -- no problem. I will note that you may still up on different zodiacs at times. Its gets crowded on the deck where people are going to/from the mudroom and zodiacs, and sometimes they will grab the next 8 people waiting and put you in a zodiac; if someone in your group is still getting their boots on, you may end up in different zodiacs. So if you definitely want to be in the same zodiac, stay in the mudwoom until all are ready to go... but it can get cozy int here if people are suiting up and others are returning. We just had 205 on the Cloud. I don't think they carry as many as 260 for the Antarctic trips. Since they can only have 100 ashore at a time (by international convention), I think they keep the ships to about 220 maximum, so there will be only two cycles to get everyone ashore. Yes, exactly. They might have groups 1, 2 and 3 get the first call, and 4, 5, and 6 will get called about 75 minutes later as the first groups start to return. And the only thing you can count on is that things will change! Timings may change, earlier or later. If the sea is a bit choppy and loading is taking longer, they might call group 4, wait 5 minutes, call group 5, wait 5 minutes, and call group 6. If the ship arrives at a landing spot early, they may start calling the first groups 15 minutes before the stated time. As our expedition leader said on the first day, when revealing to some groans that the first departures would be at 6:45 the next morning: "this is an expedition ship!" There are no docks in Antarctica! So they're all wet landings, with the exception of Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, if your trip goes there. For our trip last week, briefings were as early as 6:15 and sometimes as late as 7:00, depending on what was happening. On two days, there was a briefing mid-day because the afternoon excursions wouldn't be returning until 7:00. For the restaurants which required reservations, we asked for 8 pm to have flexibility to shower and sometimes have a pre-dinner drink; if you like to eat earlier, 7:30 will generally work. Yes, there are heat lamps.... and yes, it's cold outside! Most people wore their parkas, and they have blankets. In my opinion, it's an interesting experience worth trying at least once, but it's not the same as a relaxing multi-course meal in the other restaurants. Some people are fine with the cold; some not as much. And the weather may vary depending on where you are (Falklands versus Antarctic peninsula) and time during the season. The most important factor is probably that it's not too windy. Lightweight waterproof pants over middle layer hiking pants and a base layer works great for most people. Most ski pants may be warm and water-resistant, but not completely waterproof. You will be stepping into icy water -- you really want waterproof pants which fit over the waterproof boots, and you won't get cold or wet. Last week the sun set for about two hours. It will be getting a little longer now that days are getting shorter. On the Antarctic peninsula, our daytime temperature was generally about freezing (32 F/0 C), plus or minus a few degrees. But it's the wind which will get you if it's blowing. It depends. It can be windy and choppy and landings can be canceled, or it can be like a glassy lake. We were fortunate on our cruise to have 0 missed landings. Our expedition leader said the average is about 80% successful landings. But one trip on another ship around the same time as ours had a bunch of missed landings due to weather. So the answer to your question is: it depends. 😉 If any of this sounds very cold or daunting, what I'll say is that if you follow people's suggestions for layers and the right types of clothing, you won't be cold and you won't get wet.

So you're suggesting to bypass glasses and drink directly from the bottle? 🤣

There was the flipped zodiac where someone died on the Quark expeditions trip. Then there was the Viking zodiac accident — passengers described it as an "explosion", but it's possible they were hit from underneath by a whale — in which one person was thrown into the water and pulled back in, and another suffered a severely broken leg. (That led to the rest of the cruise being canceled, as the ship rushed to Ushuaia to get the injured passenger the medical care she needed.) And then Silversea just had a zodiac which flipped (possible due to a wave from ice falling or flipping) and dumped everyone in the water; I don't think anyone was injured. That seems like unusually bad luck; I've never read of zodiac incidents being common occurrences. Since we're leaving for Antarctica tomorrow, I'm hoping it's true that bad things come in threes, and the rest of the winter season will be smooth sailing for all who are going! 😉

That's probably not a great strategy, because "cancel for any reason" policies only pay out about 75% of your cost. So you'd save 20% upfront, pay the not-insubstantial cost of the insurance, and lose 25% if you cancel. You'd probably come out ahead if you need to cancel by just doing regular P2P without prepaying. (Of course, if you cancel because of a medical emergency, then conventional travel insurance could bail you out.)

It's from 9:16 to 9:27 in the video, if you don't want to watch the whole thing. 😉

Well, not only is Port to Port apparently not going away, it seems Silversea is doubling down with a new promotion for significant savings when you prepay a P2P cruise: INTRODUCING PORT-TO-PORT PREPAID LIMITED-TIME OFFER WITH SAVINGS UP TO 20% At Silversea, we believe choice is at the heart of true luxury and invite you to discover a new way to explore the world with indulgent savings beyond compare – Port-to-Port Prepaid. An extension of our Port-to-Port All-Inclusive fares, this exclusive offer is available across a wide selection of Classic ocean voyages and Expedition cruises with additional savings of up to 20% when you book by 28 February 2023.

@chrism23 I'm trying to connect the dots, and it seems that if you stop traveling completely, world peace might break out! 🤣

Six weeks on the Cloud, in a wide variety of climates, definitely seems to require more than a single 50 pound bag, Wes! Shipping one bag ahead sounds like a great solution. For those of us going just to Antarctica for 10-18 days this winter, it's more a matter of editing our choices. I just did a test loading of my bag prior to our departure for our 3-week trip on Wednesday: 49.1 pounds! As long as no one will balk at my camera bag being my 'personal item' for the charter flight, I think we're in good shape. 🙂

The Silversea instructions state: Each guest is limited to one (1) carry-on of no more than 17lbs (8kg) and checked bags (one) not to exceed a total of 50 lbs. (23kg). Each guest may also carry one small personal bag, such as a purse or laptop bag. All hand luggage must fit in the overhead compartment or under the seat. Due to weight restrictions, excess/additional baggage cannot be purchased. (That line is bolded by Silversea, not me.) So, no, you can't pay for being over. I don't know what happens if your checked luggage is overweight. Since it gets picked up at the hotel and taken directly to the charter plane, you're not checking in with your luggage at the airport. Do they weigh the bags as they load them, and pull out any which are over the limit? I don't know. I haven't read any reports here or on FB of people who had this issue. People this fall have been reporting that the charter airline has not weighed their carry-ons, but they have pulled people out whose carry-ons are too large to fit in the small overhead compartments; those people have said they were able to have their carry-on place in the luggage hold.

I thought you were reporting the passenger who had the most days onboard. Then I did the math and realized 31,000 days is 85 years! So I guess that's a cumulative 31,000 days among the passengers. 🤣

Many judgment decisions can be questioned, or even criticized, without them having been a violation of company policy or the law. There's no need to attack Rachel because she shared her experience and opinion. She didn't accuse the captain of any violation of policy or law; she and others who were experienced expedition cruisers had what they felt found to be sub-standard experiences.

I believe you absolutely should have a day room. Per the SS web site for Antarctica expedition cruises, everyone is supposed to get either an overnight in Santiago or a day room: You need to have your travel agent press SS about why you are not listed for a day room and transfers.

My guess would be that the crew was instructed to leave things alone until the accident investigators had a chance to thoroughly comb through the wreckage, photograph everything, and retrieve various parts for subsequent testing in a lab. I'd also assume some of those involved in the accident investigation had to scramble and fly to Ushuaia from other parts of the world.

Hoping not to fire up another dress code flurry here, but I just wanted to note that the "Clothing Suggestions - Shipboard Attire" section of the Silversea website (it's ever referred to as a dress code) specifically does require the jacket, but never mentions that jeans are not acceptable. Jeans, in fact, are not mentioned at all. It only says "slacks for gentlemen are appropriate" for Casual evenings and adds "gentlemen wear jackets (tie optional)" for Informal Evenings. Again, let's please not get into a discussion of how jeans are not the same as slacks, or whether "nice" or "fancy" jeans meet the bill, or whether jeans are the gateway to t-shirts in the main dining room, etc. 😉 I just wanted to address the misconception that Silversea explicitly says no jeans after 6 pm; they don't, and therefore probably shouldn't bar a guest wearing jeans.

It's interesting how differently this works for the Endeavour's Bridge cruises versus the Cloud and Wind. For Endeavor, the boots are free, and you get free waterproof pants; on the Cloud and Wind, both must be rented or brought from home. (I'm sure this is because you need all your gear to get to the Endeavour via zodiac when you land on King George Island, whereas guests on the Cloud and Wind just walk aboard in Puerto Williams.)

Just confirming what Lois stated, we're on the December 15 Cloud cruise, and we received an email with our Final Documents on December 2. (My understanding is that this should also be visible in My Silversea on the Documents tab, but it isn't there.) In what seems to be too typical for Silversea, there's information missing. I was particularly interested in the specifics for the charter flight from Santiago to Puerto Williams, and the documents direct us to "please refer to the Charter information found on the final pages of this booklet." Except there is no charter information at the end of the documents. Sigh. I've seen enough first-hand reports from other passengers in the past few weeks to have an idea of the timing this year and how it's going to work, so we'll just get the information at the pre-cruise hotel. But it would be nice if they could get the details right. (This is after they promised a new, increased luggage allowance which apparently does not exist, and a welcome reception dinner on the night before embarkation at the hotel in Santiago, which also apparently does not exist.)

I just looked back at our original itinerary for this trip in 2020, before it was canceled, and we were to have been at Port Stanley for 9 hours, from 7 am to 4 pm. But all the itineraries for the Cloud and Wind this year are for only 6 hours, 8 am to 2 pm. Did South Georgia Island move farther away? 😉 They also switched Saunders Island for New Island (while retaining West Point Island). I don't know if that's a plus or a minus. I just hope we're not in the first zodiac group when we arrive at West Point Island… at 6 am! 😴

Yes, always a wise move to check who else is in port with you! 😉 As I noted above, the good news is that we appear to be the only ship in port on December 20. Unfortunately, Silversea seems to be just about the only cruise line limiting visits here to just 6 hours, at least on the December cruises. I haven't yet received a reply from Jimmy, so I don't know if this tour would be viable with our limited time.

Yes, we'll be on the Cloud, stopping at the Falklands enroute to South Georgia and then Antarctica. We are scheduled to stop at New Island and West Point Island one day, and Port Stanley the next. No stop of Saunders Island on this trip. Thanks, @Stumblefoot for the suggestion, @audobon_tx for the fantastic pictures, and @RachelG for the affirmation. We're scheduled to be docked at Port Stanley for only 6 hours (8 am to 2 pm). From the time until we can get ashore and need to be back onboard, I figure we have a maximum of 5 hours in Port Stanley. Is that enough time to get out to Volunteer Point and spend time there with the penguins? Google Maps shows it as a 90 minute drive each way, but I don't know how accurate that is if there's no real road! We appear to be the only cruise ship in port on this day, so perhaps it's do-able? I've reached out to Jimmy Curtis to inquire. Is the ride out to the point interesting, or just a long ride to reach the destination.