Silversea Prince Albert II, Expediton Deck Plan

[Host Dan]

Hi All!

 

"Jaffa" was kind enough to call me from the Great Barrier Reef this morning, to email me a copy of the new Expedition Deck Plan! Because it is so large, I have it as a link. Click the link, and then the thumbnail!

 

Thanks Jaffa!!

 

Host Dan

 

www.saintpeterealty.com/DeckPlan-Silversea.htm

[meow!]

Thank you kindly, Host Dan, for sharing such infirmation with us. It is really helpful to have such an informative host.

 

However, this expedition ship will mostly go to adventurous destinations, such as the Antarctic. I have heard that waves there are so rough that you have to put on a "bed belt", to prevent yourself from being thrown off! Besides, it will be so far away from any help, even though the sight of Penguins standing on icebergs close enough for you to touch is very alluring (or you can watch it on National Geographic on television).

 

So to join such expeditions, not only have you to be very seasickness resistant, you have to be healthy and brave! Judging from fellow passengers on the Shadow, the majority are elderly ("senior citizens") and many are physically if not also medically challenged. I would guess the majority might not be potential customers.

 

Since there will only be one small expedition ship, about one-third the passengers on one of the other ships, it will probably sell well. There are enough people tired of repeating the same albeit nice ports of the regular itineraries, and eager to be adventurous. Good luck to them. Unfortunately, we cats are not that resourceful or brave. Instead we will look forward to the Spirit some years down the road, when we have saved enough to give it a try, among other things we are looking forward to!

[Decebal]

Hi Dan. Is there more than one Prince being honored with a ship by Silversea? Just kidding, I got a good laugh though. Very curious about the details on it.

[Signor John]

However, this expedition ship will mostly go to adventurous destinations, such as the Antarctic. I have heard that waves there are so rough that you have to put on a "bed belt", to prevent yourself from being thrown off!

 

I've never cruised in the Antarctic, but in the Arctic (where the ship will also go), seas can be quite calm in summer. I cruised around Spitsbergen on a small 50-year-old Hurtigruten steamer a couple of summers ago, and the water was about as smooth (if colder) than the Mediterranean tends to be in summer--even in the open waters north of the 80th Parallel. Pick the right itinerary, and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

[Jaffa]

Thanks Dan for posting these so quick, l hope they will be helpfull to everyone.

 

Many of these cabins are much smaller than the normal Silversea fare, yet there prices seem pretty high for the lesser product. I would not call many of them suites, many are no bigger than typical low end cabins on mm cruise ships.

I am very interested to see how they supplement the lesser ship experience by the "expedition" format.

 

I also find it interesting that Silversea are sticking to their guns on 2 formal nights for every 7 nights aboard and 3 smart informal and 2 casual, even though this is expedition cruising.

This is going to put a lot of presure on your wardrobe requirements for a typical style cruise (12 days) from Zodiac, Polar, Antarctic, Amazon landings/treking ect then into tux's and evening gowns.

 

I am not sure how well this will work.

 

I have been holding out for this ship for some time now, but now i'm not as sure l will be as satisfied as l first thought l would.

 

Solo supps are also all 175% as well, which makes it even tougher to make the plunge.

 

I still love this whole idea for Silversea but l don't think they can have it all the old way as well as something very new as well.

 

I cannot wait to see how they pull this off.

 

Cheers,

[laughingloon]

I've been told by Silversea that there will be no formal evenings on the Antarctic cruises.;)

[Island Cruiser]

I've cruised the Antarctic on the Hanseatic which is a five star German luxury expedition ship just a tad larger than the new Silversea ship, 190 passengers max. Her standard cabins were in the 200 sq. ft. arena with large windows but no balconies. The cabins worked out well. They were large enough. It was a true luxury cruise experience combined with the thrills of 18 zodiac excursions, 15 of them landings. We did lots of things one simply can't do on a larger luxury cruise ship. The smaller cabin was a most agreeable trade off for the opportunity to experience the adventure of Antarctica in otherwise luxury accommodations. This trip was as expensive as a Silversea cruise even for a smaller cabin and it was worth every penny.

 

I would agree with the poster who observed the smaller accommodations challenge the wardrobe requirements of a "standard" Silversea cruise. We had to accommodate the special parka provided by the ship in our closet space. (We stored our boots in the ship's boot room.) And we reached the ship on a charter flight out of Buenos Aires. That flight imposed luggage weight restrictions on all of us.

 

As another poster observed, one must accept a greater possibility of adverse sea conditions in order to enjoy exploration cruises in certain areas of the world including Antarctica. We got lucky on our cruise. We had only a couple of rough sea days and those were quite tolerable. But it can and often does get rough in the Antarctic. On our trip we had several couples well into their eighties who boarded the zodiacs on all 18 occasions. So age does not have to be a deterrent.

 

I'd book this new Silversea ship for an Antarctic adventure in a heartbeat if I hadn't already been there.