Expedition Cruises: what's your favorite itinerary?

[FauxNom]

We took an ill-fated expedition cruise to Patagonia in March, and came home with two cases of Coronavirus, no luggage, and a future cruise credit. So I'm spending isolation thinking about the next cruise, as one does. I know there are many expedition fans out there, and I'd love to hear about the itineraries that you think have the best mix of activities and sights. For me, viewing wildlife and stunning scenery are top of the list, followed by opportunities for moderate hikes. (Greenland/Canadian Arctic cruise on the Cloud was amazing in this regard.) To be honest, the cultural experiences sometimes sound great on paper, but leave me feeling a little awkward when faced with the prospect of the locals putting on some kind of show as the tourists gawk. I think some cruises have more of this than others, and it's not always easy to tell from the brief descriptions of the ports.   

 

So please, lets hear your thoughts on expedition cruising! I'm open to any and all suggestions.

[caradara]

We didn't do these on Silversea but we loved the Galapagos and Antarctica.  We do love the Silversea Explorer as well.  

[Stumblefoot]

We’ve done only one, but it was very nice.  I can highly recommend South Georgia in early January as you’ll get to see so many newly born animals.  I also liked Antarctica in January because there was still so, so much snow, as opposed to mud.  
 

For us (a party of 3), the Silver Cloud was a perfect ship because of the amount of available space, number of dining venues, and other activities to while away the time experienced during sea days.

[Alturia]

If you like wildlife and hiking then the Galapagos is the place to go. Lots of wildlife on both land and in the water. Great hiking and snorkeling and stunning scenery. And we have done Greenland, Patagonia, Norway up to the Russian border, Alaska,  the Panama Canal, the Outer Hebrides and others. The Galapagos was our favorite destination and cruise. Here are a couple of photos.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Alturia

[FauxNom]

Great photos, Alturia. Galapagos definitely sounds great. I wonder if Silversea is the best way to visit there, as I've heard of so many excellent options. The Silver Origin is sure to be amazing, though. 

 

Caradara, those two spots are very high on my list. Thanks! And the Explorer is a wonderful ship--except when you're confined to your cabin for 4 days!

 

Stumblefoot, a couple of the expedition team on the Cloud said that South Georgia would be their top pick of anywhere Silversea sails. The Cape to Cape is enticing for that reason.

[jpalbny]

Fauxnom, it would still be hard to beat that Explorer cruise we took together in October-November 2017. Great mix of interesting local cuisine, amazing history and archaeological sites, excursions above 15000 feet, flying over the Nasca lines... We liked it so much that we went back to San Pedro de Atacama for a few days.

 

For me that is still probably my  best cruise ever, and we've been to Antarctica twice. The trip to South Georgia with Stumblefoot and RachelG was a great cruise too, and is up near the top as well. It's hard to choose one over the other. I hope that you will do many more of them. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by jpalbny

[FauxNom]

21 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Fauxnom, it would still be hard to beat that Explorer cruise we took together in October-November 2017. Great mix of interesting local cuisine, amazing history and archaeological sites, excursions above 15000 feet, flying over the Nasca lines...

I have to agree, JP--that was a fantastic cruise. The culinary cruise aspect made it really fun and definitely built camaraderie among the guests. And I loved how much time we got to spend in the Zodiacs, something that didn't happen so much on our Patagonia cruise.

[Fletcher]

I've done maybe 15 expedition cruises.  My top itineraries would be -

 

Tahiti to Easter Island (or vice versa) via Pitcairns and Marquesas and Tuamotus.

Some sort of Antarctica trip but only with South Georgia.

I did an amazing Cape Verde-Ascension-St Helena-Tristan da Cunha-Falklands trip.

I also love the Melanesian run from Auckland to PNG via New Cal, Vanuatu, Solomons.

Any Seychelles/Indian Ocean trip that includes Aldabra.

Any Indonesian-SE Asia trip that includes Banda Islands.

 

I thought Galapagos was very disappointing and forgettable.

 

I would love to find a trip through Tokelau, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshalls, FSM.

 

NW and NE passage are appealing.  Friends have raved about Kamchatka to Alaska.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Fletcher

[caradara]

I was on that cruise with JP and you as well.  It was special but I like to see animals (I did get spit on by the llama) so I liked the Galapagos and Antarctica more.  I have signed up for the continuation of that trip Valparaiso to Ushuaia if it goes in 2021.

[FauxNom]

1 hour ago, caradara said:

I was on that cruise with JP and you as well.  It was special but I like to see animals (I did get spit on by the llama) so I liked the Galapagos and Antarctica more.  I have signed up for the continuation of that trip Valparaiso to Ushuaia if it goes in 2021.

I didn't realize that! The trip we just did was the reverse: Ushuaia to Valparaiso, and there were at least 10 people I had met on the prior cruise. I think we all had the same experience and wanted to close the loop, as it were. I wish we had made it all the way to Valparaiso; then we would have completed the Pacific Coast of most of South America. (agree about the animals, but I felt the archaeology made up for that)

[RachelG]

We have been on a bunch of expedition cruises, all on Silversea except for 3.  Favorites have to be the Antarctica/South George trip with jpalbany and stumblefoot, but the one we did from Svalbard to Greenland and ending in Iceland was pretty spectacular. We have also done Galapagos twice, and definitely recommend Silversea there (way nicer than Celebrity Xpedition).  The nice thing about the Galapagos trip is that there are no sea days--everything is pretty close together and weather is always pretty good, so no missed ports.  We liked the Japan to Guam trip, but too many missed ports. 

[FauxNom]

3 hours ago, RachelG said:

We have been on a bunch of expedition cruises, all on Silversea except for 3.  Favorites have to be the Antarctica/South George trip with jpalbany and stumblefoot, but the one we did from Svalbard to Greenland and ending in Iceland was pretty spectacular. We have also done Galapagos twice, and definitely recommend Silversea there (way nicer than Celebrity Xpedition).  The nice thing about the Galapagos trip is that there are no sea days--everything is pretty close together and weather is always pretty good, so no missed ports.  We liked the Japan to Guam trip, but too many missed ports. 

Thanks for the info, Rachel. Your trip reports have helped me choose previous itineraries, so I'm happy to get your highlights list, as well as the comparison to the Xpedition option for Galapagos.

[FauxNom]

19 hours ago, Fletcher said:

I've done maybe 15 expedition cruises.  My top itineraries would be -

 

Tahiti to Easter Island (or vice versa) via Pitcairns and Marquesas and Tuamotus.

Some sort of Antarctica trip but only with South Georgia.

I did an amazing Cape Verde-Ascension-St Helena-Tristan da Cunha-Falklands trip.

I also love the Melanesian run from Auckland to PNG via New Cal, Vanuatu, Solomons.

Any Seychelles/Indian Ocean trip that includes Aldabra.

Any Indonesian-SE Asia trip that includes Banda Islands.

 

I thought Galapagos was very disappointing and forgettable.

 

I would love to find a trip through Tokelau, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Marshalls, FSM.

 

NW and NE passage are appealing.  Friends have raved about Kamchatka to Alaska.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to weigh in, Fletcher. I'm intrigued by how many Pacific Island destinations are on your list. Can you please give me a sense of what the day-to-day is like on those cruises? I'm trying to picture whether the main attractions are scenery, history, wildlife, weather.... I  have no idea what one does in places like that other than the obvious beach-going and water sports.

[jland]

It hardly ever gets a mention but the sub Antarctica islands of New Zealand are wonderful. Silversea only seem to do this cruise occasionally but when they do it is well worth the effort. Unlike the Antarctica cruises where many cruise lines go there the New Zealand sub Antarctica is very remote, very quiet and very beautiful.

[Fletcher]

13 hours ago, FauxNom said:

Thanks for taking the time to weigh in, Fletcher. I'm intrigued by how many Pacific Island destinations are on your list. Can you please give me a sense of what the day-to-day is like on those cruises? I'm trying to picture whether the main attractions are scenery, history, wildlife, weather.... I  have no idea what one does in places like that other than the obvious beach-going and water sports.

Fauxnom - The South Pacific is my favourite place in the world.  I’ve done many trips - cruises as well as hotel-based stays.  I love the region because I’m interested in the history of Cook’s voyages, the Bounty saga and the colonial era which still exists to this day.

 

Most of all, perhaps, I adore the utter remoteness, the surpassing beauty of the islands and the dazzling colours of the sea and the sky.  Some people look at the South Pacific and think it’s going to be like a Caribbean cruise with bigger distances. It’s nothing like the Caribbean where the island nation states have highly developed tourism and large cruise terminals.  Apart from very few islands (Bora Bora and Moorea in particular) tourism in the South Pacific is extremely low-key and in many places non-existent.  In the Solomons, for instance, it is possible to visit remote villages where traditional South Seas life is still preserved.  And the balmy climate means you never eat a meal inside the ship - unless it rains of course.

 

Of course, a South Pacific cruise is not for everyone.  If you want art galleries, museums, proper walks, go to Europe.  Yes, there are a lot of stunning beaches, there are snorkelling opportunities, some villages put on a welcome ceremony - and even in the Solomons these are becoming more ‘professional’ and less authentic - and there isn’t a lot of wildlife.  But there are also charming churches made of coral and shells; weird Bavarian-style cathedrals in Wallis & Futuna; vivid history at Easter Island and Pitcairn; vibrant culture clashes in Fiji and American Samoa; French cafe society in Papeete and Noumea; WW2 sites and memorials in the Solomons and Papua New Guinea.  Every island is different.

 

My one key bit of advice is this - to see the South Pacific properly you need to go on a very small ship and the only suitable ship in the Silversea fleet is the Explorer.  Even the Cloud would be too big for some places.  About 100-120 passengers maximum would be my recommendation.

 

Unfortunately, all his is largely theoretical as I can’t see these islands opening up to cruise ships any time soon, maybe not until 2022.  Most of them are currently virus free. When things get back to normal, hopefully the Explorer will be back out there.  And look at National Geographic Orion (my first and best cruise in the region in 2009) and the Ponant ships.

 

[Fletcher]

2 hours ago, jland said:

It hardly ever gets a mention but the sub Antarctica islands of New Zealand are wonderful. Silversea only seem to do this cruise occasionally but when they do it is well worth the effort. Unlike the Antarctica cruises where many cruise lines go there the New Zealand sub Antarctica is very remote, very quiet and very beautiful.

 

Macquarie Island has long been on my now also empty bucket list.

[jpalbny]

Thanks Fletcher, and jland, for reminding me of Macquarie Island and the Subantarctic Islands of NZ. They do look amazing and there are some unique penguins there (Snares, I think) that you can't see anywhere else. We keep looking at that cruise but it's always too long to fit into our schedule, with work et al.

 

Neglected to mention that Ponant's new ship Le Commandant Charcot has some great-looking Antarctic expeditions coming up, assuming all still goes according to plan. Many of them cross the Antarctic Circle and some go even further south, looking for Emperor Penguins. Their itineraries look really nice. I'd go again...

Edited April 21, 2020 by jpalbny

[jland]

Fletcher as you know Macquarie Island is Australian so not included on our trip. We did a b2b trip starting in the Solomons and then the small islands of Melanesia followed by the NZ sub Antarctica islands.What a trip! Only 35 passengers on board. We were told not to bother with a mutiny as the crew out numbered us. The cruise after ours went to Maguire Island, we regret not continuing on. We have on our bucket list to see emperor penguins, am I allowed to say Heritage Expeditions have some interesting cruises for that purpose?

We have booked the Northwest passage for August this year with Ponant but expect it to be cancelled. Booked 2 years ago but never mind, peoples lives are more important.

[Fletcher]

25 minutes ago, jland said:

Fletcher as you know Macquarie Island is Australian so not included on our trip. We did a b2b trip starting in the Solomons and then the small islands of Melanesia followed by the NZ sub Antarctica islands.What a trip!

When we were on the Orion in 2009, sailing up from Auckland to the totally weird and wonderful Rabaul and on to Cairns, everyone got really chatty with our Captain.  As it was then an Australian ship, the Orion did regular cruises down to Macquarie, across the Ross Sea and on to the Mawson region in Antarctica.  The Captain said he seriously hated those trips because they almost always hit atrocious weather and it was 7 or so days at sea getting there, landing nowhere, and 7 days back again.   But if the weather was kind you did get a wonderfully immersive experience.  

[philipb]

Hello all. Our best expedition cruise to date was undoubtedly the 2019 Cape-to-Cape (Ushuaia to Cape Town) on Silver Cloud. Full of excitement and interest and (unlike this years passage) we were able to land at Tristan da Cunha. Highly recommended, especially South Georgia.

 

Fletcher - I have one (off topic) question for you. I see from your signature that you went on Royal Crown on the Danube back in 2014. How did you rate the vessel?

[Fletcher]

2 hours ago, philipb said:

Hello all. Our best expedition cruise to date was undoubtedly the 2019 Cape-to-Cape (Ushuaia to Cape Town) on Silver Cloud. Full of excitement and interest and (unlike this years passage) we were able to land at Tristan da Cunha. Highly recommended, especially South Georgia.

 

Fletcher - I have one (off topic) question for you. I see from your signature that you went on Royal Crown on the Danube back in 2014. How did you rate the vessel?

 Hi Philip.  Glad you landed at Tristan.  That Cape-to-Cape is a fabulous itinerary.

 

We went on the Royal Crown in May 2015, sailing from Vienna all the way to the Black Sea.  I posted up a full review of the boat on TripAdvisor - it's post no.281 on a now-closed thread.  But to cut a long story short, the boat has bags of character, cabins are small, the service exemplary, the top deck fabulous.  Only the food let the side down - really disappointing.  Anyway, my review is (hopefully) here -

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k4552701-o280-The_ALL_NEW_Noble_Caledonia_Discussion_Thread-Cruises.html#66731812

[FauxNom]

11 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Fauxnom - The South Pacific is my favourite place in the world.  I’ve done many trips - cruises as well as hotel-based stays.  I love the region because I’m interested in the history of Cook’s voyages, the Bounty saga and the colonial era which still exists to this day.

 

Fletcher, what a great answer! Thanks for sharing the details about cruising the South Pacific. I think I would love it.

 

6 hours ago, jland said:

Fletcher as you know Macquarie Island is Australian so not included on our trip. We did a b2b trip starting in the Solomons and then the small islands of Melanesia followed by the NZ sub Antarctica islands.What a trip! Only 35 passengers on board. We were told not to bother with a mutiny as the crew out numbered us. The cruise after ours went to Maguire Island, we regret not continuing on. We have on our bucket list to see emperor penguins, am I allowed to say Heritage Expeditions have some interesting cruises for that purpose?

 

 

jland, this is an area I'd never even heard of before Silversea began cruising there. Long-range bucket list item!

 

5 hours ago, philipb said:

Hello all. Our best expedition cruise to date was undoubtedly the 2019 Cape-to-Cape (Ushuaia to Cape Town) on Silver Cloud. Full of excitement and interest and (unlike this years passage) we were able to land at Tristan da Cunha. Highly recommended, especially South Georgia.

 

 

I'm glad to hear this, philipb! This one has been at the top of my list consistently, and it's quite affordable if I skip Antarctica. I would have to hope for good luck with the weather and seas; it sounds like landings can be quite unpredictable. But I do think I'll make it one day. Thanks for responding.

 

[WesW]

The Favorite expedition cruise is the one I am on. btw, FauxNom kudos for starting this entertaining thread.

 

So (since about four weeks have passed), C2C  (Cape 2 Cape)it is. Tho, the Arctic (Polar bears, walruses, seals, whales OH MY!)last year on the Silver Cloud from Rejkjavik to Tromso was outstanding!

 

Since disembarking a month ago from C2C despite the second order effects from the Corona Virus outbreak (e.g. Tristan Da Cunha council leadership deciding to not let us land, tho they did give us permission to visit inaccessible island by Zodiac (first time for Silversea)) my top Expedition cruise is C2C.

 

Moreover, observing how the Silver Cloud Expedition and crew leadership professionally adapted to virus inflicted changes in our itinerary tremendously enhanced my enjoyment of this voyage.  Even, having to remain (anchored and docked) by order of the South African Government on board the Cloud for nearly four days--made this voyage (22 day not 21 day cruise) very, very special.  Even tried to convince my DW Ida to go on the C2C Silver Cloud voyage in February 2022.  She instead, wants us to do the North West Passage (NWP) in 2022.

 

Now, (as I learned today) Ida and look forward to booking the NWP on the Wind or Cloud in August 2022.

Edited April 22, 2020 by WesW

[FauxNom]

1 hour ago, WesW said:

The Favorite expedition cruise is the one I am on. btw, FauxNom kudos for starting this entertaining thread.

 

 

I figured a happy topic would be a good thing right now! So glad to hear another endorsement of Cape to Cape, even with the difficulties you encountered. The Cloud is an amazing ship, and I would love to return to her. 

[jpalbny]

Cloud (and Wind) were always our favorite classic ships. I think that Cloud made a really good transition to an outstanding expedition ship, and hoping the same is true for Wind. Though that does mean that we'll have to try some of the larger classic ships...it's a sacrifice we're willing to make.