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Silver Cloud in Antarctica


Jacqueline
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I enjoyed our Galapagos cruise this past January. We are looking, late I know for 2018.

There is still availability on the Silver Cloud. It's close to the same price for the Hanseatic, at the same time which includes Georgia for three days, then it repositions for five sea days to Rio... it is marketed as a English speaking trip as well as German.

Any input for anyone?

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Hanseatic is a wonderful ship. I did this itinerary on Silver Explorer and absolutely loved it. Most important point is that South Georgia Island is the highlight of the trip; yes you can yell SEVEN after stepping on Antarctica but South Georgia is the highlight.

 

Marc

 

PS Never been on Silver Cloud; looking to book her in 2019.

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Have been on Silver Cloud 3x (obviously prior to its reconfiguration as an expedition ship) and Silver Explorer 3x - Antarctica, Arctic/Svalbard, and Panama Canal. Antarctica is a trip like none other and I would love to go back.

 

SS does a great job with its expedition voyages and we're booked on a fourth one aboard Silver Explorer in October of this year. Silver Cloud is (was) our favorite non-expedition ship so it will be an amazing expedition ship, in my opinion.

 

I don't know anything about Hanseatic to offer a comparison, but Antarctica on Silver Cloud should be a wonderful experience. The one knock on Explorer is that it's not as luxurious as the non-expedition ships, but Silver Cloud may raise that a few notches.

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Have been on Silver Cloud 3x (obviously prior to its reconfiguration as an expedition ship) Antarctica on Silver Cloud should be a wonderful experience. The one knock on Explorer is that it's not as luxurious as the non-expedition ships, but Silver Cloud may raise that a few notches.

 

Wanted to "second" strongly certain of the comments from the very experienced J.P. as summarized above. We have done four cruises for a total of 51 days on the Silver Cloud. We also had a chance to tour and talk with the staff of the Silversea Explorer ship while it was in port up in Tromso, Norway, in 2010.

 

As J.P. wisely noted, the "luxury upgrade" with the Silver Cloud will be a major improvement in room sizes, dining options, ship offerings, etc., etc. While none of us has been, yet, on the re-fitted Silver Cloud expedition ship, I can envision it as a top, fun experience for these purposes in such great, unique locations. It looks as if the Silver Cloud in doing Antarctica will not be cheap, but it will be a very nice way to explore these special parts of the world.

 

Like J.P., I have never sailed with Hanseatic. BUT, if a cruise is billed as having BOTH German and English as the main languages offered and used, that might raise a legitimate question. Our sense for such exploring adventures is that things are mostly about smaller groups and involving lots of "conversations" back-and-forth between the passengers and staff. If such communications, back-and-forth, requires everything to be done in two different languages, that might slow the sharing and "educational process". Your choice!! Fortunately, you have a number of good potentials to consider.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 218,522 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

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Like J.P., I have never sailed with Hanseatic. BUT, if a cruise is billed as having BOTH German and English as the main languages offered and used, that might raise a legitimate question. Our sense for such exploring adventures is that things are mostly about smaller groups and involving lots of "conversations" back-and-forth between the passengers and staff. If such communications, back-and-forth, requires everything to be done in two different languages, that might slow the sharing and "educational process". Your choice!! Fortunately, you have a number of good potentials to consider.

 

 

 

Terry, from our experience on SS, dual-language cruising has been a non-issue. On the Antarctica cruise, and I think the Svalbard cruise too, there was a large German-speaking contingent.

 

They made up the entirety of one landing group. The naturalists who were fluent in German (Hans-Peter and Michaela) worked with that group and the other guides took our English-speaking groups. The German speakers had their own lectures.

 

The morning announcements were made in both languages. I always looked forward to hearing Hans-Peter saying, "Guten Morgen, Damen und Herren...' every day.

 

Not sure if it's different on other lines, but having a non-English speaking group on board was not an issue on SS.

 

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Terry, from our experience on SS, dual-language cruising has been a non-issue. On the Antarctica cruise, and I think the Svalbard cruise too, there was a large German-speaking contingent. They made up the entirety of one landing group. The naturalists who were fluent in German (Hans-Peter and Michaela) worked with that group and the other guides took our English-speaking groups. The German speakers had their own lectures. The morning announcements were made in both languages. Not sure if it's different on other lines, but having a non-English speaking group on board was not an issue on SS.

 

Appreciate this great follow-up and these specific details from J.P. Sounds like they have managed these language challenges well. Over time and maybe for the future, we have looked at some other lines for options such the French ships of Ponant. Their website notes: "crew are bilingual; they all speak French and English. Signs are all in French and English." Has anybody used Ponant or know those who have traveled with them?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of

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We ran into the Hanseatic on Christmas Day at Tristan da Cunha. We were on the smaller ship, Island Sky. Passengers from both ships attended a carol concert in the island school and I'd say from memory that all virtually all passengers on the Hanseatic were German. We had 3 days at Tristan. Hanseatic had just the one and headed down to South Georgia. It got there in two days. We never made it. Expedition crew on our ship said they thought the Hanseatic was the best ship on which to visit Antarctica.

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We have cruised on silverseas explorer 3 times (getting ready to leave for our 4th on Saturday). While it is not as luxurious as the regular Silversea ships, we really love it, obviously. We are very much looking forward to sailing on the Cloud in 2019 both to Antarctica and to the British Isles. I think it will bump up the luxury component a lot as far as the cabins go.

 

Don't know anything about Hanseatic other than it markets primarily to German speakers. That wouldn't bother me, but the potential for more smokers definitely could. I do not know Hanseatic's smoking policy.

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Those not as luxurious as Cloud. Explorer has one big advantage as expedition ship -- smaller number of passengers (140 or so max versus over 200). Considering the limits in Antarctica -- mean likely longer periods out or less rush..

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Those not as luxurious as Cloud. Explorer has one big advantage as expedition ship -- smaller number of passengers (140 or so max versus over 200). Considering the limits in Antarctica -- mean likely longer periods out or less rush..

 

I agree, smaller is better. I have read on their website that they are limiting capacity to 200 guests for the Antarctic voyages. http://www.silversea.com/ships/silver-cloud-expedition/

 

This will allow half the guests to be on shore at any given time, similar to the current arrangement for Explorer. If they were sailing at full capacity with 296 guests, they'd have to go in three landing waves, which I agree would lead to longer waits and/or less time ashore.

 

I've sailed on Silver Wind when it was at 2/3 capacity and it was a fantastic experience. With that few guests it's like your own personal ship. This is going to be an awesome Expedition ship and I'm a little bummed that a repeat visit to Antarctica isn't in the works soon.

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JP, the Wind Polar pax capacity (limit to 200) is the catalyst (and good price point, plus many So. Georgia landing days) that led us to booking the Cloud Expedition late Feb (Ushuaia to Capetown).

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  • 2 weeks later...
We look forward to visiting the Serengeti of Antarctica (South Georgia Island), Antarctica, the Falklands, even three islands of St. Helena in Feb-Mar on the Cloud Expedition.

 

The Cloud trip from Ushuaia to Cape Town calls at Tristan da Cunha not St Helena itself. St Helena is a port of call on the next Cloud trip from Cape Town to Ghana.

 

I've been to Tristan and it's one of the hardest places to land passengers. The seas can be terrible and the little harbour is very vulnerable to waves and currents. I know many ships have failed to land passengers there, including the Silver Explorer last year. A bigger ship like the Cloud may well encounter problems but, who knows, you could be lucky. I've done four landings on Tristan as well as Nightingale Island. Gough Island is usually impossible but I think Silversea requests special permission to land.

 

Tristan has a fascinating history - the volcano blew up in the 1960s and all the islanders were evacuated to Britain. After a few years living near Southampton they all voted to return to their bleak, wind-blown slag heap. It's an incredible place. Penguins too!

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Just for the record on the Hanseatic, there are German only departures, and departures that are offered for English speaking passengers,

I have no idea on how that break should down on a sailing to sailing basis, or what percentage of English speakers to expect.

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I understand that passenger count is limited to 200 on Cloud in Antarctic because of regulations regarding landing.

 

I assume that the Cloud renovation has not eliminated many cabins.

 

Might it be possible for Silversea to sell Antarctic passages on Cloud in excess of 200 with the understanding that certain passengers had booked the cruise with the clear knowledge that they would not be able to leave the ship for excursions? Such people might be mobility constrained, etc. Presumably there would be a somewhat reduced fare for those cruise only (no excursion) passengers.

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All I can say, Observer, is that in my search on expedition ships I have not seen this option.

Essentially, it is a complicated a concept to execute and the line would be forgoing revenue for fixed costs.

They are still going to have the same number of zodiacs, guides, etc.

it's better to book a non expedition ship for sail bys. It's a valid choice, even though some have an unnecessarily dismissive attitude!

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All I can say, Observer, is that in my search on expedition ships I have not seen this option.

Essentially, it is a complicated a concept to execute and the line would be forgoing revenue for fixed costs.

They are still going to have the same number of zodiacs, guides, etc.

it's better to book a non expedition ship for sail bys. It's a valid choice, even though some have an unnecessarily dismissive attitude!

 

Sorry. I did not make myself clear.

 

Before renovation (and not allowing berths for expedition staff, etc) Cloud would have had space for nearly 50% more passengers than the 200 permitted by international rules to land in Antarctica. In fact, I assume that when cruising in non-Antarctic regions, Cloud will have more than 200 guests. I would not expect Silversea to forego full revenue for non-excursion guests. But my question (apparently not clearly stated) is whether some passengers in excess of the permitted full-paying 200 could be boarded with the clear understanding that they would not be permitted to participate in any excursions. They would essentially be sail-by passengers, but allowing Silversea to earn revenue from some otherwise empty cabins.

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Observer, I totally understood what you were asking the first time. Can they sell 250 cruises - 200 with landing rights, and 50 cruise-by tickets? Essentially, two levels of cruise.

 

There's probably no absolute reason why they couldn't. Some lines do drive-by cruises with far more than 250 on board. The IAATO regs are that no more than 100 be ashore at any time. So 200 guests means that you land in two waves of 100 each. As long as they have room for more provisions, the Cloud has the infrastructure to carry that many (250 guests) easily.

 

But how would you deal with one of the cruise-by guests who decides that it woukd be cool to go ashore anyway, despite not paying for that level of cruise? Might be hard for the staff to deal with. I'm not sure that I'd want to put the staff in that position. Do they give the cruise-by passengers an ankle bracelet that beeps if they try to get off?

 

So making it work may be more trouble than it's worth. JMO.

 

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Observer, I totally understood what you were asking the first time. Can they sell 250 cruises - 200 with landing rights, and 50 cruise-by tickets? Essentially, two levels of cruise.

 

There's probably no absolute reason why they couldn't. Some lines do drive-by cruises with far more than 250 on board. The IAATO regs are that no more than 100 be ashore at any time. So 200 guests means that you land in two waves of 100 each. As long as they have room for more provisions, the Cloud has the infrastructure to carry that many (250 guests) easily.

 

But how would you deal with one of the cruise-by guests who decides that it woukd be cool to go ashore anyway, despite not paying for that level of cruise? Might be hard for the staff to deal with. I'm not sure that I'd want to put the staff in that position. Do they give the cruise-by passengers an ankle bracelet that beeps if they try to get off?

 

So making it work may be more trouble than it's worth. JMO.

 

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Very interesting. Thanks. I knew there were some regs, but I know nothing about IAATO. You appear to be familiar with these regs. I had feared that they said that a ship engaged in landings could not have more than 200 passengers. But apparently such is not the case. So is it the case that a ship could carry 300 passengers, but would have to do three waves of landings?

 

I understand your point about the difficult passenger who purchased a sail-by and then demands an opportunity to land. I know I would be compliant, but others may not be. The beeping ankle bracelet would probably not be enough to stop some entitled jerk. Perhaps the ankle bracelet could deliver electric shocks to anyone who took it beyond a threshold on the zodiac deck. Or sail-by passengers could be required to post a huge deposit/bond, to be refunded only if they behaved and did not challenge the condition of their sail-by passage.

 

These sail-by passengers would represent extra revenue for Silversea, Presumably some of those ~50 cabins are going empty now.

 

Thanks for your responses. So few people take me seriously.

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Sure thing, Observer. I don't know all the nuances of the IAATO regs but for all I know, there may be daily (cumulative) limits to the number of boots on the ground at a site per day. There also may be time limits at sites which could make three landing waves impractical.

 

I have heard (from Conrad) that landings are quite orchestrated and timing can be strict. This might make it difficult for a larger ship to get everyone ashore.

 

I love Silver Cloud but we'll be watching closely to see how it goes this season. Two waves of 100 is a lot more than two waves of 64 (as in Silver Explorer). OTOH...what a luxurious expedition ship!

 

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I love Silver Cloud but we'll be watching closely to see how it goes this season. Two waves of 100 is a lot more than two waves of 64 (as in Silver Explorer). OTOH...what a luxurious expedition ship!

 

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I too love the Cloud. She is a ship with real character.

 

I understand that the waves on shore will be more populous than on Explorer. But the onboard space and facilities for the guests will be extraordinary.

 

For various reasons, I am not inclined to expedition activity on shore. But the prospect of returning to Antarctica and enjoying sail bys on a wonderful ship like Cloud would be wonderful. I also accept that it would not be cheap!

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