THIS week Silversea gathered industry members and media together to formally introduce Australia to the latest installment in its expedition sector, Silver Galapagos. The event was hosted by Silversea president of Europe and Asia Pacific, Steve Odell, who told attendees that the region is “thriving”. Discussing the company’s expedition sector,...
THIS week Silversea gathered industry
members and media together to formally
introduce Australia to the latest installment in
its expedition sector, Silver Galapagos.
The event was hosted by Silversea president
of Europe and Asia Pacific, Steve Odell, who
told attendees that the region is “thriving”.
Discussing the company’s expedition sector,
Odell revealed that Australia is the second
largest market for Silversea’s luxury adventure
cruises, with around 20% of guests for its Silver
Explorer product being Australian.
Addressing its Galapagos foray, which will
kick off in late Sep 2013, Odell said “The
Galapagos Islands is a part of the world where
there wasn’t a luxury product”.
“Silver Galapagos will bring a whole different
dimension to travel in the Galapagos,” he added.
Silver Galapagos was acquired by the company
around six months ago and after a major refit
to bring it up to Silversea standards, she will
launch next Sep as a “fully fledged Silversea ship”.
Boasting capacity for 100 passengers and all
the Silversea trimmings such as wetsuits for
guests (the water temp in the Galapagos tends
to err on the cold side) and kayaks, Silver
Galapagos will run two seven-day itineraries
around the Islands year round.
The voyages include a Western Itinerary:
sailing roundtrip from Baltra Island and taking
in Santiago, Bartolomé, Isabela, Fernandina,
Floreana, San Cristóbal, and Santa Cruz; as well
as a North Central Itinerary: which departs
roundtrip from Baltra Island, and travels to
Santa Cruz, Genovesa, Seymour Norte, San
Cristóbal, Española, and Plazas Sur.
As for the adventures to be had, Odell said,
“As much of the expedition will be underneath
the water as it will be on land”.
“We try to cover everything and there’s really
an incredible experience waiting for people
who want this type of adventure,” he added.
Fares for the sailings start at $6,050pp/ts.
MEANWHILE this week, the company
released its 2014 brochure which features
voyages up until the end of 2014.
“We plan a long way ahead, and that is very
important in this market, because Australians are
the earliest bookers of our business,” Odell said.
The brochure features over 200 sailings,
visiting more than 500 destinations on seven
continents (covering the Mediterranean,
Northern Europe, Baltics, Asia, Africa, India,
Alaska, Australia, NZ, South Pacific, South
America, the Caribbean and the Panama Canal,
Canada, New England, Antarctica, Galapagos,
and Russia) and includes highlights such as the
debut of Myanmar as a port of call.
“Myanmar is an area which we’ve identified
that in the next 3-5 years will be a big
destination for luxury cruising” said Odell.
“The challenge for Myanmar at the moment
is that there is a lot of interest but not a lot of
infrastructure such as hotels, so getting around
is not that simple, so we believe Myanmar is a
big opportunity for our business,” he added.
The brochure also features a Fare Guarentee
Program which rewards guests for early bookings;
and offers 10% savings on extended voyages
where guests
combine two or more
consecutive voyages.
Pictured right at
the Galapagos
event is Steve Odell
with Karen
Christensen, gm
and director sales/
marketing
Australasia.
