Silversea will celebrate 10 years of luxury expedition cruising in June 2018. Since launching its luxury expedition voyages in 2008, Silversea has provided innovative itineraries in unexplored destinations around the world and it has reached several milestones along the way.
“A decade ago, we set out to unlock the world’s most authentic travelling experiences for those with a sense of curiosity,” said Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, Silversea’s Chairman. ‘We have enabled our expedition guests to enjoy the planet’s remotest, most beautiful destinations – many of which were previously unvisited by any cruise line.”
The first of these expedition destinations was Svalbard, an isolated Norwegian archipelago. Silver Explorer (then HSH Prince Albert II – unveiled under patronage by His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco) left London for the remote northern waters on June 3, 2008. Later in the same year, Silversea enabled guests to explore Antarctica.
In 2012, after an extended scouting period, the cruise line became the first ever to launch itineraries to the Russian Arctic and along the West Coast of Africa. The following year, Silversea acquired Silver Galapagos and became the first ever company to bring an ultra-luxury product to the Galapagos Islands. It then recruited and began familiarizing local tour guides with the concept of luxury travel in order to combine regional knowledge with high-end onboard service.
In 2014, Silversea welcomed guests on expeditions to the Galapagos Islands, which has proved to be a popular journey for the cruise line. In the same year, Silversea acquired Silver Discoverer, which enabled the company to expand its expedition offering into new territories, such as the Northwest Passage and the Russian Far East. Silver Explorer was one of the only ships to successfully navigate through a treacherous Northwest Passage in 2014.
Last year, Silversea continued to add new experiences. Ahead of the conversion of Silver Cloud – a crossover vessel which encapsulates the union of ultra-luxury and go-anywhere adventure – Silversea added Bangladesh to its extending list of destinations – a world-first.
The latest destination to be announced by Silversea is the Philippines; here, guests will have a chance to snorkel with whale sharks, visit rice terraces, and explore the country’s landscapes in a jeep. Guests of Silversea can expect plenty of new, unique destinations to come.
At the end of 2015, Silversea launched the Shackleton expedition collection, which was built around the sailing routes taken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team. Now, providing guests with access to the path less traveled, Silversea announces nine new itineraries that will form the Explorer’s Collection. Following the routes of famous historical expeditions, these nine cruises will include special onboard lectures from historians, archeologists, and VIP speakers from the Royal Geographical Society; a collection of documentation, which is on loan from the same source; exclusively crafted menus; and various onshore activities to sites of historic interest.
Each Silversea journey carries an expedition team of trained experts that aim to enrich the travel experience for guests. They share insights on local culture, history, ornithology, marine biology and numerous other topics.
This article originally appeared on www.travelagentcentral.com.
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