Silversea Cruises has launched a dramatically redesigned website (www.silversea.com). With special effects designed to capture the essence of luxury travel, the site opens to a muted-silver seascape that comes alive when colorful animated photography fades in and out — as if being revealed by a curtain drawing across a stage. From there, images by award-winning photographer Dana Neibert further reinforce the Silversea brand image by creating an ambiance of style and sophistication that is carried throughout the site.

“We’ve gone beyond our goal of making the new website more intuitive and user-friendly,” said Linda Schultes, Silversea’s vice president of worldwide marketing. “Travel often lets us live out our dreams, so we added a few dramatic touches to the website experience. The new design provides an elegant stage where you can indulge your imagination, while enjoying easy access to detailed information that will help in planning your journey.”

Visitors can readily navigate the new site by clicking on tabs that offer information on destinations, ships, services, programs, special offers and more. New animated itinerary maps are complemented by up-to-date port descriptions supplied by Fodor’s Travel, one of the world’s leading providers of travel information. And a new interactive deck plan tool enables visitors to view ship details, images, three-dimensional suite diagrams and 360-degree virtual tours.

Additionally, a new Google custom search feature has been added to improve accuracy of keyword searches on the site, plus social media share options now appear on each page, enabling visitors to share content on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other popular sites.

The redesigned Silversea Expeditions microsite (www.silversea.com/expeditions) displays a distinct look and feel unique to the expedition brand. Exciting new images and videos of the Prince Albert II in Antarctica, the Arctic, Central and South America offer visitors a glimpse into the amazing world of expedition cruising. Other improvements include an enhanced Voyage Journal section located on the home page, expanded Expedition Team section with profiles and schedules, and the debut of the Silversea Expeditions Blog, providing regularly updated news, commentary and expedition highlights.

Reflecting Silversea’s global appeal, the new website displays the appropriate country-specific version of the site based on the currency of the visitor’s geographic location. In the coming months, the site will also launch content written in German and Spanish.