Silver Explorer: Silversea Cruises the First to Traverse the Northwest Passage

On August 9, 2014, Silversea Cruises will embark on a journey like no other. The Silver Explorer will travel the Northwest Passage on its way between Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and Nome, Alaska. For just $35,000 per person, you can tag along for the ride.

The Cruise

The Silver Explorer embarks from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland on Saturday, August 9, 2014. The journey through the Arctic to Nome, Alaska will take 23 nights. The Silver is an expedition ship that won’t actually make many port calls along the way because, well, there aren’t that many ports along the Northwest Passage.

The ship will make stops in Nunavut Territory, North West Territories and the Yukon in Canada, along with Alaska in the United States. This is no Caribbean booze cruise on the cheap. An Ocean View state room is going for $34,350 per person. A suite will cost each passenger $39,250. Still, this is incredible value for a cruise that is basically priceless. Of course, with global warming, in ten years we’ll probably be tripping up to this area to enjoy the beaches…

The Ship

The Silver Explorer was originally built by Rauma-Repola in Rauma, Finland and put into service way back in 1989. Silversea bought the ship in 2007 and spent a ton of cash to refurbish the Silver. Doing the refurbs was Fincantieri in Trieste, Italy. Fincantieri is one of the world’s top builders of cruise ships.

This is not a floating city like the vessels that cruise the Caribbean and Mediterranean. The Silver Explorer has a gross tonnage of 6,130 and is 354 feet or 108 metres in length. The boat has capacity for an intimate 132 passengers, sleeping in the ship’s 66 cabins. At nearly a 1 to 1 ratio between passengers and crew, it takes 115 crew members to run the show. The Silver Explorer is not a speed demon, crashing through the water at 14 knots. Typical mega cruise ships are pushing between 22 and 25 knots on the open seas.

Silversea Cruises

Silversea was founded in 1994 and was predicted to not last long in non-existence ultra luxury cruise niche. The cruise line is headquartered in Monaco and Ft. Lauderdale, family owned by the Lefebvre’s of Rome, Italy.

With the Silver Galapagos coming into service in September, 2013, that makes seven ships under the Silversea name. The Galapagos is another Expedition vessel that will work full time in the Galapagos Islands, alternating between two available itineraries.

The flagship of Silversea is the Silver Spirit. The Spirit was built in 2009 by Fincantieri and is by far the cruise line’s largest ship. With a gross tonnage of 36,000, the Spirit is 642 feet, or 196 metres, in length. The boat has a passenger capacity of 540 and a crew of 376.

Unlimited Time and Cash?

If $35,000 and 23 nights doesn’t quite do it for you, the Silver Explorer is always on the move, practically never visiting the same port twice in a season.

You could start early, on July 14, 2014 at Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands and:

Travel 14 nights to Reykjavik, Iceland, then…
Travel 12 nights to Kangerlussuaq where the 23 night cruise will start.

After reaching Nome, you could continue on and:

Travel 18 nights across the top of Russia to Otaru, Japan, then…
Travel 11 nights to guam, then…
Travel 18 nights to Fiji, then…
Travel 11 nights to French Polynesia, then…
Travel 15 nights to Easter Island, then…
Travel 11 nights to Antarctica, ending in Argentina.

Interested in Booking?

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