Silversea Concludes a Successful 2024-2025 Antarctica Expedition Season

Silversea Cruises has successfully completed its 2024-2025 Antarctic expedition season, during which it operated 34 voyages between October 29, 2024, and March 31, 2025. These voyages took place aboard three of its expedition vessels: Silver Endeavour, Silver Cloud, and Silver Wind, offering travelers an immersive experience of Antarctica’s pristine natural landscape, affirming Silversea’s position in the ultra-luxury expedition market.

Bert Hernandez, the President of Silversea, remarked that the season delivered a diverse range of enriching experiences. Guests enjoyed access to new landing sites, significant wildlife encounters, and a variety of guided activities led by expert members of the Expedition Team. Hernandez emphasized that this season showcased Silversea’s dedication to outstanding polar exploration.

Looking ahead, Silversea is set to open a 150-room hotel in Puerto Williams, Chile, aiming to become the southernmost hotel in the world. This establishment is designed to complement Silversea’s Antarctica Fly-Cruise model, facilitating smoother transitions for guests between air travel and expedition embarkation, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and guest comfort. The hotel is anticipated to welcome its first guests in the 2025-2026 Antarctic season.

During the 2024-2025 season, Silversea offered a flexible array of itineraries, ranging from 6-day Fly-Cruise expeditions on Silver Endeavour to longer 21-day explorations across the Southern Ocean. Highlights included:

• On March 1, Silver Endeavour crossed the Antarctic Circle and docked at Detaille Island and Historic Base W, allowing guests to participate in shore landings, Zodiac excursions, and kayaking, before charting a course north through the Inside Passage to notable locations like the Fish Islands and Prospect Point.
• Silver Wind made three visits to Intercurrence Island in the Christiana Islands, an area newly incorporated into Silversea’s itinerary after a dedicated scouting mission in 2023, which included charting about 2,700 nautical miles and identifying 22 new landing sites. Guests were treated to sights of grounded icebergs and humpback whales, in addition to engaging in Zodiac and kayaking activities.
• Throughout the season, Silversea hosted 28 polar plunge events, with nearly 2,300 participants. Notable wildlife encounters included a rare sighting of beaked whales in Wilhelmina Bay during Silver Endeavour’s Zodiac tours, as well as numerous sightings of orcas and over 50 fin whales near Elephant Island, along with blue whales spotted while traveling to South Georgia on March 20 aboard Silver Wind.

The Expedition Team, consisting of up to 28 specialists per voyage, features naturalists, historians, geologists, and other domain experts, ensuring a personalized and insightful guest experience. Their expertise provided guests with a comprehensive understanding of Antarctica’s intricate ecosystems, geology, and history.

Silversea, which pioneered the luxury expedition model in 2008, continues to innovate within the polar travel segment. The forthcoming hotel in Puerto Williams is set to enhance the Silversea guest experience, featuring scenic views of the Beagle Channel and Patagonian mountain ranges, with a design that honors the region’s architecture and culture.

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