Silversea Shadow
Currently many ships are getting refurbished or reimagined or just a plain well deserved modernization. Last year we did a review on the Silver Whisper who had a major refurb job just after the Silversea/Royal Caribbean acquisition. This job was already in the planning stages when Royal came onboard so the time in the shipyard was already booked and the materials purchased.
This last December the Shadow entered dry dock and the results are fantastic. This was more than a refurb job – steel was cut, which means major structural changes, public rooms moved and a complete transformation…
Silver Galapagos
On May 4 2019 I had the opportunity to do a site inspection cruise for a client aboard the Silver Galapagos. Being a unique destination and an Expedition cruise, it was very different from your typical Silversea classic cruise.
First off, I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing this with the land package from Silversea. Your journey starts with being picked up at the airport in Quito by a very experienced and polished DMC, and transferred to the JW Marriott in town. Being somewhat late at night one quickly retires to bed. The next day was at leisure but the DMC had a hospitality desk in the foyer to assist with putting together whatever custom tour you wanted…
Silver Spirit
We recently had the opportunity to cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona on Silversea’s Silver Spirit. The purpose of the cruise was to see firsthand what changes have taken place since Royal Caribbean’s purchase of two thirds of the company. We have been a longtime supporter of Silversea and were a bit dubious about the changes that could happen.
What we knew prior to joining the ship was with Royal’s money Silversea was able to order 5 new luxury ships. Silver Whisper was the first ship of the fleet to be refurbished with Royal’s assistance however Royal jumped in mid-way during the job. Honestly after seeing the results and know what was originally planned…
Silver Whisper
In April Diana and I had the opportunity to cruise on Silversea’s Silver Whisper. I have not included photos as the ship is going in for a major refit and updating this December. While we have several charters operating on this ship in the coming months, it was also an itinerary that covered some of the more popular ports of call for Asia based cruises that we needed to get to know.
This segment was part of the Whisper’s 4 month World Cruise, more about that later. The itinerary started in Singapore then headed to Port Klang for Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Penang Malaysia, Phuket Thailand, Colombo Sri Lanka, Cochin India, Mumbai (ex Bombay) India, and ending in Muscat Oman…
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.