New Luxury Expedition Ship

[diebroke]

Silversea has acquired a 6,072-ton expedition-style ship, the World Discoverer II, formerly operated by Society Expeditions, and is undertaking a multimillion-dollar overhaul at Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, Italy. She will be rechristened the Prince Albert II, in a tribute to Prince Albert of Monaco.

 

Here's what *****.com said about it:

"The ship will accommodate just 132 passengers in 66 staterooms and suites, all with ocean views and many offering private verandas. Onboard amenities will include a boutique, fitness center, full-service spa, two Jacuzzis and a number of intimate lounges, including a cigar bar similar to the signature Humidor on other Silversea ships.

 

The Prince Albert II will be equipped with ship-wide Wi-Fi Internet access and cell phone service. All staterooms will feature flat-screen TVs, and the ship's lounges will sport high-definition video screens that will display presentations by onboard lecturers and visiting destination experts.

 

The Prince Albert II will be equipped with a fleet of eight zodiacs and has a strengthened hull with the highest ice-class notation, allowing Silversea to bring luxury cruising to remote destinations they've not been able to visit before, such as Antarctica.

 

Itineraries and prices for the Prince Albert II have just been announced, and voyages are now open for booking. The ship will embark on its inaugural voyage on June 12 from London and will spend the summer cruising to the Arctic Circle. After that, it will reposition from the east coast of North America through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles, before heading south to Ushuaia for a series of voyages to Antarctica."

 

Prices are at the high end and seem to compare to Lindblad's Endeavour & Explorer.

[tgh]

The itineraries for the longer cruise (09-02) go to some "new" places..avoiding the Falklands traffic jam perhaps.

I wonder how this extra capacity will affect the other top shelf operators.

A&C are mostly showing full.

Regent is a bit less scrutable but it seems to have availability...

 

Coming from 'Oz , I am now leaning towards the mare Australis experience along with lots of mainland adventures including the Salto Chico hotel for a snapshot of Patagonia..

 

Antartica is perhaps better left for a future trip from this side of the globe ..a much more challenging sea trip .. but possibly a more rewarding ice/wildlife experience.

 

MS Bremen is visiting this side of the Antarctic continent this season and also later transiting to Ushaia ex kiwiland ( New Zealand)..a pretty attractive option for those from the US seeking a path less travelled...

 

decisions decisions decisions . d... aaaaaarrrggggg.....:p

[gxchan]

Silversea has acquired a 6,072-ton expedition-style ship, the World Discoverer II, formerly operated by Society Expeditions, and is undertaking a multimillion-dollar overhaul at Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, Italy. She will be rechristened the Prince Albert II, in a tribute to Prince Albert of Monaco.

 

Here's what *****.com said about it:

"The ship will accommodate just 132 passengers in 66 staterooms and suites, all with ocean views and many offering private verandas. Onboard amenities will include a boutique, fitness center, full-service spa, two Jacuzzis and a number of intimate lounges, including a cigar bar similar to the signature Humidor on other Silversea ships.

 

The Prince Albert II will be equipped with ship-wide Wi-Fi Internet access and cell phone service. All staterooms will feature flat-screen TVs, and the ship's lounges will sport high-definition video screens that will display presentations by onboard lecturers and visiting destination experts.

 

The Prince Albert II will be equipped with a fleet of eight zodiacs and has a strengthened hull with the highest ice-class notation, allowing Silversea to bring luxury cruising to remote destinations they've not been able to visit before, such as Antarctica.

 

Itineraries and prices for the Prince Albert II have just been announced, and voyages are now open for booking. The ship will embark on its inaugural voyage on June 12 from London and will spend the summer cruising to the Arctic Circle. After that, it will reposition from the east coast of North America through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles, before heading south to Ushuaia for a series of voyages to Antarctica."

 

Prices are at the high end and seem to compare to Lindblad's Endeavour & Explorer.

 

Thank you for the detailed info! A friend and I are just beginning to research Antarctic cruises--I don't know much about Antarctica but I do know to come to CC to start my research!:D

[diebroke]

Antartica is perhaps better left for a future trip from this side of the globe ..a much more challenging sea trip .. but possibly a more rewarding ice/wildlife experience.

 

tgh, I would love to do an Antarctic trip from your side of the planet & it does deserve some research.

 

On our trip from Ushuaia, I was lamenting that we would not cross the Antarctic Circle (which I wanted to do since we had crossed the Arctic Circle previously) nor see Emperor penguins. I was telling my tale of woe to a staff member who lives in 'Oz and who had spent over 20 years in Antarctica working for various organizations supporting research. His feedback to me was that the trip from down under has much more sea time (as you point out) is less scenic, and has less wildlife. He said you could see more historic sites coming from that side.

 

As it turns out, we crossed the Antarctic Circle AND saw Emperor penguins on our trip.

 

His feedback is only one data point & I still hope to visit from your side some day. If you do it, I hope you will share your feedback.

[Tia Serena]

Silver Sea is putting a lot of money and faith on this new ship, and they seem commited to doing "real" expedition, and at the same time giving passengers on board a luxury treatment.

This seems to be the Holy Grail (or the Eldorado?) of the cruise industry.

 

They will have two trips that will include South Georgia (begining and end of season) and all the other trips will be 12 days (as opposed to 10 days many ships do). This allows for two extra days to explore the peninsula.

 

Their expedition leaders will be (unless there is some last minute change) Brad Rhees (who was on board the Explorer when she sank) for November December 2008; and Rob McCallum (from New Zealand) for January February 2009.

 

TGH

The Bremen is still my favorite ship! Take me on her anytime anywhere!

She still has the best Zodiac Platform from all the expedition ships in the market, and one of the best bosuns and deck fitter!

 

The trip from New Zealand or Australia to the Ross Sea is absolutely wonderful.

Make sure your trip stops at the subantarctic islands (Campbell, Snares, McQuarie, Enderby) and you will see plenty of wildlife - many endemic which is attractive to many birders who run life-lists...

There you can see Yellow-eyed Penguins, Hookers Sea Lions (Enderby), Royal Penguins, King Penguins and Elephant Seals (Mcquarie), Royal Albatross (Campbell).

On the Ross Sea we saw orcas, Chinstrap and Adelie Penguins.

Ocasionally we saw the odd Emperor Penguin on some ice floes.

But the historic huts really moved me, specially Shacketon's hut...

 

Of course there is no guarantee that you will be able to land at all sites and see all that in any single trip, but, they are there!

 

But there is a high price: the see crossing is 5 day long, at least, and the sea can be WORST than the infamous Drake Passage...

 

P.S. I do not recommend the crossing from the Ross Sea to the Peninsula, unless you enjoy knitting, or have a book to write, or some other project you want to take care - there are a lot of days at sea, on seas potentially rough. Also, both programs (Ross Sea and Peninsula) are somewhat shortened so the trip does not become too big (it was four weeks when I did it...)

[Jade13]

tgh, I would love to do an Antarctic trip from your side of the planet & it does deserve some research.

 

On our trip from Ushuaia, I was lamenting that we would not cross the Antarctic Circle (which I wanted to do since we had crossed the Arctic Circle previously) nor see Emperor penguins.

As it turns out, we crossed the Antarctic Circle AND saw Emperor penguins on our trip.

quote]

 

We are going with A&K on the Minerva in 02/09, and I am also lamenting that we will not cross the Antartic Circle nor see Emperor Penguins. How did you go on a ship that was not scheduled to do/see either but you did? Which Ship and length of trip etc? We are skipping the Falklands to spend more time in Antarctica.

[diebroke]

We are going with A&K on the Minerva in 02/09, and I am also lamenting that we will not cross the Antartic Circle nor see Emperor Penguins. How did you go on a ship that was not scheduled to do/see either but you did? Which Ship and length of trip etc? We are skipping the Falklands to spend more time in Antarctica.

 

We were on Lindblad's National Geographic Endeavour for 15 days. We also skipped the Falklands because we didn't have the extra time. (Lindblad's trip that includes the Falklands and South Georgia is 25 days.) We recently saw a video chronicle of the full 25 day trip and the Falklands and South Georgia looked fantastic but we had to make a choice of Antarctica only in 2007 or the full trip several years later. I still keep hoping we will choose to do both. Unfortunately, my wife plans to wait to go again until she can cross the Drake in something other than a ship.

 

Regarding the Antarctic Circle, they do not commit to a specific itinerary but keep their options open depending on weather, conditions, and other spur of the moment opportunities. I think most of their trips later in the season do cross the Antarctic Circle. To do it on our trip in early December, they had to divert out to sea to get South fast enough and weren't sure if the ice was clear enough to return North on the inside passage. (It was.) Everybody was delighted they did it. For me it makes great cocktail party conversation to say that I have been North of the Arctic Circle and South of the Antarctic Circle. I don't how many Antarctic cruises cross the Circle. It may be a function of the ship's speed & ice rating as well as the length of the itinerary, but I am way over my head on that topic.

 

Another last minute adjustment was a stop at Palmer Research Station, one of the three U.S. stations on Antarctica. Visits to Palmer are very strictly controlled with only 12 ships a year given permission to visit and apparently, we got our permission the day before.

 

Regarding the Emperor penguins, they did not expect to see them and normally don't. As we were near the southernmost point of our trip, they made an announcement as dessert was being served at dinner that they had spotted some. The dining room cleared out and the ship came to a full stop. We spent a long time watching a pair of them from the ship. No one knew why they were there. They were spectacular and a highlight of the trip.