Silversea 2013 Itineraries Announced…and The World Cruise is Back!

Silversea has announced its 2013 itineraries and some of the highlights.  At the outset, there are a few worth mentioning:  The World Cruise is back; and, Silversea is continuing with its combining an “all inclusive” product with additional onboard credits.

The 115 Day World Cruise will be on the Silver Whisper, departing from Los Angeles and ending in Fort Lauderdale.  It is both good and interesting for the North American market, but more on that in a minute.  This voyage will visit 28 countries and 52 ports starting out with a beeline to French Polynesia, then on to New Zealand and Australia before heading along Australia’s western coast to Southeast Asia (including Borneo, Viet Nam, Thailand and Indonesia),  and then on to India,  East Africa (including Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa) and then up the West Coast of Africa (Nambia, Gambia, etc.) before heading transatlantic to the Caribbean and then ending in Fort Lauderdale.  It is a great itinerary (save one leg in the middle which is many sea days…but that is simply unavoidable) and definitely worth considering.

BTW, Silversea is offering a 16 day pre-cruise extension allowing you to sale roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, a 3 day post-cruise extension allowing you to sail directly to New York and a 15 day post-cruise extension allowing you to sail to Southampton.

If you can say only one thing, it is that Silversea has put a great deal of thought into this itinerary as well as the demographics of its probable World Cruise guests!  (OK, it is two things, but they are intertwined.)  Hint:  It is set up to be very easy for North American guests…and not so bad for those from the UK.

I do not have pricing on this as of yet, but if you are interested, please call or email me and I will get it for you.

The other interesting aspect of Silversea’s 2013 approach is that it is continuing its “Onboard Spending Credits” as follows:

6-7 Days – $500 per suite
8-21 Days – $1,000 per suite
22+ Days – 41,500 per suite

Personally, I would like to see those amounts taken off the cruise fare, but I understand that there is a good portion of the market that thinks they are getting something free, when they are actually paying for it 120 days prior to their cruise and then getting it back when they are onboard…and then are faced with having to spend it, when otherwise they might not.  (It is a small point, but one worth considering.)


I have also taken a quick look at some of the itineraries and there are quite a few creative ones.  Luxury in Alaska, a few trips to Iceland, Japan and China, roundtrip Singapore, and more.

As you know, I call it as I see it and I am liking what I am seeing!