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Silversea Cruises Holds Great Hope For French Polynesia

Thursday: August 07, 2008

(Tahitipresse)

The 132-passenger Prince Albert II will be conducting "an exciting collection of new itineraries" with expedition voyages to "less traveled regions" as it tests French Polynesia's waters next year for Silversea Cruises.

The six months of 11-day, 14-day and 16-day cruises from late March to early October will be evaluated by the ultra-luxury, internationally celebrated cruise line while the vessel spends the following six months exploring the Antarctica.

What the Tong Sang government and Tahiti's tourism industry are hoping for is that 2009 will be the first of several years of alternate cruising between six months in French Polynesia and six months in the Antarctica.

The all-suite Prince Albert II, unlike any other cruise ship ever before based in Tahiti, opens up an entirely new market of boutique cruising to off-the-beaten path destinations in French Polynesia that are either never or only seldom visited by international-flag cruise vessels.

"We are delighted to base the Prince Albert II in beautiful Tahiti for a series of explorations next year," said Amerigo Perasso, Silversea's president and CEO. "The South Pacific is home to magnificent natural vistas and some of the world's most intriguing cultures, offering our guests the perfect setting for mind-enriching, authentic adventures."

In the same press release posted on the Silversea Cruises Internet Web site, French Polynesia President Gaston Tong Sang said, "We are please to welcome the prestigious Prince Albert II to French Polynesia. Since talking office, it has been my goal and intention to take all necessary steps to enable Silversea to visit the region. The Prince Albert II is a true luxury vessel with a privileged clientele that is attracted by cultural and authentic travel experiences."

President Tong Sang added, "The itineraries and land programs designed by Silversea are in sync with our tourism positioning as well as our aims for the islands and remote archipelagos development. The unique voyages developed by Silversea will enable travelers to discover the unknown beauties and treasures of our five archipelagos in exceptional luxury."

While the Prince Albert II, with its reinforced hull, is technically an expedition vessel formerly known as the World Discoverer, life aboard is anything but rudimentary expeditionary.

A $1 million revamp has put the Prince Albert II in the same ultra-luxury category as Silversea's four other, bigger, more traditional cruse ships—the 296-passenger Silver Cloud and Silver Wind and the 382-passenger Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper.

Those four ships have earned Silversea Cruises repeated recognition worldwide as being at the very pinnacle of luxury cruising.

During the six months between late March and early October, the Prince Albert II is scheduled to make four "Tuamotu Expeditions," five "Journey to the Marquesas" cruises and four "Austral Island Adventure" voyages. The starting per person fares based on double occupancy provided by Silversea are $3,897 for the Austral Islands cruises, $4,917 for the Marquesas Islands cruises and $3,597 for the Tuamotu Expedition cruises.

The ship will arrive in Papeete Harbor for the first time next March 31 on a 16-day "In the Wake of the Bounty" voyage from Easter Island. Among the stops along the way will be Pitcairn Island, Mangareva in French Polynesia's Gambier Islands, the Tuamotu atoll of Pukapuka, the Marquesas Islands of Hiva Oa an Fatu Hiva, the Tuamotu atoll of Fakarava and Tahiti's sister island of Moorea.

At the end of six months of cruising in French Polynesia, the Prince Albert II will make do the return leg of the "In the Wake of the Bounty" voyage. This cruise is named after voyage of the H.M.S. Bounty following the mutiny that occurred on April 28, 1798 as Lt. William Bligh headed toward the Leeward Islands.

The Prince Albert II's first voyage out of Papeete Harbor will be on March 31, the first "Tuamotu Expedition". In June there will be a 15-day "Pearls of the Pacific" voyage to Fiji with a 15-day return trip arriving back in Papeete Harbor on July 9.

Silversea describes its voyages for the Prince Albert II as being planned "in the spirit of true adventure" in which "all itineraries are unstructured by design. Following only a tentative schedule that allows for moment-by-moment flexibility, expeditions stay longer at sites of particular interest, or make slight detours whenever weather, nature or mere curiosity dictate."

Silversea boasts of "the largest average size accommodations of any expedition ship" aboard the Prince Albert II. "… (G)uests will enjoy spacious, ocean-view accommodations (many with French balconies or large private verandas), sumptuous gourmet cuisine, warm hospitality and personalized service (with a crew-to-guest ratio of nearly one to one).

In July, Silversea Cruises was named winner of Travel + Leisure magazine's World's Best Award for 2008 for the seventh time. It has been voted World's Best by readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine nine times and was rated the N° 1 luxury cruise line by high-net-worth consumers in the 2008 Luxury Brand Status Index.

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