We have been cruising with Regent Seven Seas for years but wanted to try Silver Sea for this trip. The ship did not disappoint. While there are fewer suite options and the Muse is a very small ship, the number and variety of restaurants and service staff really made this a near equal with the super luxurious Regent ships. We were in Suite, which was a great location. Our butler and house cleaner were amazing. All the staff throughout the ship were amazingly friendly and professional. Indochine was by far our favorite dinner location, with The Grill a close second. Silver Note was fun - dinner theatre vibe and excellent drinks.

We highly recommend the pre (or post)-cruise Denali land tour package. That was a highlight of the trip. This included a Deluxe Dome Railcar Service for a scenic ride (180 degree dome windows) to Denali National Park, including great views of Denali and passing the 300+ ft Hurricane Gulch. Magnificent views, and the train includes food and bar service. In the Park, we stayed at the Grand Denali Lodge - better than expected for a National park lodge. Food is good, drinks are awesome and they have a beautiful wrap around deck that overlooks town. About a 5-10 min walk into town - town is only 10 or so little shops. The Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park was fabulous! We saw bears, moose, sheep and caribou. Our guide -Francine I think - was very knowledgeable, friendly and a good animal spotter. During our stay at the Park, we did a small plane flight over the mountains, and landed on a glacier one day, and a helicopter ride up to another glacier with a dog sledding compound and dog sled rides. What an experience. Then it was one night in Girdwood at the Hotel Alyeska ski lodge, with hiking on our own and dinner at Jack Sprat - a must!

First day at sea we sailed to the Hubbard Glacier, which is stunning then to Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Ketichakan ending in Vancouver. The Mendenhall Glacier Hike in Juneau was a good hike and the views of the glacier and waterfalls were stunning. Our other two hikes were disappointing. All listed as strenuous but were really nature hikes. The Chilkoot Trail Hike in Skagway was awful. Apparently two bridges washed out last fall which prevented us from even doing a walk. We were on the trail for maybe a mile. It did include a short raft trip which was great. We'd recommend the train excursion instead. We heard the views were beautiful. Next up was the Tongrass Rainforest Hike in Sitka. It was a nice walk, great tour guide, but definitely not a hike. (We were waitlisted for the Waterfall Champagne Hike). Sitka is a cute little harbor town to walk around and have lunch after the hike. On our final excursion day, we were suppose to end the cruise with a seaplane flight over the fjords but it was cancelled due to high winds. We lucked out and were able to join the crab fishing excursion on the Bering Sea on the Aleutian Ballad (season 2 of Deadliest Catch). The crew was awesome. They caught giant crabs, prawns and the biggest red octopus we've ever seen and they fed bald eagles. There were dozens of them soaring above us and swooping down to snatch up the fish being thrown from the crew. Amazing adventure!