“We have made the decision go grow aggressively because we believe in this segment of the market and see the opportunity grow quite dramatically in the years to come,” said Roberto Martinoli, CEO of Silversea Cruises. “Demographic trends and the demand we have seen over the past two to three years support our decision.

“In addition, we will continue to enhance our product. Royal Caribbean has given us the opportunity to carry out some significant projects. We have invested a lot in hardware upgrades and completed two major drydocks on the Silver Cloud and Whisper last December. We have been very pleased with the results in terms of passenger comment cards showing a dramatic improvement in guest satisfaction. Not that we did not receive high ratings before, but now they are even better – spectacular – and that is very, very encouraging.”

Royal Caribbean acquired a 66 percent interest in Silversea last summer and by October the luxury brand announced yard agreements to build three more ships: one expedition ship to be named the Silver Origin at De Hoop for 2020 delivery, and two 600-guest yet-unnamed ships at Meyer Werft for 2022 and 2023 deliveries.

Silversea already has two 596-guest newbuildings under contract at Fincantieri: the Silver Moon and the Silver Dawn for deliveries in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The news can nearly double the brand’s annual guest capacity from an estimated 94,999 in 2019 to more than 175,000 by 2024, according to the 2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

The Silver Origin will go the Galapagos, replacing Silver Galapagos, while the Moon and Dawn will enter Silversea’s so-called classic fleet. Martinoli said the existing Galapagos vessel will leave the fleet.

Having launched service in 1994, Silversea was the first luxury brand to branch off into the expedition market in 2008 with a dedicated vessel, the Silver Explorer. Today, its fleet consists four luxury expedition ships and five “classic” luxury ships. However, plans call for also converting the Silver Wind into an ice-class expedition ship in 2020. The sister ship, the Silver Cloud, was converted in 2017. The two are the original ships that launched the brand.

“We also have some other expedition projects, but are not ready to talk about them yet,” added Martinoli.

 “Silversea is about destination enrichment and traveling deeper,” he added. “We offer three times as many destinations as other luxury brands. We are a more international product, less American-centric with more of an international atmosphere onboard.

“We also interpret luxury differently. We are more about whispering luxury, rather than shouting luxury.”

Excerpt from Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine: Spring 2019