Royal Caribbean To Add Three Ships to Its Ultra-Luxury Brand

Royal Caribbean plans to grow its newest acquisition

In case you missed the announcement last June, Royal Caribbean is now the primary shareholder in ultra-luxury cruise line, Silversea. It didn’t take long for Miami-based Royal Caribbean to formulate a growth plan for Monaco-based Silversea.

This week, Royal Caribbean (the corporation) and Silversea Cruises announced an agreement of intent to build three new ships for Silversea Cruises. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Silversea and German shipbuilder Meyer Werft to create a new “Evolution Class” of ships with the order of two new ships. The first Evolution ship should be delivered in 2022.

More for “expeditioning”, too

Not stopping with two ultra-luxury cruise ships, Silversea also signed a contract with Dutch shipbuilder Shipyard De Hoop. Their mission? Construct a new expedition vessel, named Silver Origin, for their Galapagos Islands itinerary, to replace Silver Galapagos, currently in the Galapagos. Silver Origin is expected to be delivered in March 2020.

“We are delighted to have entered into an agreement with Meyer Werft on the Silver Evolution series and De Hoop for Silver Origin,” says Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, Silversea’s Executive Chairman. “With our guests in mind, we are pushing the boundaries of ultra-luxury cruising, as well as expedition cruising in the Galápagos Islands and beyond, redefining the concept of immersive travel.”

And from Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD, “We are excited to get to work helping Silversea grow and realize its ambitions. There is tremendous potential in the ultra-luxury and expedition markets of the cruise industry, and we believe discerning travelers will embrace the exciting designs Silversea is imagining for them.”

At this time, Silversea has five luxury, all-suite cruise ships navigating the globe and four purpose-built luxury expedition ships roaming to all seven continents.

Last year, the addition of the new Silver Muse to the fleet brought the total number of all Silversea ships to nine. With the lengthening of  Silver Spirit in spring 2018, there are now 304 suites; up from 270 and include Veranda, six Silver Suites and two Panorama Suites.

Two additional new Silversea ships are already on order: Silver Moon for 2020 and Silver Dawn scheduled for delivery in late 2021. Looks like Silversea is about to hit a growth spurt.