Life on the Silver Cloud--Antarctica Cruise

We're crossing the Drake Passage today (and tomorrow!) and while the ship offers activities

(trivia games, lectures, spa treatments etc.), 

I prefer to be horizontal as much as possible. 

I did feel hungry by lunchtime, so I'm glad not to be sick, just lessening motion as much as possible.

Lunch was a seafood buffet today, so that was fun not to miss!

And we were seated near one of our new friends, Big John, who is in our same zodiac group so we've seen him and his traveling companions quite a bit.

Now that our adventures are over, I wanted to document what our day-to-day has been,

for anyone else who is venturing so far south (everyone should do it!) and

because I plan on coming back some day and want to remember for future reference.

Cruise Line: Silverseas
Ship: Silver Cloud (expedition ship with 250 passengers)

Voyage: Puerto Williams to Puerto Williams

(The official trip starts and ends in Santiago, Chile, as one night of our hotel in Santiago is covered by our cruise expenses and the cruise shuttles us from the hotel, to a chartered flight with the rest of the passengers from Santiago to Punta Arenas and then divide us into three groups on smaller planes to Puerto Williams where we boarded the Silver Cloud.)

We boarded the ship about 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Left harbor about 3:00 a.m. Friday morning.

Sailed the Drake Passage all day Friday and Saturday, arriving in calmer seas in time for an unplanned excursion on Saturday afternoon. 

On the way back, we left our last excursion around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 

sailed Drake through that night, all day Friday and plan to reach Puerto Williams by Saturday late afternoon. Disembarking Sunday morning and flying the charters back to Punta Arenas and then Santiago,

all arranged by Silverseas and included in the cruise fare.

Five excursion days:

  Instead of setting a morning alarm, we wake to the 6:30 a.m. 

announcement that we've arrived at our destination.

We dress in long underwear tops and bottoms (the thin uniqlo ones are fantastic),

thick leggings/fitted sweats made for exercise--not cotton.

(I have exercise pants made for cold days that I use for hiking and knew they'd keep me warm.)

cold weather/skiing exercise tops, neck gaiter and wool socks. I also brought a thin uniqlo sock liner that I wore once on a colder days, but was never cold even with just my wool sock.

We purchased a felt boot liner off Amazon ahead of time intended to keep your feet warmer. 

They definitely worked and I intend to put one in my ski boot once home. 

Chris didn't use his felt liner and the boots and his feet stayed warm in just his wool socks.

Pack: 2 pr long underwear, 3 pr exercise pants, 3 exercise tops, 4-5 pr wool socks.

We rented boots, waterproof pants and poles from the ship and so glad we didn't have to pack them. They worked perfectly. I was surprised at how warm and how much traction the Bogs Boot had.

(I just remembered we returned our boots without taking the liner out! Darn!)

We also brought hand and feet warmers but never needed them.

Temps stayed about 33*F. Only a couple of days were windy (windchill can feel like 12*F) and we dressed in an extra layer -- two pair of exercise pants instead of one, sock liner and balaclava. 

We wished we'd brought thin silk glove liners.

But Dan and Chris wore their daily wool gloves inside the waterproof gloves and said it worked great. Just a little tight.

We brought way too many wool socks. Four or five pair are plenty and whatever you want for dinner. Ended up wearing the same socks for a couple of days because you simply don't wear them that long. We have a complimentary laundrette right by our room (in constant use by two floors of the ship), and halfway through we washed socks, underwear and a pair of pants.

They start calling zodiac groups about every 15 minutes, rotating who is first each day.

At 7:15 am when they call Group 4, we put on our outer layers--waterproof pants, parkas (given to us by the ship--super warm and comfortable), hats and waterproof gloves (thin--so you can move your fingers, and even more importantly, that they work with your phones/cameras because its not fun to take gloves off while you're out and about--it's pretty chilly!)--and slippers or slip-on shoes on our feet. 

And then all the other gear we want for the excursion:

phones/cameras with a silicon neck strap 

(the ship gave us waterproof bags for the phones with a neck strap, which worked great, but I find them cumbersome and getting wet wasn't really an issue. More importantly is to have a neck strap.)

 sunglasses (Chums are nice to have), 

binoculars (we didn't use these as often on the zodiacs, as it's too bumpy to get a clear view. 

We had one for each of us, but could have done with just one pair to share.)

We "don't forget our key cards and our blue life jacket vests" and trot down one flight of stairs to the mudroom where we change into our waterproof boots that are waiting for us in "lockers" (shelves with our room numbers). It's a pretty seamless system.

Chris brought his Northface slippers--great for being comfortable around the ship without looking like slippers. My tennis shoes are a little tight when I have thick wool socks on, so I wear my flip flops.
Dan didn't bring slip ons, so he uses the hotel style slippers they gave us in our rooms.
All three solutions work great. I might bring my birkenstocks if I had to do it again, but I wanted flip flops for the pool and walking around in Santiago. In hindsight, birks would have been just as good.

(Just remembering the super cute birks the woman from Germany was wearing... 

hold please while I google if I can get a pair in the states... Darn, Nothing! Maybe I'll see her tonight.)

After we log out with our key cards (conveniently held in a plastic pouch on our arm so all we have to do is touch it to the reader), we wait in line to board our zodiacs. Because we're divided into groups and they call the groups in waves and the zodiacs are constantly running back and forth, you never have to wait longer than a couple of minutes. Eight or nine are loaded onto each boat with the help of several crew members who grab you in the "sailor's grip" and help you down the stairs and into the boat, then encourage you to immediately sit and slide down to an available space.

Landings are mostly "wet landings" meaning you step off the zodiac into six inches of water.
With our waterproof boots and pants, you stay completely dry.

When we come back onboard, we step into the boot cleaners,

then into the pink solution to wash any debris away.

Breakfast closes by 9:00 a.m. so we haven't been back in time to eat in the restaurant, but

 room service breakfast is even better and we have a view of icebergs right out our window.

After our morning excursion, we eat brunch or lunch, often take a nap, sometimes exercise,

 and then get ready for our afternoon excursion. I stay in my long johns and exercise pants until after the second excursion. Most people do. And everyone is casual until dinner.

One thing I'm so happy I brought was furry insoles (think Uggs) for my sneakers. 

I slide my feet in without socks for walking about the ship and they're so warm and comfy!

I've talked about our recap and briefings held each day:

next day's schedule, maps, weather, learning lecture.

I had no idea what to expect with the excursions ahead of time as the itinerary is intentionally vague given they don't know what stops they'll be able to make (weather and other ships reserving etc.)

and I wasn't clear on what exactly you did on the zodiac (sightsee) and walk on land (I thought it would all look the same--boy was I wrong!).

In a nutshell:

Two excursions a day, one early morning and one after lunch, lasting approx. ninety minutes each.

(Some ships only have one excursion a day and wow, they're missing out!)

One is generally just a zodiac tour around the area.

(Until you see it, you can't imagine how beautiful these morning outings are.)

Each zodiac "buddies" with another boat, but generally they're pretty far away from you so it doesn't feel like a herd of boats following each other around. Instead it feels very private.

The drivers are all scientists with varying personalities in how much they talk/teach,

but all are super knowledgable and fun to learn from.

The other is a zodiac ride to land where you get off and walk around,

often up hills, but not so challenging or strenuous that the average person wouldn't enjoy it.

We all look identical heading out for the day!

After our second excursion, when we were in the first group, we had time before dinner to chill.

But in the second group we'd get back, shower and get dressed for dinner.

Dinner dress Code is "Elegant Casual," meaning no jeans or sneakers in the dining rooms and jackets optional.

There have been plenty of jeans, sneakers and sweatshirts in the dining room even at dinner.

(Especially on the first couple of days when we were just boarding or crossing the Drake.)

Nobody cared.

Most other days people are dressed up for dinner--sweaters and slacks.

It felt good to have a reason to put on nice clothes and make up after a day with two outings and hanging out in sweats.

Christmas Eve a couple ladies wore elegant dresses. But that was definitely not the norm.

I brought four pair of pants and seven tops/sweaters (two were technically sweatshirts but dressier and one was a real sweatshirt for traveling) and mixed and matched to create all my outfits. 

Plus jewelry to dress up the outfits.

Shoes: tennis shoes (On slip ons), sturdy Merrell flip flops and black flats for dinners.

Around the ship and at other meals, everyone is very casual with the focus on comfort.

I also packed a long pair of pj's for comfort in the room and short pjs for sleeping.

And super comfy socks for cold feet every night.

We've decided the food on the ship is good. Not amazing, but solid.

But the desserts aren't good at all. Good thing I Christmas gifted us all a few 

No Chewing Allowed chocolates!

I recommend bringing a few munchies if you're a person who likes treats.

Salted nuts and chocolate, perhaps? The ship gift shop doesn't sell any treats or food.

A dish of candy and a plate of cookies are set out next to each of the gingerbread houses.

So glad for a few Hershey's kisses and some gummy bears!

We brought some travel card games and qwirkle, etc. We never played them because we watched movies each night, but I'd bring them again, just in case.

I brought a couple pair of exercise clothes and used them once.

The gym is tiny and I wasn't diehard enough to wait around for the treadmill.

Dan and Chris worked out more often. You'll need a swimsuit for polar plunge or hot tubs/pool, but the ship provides robes and slippers, so you don't need a cover up.

I brought a rain jacket, and you definitely don't need one. 

We were outdoors only a second in Puerto Williams when it was raining,

 and on the ship, the parkas they give you are waterproof.

I brought a lighter weight jacket that I used occasionally when I didn't want my big parka when going outside. The boys used their light weight jackets for another layer on cold day excursions.

I don't think their tops were cold-weather specific, like mine are.

I'd read to bring two pair of sunglasses in case you lose a pair.

That was a much less likely scenario than I imagined. And they sell sunglasses on board.

I also had two waterproof gloves in case one got wet. Also unnecessary.

I brought ginger in many forms and too much of it. 

A few lozenges and a few crystallized ginger would have been enough. 

Happy Cold-Weather Cruising!