MillyDM

Wow, that's a statement! Have you seen pictures of the inside of the ship? On the Silversea endeavor ship, sneakers were plenty, and most people wore those or slip-ons like Birkenstocks inside. The floors were a mix of carpets and hard floors. The outside decks were mostly in teak-wood. And being there with sneakers was ok. When it's wet and it rains or snows, staying outside on the deck is not advisable because the temperatures are very cold. Plus, you don't see anything in that weather. Agree with you about the concern on their insurance. You could take a pair of sneakers with a good grip, like trail running shoes or similar. This way you'd have the best of both worlds. 🙂

@WHB it took planning and strategy for sure. We wore a pair of winter boots and put in the trolley one pair of light sneakers, those that can easily get flat, and a pair of Birkenstock Boston sandals, which also pack flat. In hindsight, wearing the winter boots was overkill because we just wore them flying in and out as they were unnecessary on board or in Santiago. You're more comfortable with traditional shoes or sneakers. My suggestion is to travel with comfortable pair of shoes, and still have 2 to mix while on board. Fortunately, there was no dress code on our ship, so it was easier to plan what to wear daytime and at dinner. On excursions, you have the muc boots, which are fabulous and the only shoe you'd want to wear. Some took with them their snow shoes, which also worked fine. If you need to carry 2 sets of outerwear kit, traveling with a trolley is impossible. We were lucky that Silversea provided the parka jacket, and we took with us compression bags so that, on the way back, we could pack it small and fit it in the extra handbag we travel with. This is key to have when you travel with just a trolley. Regarding the chance of an outer goretex shell splitting or getting damaged, I guess it is very slim. You're not allowed to sit anywhere on land; you have just to stand. The only place you sit is on the zodiac, and if any, the only garment that *could* get ripped is the waterproof pants - but even that is very unlikely. I mean, anything can happen, but taking with you 2 parkas is perhaps too cautionary. Yes, 12 days inside the Antarctic Circle is a long time, and you'll have many more excursions and landings than us. But they're short, don't expect to stay out for hours, it's 1.5hrs at most for each excursion (at least that was our case). Ask if you can wash your clothes besides the laundry service they offer. We had a laundrette area with washing machines and dryers that we could use, which was brilliant. This way, you can take less stuff with you, knowing that you can wash/dry it comfortably. I suspect that for such a long cruise, there will be one. Hope this can help you with your packing! It'll be a fabulous trip, try to kayak if they offer it because that's also another way of experiencing such a magic part of the world!

Hello, we've just returned home after our first Antarctica cruise. I want to leave feedback on our experience on the topic that I opened. We were onboard the Silversea Endeavor ship and absolutely loved it. It is a modern and very comfortable vessel. Regarding the temperature onboard, it was just right. Some people wore short-sleeved t-shirts, others had long-sleeved sweaters (me). I'm glad I didn't take the extra bulky winter sweaters with me, as it would have been overkill. We indeed traveled with a carry on + small duffle bag. We had everything we needed, including the warmer layers for the landings/zodiac excursions/kayak. (We rented Muck Boots and left feedback at this other post ). It required a bit of a strategy in selecting the right clothes to take with us, but it worked fine with spring layers for life onboard (which take little space on the suitcase). For the excursions, we had warm winter layers (one pair of warm trekking pants or joggers, waterproof pants, 2 winter base layers, one warm mid-layer, uber warm gloves with liners, 2 warm hats, a face mask, and a scarf, 1 pair of trekking socks + 1 pair of thick wool socks). As per shoes, we had a pair of sneakers, birkenstocks and a pair of winter shoes. The parka they give you is very warm, so you can just wear a winter base layer and a warm mid-layer under, and you'll be fine. We took with us a light duvet jacket that was handy to wear under the dry suit for kayaking and when going out on the deck to take pictures (less than 5 minutes). For anything outside on the deck over 5 minutes, the SS parka was plenty. Besides the laundry service, the Endeavor offers a laundrette facility where you can wash and dry your clothes (there's even bio detergent to use). I used it a couple of times while onboard, and I always had clean and fresh layers to wear. Hope this feedback may help others in this community to figure out what to bring/wear. I'd like to thank again @Nitemare @2552phxcrzr @kaisatsu for their help and contribution to this post!

@PerfectlyPerth i wanted to thank you for your suggestions. The rented Muck Boots were perfect; inserting my inner soles helped tremendously, and with the thicker socks (I wore 2 pairs), my feet were pretty stable/comfortable inside those boots, totally unexpectedly. I wear size 39-40 on regular shoes, and chose size 10W. I could have sized down to 9, but I preferred to keep their insulated inner soles and inserted mine on top of theirs. For those who would read this thread, I'd like to tell you that "trekking" is an overstatement on Silversea's part. If you're an active hiker-trekker, the landings are very short (and safe), so don't expect much of a workout. However, it is a stunning experience nevertheless. I had rented trekking poles, which I used because we went up a short hill on a couple of landings, but Silversea had extra poles (many!) that anyone could use. So you can avoid taking yours or renting them. hope this feedback can help others interested in taking the Antarctica cruise, and thanks again @PerfectlyPerth for your help! 😉

Hello @Lvntrvl I don't have experience on the three ships you're considering, but I've just finished an Antarctica cruise on Silversea's Endeavor ship (200 guests - size), and it was fine through the Drake Passage. I'm sure that all of the ships that are used for Antarctica cruises are special vessels built for ice and rough seas. In our case, Silverseas's Endeavor is a state-of-the-art modern ship, and thanks to the stabilizers, the Drake shake with 6-meter waves was tolerable. In my opinion, picking a ship that you like is key, given you'll spend 100% of your time on it. hope this helps in your decision. Milly

That's another great suggestion, thank you @2552phxcrzr! it sounds like the zodiac rides are the most layer-intensive out of all the activities in Antarctica. Weather permitting, we'd like to go kayaking... but this would be a different topic! We did it on a lake in the Torres del Paine (just north of Punta Arenas) a few years back with glaciers and icebergs and it was amazing although a bit chilly. the good part was that being active contrasted the cold!

thank you @kaisatsu - that's a good perspective on the zodiac excursions. It sounds like a windproof face mask may be useful in this case. I remember in Iceland, we went for a zodiac excursion (it was August but still cold), and they gave us a thermal suit, and even wearing that by the end of the tour, we were very cold. we're taking hand warmers with us to add a bit of heat in such conditions. Thanks for the laundry suggestion, I was planning on using it onboard, glad to hear they have a quick turnaround! thanks again for your pearls of wisdom! 😉

@Nitemare we arrive a day earlier to make sure we can get on the plan fine. Thanks for your precious suggestions!

@Nitemare 🙂 i'm from italy but used to live in NYC. So I know how cold it can be... but staying 2+ hrs in these conditions would be tough for anyone. Thanks for offering a good perspective on the excursions. We never check our luggage, not to save $, but to avoid lost baggage scenarios. Even more so, on a trip like this one, with such a tight schedule. Once boarding the ship lost luggage could never be retrieved/delivered.

@Nitemare thank you for the quick reply. We usually travel with a trolley carry-on and a small handbag. We'll have to be very clever about what to bring, but we've been successful on other trips like South Korea last year which has brutal winter temperatures. Under the parka, I planned on wearing a winter baselayer and a mid-layer that could be a medium-weight fleece. Do you think that's enough for the outdoors part? I'll plan on packing winter clothing for the onboard part, that could be layered if needing extra warmth. 😉

Hello there, I'm posting this here too as this may be a more suitable forum... We're soon leaving for our first cruise to Antarctica on the Silversea Endeavour. As we're traveling light with just a carry-on, we want to ensure we bring the right gear with us. So we're wondering if the temperature on the ship will be cooler or warmer... Maybe this is a silly question, but we're unsure of what to expect. Do we need warm layers to wear for our days on board (think of winter clothing to wear indoors), or, is it going to be warm so that we just need spring/ lighter layers? It'd be great to know from those who've been on an Antarctica cruise with Silversea! thank you! milly

Hello there, we're soon leaving for our first cruise to Antartica on Silversea. As we're traveling light with just a carry-on, we want to ensure we bring the right gear with us. So we're wondering if the temperature on the ship will be cooler or warmer... Maybe this is a silly question, but we're not sure what to expect. Do we need warm layers to wear for our days on board (think of winter attire), or, if the temperature is on the warmer side, need just spring/ medium layers? It'd be great to know from those who've been on an Antarctica cruise with Silversea! thank you! milly

impressive record @PerfectlyPerth, your stats seem a lot, to me at least! 🙂 good tip about the orthotics, as i always wear them and wouldn't last too long walking without them, let alone out there. Thank you again for your feedback, I'm now more at ease on this topic, and will not take my hiking boots with me (less weight), but just comfortable shoes to wear on board! take care - milly

@PerfectlyPerth thank you for your feedback. Without knowing how active the on-land excursions are, I imagined something requiring a certain degree of physical shape and relative equipment. But it sounds like it's not going to be anything too challenging. I was concerned about how wobbly my thin feet may be inside the rented muck boots, but I'll double down on a multi-layer sock system to keep everything in check - hoping it works. We'll take band-aids with us to take care of possible chafing or blisters. Wow, you've done 4 trips already! sounds like you've become a pro Antartica explorer. well done. Any other tip you can share is super appreciated.

@Nitemare thanks for the pics! they give me a proper idea of what to expect! 🙏🏽 Good thing they have a mud room to stow & clean the boots then! We're really looking forward to this trip!