Expedition-style cruising, with small, often rugged ships that can go into hard-to-access places, is a booming segment of the cruise market, especially among younger cruisers, and the big-ship players are getting into the market, too.
Silversea, a relatively small luxury cruise operator that is entering the expedition market, has just been acquired by one of the industry giants, Royal Caribbean. Seattle-based Seabourn, a small-ship luxury brand owned by Carnival has just ordered two expedition-style ships for delivery in 2021 and 2022. Among smaller luxury operators, Crystal Cruises and Scenic Cruises have also ordered new ships for this segment.
And the pioneers of the field, Lindblad Expeditions and Norway’s Hurtigruten are expanding, as is France-based Ponant. Most ships in the category are under 400 passengers; an interesting development considering the size race at the other end of the spectrum, with Royal Caribbean, MSC and Norwegian all building huge megaships, with capacity approaching 6,000 passengers.
