Just In: Cloud being converted to an Expedition Vessel

[brimary]

Sad news about the Cloud.It has been our favourite ship with a host of happy memories of fabulous itineraries and a top quality service level since 1996.

[Perfectionistcruiser]

J P, love your comment re the Air-Con on the dear old Cloud, but so right.

 

Another thought, and thanks to cruzer9 for emailing Conrad, the Mud Room can obviously take over the boutique space, a far better use than that of the present unnecessary merchandise that is so rarely purchased. Seriously though, two hundred is a lot of boots and kit for a mud room !!

 

I think it's a winner for SS and of course you can charge a lot more for an Expedition Cruise, mind you I have always found it worthwhile the expedition teams are just so knowledgable you really do explore and learn.

[TLCOhio]

Economically this may make lots of sense for SS. Even in its current state it's a step up from Explorer in terms of luxury. Cloud will make a very luxurious expedition ship that will feel very spacious at 200 pax. The dining options alone will be amazing for an expedition ship. This may allow SS to use Cloud as a replacement for Discoverer once the lease is up - promote from within rather than keep paying a lease. Larger ships are probably more profitable than smaller ships due to economies of scale. By using Cloud on polar routes they don't have to worry about whether the A/C goes out again. :)

 

duct tape: Jpalbny' date=' bingo! Our thoughts exactly. Some of the Discoverer ports are so difficult to get to, the audience is limited. A larger Cloud [b']can do mixed cruises[/b].

 

Emtbsam: While we will miss the Cloud in the Med and other ports' date=' we are excited about the [b']possibility of going to Antarctica on the Cloud[/b].

 

JP and others have smartly raised many good and important factors/potentials. The added and more varied dining options could be a major plus for taking such future expedition trips on the "New" Silver Cloud.

 

From touring the then (before its re-naming) Prince Albert II in Tromso during our July 2010 Silver Cloud sailing, one of my biggest questions/concerns was that the variety of dining venues and options was rather limited on this ship. Sure you are doing an expedition trip for different reasons/needs. BUT, if you can have BOTH great adventure settings . . . AND . . . a nice ship with super facilities and offerings, that can be even better.

 

Will be interested to see more details for 2017 on where in the wide world the Silver Cloud will travel, the pricing levels for these trips, etc. To bring back nice memories regarding the Silver Cloud, below are three of my views of this nice ship in wonderful settings for our experiences.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 28,750 views for these postings.

 

 

As a tribute to the Silver Cloud, here are three of my visuals to illustrate this ship's beauty in great locations. First is the Silver Cloud with a large cloud hanging artfully above it is tendered nearby to Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Next are two different views of the ship in the dramatic fjords of Norway. As I recall these two views were taken near Gudvangen in the Sognerfjord that is rated as the best in all of Norway for these scenic settings.:

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Critic Chris]

Our story: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6538

[TLCOhio]

Our story: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6538

 

Appreciate your story and its sharing here. When you said "during the refurb, scheduled to start August 2017", that says that this "re-fitting" will take two to three months before the Silver Cloud is put back into service by Nov. 2017. Clearly, many major changes and re-engineering steps will be needed and done.

 

What does it mean exactly for "be converted into an ice-class ship"?? For the sea ship experts, what are the specifics to be such a craft? Just thicker sheets of steel on the Silver Cloud's water-level exteriors? Would love to hear any more details and specifics from the ship experts on this CC board.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 119,662 views for this posting.

[Portolan]

Too bad our US government can't get icebreaker ships to arctic as easily as cruise lines can.

 

Ice class and ice breaker aren't even remotely similar.

 

The fact that they are obviously not rehulling (note: not a word because no one swaps hulls on ships!) the Cloud means that they are just certifying the hull to be mildly ice resistant. Neither it nor any of the most prevalent expedition ships will be breaking ice...just sailing through broken up ice areas.

[Silver Spectre]

I like the fact that Silversea have decided to keep the Cloud and take the opportunity no doubt to fix all its nagging problems during the conversion. If it works we will consider sailing on her again.

[spinnaker2]

Thanks Scott for pointing out the difference in icebreaker vs ice class. I will do some research as to the distinctions!

[Conte Di Savoia]

She's always been a favorite of ours, having made most of our Silversea cruises aboard her starting with cruises 2 and 3 when she first appeared on the scene. At least she will remain in the family and makes it more likely that we will finally take an expedition cruise. Never liked the smaller vessels assigned to those trips.

And she looks very fine with a black hull!!!

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[lincslady]

Out of curiosity I have been reading this thread, as a non-Silversea cruiser. I am not sure about any other facts, but the Cloud will certainly not be the only luxury ship in Antarctica with 5 dining options; the same applies to Seabourn Quest. Might be worth some Silversea fans finding out more about Quest in Antarctica?

[GeneBK]

More Options!! Excellent.

 

We cruise Silversea; we cruise Seabourn. We enjoy the size and options of the 300-400 passenger ships.

 

We chose to cruise Antarctica on Seabourn Quest, because we preferred that ship size and style to the smaller Expedition ships. The are compromises, but entire team, led by Robin West, did a wonderful job. The rotation of times for zodiac landings worked fine, and gave us all the landing time we wanted.

 

I'm expecting that conversion of the Cloud will add to our options, and give us more choices of Arctic and Antarctic itineraries.

[tripperva]

Conte di:

What an impressive list of ships. It's too bad you missed The Royal Viking Sun,one of the finest cruise ships ever.

[duct tape]

I do not believe the Quest is ice-certified. The Cloud will be when the conversion is completed.

[oregon50]

DT.....I believe you are correct. Had me fooled, but I cannot find anything that has SB mentioning ice class rating. It could well be that it was built to a DO rating, but nothing to the hull has been altered.

[TLCOhio]

Out of curiosity I have been reading this thread, as a non-Silversea cruiser. I am not sure about any other facts, but the Cloud will certainly not be the only luxury ship in Antarctica with 5 dining options; the same applies to Seabourn Quest. Might be worth some Silversea fans finding out more about Quest in Antarctica?

 

GeneBK: More Options!! Excellent. We cruise Silversea; we cruise Seabourn. We enjoy the size and options of the 300-400 passenger ships. We chose to cruise Antarctica on Seabourn Quest' date=' because we preferred that ship size and style to the smaller Expedition ships. The are compromises, but entire team, led by Robin West, did a wonderful job. The rotation of times for zodiac landings worked fine, and gave us all the landing time we wanted. I'm expecting that conversion of the Cloud will add to our options, and give us more choices of Arctic and Antarctic itineraries. [/quote']

 

duct tape: I do not believe the Quest is ice-certified. The Cloud will be when the conversion is completed.

 

Appreciate these added details. In checking more' date=' the Quest does hold 450 passengers. About 50% larger than the current Silver Cloud. Seabourn Quest was built using same design as her preceding sister ships, the Odyssey and Sojourn. From Wikipedia, they noted that for a month in the spring of 2013, Seabourn Quest was drydocked for a refit to add two new additional cranes and four additional Zodiac cradles. Additional work included the ship’s marina being refitted to accommodate the Zodiac inflatables for Seabourn’s Antarctica cruises. This refit had no implications for the vessel's ice class. The refit involved only minor modifications to accommodate the Zodiacs.

 

Clearly, there are many differences on the "details" as to aspects of size, dining, room sizes and the type of "expedition experiences" that each of these various ships can offer. My view is that it is [b']good to have more choices and options!![/b] That might also help keep the pricing more reasonable.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 185,858 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[lincslady]

duct tape - I have wondered what the difference,and indeed safety etc. importance, is between the descriptions of ice hardened and ice certified. We did Antarctica years ago on a ship then called Ocean Princess, with Lars Eric Lindblad, and were sure she was not really suitable. We had a fantastic cruise, but she went down shortly after in the Amazon, just sinking into the mud! Thank goodness it was not when we were aboard.

 

Although Quest normally holds 450 passengers, naturally she does not take this many to the Antarctic, one of the many reasons why all these cruises are so pricey -all the extra staff for instance at a pretty high cost. But it is a wonderful trip to do while you are fit enough to climb in and out of the landing craft.

[jpalbny]

Glad to hear Robin West's name again! He is a great expedition leader. We were sad to see him jump ship from Silver Explorer to Seabourne. We have cruised with him twice as Expedition Leader, and we were with him and his lovely wife Jarda on one of their last Explorer cruises in October 2013.

 

From chatting with him, he had some trepidation about the larger ship, vis-a-vis the type of experience that could be offered. But, I don't think Robin would stay with SB unless he were able to offer guests a great expedition experience. So it must be pretty awesome if he's still with them.

[Joc123]

DT.....I believe you are correct. Had me fooled, but I cannot find anything that has SB mentioning ice class rating. It could well be that it was built to a DO rating, but nothing to the hull has been altered.

 

You are mistaken. Seabourn Quest had her hull strengthened and is ice rated.

[duct tape]

Thanx for the good info!

[PaulMCO]

200 hundred people represent almost 100 per cent increase in the number of persons on an expedition. I cannot believe the Comments that it won't impact the operations.

 

Especially in certain areas where conventions limited the number of passengers to 100.

[turtlemichael]

The pigeon eventually found its way Downunder at least to my email box about an hour ago.

[Winner]

The number of passengers is not limited; the number of passengers GOING ASHORE is limited to no more than 100 at any one time.

[jpalbny]

200 hundred people represent almost 100 per cent increase in the number of persons on an expedition. I cannot believe the Comments that it won't impact the operations.

 

Especially in certain areas where conventions limited the number of passengers to 100.

 

Hi Paul, you were just on Explorer up north, right? JMO, but there are probably areas that it will impact and areas that it won't affect much at all.

 

As Winner points out, every expedition ship following IAATO rules (similar for the Arctic) is limited to 100 pax ashore at any one time, so in that regard there isn't a big difference between Explorer's 130 pax and Cloud's 200 pax. In each case, you can't unload everyone at one, but you can unload everyone in two shifts. So 130 vs. 200 doesn't make a difference in the timing of landings because each number of pax can be accommodated in 2 shifts. I mention this only in comparison to trying to unload 300-400 pax in 3 or 4 shifts, for example. Were that the case, it would be hard to make two site visits each day.

 

Whether 100 pax ashore vs 60-something makes a difference is a separate question, and I think you have a point here. It may make things take a little longer; unloading and loading up 4 extra zodiacs may add time to the process and slow things up a little. And maybe some smaller places will get more crowded with 40 extra people.

 

Some of our landings sites seemed a little crowded with 60. Plus, with Explorer they had wiggle room to start unloading the second group while the first group was still ashore; that made for better efficiency. With 100 ashore, they might have to start taking people back before they can unload more.

 

We love Explorer (3 cruises with her) but love the Cloud too. I don't think this is a bad development and I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out.

Edited September 21, 2015 by jpalbny

[Stumblefoot]

YIKES !!! 200 people in zodiacs ! :eek:

Amy and I thought the exact same thing!

[drron29]

Still not a valued venetian.But we will board the Explorer tomorrow still.