Administrators Rare LauraS Posted November 22, 2017 Administrators #1 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Check out this news item from Cruise Critic: Silver Cloud Cancels Maiden Expedition Cruise to Antarctica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted November 24, 2017 #2 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Oh boy. What a one sided article. The weather had nothing to do with the fact that the ship was not seaworthy. There had been assertions that there were several aspects of the ship that were not in working order, from plumbing to electrical in the staterooms. Having a fuel pump fail in the Drake’s Passage could have been a catastrophic event, given the extremely bad weather. A shake out cruise,after a massive refurbishment and conversion, to Antartica was not the best plan ever made. The transatlantic crossing did have some issues that were reported as well. Bad luck is one thing, but poor planning and putting lives at risk is another. It was good luck that it all went south early on in the voyage, I hope that cruisecritic will provide more balanced reporting in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted November 24, 2017 #3 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Oh boy. What a one sided article.The weather had nothing to do with the fact that the ship was not seaworthy. There had been assertions that there were several aspects of the ship that were not in working order, from plumbing to electrical in the staterooms. Having a fuel pump fail in the Drake’s Passage could have been a catastrophic event, given the extremely bad weather. A shake out cruise,after a massive refurbishment and conversion, to Antartica was not the best plan ever made. The transatlantic crossing did have some issues that were reported as well. Bad luck is one thing, but poor planning and putting lives at risk is another. It was good luck that it all went south early on in the voyage, I hope that cruisecritic will provide more balanced reporting in the future. It's very naive to expect balanced reporting when the subject advertises on these boards and is a source of revenue for CC. Bottom line is the Silver Cloud is a 23 year old ship no matter how much renovation they have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted November 24, 2017 #4 Share Posted November 24, 2017 It's very naive to expect balanced reporting when the subject advertises on these boards and is a source of revenue for CC. Bottom line is the Silver Cloud is a 23 year old ship no matter how much renovation they have done. Yikes, so they retrofitted it into a expedition ship to sail in extreme places! I am going on a Trans Atlantic on the new Viking Sea and have some nerviousness about being so far away from land for six days in a row. Are most of the SS ships the same vintage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted November 24, 2017 #5 Share Posted November 24, 2017 The Silver Galapagos was dead in the water for a few hours on our cruise back in January. It’s an old ship, too. I wasn’t worried about seaworthiness on that sailing, as that is a well traveled area. For our Antarctic trip, after a bunch of research, I booked the Hapag-Lloyd Hanseatic. It’s an older ship, but has done this sailing close to 200 times. It has the highest rating for ice. The captain also has many voyages to his credit in this region. I also have a bias towards German engineering and safety. I have seen enough crazy YouTube videos of the Drake’s passage to have a healthy concern. I just needed to balance that against being on a bilingual cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted November 24, 2017 #6 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Oh, I think Viking is a very reputable line. I did a river cruise with them and was very impressed with their operation. I wouldn’t have any concerns. Even though you are at sea for six days, you are not far out at sea the entire time. I was recovering from a broken hip on my back to back transatlantic sailings. and did some research at the time in terms of medical emergencies. I had broken my hip in rural Bhutan, so having an emergency far from help was at the top of my mind, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted November 24, 2017 #7 Share Posted November 24, 2017 Siversea owned the problem -- I find no fault in what they did and believe the article. Most cruise have had mechanical issues -- not something new. I remember vividly when Regent's Voyager had to cancel a world cruise (pod issue) and Crystal also had a pod issue. I applaud Silversea for refunding the cruise, getting passengers back home as well as giving a 25% future cruise credit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted November 24, 2017 #8 Share Posted November 24, 2017 The Silver Galapagos was dead in the water for a few hours on our cruise back in January. It’s an old ship, too.I wasn’t worried about seaworthiness on that sailing, as that is a well traveled area. For our Antarctic trip, after a bunch of research, I booked the Hapag-Lloyd Hanseatic. It’s an older ship, but has done this sailing close to 200 times. It has the highest rating for ice. The captain also has many voyages to his credit in this region. I also have a bias towards German engineering and safety. I have seen enough crazy YouTube videos of the Drake’s passage to have a healthy concern. I just needed to balance that against being on a bilingual cruise. Thank you so much for your encouragment based on your research and experience. I know I will enjoy my sea days on the cruise line I have been smitten with since they first launched the Viking Star. I too agree that Germans make very good machines and their engineering is top notch. Enjoy your next cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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