Cruising on Silversea’s Silver Nova
Worldwide was on board Silversea’s newest ship for the official naming ceremony here in Ft Lauderdale, along with a tour and a luncheon. This 700ish passenger Ultra Luxury Vessel is beautiful and everything a contemporary modern luxury ship needs to be.
There are no cabins or staterooms on the ship, only gorgeous very functional suites with walk-in closets and fantastic bathrooms. Silversea has always set the standard in Butler Service on the high seas, and the Nova is no exception. With a crew to passenger ratio of 1 to 1, service is going to be superb.
The Nova is a totally new design for Silversea in that this ship is designed horizontally versus vertically. Silversea and many other luxury ships have traditionally been designed with all the public rooms being stacked on the aft decks of the ship. The Nova has been designed more along the lines of a bigger ship (which this ship is for only 700 guests), with public rooms running the full length of the ship fore and aft. The ship’s design feels very spacious throughout.
One totally new feature is NOT having the swimming pool in the center of the pool deck. The Nova’s pool goes from the center of the ship to the side of the ship giving you a true ocean view from the pool. The pool bar is located in the center of the ship allowing for more of the lounge chairs to great ocean views, as well as shade. A very new concept that seems to be a winner.
Not to go unnoticed is the new aft deck Sunset bar. Much like her big cousins over at Celebrity this new bar will be a big hit, and I bet larger on the sister ships to come. Located aft of the pool are is another new area to Silversea – the Marquee. A colorful glass gazebo. This day and night venue offers light breakfast, lunch and pizzeria -Italian style of course – and nightly the popular Hot Rocks dining which is great fun.
Dining on the Nova has been expanded as well with Caviar and Champagne always available throughout the ship and in your suite. The 8 total dining venues offer about anything you can think of from Asian to French with a Super Club in between. Needless to say our short visit could only begin to enjoy all of these options but the menus are fantastic and will take a week to enjoy them.
The lovely spa is large for this ship while the casino is the right size. The gift shops have an Italian flair and taste to them. The popular Arts Café is located mid ship where it should be, for coffee or a casual bite any time of day, or just to catch up on the days explorations.
Silver Nova is certainly Silversea’s latest hit with a new sister ship coming later this summer. Do not hesitate to put your 5 Star clients this ship.
