Leading from the front

The expedition sector is predicted to grow by 30% over the next four years, and Silversea sees itself as spearheading developments with its 167-day World Expedition Cruise (30 January to 16 July 2021) on Silver Cloud, where prices start from £104,000pp.

“The World Expedition Cruise is a ‘bucket list’ thing for many clients, and we’ve had a lot of excitement from the trade too,” Shanks says.

The planning for all Silversea’s expeditions comes under Conrad Combrink, senior vice-president for expeditions and destination experiences.

“Classically, expedition cruises would have been about the Arctic and Antarctic, but we decided to see how you could connect more places with an expedition focus,” he says.

Leaving for Antarctica from Ushuaia in Argentina, Silver Cloud will then head westwards, moving through the South Pacific and Australia, then through the Middle East arriving in the Mediterranean in May and finally sailing around the British Isles and up to Tromso and the Arctic.

“We will make sure we are in all the right places at the best time of year too,” Combrink says, adding that onboard speakers will include explorers Tim Severin and Felicity Aston, the first person to cross Antarctica solo on skis.

Silversea has also appointed Bill Davis as vice-president of expedition operations and development, assisting with creating new programmes, managing expedition field staff and overseeing the Silversea Expedition Academy, which recruits and trains talent.

“Few companies are investing as much as we are into expedition generally,” Combrink says. “In our eyes, it’s not about whether you have submarines or helicopters on the ship – our people are a key point of difference for us.”