machotspur

A point to note for some - particularly UK based cruisers ... Many of the library services provide Pressreader access for free - we use the App on a daily basis, both on land and on various cruise ships. Downloading to the App is reasonably quick, even on a slowish cruise wi-fi. Just load the App, go to the Sign-In page and select the Libraries & Groups icon - a long list of libraries around the world shows up. Sign in with your local library account details (you have to be a library member of course 😉).

I agree with your comments. The American thing of wishing to tip on a 'gratuity inclusive' cruise is alien to me - and many others onboard I suspect. However - I believe that it it is clear that guides on excursions are not included in 'this deal' and to this end we always tip the tour guide - unless the experience has not been good.

Similar to my experience on Silver Dawn maiden voyage. We were on the quite short Deck 10, which leads to the bridge. One morning I was struggling to get the cabin door to close properly from the outside. I was approached from behind by the Captain who joined me in my efforts to close the door, but he had no more luck than I. He immediately got on his phone to summon help and waited until the maintenance guy arrived to explain to him the problem and got it fixed. A Captain showing that the guests matter ! Compare that to my experience on Explora last week. I interacted with the two most senior officers (excluding the Captain). One of them clearly demonstrated that the guests were an inconvenience and got in the way of his daily routine. The second was onboard with his wife and young child. Together they showed near contempt for the guests (and other crew) whilst sitting in the Cafe Crema lounge. The truly appalling behaviour was witnessed by several guests, who reported this on 'the other place' So - based on my experiences last week EJ would do best to keep the senior officers in the back office away from the guests because they appear to do more harm than good !

No - whilst there was an abundance onboard from the industry there were many 'paying' guests taking a 3 day 'taster cruise' from Hamburg to Southampton - myself and wife included. We are so glad we did this 3 day cruise as we found out very quickly that this ship & company is most certainly not for us and we will not be booking any further journeys (!!). In any case we did have a longer cruise booked with them in 2025 but EJ have taken care of this by trashing much of their forthcoming itineraries !

Yes - we too were quite happy with the inclusive selection and found the sommelier in a given restaurant quite willing to go and find an alternative (suggested by us !) if we didn't care for the wine being offered to us.

Mrs machotspur and I disembarked on Thursday. More than one poster has posted on social media their real concerns as to the restaurant set up on Explora being flawed. In short the number of seats in the 'table service' restaurants equate to around 65% of the number of guests onboard, on a full ship. This means that they expect a third of the guests to eat in the buffet self serve restaurant (Emporium Marketplace) or take room service (or to have a high level of table turning). This, to any seasoned cruiser on luxury ships, is complete nonsense. We were only onboard for a 3 night 'quickie trial cruise' and chose to dine in Sakura, Marble & Co and Fil Rouge. The first of these was chaos, with incredibly slow service, delivered by very stressed out crew. (I was told by the Maitre d' that a system glitch on the reservation system had partially contributed to this). The second night in Marble & Co was fine, in fact the two servers and the sommelier were excellent. The third night in Fil Rouge was truly unpleasant. A packed restaurant with the servers all over the place, with little indication who was looking after which tables etc. We didn't hang around for the full meal as the whole experience was not good. The shame is that we enjoyed all of the food we were served and would rate it at least as good as - or better - than our extensive experiences with Silversea/Seabourn/Regent. The willingness and at times professionalism of the servers was at times equal to, or better than the other three. Whilst some may put this down to new ship 'teething problems' I do not subscribe to this. In my opinion - based on observations and discussions with crew and officers - I do not believe that Explora/MSC have the customer service ethos that is a prerequisite to delivering a 'ultra luxury' cruise experience (and this is coming from someone who is often critical as to the performance of the other three I mention).

The host of the 'other place' posted a couple of weeks ago that the first tranche would be released on 11th September, with the rest a couple of weeks later.

We disembarked this morning and can confirm that the list includes all of the wines we tried over the past few days.

No - the General Manager currently onboard is a Maarten Smeets.

We were also returning from a tour at the same time. We were shocked that this was the only option for lunch, particularly as Seabourn/Regent/Silversea often keep the buffet option open later in situations such as this and the pool grill facility always open until around 4pm. I caught the attention of the General Manager who quite frankly was dismissive of the issue and showed no concern regarding their failings, merely saying that they will be looking into it !

Our time on 21st August is 12:30 !

Nice one - thanks for the tip. Yes, we too have booked Sakura & Marble & Co. Hopefully in the future their system will get sorted so we can manage stuff like this online !

You're right - it's a nonsense. I contact my TA, who contacts Explora office, who then contacts the people who handle restaurant reservations. A few days later I receive confirmation !!

We were fortunate in being able to benefit from a 'third option'. We will be on Explora at the end of next week. Our TA made us aware a while back that there was a 3 night itinerary operating from Hamburg to Southampton - ideal for us, and UK cruisers in general, to check out Explora with a small time and financial commitment. A short time onboard admittedly, but already we are 'experiencing' the company before we even get on the ship (Not particularly favourable in some aspects). We are planning to try all the restaurants across lunch and dinner (bookings made where needed), and as our TA is also onboard for this trip we are hopeful we will get to see a few suites in addition to the one we are in.

Absolutely agree with the points you make. We are on Explora 1 at the end of next week for a 'quickie trial cruise' of just 3 nights. We've gone with one of the Penthouse suites. We would have tried one of the Residence suites, but for two reasons :- - the small bathrooms are as you say - a poor size, but particularly for a high end suite. - that a jacuzzi takes up a lot of the veranda space. If 'bubbly outdoor baths' are not your thing (us !) then this is such a waste. Our benchmark suite is a Silver Suite on the most recent Silversea ships (Moon/Dawn). Remains to be seen how the Explora suites compare for us.

Speaking with my TA yesterday they advise that their Explora contacts know little more than the party line i.e. that the Explora 1 itineraries will commence on 1st August - just over 2 weeks away !!! We are due to be on a short itinerary from 21st August and are anticipating not good news.

The FT article appears to be suggesting that there are 45 'boats' in operation with the faulty panels. (The article is not particularly well written though).

Hey - that’s a good idea - I hadn’t thought of that ! And it saves packing anything !

Mmm.. 🙄 Again I sincerely thank those with experience of expedition cruising for the very helpful, constructive and detailed sharing of their experiences. Despite us having some previous experiences of expedition cruising it has certainly helped us to prepare for our next adventure - the 'final continent'. I'm already psyched up for one of the most anticipated sections of our trip - on South Georgia - the whisky toast at Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave (not forgetting Frank Wild of course !). Thank you !

Then plenty of time to get those Crocs organised 😄. I've never owned a pair in my life but have seen many many guests use them on Expedition ships, hence my 'taking the plunge'. You will see i'm sure !

Whilst the attempt at humour v serious comment has passed me by in some recent posts I would - as requested in the original post - be most interested in hearing of your experiences on Silversea expedition ships and indeed the footwear that meets your needs between Cabin & Mud Room. Thank you so much !

Amazon have just delivered a new pair of Crocs to our house. The advice given on the website was spot on i.e. they come up large. So the size i've ordered is perfect with thick expedition socks and liners. I've never been this organised - assisted by the very helpful comments on here I have everything I need delivered/ordered 3 months before departure - incredible !😀 BTW - where we are here - in the Cotswolds, England - we have a place named Croc World, just a couple of miles from where we live (a Crocodile 'reserve'). Maybe I should have gone there instead of Amazon for my expedition footwear ? 😄

Hi Heather My bad - I posted in the forum for the incorrect ship (Explorer) Doh !! All OK now I hope - showing under Silver Endeavour Keith

Hi Heather & Fred I've just set up this cruise on the Roll Call section. Post on there and we can meet a little more.

Firstly thank you so much to everyone who has shared their experiences of 'Polar Parka's'. The big draw I have from these regarding what to wear under the 'puffa lined' Parka is - 'it depends' !! As several have said the secret is to pack items that are multi purpose - and are suitable for layering. Yes labrasett - we are renting the boots from Silversea (at a high cost IMHO). We have also decided to take Crocs with us for the walks between Cabin & Mud Room (or maybe Muck Boots) - anyone have any views on this please ? The point you make about being on a zodiac for several hours v walking on land is a very good one. Several points on our itinerary are wholly zodiac based (e.g. Elephant Island) as where walking around Port Stanley is a different situation completely. You are clearly a master at 'multi purpose garments' and have given me food for thought as to what to bring/pack. I remember some years ago in the Arctic on Silver Explorer that a combination of packing restrictions, size of cabins, and timings for evening briefings resulted at times in little discernible difference between day time 'expedition clothing' and dinner wear. This was particularly the case in Svalbard where many were on standby to drop their knives and forks and rush out on deck if they see a Polar Bear. We are very fortunate in being in a Silver Suite, plus we are well over the 100 days mark, so it is fair to say that on this cruise we will be utilising the 'free' laundry in a very programmed way 😉 Yes bitob - I remember on an exploration cruise in the Arctic - we purchased all the gear we thought was needed - much of which is still sitting at the back of our wardrobe today - little used ! On this particular cruise the temperature at times was not much colder than in a UK early winter ! number one eagles fan - I think you could be correct. Silver Endeavour, departing Puerto Williams on 31st October ? If yes then maybe we need to set up a roll call ? Yes RachelG - it's all very unpredictable - and sometimes counter intuitive - just a T shirt under the Parka in Antarctica - who'd have thought it ??? My memory may not be delivering accurate recollections but I think we may have been on the same cruise in June 2012. Silver Explorer ... Reykjavik to Longyearbyen ? Mrs M and I packed all the gear that was recommended for that cruise and didn't wear half of it - and that was with the Mk.1 Parka ie without the Puffa liner !