Silversea is keeping its exotic Expeditions in a class of their own
In early June, somewhere between the English Channel and the Celtic Sea, luxury line Silversea (cruise.center/ silversea) officially celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Silversea Expeditions brand, sailing from London to Dublin aboard the recently converted Silver Cloud with a full complement of trade partners, media and a handful of the line’s most frequent guests.
It was on June 3, 2008, that Silversea debuted its Silver Explorer, the pioneering vessel that set the bar for ultra-luxury adventure cruises. Then-named Prince Albert II, the Silver Explorer was gutted to bring it up to Silversea’s exacting standards.
Unlike other expedition cruises at the time (which mainly utilized ex-research vessels and working Russian icebreakers), Silver Explorer would feature full suites with butler service, Bulgari toiletries and Relais & Chateaux inspired dining — not to mention a full complement of Zodiac rafts and a dedicated expedition team of professionals specializing in fields like marine biology, botany, history and ornithology.
“For us, today is a huge moment,” said Conrad Combrink, Silversea’s senior vice-president of strategic development, expeditions and experiences. “It is 10 years ago today that we christened our first expedition ship … We literally stripped the ship bare and started to create something very unique, and that was Silversea Expeditions.”
Silversea’s chairman, Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, said that Silversea Expeditions came from a desire to see the world in an adventurous way, without sacrificing comfort.
“I don’t perceive luxury to be an extra bottle of champagne,” he said at a conference on board Silver Cloud, speaking to a small group of media. “I perceive luxury as the possibility of achieving unique experiences, in a very organized way and with good support. What we offer is not only a beautiful ship with good food and service, we offer (the ability to visit) destinations with a unique team of experts.”
Silversea’s expedition fleet now sits at four ships, all of which hold between 100 and 254 guests. That is in addition to five so-called “classic” ships that specialize in more traditional luxury cruises around the world.
While many in attendance were hoping Silversea might announce the conversion of Silver Cloud’s sister ship, Silver Wind, into a luxury expedition cruiser, the line has always taken a cautious, measured approach to its expansion. Right now, that expansion is focused on the destination side of things, with Lefebvre, Combrink and their teams planning some truly exceptional voyages for the future.
On the horizon is Silversea’s inaugural Northeast Passage cruise. No, I didn’t mistype that: the Northeast Passage is one of the rarest voyages around. Only a few lines have ever made the transit, and Silversea will join those ranks next August when Silver Explorer sets out on its 25-day adventure expedition from Nome, Alaska, to Tromsø, Norway. The journey will transit the northernmost reaches of eastern Russia and Siberia before arriving off the coast of Norway.
Perhaps not surprisingly, this voyage is not cheap. It’s also probably going to be wait-listed by the time you read this, but it doesn’t hurt asking your favourite agent to look into availability on Voyage 7916 departing Aug. 10, 2019.
While exotic voyages like the Arctic and Antarctic understandably make up some of Silversea Expeditions’ most desirable itineraries, don’t discount the line’s other journeys. The 116-guest Silver Discoverer is going to be operating adventurous expeditions to Sri Lanka, the Seychelles and even Zanzibar this fall. For something truly unique, there’s the fascinating 16-day Zanzibar to Durban cruise that departs this coming Nov. 27; sometimes it’s nice to take a cruise that requires your friends to Wikipedia every port of call.
One of my favourite Silversea Expeditions was my first, taken in 2012 around the British Isles. Culture and nature are very important to Silversea, and you’d be hard-pressed to do better than Silver Cloud’s Dublin to London expedition May 23, 2019. Silver Cloud doesn’t dock in some port like Southampton; instead, it sails right up the Thames and under Tower Bridge, tying up in the heart of central London.
It’s an incredible experience, one that Silversea has been tweaking now for a decade.
“In 10 years at Silversea Expeditions, I can’t think of anything we wanted to do that we weren’t able to accomplish,” Combrink said.
Happy cruising.
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I don’t perceive luxury to be an extra bottle of champagne. I perceive luxury as the possibility of ... unique experiences.