We are regular cruisers and have sailed on many different lines like Celebrity, RCCL, Princess, P&O, NCL and Carnival, however, this was our first cruise on a smaller ship. The combination of a good price for the cruise and an interesting itinerary made it attractive to book this holiday. We were certainly not disappointed with our first Silversea experience! The ship was immaculate and had generous public areas. The cabin (a Classic Veranda Suite) was luxuriously appointed with plenty of space. The walk in wardrobe was an excellent size and there was more than enough storage space for luggage. The bathroom was lovely with a full size bath and separate shower. The bed was comfy and the seating area spacious. The only minor criticism was there were no non smoked glass mirrors in the cabin. It would have been useful to have a normal mirror near the balcony door. The food in the restaurants was excellent quality as were the drinks.There were several very good restaurants to choose from and we enjoyed the ability to dine in different venues during the cruise. We particualry liked the Italian themed 'La Terrazza' which served delicious food and you could enjoy this al fresco on the deck. One thing we particularly liked was that because there were less passengers than on the larger ships, we were able to go to the buffets and not feel crowded, there was always a waiter to help you find a free table and offer to take your food for you. It was really lovely to always find a table outside to dine. The entertainment on the ship was not as 'full on' as on the larger ships we had been on but we were never bored. The shows in the Venetian Lounge involved the Silversea Singers, instrumentalists and when we were in Kota Kinabalu a local dance troupe and instrumentalists came on board and performed an excellent show. We also enjoyed dancing the night away in the Panorama Lounge and had fun at a karaoke night! The deck party was good fun and also during the day there was great food served at tables by the pool. In the evening the area around the pool became the 'Hot Rocks' restaurant where you could cook your own meat/fish on hot volcanic rocks. The staff were really friendly and helpful. We also met many friendly passengers, on several evenings we would arrange to meet up and go to dinner with new friends. We were so impressed with the Silversea brand that we decided to book a future cruise on the Silver Shadow. Read Less

Superb from embarkation to disembarkation. My daughter took me on this cruise to celebrate a milestone birthday and I could not recommend it highly enough. She has sailed with Silversea before so I knew what to expect but it exceeded my expectations by a thousand percent. The service, the dining experiences, the amazing staff, the excursions, the suite, our butler and cabin attendant, the pool, the gym and all the extra little touches were beyond comparison. (I travelled on a Celebrity cruise last year and I would give that half a star (only for the excursions). Silversea would rate 10 stars if it was possible. From the room attendants, the wait staff, right up to the Captain, everyone went out of their way to be polite, friendly and helpful. Our suite was so comfortable, even including a bath! and a seperate dressing room. Our needs were met promptly and efficiently and we never felt that anything was too much trouble for the crew. Every day another new surprise greeted us. From exclusive chocolates on our beds at night to a waiter complimenting me on my jewellery and even remembering that my daughter was wearing something similar several nights before. The meals were like dining in a 5 star restaurant each time. It’s very easy to put on some weight. Silversea is expensive but it’s all inclusive, so you never feel as though someone is fawning over you just to earn a tip, which is what has happened on other cruises I’ve taken. Will definitely be sailing Silversea again. Read Less

This trip should b a no brainer for SS, but it's not. To many little issues turn into stupidity. Examples, a Milk shake in US is made with ice cream and milk, they use no milk but use ice. Very difficult to explain how to make since there order system doesn’t allow explanations. The restaurants have a set menu, which means no different meals. Oceania, Regent, Crystal all have new menus for dinner every day, they also post outside what that nights menu is. The food is good but trying to customize a meal is difficult as you must order at least 24 hrs in advance. All, except 2 restaurants, must have a reservation, even though they are not filled. With empty tables at 8PM, you cannot just walk in. When we boarded we were told we needed an Australian Visa...but why wasn’t that notification made prior to boarding? So, request was made by Muse, but they applied to agency other than govnmt. Which charged more than double, notification was made about the problem and I was told I had to solve it. Fortunately others had same problem, so Muse handled the problem. Read Less

This is our review of our recent trip from Sydney to Auckland on the Silver Muse. We were fortunate to have booked an Owner’s Suite in the ship and we were expecting to be blown away by the whole experience but, unfortunately, it did not really end up that way. Embarkation and disembarkation Very good and smooth. Food and Restaurants In our opinion, the food was excellent all round and although other reviewers complained of the lack of variety, the menu is changed every 7 days at the evening restaurants, except for “La Dame”. We felt this catered for enough variety as there are various dishes within one menu to guarantee no repetition of the same dish within two visits to that restaurant in a 7-day cycle. We loved the pizza at “Spaccanapoli”, the lamb at “La Dame” and the overall experience at “Indochine”. Perhaps the one restaurant that lagged was “La Terraza” (Italian) in the evening. We felt the food there could be improved. Service on board Outstanding, that is all we can say. Every single member of the crew made us feel welcome and always greeted us with a smile. We would like to point out the outstanding service provided by Shinuda (maître d’) who was always helpful and happy, Gabor at Indochine who went out of his way to make sure that our wishes were met, and Nuria at Indochine who was always happy and cheerful and made our dinners a joy. Butler For some reason our butler was not as good as it could have been. Not much attention to detail and seemed to be stressed most of the time. We have had better experience with butlers before. This was not one to remember. Entertainment and activities onboard We had a guest guitarist, Vincenzo, who gave two shows in the 15-day cruise. Very good. The Silversea singers were very good but on a 15-day cruise, their shows, we found them to be repetitive. Silversea should consider bringing in more guest entertainers on longer cruises. Our cruise director was good. Activities were average. Cabin That was our biggest disappointment. Having the Owner’s suite booked we had high expectations as regards services, overall experience and luxury. The reality is that other then the size of the room (basically 3 varanda suites -one with no balcony - put together into one suite) the overall experience is the same as any other suite in the ship. We expected to receive additional perks to the standard suites for the cost of the Owner’s suite but that was not the case, but the cost of the suite is over x2.5 times that of a standard Varanda suite. The sitting/dining room had two large TV sets opposite one another in a room that was no more that 5 meters in distance between opposing walls. We did not understand the reason for two TV sets in such a small space and it felt as though one of them was an afterthought to justify the suite category. Totally unnecessary. Our experience with the owner’s suite is that it simply is not worth the money and they do not represent value for money. We are not likely to ever book an Owner Suite or any of the other top suites until there is a clear value for money appreciation in the suite. Booking a Varanda suite will get you the same level or service and extras and if you are after more space, then a Silver suite is a more reasonable option. Just as a point in reference, we had an Owner’s suite quoted for a trip to Antarctica in 2021, the cost was quoted in excess of $110K whereas the Varanda for two costs $35K. Bear in mind you are getting exactly the same service on board. Just not worth the money in our opinion. Crew Never saw them. Did we have one?. Ports and excursions The destinations were what sold us the cruise. Outstanding experience, amazing journey. The excursions were good, and we particularly appreciated the Middle Earth (Littleton, NZ) excursion hosted by Hammond Peek, he made our day – excellent person and great host. Passengers We felt that the average of the cruisers was more in the late 60’s – over 70’s range. Perhaps the distance, time of the year and cost keeps away younger people. My wife and I are 55+ and would have preferred a merrier atmosphere and not so formal. The sea days were particularly tedious with almost no entertainment in the swimming pool which gave it an impression of a 5-star hotel with no entertainment. This area needs to be improved. Read Less

Lawrence was amazing in talking about wine, so much so, fasting and not eating would have been an option. But not one beef serving was edible. We laughed at lunch when the knife could not cut the beef and the kangaroo was more tender. Again, would go to drink wine, but fillet in Indochine tasted like liver and even cheeseburger had No beef taste. Appears Royal Caribbean’s purchase poses issues. Rueben sandwich at lunch had quarter inch non chewable pieces of corned beef. Corned beef hash was not edible at breakfast. Breakfast sausage was unchewable. Cheeseburger had less taste than fast food American Burger King. Ship is nice and new, under decorated. Line must have run out of money during process. Would return for wine lectures, but not to eat. We laughed at lunch when the kangaroo meat was easier to cut than the beef freshly cut across the Dias. But it is not funny. This is a new magnificent ship with a crew trying so hard, a great butler, and yet you chew a piece of waygu beef, on and on, and put it back on your fork, and hide it on your plate from the attentive trying staff who are trying to do their best. Lobster tail twice with so much cartilage to be inedible. Why, we wonder, when everything else seems great. Crew seems on edge. Butler was great but asked if we would rate him, as though things were in flux. He was great. Food was not. Read Less

My partner and I with a group of friends cruised on Silver Muse for 14 nights from Sydney to Auckland. It was a wonderful cruise that exceeded all expectations; we have been cruising with SIlversea for over 20 years and have been on each of the Silversea vessels many times; this was our first time on the Muse and we absolutely loved it. We were very impressed with the new direction that Silversea is taking: everything seemed to be more modern and more upmarket (and the product was terrific in the first place.) Lets start with the ship: its gorgeous! The layout is similar to the Spirit with certain areas expanded and improved, the décor is beautiful with a modern and elegant look, all of the rooms and spaces are accounted for with new additions such as the cute Arts Café and a supersized Lobby/Dolce Vita area, and the outdoor space has been enhanced with a pool and deck area that is longer/larger than the equivalent space on the Spirit (before it was lengthened) and an extra Jacuzzi aft. All good. We had a Deluxe Veranda Suite that was simply beautiful; the suites are (I think) slightly larger than on the Spirit but the new and very beautiful interior design makes the suites feel roomier and brighter. There was a super bathroom, good walk in closet, and lots of storage; all as expected on Silversea. Everything being new and fresh is a good thing and we enjoyed our Suite very much - simply superb! Dining was extraordinary: the food was terrific in each of the eight restaurants. The dining and reservation issue seems to have worked out on the Muse; the system is now perfected. We had advance reservations for many evenings and everything went according to plan; on our non-reservation evenings (when we ate at Atlantide or Indochine) we never had a problem getting a table directly even around 800PM which seemed to be the peak dinner hour. The décor at the restaurants is pretty and each venue has its own design and style. The food at each Restaurant was wonderful: we ourselves were surprised that we enjoyed Indochine as much as we did. Of course, La Dame is a wonderful dining experience and our dinner at Silver Note was an adventure in dining. So much fun. We also thought that the wines being served (and there was much variety in the standard categories) were rather good; Frank, the chief sommelier who we know for years, was onboard and very gracious towards us. The service that we received onboard was nothing short of spectacular; we knew many of the crew members and (I think) that they were genuinely happy to see us. At the restaurants, we were catered to at each and every meal regardless of venue - the head waiters and maître d's always checking and making sure that we were pleased. A big thanks to all of them, especially Giwa who made sure everything went well. Waiters, bar staff, and the pool staff were all active and engaged, knew our names by the second or third day, and looked after us. Our butler, Alan, was marvelous and took care of many details for us (including a ridiculous amount of laundry) and Sam, our cabin attendant did an outstanding job looking after of our cabin which was always spotless. Although we do not do ship shore excursions, the members of the shore excursion team were helpful and assisted us with a smile. All good. As for entertainment and activities, its standard Silversea. The singers were lovely and had talent and we went to a few shows.....but entertainment has never been and never will be Silversea's strongest point; this is not where small ship cruise lines excel. The cruise director, lecturers, entertainers and social staff were all engaged and passengers seemed quite happy. The only odd thing was that many of the production shows were scheduled for 615PM which we found unacceptable as we don't care for early shows; scheduling the shows early left us with little to do after dinner. It was not a big deal, just strange. As always with Silversea, embarkation was a breeze (from curbside at the port to La Terraza for Lunch in less than 30 minutes) and debarkation was even quicker with us leaving exactly at the designated time. Our Sydney to Auckland itinerary was lovely: this is the third time that we have done this cruise over the years but Australia and New Zealand are absolutely beautiful and the ports of Burnie, Picton, Napier and Gisbonre were all new to us. And, its always wonderful to spend a few days in Sydney before embarkation. I cannot comment on the shore excursions: we make our own arrangements and tour independently with private guides so that we can set out own pace (we move more quickly than most ship operated excursions) - it works out better for us. Our only issue was internet at sea; its frustrating and remains so on the Muse. In our technology driven world where we are all dependent on the internet for just about everything, its time for internet at sea to catch up. I understand that this is not a Silversea issue (we have had the same problem on Regent and other small ship cruise lines) but, nonetheless, reliable and fast wifi is a necessity and not a luxury in 2019. In summary, we had a wonderful experience on Silver Muse and look forward to her sisters Silver Moon and Silver Dawn joining the fleet; as a "small-ship person" I never thought that my partner and I would like the "larger" Muse as much as we did. Also, we adapted to the multiple dining venues much more easily than we thought we would - we both always loved the ease and simplicity of the Restaurant on the smaller Silversea vessels. We cant wait to return and are already planning our next voyage with Silversea: we are deciding between the Med and Northern Europe for the summer and its probably South America next winter Read Less

We had been on a Silversea cruise to Alazka on Silver Shadow and loved the size and service. The Muse was even better. We traveled with my Brother and his wife and it was there first Silversea experience. From the minute we arrived at the terminal Silversea treated us with class and diginity. We arrived at Sydney terminal at around 11am and thought we would try and drop off our luggage. We were pleasantly surprised that we were allowed to get on the ship and start our cruise. What a bonus. The service was amazing. After 2 days almost every crew member knew our names. We sat at the pool bar and ordered 4 separate drinks (Joey is the best). The next day he saw us coming and prepared the exact 4 drinks as ordered the day before. Sounds simple but it was special. The best addition that the Muse had was the pizza restaurant. We are pizza snobs and love Neopolitan style pizza. The pizza chef is from Florence but he had it down pat. Amazing Diavola pizza, almost as good as we had in Rome. We cannot say enough about the various restaurants. No complaints anywhere. I have read other reviews and we are either easy to please (Do not think so) or others may be expectting Michelin star restaurants. We spent a good amount of time at the pool deck with other couples we met and the pool staff were incredible. So many special people attended to everything we asked for and then some. The Muse has so many places to get away from it all and get an espresso, snack or a drink. The additional size of the Muse (%50 I think) compared to the 400 on the Shadow was not noticed. I could go on and on but have to go back to work. Congratulations to the Silversea team, a home run. We already booked our next cruise (On the Moon) Read Less

I could go on and on about the service, quality of food, the cabin and amenities, the quality of the bed, the selection of spirits and wine, the ship itself….but I won't as all of these deserve the five stars I gave this particular cruise. We have already been on Viking, Seabourn and Regent. All in similar suites and comparable ships. I have to say they all were fantastic but in no way does it compare to The Silver Seas Muse. First, choosing your own dining venues is fantastic. You can be completely formal one night feasting on nothing but the finest cuisine and next you can be in sandals and a golf shirt having a delicious Pizza on the deck. Everything was first class including onboarding and off-boarding. But, if you are looking for big ship action and entertainment, this is not for you. 550 passengers only and sometimes it feels like 100 because the average age seems to be over 70 (we are a bit younger), so early to be and not a lot revelry, smaller casino, smaller entertainment venue, and maybe not the top artists, but this was perfect for our crew. The only suggestion I would give is research your ports as some are very sleepy, but there is so much to do right outside the city/villages limits. We did a lot of these on our own through Viator.com. We have always had a lot of luck with them. I have to smile when I read some of the reviews of the Muse and other lines. I must see things a different way. This is lovely experience in luxury and adventure. Read Less

New Zealand and Australia have been on my wife and my bucket list for a while and we did it on this cruise. It was as beautiful as we hoped. As was our cruise ship the Silver Muse. It is a new ship and very well done. Our cabin was exceptionally well laid out and the crew was very very friendly. It was obvious that Silver Seas has put their best onboard. For example, I normally have a night cap of Baileys Irish Cream and coffee in our cabin every night but the coffee maker was for espresso and not American coffee. But I found a bartender just down the hall that listened to me and prepared my night cap exactly the way I like it every night. Each crew member we passed smiled and said hello. Embarkation was somewhat disorganized. Check in on the dock was quick but we did arrive at a time where there were not very many people. But it was not complete. We had to do some further check in on the ship and this was a bottleneck. There were only four lines to service guests and they were backed up. Disembarkation was very easy. But again we were staying at a hotel in Auckland and did not have to leave with a lot of people. We tend to eat in our cabin but there are lots of dining venues. I was able to get sushi for lunch one day by just walking in and sitting down. Unfortunately the sushi rice was like the kind you get in a supermarket, not very good. We did not do any of the speciality dining but the main dining room was beautiful and all the food on board was very good. Except maybe for the hamburgers, in this day of gourmet burgers these were pretty bland. But then there were the pizzas, best we have had. Also, the lobster was just OK. Kind of hard to describe but while not badly prepared it was a little tough. One big problem for me. I have a gluten allergy that causes me to break out if it eat it. I spent most of the cruise broken out, meaning I was getting gluten, so if you are celiac i would not cruise on this ship. We did not do any of the silver Seas tours but heard complaints from other passengers. We also heard from one couple in a Silver Suite like us but on deck 9 that were kept up till midnight because they were under the kitchen for the Grill. They could not get another Silver Suite but had to sleep in a smaller cabin and spend the day in their suite. I would not stay on deck 9 under the area around the pool and kitchen because of all the activity. The biggest negative on the ship was the entertainment system. Watching involved a lot of buffering. In other words having what you are watching pause while the system caught up. I mean a lot, at times every few minutes. This happened for onboard movies, “live” feeds, and even the bridge camera. We even had the system get in a mode where it took over a minute to respond to a click on the remote. A reset took care of that but no amount of resets took care of the buffering problem. In addition, the system was hard to use. There was no easy way to navigate a movie and the home button on the remote did not take you home on the system. Overall we enjoyed our cruise. Having such a nice cabin and crew more than made up for the other issues we ran into. Read Less

Fantastic cruise with every segment connected to the ship Fantastic. Like heaven. Ship pristine and staff excellent and friendly. Everything perfect on the ship. The hotel before and after and the excursions were not the same level. The ship is stunningly beautiful and is filled with staff who have the goal to please every guest. Food is great. You can order anything if you give the chef 24 hours notice. You can order from the 24 hour menu anywhere on the ship. Don’t miss the galley or bridge tour. The chef is a character. Reception can help. The butlers Are professional and not just wearing a uniform. If you have a special occasion, they’ll decorate your cabin. Grab pool seats early as they can get taken on sea days. Excursions- not the same level as Silversea. Excursions were disappointing. Over crowded and too much driving with less fun than expected. Read Less