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

From the moment we boarded The Silver Muse we were treated like royalty. Our suite was off the charts! Our butler catered to all our needs. The tours were great, the shows awesome and the food scrumptious. If an employee saw you standing and you looked like you needed something they were right there to cater to all your needs. For us, our Cruise Director Vicki VanTassel made us laugh several times a day. A previous singer and( I think comedian). Or she missed her calling. She joined the show for some impromptu entertain. She actually made the show on a least one occasion. We celebrated Christmas and New Years on the ship which was totally incredible. The ship was decorated elegantly for the holidays.Our tours were well planned out and enjoyable as well as educational. We would definitely do another Silver Seas cruise. This was our second. We're hooked!! Read Less

The evening shows have always been the weakest of the Silversea's offering followed by the tours which tend to be lame and very overpriced. On the Silver Muse just about everything else is sub standard as well. It would seem Silversea has had problems finding enough extra staff for this relatively new larger ship and as a result many of the barmen are incompetent and waiting staff untrained. The chef's too have some weird interpretations of well known dishes albeit this is not the weakest area. 8 restaurants is too many though, better fewer and less strange.Our cruise from Bali to Sydney was not full (it would have been even worse on many fronts if it had been) but even so they ran out of things. What was even more unacceptable was that people left and joined the cruise at nearly every port making it seem like an upmarket ferry. Some were on for just 2 days! Needless to say we were not given or told about this option having booked and paid long ago. Due to Silversea not doing well currently they are now offering all manner of incentives such as this, included tours and cabin credits to try and get bodies in beds. They are very keen during the cruise to sell future cruises to their captive audience but based on the above one must seriously question the wisdom of falling for this. The price may rise as time passes but so very well may the incentives! As for celebrating Christmas I would simply say that in my opinion Jingle bells and Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer are not carols. New Year was a little better being harder to get wrong. All in all this felt like a shakedown cruise which is not what we paid for. The private owners of Silversea sold 67% of it last year. They made a mistake - they should have sold 100% as the once very good Silversea is slipping down the rankings fast. Read Less

My review: THE SILVERSEA – SILVER MUSE. The Silver Muse is simply a brilliant ship (the best I have ever sailed on) along with its excellent crew and all of its on-board facilities. It lierally floats on the ocean like a dream with its stabilizers holding it with almost no movement awareness on board. Its 8 restaurants are all magnificently appointed with the best food at sea (beats Oceania by at least 10 points), wherever you turn the luxury of this ship is outstanding from its beautifully furnished and super spacious all-suite accommodation to it many lounges, good sized theatre, easy access staircases, several lifts, library and its many comfort areas and cocktail bars. A delightful pool and spa with its waiter cocktail service for all guests is all a part of this incredible ship that carries around 600 passengers and maybe 400 crew, and a brilliant cruise director, the best we have ever experienced. You can be assured that your every whim is catered for, as a person you are not just another passenger, you are the most important person on board, nothing is too much trouble for the staff, the concierge and the super friendly crew. As a frequent cruiser who has travelled the world on most other cruise lines and their ships, this would have to be the ultimate in cruising and most certainly worth a 6-star - or better rating. Initially we were a little hesitant about booking this particular cruise because of its Asian ports itinerary that had been selected. Being honest the ports are not the best, but with the ambience of the ship you soon forget the ports and the on-shore excursions where one gets stuck in the traffic jams of Djakarta etc. One terrific port of call was a virtual desert Island off Java with only 80 permanent residents where the ship tenders were required, but the crew and facilities provided were just incredible. Lunch, free drinks and entertainment was all shipped ashore by the incredible crew to give guests a true desert island experience. I should mention this is a completely independent assessment, I am not being paid or receiving any benefit from anyone, this is my own opinion having recently returned from an 8-day cruise on this magnificent ship between Singapore and Bali, Indonesia. If you enjoy cruising, whatever you do, don't pass on the Silversea, Silver Muse, she would have to be the most impressive ship sailing the oceans today. Read Less

We sailed on the Silver Muse earlier this year from Rio to Fort Lauderdale and were blown away by the service, the quality of the boat, the frendliness of the staff etc etc. Grabbed a late minute deal to cruise again from Singapore as a round trip with the longest stay in Yangon for 3 days. Suite was 941 which is under the Pool Deck and at night and in the early morning you can hear the tables and chairs being set up and stored away. Would not recommend the cabins on Level 9 midships as they would all be affected to some extent. We were a little disappointed with the attention from our Butler but perhaps we were really spoilt last time and had higher expectations. Yangon is definitely 3rd world with the boat docked about 6 klms downstream from town because of the shallow approach. Unfortunately it takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to travel into the City along a very bumpy partially sealed road which they are in the process of upgrading. We opted out on the free tour on Day 3 as we had already done the trip in and out twice. It would have been better to stay 2 night in Langkawi or Phuket or have a stopover in Malacca on the way back rather than have 3 days in Yangon. Will cruise with Silversea again when another 'bucket list' destination comes up with competitive pricing. Read Less