Silver Cloud to Join Silversea’s Expedition Fleet

Silversea Cruises has unveiled plans to move Silver Cloud to its luxury expedition fleet in November 2017.

Destined mostly for polar waters, the 296-guest ship will be converted into an ice-class ship during an extensive refurbishment scheduled to start in August 2017.

As an expedition ship, the all-suite Silver Cloud will be able to accommodate 260 guests and also sail on itineraries to non-polar regions. When sailing Arctic and Antarctic itineraries however, the guest complement will be restricted to 200.

Silversea is a member of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), and adheres to each organisation's guidelines to ensure sustainable tourism. Those guidelines include such measures as limiting the number of guests going ashore in certain areas of the Arctic, and allowing for a broader range of Antarctic landing sites for expedition ships with no more than 200 guests.

"Silver Explorer's polar expedition cruises have proven hugely popular with our guests," said Karen Christensen, Silversea's General Manager and Director Sales/Marketing for Australasia. "By converting Silver Cloud into an ice-class ship for our expedition fleet, we will be better positioned to meet the increasing demand for comfortable adventure travel, particularly to the Arctic and Antarctica, destinations that are best explored by small ships specially equipped with ice-strengthened hulls."

Silver Cloudwill be the only luxury ice-class expedition ship offering five dining options: The Dining Room, the Relais & Châteaux restaurant, La Terrazza, The Grill, and in-suite dining.

The ship will also have the highest space ratio and highest staff-to-guest ratio (nearly one to one) among luxury ice-class expedition ships. For the expedition team alone, there will be on average one team member guiding no more than twelve guests each. Plus the ship will be augmented by a fleet of 18 Zodiac crafts for up-close explorations.

The luxury expedition line currently has three all-suite expedition ships, Silver Explorer, Silver Discoverer, and Silver Galapagos. Collectively, they explore over 500 far-flung destinations, from Africa, Australia's Kimberley Coast, and the Russian Far East, to the Galápagos Islands, the British Isles, and the polar realms.