We flew into Singapore from our home in Manila, and being cheapskates we took the MRT (light railway system) directly from the airport to the cruise terminal which is incorporated inside a busy shopping mall. We were a couple of hours too early for boarding, so it was a relief to discover that we could nevertheless check in our bags. Even at this early stage we began to experience was was soon to become the norm..the wonderful personalized service of Silversea. While already being escorted from the information desk to the check-in area another Silversea representative came rushing over to welcome us with a warm handshake, and stayed chatting with us during the baggage check-in process, which, given that we were the only passengers at that time, took no more than 3 minutes. We returned 2 hours later, and following a 5 minute wait were through security and on into the lounge where were were offered champagne and canapEs before receiving the access cards for our suite.

I would just like to mention in passing, two irksome episodes during our boarding experience. My Filipino partner was asked at pre-boarding if he was crew, and again when we boarded a security officer asked if he was a travel agent. You may read into this what you will!

Our balcony suite was nicely furnished and the queen sized bed almost too comfortable to be true. The luxurious marbled bathroom complete with a full range of Bulgari products was the icing on the cake. The balcony furniture, consisting of a small table and 2 mesh chairs looked a little cheap, however, this was not an issue since we hardly used this area. Having said that, when we did use the balcony we were bothered by a pipe smoker from the deck below. Too bad also about the noise of the anchor dropping when docking early morning at each port of call. Read more