Puerto Williams>Valparaiso - Lots of Sea Days? Does it get Boring?

[BryanS1958]

I am looking at the above Silverseas Antarctic cruise on Silver Cloud for March 2026.  On the face of it, there seems to be lots of sea days - 6 days with excursions eg on ribs, 11 days at sea (including Chile) and only 6 days in 'towns'.  Is this correct, or am I misreading the information?

 

If anyone has been on this cruise how did they find it? With so many 'sea' days on such a small ship, with limited facilities it seems it could get quite boring after a while. I'm sure the scenery and wildlife are amazing, but there are a number of days off Chile where it appears that there are no off ship activities or excursions.

[Catlover54]

There are educational talks, there is a small spa, there is a gym, there are fellow pax and expedition leaders to talk to, there is your in-room TV with movies, there is a jigsaw puzzle,  and there is your iPAD with many pre-downloaded movies of your choice as well as hundreds (or thousands) of books to read while you look at the scenery you mentioned (and many of those books can be about Antarctica or Chile).

And then, of course, there is your spouse. 😇

 

I love sea days.

Edited July 4 by Catlover54
Typo

[Port Power]

13 minutes ago, BryanS1958 said:

I am looking at the above Silverseas Antarctic cruise on Silver Cloud for March 2026.  On the face of it, there seems to be lots of sea days - 6 days with excursions eg on ribs, 11 days at sea (including Chile) and only 6 days in 'towns'.  Is this correct, or am I misreading the information?

 

If anyone has been on this cruise how did they find it? With so many 'sea' days on such a small ship, with limited facilities it seems it could get quite boring after a while. I'm sure the scenery and wildlife are amazing, but there are a number of days off Chile where it appears that there are no off ship activities or excursions.

You cannot consider expedition days in zodiacs as sea days.  You will be so busy and up early enough that you will want to go to bed straight after dinner! 😄. 
 

Like @Catlover54, I love sea days. All that is mentioned above, or just chill out, have room service and put your feet up.  

[BryanS1958]

16 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

There are educational talks, there is a small spa, there is a gym, there are fellow pax and expedition leaders to talk to, there is your in-room TV with movies, there is a jigsaw puzzle,  and there is your iPAD with many pre-downloaded movies of your choice as well as hundreds (or thousands) of books to read while you look at the scenery you mentioned (and many of those books can be about Antarctica or Chile).

And then, of course, there is your spouse. 😇

 

I love sea days.

🤣😂🤣 you're really selling it to me, I'll particularly enjoy being on a ship with my wife for 11 days😊

Edited July 5 by BryanS1958

[BryanS1958]

15 hours ago, Port Power said:

You cannot consider expedition days in zodiacs as sea days.  You will be so busy and up early enough that you will want to go to bed straight after dinner! 😄. 
 

Like @Catlover54, I love sea days. All that is mentioned above, or just chill out, have room service and put your feet up.  

I'm a night owl, so I'll struggle to go to bed before midnight, even if I'm up early.  Mind you, being on a ship for 11 days might cure insomnia🙂

[BryanS1958]

Do you know if the gym is a reasonable size and does it get very busy?

[highplanesdrifters]

Consider posting the full itinary, what ship it is on, and or link to your cruise. 

[Fletcher]

Here it is -

https://www.silversea.com/destinations/antarctica-cruise/puerto-williams-to-valparaiso-e4260306022.html

The itinerary crosses the Drake twice then goes up the coast to Valpo.  There aren't many proper places to stop, though I'm sure zodiac cruises will be offered if the weather plays ball. I've done this route in fair weather and I admit it was a bit . . . samey.  There really is no end to South America. Glad to have seen the fiords, though, and Castro was very pretty.  We had minimal wildlife.  Far better in my view is to combine Antarctica with South Georgia and the Falklands and leave the fjords to Norway.  

[highplanesdrifters]

31 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

 Far better in my view is to combine Antarctica with South Georgia and the Falklands and leave the fjords to Norway.  

 

If this is a one and done for the area I agree.  I'd even take South Georgia over Antarctica.   That being said we've always enjoyed the Chilean Coast and people.

 

The other issue is the timing.  After Antarctica the Chilean fjords and coast will be rather anti climactic. 

Edited July 5 by highplanesdrifters

[LAexNY]

Here is another option for you:

https://www.silversea.com/destinations/transoceanic-cruise/puerto-williams-to-cape-town-wi260316021.html

March 2026 - South Georgia 5 days, Falklands 3 days, St. Helena 3 days including Tristan de Cunha, then Cape Town.

21 day cruise, also with 10 sea days.

[highplanesdrifters]

19 hours ago, LAexNY said:

Here is another option for you:

https://www.silversea.com/destinations/transoceanic-cruise/puerto-williams-to-cape-town-wi260316021.html

March 2026 - South Georgia 5 days, Falklands 3 days, St. Helena 3 days including Tristan de Cunha, then Cape Town.

21 day cruise, also with 10 sea days.

 

Highly recommend C2C. We picked this because of the 5 days in South Georgia.  We only got 3 there due to weather, but they were amazing and power packed.

[labrasett]

Its an expedition cruise for goodness sake.   Boring?   I dont think so but it depends what you like.   Do you like birds, wildlife, amazing scenery, geology, small towns perching on the edge of the world (such as Tortel), seeing people living in a very different environment from your own?  Zodiac cruising around the coast involves getting up close and personal with glaciers and ice bergs.   There is little "in town" culture but the cultures you do touch upon are very unusual and interesting.   This is an absolutely amazing trip but you must like the outdoors, be willing to climb in and out of zodiacs most days (except when crossing the Drake), you must be willing to get cool and wet and also potentially sunburnt.  You must accept there is no formal entertainment on the ship but expedition cruise passengers tend to be a cheerful, friendly lot and there are ample opportunities to meet people, participate in trivia quizzes (not as competitively as on classic ships), go to lectures about the amazing places and things you will be seeing.  There will likely be opportunities for kayaking and some hiking (which can be individually limited by early return to the beaches if you wish).   You must be prepared to be busy during the day and will probably want to retire relatively early after dinner but there is a bar for night caps on days when you have the energy.  Read up on earlier threads about this type of expedition so you can be sure you will enjoy it.  You will see birds, penguins (many types), seals (many types), sea lions, giant petrels, albatrosses (several types), whales (several types), dolphins (several types) and too numerous other birds to name.   If you have fallen asleep reading this then for goodness dont go, if this type of environment and excursions to this type of place excite you then you will have a wonderful time.

Edited July 7 by labrasett
misspelling