Silversea Endeavor 12/3

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

We are booked on the Silversea Endeavor departing today.   We had been booked on the Crystal Endeavour last year but had to cancel  

 

flying down was uneventful.  We had a direct flight from New York and booked American is business.  Our last business class flight was Qatar which was far superior in every way.  But they had lie flat seats and the stewardesses were very nice.  That was about it.  When we landed great signage by Silversea to take us to our hotel. All the transfers were very easy to follow.  We were staying at the Mandarin Oriental. 
 

hotel was nice.  She. You arrive you go a sorvisl Silversea area on floor M1 to check in and get your room assignment and info.  Then you go to an area in the lobby for. more info on your cruise luggage tags etc including the time gif your bus to the airport the next morning.  Ours was 9 40 am.   All were within an hour of that time there were multiple buses

 

At 5 pm there was a mandatory meeting for all of the basics for Antarctica.  You had to sign to show you had seen some of the mandatory videos about wildlife conservation   There was also a place to try on jackets and boots to be sure your size was the right one.  You received your pants, jacket, boots and backpacks when you arrive in Puerto arenas.  They are literally waiting for you on your bed if your room btw 

 

The first night in Santiago you have dinner on your own.  I had read about the Japanese restaurant at the Mandarin here and made a reservation.  All I can say is the raves were spot on. Excellent food and I am not a sushi eater I had a cooked dish.  
 

the only issue with the mandarin surprisingly was service.  It was shocking how much if the staff did not speak English well at all.  Our waiter at the restaurant spoke terrible English and was very unresponsive.  We waited 45 minutes for the bill!   Fortunately other reviewers had warned of this so i expected it.   But was still shocked.  Honestly the food was that good that I didn’t care

 

You put your bags out the night before in front of your hotel room just like on a cruise ship and you see them again at the hotel the next day.  Smooth and easy 

 

The next morning we want to the Silversea buffet.  As I had read in another review small buffet and nothing got replenished after eaten.  Many went to eat at hotel buffet.  The flight to Puerto was a domestic flight on Latam air.  Again there were way too many Silversea people af the airport to make sure you couldn’t get lost at any turn.  Kudos to them.  Our flight left at 11 44 am.   It was three and a half hours 

 

the seats were all very tight which was a negative.  But I will say they served a very nice snack of smoked salmon and crackers, a salad and a fantastic dessert.  The stewards were extremely friendly and drink service included wine.  As we were going to the very south and I know this is one of the windiest places on the planet there was alot of turbulence on the flight at the end.  The stewards were laughing and joking about it so you knew it was what it was.  The landing was shockingly smooth.  The pilot was amazing.  
 

small airport.  When we landed we went to the Silversea desk which you walk right to.  They gave us the key to our room and we went to a bus.  It was insanely windy.  People were getting moved and having to fight the wind.  This is why they don’t tell you what time you are leaving on the two hour chartered plane until the day of

 

by the time we got to the hotel it was almost 4 pm.  There was a dinner at 7 pm that night at the top of the dreams hotel which was nice.  They told us they can’t confirm what time we are leaving yet. Again we were instructed to leave our bags outside of the room at night and next time we see them will be on the ship. 

 

we were informed that after the plane lands we take a short bus to a zodiac where we will board to go to the ship.   We were told to bring our jacket boots and pants with us to wear on the plane or change on to on the plane.   Breakfast in hotel and be downstairs at 10 15 am.   There are three planes apparently.  I am told that boat is about 70 percent full 

 

more later.  

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

55 minutes ago, Cruiseswithfamilyornot said:

We are booked on the Silversea Endeavor departing today.   We had been booked on the Crystal Endeavour last year but had to cancel  

 

flying down was uneventful.  We had a direct flight from New York and booked American is business.  Our last business class flight was Qatar which was far superior in every way.  But they had lie flat seats and the stewardesses were very nice.  That was about it.  When we landed great signage by Silversea to take us to our hotel. All the transfers were very easy to follow.  We were staying at the Mandarin Oriental. 
 

hotel was nice.  She. You arrive you go a sorvisl Silversea area on floor M1 to check in and get your room assignment and info.  Then you go to an area in the lobby for. more info on your cruise luggage tags etc including the time gif your bus to the airport the next morning.  Ours was 9 40 am.   All were within an hour of that time there were multiple buses

 

At 5 pm there was a mandatory meeting for all of the basics for Antarctica.  You had to sign to show you had seen some of the mandatory videos about wildlife conservation   There was also a place to try on jackets and boots to be sure your size was the right one.  You received your pants, jacket, boots and backpacks when you arrive in Puerto arenas.  They are literally waiting for you on your bed if your room btw 

 

The first night in Santiago you have dinner on your own.  I had read about the Japanese restaurant at the Mandarin here and made a reservation.  All I can say is the raves were spot on. Excellent food and I am not a sushi eater I had a cooked dish.  
 

the only issue with the mandarin surprisingly was service.  It was shocking how much if the staff did not speak English well at all.  Our waiter at the restaurant spoke terrible English and was very unresponsive.  We waited 45 minutes for the bill!   Fortunately other reviewers had warned of this so i expected it.   But was still shocked.  Honestly the food was that good that I didn’t care

 

You put your bags out the night before in front of your hotel room just like on a cruise ship and you see them again at the hotel the next day.  Smooth and easy 

 

The next morning we want to the Silversea buffet.  As I had read in another review small buffet and nothing got replenished after eaten.  Many went to eat at hotel buffet.  The flight to Puerto was a domestic flight on Latam air.  Again there were way too many Silversea people af the airport to make sure you couldn’t get lost at any turn.  Kudos to them.  Our flight left at 11 44 am.   It was three and a half hours 

 

the seats were all very tight which was a negative.  But I will say they served a very nice snack of smoked salmon and crackers, a salad and a fantastic dessert.  The stewards were extremely friendly and drink service included wine.  As we were going to the very south and I know this is one of the windiest places on the planet there was alot of turbulence on the flight at the end.  The stewards were laughing and joking about it so you knew it was what it was.  The landing was shockingly smooth.  The pilot was amazing.  
 

small airport.  When we landed we went to the Silversea desk which you walk right to.  They gave us the key to our room and we went to a bus.  It was insanely windy.  People were getting moved and having to fight the wind.  This is why they don’t tell you what time you are leaving on the two hour chartered plane until the day of

 

by the time we got to the hotel it was almost 4 pm.  There was a dinner at 7 pm that night at the top of the dreams hotel which was nice.  They told us they can’t confirm what time we are leaving yet. Again we were instructed to leave our bags outside of the room at night and next time we see them will be on the ship. 

 

we were informed that after the plane lands we take a short bus to a zodiac where we will board to go to the ship.   We were told to bring our jacket boots and pants with us to wear on the plane or change on to on the plane.   Breakfast in hotel and be downstairs at 10 15 am.   There are three planes apparently.  I am told that boat is about 70 percent full 

 

more later.  

sorry for the typos.  Was rushing.   Breakfast in Chile consists of a lot of cold cuts.   They also have runny scrambled eggs with one side usually and lots of bread and pastries and fruit.  No omelletes, pancakes, waffles, cereals, or oatmeal.    Breakfast at the dreams was the hotel buffet so it was replenished.  
 

the Dreams is a decent hotel.  Only big negative is the elevators.  Two small ones for the entire hotel.  Lots of wait times on occasion as you can imagine.  The bathroom is a little goofy with the shower glass enclosed but so is the toilet.  That’s a first one.  
 

 

[Manfromcasablanca]

Thank You for the info.  My traveling party of 3 will be on the December 19th departure of the Silver Endeavour.  Please keep posting whatever you may think is helpful for those that will follow you on your adventure.

 

it seems that Silversea’s only provides transportation from the Santiago airport to the MO on initial arrival if you book international air with SilverAir.  SilverAir screwed up our international transportation so much that I finally had to cancel that part of my arrangements and did it myself.  SilverAir initially had part of my group of 3 going down via Toronto and part via New York.  When I jumped up and down they corrected that issue but living in Dallas with a direct nonstop to SCL, SilverAir could not route us the shortest and best way to Santiago but continued to route us through New York both ways to Santiago.  It is just crazy talk on air with Silverseas.

 

I hope you continue to have a wonderful experience on your trip.

[labrasett]

Cant make out from thread where the Dreams Hotel is, there is reference to the MO but also the Dreams.     So the hotel staff didnt speak perfect English (or much at all).   You are half way down the South American continent where they speak Spanish, while education and lifestyle have improved greatly in Chile in the last half century it is still a fairly poor country.   There are few places in the world where the waiting staff speak perfect or even very much English.   It is all part of travel.   Getting from the airport to the hotels in Santiago is quite easy even independently.  A taxi is not that expensive and if people dont have a cruise company transfer it is not rocket science to google ahead of time and find a company which can arrange a private cab or even  email the hotel ahead of time and ask them for a recommendation.   Wishing you a wonderful trip.  

 

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

I am very well travelled.  For a major city like Santiago and a hotel like mandarin oriental I was very surprised to see that many hotel staff with language issues.  I found the Silversea local staff to not have these issues and we went out to local places and found less issues with English but they still existed.  Just my opinion on a comparative basis I understand about Chile and something I thought people should be aware of 
 

the dreams hotel is in punta arenas.sorry if that wasn’t clear.  The hotel was really fine outside of the two small elevators serving the entire hotel.  It was extremely windy there

Our flight to king George island was totally uneventful.  With the winds in punta arenas I was expecting it to be rough.  On the take off it was but once we got above the clouds not at all.  It was a charter plane and they had three of them.  There was more leg room think comfort plus like and they served a nice snack.  The bathrooms were insanely small so if you are thinking you will get changed on the plane in the bathroom as one person did forget that thought.  
 

Everyone wrestled with what to wear on the plane.  The concern was you didn’t want to be too warm.   You really only need the warmth for about a 20 minute zodiac ride to the boat.  So to be totally bundled up was a mistake.  That said there is an issue to be aware of

 

we chose to wear sneakers and change into the boots on the plane.  However we wore our waterproof pants as what we decided to wear under was just an under layer. 
 

what you should be aware of is that they transport you and all passengers on to the ship first and then the luggage arrives some time later.  What that means is that if you just wore your boots on to the ship you will be wearing your slippers around the boat.  Which you saw many people do.   Some peoples luggage didn’t come until after the nightly briefing. We kept on the snow pants until our luggage came.  All first world and minor problems of course but something to know 

 

The ship is stunning.  Truly beautiful decor   The scenery in Antarctica is breathtaking    We are in the weddell sea today a place that they remind us few cruise ships are able to go to but our ship can.  Talk about unspoiled land.  More later

 

 

 

 

[tabber]

Thank you so very much for posting while on your trip.  We will be onboard for the December 19th cruise, and please know your advice is highly appreciated!

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

On 12/3/2022 at 11:29 AM, dlcrowley said:

Thank You for the info.  My traveling party of 3 will be on the December 19th departure of the Silver Endeavour.  Please keep posting whatever you may think is helpful for those that will follow you on your adventure.

 

it seems that Silversea’s only provides transportation from the Santiago airport to the MO on initial arrival if you book international air with SilverAir.  SilverAir screwed up our international transportation so much that I finally had to cancel that part of my arrangements and did it myself.  SilverAir initially had part of my group of 3 going down via Toronto and part via New York.  When I jumped up and down they corrected that issue but living in Dallas with a direct nonstop to SCL, SilverAir could not route us the shortest and best way to Santiago but continued to route us through New York both ways to Santiago.  It is just crazy talk on air with Silverseas.

 

I hope you continue to have a wonderful experience on your trip.

Unfortunately there were many stories similar to yours for people who needed connecting flights.    I was very surprised how long it took for some to get here.  We left from New York so did not have any issues   I do agree with labrasett though, would be very easy to get transport from the Santiago airport.  
 

The explorer lounge is the place where they do all the lectures, expedition meetings,etc.   it was packed last night at 5 pm and the ship has 143 passengers on board so only two thirds full.  It would standing room if ship is close to full.  Last night was just reiterating a lot of what we know, introducing us to the staff, hearing we need to be flexible as every day will be different ,etc.   if you wanted to kayak at all on the trip you needed to stay after for a kayak briefing.  They said that was the only time you could hear the briefing on the whole cruise and if you didn’t attend you couldn’t kayak.   At the end of the kayak briefing you had to sign a release basically saying you know this could lead to death and they have no responsibility lol.  I get why this needs to be done and they did indicate if you don’t have experience kayaking don’t do this but they appropriately scared people. I guess now I get why only 16 people kayaking on a trip and they don’t have issues with too many wanting to go generally speaking 

 

today in Wedell sea and won’t be landing.  Doesn’t matter.  Sites are unbelievable.  I won’t spoil it but tons of beautiful landscapes and different kinds of penguins swimming by the ship or sitting on the ice nearby.  some seals too.  Surreal 

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

3 minutes ago, tabber said:

Thank you so very much for posting while on your trip.  We will be onboard for the December 19th cruise, and please know your advice is highly appreciated!

you’re welcome.  I realized I had some questions I’d like to see answered I hadn’t seen addressed.  I would say I would take one pair of your mid pants and make them something you can wear in their own.  I made the mistake of getting only layered clothing.  For layers many bring old sweaters and things like that.  That said people are wearing whatever they want to on the ship.  I saw some walking around in long John looking bottoms yesterday.  Today there are some people in the bathrobes they provide which are toasty.   So gif anyone obsessing about what yo wear don’t.  You can literally wear almost anything you want.  

[Lauranne]

@Cruiseswithfamilyornot”For a major city like Santiago and a hotel like mandarin oriental I was very surprised to see that many hotel staff with language issues.”

 

When we travel, we try to be very respectful of the official language of the country that we are in. Therefore any “language issues” are ours and not the citizens of that country. Translator apps are a great resource when traveling to a country where English is not commonly spoken. 

[scotlandyard1985]

Thanks for the live update.

 

The boots and pants you fit in Santiago. Do you rent (payed)those or loan (free)?

I know the parka you can take home. 

 

Have a nice holiday 

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

Thanks Lauranne you’re right and I should have mentioned that.  We have successfully used the translator app or even google sometimes for words and it really helps.  Unfortunately not as much in Chile we found

 

The parka pants and the backpack which is the last item they also give you in Punta arenas are all yours to keep.  They also give you boots to rent free of charge but those you return at the end.  
 

our first day we saw that the crew were extremely excited but we didn’t understand why. We went in the Weddell  sea which like all things in Antarctica is extremely weather dependent.  We saw a huge amount of icebergs and ice and a bunch of emperor penguins which I didn’t understand how rare that was as this is my first time in Antarctica.    Lots more to tell about the day but I’ll focus more on the things to know
 

every day there is a 6 30 pm talk with a recap of the day and discussion of the next day.  
 

the biggest thing I was concerned about having not been on an Antarctica cruise was what to wear on the ship.  The reality is whatever you want that’s comfortable.  As I mentioned before people wear everything on the spectrum.  As you may want to dash out on deck and see things try to wear clothes that are warm  .   Since the doors are opened all the time that’s a good idea.  That said there are people in short sleeved shirts and less clothing as well.  It’s whatever you are comfortable in including outside.  We all feel cold differently.   Outside is 25 to 30 degrees but the wind chill makes it colder.  There are some who wear layer on layer and others who are very bundled.  So you know your own threshold for cold and decide what you need to wear to keep warm.   More later 

[cruiseej]

7 hours ago, Cruiseswithfamilyornot said:

The parka pants and the backpack which is the last item they also give you in Punta arenas are all yours to keep.  They also give you boots to rent free of charge but those you return at the end.  

 

It's interesting how differently this works for the Endeavour's Bridge cruises versus the Cloud and Wind. For Endeavor, the boots are free, and you get free waterproof pants; on the Cloud and Wind, both must be rented or brought from home. (I'm sure this is because you need all your gear to get to the Endeavour via zodiac when you land on King George Island, whereas guests on the Cloud and Wind just walk aboard in Puerto Williams.)

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

One landing yesterday and kne where we could only go by zodiac as ice was kn the way of our landing spots.  
 

some tips

 

suntan lotion.  Much more needed than you would think.  I applied generously twice and still got some burn

 

Make your specialty restaurant reservations in line before.   Personal opinion but one shared by many that they are far superior to the main dining room.  This is personal opinion of course but one echoed by many that the food in the main dining room has not been great whereas the other venues have been.  We were able to get some on board too 

 

put tissues in your backpack when going on shore 

 

Attend all the lectures and speak to the expedition staff on ship and on shore.  They are everywhere and have a passion for what they do. Makes it much more interesting and they are a tremendous source of information 

 

 

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

Some other things to know

 

Go Through all the pockets of the parka they give you.  It’s really amazing.  On the left sleeve you will see a plastic waterproof cover that attaches to the sleeve on the outside.  This is a place gif you to put your keycard so that you don’t have to pull it out and they can scan it right through the plastic.  Additionally there is a great waterproof container gif your phone with clear plastic so you can use your camera while still in the waterproof container.  Except you will have to take your gloves off for that.  
 

entertainment on the ship consists of a pianist and a guitar player and a fantastically energetic cruise director who hosts trivia every day at 5 30 and something fun around 945 every night    It is an excursion ship so no formal shows etc 

 

breakdown of passengers will vary with every cruise of course.   Ours is mostly older but more younger people and a few children more so then you would find on a regular luxury ocean voyage.  Nice people for the most part.  Mostly Americans with Brit’s, aussies and Canadians and then a smattering  of other international travelers from all over.  
 

More later

 

 

[scotlandyard1985]

Thanks again for the live update. Very usefull

 

Are their binoculair in the cabin?

 

Have a nice holiday 

[Manfromcasablanca]

If you would be so kind, could you please enlighten us on what attire is being wore at the various venues for dinner.  You have given us info on what is being worn on the ship during the day but info on dinner attire would be greatly appreciated.

 

please keep posting, you are the light on the path for those that will follow in your footsteps.

[carefreecruise]

Thanks for taking the time to write  about this new ship. Could you elaborate on any of the specialty dining other than the main restaurant. Is it like the traditional fleet of silver sea small ships or  is there some new venues?

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

Sorry I was radio silent, internet in the ship wasn't terrific which brings up a huge point-----don't think you will have full connectivity.  This is Antarctica, the remotest part of the world, and you have to expect connectivity will be hit and miss.   We are back from our cruise.   I will give an overview on a separate post of the entire cruise,  but first want to address the questions asked:

 

There are binoculars in the cabin but only one pair(not yours to keep).   We had brought one of our own so I didn't need to ask for a second pair(so not sure if you could get them, but I'd imagine so), though frankly sharing one pair would have been fine for the most part.

 

Dress code wise you would wear what you want, whenever you wanted honestly.   Silver Seas dress code says casual every  night except two....the Captains dinner and the farewell dinner.   For men, that meant a sport coat.  On the Captains night, I'd say there were 50% of the men in sport coats, and slightly more than that for women in the dress code.  By the farewell dinner that number dwindled substantially.   Bottom line---you can wear whatever you want, no one looked at you funny.   The cruise is really more about being comfortable.

 

Specialty Restaurant wise there was nothing new.   They had their standard French restaurant La Dame(which was an Asian restaurant when Crystal had the ship so the decor is very odd), La Terrazza their Italian restaurant, and then "The Grill".   While that is a staple on Silversea ships, this one was different as there was no ventilation so no hot rocks/you couldn't cook your own food.  They cooked it for you in the kitchen. Which is why I put the name in quotations as it was similar to what you'd expect on Silversea, but not exactly.   There is an Arts Cafe too with the usual snacks available(though only at certain times which I thought was odd) and a coffee bar there.   The front reception employees were also located in that space.

 

We were told numerous times on the first dry dock they will be redoing the decor in La Dame, fixing the ventiliation in The Grill so you can do Hot Rocks, as well as adding additional suites where the helipad was.

 

 

[Silver Spectre]

Thanks for taking the time to post, really appreciate your thoughts.

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

I wanted to give a recap of our cruise here.  Before I do, for context, while we have travelled significantly and been on over 50 cruises this was our first Expedition cruise.  So while I can compare to other expedition cruises based on what people said to me on the ship, and what I read on Cruise Critic

 

I have been on a bunch of smaller cruise ships, including the Silver Wind back in the late 90s before it was made expedition worthy.  That said, an expedition ship is a very different animal.

 

So if others want to chime in on anything I've said or embellish on it please feel free.   So much of these reviews are subjective of course.  But I wrote this more so people would know what to expect as I had a lot of questions in advance and like many on Cruise Critic, I like to have an idea of how things go.

 

I also do want to mention this was only the second cruise Silversea had on the Silver Endeavour.  So there were definitely some kinks left to work out, as I have found there always are on a newer ship with a crew that is newer.

 

Overall, we loved this cruise.    We were reminded again and again what fantastic weather we had, and how much we were able to see, and we agreed with that.   For most of us, this will be the one time we make it to the 7th continent, and we want to try to have as good of an experience as possible.

 

A natural first question is what did you love the most.    The top answer would have to be the scenery in Antarctica.  It was breathtaking and beautiful.   That is not specific to this ship or Silversea of course.  But what is specific to Silversea that I would put as number 2 would the Expedition staff.   Virtually all the posts I've seen on cruise critic people praise the expedition staff though, so since this was my first such cruise, I can't compare them to others.   I can say there were 18 of them and they were always all around outside the ship when sailing, and running the zodiacs or on shore during expeditions.   There were a bunch of stand outs---a lady named Clouds who was very experienced and hilarious and a lady named Alex whose enthusiasm for Antarctica was literally contagious.   She was amazing.   Lastly, Jamie is the name of the guy who runs the expedition group.   I was very impressed by him. He gave a lot of the lectures and made them entertaining as well as informative and clearly ran a great group.  Remember I said that there some kinks that had to be worked out?  None of them were with Expedition Team which I thought this being only the second cruise spoke volumes.   I have already mentioned Yessy the entertainment director but I will repeat her here again.  Not much going on on the ship, but she was all over, very engaging, making single travellers welcome, and for those who wanted some additional entertainment she provided it as best one person could(trivia, game shows/sing alongs mostly)

 

The other thing I'd have to cite would be the ship itself.  Now some of this may have been me falling for the rhetoric, cause I don't know any better admittedly.  While the ship has some quirky things(pool in the middle of the Grill), it was beautiful and very modern with a lot of conveniences.  But the "biggie" was the fact that the day we went into the Weddell Sea apparently 2 other ships followed us and had to turn around as they couldn't handle the ice.  Being a newer ship, The Endeavour was not just better built but had some sort of a sea ice breaker on the bow which helped us navigate through the Weddell Sea and allowed us to get to what I was told was the furthest south a cruise ship had gone.   It was an incredible day, and judging by the Expedition Teams reactions it was something they rarely experience.   

 

There are some negatives with the ships designs that were goofy, but many of them will be fixed when Silversea dry docks after this season.  

 

There were two big negatives that stood out.  The first of which I think falls into the category of new ship and working out the kinks and that was the lack of communication on many things.  I will mention others below, I have already touched on some.   The other one though, would be the food.   For a luxury cruise line, it was sub par.  It would have been what I expected on a main stream cruise line, meaning some bad and some good.  Virtually every other passenger we spoke to felt the same.  We were trying to figure out was it just an issue of supply, but the answer was no.  It was also food preparation.  I am married to someone who had their own catering business for 30 years, and they felt very strongly the foods weren't marinated well, things were put together that didn't go, etc,,.   Food was the largest disappointment for us, but again something that can be rectified.

 

Communication wise some things to be aware of:

 

They take the passports from you when you first get on the ship by the mud room.  They don't tell you when you will get back them.  We asked and were told at the end of the cruise.  Problem was no one told us when or how.   We had to ask and found out to go to reception desk.  This should have been a part of their announcement and wasn't.  Also the boarding passes for the plane going home from Punta Arenas to Santiago.     No announcements, but apparently you had to pick those up at reception too.   No way anyone would have known that, it was just a word of mouth thing.   None of these things are deal breakers of course, just small frustrations.  There were others of course, and I can't remember all as they were fairly easily resolved, just underscored the lack of communication which I am sure they will fix shortly.

 

I will give a final post with some overview comments of things to be aware of so all is in one place.  But before that, I did want to speak a bit about one thing that was pounded into our heads, and unfortunately we saw during our cruise happening to others as well.

 

The biggest issue for Antarctica is the weather and the fact that it changes all the time.  This is why they tell you to dress in layers.   I chose this cruise because we also flew into King George Island in Antarctica so we missed what is the very treacherous Drake Passage crossing.   I am very happy I did that, because while we were on our cruise the Viking Polaris was struck by a rogue wave in the Drake Passage and it shattered a bunch of windows in cabin killing one passenger.   That tells the story of weather better than I ever could.  On the way home, we saw the Polaris docked in Punta Arenas with it's smashed windows...very eerie and sad.

 

For the most part, we had incredible weather during our cruise.   The temperature is around Farenheit 25 to 30 degrees for the time of the year we are there, but gets swayed one way or the other based on the wind mostly, followed by if it's sunny vs rainy/snowy.   We had beautiful mostly sunny clear days for most of our cruise.   The first day and the last day just getting off the ship were what we were told more typical Antarctica days, extremely overcast, poor visibility, swells in the water, etc,  The first day we got to the ship all was good going in, and as we got to the boat we hit a swell and BAM we were all soaked.  It being the first day, everyone was wearing their waterproof clothing and no big deal.

 

After that the weather was spectacular.  Clear and sunny.   Everyone was ripping off layers of clothing.  I never wore gloves after the first day and had no issue.  I only had one layer underneath and had to take off my jacket on two days and carry it, I was sweating profusely and I wasn't the only one.  There were even two guys in short sleeve shirts walking around on a landing those days.  That said I got a very nasty sunburn as I only applied once in the morning and once in the afternoon.   I am very pale, and stopped carrying my backpack as it wasn't needed to didn't have any and paid the price.  I am still peeling as I type this, don't be fooled by how "cold" it is thinking that you won't get sunburned.

 

However, you do need to know that every landing is accompanied not only with a Zodiac ride to the landing site, but also a separate Zodiac ride too which is definitely colder(mostly due to wind).   The two guys in short sleeve shirts were in my Zodiac right after and they put on a layer and a coat, and then a hat and a gaiter eventually too.  Big difference in weather in those two.

 

Only about 100 people are allowed on shore at once.  Since there are 200 on the ship, they have you go either first on a landing, and then secondarily on the zodiac cruise, or visa versa.  The landing is usually about an hour and a half, and the zodiac ride about an hour.

 

They decide how you go based on a color system.  They assign everyone on the ship into one of four color groups---Red, Green, Yellow and Blue.  If you are not with someone you want to be with, you can go to reception and have that changed.  Every day they rotate which group gets called first, second, etc,,.   This way they also don't have a back up in the mud room

 

So day one Red might go first, then Green.  Those two will go and do landings.   Then Yellow and Blue, both of which will go out for Zodiac rides.  While colder, I would highly recommend the Zodiacs.   We saw things you couldn't see as well from the ship or the shore.   One day there was a humpback whale within 50 feet, another day there were tons of Penguins jumping in the water in front of us.  The next day, the will do Green and Yellow first, then Blue and Red, and keep rotating it 

 

Also leaving the ship is subject to air traffic as visibility in and out of King George Island can be poor.   We were originally told we were going to have check out of our rooms at midnight and would be leaving at 3 am.  Thankfully, that changed to out of our rooms at 6 am, but these things are not within the cruise lines control.  Just do know that these things can happen.

 

That's it for now.  I will post a synopsis and easier overview email later on where I will also answer any questions any one has.

[FauxNom]

Thanks for taking the time to supply all this detail. I'm booked on the Endeavour next August (in the Arctic) so I'm hanging on every word!

 

I do hope they improve the food situation. I'm curious about the Italian restaurant. It looks very small compared to the size on the other expedition ships. Those larger places tend to get the most business at breakfast and lunch because they include buffets. Is the Endeavour's Italian venue a la carte only? Where did you normally eat breakfast?

 

I'm glad they had an experienced and organized expedition team on board. That makes a huge difference. 

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

Very observant of you @FauxNom, the Italian Restaurant was the smallest venue to eat.  It is literally right outside the main restaurant

 

The only buffet was at The Grill but it wasn't really a full buffet it was much smaller.    A lot of people seemed to order room service to their room for breakfast.   There was no buffet in the main restaurant of course, but outside of the first night(where half the ship was easily eating dinner in the main restaurant), there was almost never more than 20 people in the main restaurant for the entire cruise.  But that was definitely the venue with the lowest quality of food, so it's understandable why people shied away.  The Grill and La Dame sat about 35 to 40 people each and they were close to capacity for dinner.   The Italian Restaurant was probably closer to 25   There were tables by the windows which they used too.

 

The main restaurant only had three choices of mains and appetizers every night which was odd, and they didn't have the cruise ship staples you could order every day.   One day for lunch there was nothing I could eat and I was told those were the only options.  As we left the Maitre D' asked why we were leaving and we let him know that nothing was too our liking and he told us we could order from the room service menu too.   Again, one of those kinks, as I told our waiter there had to be other options other than those three and he checked with the another waiter who came over and told me those were the only choices.    Food quality from room service came from the main dining room rather obviously by  the taste I'm sorry to say.

[tabber]

We also thank you for posting all this information and are reading it very thoroughly.  It’s time to review my packing list and start filling the suitcases for our trip!  I know we’ll have a parka to keep, and use of boots and waterproof pants reserved through the MySilversea link, but were trekking poles provided?

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

You are correct @tabber   You will get the boots, waterproof pants and jacket in Punta Arenas.  The pants and jacket are yours to keep.  They also give you a smaller waterproof backpack in Punta Arenas as well which is yours to keep as well.   I am glad to hear the information provided is useful.

 

The boots are given to you in Punta Arenas.   You actually wear them on to the plane on the way home, and in a very cool move, you take them off on the plane, put them into the bag they provided for you which has your name on it and literally leave them under the seat in front of you before you land in Punta Arenas on the return which was pretty awesome honestly.  This was their private charter from Antarctica so there was a lot of leg room in front of you, plus there were three seats in a row and on our plane ever middle seat was empty so not an issue at all

 

With every landing, the Expedition team actually brings the trekking poles on shore.   So you will have an option to grab trekking poles if you want them on every landing.  You also leave them on shore and the team takes them all back to the ship for you too, which is especially nice.   There were plenty of them, not issue.  A few people brought their own, but most used the ones provided to you.  Just an FYI-----the poles can be made longer and shorter.   There is a piece that is pretty easy to open so you can make them your size.  For some reason most people didn't seem to realize this and were walking around with poles that were way too short until it was pointed out to them.  Also you do have the option of taking your life preserver off and leaving in a bin to once you get to shore.   If you choose to do that, you will get another life preserver when going back to the ship on a zodiac which is no big deal, you'll just have to adjust the straps.

 

[wwinfl91]

Does the ship have regular tenders in addition to zodiacs? Thanks