The luxury cruise line, Silversea, is set for a “tremendous” increase its capacity by 2024, up by 56% from 2020 levels.
It launched Silver Moon and Silver Origin in June 2021 and will christen its third Muse-class ship, Silver Dawn (pictured), this week.
The line has two additional ships on order: Silver Nova, which is scheduled to welcome guests in 2023, and a Nova-class sister ship set to start sailing in 2024.
It has also “stretched” existing ship Silver Shadow, meaning the line will have 5,256 berths (beds) by 2024 – up from 3,372 in 2020.
Roberto Martinoli, Silversea’s chief executive, said: “There is a tremendous increase in our capacity which is great to see.
“When you look at that [period] between 2020 and 2024, we will have a 56% increase in capacity for Silversea.
“When you look at the global market share, we will move from 20% to 31% which means that by 2024, [considering] the confirmed ship orders, we will have almost one in three passengers [in] the ultra-luxury segment.”
Speaking during a business update for media and members of the travel trade on board Silver Dawn, Martinoli confirmed all ships will be back in service by June 2022.
Silversea’s world cruises for 2023 and 2024 are “almost sold out”, he said, and the line is now “working on 2025”.
Chief commercial officer Barbara Muckermann added: “Despite a very complex context, bookings are incredibly strong. We’re seeing amazing, record-breaking booking days so the demand is there.”
Martinoli thanked Silversea’s parent company Royal Caribbean Group and its chief executive Richard Fain for supporting the line in its ambitious growth plans and helping its agent partners through the pandemic.
“When Royal Caribbean Group acquired Silversea [in 2018], they definitely wanted us to increase our market share,” he said.
“They’ve given us incredible financial and operational support. Richard has been the one who was helping us and pushing us to put programmes in place to help the trade.
“We cannot exist without trade. It was instrumental to make the decision to have plans like protecting commission and giving loans to whoever needed it and we are very grateful to him that he helped us with that.
“He gave us the ability to transition these difficult times together.”
Muckermann encouraged agents to book clients as far in advance as possible to guarantee the best rates.
“Our pricing will always increase so every couple of months the price will go up,” she said.
“Get your customers to book early. We book up to two years [out], almost three in some destinations.”
For new-to-cruise clients or those coming from a lower-priced line, she recommended agents offer the line’s port-to-port option, which features the same onboard experiences and one shore excursion per port without the pre and post offering.
“As such it is on average 25% less expensive than the door-to-door [option],” she said.
“This is the perfect fare if you have guests that are maybe more value conscious or want to move to ultra-luxury for the first time.”