We cruised on the Silver Cloud from Southampton to Barcelona and was actually two cruises booked back to back - our 7th and 8th respectively on Silversea. Both cruises were called L'Ecole des Chefs by Relais & Chateaux and featured David Bilsland, Silversea's Culinary Trainer. The itinerary was the primary attraction for us and included two nights docked in Bordeaux and one night docked in Barcelona. Other ports included Honfleur France, Bilbao Spain, Porto Portugal, Lisbon Portugal, Cartagena Spain, Valencia Spain and others.

The ship - Silver Cloud is a small ship by today's standards with a capacity of 296 passengers, but it is very spacious and elegant. Passengers are generally very personable and we have made many acquaintances and friends.

The food is excellent! We usually have room service breakfast and often enjoy lunch at the Pool Grill. The Cloud has four restaurants for dinner - The Restaurant which is the main dining room, La Terrazza which is an Italian restaurant, Le Champagne which is the most elegant and the Pool Grill also known in the evening as Hot Rocks because your food cooks on an extremely hot lava rock (with a proper holder) in front of you. The Restaurant always has an extensive menu that changes everyday, but they also have the "always available" items such as Beef Filet or Onion Soup. You can easily order 5 courses or more. Serving sizes are smaller, but appropriate given the number of courses. We found the soups to be especially good. We enjoy the wide variety and sometimes try a dish that perhaps we wouldn't try at a restaurant back home. After all, if it is just not to your liking, you can always ask for something else. Overall the food is excellent. La Terrazza is very good and we always eat there at least once on a trip. The Hot Rocks is a blast and the food is excellent. We really enjoy eating there. Le Champagne is Silversea's most elegant restaurant. There is a $40 pp charge. In my opinion, the food and service reach Michelin Star levels. We also always eat there at least once per cruise. Service in the dining venues and the bars is always excellent. In the bars, many of the waiters will remember your "usual" just as an old friend would. Read more