Broome Chamber of Commerce and Industry executive officer, Maryanne Peterson, said a record 15 major cruise ships are expected to come through the port next year.

Ms Peterson said this would be more than the eight cruises a year the port has received in recent times, and up from a peak of around 12 cruises a year some years ago.

The addition of the luxury Silver Discoverer to Silversea’s expedition fleet is part of a growing number of smaller cruise ships touring the Kimberley coast. This is the eighth in the Silversea fleet of classic and expedition cruise ships.

The Silver Discoverer's inaugural voyage commenced 20 years to the day of the company's first ultra-luxury cruise ship launch.

Silversea’s director of expeditions, Conrad Combrink, said the expedition side of the business is very different to the classical cruise part of the business.

“A luxury cruise company cannot run an expedition, it’s a completely different philosophy,” Combrink said.

“We use ships to carry out these expeditions and tap into the resources of the parent company."

The 120-guest, all-suite expedition ship will spend 10 days exploring the Kimberley coast's spectacular landscapes and indigenous history.

The voyage takes visitors into areas largely inaccessible by land and includes seeing a rugged landscape of waterfalls, wildlife-rich wetlands and Aboriginal rock art painted more than 20,000 years ago.

The maiden journey finishes in Darwin, following a visit to Indonesia's Leti Island.

From Western Australia, Silver Discoverer's inaugural season will move on to some of the Pacific Ocean's most isolated corners with a focus on wild and infrequent travelled destinations in Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, East Asia, the Russian Far East, New Zealand, and the Sub-Antarctic Islands.

In 2015, Polynesia will join the schedule, along with the remote Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati, including Nikumaroro - the island some believe to be the final resting place of famed aviator Amelia Earhart.

Silversea expedition cruises focus on an onboard program of destination lectures, photo presentations and daily recaps.

A fleet of 12 Zodiacs takes passengers on excursions and interactive walks ashore led by experts in their field, including marine biologists, ornithologists, geologists, botanists, historians and anthropologists.

Silversea sales director, Karen Christensen, said the crew for the Kimberley voyage was 75 per cent Australian and included 11 expedition staff.

Ms Christensen said passengers on the expedition cruises tended to be a little younger than traditional cruise ships with the average age being 48 years.

Built in Japan around 20 years ago, the Silver Discoverer was previously used as a charter. It has just completed a six-month refit in Singapore.

The writer travellled to Broome as a guest of Silversea Cruises.