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Top-of-the-line company, all-suite, elegant small cruise ships sailing worldwide. The cruise line is targeting the ultra luxury segment of the market. The guests' profile is very similar to competitors' luxury brands, such as Seabourn Cruise Line, SeaDream Yacht Club and Crystal Cruises - high income, refined and sophisticated travelers who know and understand very well quality with high expectations regarding service standartds and rough judgment. Most of the passengers are North Americans, plus a solid European presence, particularly from the UK, Germany, Switzerland. Owned by the Lefebvre family of Rome (former owners of Sitmar Cruises) Silversea Cruises belongs to the high-end ultra-luxurious nich of the cruise market.
Although it obviously is not an inexpensive travel product, Silversea's all-inclusive pricing offers guests considerable value for money spent. Gratuities, port charges and alcoholic beverages (including wine at lunch and dinner) are folded into the cost of the cruise. The company even provides one complimentary shore excursion on many of its voyages. That outing is called the Silversea Experience and it invariably features something other than the run-of-the-mill tour ashore. In 2005 the Fort Lauderdale-based cruise line introduced a new option for its passengers called Personalized Voyages. In essence the plan allows cruisers to choose their own embarkation/disembarkation ports, regardless of the cruise lengths and itineraries shown in the brochure.
Silversea was founded in 1993 by a joint venture made up of V-Ships (previously known as Vlasov Group) of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome. Each of the five ships within the main fleet is the result of the work of two different Italian shipyards. The hulls were laid in the Francesco Visentini yard near Trieste after which they were floated and towed to their final outfitting in the T. Mariotti yard in Genoa. All were designed by the Oslo, Norway-based marine architect team of Petter Yran and Bjorn Storbraaten. The ships' officers are Italian and the service staff international. With the acquisition of Prince Albert II (renamed to Silver Explorer), the company established it's own sub-brand - Silversea Expeditions. Later the expedition fleet was expanded with two more vessels - Silver Galapagos (ex-Galapagos Explorer II) and Silver Discoverer (ex-Clipper Odyssey).
On the employment side - the same story as with the direct competitors - Seabourn Cruises, SeaDream Yacht Club and Crystal Cruises. Requirements are very high when it comes to selecting new personnel. Candidates possessing the qualities and experience required, will enjoy some of the highest salaries, the most prestigious working conditions and the most interesting itineraries in the entire cruise industry. Silversea Cruises is one of the highly recommended companies for employment.