Outrage as $21K Luxury Cruise cancels 2 days in

Silver Cloud’s inaugural cruise to Antarctica was cancelled after two days at sea when the engine spontaneously cut out.

Passengers were left distraught when they found out that they would no longer be embarking on the once in a lifetime journey through Antarctica.

The 16-day expedition was between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, scheduled to visit the Falkland Islands, South Shetland Islands, and Antarctic Peninsula, with passengers forking out £12,000 or $21,000 Aussie dollars per person.

That’s a lot of money for less than a week on board a cruise.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Antarctica,” Hazel Howard, a passenger onboard, told The Telegraph.

“It was very disappointing when were told that we weren’t going to the Falklands, which was the highlight of the holiday for me. And then it just went downhill from there.”

“[Silversea staff] have been very accommodating but it’s very, very disappointing 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.”

The ship was on its way from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn on Wednesday 15 November when it was caught in severe winds exceeding 40 knots with swells reaching eight metres.

The leader onboard told passengers that they would no longer be reaching the Falkland’s capital city of Stanley.

The engine then cut out after just two days of sailing through rough seas from Puerto Madryn.

The route to Antarctica known as the Drake Passage is notorious for heavy seas and unruly conditions. Fortunately, the ship had not reached the passage before the fuel pump failed.

Onboard, engineers were able to restore the power, but the ship turned around to Puerto Madryn to be repaired.

On the evening of November 21, the Senior Vice President of Silversea Expeditions, Conrad Combrink announced the news that the fuel pump could not be restored for the expedition to continue on to Antarctica.

“We don’t want to send a ship when we are not 100% sure it’s ready,” he said.

“It’s a very simple fix, which will be completed within the next few days. But it makes no sense to hold people on the ship any longer.”

“We will lose Antarctica, which was the primary focus of this voyage, and it’s not going to happen.”

While passengers were disappointed they will no longer be continuing the voyage, Silversea has said they will provide passengers with full refunds and paid flights, accommodation, and a discount on future bookings.

“To be very honest, such things do happen after such a major conversion,” Combrink told The Telegraph.

“We had three months in dry dock, the systems were tested, the cabins were completely refurbished, electrical work was redone, plumbing was redone, piping was redone.”

“As these things go into service, one can expect small defects. Considering the scope and scale of the work, I have to say we’ve come out pretty well.”

Let’s hope their next voyage to the Antarctica departing December 1st from Ushuaia doesn’t have a similar same fate.

Advertise with us

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

antarctica cancel silversea cruises