Up next in 10
I Put Silversea's Costly Expedition Cruising To The Test. WORTH IT?
525 views
Jan 28, 2025
Knowing that the expedition cruise I wanted to do would cost me the same as buying a new luxury car, I needed to make sure that the line I went with would deliver something special and make every dollar worth it. After much deliberating, I decided to entrust Silversea with this huge sum of money as I've been on shorter expedition cruises with them before, thought they did a good job, though I was apprehensive as the cost of getting it wrong was so enormous. On this trip, I discovered just what Silversea Expedition are doing well, and not so that well these days, as you will hear. For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers * Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
knowing that the Expedition cruise I
0:01
wanted to do would cost me the same as
0:03
buying a new luxury car I needed to make
0:06
sure that the line I went with would
0:08
deliver something special and make every
0:10
dollar worth it after much deliberating
0:13
I decided to entrust silvery with this
0:15
huge sum of money as I've been on
0:17
shorter Expedition cruises with them
0:18
before thought they did a good job
0:20
though I was really apprehensive as the
0:22
cost of getting this wrong was so
0:25
enormous on this trip I discovered just
0:28
what silver sea Expedition are doing
0:30
well and not so well these days as
0:33
you'll hear I'm Gary BD and I booked
0:35
myself on an epic and costly 18 night
0:38
Forkland South Georgia and at Arctic
0:40
Peninsula Expedition cruise on Silver
0:42
Endeavor the breakdown of the costs of
0:44
which I will get into later but first
0:46
let me explain what silver sea
0:48
Expedition actually is silver sea is an
0:51
ultral luxury Cruise Line owned by the
0:53
Royal Caribbean group they have a
0:55
classic Fleet doing regular port-based
0:57
cruising in places like the Caribbean
0:59
the Mediterranean Alaska and so on they
1:03
also have though an expedition Fleet
1:05
with at the time of recording three
1:07
ships focused on the polar regions
1:09
silver Endeavor Silver Cloud and silver
1:11
wind and one ship in the galapagus:
1:30
and Antarctica specifically which shows
1:32
in the first set of things that they do
1:35
really well for example the range of
1:37
itinerary options catering to different
1:39
groups in anarctica they have the
1:41
ultimate intensive itinery that I did
1:43
forland South Georgia and anarctica for
1:46
people like me wanting a deep dive but
1:49
they also do shorter 10 night Peninsula
1:52
only cruises for those wanting to just
1:54
visit the icy 7th continent and even
1:56
shorter airbridge trips where they fly
1:59
guest onto King George Island within
2:01
Antarctica avoiding having to travel the
2:03
unpredictable Drake Passage their long
2:06
experience means they do something I
2:08
feel is better than other Expedition
2:10
lines I've been on in the last few years
2:13
which is the Expedition team there are a
2:15
key reason I chose to come back to
2:17
Silver SE for this really costly trip on
2:20
my trip the Expedition leader was MAA
2:22
Igan who has long experience with silver
2:25
SE and in Antarctica it was clear that
2:27
Captain had huge faith in her Jud mement
2:30
and they worked well together there was
2:32
a 22 person Expedition team plus three
2:35
supports including ornithologists marine
2:38
biologists geologists historians nature
2:40
guides and a three-person kayak team the
2:44
team included two Mandarin interpreter
2:46
guides and a Chinese speaking guest
2:48
lecture to cater to 19 Chinese Travelers
2:51
on our cruise I like that they built in
2:54
resources to Kate of this one
2:56
disappointing Omission though was no
2:57
photographer or videographer who used to
3:00
provide quality photos and a video of
3:02
each silver sea Expedition trip on
3:05
inquiring it seems it was cut just
3:07
before my trip across the fleet
3:09
hopefully they will rethink as it's a
3:11
big Miss more on that later as an aside
3:15
there were 183 guests on the trip and 42
3:18
nationalities only a third were from the
3:20
United States so it was a very diverse
3:22
and mixed crowd of people age range was
3:24
broad but I'd say average age was at
3:26
least mid 60s the Expedition team seemed
3:29
lacking depth at first and I was a bit
3:30
worried on the first day but they
3:32
dramatically improved as they got into
3:35
their stride we had great Recaps each
3:38
day with videos photographs and insights
3:40
of the things that we'd seen the daily
3:42
briefing by MAA was in depth and clear
3:45
and then Richmond talks were with maybe
3:47
two exceptions very strong there were at
3:50
least three talks a day on Cay and I
3:52
counted up about 20 across the whole
3:54
Cruise the Expedition team would be out
3:56
on deck on Cay helping spot birds and
3:59
whales and available in the study to
4:01
chat I also thought Silver sea handled
4:04
the weather and Ice Challenges
4:05
incredibly well from their knowledge of
4:07
the region built up over the years which
4:09
can make or break an expedition Cruise
4:12
how a line handles this I know no
4:14
Expedition trip ever goes to plan
4:17
especially in Antarctica due to constant
4:19
changing weather storms wind and Ice
4:22
which means every day must have multiple
4:24
plans and options I felt they handled
4:26
this all incredibly well and again
4:29
better than other Expedition lines I've
4:30
been on recently when Nature got in the
4:33
way and things could not go to plan I
4:35
felt MAA and the captain always managed
4:37
to pull something out of the hat so
4:40
every day we experienced something that
4:43
felt significant even if it was not what
4:45
we were due to see or do important again
4:48
considering the money that we had all
4:50
spent to be there for example we were
4:53
chased by storm from the Forkland to
4:54
South Georgia and when we got there the
4:56
wind and the swell was ferocious making
4:59
land
5:00
impossible they took the ship to shelter
5:02
in a bay and when the weather cleared
5:04
the next day I discovered that they
5:06
placed Us in an unplanned Landing
5:08
location possession Bay which was
5:11
teaming with Wildlife had a glacier
5:13
field landscape it actually was one of
5:15
the most memorable Landings that I had
5:17
on the entire trip they shuffled days
5:20
around in south Georgia to make sure
5:22
when the weather actually calmed we got
5:24
to land in the iconic and bucket list
5:26
ssy plane and then based on seawell
5:29
prediction they tweak the root sailing
5:31
to the Antarctic Peninsula to be able to
5:33
land at Bailey head on Deception Island
5:35
which has over 100,000 chinstrap penguin
5:38
colony and is hardly ever called on due
5:40
to the swell of the ocean so every day
5:44
they would always find a way of us
5:45
having a magical experience even though
5:48
it was way off plan I also found that
5:51
they were better than other lines i' be
5:53
on explaining what was happening and why
5:56
it was happening and taking all of us
5:58
with him for example when they decided
6:00
we needed to leave a day early to go
6:02
across Drake Passage instead of just
6:04
announcing it they called everyone
6:06
together at lunchtime between some
6:08
Landings we had where MAA and the
6:10
captain explained in detail using
6:13
weather charts along with the plan of
6:14
activities for the unexpected day in
6:17
Port of Williams the next thing they do
6:19
well is having the silver Endeavor ship
6:22
as an option these days unlike some of
6:25
their competition like Seaborn and
6:26
Viking with consistent ships a silver
6:29
sea down side is they have three very
6:31
different ships of varying ages and
6:33
different experiences with a 220
6:35
passenger silver Endeavor being a real
6:38
plus and a big standout it was built for
6:41
Polar Expedition cruising by Crystal
6:43
Cruisers and it came into service in
6:46
2021 silvery bought it in 2022 when
6:49
Crystal went bankrupt they made some
6:51
changes like removing the helicopter
6:53
submersible and the casino but left the
6:55
decor pretty much as it was now I've
6:58
been on Silver Cloud which is a more
7:00
dated ship and I found in silver
7:02
Endeavor way way better let me give you
7:05
a quick tour of the ship to show you why
7:08
on Deck 10 is the Sund deck which has a
7:10
walking and running track and some of
7:12
the zdcs and kayaks are actually stored
7:14
here on Deck N9 is the observation
7:17
lounge with a bar overlooking the bar of
7:19
the ship it was really great when Scenic
7:21
sailing they also run the activities
7:23
like tuvia evening entertainment in here
7:25
as well there's a well stock Library
7:28
also on this deck and opposite that is
7:30
the study where the Expedition team are
7:33
based during the day where you can catch
7:34
up with them the next public spaces are
7:37
actually down on Deck five where they
7:39
have a silver sea standard the Arts Cafe
7:41
which is a great venue open from 6:30
7:43
a.m. until 6:00 p.m. serving coffees
7:46
drinks and snacks relevant to the time
7:48
of the day also in here is reception and
7:51
the future Cruise sales desk now further
7:54
down deck five is the spa the beauty
7:57
salon and a decent siiz Fitness Center
7:59
there's also a small boutique selling
8:01
merchandise jewelry and souvenirs on
8:04
Deck 5 then at the rear with Scenic
8:06
views is the pool Grill the informal
8:08
dining area for me this is the only
8:10
venue that doesn't really work there's a
8:12
pool which can be covered over which it
8:14
was for our cruise with one brief
8:16
exception I guess to show us it but the
8:18
venue kind of lacks style and overall
8:21
atmosphere I felt the grill serves
8:23
buffet breakfast buffet lunch and in
8:25
evening becomes a reservation required
8:27
Steakhouse venue more on that and the
8:30
food a bit later then down on Deck four
8:33
are some really important venues
8:34
including the Explorer Lounge where all
8:36
the briefings the Recaps and the talks
8:39
are held also things like the Captain's
8:41
welcome and farewell were held here
8:43
there are three dining venues on this
8:44
deck the restaurant which is the main
8:46
dining room open for breakfast lunch and
8:48
dinner and just before it bizly in the
8:50
corridor is El terzino the reservation
8:53
required Italian restaurant tucked away
8:56
next to a table tennis room also stick
8:58
is LAM they premium added charge French
9:01
restaurant also on Deck four is The
9:03
Connoisseur Corner the cigar and smoking
9:06
room then right down on Deck three is
9:08
the mud room which is where you store
9:10
your boots and board and leave the
9:11
zodiacs that are you use for all aor
9:14
ship activities the free guest laundry
9:16
room is also here too the ship has six
9:19
different Suite grades but 80% of the
9:21
cabins are Veranda Suites like the one I
9:23
stated in the price based on the
9:25
location now I booked 717 which was
9:26
called a premium Veranda Suite which was
9:28
midship the reason being it's a really
9:30
good location for the rough seas that
9:32
you have on the stiny now while it's
9:34
called a suite it's just a good siiz
9:35
cabin I like the modern Decor the
9:37
comfortable bed the seating area the
9:39
desk and the bathroom which had a
9:41
separate toilet it has an included mini
9:44
bar it has a coffee machine there were
9:47
though a few odd issues with the suite
9:49
like that it needs elastic bands on the
9:51
shower door to stop it slamming and
9:53
crashing around in rough seas and the
9:56
sliding doors between the toilet and the
9:57
bathroom and the walk-in closet were
9:59
rammed permanently open with wedges to
10:02
stop them moving slamming and rattling
10:04
around in the weather so a couple of
10:06
things that need addressing one thing
10:07
that I wasn't a fan of at all was for
10:10
every two cabins there was a shared door
10:12
onto the corridor so instead of having
10:14
interconnecting cabins you could
10:16
actually make that the main door to two
10:18
cabins now as the two cabin doors then
10:20
face each other if you have as I did
10:23
people in the cabin next door that love
10:25
slamming doors you have two sets of loud
10:27
slamming doors every time day or in fact
10:30
the crew come and go I actually found
10:31
that really annoying another thing I
10:33
rated highly was the food now I've had
10:36
hit this food on most Expedition cruises
10:38
I've been on recently but I thought this
10:40
was very good and they match their
10:42
classic line offering the main dining
10:45
room the restaurant as I mentioned was
10:46
open for breakfast lunch and dinner I
10:48
personally ate many breakfasts and
10:49
dinners in there and while the menus are
10:51
not particularly expensive they had a
10:53
really good choice and with very few
10:55
exceptions really well prepared food I
10:58
also found the food in the two special
11:00
restaurants the Italian ill terzino and
11:04
the steakhouse the grill good as well
11:06
now the ill tarino menu changed every
11:09
couple of days and I actually ate there
11:11
twice the grill evening menu though
11:13
never changed but I did eat there twice
11:15
too the grill is also a buffet for
11:17
breakfast and lunch it's not a huge
11:19
Buffet but it's pretty good quality has
11:22
items to order at lunch time they had a
11:23
chef station offering special dish of
11:25
the day like fried walket Indian and so
11:27
on they actually had great sushi every
11:29
lunchtime which I really liked too now I
11:32
did not try the at of charge restaurant
11:34
Lam because I felt there was no need to
11:36
pay to dine on top of that huge fair
11:39
that I'd already paid I found the
11:40
service was another plus the crew all
11:42
seemed to know everyone's name
11:44
preferences were really friendly and
11:45
chatty I really thought the crew were
11:47
fantastic on all silver seed ships no
11:49
matter what cabin you have a butler who
11:51
do things like sort of the room service
11:53
the mini bar and so on and then a cabin
11:55
stward who keeps the cabin clean and
11:56
tidy again both of those were really
11:59
really great next I thought overall they
12:01
did pretty well with Fair inclusions
12:03
that there are some issues that I will
12:05
come to now this expensive Fair did
12:08
cover most things that I needed on the
12:10
cruise so it included the food and room
12:13
service other than ladan that I've
12:14
mentioned drinks including the mini bar
12:16
were included although some premium
12:18
wines that if you really a wine buff
12:21
were extra gratuities included
12:23
enrichment talks entertainment like
12:25
trivia quizzes music by the guitarist
12:27
and pianist and of course all of
12:29
experiences like zodiac rides landing
12:31
and kaying were all included we also got
12:33
a really nice Expedition Parker a water
12:36
bottle and a great waterproof bag ruck
12:39
sack now on my trip unlike the Antarctic
12:42
Bridge voyages the fair did not include
12:44
the required waterproof trousers and the
12:46
boots I brought my own waterproof
12:48
trousers but it cost $98 plus $100
12:51
deposit to hire the boots this seems
12:52
crazy to have to hire boots when you're
12:54
spending the price of a brand new luxury
12:56
car to go on a cruise especially when
12:58
they have them on the ship anyway many
13:00
other Expedition lines do not charge for
13:03
them they did by the way include Wi-Fi
13:05
but it was very limited despite being
13:07
starlink recently they restricted it
13:09
even more to exclude streaming social
13:12
media posting and audio or video calling
13:14
now I upgraded to the premium Wi-Fi it
13:16
cost me $730 for two devices considering
13:19
the fair again I feel that should be
13:22
included the premium Wi-Fi using
13:24
starlink in an article was fantastic and
13:26
I only had one or two occasions for an
13:28
hour or two where it didn't work too
13:30
well it was really impressive if all of
13:32
those things are things that silver sea
13:34
Expeditions get right these days what do
13:36
I think they're not doing so well at
13:39
I've already mentioned this but I think
13:40
it's worth mentioning again and it's the
13:42
inconsistent Fleet some of their classic
13:45
Cruise Line competitors that have gone
13:47
into Expedition cruising like Seaborn
13:50
and Viking they have consistent Fleet so
13:52
you know the facilities the cabins and
13:55
the experience will be the same on all
13:57
itineries but not on Silver
13:59
now having been on Silver Cloud which I
14:01
liked but it's pretty dated silver
14:03
Endeavor has much better facilities and
14:05
cabins and personally I would now only
14:08
choose silver Endeavor unless the other
14:10
ships really had an artillery that I
14:12
absolutely wanted to do it is very
14:15
costly going on this being an ultr
14:17
Luxury Line that the prices when I
14:19
looked up broadly in line with their
14:20
closest kind of Ultra Luxury competitors
14:23
silvery at the time recording offer
14:25
three Fair types door too port toport
14:28
and essential the doorto door is
14:30
basically where they include transfers
14:32
from home to the airport flights pre-
14:35
hotels the cruise excursions in a
14:37
required Post Hotel flights home and
14:40
even a transfer back to your door
14:42
portter Port is Cruise only where
14:45
excursions are included and essential
14:47
which are basically more last minute
14:48
fairs uh and are
14:50
non-refundable and they don't normally
14:52
include excursions but for an expedition
14:54
Cruise like mine as a trip started and
14:57
then in Santiago while the cruise Bo
14:59
left from pter Williams all fairs no
15:01
matter which one you had included one
15:02
night prestay hotel and the chter
15:04
flights to and from the ship and it did
15:07
of course include all the off ship rides
15:09
and landings because of was Expedition
15:11
but let me talk about my specific costs
15:14
I booked door-to-door fair and if I look
15:16
at the cost with economy flights the
15:17
trip cost £44,000 or £335,000 that's
15:23
$2,400 or £1,900 a day which would cover
15:26
two people but because I could get a
15:29
solo deal it cost me that much just for
15:31
one person so catering for solos is
15:33
something they do less well they do have
15:35
limited solo deals with just a 25% sech
15:38
charge I searched at the time of making
15:40
this particular video to see how many
15:42
there were and there was only one
15:44
Antarctica Cruise listed with a solar
15:46
deal within the next two years so not
15:48
great another thing they do less well is
15:50
those bizarre cuts and changes I've
15:52
mentioned that I do want to talk about
15:54
again dropping the photographer and
15:56
videographer with that sort of fair is a
15:58
poor decision my view as most people
16:00
would just using their iPhone and you
16:02
don't get great shots at Antarctica
16:04
especially of the wildlife that way
16:05
without a quality zoom camera I strongly
16:08
believe sending people home with a video
16:10
and great photos to share with family
16:12
and friends should as many Expedition
16:14
lines do be included in the fair and
16:17
it's really I think a simple marketing
16:19
tool that could entice those friends and
16:21
family to book the trip when they look
16:22
at these quality photos I think the same
16:25
with cutting what is possible to do on
16:27
the included Wi-Fi I was posting a lot
16:29
on social media and I lost count of how
16:32
many people were responding saying they
16:34
were adding this trip to their bucket
16:36
list or even some people said they were
16:38
now starting booking even friends of
16:40
mine who really have no interest in
16:42
cruising with me before they never
16:44
interest in the area they have now asked
16:46
if I will consider going back because
16:48
they want to book on the trip and go
16:50
with me imagine if up to 200 people were
16:52
posting on every trip if Wi-Fi allowed
16:55
them to do I think this could be a huge
16:57
opportunity was silvery worth it with
17:00
all of these pros and cons it was
17:02
absolutely one of the most magical and
17:04
memorable experiences of my life and
17:07
cruising career of my three trips to
17:09
Antarctica it was by far the best by a
17:12
long way and it was a great choice
17:15
despite the huge cost I would find it
17:17
difficult based on this to consider a
17:19
different Expedition line again to
17:21
Silver sea based on my experiences
17:24
wherever I go to Silver sea will be top
17:26
of the list if you want to know why by
17:29
seeing what I experienced off the ship
17:30
join me over in a vlog where I will take
17:33
you place by place to see the incredible
17:35
wildlife and scenery you should not miss
17:38
this one see you over there
#Adventure Travel
#Cruises & Charters
#Guided Tours & Escorted Vacations
#Luxury Travel
#Specialty Travel