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We are doing a cruise in a few weeks to Easter Island and have a couple of easy questions--I hope 😀!

1.  On the excursions where snorkeling is the main event (especially on the uninhabited islands), do we wear our swimsuits under regular clothing to go on the Zodiacs?  Or is there always a place to change on land?  And bathroom facilities?

2.  On the excursions, do we bring our own food or is there a place to buy food?  We usually have energy bars with us but worry that might not be enough.

3.  If we were to need to go back to the ship before the excursion time is done, will there be a Zodiac on hand to do so?

4.  We are not big swimmers, but is it necessary to have /bring a wetsuit? 

5.  If anyone has other ”insider” tips that would be useful, please feel free to offer.

Thanks!

Yes, we thought we were to have 1 night on Easter Island, as did our TA, right up until the time that SS deemed otherwise and rescheduled our hotel and flight without any notice.  It was just a fluke that I caught the change on the ”My SS” webpage.  We are not happy, to say the least. 😪

Thanks so much, JP, for your encouraging response.  It gives us hope that we can perhaps salvage something from this unhappy start to our cruise.  If I can just see one moai, I'll be happy!  Thank you again.  

We are set to sail from Easter Island (Explorer Voyage 7906) on March 16, 2019.  Due to some regrettable confusion/misunderstanding 😥, we will only have a few hours to see the island before embarkation.  Is it possible to see anything in such a contracted time frame?  We don't want to ”miss the boat” but we'd like to see an actual statue while we're there.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.  Thanks!

We've done four. Explorer is one of our favorite ships. But it's not as fancy as the regular fleet. It is an expedition ship and you need realistic expectations. We love it but it's not for everyone.

 

We're trying Silver Cloud Expedition next year, after a number of great voyages on the Cloud before she was made into an expedition ship. Very excited.

 

Randyk47, thanks for the mention.

 

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We're taking 2 expedition cruises next year, Explorer to Tahiti and Cloud to South America. Never have done an expedition before. Why is the Explorer "not for everyone"?

We were on Shadow Vancouver to Tokyo last September and had Altamash as our Butler, too. He was fantastic! Our party of four in two suites had one birthday and one retirement. Altamash helped us celebrate regally (as well as keeping my shoes polished).

 

Greg

We also had Altamash on our last last cruise in October on the Spirit. There is none better. He completely spoiled us!

Very informative and useful. Thank you so much!

Hey guys, thanks for the helpful suggestions and ideas. Yes, we do fly out from FLL on the 11th. Sounds like the cruise will have its "ups and downs" with both temps and seas. If you think of anything else that pertains to the cruise and ports, please let me know. Thanks!!!

Hi everyone--I'm a long time Cruise Critic reader/observer/lurker. Husband and I have cruised SS since 2014 and love it. On our last cruise, we booked a 2019 October expedition on the Cloud to South America for 44 days. (I hope they'll have the fuel pump issue in hand by then! :confused:) I understand that it's still a luxury cruise but I'd like to ask just how "expedition-y" such a trip will be. Like the zodiac boats--are they stable and not scary for someone who is not a water person? Is every landing a wet one? And how wet is the worst case scenario? At that time of year, what type of outdoor clothing/shoes would I need for excursions? Will we need vaccinations, malaria pills, etc? As you can tell, I'm not a real outdoorsy person but I am very much looking forward to this trip--sort of a challenge for me as I turn 68. Thank you for any help and reassurance you can provide!