Silversea’s Silver Endeavour – Antarctica (Getting There: An Expedition of Its Own!)

This is the start of my seventh expedition to Antarctica; brought about by Silversea wanting me to have a “Fly the Drake” experience. Let’s just say my Antarctica “Fly the Drake” Expedition on Silversea’s Silver Endeavour truly started out as an expedition of its own! More importantly, it clearly shows how well Silversea handles things – even non-Silversea things – when they go wrong…and when I say “things”, I mean “THINGS”!  

The original plan was for me to fly from Reno to San Francisco, then to Houston, and then onto Santiago, Chile, overnight at Silversea’s included hotel (Ritz Carlton Santiago), take a charter flight to Punta Arenas and have a second overnight in Silversea’s included hotel (Hotel Dreams del Estrecho), and finally flying to King George Island and boarding the Silver Endeavour the next day. This is more fully set out in this article:  The Drake Passage: Sail or Fly-the-Drake. Which is Better and Why?

I had flights arranged with more than sufficient connecting time, but long story short, there was a full ground stop in San Francisco which first caused creeping delays (so finding an alternative eventually was foreclosed) and eventually caused it to be impossible for me to make my flight to Santiago.

Now, I could have panicked, or just given up, but instead, I immediately called United Airlines and had myself rebooked for the following day (and not going through San Francisco…after making sure it wouldn’t be snowing in Denver). While I drove back home to Tahoe, I called Silversea and let them know of the issue and that I would simply meet the charter flight at the airport in Santiago foregoing the now-impossible overnight at the Ritz Carlton.

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The Silversea responses to my email were almost immediate: “Don’t worry, we have this handled.” However, there was concern over my flight arriving too close to the departure of the charter flight to Punta Arenas.  So, what did Silversea do…besides staying in constant contact with me?  They arranged for a representative to meet me at the airport in Santiago and hussle me to the charter flight.

OK, so all is well? Well, not exactly. I mean this is the Expedition before the expedition!

Because of a snowstorm on King George Island, the “Fly the Drake” aircraft would not be able to land as there would be too much snow on the runway.  So, Silversea decided to sail Silver Endeavour to Puerto Williams, Chile, to offload its guests finishing up their expedition and picking us up.  Now, rather than overnighting in Punta Arenas we would immediately take another charter flight from Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams and board Silver Endeavour for the very Sail the Drake experience that those booking this expedition wanted to avoid. 

But we would be still going to Antarctica without any loss of time on The Ice…and have the bonus of an extra day on Silver Endeavour.  Anyone would much prefer to be on Silver Endeavour and all she has to offer than in a hotel room in Punta Arenas!

With the new plans in place, I would now be facing five (5) flights in one day, but I would make it…if all the flights were relatively on time.

So, it was back to the airport on Day 2 for my second attempt. Fortunately, things went well (and I was upgraded to Polaris on my Houston to Santiago flight so I could get some decent sleep…something I normally don’t worry about, but with five flights it made a difference).

Upon my arrival in Santiago, Silversea had a representative meet me; not after customs, as expected, but at the top of the gangway from my United flight and he escorted me quickly through passport control, customs, and over to the domestic airline terminal where I checked my luggage onto my charter flight to Punta Arenas even before the other Silversea guests had arrived! And, then he took me through a secondary security checkpoint (normally used only for flights to Easter Island) and I was through in seconds. Whew! (I even had time to relax in a Priority Pass lounge for an hour.)

Our charter flight arrived in Punta Arenas and was brought to a separate building for our short wait for the flight to Puerto Williams. However, due to some unknown issues, two of the three smaller aircraft needed for the 40-minute flight were delayed…like for over three hours. Once it was clear that the delay would be extended beyond 1.5 hours, Silversea creatively made it a Silversea experience!

With the guests starting to get a bit frustrated, a parade of Pisco Sours, Johnny Walker Black, Bailey’s, Beer and more arrived and were served in proper glassware with ice and some snacks.  Not surprisingly, our delay turned into a party with people now socializing and becoming downright festive.  And when the delay could possibly be even longer, a wide variety of sandwiches were brought in.  Now, I am not sure how in the tiny sort of an airport outside the small town of Punta Arenas Silversea was able to pull this off, but it did!

Finally, our flight to Puerto Williams took off and, it seemed, it was better to be on the last flight than the first. This is because the Silver Wind was also in port and, with there only being one pier, the guests on the first flight had to wait about two hours for it to depart before they could board Silver Endeavour…and we walked right onboard after a quick post-party nap during the plane ride!

When I boarded Silver Endeavour I was told there was a suite change. As pretty much a guest of Silversea, I graciously accept wherever they place me. It was a big change…for the good.  I was escorted to a Master Suite on the stern of the ship. It is, by far, the best suite on the ship in my opinion with floor-to-ceiling glass, huge living space, and an enormous balcony…and hence outstanding Antarctica views from everywhere.

You can read more about the Silver Endeavour’s suites in this article:  Silversea’s Silver Endeavour Arctic Expedition (Iceland, Eastern Greenland, Canadian Maritimes, and New York City): Goldring Travel’s Onboard! – Part V (Sea Days and the Ship)

To be fair, I am the first guest in the suite after some work had been done on it, so I am truly testing it out. I’ve found a few minor items (defective door mechanism, improper television hookup, etc.) but all are minor and easily remedied. (If I was paying full price for the suite, I might just be a bit upset, so I am glad I am the quality control dude.) As I say often, “This is my job!”

While the suite has some excellent one-way glass for added privacy, even on the huge balcony, the is a definite shortage of electrical outlets; especially 110 volt, so ask for or bring a power strip.

After that wonderful surprise, it was time for the muster and then, finally, a bit of dinner.  I had a small Italian dinner at Il Terrazino, a few after-dinner cocktails and then it was finally time to get some sleep.

In the morning I awoke to pretty much The Drake Lake, with smooth sailing. The rest of the morning was like my other Antarctica expeditions filled with the required lectures, biosafety inspections, and getting the guests’ gear sorted out, such as changing jacket sizes, putting your boots in the Mud Room, etc.  In other words, settling in so when we arrive in Antarctica everyone can focus on it, rather than all of that stuff.

As we got further into more open seas there was a small bit of swell that affected a few guests, but overall the ship was lively and the vast majority of guests were unaffected.  (I haven’t heard of any guests complaining about the change in plans, but I am sure there were some.)  In short, it was overall a busy but lazy day, and one that allowed me to catch up on my sleep and finally relax a bit.

The next day I awoke to yet even calmer seas and lots of icebergs.  Beautiful! With an early afternoon arrival at our first stop in Antarctica, it was time to get some more work done so I could fully immerse later!

And then, rather ironically, our first Antarctic landing was at Deception Island, after transiting Neptune’s Bellows (a very windy entrance to the caldera left from Deception Islands active volcanic past). I love the place, as its volcanic nature where we land, Whalers Bay, causes everything to appear in black and white. 

Deception Island has a sordid past with it being a whale processing hub with up to twelve whaling ships offloading their catch at any one time.  The now beautiful waters and shocking black sands were literally blood red with whale blood, carcasses everywhere and deplorable living conditions for the up to 1,000 men who operated the place. 

Silversea really needs to up its game about giving the backstory about sites such as this, as it really adds not only to the understanding of what the guests are looking at, but also the overall history of Antarctica.  When I started to talk about Deception Island to some of the guests, they were fascinated and offered up the same feeling. 

Next up: More Antarctica Expedition!