Some seasons arrive with a whisper. This one lands with a full orchestra. Silversea has announced its largest collection yet for 2027-28, spanning more than 400 voyages and over 600 destinations, and it reads like a wish list for travellers who love depth, culture and small-ship polish. From new expeditions on the Great Barrier Reef to a first-ever summer season in Japan, the programme blends marquee moments with boutique ports that feel like secrets shared.
For 2027-28, Silversea rolls out its biggest programme: 400+ voyages to 600+ destinations, three new Grand Voyages, 30 maiden calls, and expanded expeditions across Australia, Japan and Southeast Asia. New overnights in Osaka tie into the S.A.L.T. culinary programme, while access to global events such as Monaco Grand Prix and Rio Carnival adds once-in-a-lifetime experiences for guests.
This upcoming collection stretches well beyond a ship schedule. It is a blueprint for how to spend a year at sea with variety, from urban nights to quiet reefs, with the culinary programme shaping experiences on and off the ship. Below, we break down the big shifts that will matter most as you plan.
Grand by name and grand in design, the trio spans the Mediterranean, Asia and South America. Add 30 maiden calls and you have a map sprinkled with fresh pins, the kind of ports that reward travellers who have already ticked the big capitals. The combination means you can choose a headline-length voyage or stitch together shorter segments and still feel like you are trailblazing.
Silversea will operate its first summer season in Japan, deploying two ships to make the most of festivals, cuisine and long, light evenings. Overnights in Osaka invite late wandering through neon alleyways and second helpings at street-food counters. The timing threads cherry blossom in spring and the famed Awa Dance Festival in high summer, so you can pair cultural peaks with coastal scenery.
Access to marquee events adds texture to the calendar. Think trackside buzz at the Monaco Grand Prix, music and military pageantry at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, fireworks on Bastille Day, and the rhythm of Rio Carnival. In the Americas and Europe, the programme weaves in festivals such as San Sebastián Street Festival and Festival Puccini, so your port day can crescendo at dusk rather than end with the last museum ticket.
Silversea’s expedition wing continues to grow, and for 2027-28 it shifts closer to home for Australasian travellers while pushing deeper into Japan and Southeast Asia. If you enjoy wildlife-forward days paired with refined evenings, this is where you will want to focus.
Silver Cloud expands into the Great Barrier Reef, Japan and Southeast Asia, bringing zodiacs, expedition staff and a yacht-like guest count to places normally explored by day-boat. Expect reef days at Ribbon Reef, a hopscotch of islands across the Kerama group, and wildlife-rich waters near Sandakan Bay. The ship’s expedition footprint keeps groups small, which is ideal when you want more time with guides and less time waiting for tenders.
A GBR call with a true expedition operator is different to a standard snorkel stop. Sites such as Ribbon Reef offer high-clarity conditions where coral gardens, bommies and drop-offs are within easy skiff reach. Onboard briefings keep the science front and centre, then S.A.L.T. menus echo the region with dishes that lean into fresh seafood and tropical flavours without tipping into cliché.
Between Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan and the Kerama Islands off Okinawa, itineraries switch between cultural cities and coves. Shore days might begin with a stroll through a morning market and end with a zodiac ride into a tucked-away beach. In Sandakan Bay, you are within striking distance of orangutan centres and mangrove ecosystems, a reminder that expedition travel here is as much about forests as it is about reefs.
Silversea’s S.A.L.T. programme is more than a themed menu, it is a framework that ties table to terrain. In 2027-28, it shows up in ports and on plates with a precision that suits the destinations on offer.
Overnights in Osaka give the S.A.L.T. team room to play. Guests can join umami-focused experiences that explain why a bowl of broth can feel symphonic, then return to the ship for tastings that translate those flavours into elegant courses. With time to spare after dinner, you can wander through Namba or Ura-Namba and still catch last orders at a tiny counter bar.
From kaiseki nuance to earthy comfort dishes, the Kyoto region offers lessons in seasonality and restraint. S.A.L.T. experiences here might include market walks, workshops on dashi and delicate sweets, and a return to the ship for pairings that favour clean, food-first wines. The idea is connection rather than imitation, so what you taste after the tour feels like a conversation with the place you just explored.
On the Grand Voyage Mediterranean aboard Silver Dawn, S.A.L.T. turns the sea into a pantry. Guests may visit a Mallorcan family winery, then sit down to a live-cooking lunch in Palma that threads local olive oil, almonds and seafood into plates that taste of the island. The programme also honours culinary heritage in smaller ports such as Gytheio and Giardini Naxos, where regional recipes carry centuries of coastal trade.
If you prefer depth over dashing, the new Grand Voyages are your sweet spot. Each reads like a carefully edited anthology rather than a long list of ports, with seasons, festivals and light conditions stitched in.
Across 48 destinations in shoulder season, Silver Dawn traces the western Med, the Greek Isles and the Adriatic. Shoulder months mean softer light, calmer crowds and easier access to local life. Marquee calls such as Istanbul, Dubrovnik and Casablanca sit alongside boutique gems like Porto Santo Stefano, so the mood swings between grand piazzas and quiet harbours.
Few settings rival Ephesus at dusk. Guests enjoy an exclusive evening concert in the ancient theatre, a rare moment where music and marble turn a shore day into a memory that feels weightless. It is the sort of experience that justifies the word “grand” in Grand Voyage, not for scale alone but for emotion.
The 51-day Grand Voyage Asia 2028 aboard Silver Muse crosses Southeast and East Asia with calls in 28 destinations across seven countries. Ten overnights are timed to tropical warmth in the south and cherry blossom season in Japan, so the air itself becomes part of the itinerary. Expect Ho Chi Minh City’s coffee culture to feature in S.A.L.T. programming, along with a culinary deep dive in Laem Chabang.
Silversea’s 2027-28 collection suits travellers who want to be surprised without sacrificing comfort. It is ideal for couples, small friend groups and multi-generational travellers who value calm ships and rich days.
If you collect festivals and performances like stamps, the calendar is stacked. Plan around Rio Carnival, Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo or Bastille Day, then use overnights to linger after the crowds thin. Smaller cultural notes, from village parades to local food halls, fill the gaps between blockbuster events.
Expedition routes that include Ribbon Reef, Kerama Islands and Sandakan Bay thread wildlife through the year. With expert guides, zodiacs and small groups, you get time to watch rather than rush. Back on board, evenings restore the senses with quiet dining rooms and a wine list that comfortably spans crisp whites and structured reds.
If you love unpack-once symmetry, the Grand Voyages give you two months of narrative flow. The logistics are simple, the pacing is adult, and the onboard community that forms during longer sailings is a feature, not a by-product. Add S.A.L.T. sessions and destination lectures, and sea days become chapters rather than gaps.
Before you pick dates, it helps to see how these itineraries stack up against your calendar and interests. Our Cruise Finder makes the research stage painless. Filter by ship, region, month or event focus, then compare sea-day counts, overnight calls and expedition components at a glance.
If you are coordinating across Australia, New Zealand or further afield, Cruise Finder keeps everyone looking at the same shortlist without endless emails. Build a shared list, note who wants Osaka overnights, who is set on Ribbon Reef, and which sailing lines up with school terms or annual leave. In a few clicks, you will see which voyage fits the group best.
If you would like help mapping Silversea options to your calendar, we are here to shape the details and secure the space you want. We will coordinate itineraries around the events you care about most, hold your preferred stateroom and align flights so the whole plan flows. The simplest next step is to talk to a cruise adviser and we will take it from there.