Big news for people who like their adventure served up with a bit of luxury: Silversea Cruises will add a second Galapagos-dedicated ship to its fleet starting in March 2020.
The luxury cruise brand, which has a number of ships dedicated to expedition travel, announced the new ship will be called Silver Origin. The vessel will join sisters Silver Explorer, Silver Galapagos, Silver Discoverer and Silver Cloud in the line's Expedition fleet.
The trend of mixing luxury and expedition travel is one I'm really excited to watch grow and evolve, as more and more cruise lines are getting into the adventure travel game. In 2019, five new luxury expedition ships are hitting the market: Scenic Eclipse, Ponant's Le Bougainville, Hapag-Lloyd's Hanseatic Inspiration, Hapag-Lloyd's Hanseatic Nature and Ponant's Le Dumont d'Urville. These ships are polar-rated, so they can explore regions like the Arctic and Antarctica, and also feature ultra-comfortable suites and cabins. Plus, they have cool gadgets like submarines, helicopters and movable glass walkways that put passengers out over the water while sailing.
Don't get me wrong: I'm fine roughing it a bit. For me, it's more about the itinerary than the ship. But having world-class service, amazing food and comfortable suites along with incredible destinations sure does make it appealing.
The Galapagos Islands also are a bucket-list item for Colleen and me, so we're excited to see other alternatives emerging in a place so special. While Silversea hasn't yet said how many passengers Silver Origin will hold, we can expect it will be a fairly small ship -- Silver Galapagos holds only 100 passengers, along with a crew of about 75. That kind of passenger-to-crew ratio is typical of expedition cruises and part of the reason I love this style of travel so much. You can form really meaningful bonds with other passengers and crewmembers, and the whole experience feels that much more special. I can't wait to see what these new hybrid adventure/luxury ships have to offer.
Thanks for reading.
Travel happy, travel fit, travel often!
JR