Small-ship cruise like Old World adventure – U
It is cruising’s new wave but with undercurrents of lost voyages long past, a seagoing version of 21st century adventure travel influenced by the grand explorations of the wooden-ship adventurers. And it was my opportunity to trek through remote jungles most people will experience only in documentaries. Though that may sound like hyperbole, it is not: A film crew from an international travel channel accompanied us to produce a documentary about the trip.
This type of travel is called expedition cruising, highly specialized vacations on small, pared-down vessels built to handle challenging oceans as well as the shallow waters off destinations so exotic that they rarely offer a port of any kind. Expedition fleets typically visit Antarctica and the Arctic region as well as far-flung tropical lands, especially in isolated areas. They routinely rely on small rubber Zodiac motorboats to ferry passengers from the ship and back.
Robert Spencer Knott
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Silversea Cruises has grown from a company with a single ship to one that now has eight ships. Three are expedition vessels like this one, the Silver Discoverer.
My recent explorations included a visit with a wild Komodo dragon on Indonesia’s Komodo Island, a meal at the Abai village in Borneo, and snorkeling in a jungle lake filled with thousands of jellyfish that evolved without stinging tentacles. I overnighted in a rain forest hotel among the bizarre death-centered Toraja culture of Sulawesi Island and photographed orangutans as they descended from the trees at a Borneo sanctuary.
Expedition cruises attract veteran cruisegoers who long ago sailed out of Venice and Hong Kong and Sydney. They are the been-there-done-that bunch asking the travel industry a question: “Now what?” Expedition cruising is one response.
Many cruise companies compete for this group of adventure tourists, but I sailed on the luxury line that has entered this market in a big way. Silversea Cruises is one of the world’s top small cruise ship operators, named in 2014 by Entrepreneur Magazine among the 120 most trusted brands in America. In their 20-year history, Silversea has grown from a single ship to eight ships. Three are expedition vessels, one of them based full time in the Galapagos Islands — a relatively easy connection for those of us in Florida.
I had cruised many times on Silversea, but this voyage was very different. The all-inclusive amenities were still there: free liquors, wines and beers; personal service that included both a butler and cabin steward for each room; well-prepared food. The expedition character of the ship, though, gave the experience a less elegant but more adventurous feel than on previous Silversea voyages.
On the line’s newest ship, Silver Discoverer, I journeyed with my companion, Gwendolyn, from Bali through a welter of other distant Indonesian islands and then on to the rain forests of Borneo, Philippines and Taiwan. In Bali before boarding the ship, we had spent two nights at the spectacular InterContinental Bali Resort, with sprawling, manicured grounds that spilled into the turquoise sea. It was a sharp contrast to settle into the 338-foot-long Silver Discoverer with its capacity of 120 passengers. Our cruise carried 81 guests. And 98 crew. The cruise line’s personal service was even more personal than usual.
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