Silversea Cruises’ Silver Spirit has made its final port call in Dubai on Thursday following an eight-night cruise from Mumbai. Next up: The ship will enter dry dock at the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo on March 5 to undergo an ambitious lengthening and renovation project. Plans call for a completion date of May 1.
During the dry dock, which Silversea announced last year, the ship will get a new 49-foot-long segment inserted into its midsection. The lengthening project will add 34 new luxury suites to the ship, although Silversea said that the redesigned ship would maintain a crew-to-guest ratio of 1:1.48. The project will also add a new top-tier Balsorano suite, which will be decorated with items selected by Silversea Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio. All of the ship’s suites will also get Savoir mattresses, horse hair toppers and new HD screens. The project will also update the ship’s public areas with a design reminiscent of the recently launched Silver Muse.
The renovations will also expand the ship’s dining options, adding Atlantide, Indochine, Spaccanapoli and Silver Note to complement the existing Seishin, La Dame, The Grill and La Terrazza. The existing dining establishments will also be refurbished, and will get menu refinements based on guest feedback.
New public spaces will include the Arts Café, a modern area on deck eight that will offer a place for guests to relax over a book and coffee or tea, as well as host exhibitions and performances. Inspired by Silversea’s Italian heritage, Dolce Vita will serve cocktails with live piano accompaniment. The ship will also add new wellness amenities in the form of a Zagara spa, which the line said has proven popular on the Silver Muse, as well as a fitness center.
Silver Spirit will recommence service on May 6 with a seven-day cruise between Civitavecchia (Rome) and Barcelona, calling at Port-Vecchio, Corsica; Livorno; Portofino; Cannes; and Marseilles.
While this is the first lengthening project for Silversea, other luxury cruise lines have used a similar process to add capacity and update their onboard product. Earlier in 2017 the newly refurbished Queen Victoria made its debut after a $40 million enhancement project that included adding a new Britannia Club Restaurant and 43 new Britannia Club staterooms, as well as redesigned Grand and Penthouse Suites, plus a new sundeck and enhanced Winter Garden. In all the refurbishment raised the ship’s maximum double occupancy from 2,021 to 2,081.
Looking ahead, in 2020 Silversea is planning to launch a new ship, the Silver Moon, which will be a sibling vessel to the Silver Muse. The new ship will have a capacity of 596 passengers in all-suite accommodations, and will expand Silversea's fleet to 10 ships. A number of enhancements to the onboard experience are also planned, Silversea said, although the line has yet to announce further details.
This story originally appeared on www.travelagentcentral.com.
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