In 2025, Why Do We Travel? So Many of Our Guests Tell Us They Crave New Connections

When we talk with Silversea guests about how their travel styles have evolved, we often hear this: “We travel to connect.” Deepening relationships with fellow travelers, friends and family, and a desire to learn how to tie history, art and culinary traditions to more contemporary eras are inspiring people to chase new boundaries. 

Silversea Cruises is quenching this thirst. Of course, sometimes we cruise to relax and indulge. Other times we’re far more intrigued by experiences, and other times we want a bit of both. How can you dive deeply into immersive travel in a way that fosters connections with something new? These are some of my favorite ways. 

Silversea’s S.A.L.T. connects us to culinary history

S.A.L.T. Experiences in Bequia focuses on traditional Caribbean cuisine with a modern touch./Silversea

What was then: Having traveled on cruises for more than 30 years, I found that any sort of culinary immersion was limited to the places we visited (lunches at restaurants in ports of call). When Silversea’s S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste) program was introduced in 2020, its mission then (and now)  is to emphasize culinary cultures of the places your cruise is visiting, off the ship and onboard, too. 

What you’ll find today: Available initially on Silver Moon and expanded to Silver Dawn, Silver Nova and Silver Ray, five components to S.A.L.T. aim to connect travelers with places on their itineraries.

S.A.L.T. lets passengers experience the flavors of the region where they are sailing, thanks to a drinks that rely on ingredients from that area./Silversea

S.A.L.T. Kitchen showcases menus from both the region and individual ports. (On my maiden S.A.L.T. sailing, I was so intrigued and delighted that I dined there 75 percent of the evenings on my cruise.) S.A.L.T. Bar takes the same approach with cocktails, wines and beers (and craft non-alcoholic beverages) pegged to your destination. Those who enjoy learning new culinary methods are flocking to S.A.L.T. Lab, which offers classes in a Food Network-style kitchen, where everyone works at cooking stations, emphasizing the dishes at the heart of our ports of call. 

In port, my favorite among many S.A.L.T. Experiences were curated shore excursions that gave travelers an insider’s look at the local food and beverage scene: making pizza in Sorrento, crafting cheese in Mykonos and learning about salt (the substance), among other things, in Iceland.

S.A.L.T. Chef’s Table features a demonstration kitchen and a multi-course tasting menu offering the best dishes and beverages of the region./Silversea

And S.A.L.T.’s Chef’s Table, available on Silver Nova and Silver Ray, offers a multi-course meal in a glamorous open-kitchen space that pairs local beverages with dishes in a communal setting.  

On my bucket list: South America as a culinary destination and a chance to learn more about its origins, both in food and drink. 

What’s coming? Silversea has expanded S.A.L.T. Experiences (its bespoke shore excursion program) to all ships in the fleet. 

Cultural immersion on extended cruises

Celebrating Carnival in Brazil/Getty

What was then: World cruises, which operate for up to six months, and “grand voyages,” which offer an in-depth, multiweek immersive regional experience, are great ways to mark off your bucket list of destinations. They are, then and now, the ultimate tapas sampler of travel. 

What you’ll find today: For so many travelers, it’s not enough only to step foot into a new destination on these longer voyages. What Silversea has heard and delivered is that these curated, specially organized only-on-this-trip and once-in-a-lifetime experiences elevate the voyages beyond. Jannie Cloete, Silversea’s director, Events and Experiences, who organizes these events, tells us “I look for the unusual, for the not-available-every-day, which is important. And then I see where we can use that to tell a story of that place. The devil is in the details. Our guests notice the smallest details. People love a story.” 

A private tango performance was one particularly special memory for guests on a world cruise./Getty

Some of his famously remembered events include one in which “we told the story of the tango in Argentina [when guests were transported to the 1930s with a dinner and a show at the El Zanjón, the spectacular 1830s mansion]. And on the ‘Train Ride to Freedom’ in Cape Town, [South Africa], we re-did the train into something amazing, with old hat boxes to take people back in time. We went to a town called Paarl, close to the jail where Nelson Mandela stayed and was released from. We took guests inside the jail, and Mandela’s personal assistant, Zelda la Grange, told the story about how she was chosen as part of his vision to unite the nation. Then we went to the cathedral at KWV [a leading wine and spirits producer] and had a meal with the Children’s Choir doing a special performance. 

“The guests all cried.”

On 2025’s Controtempo world cruise, which started in January, Cloete says the highlights include a sky-high Singaporean extravaganza, a trip to the famous onsen town of Kannawa in Japan, where an expert therapist will accompany guests to a famous hot spring; a private tour of an Egyptian presidential palace; a grand evening at France’s Versailles, in true Marie Antoinette style. 

Cloete is already hard at work on creating special events for 2026 and 2027 world cruises and grand voyages, including this one, he tells us: “Our ‘The Three Oceans 2027 World Cruise’ features an included overland adventure from Durban to Victoria Falls [on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe] and visits along the western coast of Africa.”

What’s coming: Stay tuned.

Friends, family and no-longer-strangers

Traveling solo on Silver Moon, writer Carolyn Spencer Brown found a welcoming community/Silversea

What was then:  Here’s a bit of  a strange story. I was headed out for Silver Moon’s first cruise out of Athens since the pandemic. Departing from New Jersey’s Newark and having stayed overnight at the Marriott there, I was rattling around on the shuttle bus on my way to check in. The only other traveler was a man with a Silversea tag on his briefcase, who happened to be headed to the same cruise. We ended up hanging out together in the lounge with his traveling partner, and the friendship burgeoned from there. 

We made fast friends, first at the airport, then onboard. Our connections with others on board, who happened to be traveling solo (mothers and daughters, good friends, those of us whose partners were otherwise committed, others who were traveling without partners) made Silver Moon even warmer and fuzzier. 

What you’ll find today: A Silversea staff member regularly organizes nightly cocktail receptions for solo travelers. (Sometimes they dine together, sometimes travelers do their own thing). I loved having a touchstone most nights, whether I had other dinner plans or not. And my friend from Newark International Airport hosted a group of us at La Dame, totally fun and absolutely generous. 

What’s coming: We’re seeing an embrace from multigenerational families on expedition destinations, including the Galápagos, Antarctica and the Arctic, and expect it to grow in popularity. It’s a great way to travel, especially at different speeds, depending on the generation, because you see and share wildlife, geology and history, all from different perspectives.