The ship developed a serious electrical failure on the second day in Reunion Island. We were advised that it was unsafe to remain on board - and bussed off to local hotels for the night. The next day we were told that the ship was still unable to sail and we would be spending a second night in Reunion hotels. Not a good start to our first experience of Silverseas explorer travel.

At a briefing chaired by the Captain and Expedition Leader, it was suggested by one of the guests that maybe the ship was showing signs of age and maintenance parts were not readily available. There had been similar breakdowns recorded in 2014.

Finally, we set sail after a two-day delay. This, however, had major implications to the original itinerary. We missed two full days in Madagascar – instead visiting briefly two destinations where we spent hours instead of whole days. Read more