Silversea is expanding its expedition fleet with the ultra-luxury cruise line to begin operating Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Endeavor later this year. The move was widely expected after Silversea had registered the name Silver Endeavour in the US a few weeks ago.
The fleet expansion comes after Silversea’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, received court approval to acquire Crystal Endeavor for US$275 million – significantly less than the cost to build the vessel.
Originally delivered to Crystal Cruises in 2021, the ship will be renamed Silver Endeavour when it joins Silversea Cruises’ fleet this month.
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Silver Endeavour will enter service in November 2022, replacing Silver Explorer for the 2022/2023 Antarctica season – including that ship’s Antarctica Bridge sailings.
Guests booked on those voyages will receive a dedicated communication in the next few days.
In a social media post, Silversea welcomed all former crew of Crystal Endeavor to apply for their roles aboard the rebranded vessels, saying “they will receive priority” when seeking new work.
“With Endeavour, we are seeking to grow our world-class fleet to meet the exceptional demand for ultra-luxury expedition cruising, while also enhancing our profitability profile and affirming Silversea’s position as the industry’s leading ultra-luxury and expedition cruise line,” said Jason Liberty, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.
Built to PC6 polar class specifications, the ship can operate all of Silversea’s current expedition itineraries and is designed specifically to take travellers to the world’s most remote destinations, including both polar regions.
“The expedition cruising industry is poised to resume accelerated growth driven by demand among high-end, affluent customers for travel to remote and hard-to-access destinations,” said Roberto Martinoli, president and CEO, Silversea Cruises. “This ship will be the fourth vessel to join Silversea’s fleet since 2020, which demonstrates our commitment to growth.”
Silver Endeavour offers the highest standards in the industry in terms of space-per-guest ratio, and crew-to-guest ratio, as well as top-end accommodations and public areas. The ship’s state-of-the-art expedition amenities offer guests some of the most immersive and luxury experiences available, including traveling with a fleet of zodiac boats for remote exploration.
“Delivering the best vacations in the world, responsibly, is Royal Caribbean Group’s purpose,” Liberty said. “While our acquisition only covers the physical vessel, we want all of our guests to know we go above and beyond to take care of them.”
The Group said as part of its ongoing RCL Cares program, Royal Caribbean Group will protect the deposits of guests who were originally booked on Crystal Endeavor and make a new booking on one of the Group’s global brands – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.
“We believe those Crystal guests will receive back their deposits, but we want to give them added assurance,” Liberty added.
To the extent the Crystal Endeavor guests do not receive their deposits back from Crystal or other sources, the Royal Caribbean Group will refund any amount paid on their new booking up to the amount of their lost deposits from Crystal. Complete terms of the offer will be provided on each brand’s website soon.
Silver Endeavour will begin service for the northern winter 2022/2023, spending its inaugural season in Antarctica.