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Silver Explorer Expedition Cruise Dec 12 to 22, 2016


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We arrived home Christmas Day after a wonderful cruise on the Silver Explorer. Have not written a complete review yet, but happy to answer any questions. Thanks to those of you who patiently answered my questions before the trip!

 

Most scary aspects of the trip from Aerolineas Argentinas, to the Drake, to the Zodiac landings and weather were better than expected. We had the Drake Lake both ways so no horror stories. Our Expedition Team was the highlight for me. Very professional, personal, knowledgeable - delightful! My clothing preparations were fine thanks to this board. One day was cold/windy enough that I had on all layers: hat, balaclava, glove liners, gloves, sock liners, socks, two thin technical upper layers under the new SS-issued Haglofs parka, one thin technical lower layer under ski pants, with waterproof hiking pants over the ski pants. Took charcoal hand and foot warmers but they were not necessary. The other days required fewer layers.

 

My favorite accessory that I don't think was mentioned was a lanyard for my camera. I have a small point and shoot that only has a wrist strap, so the lanyard attached to the wrist strap enabled me to safely handle the camera and tuck it into my pocket. I never used the SS-issued backpack until the flight home. (They also issue water bottles but I did not take them since I wasn't using a backpack. Our excursions were not really long enough that I needed to carry water. On one of the hikes I ate some clean snow/ice.)

 

The only other tip I can think of is to order a parka larger than you think you will need. It was a bit of a messy process. The parka was not in my room when we arrived but we had 2 days to get things straightened out. I think we ordered a Men's size 6 for my husband (he normally wears a US Men's size large) and a Women's size 7 for me (I normally wear a US size 12 or large). When the parkas arrived they were marked Men's XL for him, and as mine was missing I can't tell you the equivalent for a 7, but I ended up wearing a Women's XXL.

 

Everything else was wonderful. I can nitpick all day but we had wonderful accommodations, food, Champagne, enrichment, weather, fellow cruisers, whales, penguins, etc., etc. We saw chicks, and the penguin guano at this time of year was not very smelly and easy to clean off. There are free washers and dryers (with free soap) on deck 4 so we even came home with clean clothes.

 

Happy to answer any questions, and of course this means that I do recommend Silversea and the Silver Explorer (only 132 passengers and an ice-strengthened hull class 1A) for your Antarctica expedition!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Nice to see a happy Explorer cruiser. We did the same in 2013 and the Arctic in 2015. In 2017 we do West Africa on SS Explorer. How was the condition of the ship. On our arctic trip it was looking a little tired..

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