Five months after introducing the 596-passenger Silver Muse, Silversea Cruises has exercised an option to build a sister ship at Italy's Fincantieri shipyard for delivery in 2020. The €310 million order was finalized on Sept. 11.
Silversea Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, in a telephone interview last week, said the new ship will essentially be the "same color scheme and same configuration with a few tweaks." He also hinted that there will be a "further surprise" on the new build, to be disclosed later.
The Silver Muse has an understated, elegant décor of silvers, greys and beiges, as well as eight restaurants. The ships are all-inclusive, with fares that include all beverages, gratuities, at least one hour of wi-fi per day, butler service, 24-hour room service, in-suite bar setup and complimentary transportation into town in most ports.
The new 40,700-ton ship will be named Silver Moon-a name Lefebvre said came to him while outdoors in the Andaman Islands.
The Silver Moon will be Silversea's 10th ship-it currently has six classic luxury ships and three expedition vessels. In November, the Silver Cloud will transfer to the expedition division after a multi-million-dollar renovation into an ice-class ship.
Silversea has two more options for ship deliveries in the early 2020s. At the launch of the Silver Muse, Lefebvre told travel agents he would build more ships if they fill them.
"They are very supportive. They took my word, and I promised. We had record bookings in August," Lefebvre said. "If they book well, there's going to be a second and third option exercised."
He did say there will be a "few tweaks in the dining configuration" on the Silver Moon, such as enlarging Atlantide, the seafood and steak restaurant so it functions more like a main dining room. The menu will be expanded at the Asian fusion restaurant Indochine.
But he said the freshly made pizza served poolside at Spaccanapoli cannot be improved: "The pizzeria is fantastic."
Lefebvre said he envisions continued growth in the luxury adventure segment, which might include transferring another classic ship into the expedition division.
[READMORE]READ MORE Enriching Experiences With Silversea Expeditions[/READMORE]
"The experiment with Silver Cloud is going very well, so we're going to see how it goes," he said. "I look forward to expanding the expedition fleet alongside the expansion of the classic fleet."
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