Silversea Cruises
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| Private | |
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Monaco |
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Key people
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Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, Chairman |
| Products | Cruises |
| Website | http://www.silversea.com/ |
Silversea Cruises is a privately owned luxury cruise line with its headquarters in Monaco. Founded in 1994, it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, Silver Cloud.
Silversea's co-founders, owners and operators are the Lefebvre family of Rome, Italy. As of early 2014[update], the company had eight boutique cruise ships, each of which carries only 100 to 540 passengers.
Silversea was founded in 1994 by a joint venture made up of V-Ships (previously known as Vlasov Group) of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome. The joint owners had previously been the co-owners of Sitmar Cruises. Silversea's business model was to operate ships in the small, all-suite, ultra-luxury category. According to John Bland, Silversea's President in 1993–94:
...we have a different ship design. It's larger, very seaworthy and very comfortable for ocean crossings--but small enough to do the things you want a small luxury vessel to do, to get into small islands where big ships can't go, to travel up rivers like the Thames.
The new line's all inclusive fares included such features as gratuities (none were allowed), beverages (including selected wines at lunch and dinner), port charges, travel insurance, and one or more complimentary shore events in every itinerary. As about 80 percent of Silversea's customers were expected to come from North America, the line established its 25-person marketing office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Silversea's first ship, Silver Cloud, which entered service in April 1994, was followed in January 1995 by a sister ship, the Silver Wind.
In September 2000, the line launched Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper in January 2001. Both of these ships were enlarged versions of the original two ships, but carrying about 100 more passengers. In December 2009, Silversea launched the Silver Spirit.
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Wikipedia