This is our 6th Silversea cruise, we have sailed on several other cruise lines but SS for the most part. When the Muse was launched, we knew we had to go on it! Something new and hopefully fresh and different from previous cruises. Now that may seem like a negative about previous cruises, but not exactly. Silversea was my first cruise ever and has always held a special place in my heart but after a few cruises, we felt like maybe we didn’t exactly fit in with their usual clientele. Hence, we started exploring other cruise lines to see what else is out there. We are American 46 and 51...a bit on the young side for Silversea. In the past, the cruise demographic never seemed very varied. Primarily Brits , over the age of 70. We had felt that the social life on board was pretty quiet and reserved. Not as friendly as we would like. Well, the Muse blew that out of the water. I dont know if its because of the new ship, bigger size, the itinerary, different marketing?? I dont know, but it was a vast improvement. Super friendly, outgoing, social folks everywhere. There was definitely a livelier vibe on the ship , really good energy that I hadn’t felt on SS before. EMBARKATION: So we flew from Florida to Singapore to board the ship. We spent 3 nights at the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore first. We love SIN and were happy to spend a few days there. We couldn’t find any info from Silversea on which port they use in Singapore. It was pretty frustrating not knowing where to go. We finally looked at cruisemapper to locate the ship. If the info was printed somewhere, we sure couldn’t find it. Otherwise, embarkation was quick and easy like always. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: We LOVE this new ship and hopefully this new design is reflected in future ships and refurbishments of the old ships. The other ships we had done were classy, elegant, but the kind you find at a wealthy grandmas house . It was fine, but a bit dark and not our cup of tea. This new design is gorgeous. Loved the colors, textures, materials. Loved the use of wood looking tile for bathrooms, and many public spaces. The ship is bright, the lighting is great . Very well done! We were getting pretty excited about this trip! Cabins werent ready, so our routine is to eat lunch at the pool grill. Menu had finally been changed and expanded. I ordered the BBQ chicken wrap but didnt care for it at all ,although my partner loved his?? So....? After lunch, we explored the ship and shortly thereafter we went to our cabin. The ship is just gorgeous! CABIN: Typical veranda stateroom size which suits us just fine. Again, it echos the rest of the ship, just beautiful. Lots of storage space, big deep drawers. Lots of counter space in living room area. I don’t like the 2 TVs in the mirror in the living area and the other in front of the bedroom. They are too difficult to see unless the lights are off and curtains pulled. Our other complaint and really biggest complaint is the mattress...so hard! Like really hard! My back was killing me so bad. We requested the egg shell foam thing they can put under the sheets, but apparently there were no more available. Obviously we werent the only ones that thought the beds were hard. The awesome suite attendant put 2 duvets under the sheets and it was more comfortable for the rest of the trip. DINING: I was stressing over this honesty. Food had been hit or miss on past cruises. And not having a main dining room per se, I wasnt sure how all these individual restaurants would work out for us. Atlantide: we ate here twice, first time the filet mignon was cooked to perfection, so delicious and tender, the 2nd time it was over cooked and I didnt care for it. Otherwise both dinners were very good. We also started eating here for breakfast rather than the buffet at La Terraza. It was quieter, more civilized , I dont care for buffets much anyway, food was hotter and service excellent. I highly recommend it, not many folks ate here each morning. Indochine: we ate here twice as well. Restaurant is gorgeous ! Loved the decor. Was never crowded. Food was so good. This is the only restaurant that we heard from a few other passengers that felt like the food was so so....but we didnt find that at all and really enjoyed it ! La Terrazza: we ate here twice for dinner as well. Much lighter and brighter than on other ships. Felt like food was much better and so was service. They had an amazing gnocchi and ossobucco that was to die for! We did breakfast here a couple times until we found Atlantide ...much prefer blast there. We were happy to see that SS could finally get us a cup of coffee before we finished our breakfast! This was something that happened a lot on other ships, very slow coffee service. We had lunch here a couple times, buffet is fine...nothing too exciting. Seabourn does it better. Kaiseki: Ate here once as its $60 per person. It was way too much food for us. It was all very good, but the service takes too long for us and we couldn’t finish most things. As much we enjoyed the food, we wouldn’t do it again at $60/person. La Dame: Did this once...also $60 person. We had eaten at La Champagne on our first cruise years ago, but now it s called La Dame. There was much better selection of items than previous La Champagne restaurant . We really enjoyed it, food wasn’t too much, didnt feel overly stuffed. We really loved it and had wonderful folks sitting next to us that entertained us..again, everyone was so friendly and like to strike up conversations with us at nearly every meal. Silver Note; didnt try it this cruise . Spaccanapoli: we were super tired after a 12 hour excursion to Hanoi, so we got back late and just went for casual pizza night. It was sooo good! And we were the only ones there that night. Its super popular and packed during the day for lunch but for some reason people avoid it at night? Pool Grill: Did this once. We have cooked our steaks many times on the hot rocks, so we dont do it anymore. I prefer someone else cook my dinner. Steak was excellent as were the sides. It was pretty chilly and we had to move our table as it got drizzly , but still a nice night. ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES: We dont play shuffle board or bridge or trivia or any of that. We did go to a couple lectures by an amazing guy who did lectures on Vietnam...he was one of the best lecturers I have ever heard. Guests talked about him all the time every day on the ship. Everyone thought he was fascinating, and his material moved at a good pace. He was phenomenal! We usually try to hit the casino but didnt make it in . We peeked in one night, it was very quiet and notthat big. SHOPS: Well unless you are in the market for jewelry or a lady, not much there for men . A handful of things, terrible marketing for Silversea. Just lousy for men or people that even want a few souvenirs or snacks or something. Lame. SERVICE: Was very good. We were fortunate to recognize some staff that we have sailed with before on other SS ships. It s like seeing family you haven’t seen in a long time. Always made us feel welcome..so warm and gracious. Really couldn’t fault anyone . Staff seems to really be happy on this ship and they will tell you how much they love it. I imagine a new ship is more user friendly, things dont break etc. Plus they have bars in every restaurant now..so smart. Before they would have to run front the restaurants to the main bar to get a cocktail for you if you didn’t want wine. PORTS AND EXCURSIONS: Well, I could write tons on this but I will just say please book a trip to Vietnam ! It was fantastic! We got our own guilds for Saigon, but did ship excursions for others ports. Such a fascinating country! FINAL THOUGHTS: This cruise renewed our excitement and interest in Silversea again! We loved the ship and will look for future cruiees primarily on the Muse or any of the newer ones. This ship really suited our style. The passenger demographic was much more diverse. There were people from all over , not one nationality seemed to prevail. There was also a better age mix than previous SS cruises. The vibe and energy on the ship was great and seemed a bit more relaxed than previous stuffy cruises we have done in the past. Hopefully this trend will continue. Read Less

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. Read Less

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. Read Less

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. Read Less

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. Read Less

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. Read Less

Chose the cruise to go to an area of the world that both the wife and I had not visited. Normally we have always traveled on smaller Silver Sea Ships and decided to go on the. larger ship the Muse and try it out. Overall a very nice and modern ship. However, the overall service, mainly dining, did not meet the normal Silver Sea level of excellence we have always experienced on previous voyages. The crew was highly professional overall service was great. The problem we had was with the food/menu that was served. Bottomline, the menu hardly changed at the restaurants where as on the smaller ships we have an opportunity to sample the local cuisine in their Restaurant not so on the Muse and their Atlantide and others. The menu was almost the same every night. The other shortfall that was always available when we traveled on smaller ships was the "area expert" that provided area briefing on the various ports that we were to visit. We have another cruise coming up and we are already planning to go on a smaller ship to get back to the Silver Sea basics. . Read Less

Friends suggested it would be a great vacation my first in over 20 years I saved up all year for this snd everything about it was a huge disappointment the captain snd staff did nothing to make me feel safe in the upcoming typhoon and I left the ship due to my great for my safety along with 8 other people in my group there was NOTHING remotely luxurious about this ship it looked old and in need of a makeover and the room was sad snd depressing and in need of an major update it was really shabby the crew and captain had. I plan for the impending storm and made all of us terrified instead of feeling safe I would never recommend this cruise line to anyone it isnot what is advertised and I lost a lot of hard earned money for nothing and had no vacation at all Read Less

It was recommended to try and the dates worked into our time schedule. We thought it was a nice balance between being active and having time to relax on board ship. Having the personal Butler and maid was a very nice touch. All personnel on the ship were all nice, helpful and extremely pleasant. It would be nice if basic excursions were included in the pricing. We were disappointed that we were wait listed on many excursions. Internet on the ship was included but it ended up costing us additional fees (unknown to us- until we got home) through our phone carrier. Our favorite port was Santorini & spending hours in Oia, and least favorite was Rhodes. In Rhodes we did an 8 hour excursion that was only fair (it included a Greek meal that was poor). We were in Port at Rhodes for 2 days and the old town was just Ok- crammed with locals trying to get you to eat at their restaurant or buy their goods. Other than that we loved all of the quaint ports (Nafplion, Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Corfu). As an aside- Getting to the ship in Venice was a horrible experience.and Silver Sea's should really address this. Clear instructions were not provided and we spent hours lugging our suit cases to the main port in Venice only to find out the ship was parked at another port 2 miles away. We were unable to find taxi for an extended period of time. We ran into others that were in the same situation. Overall it was a great experience and we would definitely do this again. Read Less

We went with a wine group which selected the Silver Muse as its ship for the cruise. It is a new ship, having launched in 2017. Overall, the ship is very nice. It is a smaller ship about 600 passengers. Much has been made of the 8 restaurants on board. What we found out is that if you want to go to a restaurant that requires reservations (Atlantide and Indochine are the only "walk in" restaurants on board), make your reservations as soon as you book your cruise. We were able to get only 2 reservations; the others were already booked solid. Fortunately, the wine group had reservations in most restaurants. Therefore, we ate in all restaurants but Kaiseki. That having been said, our favorite restaurant was Atlantide, followed closedly by Hot Rocks, also known as The Grill. Atlantide had great Chilean sea bass and a nice atmosphere. At Hot Rocks/The Grill, they heat stones to 450 degrees F for 20 hours. You select what meat or seafood you want to cook. Then they put the hot stone slabs in front of you, and you cook your own food. Frankly, the filets we cooked there were the best beef we had on the cruise. Despite the claimed excellence of La Dame, we were less than impressed. The steaks were overcooked. Silver Note was enjoyable, especially with the pianist and the singer, but the menu is limited. LaTerraza had mediocre food and spotty service at night. La Terraza is the buffet at breakfast and lunch. Sometimes we were invisible at a breakfast table and practically had to tackle someone to order coffee, tea or an omelette. Being on Deck 8 was good because of Cafe d'Arts, aka the coffee bar. We could walk down the hall and get coffee, tea, cappuccino, etc as well as snacks beginning early in the morning; the only thing is that it doesn't stay open late. Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly. We enjoyed the bartenders on Deck 10, the pool deck. Some of the servers were lackadaisacal in waiting on people at tables along the sides. One outstanding exception was Egbert (yes, that is his name). He went out of his way when we got back late from a shore excursion. He went up to Spaccanapoli to order and to get our pizza, as well as to serve us drinks. He was the only waiter we encountered who deserved a tip. We didn't check out the entertainment that much. The night we did go was all right, but nothing outstanding. Our butler Kiran was outstanding. Our room steward was good but virtually invisible. Room service was good. If you can't get into a restaurant, order room service. Overall, the staff was friendly and cheerful. There were various activities onboard. Since we had no sea days, however, we did not participate much except for trivia, which was fun. The shore excursions were good. We took the ships excursions in Rominj,Corfu, Santorini, Nafplion and Rhodes. We had a private excursion in Dubrovnik. The history and architecture were outstanding, and some had amazing views. Be prepared to walk a lot. Many people enjoyed the excursion to Corinth, although we did not personally go. If you plan to go to popular tourist spots such as Dubrovnik and the Greek isles, do not go during July and August if you can possibly avoid it. Not only is it hot, there are seemingly a million people in those places. Even going in October was crowded when 4,000 "of our closest friends" got off a monster Holland America for tours. On Santorini if you plan on taking the tram down, wait until the hordes from Holland America or some other behemoth ship leave before standing in line to go down. We were in line for over an hour because of people from the Holland America ship. Of course, you can also walk down 500+ steps to the shore, but you have to avoid donkeys and their droppings. Or you can ride a donkey down, although some said that it was more difficult going down than going up. We enjoyed some of the tropical drinks from the bar on the pool deck. Unfortunately, none of the bartenders were proficient in making drinks such as a martini or a vodka gimlet, which was surprising considering the luxury line offering. The outside decks on the aft of the ship were nice. The chairs outside the smoking lounge on deck 8 were especially comfortable. If it isn't too cold or breezy, dining outside at La Terraza for breakfast and lunch is pleasant. One night, however, while we sat outside on deck 9, water poured down from the deck above onto me. It had been raining that day. A design flaw in the ship apparently directed the water onto my chair because it was under the awning, not under the metal part of the deck above. Never have experienced anything like that before on any ship. The ship offers a free laundry room on each deck. The bad news is that there is only 1 washer and 1 dryer per deck. The really bad news is that the laundry room on our deck was so small that if someone opened the door while you are bending down to put something into the dryer, you can get hit in the head. The room was positively tiny. Given the spaciousness of other parts of the ship, that room could have been make larger. Apparently, some other laundry rooms were not that tiny, however. The lounges were well appointed and comfortable. There were only a few children on board. I would not consider it a ship that would have a lot of activities for children. There was a shuffleboard area and ping pong/table tennis upon request. There are a number of lounges in various parts of the ship, although the ones around the pool are at a premium. There is a walking track on deck 11. The gym was small but modern. Due to constant shore excursions, we did not use the gym, though. The spa looked nice, but again we did not use it. Overall, we enjoyed the cruise, but it was not a flawless experience. For a new ship, we found the water temperature issue incomprehensible. Read Less