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Discover the most important watch-outs and things you need to know about Silversea Expeditions before you cruise on an expedition cruise with them. Expedition cruises are costly and you need to make sure, before spending a lot of money on one, if Silversea Cruises is right for your expedition cruising vacation. Be it the Arctic, Antartica, Galapagos or some other part of the world. In this I explore things like who and what Silversea Expeditions is, what they do better, the same or worse than other expedition cruise lines and who Silversea Expedition cruises are most suited for (and who not).
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0:00
you're about to discover the most
0:01
important watch outs and things you need
0:03
to know if you're interested in or
0:05
considering cruising with silver sea
0:08
expedition cruises hi I'm Gary
0:10
Bainbridge and this is another of my
0:12
tips for travelers I'm going to explore
0:13
server sea expedition cruises first of
0:17
all who or what exactly is silver sea
0:19
expedition cruisers well service II has
0:21
two parts to have the classic cruising
0:24
fleet and they have the expedition fleet
0:25
service itself is part of the Royal
0:28
Caribbean group so a Caribbean group has
0:31
Royal Caribbean line which is their sort
0:33
of more mass-market line they have
0:35
celebrity which is their premium line
0:36
they have Azamara which is a small ship
0:39
destination line and they have silver
0:42
sea which is their luxury and expedition
0:44
cruise line within the overall group
0:46
they have a classic fleet which has
0:49
ships up to around about 600 guests and
0:51
then they have the expedition fleet
0:53
which is constantly growing and
0:55
expanding so they have such ships as the
0:58
Silver Cloud which I'm on now they have
1:00
the Zulu Explorer which I've been on
1:02
they also have the silver Galapagus and
1:04
they'll soon add to that to the silver
1:06
origin Galapagus they have silver
1:09
Discoverer and they're constantly
1:10
converting and bringing other ships onto
1:13
their expedition fleet because it's
1:15
constantly growing in terms of where
1:17
they cover in terms of expeditions they
1:19
cover the Galapagos obviously they cover
1:21
Antarctica they cover the Arctic in
1:24
between those periods they cover other
1:25
parts of the world so they'll cover
1:26
Africa they'll do Russia Australia New
1:29
Zealand the South Pacific South America
1:31
the next key wat charts are around what
1:34
they do better than other expedition
1:37
brands and what they do the same or
1:39
worse another expedition brand so let's
1:40
start by taking a look and what I think
1:42
they do really well or do better first
1:45
of all what they do phenomenally well is
1:47
luxury expedition cruising so they have
1:50
very luxurious ships which really are
1:52
five-star premium ships with very plush
1:56
interiors but the service in every
1:59
single suite they have lots of attention
2:01
to detail incredible food very high
2:04
level of service incredibly high
2:05
passenger to crew ratio and all the
2:08
trimmings you'd expect of a luxury brand
2:10
with its
2:11
paying caviar so basically taking their
2:14
classic luxury service and features and
2:17
put that into their expedition ships and
2:19
product they also offer our surprisingly
2:22
large amount of choice onboard the
2:24
expedition ships so for example on the
2:26
Silver Cloud there are four dining
2:29
options you have the main restaurant
2:30
you've got letter X R which is a buffet
2:32
for breakfast and lunch and then turns
2:34
into an Italian restaurant you have La
2:36
Dom which is very premium epicurean
2:39
dining experience and then you have the
2:41
grill which is an outdoor area which for
2:44
lunch time will serve things like
2:45
burgers and hot dogs and at night has
2:47
the silver sea signature hot rocks they
2:50
also have a wide range of bars have
2:52
example again on the Silver Cloud you've
2:54
got the grill bar outside dolce vita
2:57
you have the panorama lounge then again
3:00
you have facilities like a fitness
3:02
center a spa a guest laundry a library
3:06
and Observation Lounge so again lots of
3:09
facilities and lots of choice surprising
3:11
large amount for a relatively small ship
3:13
one of the things they do phenomenally
3:14
well and they put a huge amount of
3:16
resource against is the expedition team
3:19
expedition cruises will have some kind
3:21
of expedition team also let's see it's a
3:23
very big team but give an example on
3:26
Silver Cloud there were 28 people in the
3:29
expedition team so you have the
3:30
expedition leader they have a wide range
3:32
of experts some historians botanists
3:35
some experts and wildlife birds so a
3:37
huge range of expertise and they will
3:40
run briefings before you do landings
3:43
they'll do recaps where they'll talk
3:44
about what you've seen and they'll do
3:46
various lectures across the course of
3:48
the expedition one of them will then
3:51
drive the zodiac everyday so as you move
3:53
around the different zodiacs you have
3:54
different experts with you all the time
3:56
so the expedition team I would say is
3:58
definitely top large a fantastic
4:01
innovation on silver sea expedition is
4:04
the photo studio they have a
4:06
photographer and it's okay it's a
4:08
photographer and a videographer so the
4:10
videographer goes out on all the
4:11
expeditions captures unique footage on
4:14
what you've seen and creates a video at
4:16
the end which you can then buy what the
4:18
photographer does is help people improve
4:20
their photographic skills so in the
4:22
photo studio there's a huge amount
4:25
of computers so both for Mac and PC
4:27
users on there are loaded programs like
4:30
Lightroom Photoshop so when you've been
4:32
out an excursion you can go in there you
4:33
can use the facilities to edit crop
4:36
improve your photos for a fee you can
4:39
then print those out you say the
4:40
equipment is totally within your fare
4:42
then what the photographer does is they
4:45
will also run a series of courses so
4:47
cover them are complementary courses
4:48
they then will run a series of paid for
4:50
courses on everything from how does
4:52
shoot or manual how to use things like
4:54
Lightroom to chat about photographs you
4:56
could get tips advice and I think that's
4:58
a huge huge big plus and definitely
5:00
something that they do phenomenally well
5:03
so do silver sea expeditions do kind of
5:06
the same as other expedition brands and
5:09
one of the things that is pretty much
5:11
the same is the fares are largely or
5:13
inclusive even on a more basic lie the
5:15
phase because the nature of expeditions
5:17
tend to be relatively all-inclusive so
5:19
then your silver sea expedition fare
5:20
obviously on the edge accommodation
5:22
you're going to get all of your food and
5:23
you're going to get your gratuities and
5:25
some limited Wi-Fi but what's very
5:27
important is all your excursions of
5:29
course are included so all your zodiac
5:30
trips or your landings now that's really
5:33
consistent across expedition brands no
5:35
matter what level they are they do you
5:37
have kayaks onboard which are included
5:40
so you don't pay to use the kayak some
5:42
other expedition brands do have kayaks
5:44
but there's fees associated with that
5:46
the things that are not included on
5:48
silver sea expeditions are if you want
5:50
to go and have some spa treatments if
5:52
you're eating the Dom which is their
5:54
very premium offering if you use laundry
5:57
and so included within your fare is
5:59
included in some fares and of course if
6:01
you do things like buy things in the
6:03
boutique basic Wi-Fi is included it's
6:06
not very high allowed so if you want
6:07
something faster you want to be
6:09
connected all the time there is a fee to
6:10
get a better internet package the other
6:13
thing that they do is they do require
6:15
you to bring your own gear there is some
6:17
limited stuff on board in terms of boots
6:19
but you do have to buy or rent your own
6:21
gear and of course on expeditions
6:24
particularly Arctic and Antarctica
6:25
there's a lot of gear that you need to
6:27
bring now what service II do like many
6:29
of the more premium expedition lines
6:32
they have relationships with different
6:34
providers so in a silver seas case it's
6:37
with a company called ship
6:38
to shore traveler and they have a very
6:41
specific silver c-section with them that
6:43
we can go in and you can order your gear
6:44
and then that actually gets delivered to
6:47
the ship now you can either rent it or
6:49
buy it the other thing that silver sea
6:51
do which is again pretty consistent
6:53
across expedition brands if they give
6:55
you a Parker and expedition cruise lines
6:57
normally give this to their passengers
6:59
because it helps you stand out when
7:01
you're on land they also give you a
7:03
reusable water bottle and they give you
7:05
a backpack as well one thing that is
7:08
very similar is the format so the format
7:11
of expedition cruising is fairly
7:12
consistent and what that tends to be is
7:14
there is three basic things that happen
7:17
so one there'll be some cruising around
7:19
in the ship where you'll go through
7:21
different sites or you might be wildlife
7:23
spotting the second thing is zodiac
7:25
tours
7:26
again looking at scenery or up close to
7:28
clay Sears or you'll go and check out
7:30
wildlife and the third is landings where
7:33
you go on this early acts your land in
7:35
certain areas and you know then go on
7:36
hikes to look at wildlife or scenery or
7:39
some historic aspects so the format of
7:42
expedition cruising is very similar no
7:44
matter who you go with
7:45
you have briefing sessions you have
7:47
zodiac tours or landings and then you
7:49
have recap briefings off of it so the
7:51
format and structure is pretty similar
7:53
so who in my view is silver sea
7:56
expeditions best suited for well first
7:58
of all you need to be relatively
7:59
affluent because it is a premium luxury
8:01
experience so the fares are on the
8:04
higher side versus more basic expedition
8:06
cruise lines you'll find most of the
8:08
passengers tend to be in their 50s 60s
8:11
and 70s many of them are retired or
8:14
professional people people will
8:16
generally be quite active and fit you
8:19
have to be quite fit to go on many of
8:21
the expedition cruises so for example
8:22
both in the Arctic and Antarctica you
8:25
have to be getting on and off of zodiacs
8:27
you're going to be going on hikes up
8:28
some very big hills and mountains you're
8:31
gonna be going with rough terrain so you
8:32
do need to be pretty fit and active
8:34
there is some capacity for people with
8:37
mobility issues that there are some
8:39
accessible cabins but very important if
8:41
you do have accessibility issues have a
8:44
discussion with silver sea now of course
8:46
you'll find in some of the areas
8:48
particularly Antarctica you will find a
8:51
much bigger spread
8:52
because there are younger people who can
8:55
have the money or resources or just
8:57
really want to do it and will go so for
8:59
example we had some people in their late
9:01
20s who are on their honeymoon because
9:03
this is the one thing they wanted to do
9:05
the expeditions are managed and run in
9:07
English however on the various
9:09
expeditions have been on they have been
9:11
language groupings they normally come as
9:13
a group so there was for example on the
9:16
cruise I've just done there was quite a
9:17
big Russian group and they'd bought a
9:18
Russian translator long if you want to
9:21
come and do it another language you need
9:23
to come as part of a group the groups
9:25
are organizing the translations rather
9:26
than the silver sea itself if you're a
9:29
solo traveler the good news is that
9:31
silver sea do various promotions on
9:33
certain expeditions across the year so
9:35
if you take a look at their website
9:36
under office section there's an audio
9:38
section for single solo travelers
9:40
sometimes there will be no surcharge
9:43
there may be a 15 percent charge or 25
9:46
percent surcharge and you'll find quite
9:48
a lot of solo travelers then on those
9:50
cruises so I was on this particular
9:52
cruise as a solo traveler but certainly
9:53
as a solo traveler it was very sociable
9:55
and very easy to mix with people and it
9:57
was great that they do have those deals
9:59
for solo travelers so sea expeditions is
10:02
a great product it's a premium product
10:03
is a pretty expensive product but
10:05
there's a lot put intuitive a huge big
10:07
expedition team you travel with luxury
10:09
with Butler's and all the bells and
10:11
whistles you'd expect from a premium
10:13
luxury experience there's a number of
10:16
things that they do really well which is
10:17
that premium experience I think the
10:18
expedition team is phenomenal that whole
10:20
photo shop is great and then the other
10:22
things they do are fairly similar to the
10:24
format structure is fairly similar and
10:26
lovely to watch many more of my tips of
10:28
travellers videos they're designed to
10:30
help you make much more of your very
10:31
precious travel time and money with you
10:33
on land at sea or on the rivers of the
10:35
world
10:36
[Music]
10:39
you
10:40
[Applause]
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