The Dolce Vita lounge is just one of many public spaces aboard Silversea. Photo / Supplied
The Dolce Vita lounge is just one of many public spaces aboard Silversea. Photo / Supplied
Review by Pamela Wade
Cruising with Silversea includes a chauffeur service to and from the airport, and that’s just the beginning of this exceptional experience, writes Pamela Wade.
There is a downside to the remarkable memories of the crew on a Silversea ship. Of course it’s flattering and welcoming to be greeted by name as you wander around on the first full day of a cruise, even if it does suggest some sort of intense overnight guest-recognition session. When, though, you return, as you inevitably will, for a subsequent cruise a year or more later, it can be a bit disconcerting to hear from friendly cocktail waitress Miriam, “Oh, how lovely, you’re wearing your owl dress again!”
As criticisms go, I realise it’s feeble, but that’s Silversea for you. It’s small-ship luxury delivered with unpretentious charm, every need met and every desire catered to, even the unspoken ones — noticing that I wasn’t eating the peanuts, my butler stopped including them in my evening dish of nibbles.
Butler? Oh, yes, white gloves and all, but with none of the Downton Abbey-type stuffiness you might expect. Each guest (Silversea doesn’t do passengers) on board gets a butler, whose aim is to remove every last niggle of ordinary daily life, from unpacking your suitcase (be prepared to find your humble nightie on a wooden hanger in the walk-in wardrobe) to somehow wangling you a table in the booked-up ritzy restaurant, La Dame.
On each of Silversea’s 12 ships — the latest the excitingly innovative Silver Nova — La Dame, a couple of other speciality restaurants, and some wines and spirits are the only notable extras. Almost everything else, including all meals and drinks, shore excursions, entertainment, Wi-Fi, 24-hour in-suite service and gratuities, is included, which makes for total mental relaxation on board. Even better, with Silversea’s all-inclusive Door-to-Door fare, this freedom from anxiety can begin right at home, when a chauffeur arrives to take you to the airport for your included flight to the departure port; and, afterwards, wafts you right back again.
The Veranda Suite is deservedly popular aboard Silversea. Photo / Supplied
Now a part of the Royal Caribbean Group, Silversea has kept to its original intent of elegant luxury on board small ships, ranging from just 100 guests on Silver Origin up to the biggest catering for a maximum of 728 — plus, of course, almost as many crew to pamper everyone. Accommodation is in spacious suites, all with sea views and most with verandas. Bathrooms include actual baths (get excited for a warm, foaming tub adorned with rose petals awaiting your return from a chilly outing). The champagne in the fridge is bottomless, and caviar is available 24/7.
Once on board, it’s hard to tell that, by cruising standards, this is a small ship. There’s plenty of room in your suite, and the public areas never feel crowded. It helps that there are so many of them, from the peaceful Observation Lounge above the bridge to the central hub of Dolce Vita, full of comfortable seating, music and refreshments — and also the friendly and increasingly familiar faces of both crew and fellow guests, who are as happy to be there as you are.
The Arts Cafe is well named, but there's fine art all around the ships. Photo / Supplied
Dining is not compromised either, with a full range of restaurants offering delicious cuisine: Italian, French, Asian, steaks to pizzas, hot rocks to buffet, indoors and out.
The entertainment also impresses, the ship’s versatile cast supplemented by local artists arriving on board to do their thing, from music to magic, and happy to chat around the ship. The same goes for expedition lecturers, whose knowledge is surpassed only by their infectious enthusiasm.
Silver Nova's pool deck is an asymmetric innovation. Photo / Supplied
As well as providing intimacy and inclusiveness, small ships have the great advantage of being able to squeeze into many ports not accessible to the big cruisers, and Silversea boasts of visiting more than 900 destinations. These include the little Canadian town of Saguenay, off the St Lawrence River, where the aptly-named La Fabuleuse show involves not only singing and dancing, but a pig, a jeep, cannon-fire and a flood and, at the other end of the scale, a stately glide into the centre of Shanghai, with Pudong’s futuristic skyscrapers to one side and on the other the European stateliness of the Bund.
Luxury plus elemental nature is an unforgettable combination. Photo / Pamela Wade
It’s not all about cities: on an Alaskan cruise the ship can get up close to spectacular glaciers and seals sleeping on icebergs. If that’s the sort of thing that, er, floats your boat, there is absolutely no beating an Antarctica cruise on one of Silversea’s five expedition ships: a once-in-a-lifetime experience that, it turns out, is so addictive that many of your fellow guests are repeat visitors. For those dreading the notorious Drake Passage crossing, the Antarctica Bridge option flies you to the ice to begin the cruise.
Getting up close with nature is taken literally on Silversea expeditions. Photo / Pamela Wade
The only downside to cruising with Silversea is that it’s so hard to return to ordinary life afterwards. The memories of such a special experience are a real consolation. I think of Miriam fondly every time I wear my owl dress.
Checklist:
Choose either Silversea’s Door-to-Door all-inclusive option — taxi, flight, hotel, cruise, and ditto home again — or the less expensive Port-to-Port which has the same on-board inclusions. Special fare deals are available. Itineraries for the 12 ships range from seven nights up to 139 for the World Cruise, and visit more than 900 ports on all seven continents. In the fleet are specially-adapted expedition ships that don’t stint on luxury.
