Expedition cruising?

[iticlaudia]

Hi all!  It's been a while since we have done a Silversea cruise but this weekend, I came across an itinerary that looks very interesting to me.  Having only done cruises in the Mediterranean and Caribbean this cruise is an "Expedition" cruise.  So of course, I came to the boards to try to find out as much info as possible, but it seems like most info is based on Artic/Antarctica cruises.  The cruise I'm looking at does Scotland and England.  Does that mean it's a regular cruise but just on an expedition ship?  The ship is the Endeavour which looks to be a good bit smaller than the Silver Spirit which our last Silversea sailing was on.  Is there any nightlife on the ship? Is the dress code the same as the other ships? Any insight and/or info would be greatly appreciated as I'm still trying to decide to book.   Thank you!!!

[Fletcher]

No evening entertainment apart from a pianist, no 'formal' dress code, landings by zodiac in some locations, far more destination driven - ie, nature, wildlife, culture - than your normal 'classic' cruise when cruise directors seldom know where they are on any given day.  Passengers are also a slightly different demographic - ie, seriously widely travelled, destination driven.  You will meet almost everyone. The UK, especially the further reaches of Scotland, is quite a satisfying region for this sort of cruise, even in the unpredictable weather.  The Endeavour looks great.  We were on the Spirit a few months ago - a bit of a soulless luxo-barge.  We're on the Wind in April.

Edited January 8 by Fletcher

[dawntrdr]

There is an excellent earlier thread on an expedition around England and Scotland (ending in Iceland) that will tell you more day by day about a UK expedition cruise:

This is not a clickable link but you can scroll back a few pages to find it.

[gnome12]

58 minutes ago, dawntrdr said:

There is an excellent earlier thread on an expedition around England and Scotland (ending in Iceland) that will tell you more day by day about a UK expedition cruise:

This is not a clickable link but you can scroll back a few pages to find it.

Here is the clickable link

 

[Mahogany]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:09 PM, Fletcher said:

No evening entertainment apart from a pianist, no 'formal' dress code, landings by zodiac in some locations, far more destination driven - ie, nature, wildlife, culture - than your normal 'classic' cruise when cruise directors seldom know where they are on any given day.  Passengers are also a slightly different demographic - ie, seriously widely travelled, destination driven.  You will meet almost everyone. The UK, especially the further reaches of Scotland, is quite a satisfying region for this sort of cruise, even in the unpredictable weather.  The Endeavour looks great.  We were on the Spirit a few months ago - a bit of a soulless luxo-barge.  We're on the Wind in April.

Soulless luxo-barge? Please expand. Sounds awful.

[sea bright]

We did a cruise from Amsterdam to England and Ireland shortly after the Cloud was made an expedition ship. It was an odd cruise. Almost none of the ports required an expedition ship. Indeed, we had been to several on prior Cloud or Wind voyages when they were classic Silversea ships. By visiting these ports via an expedition ship, we experienced long zodiac rides in unpredictable weather to piers in small cities or large towns and then were  put on buses for shore excursions. If you dressed appropriately for the zodiac, you were too warmly dressed for the shore excursions.

We enjoyed several ports, especially Clare Island in Mayo, but probably could have done them more comfortably from the Shadow or Whisper. Also, the announcements (which are non-stop at times) could be heard in the cabin and the volume could not be adjusted.

 

This trip was some years pre-pandemic so presumably, at least some of these issues have been resolved. Our takeaway was that we would only do future expedition cruises to ports that really couldn't be seen any other way.

[Port Power]

2 hours ago, sea bright said:

We did a cruise from Amsterdam to England and Ireland shortly after the Cloud was made an expedition ship. It was an odd cruise. Almost none of the ports required an expedition ship. Indeed, we had been to several on prior Cloud or Wind voyages when they were classic Silversea ships. By visiting these ports via an expedition ship, we experienced long zodiac rides in unpredictable weather to piers in small cities or large towns and then were  put on buses for shore excursions. If you dressed appropriately for the zodiac, you were too warmly dressed for the shore excursions.

We enjoyed several ports, especially Clare Island in Mayo, but probably could have done them more comfortably from the Shadow or Whisper. Also, the announcements (which are non-stop at times) could be heard in the cabin and the volume could not be adjusted.

 

This trip was some years pre-pandemic so presumably, at least some of these issues have been resolved. Our takeaway was that we would only do future expedition cruises to ports that really couldn't be seen any other way.

Thanks for your feedback.  I also looked at British Isles on Silver Endeavour while on Silver Wind.  A mixture of expeditions and classic cruise tours.  If only Wind or Cloud used the tenders for the latter ports!  Unfortunately the classic fleet doesn’t seem to cover a similar itinerary.  I might have to investigate other companies. 

[iticlaudia]

13 hours ago, sea bright said:

We did a cruise from Amsterdam to England and Ireland shortly after the Cloud was made an expedition ship. It was an odd cruise. Almost none of the ports required an expedition ship. Indeed, we had been to several on prior Cloud or Wind voyages when they were classic Silversea ships. By visiting these ports via an expedition ship, we experienced long zodiac rides in unpredictable weather to piers in small cities or large towns and then were  put on buses for shore excursions. If you dressed appropriately for the zodiac, you were too warmly dressed for the shore excursions.

We enjoyed several ports, especially Clare Island in Mayo, but probably could have done them more comfortably from the Shadow or Whisper. Also, the announcements (which are non-stop at times) could be heard in the cabin and the volume could not be adjusted.

 

This trip was some years pre-pandemic so presumably, at least some of these issues have been resolved. Our takeaway was that we would only do future expedition cruises to ports that really couldn't be seen any other way.

Having now been able to look at all the excursions and activities available I kind of see a bit of what you are saying.  There are for sure more excursions were there are towns and ports.  Activities seem to be in the more rural areas.  I think it the more rural bits of the itinerary that make it most interesting for me.  Zodiac, kayaking, hiking and biking tours seem to be available 7 of the 14 days.  

[Fletcher]

16 hours ago, Mahogany said:

Soulless luxo-barge? Please expand. Sounds awful.

I meant this in the sense that I never felt much engagement with the cruise - from passengers or the cruise director or the concierge desk.  On expedition ships people book for specific reasons while on our 'classic' cruise it just seemed to be about eating, drinking and sitting on the pool deck.  A quite different vibe on these different types of cruise.  That said, we've just signed up for a 'classic' cruise on the Dawn later this year.  

[iticlaudia]

9 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

I meant this in the sense that I never felt much engagement with the cruise - from passengers or the cruise director or the concierge desk.  On expedition ships people book for specific reasons while on our 'classic' cruise it just seemed to be about eating, drinking and sitting on the pool deck.  A quite different vibe on these different types of cruise.  That said, we've just signed up for a 'classic' cruise on the Dawn later this year.  

There was a time that the hubby and I really enjoyed a "classic" cruise or fancy resort.  Once the kids were grown and out of the nest, we had more time to relax in the lounge chairs around our own pool Due to that our vacationing has changed.  Now a days we have done more by the seat of our pants type trips with hiking, walking, biking along with sightseeing.  Having not done a cruise in many years this past fall I booked us on our first river cruise.  We absolutely fell in love with the idea of an ultra-luxury cabin, food, drinks, etc. and yet a very active itinerary, in fact there was a day we biked 32 miles.  

I'm not a fan of days at sea.  We don't need or want a casino or fancy shows.  When I saw the British Isles cruise that included zodiac tours and kayaking along with some traditional sightseeing, I thought it might be a great fit for us.  Reading that there is a piano player onboard and all about the quality of food and drink I called my travel agent and booked (or should I say got waitlisted) for the cruise.  First time ever dealing with being waitlisted, so I have no idea how that works.  I did notice that this morning the category that I booked (the cheapest) is no longer showing waitlist on the Silversea website, hopefully that's a good sign and I'll hear something soon.  

BTW thanks for the info.  Your initial response to my question pretty much made up my mind to book.  

[spinnaker2]

We loved our expedition cruises to Alaska and Svalbard. Very active intense fun days! You are up early in the morning. In our case to don all the clothing and get breakfast.

There are briefings you must attend to learn about the next days events.  At night a piano player and some silly stuff like liars club was just right, because you are exhausted. Think camp for grownups.

 

[RachelG]

We have been on many expedition cruises on Silversea, including one that was to England and Scotland.  We loved it, but we are into hiking, nature, etc.  Would definitely recommend. 

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, RachelG said:

We have been on many expedition cruises on Silversea, including one that was to England and Scotland.  We loved it, but we are into hiking, nature, etc.  Would definitely recommend. 

 

If it's anything like the cruise we did together last year in Finland and Sweden, I'd recommend it too!

[sea bright]

If you are into nature, make sure that hiking, kayaking,  etc. are offered in most ports. On the Cloud British Isles cruise I mentioned above, nature excursions were few and far between.  Although, to be fair, the weather was quite bad and thus a number of the  hikes that were initially offered were canceled. I only remember one  zodiac tour and it was in lashing rain.

Our cruise was not anything like an arctic or antarctic expedition cruise. The zodiacs were used as open air tenders for the most part. 

However, as I said, it was right after the Cloud was converted and, hopefully, they have tweaked the British Isles itineraries since then.

[shipsmail]

Would you expect wet landings during the Scotland/Englang expedition tours? Boots needed?Is there a parka provided by Silversea?

[chrism23]

Did the Iceland to Scotland expedition cruise a year ago on the Wind.  I would love to do a cruise on the Endeavor, the ship looks absolutely gorgeous.  A few points that always come up.  You will do no wet landings.  All piers.  Unlike the Galapagos where every day seemed to have a wet landing.  So leave your watershoes  at home.  The Silversea crews are absolutely the best in getting passengers in and out of Zodiacs even in really rough seas.  Three expeditions with Zodiacs and haven't seen one bad mishap getting in and out.  

 

No parka is provided by SS for the Scotland expedition cruise.  Only Antarctica.  Also there is no entertainment.  Every day there is a briefing at the end of the day on what you did during the day and a preview of the next days agenda.  These were really helpful.  Do bring a good study pair of hiking boots and break them in before you sail,  And invest in good quality foul weather gear. that can be layered especially water proof parkas. pants, hats, leave the bathing suits at home too, I don't think I was by the pool once.  

 

Now for my big complaint about the Scots cruise. We did not stop at one distillery.   We sailed by a few,  After the cruise I wrote a real letter, paper and everything, to SS headquarters saying that they needed a stop and a tasting or two.  I said even better would be a Scotch tasting on board where on can compare scotches with a lecturer of some sort.

 

The other complaint is we didn't even see a golf course.  I thought that at least there should have been one golf excursion on one of the iconic Scotch courses.  

 

I tell my friends I spent 15 days sailing around Scotland and didn't have one scotch or hit one golf ball and they look at me like I am out of my mind.

 

What you will do is walk and walk and walk.  I probably saw 100,000 sheep and 1 million puffins.  But the scenery was jaw dropping.  

 

When choosing excursions, each is rated by degree of difficultly. These are somewhat erratic.  On the Scots cruise we left from Iceland, there on the second day we did a "moderate" excursion which was a hike that turned out to be up a 4000 foot volcano, I was fitter at the time and was gassed at the top, but everyone made it to the top.  (As it turned out this volcano was only a couple of peaks down from the one that was acting up a few months ago)

 

I love the smaller ships and the physical activity . I will try to take excursions whenever possble.

 

[Clodia]

I live in the north of England and have done one of these cruises a few years ago as well as cruising round the UK on Spirit in 2021. The weather can be dreadful in Scotland but the scenery and wildlife encounters are spectacular and will leave you with lasting memories.

[iticlaudia]

6 hours ago, chrism23 said:

Did the Iceland to Scotland expedition cruise a year ago on the Wind.  I would love to do a cruise on the Endeavor, the ship looks absolutely gorgeous.  A few points that always come up.  You will do no wet landings.  All piers.  Unlike the Galapagos where every day seemed to have a wet landing.  So leave your watershoes  at home.  The Silversea crews are absolutely the best in getting passengers in and out of Zodiacs even in really rough seas.  Three expeditions with Zodiacs and haven't seen one bad mishap getting in and out.  

 

No parka is provided by SS for the Scotland expedition cruise.  Only Antarctica.  Also there is no entertainment.  Every day there is a briefing at the end of the day on what you did during the day and a preview of the next days agenda.  These were really helpful.  Do bring a good study pair of hiking boots and break them in before you sail,  And invest in good quality foul weather gear. that can be layered especially water proof parkas. pants, hats, leave the bathing suits at home too, I don't think I was by the pool once.  

 

Now for my big complaint about the Scots cruise. We did not stop at one distillery.   We sailed by a few,  After the cruise I wrote a real letter, paper and everything, to SS headquarters saying that they needed a stop and a tasting or two.  I said even better would be a Scotch tasting on board where on can compare scotches with a lecturer of some sort.

 

The other complaint is we didn't even see a golf course.  I thought that at least there should have been one golf excursion on one of the iconic Scotch courses.  

 

I tell my friends I spent 15 days sailing around Scotland and didn't have one scotch or hit one golf ball and they look at me like I am out of my mind.

 

What you will do is walk and walk and walk.  I probably saw 100,000 sheep and 1 million puffins.  But the scenery was jaw dropping.  

 

When choosing excursions, each is rated by degree of difficultly. These are somewhat erratic.  On the Scots cruise we left from Iceland, there on the second day we did a "moderate" excursion which was a hike that turned out to be up a 4000 foot volcano, I was fitter at the time and was gassed at the top, but everyone made it to the top.  (As it turned out this volcano was only a couple of peaks down from the one that was acting up a few months ago)

 

I love the smaller ships and the physical activity . I will try to take excursions whenever possble.

 

Thank you for all of this!   I will say I'm a bit baffled that there weren't any Scotch tastings!  That's a bit of a shock given the itinerary.   Golf courses I can understand since a round of golf takes at least 4 hours.  I have seen cruises that are intensive on the golf side but refuse to tell my husband anything about them!  I for sure won't mention to him about the lack of tastings for fear that he might want us to back out of the cruise leaving me puffinless!  LOL!!

Was there not at least a piano player in the evenings?  We are bar flies and like to just hang by a bar while listening to a piano, people watching and enjoy the evening.  

[Fletcher]

4 hours ago, iticlaudia said:

Thank you for all of this!   I will say I'm a bit baffled that there weren't any Scotch tastings! 

Tastings are not of 'Scotch' but whisky, usually single malt which is not Scotch.  Nor do you ever do a 'Scots cruise.' You do a Scottish cruise.  Golf courses are Scottish, not Scotch which is a sort of whisky. But not a single malt.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

In addition to the notorious Scottish weather, be prepared for the even more notorious Scottish midges!

[iticlaudia]

2 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Tastings are not of 'Scotch' but whisky, usually single malt which is not Scotch.  Nor do you ever do a 'Scots cruise.' You do a Scottish cruise.  Golf courses are Scottish, not Scotch which is a sort of whisky. But not a single malt.  

I get it.....   The term whisky now a days is so overused for so many different versions of brown liquor that many use the term Scotch when talking about whisky from Scotland.  Even in the US folks will say they would like a whisky when referring to a Burbon which gets even under my skin.  Several years ago, our dear friends and neighbors (she Scottish, he English) hosted a Burns Dinner.  Their one request of all of their "Yank" friends was that we each bring a good whisky for a whisky tasting.  The hubby and I took on the challenge with seriousness knowing what our friends meant when asking for a good whiskey.  But the look on their faces when Jack Danials and a bottle of Crown Apple showed up from others was priceless!  

All that aside I do understand the complaint that when doing a cruise that is so country intensive that something like a tasting of whiskey isn't done.  Back in the Fall the hubby and I spent two weeks on the Danube.  The Wachau valley is well known for its apricots that they distill and white wine.  Two of our excursions included tastings of each. It's just a nice touch to understanding the products that come from an area and/or country one is visiting.  

Now that I know there might not be a distillery visit or tasting we will probably skip an excursion and do something of the sort on our own if possible.  I'll just ask once onboard and plan accordingly.  

[Tothesunset]

9 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Tastings are not of 'Scotch' but whisky, usually single malt which is not Scotch.  Nor do you ever do a 'Scots cruise.' You do a Scottish cruise.  Golf courses are Scottish, not Scotch which is a sort of whisky. But not a single malt.  

Yep. Basically anything comestible takes the adjective "Scotch" - whisky, pancakes etc. 

 

All else is Scottish. 

 

A Scottish person is a Scot. 

[drron29]

Yes I prefer a Scotch Bonnet to a whisky. Never did take to it. My spirits are now mainly gin but a vodka or rum occasionally is OK.

[Fletcher]

I'm definitely Jack Daniel's before breakfast, a malt whisky afterwards. Sorry, I meant dinner.  

[iticlaudia]

During Covid the hubby and I like everyone else in the world watched many, many travel shows.  One of my favorites (and I'm sure the ladies here would agree) was Men in Kilts.  When I saw this British Isle itinerary it immediately made me think of that show.  Of course, in the show they visit a distillery, which really is something the hubby would like to do.  With all these ports can anyone suggest a fabulous distillery we could visit on our own?   I've attached a picture of all the stops.

BTW please don't bust my bubble by telling me that there aren't men like Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish running around in kilts!  LOL!!  A girl can dream!  😂