Silversea Cruises said it has budgeted $170 million for refurbishment of its current fleet. The luxury line said it will be the largest modernization program in its history.
The first three ships to benefit from the program will be the Silver Wind, Silver Whisper and Silver Discoverer.
The Silver Wind will get new furniture and furnishings in a drydock scheduled for October, as well as a new interactive TV and on demand movies system. The La Terrazza and Main restaurants will get new flooring, and the pool deck will get a new teak surface.
The Silver Discoverer, an expedition-style ship, will also be renovated in October. The Restaurant will be lighter and more contemporary, the pool grill will get new furniture, and the Discoverer Lounge will be transformed from a breakfast venue to a relaxation area. It will get new AV technology and furniture as well.
The Silver Whisper will get upgrades in time for its world cruise in 2017. Suites will be refurbished and the bathrooms adorned with dark emperor marble flooring. The pool will receive fresh tile and new chaise lounges.
Dining areas at the Restaurant and La Terrazza will be re-skinned with new carpet and parquet, respectively, and each will receive new furniture.
The Silver Whisper’s communications hub is scheduled for a major overhaul with the addition of two satellite antennas, vastly improving Internet speeds and enabling guests to take full advantage of the new, interactive TVs and on-demand movies available in every suite.
Silversea said details of other refurbishments would be announced later.
Unlike the scheduled cruise ship refurbishments, major refits may include even a cruise ship lengthening, like in the case of Royal Caribbean ship Enchantment of the Seas lengthened in 2005 (see the photo below). The Enchantment ship lengthening cost ~ US$55 million, it was a process of cutting the ship in two and inserting a whole new 73 ft (22 m) 3,500 tons midsection, pre-built at the Aker Finnyards. The month-long dry-dock at the Keppel Verolme shipyards (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) resulted in adding 151 brand new cabins, a 50% bigger Pool Deck area, a new kids area, a teen center, several new bars and lounges, an expanded main dining room, a new specialty restaurant. This “refurbishment cost” record was recently beaten by the CCL line and the US$155 million Carnival Destiny refit 2013 producing a brand new ship named Carnival Sunshine!
Cruise ship building prices are high enough to not meet the return requirement. Even the mighty Carnival Corporation (the largest cruise company in the world) puts its ship building plans on hold. Royal Caribbean is one of the few companies continuing to place orders for new ships – and not any ships, but the ever largest, the most innovative, the most expensive in the world. Still, most passenger ship lines are trying to keep their current fleet fresh and good looking. Two of the best examples are Holland America with its $450 million SOE program for ship renovations, and Carnival investing over $250 million to fully refit and refurbish 8 of its oldest vessels.
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