Suite

Silversea Cruises

Luxury Cruises

Romantic Cruises

Singles Cruises

Senior Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Athens (Piraeus)

Europe - All

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Mediterranean

Turkey

Italy

Greece

Croatia

Slovenia

Middle East

Africa

Egypt

Oman

Sweden

Nile River

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Trans-Ocean

Excellent

Very Good

Silver Muse

Silver Spirit

Tortola

We were interested in visiting the ancient ruins in Athens, Petra, and Luxor. The Silversea pre and post cruise Hotels were were excellent. We enjoyed the Muse. There were things we really liked and a couple of things that need attention.We liked the room design. We did not like the black oily soot that came out of the smokestacks and covered the deck and furniture on the back outdoor seating. Soiled lots of cloths before we discovered it. I thought it strange that when my wife and I arrived to eat at the Indochine restaurant I was asked to go get a jacket before I could enter, I went back to room and returned to enter when I noticed eight men in the restaurant who hung their jackets on the chair and were wearing bluejeans and sneakers. Jason told me I only need the jacket to enter but then I could remove it. Quite a poor policy and not consistently applied.

Athens to Muscat on the Muse.

Dining service has slipped, evening entertainment in lounge is not very entertaining for a late night crowd.  Butler service, Rommel and his assistant Vipen, were exceptional.  No binoculars in room and no lectures on board ship prior to ports.

Also not much communication regarding visa help for next cruise to Oman.  I personally asked the chief accountant to keep me updated with what became a difficult process.  He NEVER communicated until the visa was completed.  The ship IT guy tried to help me switch the online application but he could not figure out how to shrink my passport photo tonfit the application.  They got it done but it was very stressful and it took four working days after they told me it was usually done in one to three.  Would not have been an issue if the. Communication would have been there.  

Great restaurants to select from and food was very good.

Overall service, excluding our butler, seems to have slipped a notch.

This was our first Silversea cruise. We chose this cruise because of their unique destinations and excursions. Being a smaller ship was a plus too. 

First... the food was incredible; well seasoned, flavorful and well presented. So many choices and so many dining options that you never have to repeat yourself. 

Our butler was always on top of things and went the extra mile for us in locating non-alcoholic beverages for our suite or anything else we would enjoy. 

Our cabin was spacious, bright and airy. We never felt like we were on top of each other. The closet space was refreshingly large with ample hangars and drawers.

The lectures were very interesting and there was something for everybody.  Nice mix.

We did not partake of many of the offered activities this time and the late night entertainment was too late night for us. We did attend the 6:15 opera and would like to see more entertainment during the matinee timeframe.

Ports were fascinating and our tour guides were very knowledgeable and engaging.

This was a very relaxing cruise for us where we could come away refreshed. I thoroughly appreciated the library on the 11th deck. My secret place.

Professional staff from the cruise director to the room attendant. 6 stars.

Over the top WOW

This was our fifth Silversea cruise, our second on the Muse but our first repositioning voyage.  

As always, we flew to our embarkation city the day beforehand and had a fun 24 hours in Athens.  We didn’t feel it necessary to book our accommodation through Silversea as it’s a major European city with good transport links.  When you just need a relatively central location, a comfortable bed and a good shower, why pay over the odds? Silversea waived the “deviation fee” on this occasion so we booked a simple hotel 10 minutes on the metro from the Acropolis.  We enjoyed exploring the city on the Sunday and spent Monday morning in the magnificent Acropolis Museum before taking an inexpensive taxi to Piraeus and boarding the ship with minimum fuss.  We were sat outside La Terrazza having lunch within 15 minutes.

We previously sailed on the Muse on her inaugural voyage in April 2017 and had a great time, despite the dining chaos complained of by some.  It definitely felt like a home-coming, with some familiar faces amongst the crew and we easily slipped into the warm embrace of luxury provided onboard.

The ship looked good and well-kept.  For us, the public spaces achieve the balance between muted luxury and comfort - we are not interested in being surrounded by “bling”.  Our suite, although on a lower deck than we have previously sailed on, was in all other respects exactly the same and very convenient for the “big beige lounge” (the Dolce Vita) and Team Trivia every afternoon.  

Over the course of the cruise, we ate in all the restaurants with the exception of La Dame.  This was a conscious choice on our part as on our previous voyage we didn’t feel La Dame merited the extra charge when the food in Atlantide is particularly good.  We dined in Kaiseki to celebrate a birthday and the chefs and staff gave us a memorable evening.  We also enjoyed the sushi and sashimi for lunch at Kaiseki, which sometimes provided a quieter alternative to the buffet or the pool deck.  The food at all restaurants ranged from very good to excellent.  It was pleasing to see that the menu at Silver Note (previously our lest favourite option) had improved.  The flavours at Indochine were spot-on and the bar there was one of the nicest on the ship.  Not all guests appreciate Asian fusion, but it was heartening to see the Indochine dining room busier than previously.

Where we had previously sailed on port-intensive itineraries with relatively few sea days, we had to make an adjustment on this cruise where it was roughly half port and half sea days.  This was made easier with plenty to keep us busy.  There were three guest lecturers on board, two of whom - Mark Elowitz and Tom Jones  - were  particularly popular.  Team Trivia became increasingly popular as the cruise progressed.  Cruise Director Vikki conducted matters with elan and confidence. We used the gym regularly and my husband attended a number of classes with the fitness instructor, who he rated highly.  The jogging track was busy with walkers and runners first thing in the morning. We had a bridge tour, various cooking demonstrations in different parts of the snip, a galley tour and many other diversions.

The Voices of Silversea did a really good job on this voyage and all the various musicians worked hard to support each other and devise new combinations of musical entertainment to offer guests.  Charlie the guitarist was a particular star.  In addition, there were two other artists brought in for different parts of the cruise - a singer/pianist and a flamenco guitarist.  Both were very skilled.

We took a number of excursions in the ports we visited.  The desert jeep safari in Sharm El Sheikh was more fun and interesting than we had originally expected.  The landscapes through which we drove were remarkable and the visit to the Bedouin camp was enlivened by both a whirling dervish and a belly dancer.

The full day excursion to Petra was tiring but very well worth it.  Again, the desert landscape we passed through to get there was quite spectacular.  Everybody will say that there isn’t enough time to do more than skim the surface in Petra and I think that is true.  Once we had passed through the Siq, we left the tour group behind and wandered on our own.  There was enough flexibility in the lunch arrangements for us to maximise the time in the old city and just grab something quick back at the Movenpick Hotel.  After all, there didn’t see a lot of point in going all that way to spend half of it sitting in the dining room of a hotel, however nice.

In Safaga, we took the overnight excursion to Luxor.  This gave us the best chance to see as much as we could in the time available.  For us, the Valley of the Kings was the highlight and more time there rather than at a couple of the photo stops on the way back to Luxor would have been welcome.  The evening buffet dinner at the Sonesta Hotel on the banks of the Nile was very relaxed and enjoyable.

Having sailed through Pirate Alley and reached Salalah, we cancelled the excursion we had booked and took a taxi with another couple.  This gave us the chance to see what the city had to offer at our own pace.  It’s not a big place but there are still points of interest - the vegetable and fish markets were amazing.  

It always surprises us when we hear and read complaints of poor service on Silversea.  We have never experienced anything less than exemplary service and this cruise was no different.  Our butler and room attendant were efficient and friendly and did a beautiful job of decorating the suite for my husband’s birthday.  The staff definitely deserved the applause at the crew parade on our penultimate evening on board.

Disembarkation at Muscat was a little slower than on previous occasions, but that was more to do with the local immigration officials than with Silversea staff.  All the arrangements for our transfers within Muscat went smoothly.

We are looking forward to our next Silversea cruise - we have an open booking and are still pondering which itinerary to try next.  Based on our previous experience, we are confident that Silversea will deliver the cruise we want.

Athens to Muscat - a bucket list cruise.

My husband loves Hawaii, however the hotel where we always stay was being renovated in 2018 so i took the opportunity to find a suitable cruise - the requirements were :  warm weather, ocean (naturally - no river cruise), interesting area(s) and a "nice" ship (with a king-size bed - very important).  We have done a few cruises and so far liked the QM2-Grill best (we enjoy ballroom dancing). 

This was a long introduction ...

The SilverSea / SIlver Muse had a very good itinerary - from Athens through the Suez Canal to Oman, via stops in Cyprus and multiple stops in Egypt, particularly Luxor.  This schedule was well suited for finishing our trip - on our own - in Dubai.

As soon as SilverSea / SIlver Muse (or similar, i.e Spirit) has an itinerary we like we'll book again.  We loved the experience.  The ship is just lovely - the perfect size in our opinion - big enough to have nice facilities yet small enough to provide an intimate and cozy feeling. No photographer to bug you all the time.

We did have a "suite" which was very comfortable (and had the required king-size bed).

It also had a Bose sound system but the guest(s) have to provide the music which we could not since we don't have "smart phones" (this was really a shame because we are used to excellent sound;  there was music available via the TV but very poor sound quality even though they did have some classical music.

On that subject - sound quality - the theatre has a terrbile sound system, we were not the only ones complaining.  Also - why does everything have to be so loud ?!?  It's ok to amplify a Trio or individual Guitar player on the deck around the pool but in a small and cozy room this simply becomes deafening noise !!

The food was excellent and the service superb - there are basically 2 dining venues, the relatively formal Atlantide and the more relaxed Italian La Terrazza  -  there are several more smaller places (Chinese, Japanese and totally informal pool-side restaurants as well as one super-fancy venue where you have to pay a cover charge - we tried it but were not impressed).

One real complaint is that the last breakfast seating is at 9:30 and closes at 10 !  We are on holiday - vacation !  So we had breakfast in our room and our butler tried to bring it as late as possible, typically 9:50 and then 10 min later the eggs and bacon so they don't get cold while we have fruit/juice/cereal - this was acceptable since we could sit in our house coats.  (We prefer to have a very late breakfast, typically 11:30 and no lunch - don't know why this seems to be such a problem except on the QM2).

Regardless of dress codes, most people were very well dressed - a pleasant surprise, we like it.

I can't say much about excursions since we made mostly our own arrangements but one "Beach break" which we had booked was cancelled, not enough interest, but then the office agreed to organize it privately for us and this worked out well.

All in all a most wonderful experience - we are looking forward to cruise with SilverSea again.

First Time SilverSea

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