by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:06 AM ET, Mon September 21, 2015
Photo courtesy of Silversea Cruises
Capitalizing on the growing trend of polar cruising, Silversea Cruises announced last week that it would be reinforcing one of its ships in order to sail in the icier regions of the world.
Silversea will be converting the Silver Cloud cruise ship-carried 296-passengers-into an ice-class expedition ship when it goes into port for extensive refurbishment in August 2017. During the construction, the ship's capacity will be reduced to 260 passengers overall and just 200 when visiting polar regions.
In addition to the changes for passengers, the Silver Cloud will also be equipped with 18 Zodiac boats to assist passengers who are looking to make landfall in remote locations without a traditional port.
Silversea officials believe the ship should be completed and back in service by November 2017. In a statement, Silversea CEO Enzo Visone commented on the announcement:
"Silver Explorer's polar expedition cruises have proven hugely popular with our guests. 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, places that are best explored by small ships specially equipped with ice-strengthened hulls."
This will not be Silversea's first venture into sailing in the Arctic and around Antarctica, though, as the company already boasts three smaller expedition ships, including the 132-passenger Silver Explorer.
In addition to exploring the remote regions of the world, passengers will still be traveling in the lap of luxury, with the company announcing the ship will have the highest staff- and space-to-passenger ratios of any luxury ice-class expedition vessel.
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