SILVERSEA Cruises’ Darwin to Darwin itinerary, departing from 23 Jun 2023, is selling extremely well, the cruise line’s Director of Sales Australia & New Zealand Steve Richards told CW.
The latest Kimberley brochure offers both a Darwin to Darwin and Darwin to Fremantle itinerary, in addition to the traditional port of Broome.
“Darwin is just a better port to embark and disembark from…you’ve got more infrastructure there, you’ve got easier connections into the city, you get more pre- and post tour- options,” Richards explained.
The fact Silversea is the only cruise line offering the Darwin-Darwin itinerary has been a boon, with the journey already almost sold out, despite being released earlier this week (CW 15 Sep).
Darwin’s greater potential as both a pre- or post- land program destination meant the NT capital was likely to trend going forward, Richards believes.
“You’ve got Kakadu, you’ve got Katherine George, Litchfield, all the national parks, but then you’ve got The Ghan as well, connecting you down to the Red Centre and then down to Adelaide,” he said.
Not only is the Darwin-Darwin itinerary selling well, but 75% of Silversea’s Kimberley sailings for next year are already sold out – a positive surprise, given the potential for the return of international travel in 2022.
Silversea’s booking rates for next year are a healthy fifty-fifty between domestic and international, Richards revealed, largely due to the uncertainty of what int’l travel will look like.
“We’ve seen more popularity of wanting the latter half of the season, we’ve got a Med season going deep into Nov, which is normally not a traditional time to cruise the Med, and we see people have more confidence that they’ll be able to get there.
“We’ve got more options internationally in ’23 than we do domestically, because we’re still waiting to see whether we get final approval on the summer.
“Everyone is optimistic the Kimberley season will definitely take place compared to the last two seasons.”
Also selling well is Silversea’s 2023/2024 program, highlighted by Silver Whisper, as well as Silver Explorer, which will farewell the Kimberley (CW 28 Jul).
“Whisper is a ship that hasn’t cruised in that region…she’s come through on the World Cruise, but never stayed, so she’s quite attractive to some of our Silversea loyalists,” Richards said.