Silversea Cruises has added three new Antarctica Bridge sailings

The move comes in response to a recent uptick in demand for the luxury line’s fly-cruise offering. 

 

Adding to Silversea’s existing Antarctica Bridge offering for 2022 and 2023, the line has added two new five-day expedition voyages aboard Silver Cloud, departing 2 and 7 February 2024, and a six-day sailing departing 12 February 2024.

 

After arriving at Chile’s Eduardo Frei Montalva air base on King George Island, Silver Cloud’s guests will spend the same amount of time exploring Antarctica as on the cruise line’s conventional itineraries. They will journey to destinations such as Antarctic Sound, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

"In response to exceptional demand, we have added three new fly-cruise voyages aboard Silver Cloud for 2024, enhancing our industry-leading Antarctica offering and strengthening our destination leadership," said Roberto Martinoli, Silversea’s president and chief executive.

 

"We offer guests the luxury of choice, with the most diverse offering in ultra-luxury Antarctica cruising."

RCCL presidents tackle over-tourism, luxury, female leadership

Editor in chief Arnie Weissmann, far left, and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. CEO Richard Fain, far right, moderated a panel of RCCL presidents, seated: Mark Conroy of Silversea, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo of Celebrity and Larry PImentel of Azamara.

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Cruise line presidents from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brands took on the subject of over-tourism, the evolution of luxury cruising and female leadership during a panel at CruiseWorld.

Regarding over-tourism, they said that in the general travel industry, cruise lines are a small part of the phenomenon -- but a highly visible one.

"Our reality is, perception rules," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president of Celebrity Cruises. "There are these big white ships pulling in and it's a lot of people at once."

Larry Pimentel, president of Azamara, said that 25 years ago there were only 1.4 million outbound travellers from China; today there are 150 million. "India is also coming," he said. "By no means is this only a cruise issue; it is an industry issue."

And Mark Conroy, managing director of the Americas, for Silversea Cruises, said that overreacting to over-tourism could be overly damaging to some local residents in destinations such as Venice.

"Tourism is the largest employer in the world overall," Conroy said. You can't just shut it down. If you banned all tourism into Venice, there'd be a big unemployment problem there."

Silversea redefining expedition cruising

Conroy said that 10 years ago when he was working for a rival company he thought that Silversea chairman Manfredi Lefebvre was crazy to bolt an expedition arm onto a luxury brand.

"I thought he'd lost his mind until I saw the per diems from the expedition business," Conroy said.

Silversea, as a top-tier luxury brand, also brought a different concept to what was then more of a rustic product. At that time, Conroy recalled, "You had to sacrifice your lifestyle to go on an expedition."

But when Silversea renovated its two oldest ships, the Silver Cloud and Silver Wind, it decided to transform them into expedition vessels but with the space and amenities of a luxury ship.

Conroy said that one of the unintended consequences was that the larger ship had faster speeds than most expedition ships.

"We can cross the Drake Passage [to Antarctica] in 28 hours instead of two days," Conroy said

In defining the "luxury" appeal of his Azamara brand, Pimentel said that value plays a bigger part than in traditional luxury brands. As a department store, Azamara would compare to Nordstrom, he said.

"We're not Saks Fifth Avenue." As a car, we would be more like a Lexus."

A woman in charge

The panel followed the CEO Conversation between Royal Caribbean Chairman Ltd. chairman and CEO Richard Fain and editor in chief Arnie Weissmann, and Fain returned to the stage to co-moderate the panel of presidents.

Lutoff-Perlo, who was named the president of Celebrity five years ago, and Fain asked her what was is like to be one of the few women to run a cruise line. She said at first, she took it for granted.

"When I was appointed I didn't think about my gender at all," she said. "But then when I was appointed, to the rest of the world apparently it is a really big deal.

"The great part is the part I can do to pay it forward" to other females in the industry, she said. 

A tale of two cruise lines

A tale of two cruise lines

Two European businessmen created two different cruise lines in the 1990s. Both have been successful in their own terms, but one formula for success has a lot more scale than the other one.

The two lines are Silversea Cruises and MSC Cruises. Silversea was formed in 1994 by building two new ships straight out of the gate for the luxury market. It was marketed primarily, if not exclusively, in North America.

MSC took a different route. Created from the leftovers of the Lauro Lines in 1995, MSC operated used, some would say very used, tonnage. Like Carnival Cruise Line, it deployed its older ships to cater to the mass market. It was marketed primarily to Europeans, with a few winter itineraries in the Caribbean.

Silversea's first newly built ship, the Silver Cloud, was a thing of beauty. It was instantly competitive with other luxury vessels.

MSC's first newly built ship didn't arrive until a decade after the Silver Cloud was delivered and it was a takeover of an option that couldn't be exercised by the Greek line Festival Cruises when it went into bankruptcy.

Since launching, Silversea has acquired a fleet of nine ships, with two more vessels on order.

With the delivery of the MSC Seaview, MSC has 15 ships in its fleet, with another nine on order through 2026.

Last week, Silversea and Royal Caribbean announced an agreement in which Royal will get a 67% equity stake for $1 billion. Silversea gives up its autonomy as a private company in exchange for continued growth and investment in its brand.

MSC is investing in its own future with a $10.5 billion newbuild program, and its autonomy is not in doubt.

MSC took a slower, less glamorous route to success but in the end, it is the company that stands independent.

Two major differences steered MSC and Silversea towards different outcomes. The first is that MSC Cruises was a side project for MSC chairman Gianluigi Aponte, whose main business, container shipping, made it easier to secure the financing that kept MSC's order book growing.

The second is that MSC operates in the low-price, high-profit segment of the cruise business. Catering to the mass market may not be where the glamour is, but it is where the money is. The finances of both MSC and Silversea are private, so it is perhaps unfair to say one is more profitable than the other.

Yet there's no doubt about the economies of scale that big ships produce, and the comments of executives at public companies that operate in both segments suggest that while luxury produces higher per-diems, big ships produce a more overall profit.

Three Inaugural Calls for Dover in May

The Port of Dover saw three first-time cruise calls in May, highlighted by the Viking Sun and also including the Deutschland and Zenith. 

The ships were greeted in true Dover Cruise style with a water salute from Dover Tugs Doughty and Dauntless, the port said.

In addition, the first bank holiday weekend saw the historic Western Docks at full capacity for the first time since 2016 with three cruise ships berthed together.

There was also a call from the expedition vessel, the Silver Cloud. The ship's guests enjoyed a unique kayaking experience to view the iconic White Cliffs up close.

Holland America Line's Prinsendam arrived in port on the Royal Wedding day on Saturday, May 19 to a celebratory great British Street Party in Cruise Terminal Two.

"Complimentary tempting food and drink were provided along with musical entertainment from the talented Nick Bosworth on piano and keyboard. Life-size cardboard figures of the Royal Family were positioned in the terminal where guests enjoyed taking selfies with them creating unique holiday memories. It was marvellous to see the affection passengers from all over the world have for our Royal Family," the port said.

Silversea Adds Free Wi-Fi

Starting with voyages sailing in April 2018, all guests on Silversea ships will get free unlimited Wi-Fi access.

Since January 2016, guests have enjoyed at least one hour of free Wi-Fi per day, the company said.

The new policy will provide each guest booked in standard suites with free unlimited standard internet access. Guests staying in larger suites (from Silver suites to the Owner's suites) will enjoy free unlimited premium internet access for up to two devices simultaneously per guest. Unlimited premium internet access is also available to purchase for guests wishing to upgrade.

"We know how important it is to catch up on emails or share photos on social media while on vacation," said Barbara Muckermann, Silversea's chief marketing officer. "Now, with free unlimited Wi-Fi in all suites, our guests can stay as connected as they like while they voyage to the most fascinating places on Earth."

Silversea optimistic about further expansion

The 596-passenger Silver Muse, delivered on April 3 by the Fincantieri shipyard, has eight restaurants but no main dining room.

ABOARD THE SILVER MUSE -- In a news conference aboard Silversea Cruises' first new luxury vessel in eight years, company chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d'Olvidio sounded optimistic that the 596-passenger Silver Muse would eventually be joined by one or more sister ships, to reach an eventual goal of a 12-ship fleet.

"What is a fact is that we have three options for three identical ships, at incredibly good terms," Lefebvre said.

He said the options are for ships to be delivered in 2020, 2021 and 2023. He also said that puts Silversea in a good position, given the recent flood of ship orders that has created a backlog at shipyards.

"Now company policy is we announce things when we do them. When we say we're going to build a ship, it's going to happen," Lefebvre said. He did not have any announcements about exercising the options.

The company's next project after taking delivery of the Silver Muse is the conversion of its first ship, Silver Cloud, to do expedition cruising, including trips to Antarctica.

Lefebvre said the company has earmarked $170 million for upgrading its fleet. "If it's necessary to do more, we'll do more. If it's not necessary, we will not. But we have a goal. We will proceed immediately with the Cloud. Hopefully another ship will be announced soon to have a massive refurbishment and renovation," he said.

The 596-passenger Muse, delivered on April 3 by the Fincantieri shipyard, has eight restaurants but no main dining room.

"This ship for us sets a new standard. And, of course, it gives me the problem now that I will have to invest more money in the rest of the fleet," Lefebvre said.

Silversea plans a global brand campaign starting this summer, related to some product announcements, chief marketing officer Barbara Muckermann said.

Muckermann told a group of agents on the ship in a presentation that Silversea's target market are baby boomers, and that most of the millennial generation has yet to build the wealth needed to cruise on Silversea.

Lefebvre said that travel agents will play a key role in Silversea's eventual growth to 12 ships, telling them,"If you help me fill this ship, I will build three more of these."

Ranking cruise lines' Rio efforts

Norwegian Getaway in Rio

By Tom Stieghorst 

Three cruise companies made the Rio Olympic Games part of their 2016 strategy, so in the spirit of the competition, it seems only fitting to award them medals for their efforts.

Bronze

Royal Caribbean International is using the Rio games to revive its "Come Seek" TV advertising, which debuted last fall. The choice associates Royal with the international flavor of the Olympics, plus links it with popular athletes such as Michael Phelps and Simone Biles.

Advertisers like Royal spent $1.2 billion on the Olympics, but so far television ratings are down 15.5% from the 2012 games in London, averaging 27.9 million viewers through the first nine nights.

Still, I thought one video was particularly effective. Titled "We Play Games Too," it shows an aquatic performer on one of Royal's Oasis-class ships doing a handstand on a diving platform before plunging into what seems like a pool the size of a postage stamp. The ad effectively showcases something that none of Royal's competitors can duplicate.

Silver

Silversea Cruises, aptly enough, wins the silver for chartering the Silver Cloud as a floating hotel for the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams. The charter earned Silversea a boatload of free publicity, including a front-page article in the New York Times.

Sports channels and outlets also picked up on an extended monologue by USA team coach Mike Krzyzewski about staying on the ship, although Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler could have shown a little more enthusiasm.

"I just do what I'm told," Butler said. "I'm told to sleep on a boat, so I sleep on a boat."

Gold

While Silversea hosted athletes, Norwegian Cruise Line chartered its Norwegian Getaway for use by sports bureaucrats, including members of the International Olympic Federation, the National Organizing Committees, the Rio Host Committee as well as corporate sponsors.

While not as productive on the publicity front, it gave high-ranking influencers from dozens of countries exposure to a cruise ship, and Norwegian in particular, that they might not otherwise have.

Norwegian gained another backhanded benefit. By chartering the Getaway, it removed the 4,000-passenger ship for 40 days from the Miami/Caribbean market, which "helped alleviate some of the pricing pressure" caused by having two big ships in the Miami market during the summer, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank del Rio said.
Norwegian couldn't have anticipated that effect when it started charter plans for the Rio games nine years ago, but good luck often plays a role in Olympic wins, as it did for Norwegian here.

A checklist of ocean and river cruising trends

I think midsummer, pre-election, is a good time to examine a few major trends we're seeing in ocean and river cruising, though I'm going to concentrate on the upper ends of these markets.

The cruise market is growing at about 4% a year, despite some nasty weather, Zika concerns and the growing fear of terrorism. CLIA predicts that more than 24.2 million people will take an ocean cruise this year. The biggest one-year projected gains have been in Asia, which is up 24%, and Australia, up 14%. 

As recently as 2010, China's cruise market was still on the drawing board. Cruises in China tend to be sold as complete packages by middlemen who normally charter an entire ship or large portions of an available sailing.

Carnival Cruise Line will have six ships in China this year, and Princess has a new Chinese market subsidiary. Royal Caribbean has taken the biggest risk, placing the 4,905-guest Quantum of the Seas there, and Norwegian Cruise Line is building a ship specifically for the Chinese market. 

The big question is how appropriate are these "Chinese-designed" cruises for the American traveler? To what extent will Mr. and Mrs. Mainstreet feel truly comfortable on a cruise designed for Chinese tourists? 

In the meantime, I'm betting that luxury adventure cruising is poised to become this year's industry growth leader. A 2013 report from the World Tourism Organization placed the value of the adventure market at more than $265 billion. If this is accurate, it means that expedition cruising has enjoyed a 24-month growth rate of something like 195%, a staggering figure. Get ready for the advent of the adventure yacht boom. Here are some of the key players in this growth:

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic went public last year and promptly ordered two 100-passenger vessels for U.S. coastal voyages. It also bought Via Australis and will place several of its ships in the Galapagos after major refurbishments. 

Lindblad, which invented nonscientific expeditions to Antarctica 50 years ago, operates six vessels carrying between 28 and 148 passengers. Instead of casinos and lounge acts, its cruises are likely to include top-tier naturalists, undersea experts, historians and expedition leaders, plus a National Geographic photo instructor or photographer to ensure Pinterest-perfect photos. Lindblad has started including organic food sourcing whenever possible. But, alas, there is no bingo. 

Crystal Cruises will be taking delivery of a polar-class, 200-passenger megayacht, the Crystal Endeavor, in August 2018. At 600 feet long and 25,000 gross tons, it will be the world's "largest and most spacious" megayacht, capable of handling travel within polar regions. In its first season, it will follow migrating whales from the Arctic to Antarctica. 

To offer guests the ability to truly explore some of the world's most remote destinations, the Endeavor will carry equipment not previously seen on a luxury adventure vessel. These will include two helicopters to take guests for flyovers, two seven-person submarines for deep-sea dives to view underwater glaciers and coral reefs, an all-terrain vehicle, a fleet of personal watercraft and even a recompression chamber for serious scuba divers. 

Silversea has been credited with leading the growth trajectory of luxury adventure cruising. It began with the Silver Explorer in 2007, and the line is now converting a five-star luxury ship, the 296-guest Silver Cloud, into a polar-class vessel. The goal is to offer guests a chance to explore some of the more extreme destinations on Earth with a one-to-one staff ratio and five restaurants onboard.

In 2017, the line will take delivery of the 596-guest Silver Muse, which is expected to have the industry's best staff-to-guest ratio. In many ways, the line is redefining the way luxury travelers explore remote corners of the globe, with the assurance that a well-stocked wine cellar awaits them when they return to their ship.

Seabourn is approaching five-star adventure cruising with a different emphasis, having designed itineraries that highlight spots in the world high on every adventure traveler's list, including Patagonia, Antarctica and the Amazon. Seabourn is getting two new ships: the Encore later this year and the Ovation in 2018. With these newbuilds, Seabourn has decided to up the passenger count from 450 on its current Odyssey class ships to 604.

Scenic, the upstart Australian luxury tour and cruise company, is launching what it calls "the world's first discovery yacht" in August 2018. It will sail to the Mediterranean, Antarctica and the Arctic, which you would expect of a self-described "six-star" vessel whose smallest suites have a butler and a veranda and measure 345 square feet. Even more spacious will be a two-bedroom penthouse suite, at 1,775 square feet.

While it might sound like the routes through the ice in Antarctica will get rather crowded in the next several years, Scenic is also placing its "most technologically advanced yacht in the world" closer to home, with a series of cruises in the Americas that include two 14-day circumnavigations of Cuba from Miami. 

River cruising on the Mekong River is increasingly seen as a sexy alternative to traditional river cruising.

The Amazon has the world's greatest biodiversity, but the Mekong River is second, with more than 1,300 known species of fish along its 3,050-mile path through Southeast Asia. The Mekong is the next hot destination, and travelers will discover that the vessels deployed on this route are built locally and represent the highest levels of shipbuilding craft, with dark wood floors and original furnishing. AmaWaterways, Abercrombie & Kent and Aqua Expeditions are leaders in this market. 

It has been said that if you want to vacation in style with good food, just figure out where the French are going these days. But Americans have another option. They can sail with the French to all seven continents on the laid-back, luxury French line Ponant. 

The original Le Ponant still sails as a 64-guest cruise ship. But its four sisters, Le Boreal, Le Soleal, L'Austral and Le Lyrial, now form the bulk of the fleet. Ranging from 224 to 264 guests, they feature not only French style but ice-hardened hulls for polar exploration. Each of the vessels has several lounges, a theater, library and a pool. Ponant's ships are heavily utilized by Tauck Tours' escorted sailing itineraries.

In the meantime, river vessels have evolved to embrace luxury. There was a time when a ship sailing any of Europe's major rivers was filled with 120-square-foot cabins, close to the mandated size of a prison cell in many states. But things are changing. 

Since river ships must be less than 443 feet long to fit through locks and there are strict limitations on height because of low bridges, cruise lines have to get creative with cabin design. 

Uniworld has a simple little switch that raises window glass to form an open-air solarium. Scenic Cruises has a "sun lounge," a balcony surrounded by glass that can be easily opened to the river. 

AmaWaterways has one-upped its competitors by designing twin balcony suites consisting of both a French balcony and a true balcony. 

But perhaps the smartest and simplest innovation is that of Avalon's panoramic suites, which constitute a majority of its cabins. Avalon has managed to turn the beds around so they face the window. A glass wall opens so guests get a sense of floating on the river from the comfort of their beds.

Seabourn added Penthouse Spa Suites on the Quest, and they will be added to the line's other ships this year. Just one deck above the ship's spa facilities, each of the suites is a bedroom with a sitting area, and they are decorated to match the spa below. They will feature specially designed, oversize showers, spa bath amenities and a soundtrack of soothing spa-influenced music. 

Crystal is taking a different approach to health and wellness. The Serenity came out of drydock with 70 remodeled cabins that are cleaned using hypoallergenic products. Each cabin is also equipped with special air filters. The hotel industry has flirted with this "cleaned more proactively than our regular rooms" concept and decided to abandon it. It remains to be seen if Crystal will find an audience for environmentally treated cabins.

US Basketball Teams Opt for Luxury Cruise Ship Over Olympic Village

Team USA's men's and women's basketball stars will be living a life of luxury during this month's 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

While many American athletes will be staying at the oft-criticized Olympic Village this summer, America's best ballers will be laying their heads inside of Silversea Cruises' Silver Cloud cruise ship.

The Chicago Tribune reported the players arrived on the 296-guest ship Wednesday. 

The Silver Cloud, which is the oldest ship in Silversea's main fleet, is anchored at Rio's Pier Maua in the Guanabara Bay. 

Inside the ship, highlights include generous-sized beds (ideal for basketball players), a spa, a pool, multiple dining options and even a cigar lounge.

Outside, security will be extremely tight. According to the Daily Mail, there's only one entrance to the ship and it will be manned by security equipped with a scanner. Bulletproof glass will surround the ship and police boats will patrol the nearby waters. 

READ MORE: Norwegian Getaway to Become Floating Hotel for 2016 Olympics in Rio

The reason for booking the Silver Cloud is simple, according to USA Basketball spokesman Craig Miller, who told the Associated Press earlier this year that "we don't stay in the village because we don't feel it's the best way to prepare for competition."

"The players have a long professional season, and they want to spend as much time as possible with family and friends," added Miller.

While staying outside of the Olympic Village is nothing new for USA Basketball — the last time being the 1988 Summer Games — this summer will be the first time in 12 years that the teams have stayed on a cruise ship.

The teams stayed on the Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Silversea ship to join its expedition fleet

The Silver Cloud will be converted into an ice-class ship.

Silversea Cruises said it will shift its Silver Cloud vessel to expedition itineraries starting in November 2017.

The 296-passenger Silver Cloud will be converted into an ice-class ship during an extensive refurbishment scheduled to start in August 2017.

Silversea is scheduled to take delivery of a new ship, the 596-passenger Silver Muse, for its luxury fleet in April 2017. 

The Silver Cloud, which entered service in 1994, is Silversea’s oldest ship. After conversion to an expedition ship, it will carry 260 passengers at double occupancy, and will be limited to 200 in polar regions. It will still be three times as large as the biggest expedition ship now in Silversea’s fleet.

Silversea currently has three ships in expedition service and five in luxury service.