First look: Inside the revamped Silver Cloud, a luxury ship now devoted to the poles
PUERTO MADRYN, Argentina —Thinking about a cruise to Antarctica or the Arctic? Our latest Cruise Ship Tour, in the carousel above, offers a deck-by-deck look at the latest vessel to be devoted to the polar regions, luxury line Silversea's Silver Cloud.
Originally unveiled in 1994, the all-suite ship just emerged from a massive makeover designed to turn it into the most elegant polar expedition vessel at sea.
As can be seen in the tour, the transformation included the addition of 16 motorized Zodiac rafts to land passengers in remote locations as well as 10 kayaks for exploring.
Silver Cloud also was outfitted with new sonars that will help with underwater ice detection and new windows resistant to polar temperatures. The ship's steel hull also was reinforced, and it received a new ice-class bulb at its front that will allow for navigation in icy polar waters.
In passenger areas, the work included a major overhaul of its on-board accommodations, which the line says are now the largest in expedition cruising — the niche of cruising that involves exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations in small ships that carry motorized rafts for landings. The ship also will have the highest space-to-passenger and crew-to-passenger ratios in expedition cruising.
Also revamped was Silver Cloud's spa, and the vessel now boasts a new photo studio where passengers can edit and print images.
As part of the makeover, Silver Cloud's capacity was reduced from 290 to 254 passengers. But it only will sail with 200 passengers when operating in polar regions.
The Silver Cloud photo tour is part of our ongoing series of cruise ship galleries. For an in-depth look at dozens of other vessels, click on the links below:
Adventure Canada: Ocean Endeavour
AmaWaterways: AmaViola; AmaCerto
American Cruise Lines: American Eagle
American Queen Steamboat Company: American Queen; American Empress
Azamara Club Cruises: Azamara Quest
Avalon Waterways: Avalon Myanmar; Avalon Visionary; Avalon Passion
Carnival Cruise Line: Carnival Imagination; Carnival Inspiration; Carnival Miracle; early icons of the Carnival fleet; Carnival Vista
Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Solstice
Celestyal Cruises: Celestyal Olympia
Costa Cruises: Costa Diadema; Costa Atlantica; Costa Luminosa
CroisiEurope: Elbe Princesse
Cruise & Maritime Voyages: Discovery
Crystal Cruises: Crystal Symphony
Cunard Line: Queen Mary 2
Disney Cruise Line: Disney Wonder; Disney Fantasy; Disney Magic; Disney Dream, Fantasy compared
Emerald Waterways: Emerald Sky; Emerald Radiance
Hapag-Lloyd: Europa 2
Hebridean Island Cruises: Hebridean Princess
Holland America Line: Amsterdam; Koningsdam; Westerdam; Rotterdam; Maasdam
Hurtigruten: Midnatsol; Lofoten; Nordstjernen; Fram; Trollfjord
MSC Cruises: MSC Meraviglia
Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian Getaway; Norwegian Escape; Norwegian Sky; Norwegian Joy
Oceania Cruises: Nautica; Sirena; Marina; Insignia
Paul Gauguin Cruises: Paul Gauguin
P&O Cruises: Britannia
Princess Cruises: Regal Princess; Diamond Princess; early icons of the Princess fleet; Star Princess; Golden Princess
Regent Seven Seas Cruises: Seven Seas Mariner; Seven Seas Explorer; Seven Seas Voyager; Seven Seas Navigator
Royal Caribbean International: Quantum of the Seas; Anthem of the Seas; Freedom of the Seas; Harmony of the Seas
Scenic Cruises: Scenic Gem; Scenic Sapphire
Seabourn Cruise Line: Seabourn Encore
Silversea: Silver Galapagos; Silver Cloud; Silver Cloud (before 2017 makeover); Silver Muse
Tauck: Inspire; Savor; Emerald
Un-Cruise Adventures: Safari Endeavour
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection: S.S. Maria Theresa; River Countess
Viking River Cruises: Viking Skirnir; Viking Herja; Viking Hild
Viking Ocean Cruises: Viking Star; Viking Sea; Viking Sky
Windstar Cruises: Star Pride; Star Breeze; Wind Spirit
Retired ocean liners, cruise ships and yachts: SS Rotterdam; Royal Yacht Britannia
Theme galleries: 10 cruise ship suites that will blow your mind; the last of the great ocean liners; ship christenings with Queen Elizabeth II; Royal ship christenings through the years; 9 most amazing megaships; 25 most beautiful cruise vessels