Exploring Prince Albert II

So, you might wonder what were they thinking when Silversea Cruises announced the addition of Prince Albert II, an exploration vessel to their fleet—a luxury passenger ship without a swimming pool! Truthfully, it didn't cross my mind as being unusual until a friend recently brought up the subject of bathing suits. You see, I'm not a sun-worshipper and seldom even pack a bathing suit for a cruise. While there's no pool aboard, there are two hot tubs that I'll probably be too busy to use. Instead, we will be exploring some pretty interesting places—including the barrier reef off the coast of Belize—on the eight Zodiacs Prince Albert II carries for that purpose. That sounds exciting and I just packed my bathing suit, water shoes, and 85 SPF sun screen so I can even snorkel when we go ashore in the San Blas Islands.

In addition to exploring, we'll also enjoy many amenities similar to those found on Silversea's larger ships, such as a single-seating main dining room, library with computers and Internet access, WiFi throughout the ship, a boutique, beauty salon, fitness center, and full-service spa. The ship also has lounges for enjoying drinks, music, and entertainment, including a cigar lounge like the Humidor on the line's other ships.

There will also be a complete enrichment program presented by experts in a variety of fields, including an in-residence photographer who will share techniques for photographing our trip. Watch the upcoming blogs to follow along and critique my photos. I hope you'll see an improvement as I share our daily adventures.

For more information about Prince Albert II, check out the preview of Exploring in Silversea Style on CruiseDiva.com.