The route seemed perfect to us: A few nights in Buenos Aires before the cruise, a few nights after in Rio and some great places in-between: we knew this was for us! And in fact most of it was wonderful, especially Punta del Este (grab a taxi to Bikini Beach), a day in the Pampas on a lovely farm, the un-touristy destination of Montevideo, the final Carnival parade at the Sambódromo, Rio in general (do yourself a favour, stay at the Copacabana Palace, breakfast, pool scene, concierge team, drivers... all great!)

And how about the boat? Well... this was only our second cruise. The first one was Christmas 2016 on the Regent Explorer in the Caribbean. We loved that boat a lot. It's new, it's fresh, maybe even glamorous. Compared to that the Silver Muse (which is even younger) looks very, very beige, Low ceilings everywhere, art that wouldn't look out of place at McDonald's (trust us, we are collectors). Compared to the other Silversea boats it may be a step up (dark brown...), but it's still decidedly bland. I know, some people don't care too much about the looks, but I think it sets the tone, it's what you perceive all the time.

Of course, we loved many things: Read more