Silver Cloud Maiden Voyage Canceled Due to Mechanical Problems

If you didn't see this on the dining thread, here's the latest on Silver Cloud's short-lived maiden voyage: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8230

Such a great shame. But at least SS have looked after and reimbursed properly those onboard. Fair play. Hope the repairs are completed and no further glitches.

Thanks for the update.

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If you didn't see this on the dining thread, here's the latest on Silver Cloud's short-lived maiden voyage: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8230

So sorry to hear this news but glad to see Silversea is taking care of the passengers and doing the best they can with this unfortunate situation. Hoping all the kinks get worked out before we sail on the Cloud in February.

How ‘bout that! Guess I wasn’t wrong after all when I first reported on the technical issue over a week ago now and Erica from Cruise Critic and Mr. Combrink from SS tried to downplay my report, blaming the weather instead. Now we know that the ship has quite the technical issue indeed.

The Cloud has encountered some sort of technical issue as she steams for Buenos Aires to begin her first voyage as an Expedition ship. She is stuck in Montevideo awaiting repairs. No idea what the cause of the problem at this point.

According to Silversea's PR:

 

No technical issues. The ship hit a bad storm crossing the Atlantic and arrived into Montevideo late. All is good and on schedule.

Silver Cloud has experienced some delays due to weather and we are currently on our way to Puerto Madryn.

 

Kind regards,

Conrad Combrink

SVP, Strategic Development, Expeditions and Experiences

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Thanks Brian for giving us an early heads up and thanks to Erica for linking the

cruise critic news story on the Cloud expedition's maiden voyage canx.

The Telegraph has more Cloud expedition cancellation details in this story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/inaugural-silver-cloud-antarctica-cruise-cancelled/

Thx for the UK article Wes. What a mess.

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It doesn't surprise me: we did our first cruise on the Cloud some five years ago and were very disappointed at the condition of the ship, the lack of maintenance, the attitude of the maintenance people and the way the crew seemed almost scared - probably apprehensive is a better word.

Example: on boarding the towel rail was hanging down with one end unfixed. Example: on boarding the safe did not work - during several attempts to fix it we it was intimated that we were incompetent at operating a safe (!). After several days a worker brought a new one and said confidentially that the old ones all had issues. Example: the shower had virtually no drainage and you stood in several inches of water - we were told that so long as it didn't overflow the tray that was OK. No need to go on

After several more Silversea cruises we were aware that this is common to all the ships and we haven't been back.

Thank you Cruise Critic and to Wes for the details on this.

Keith

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2017/11/articles/power-loss-1/engine-failure-ends-silver-clouds-cruise-to-antarctica/index.html

Oh no, how disappointing. Hopefully things get corrected soon.

We are not sailing the 15 day to Antarctica until December 2018.

It seems that SS has finally learnt from the disastrous Cloud voyages in late 2011 and done the right thing for their disappointed guests this time. Or maybe they are aware it's a high publicity maiden voyage and they really cannot afford yet more bad press.

On a different note it's sad that the management sanctioned the ship arriving for its maiden voyage in an unfinished state.

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On a different note it's sad that the management sanctioned the ship arriving for its maiden voyage in an unfinished state.

Concur Mr. Silver, unfortunate decision to proceed with Cloud's maiden knowing there were unresolved technical issues (per Telegraph article linked above; faulty electrical/plumbing issues in suites, late opening of photo studio, TOR's observation lounge, and Steam room). Perhaps, this Cloud Expedition cruiser said it best, "I’m very positive about the way it’s been dealt with, but I do think that the ship wasn’t ready, and shouldn’t have sailed when it did.”

First impressions matter, alas, the Cloud Expedition's first impression is not a good one.

Stumblefoot/Brian, thanks for the added fidelity, having the owner present in Buenos Aires during the shakedown and maiden may have added pressure to continue with the maiden voyage despite known issues.

Tho, we canceled 31 days on the Cloud Expedition (Feb/Mar 2018) last month, we are now considering booking (thanks jpalbny) the circumnavigation of Iceland in August 2019. Hopefully, plenty of time to repair/fix Cloud Expedition maiden voyage issues.

They might think about removing the gushing press release for the maiden voyage off the website.

If there's one thing I've learned from over 17 years of being reading CruiseCritic, it's never book a cruise immediately preceding or immediately after a 'drydock'.

If there's one thing I've learned from over 17 years of being reading CruiseCritic, it's never book a cruise immediately preceding or immediately after a 'drydock'.

Couldn't agree more.

Couldn't agree more.

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That’s why I chose not to sail on Silversea for my Antartica trip this winter,

The Drakes Passage and Antartica are not the places to do a shakeout cruise. I think that this was a poor plan from the start,

My wife and I on this cruise and just arrived back in the USA.

I was apprehensive booking the inaugural cruise post refit but the price was right and it fit our calendar. I tracked the ship from dry dock onward online and was happy to see it arrive in Buenos Aires on time. We stayed in port in BA the first night because of weather and Manfredi Lefebvre ,the owner, and Conrad Combrink, director of Expedtion cruising, both spoke at the welcome evening greeting. ( Conrad was on board, fortunately, for the voyage.)They reported about $50 million was spent in the renovation, including a major rebuild of the engines and other mechanical items. The weather to Puerto Madryn, our first stop, was sloppy and there were a series of storms lined up for the next seven days. ( These same storms hindered the search for the missing Argentine sub.)

The facts reported in the Guardian newspaper http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/inaugural-silver-cloud-antarctica-cruise-cancelled/ are accurate. We waited two extra days in Puerto Madryn because of weather and then set sail only to lose propulsion about two hours later and return after a " temporary fix". The captain later told me the main and only fuel pump, which services both engines and the two generators, had failed. We both agreed one fuel pump was a basic design flaw . The Guardian article describes what happened next leading to the cancellation.

Silversea did their absolute best to apologize, give a 100% refund of cruise and airfare both ways, buy passengers air tickets home, book 5 star hotels and give per diem allowances of $100 daily for food. and a 25% future cruise credit . We all were terribly disappointed but the weather would have made this a most uncomfortable voyage bordering on dangerous. Many passengers agreed the cancellation was a blessing in disguise.

Was the ship ready to tackle Antarctica straight out of a major refit and overhaul? Obviously not. If we had engine problems in the dreaded Drake passage, who knows what could have happened. Some passengers had flooding problems and wet carpets, others had a/c issues but most were resolved enroute. We experienced a/c issues on two days with no ventilation. More troubling, some passengers said crew told them the ship had to stop at sea four times enroute to Montevideo to fix issues. Other crew said they were supposed to meet the ship in Montevideo seven days earlier for work but only had one night aboard before the ship had to sail for Buenos Aires. They were put up in a hotel while they waited. ( hearsay)

I believe the Cloud will become an excellent, luxury expedition vessel when the launch problems are resolved.The food, service and upgrades to the ship put it at the top of the expedition fleet. I hope the ship is repaired for its next cruise date on Dec. 1. Not sure when we will rebook.

Thanks very much ibkjj for sharing your first hand Silver Cloud Maiden voyage observations.

Despite the challenges y'all experienced on this Maiden voyage, am impressed with your concluding positive Silver Cloud thoughts.

Thank you very much Ibkjj for sharing your first hand report. Glad to hear that SS did a first class job in Service recovery.

In the end, I’m disappointed to read the Cloud continues to have a/c issues that so many here have reported over the years, and SS didn’t get it fixed properly during a major overhaul. I also wish Mr. Combrink and Erica of CruiseCritic had been more forthright in the delay to Montevideo as they were technical in nature, not just weather related as they had both indicated. I have found most people to be genuinely understanding of any issues (technical) within control of a business, but not when they are swept aside in order to place blame on another reason (weather) outside the control of the business.

As well the flooding issues have occurred previously-and on the deck we were occupying.

Having only one fuel pump with no backup doesn't sound a great idea when cruising Antarctica.

Lower deck water ingress through the doors seems to be a problem with many of these tarted up old clunkers.

Whisper had many cabins flooded in this manner from a recent storm in the North Atlantic.

The cost of replacing all the lower deck sliding windows would be high.. easier to manage/massage customer complaints and have a well organised clean up team.

One reason for booking high… plenty of movement but a dry cabin :-)

As well the flooding issues have occurred previously-and on the deck we were occupying.

Having only one fuel pump with no backup doesn't sound a great idea when cruising Antarctica.

What deck is this?

Thank you very much Ibkjj for sharing your first hand report. Glad to hear that SS did a first class job in Service recovery.

 

In the end, I’m disappointed to read the Cloud continues to have a/c issues that so many here have reported over the years, and SS didn’t get it fixed properly during a major overhaul. I also wish Mr. Combrink and Erica of CruiseCritic had been more forthright in the delay to Montevideo as they were technical in nature, not just weather related as they had both indicated. I have found most people to be genuinely understanding of any issues (technical) within control of a business, but not when they are swept aside in order to place blame on another reason (weather) outside the control of the business.

Ditto thanks to lokjj and summary by stumblefoot. Honesty is needed else no one is ever going be certain announcements are truthful in future.

Some of the comments about the issues are inexcusable. Air Con still not working properly is completely unacceptable but worse is hearing it’s not completely water tight. It’s not like the artic regions are places to be on a leaky boat!

But fair play also for taking care of the unfortunate guests with a full refund and the care package in BA and discounted further booking. But to be honest, anything less would have been even more adverse publicity which for the Cloud and Silversea in general could well do without.

Let’s hope all the welds and rivets are completed properly on the Spirit extension in March / April.

Oooooh, I don't like hearing about a leaky ship... especially since I booked a Vista Suite on Deck 4. Perhaps I should have spent more for a Veranda Suite on Deck 7. I still could... but is it worth $3000?