FTB38: An Ocean to Explore Silversea

ISSUE 38 SUMMER 2013

bridge from the

Glimpse of silver

Luxury and adventure on Silver Discoverer

Wind in the sails

Windstar sets its sights on a fleet expansion

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Celebrate the performing arts on Radiance of the Seas PRESENTED WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF:

Itineraries will visit Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, home to Vilyuchinsk Volcano

Ocean

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The immense Pacific Ocean and its bewildering array of cultures and biodiversity took centuries for modern man to explore. Today, that exploration continues in once unheard-of comfort and luxury.

Welcome aboard Silver Discoverer.

WORDS: RODERICK EIME

8 SUMMER 2013

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ounded in the early ’90s, Silversea can trace its heritage back to the founders of the famous Sitmar cruise line that was eventually absorbed by P&O in 1988. Despite many sceptical predictions, Silversea prospered with its fleet of smaller, luxurious vessels offering a substantially higher level of personal service.

With the imminent launch of Silver Discoverer, the fleet will soon comprise eight vessels across its Luxury and Luxury Expedition classes.

Luxury Small Ship | FROM THE BRIDGE

Silversea’s fleet now comprises eight Luxury and Luxury Expedition vessels

See Indonesian orangutans in their natural habitat

F ADVENTURE In 2007, the company made a decision to branch out from its established five-star cruise offering and expand its reputation for worldclass, exemplary service to the burgeoning expedition cruise sector. Traditionally, this market had been dominated by re-purposed, ex-Soviet workhorses and Arctic ferries.

Trusted and sturdy enough, these stalwart vessels lacked the refinements needed to meet the standards expected by Silversea’s

growing legion of repeat cruisers. Thus, after a comprehensive multi-million dollar refit, a ship called MS World Adventurer was transformed into the Silver Explorer. With the highest (1A) ice rating, she spends most of her time in the polar regions and covers some specialty destinations, such as Africa and the Pacific, during the seasonal reposition.

Similarly, the original 100-guest Renaissance Three, built in 1990, has recently emerged

as Silver Galapagos and is ready to operate year-round in the ‘enchanted islands’, made famous by the likes of Charles Darwin and Sir David Attenborough.

Clearly, Silversea struck a chord with their discerning and loyal Venetian Society repeat cruisers and, beginning in 2014, a third expedition vessel will join the multi-awardwinning fleet considered by many to be one of the world’s best luxury cruise lines. >

SUMMER 2013 9

Beautiful Yankicha Island in the Kuril Islands, Japan

Starting its life in 1989 and most recently operating as the much-admired Clipper Odyssey, another extensive refit and makeover will transform this perfectly suited vessel into an exceptional ship befitting the Silversea brand.

To be christened Silver Discoverer in March 2014, the 103-metre vessel will accommodate 128 guests, served by 87 officers and crew.

Shipboard accommodations offer luxury levels rare in expedition cruising. Suites ranging in size from 17 to 40 square metres offer butler service, champagne on request, refrigerator stocked with guests’ choice of beverages, European bath amenities, premium Pratesi bed linen with down duvet covers, iPod docking station, plush bathrobe and slippers, umbrella, hairdryer, wi-fi internet access (chargeable), flat screen television with on-demand movies, music and satellite news. Suite service also includes daily evening turndown.

Silver Discoverer’s elegant lounges and an open bar are popular gathering points, where travellers swap tales and relive the day’s highlights. Silversea’s lofty culinary standards are evident on imaginative menus in The Restaurant, featuring both regional offerings and dishes inspired by Relais & Châteaux.

Guests can relax outside on the sunny pool deck or send exciting reports home from the internet café. For those energetic souls, there’s a fitness centre, plus a beauty and massage salon for easing tired muscles, particularly attractive after an adventurous day ashore.

Silver Discoverer is an adventure ship but she doesn’t scrimp on luxury

10 SUMMER 2013

Elegant lounges and an open bar are popular gathering points, where travellers swap tales and relive the day’s highlights.

Apart from the mandatory zodiac fleet staffed by experienced guides, Silver Discoverer will extend the experience for true adventurers with a program for accredited scuba divers, ensuring maximum enrichment at some of the world’s most spectacular dive locations. Such sites as Indonesia’s little-known Alor-Pantar Strait or the famous Great Barrier Reef are just a couple of examples. Snorkelling equipment and a glassbottom boat ensure no-one misses out on the wondrous marine sights, while carefully matched lecturers on culture, history and wildlife cover every destination en route.

Silver Discoverer will be a maiden of the Pacific Ocean with a cruising territory that extends from Queensland to Indonesia, Japan, French Polynesia and even as far afield as Alaska.

Indeed, in the course of 2014 and 2015, there will be little of the great Pacific left unexplored.

Highlights of the exhaustive inaugural program include seeing Indonesian orangutans in their natural habitat, the awe-inspiring grandeur of Australia’s Kimberley, the mysterious onceforbidden Russian Far East, the rich culture of Japan and the fascinating ethnology of the people of Melanesia and Polynesia.

These jam-packed itineraries will surely keep voyagers coming back for more as their knowledge of the world’s special places grows and thirst for adventure increases with each trip.

Itineraries offer shore and aquatic highlights most days

Guests can explore on itineraries ranging from nine to 18 nights and from approximately AU$7850 to AU$16,650 per person. Calling at both ports and isolated atolls, guests visit shore and aquatic highlights almost every day. Cultural interactions, natural beauty and stunning biodiversity are hallmarks of each itinerary, ensuring immersion—often quite literally—in every opportunity.

Expedition cruising, as the old hands will tell you, means surrendering to the elements and letting the destination dictate the experience. Your luxury ship, as comfortable and pampering as only a Silversea vessel can be, is still at the beck and call of the wild.

And that’s all part of the attraction. n