This was sold to us as a top of the range 5 star luxury cruise...it's not, it barley scrapes into 4 stars. Food :- Lacked continuity, sometimes OK, Breakfast in the Terraza was pretty poor and this ship gets my vote for serving the worst breakfast coffee I have ever had in the world. The food we paid for in La Dame was very good, is there a reason this does not happen in all the other eating areas. Also apart from one area you book in advance for other venues, unaware of this to begin with when we tried to book we were put on a waiting list and rarley got in. So disappointing food all round really. Cabins:- very nice but dated, I do believe this ship is going in for a refurb. Excursions ;- Who would pay a whopping $799 dollars yes $799 for a private car for 4 hours, your havin a laugh. All shore excursions were hugley overpriced. The staff were all very good and helpful, we didnt really need a butler so didn't bother ours very much if at all. Drink selection was excellent, the champagne flowed freely and was good quality. Entertainment was fine..better when they kept it simple and just had a bit of a disco on the deck....what you would expect really. Our problem with this cruise was that it was oversold and overpriced, Had I paid a couple of thousand less then I would have said it was OK but this is not 5 star and shouldn't be sold as such. Dressing people up in tailcoats and white gloves doesn't make it 5 star. Send your management to an Oberio or Four Seasons hotel to find out what luxury is, and send your head chefs along as well. So approach with caution and would I go again, clearly not. Read Less

We were sadly disappointed from the start when the Muse "broke" and we we didn't depart until a day later than scheduled. We had already spent two days in Vancouver exploring the city, so the offer of a "free excursion" to see the city was of no interest. We had already seen everything offered! We're still waiting to hear the details of the "15% credit of our cruise cost for a future cruise." After three phone calls and two emails there has been no response. We then missed our Ketchikan stop, and spent almost 2 days at sea. Given this was the last Alaska cruise of the season it was apparent most of the staff was burned out and "just going through the motions" required of their jobs. Food was good, but not great, and for the cost of the cruise our expectations were much higher. Decor was benign and boring, and the "artwork" of stacked hairdryers painted gold in the grand stairway was just weird! Our butler was nice, but forgetful. The room steward was great. The restaurant reservation system was odd, as the restaurants that were "booked" were often only half (or less) than full at peak hours. Were they just saving on costs? Entertainment and food was repetitive, and got boring even though it was only a 7 day cruise. On a high note, the cabin (deluxe veranda) was nice, bed comfortable, and balcony clean, but the wifi was TERRIBLE! I need to work while on vacation, and the lack of connectivity made this close to impossible. This is only my third cruise, but the last with SilverSea. Oceania was MUCH nicer, food better, and cost less. True, the alcohol wasn't included, but I couldn't drink the price difference if I tried. Read Less

This was our first cruise with Silversea (my first with any line) but will not be our last. We felt pampered and enjoyed our meals consistently throughout the 7 days. The ship and our cabin were bright and clean. The staff were cheerful and polite. We were fortunate to have sunny and fairly warm weather in Alaska throughout our cruise. Going in September we were concerned a bit about this, but it turned out great. Breakfast in LaTerrazza gets the day off to a great start. It is a buffet type arrangement with an incredible assortment of fresh fruit, breads (sweet rolls were irresistible to one of us, ok, I tried them all), eggs, cereals, cold cuts, cheeses, juices and more. Coffee is served at your table, and it is possible to order a custom breakfast from there as well. The lunch buffet is also excellent, but don't pass up the superb pizza at Spaccanapoli or the wide selection of lunch choices at the Grille. Dinner in Atlantide and Indochine were both superb, out of the many dinner orders between us, only one was disappointing. Not sure why DW decided to order vegetarian that night... Entertainment was fine, the performers are enthusiastic and talented. The musicians playing in various locations around the ship were very good. Vlad, a guitarist/vocalist, caught our attention while we were walking about. We sat down and enjoyed an excellent set of music while being served the fine included-in-fare sauvignon blanc. Our favorite excursion was whale watching out of Juneau. We were perhaps lucky in seeing about 10 whales, but the guides seemed confident we'd find them from the outset. Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze. A vigorous hike and river float ride in Skagway also made for a great day. The ship had an unexpected technical issue after we boarded causing us to stay in Vancouver the first day, and so we missed our Ketchikan stop. Silversea provided free excursions to Vancouver and a cash credit on a future cruise, which we considered fair compensation. As the rest of the cruise went so well, the issue was evidently fully resolved. We are happy to give overall 5 stars for a truly memorable cruise! Read Less

Chose cruise to see Alaska in luxury with excellent food. We had booked the train from Anchorage to Seward but it was only running to a few miles short of Seward so Silversea decided to transfer everyone by bus whereas we were told other cruise ships were collecting people by bus from the train. We were reimbursed by Silversea but it just seemed easier for Silversea to move everyone the same way! Embarkation worked well and was very quick but cabins were not available when boarded ship for at least another hour Ship was luxurious but food was disappointing especially in premium La Dame restaurant where our main course was served cold and service was below par. Our 2nd visit to La Terrezza was poor - they had run out of bread, we struggled to be served with water and wine and then main course special which was tuna which was asked to be served rare was totally over cooked (even if asked for well done) and inedible!! By this time we didn’t want the replacement which was offered Silver Note was good and singer was impressive. Shows were adequate but nothing special Management of the Spa was not good and staff were clearly incentivised on a sales commission basis for additional products. Making appointments was a time consuming and a difficult activity, and even with a confirmed appointment in writing that morning when I went for my appointment it was not in the system!!!!!! Also my wife went for a hot stones massage (also confirmed in writing) and the masseur delivered a cheaper massage and when questioned said hot stones was not booked. On completion of massage my wife went to sign bill and was not given the discount for 3 premium treatments because her last treatment wasn’t premium even though it was their error. On complaining to management it was eventually resolved but left a sour taste !! Excursions were good although quite expensive. We enjoyed Mendenhall Hike but not as strenuous as led to believe. Bear watching was good and saw bears catching salmon although guide was iffy. Sea kayak was enjoyable. Based on price of cruise we felt that Silversea should have been better but would go back to Azamara as felt everyone enjoyed themselves more and food in the speciality restaurants much better than Silver Muse. On Azamara Quest the Cruise Director was very proactive and had a great rapport with both the captain and the guests whereas on Silver Muse it all seemed rather muted and staid Read Less

A group of 18 friends gathered for an Alaska interior trip followed by the 7 day southbound cruise. The interior part of the trip was an incredible opportunity to see animals up close in a carefully managed national park. As this is a cruise review, i will focus on the ship portion but highly recommend the pre-cruise adventure. Room: We were in veranda room 908, adjoining with 906. The room was incredible - appointed with luxury linens, toiletries, decor etc. as you might expect The size of the room was great considering 3 ladies were sharing the room. The bedding was firm (i prefer plush) and slightly more narrow than a normal twin. The sofa turned into a twin bed and was made each night by the butler. The walk in closet provided plenty of room for our overpacking and offered 6 drawers and a safe. The long counter in the living area had 3 more drawers so everyone had a place to store things, along with a nightstand with drawer and cubby. The bathroom featured a handheld shower as well as rainfall showerhead. We always had hot water and water pressure. The marble bathroom also included a full sized tub, which we did not use. There were shelves in the bathroom above and below the sink. Our butler kept our Bulgari products well supplied. As shower gel was provided, they also had the "scrubby puffs" for best lather. We were able to put 2 large pieces of luggage under each "twin bed" although luggage racks were also kept under the beds. Our room was quiet and we got our exercise since the activities were usually on the opposite end of the ship. When docking, we did feel and hear the engines but it was not something that bothered us. The butler kept us stocked with champagne and kept the refrigerator full. He kept us supplied with water and even distilled water. The clock in the room was marked as having wireless charging but i did not find that to work with the iphone. I brought a small extension cord with multiple outlets for charging our appliances, apple watches, etc. and would recommend the same if you like to charge everything at once Dining: While we did have grilled lobster and caviar, 3 times, in Atlantide, we really did not enjoy the food nor its timing. Dinner hours began at 7 pm. Breakfast was unavailable after 10 am and Lunch stopped at 2 pm or sooner. Since i have cruised major lines over the years, i noted the missing "all day buffet" from other ships. We had to plan around the hours that the food would be available. This was not a deal breaker but is worth noting if you are not a planner. Food taste was nothing noteworthy as i would have expected but i am a foodie. We enjoyed La Terrazza twice for dinner (and many times for buffet breakfast and buffet lunch which was great) , Indochine was one interesting but not to the taste of our large group. Our waiter suggested serving multiple items family style (and we ordered extra short ribs which were incredible) and this was a great way to try the unusual menu. the Arts Cafe served great capuccino and lattes with little snacks all day. Spanicapolo (sp) had delicious pizza and the Grill served hot lava rocks for you to cook your own steak. We tried that one night in the rain and were surprised by how nice it was but the side items were lacking and got cold while you cooked your steak. Service: The ship has mastered service. The ratio of staff to guest was amazing. My wine glass was never empty, cocktails were always offered and service was prompt. We really enjoyed being taken care up so well. Everyone seems to enjoy the job. Spa: i had two services reserved before boarding and learned about a 3 service package on board. I added acupuncture to my massage and facial and got 3 services for $495. The individual facial and massage were $229 each and included the gratuity although i left extra. They tried to sell me something in every service but i was able to resist. This is my least favorite part of the spa experience. There are no showers that i saw but lockers are provided in a small changing room. We had amazing weather until Sitka and actually did not do our excursion and it was too late to cancel. Lots of end of summer bargains in the shops in ports, especially Ketchikan. The group really enjoyed the excursions with lots of adventures in helicopters, with dog mushers and glacier hikes. There was always plenty to do in port. Onboard, we enjoyed the last show - a Queen tribute and played (free) bingo and trivia in Dolce Vita every day at 4pm. We had great service while playing. Overall: this was my 1st luxury cruise of 15 cruises. I would probably not do it again but will look at upgrading to a suite on the major lines for a similar price. The ship was small and never seemed crowded despite the large group we had. I loved the size of this ship and it is one reason to return to Silversea. I was spoiled by the service but the food just did not wow me. I am happy to answer any questions. Read Less

My lifelong motto has been that I hate the idea of cruising. The hoards of people, the mass quantity of low quality food, the tiny rooms, and silly excursions. I’ve been on two short cruises to appease family before, and just didn’t like it. Well, when my other half suggested taking a luxury cruise through Alaska, I was not a fan of the idea. But, after watching a few videos, reading a few reviews and realizing he wasn’t kidding, we booked the Silversea’s Silver Muse 7 day Alaska cruise that started right before Labor Day weekend. The thought of the Butler Service, the suite with a bathtub and a balcony of our own, I had high hopes, but was very worried that my distaste for cruising would taint my experience. Spoiler Alert - I loved Silversea and would cruise with them again. This doesn’t feel like cruising - its luxury living. We booked the train transfer from Anchorage to Seward, and when I learned about the timeline of this, I was not pleased. First, the train didn’t leave until noon or later, so you wouldn’t get on the boat until after 5pm. Luckily for me, there was flooding on the railway tracks so they shut down the train, and we were instead going by motor coach, which meant we’d get to the ship by 2pm. I was so glad, so in hindsight, I’d recommend the bus transfer (or getting to Seward on your own), just so you can have a light lunch after embarkation on board and spend time wandering around the boat, checking things out. The boat is exactly as everyone else has described - contemporary, modern and new. The suite exceeded our expectations - I mean, who has a full size bath on a boat? The bed was extremely comfortable. I read that people didn’t like the way the TV worked. We loved it, because we could look at the restaurant menus, read about the next destination, watch videos of different cruises, and occasionally watch a movie or documentary. Why would anyone actually watch TV on vacation?? The butler service was outstanding. We became accustomed to breakfast in our room daily, along with a bottle of champagne waiting for us each afternoon. We were well taken care of, but it wasn’t intrusive at all. We only used the gym twice during our cruise, I walked on a treadmill on the day at sea and did one of the exercise yoga classes. The gym was clean and the treadmill was new and worked great. I liked that you were watching out the back window of the boat, but the class was just okay. Don’t expect to come onboard and get fit. The yoga class I took was very basic and ended up being cut short due to the raffle that day. Also the room for group classes is tiny, maybe 8 people can attend each session. Thank goodness for us, the cruise was mostly adults, and the ages varied. We are in our late 40’s and did not feel out of place. There were people of all ages, but there were definitely a lot of people well past 60, and everyone seemed to be retired. There were only about 3 babies/toddlers on the cruise, they were part of big family groups, so I don’t think it was a “choice” to be on this cruise with a child, since Silversea is definitely not designed for families or young ones. We seek out trips where kids are not allowed, so this was a plus in my book. The enrichment sessions for the Alaska cruise were good. There were several sessions, one on Glaciers, one on Totem Poles, another on Bears, one on Alaskan Bush Pilots and I’m sure there were others, all by the same person. One thing we loved was that if you missed the session, they recorded it and put it on the TV! We only attended one of the evening “shows” and it was fine. (but this is the part of cruising I hate, cheesy shows that are just embarrassing to watch). However, I will admit, the way Silversea did the show was classier than most, really just simplistic singing of songs from multiple eras. Also, the ladies that were singing in Silver Note were also very good. We sat at the bar twice and listened to them. Others have mentioned that this boat did not feel crowded. They are absolutely correct. The way they manage the restaurants, the activities, and the fact that the boat is quite large, you never feel crowded. We ran into people here and there, but overall, it was so different from other cruises where you feel like herded cattle. The only time you really noticed large groups was during the safety briefing and the last day while you wait to exit the ship. Now, onto the food onboard. My favorite dinners were at Kaiseki and Indochine - do not skip these!! Indochine had the most flavorful, unique food on the boat. I did enjoy La Terrazza, they had great house-made pasta. La Dame was very nice, but the food isn’t all that much different or better than Atlantide, which was great for formal night and the food was very nice. We ate at the pizza restaurant twice for lunch, and loved it. The Grill was a complete miss for me. I didn’t like the cook on a rock thing, and being pescatarian, my choices were limited. I opted for the shrimp, and it was gross. I couldn’t even eat them. The texture was awful. However, someone immediately noticed I was not eating them and offered me everything and anything to make up for it. We never dined at Silvernote, since we didn’t make a reservation early on, so we never got to dine there. Many people said it was great. The excursions we took were overall outstanding, well organized and timed well. While we could have booked some of these things on our own, we liked the idea of being with the companies that the cruise ship hired, so we knew they’d get us back to the ship ontime. Here are reviews of the ones we did: In Juneau, we did the Mendenhall Glacier Dog Sledding Trip. This was the highlight of the trip for me. From the thrilling helicopter transfer to the high country dogsled camp where you could see and hear over 300 dogs barking and getting excited to run, to the actual dog sled ride we took, and then we got to pet all the dogs and even held some 8 week old puppies. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this excursion. In the afternoon in Juneau, we did the Whitewater Rafting trip, which was super fun. The “rapids” were very mild and easy to navigate, but it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. They give you rain boots and waders, so as long as you have a rain coat, you’ll stay dry. We did get a few fun splashes along the way, but there was never a fear of falling out. In Skagway, we did the Chilkoot Lake Wildlife Quest. This was just okay. We took the public ferry to Haines, got in a small coach with 5 other couples and drove around looking for wildlife. We saw several bald eagles, but no bears. The lunch they served was nice, but overall, I would not choose this excursion again. Being active people in our 40’s, we would have liked a more adventurous back country experience. This would be a great experience for someone with mobility issues, but wants to see wildlife. In Sitka, we opted to take the Indian Falls Waterfall Hike. This was a no joke, 10 mile hike. We walked 5 miles in, and 5 miles back and it took the full 6 hours to complete. It was gorgeous getting well into the rainforest and our guide was a fantastic 21 year old local who knew so much about the area, the flora and fauna, and just a very pleasant person to spend the day with. If you opt for this strenuous excursion, make sure you have a good raincoat, good sturdy shoes and water resistant pants. The last 30 minutes of the trail we got dumped on, and I learned that my older raincoat was no longer as effective against the elements...... In Ketchikan, we took the Alaska Bear Adventure, which meant we took a float plane to a remote part of the island, got on a bus drove a bit, and then walked down to the viewing platform over the river to see bears. This was an AMAZING experience. We saw several bears fishing for salmon in the quick hour we were on the viewing platform. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this excursion. Bring binoculars and a camera! Tips: 1. Book dinners for later than you think. We often opted for 6pm or 7pm reservations, and in hindsight, 8pm would have been much better. Time flies between returning from an excursion and going to dinner, so having an extra hour to take a bath, relax or use the steam room, and get dressed for dinner would have been nice. I feel like this was our ‘rookie’ mistake being less experienced cruisers. 2. Do all your research on excursions before the booking window opens up. Then, go online the day they open up and reserve the ones you want immediately. The smaller group and more exclusive excursions were full within 24 hours. We did this and got to do every excursion we wanted! 3. Make dinner reservations right away as well, La Dame and Kaiseki were both full immediately after the booking window opened. 4. Do dress up for Formal Night! We ate at Atlantide for the formal night and that appears to be where many people go for the formal night. How dressy should you go? Totally up to you, but I saw long gowns, short cocktail dresses, sparkly pant suits on women and the men were in dark suits or tuxedo’s. 5. Things to bring: bring bath bombs (or bubble bath) for your bathtub; Pack a outlet converter for the UK, (while they have both US and UK outlets in your suite, having the converter made my life easier) and make sure you have comfy lounge clothes for time in your suite. If I decided to cruise again, I would definitely go with Silversea. This is a classy, upscale experience that offered great excursions, which is the only reason I would cruise, to see something, do something, or experience new places. Read Less

This was our first Silversea cruise and unfortunately it will also be our last. We recently took their 17 day cruise to Greenland, which turned out to be very disappointing. The scenery ws nice at first, but very monotonous after a few days. If it weren't for the interesting shapes of the icebergs, there would have been little to photograph. The villages on both the Canadian and Greenland side were uninteresting. We had hoped to see wildlife but there were almost no signs of anything living. The one polar bear we saw was so far away that it couldn't be made out with the naked eye and whale spouts were so far away they couldn't be seen either. The most annoying thing was that the cruise director and expedition crew were constantly talking about what an incredible day we had. Maybe riding in zodiacs in below freezing weather and getting soaked while seeing little of interest is exciting for some people, but definitely not for us. Our cabin was nice, but we experienced a flood along with several other cabins in our row. No one attempted to help us with the damage we incurred and we were told that we were lucky since we had minimal damage and others had much worse. The extent of their help was to put a large noisy fan inside our room for a couple of days. Knowing that our cabin was probably going to be affected when it happened, they should have been proactive when they were working in the corridor all night with noisy equipment and warned us to remove items from the floor in the closet. By the time we discovered the problem it was too late to save the things in our backpack, some of which were not replaceable. We bought our own boots for wet landings and tagged and stored them in the mud room as instructed. We wore them once and we went to the mud room after a few days for another excursion we found that someone had helped themselves to one boot from each pair. If you invest in your own boots it would be wise to clean them and keep them in your cabin at night. Already soured on the trip after these experiences, the final straw was the guest relations manager's rudeness. Far from appeasing passengers who were upset, her attitude actually caused us to cancel our already booked Kamchatka cruise and to not book the Antarctica cruise we planned to book while on board. The food in the main dining room is mostly very good, although there were a few days with some big misses. La Terrazza is good, but menu choices for dinner don't offer much variety. The disappointment is La Dame, for which you pay $120. It isn't worth the money. Altogether we can't recommend Silversea based on this experience. Read Less

My wife and I are totally satisfied with this cruise. Silversea did an excellent job to make your experience as pleasant as possible from the moment you arrived in Quito to the last minute you catch your flight at the airport to return home. This is not a typical luxury cruise you expect from Silversea. This is probably the best adventure cruise offered to the Galapagos Islands. If you expect Grand Dining room experience, elaborate evening show, daily fitness class and top notched spa and messages, this cruise is not for you! Our daily routine starts at about 6 am getting up, have buffet breakfast (or 24 hours room service if you prefer) and be ready to board the zodiacs to your choice of activities by 7 am. Typically one in the morning and one in the afternoon with snorkeling, kayaking or beach activity in between. I really enjoyed the lunch on deck 5 grill after a rewarding morning adventure to see different species unique to each island. The chef did a wonderful job with special sea food menu each day. The waiters who may not have a good command in English are eager to entertain the guests by singing and dancing to the Latino popular songs played by the piano man. You can sense they are genuinely happy with their jobs! The ship usually set sails to the afternoon location while the guests are having their lunch on deck enjoying the beautiful ocean views. Afternoon activities finished around 4 pm. After showering and an occasional quick nap, we always attended the daily debriefings conducted by the Naturalists who led us to our daily adventures followed by the introduction to the activities on the next day. These sessions are very interesting and educational in a relaxing atmosphere. A perfect prelude to the dinner that followed. Although the dinner menu may not have many choices as the other Silversea's, I found it more than adequate. This is the first time I tried Cow Cheek and Scorpion fish. They are both delicious! Wine choices are mainly local selections of very acceptable quality. We had a wonderful time on this cruise as well as the pre-cruise visit to Quito city and the Equator attraction. Fellow guests we met were all very pleasant and easy to get along. The previous reviewer's family of 4 are charming. The kids are well manor and well liked by the guests and staff. The 2 nights JW Marriott hotel and the EB day hotel are first class. They are included in the cruise fare which I considered very reasonable. If you enjoy nature in an unspoiled natural environment this is the cruise not to miss. There are very few places on earth that you can be so close to animals that are totally not afraid of you, even the Sally long legged crabs will walk past you ignoring your presence! Read Less

My family of 4 (including my Wife, 10yo Son, 8yo Daughter) were on the Silver Galapagos the end of August. It's important to note that this is an "expedition" and not a "cruise". Everything was excellent. Also, while the up front cost is higher than other ships, once you realize what’s included (just about everything) and the level of service and luxury it is actually a very good value. First, a big thanks to Sean Swedman, at Silverseas, who handled every single detail of the trip with perfection and patience. There were a lot of moving parts and Silverseas was flawless in ensuring a smooth trip. They are with you from the moment you get off the plane until the moment you board. It's really amazing. While the ship is aging (a new one is coming in 2020) it was still luxurious and very well maintained. Cabins were nice sized with plenty of storage and very comfortable. The staff was truly outstanding. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, went out of their way to do provide incredible service. The naturalist, butlers, expedition leader, dining room staff, zodiac drivers, etc., were always smiling and always there to help. Our cabin was cleaned at least 3 times a day. All this service and luxury made the actual reason for the trip, the magical Galapagos, even better because it was just so easy. Two excursions and usually a snorkel every day. The landscape, animal and bird viewing were stunning. We got up close to just about everything. Many times, the birds, iguanas, tortoises and sea lions were resting on the trails so we had to walk around them. There were just a few children in the ship but my kids loved it and they staff went out of their way to engage with them. Many evenings a naturalist joined us for dinner at the request of my Son and spent an hour or two answer an endless stream of questions. Walks range from easy to somewhat challenging but there are always options. Food was excellent at every meal. A lot of seafood choices and if you wanted something different all you had to do was ask. We did a few times and every single time the answer was yes. Highly recommended. Read Less

Subject: SilverSea Cruise , Lisbon to Barcelona Unfortunately the little details were a negative. TV with a remote that has to be changed 1 channel at a time is prehistoric. 10 years past its time. also not a good list of channel offerings. 2 of 3 movie channels worked . channels 1-5 all about Silver sea. Yes they acknowledge it’s a problem. WI Fi also dated. i paid the extra $200. for premium and extra 50.00 to add 3 users. still very slow. not 21 st century. cruise advertises premium alcohol yet when we go to dinner and ask for a better wine than what is served it is an extra charge. Food was average at best. Also sorry that local fare foods were not offered. Closing invoice added $18.00 for a silver sea chosen donation. It’s not the money, It’s the fact that you added it without authorization. My first cruise and I was expecting 5 star everything. Unfortunately 3 star rating at best. The ship overall is a bit dated. Staff was hit and miss. some great, some not so accommodating. The web site pre boarding was great once logged in you could book dinners, spas, shore excursions. All this was great and easy to look at overall trip on any given day and get info and update, Problem is once you boarded this site was no longer available. said you can’t book once on board. OK but now overall schedule is gone with info. told me they know it’s a problem . Sorry. Now you must ask dress code for each day and it not only changes daily it also applies differently to each restaurant. Concierge service lacks any info for ports we stopped at. Also they were only open 2-3 hours in the am and 2-3 hours in the pm. Also not very accommodating. Overall a real disappointment for the money we paid. I in good faith could not recommend this cruise line. Read Less

Booked this cruise from Reykjavik to Greenland while onboard Silver Cloud’s first Antarctic cruise (reviewed December 2018). It was great to see familiar faces among the crew. In spite of its refurbishment, the ship already feels a bit dated, with constant creaking and temperatures too high in the suite (spotless), but often too low in public areas (some noticeably dusty). Silver Cloud now has competition in the English-speaking market from Scenic Eclipse, coincidentally in Reykjavik at the same time for her much-delayed maiden voyage. Food was excellent as always, though portions seemed larger. Service was normally very good, but with the odd slip-up, perhaps because waiting staff have new tablets to take orders. We enjoyed every included wine; typically Silversea buys up entire vintages of less well-known varietals from small European vineyards – not the bland New World wines you get on most lines. Silver Cloud now has a Social Director (Moss) who handles zodiac embarkation and hosts fun afternoon and evening quizzes. Some other changes: thinner hand towels (fluffier towels changed less often would be preferable) and unlimited wi-fi (still slow). Thankfully, butlers no longer have to proffer a tray of toiletries when you embark. Exploring was what this cruise was about. Six “zodiac groups” disembarked with rotating departure times, but usually you could go ashore later on a shuttle service. Excursions could be pre-booked through MySilversea, but this was pointless as there was no set schedule. We enjoyed the ship’s passages through the fjords, and zodiac cruises close up to glaciers, but were uncomfortable wandering among people’s houses in small villages. For us, the highlight was two hours in Disko Bay (Ilulissat) on a small boat operated by a local company; under a cloudless sky we saw whales and vast icebergs that looked like islands. A note about clothing: Greenland in August was warmer than Antarctica in December. While we were exceptionally fortunate with the weather, make sure to take some lighter hiking gear, as you may get too hot ashore if you wear thermals under a parka. We skipped the only two “wet” landings so didn’t use the waterproof boots we’d hired at $90 – ordinary gumboots would have sufficed anyway. We would have given this cruise five stars, but for the horrible last day (not covered by Silversea’s onboard questionnaire). For our previous Antarctic cruise we booked our own flights to/from Ushuaia and wish we could have made our own arrangements this time. After vacating the suite by 8.30 am, it was “hurry up and wait, wait, wait” for the charter flight from Kangerlussuaq back to Reykjavik. After disembarking by zodiac group, an interesting bus tour on the tundra was followed by an acceptable BBQ-style lunch at a rowing club on a pretty lake. There we heard that the incoming flight was late due to weather in Iceland and ATC issues, as happens of course, but from then on everything went downhill. Waits for the restrooms at the rowing club were 30-40 minutes. It took 80 minutes for everyone to get through security at the airport, not least because both the ship and the charter company (Omni Air) allowed people three or even four large carry-on cases (in spite of Silversea previously specifying one piece up to 8 kg/ 18 lb plus a purse or laptop). Then we waited as long again in the gate holding area, most of us having to stand, until boarding after 4 pm. Yet another delay was due to the cabin crew being unable to reconcile the boarding cards and having to count passengers FOUR times. The plane itself was a very old 767, with a soggy defrosted snack well below Silversea standard. Read Less

We selected this vessel due to cross over Russian Arctic on 25 day Voyage. The Expedition program ( under contract ) was good with most Arctic Ocean stops accomplished. However the vessel is an old ( 30+ years in service ) with poor public spaces and mediocre staff service. For two pax price ( $100,000) no real value here. SILVERSEA has taken older vessel and placed in “ expedition service” without any discernible improvement in boat safety facilities. Older gangway and Zodiac loading stations are hazardous - should have been replaced before vessel was placed in ocean service. The food was poor - kitchen ran out of basic ( fruits, vegetables ) half way into voyage. Officers are foreign nationals - Russians - with little interaction with passengers. In summary, poor quality for the price. We have been on better trips for a quarter of the price of this voyage. SILVERSEA appears to be solely interested in sales, marketing and promotion at the expense of passenger experience ! Member, Circumnavigators Club Read Less

Overall, the cruise was very enjoyable. The ship was nice, the staff was very pleasant and professional, and the ports that we got to visit were lovely. This wasn’t our first cruise, but it was our first cruise on a smaller ship (382 passengers) and I’m hoping it won’t be our last. There was no queuing for anything and everything ran smoothly. I’m hoping to stay away from the bigger ships (we have previously been on ships that range from around around 2500 to about 6000 passengers) now that we understand the small-ship difference. OK enough with the background…. The Ship: I thought that the ship was well put together. Some commenters have said that it’s “showing its age”, but I didn’t notice anything serious and felt that, cosmetically, it has been kept in good shape. I imagine that the upcoming refurbishment will add the shine that people may be expecting. The Problem: In summary: shortly before setting sail from Civitavecchia, there was a serious problem with an engine which caused a shutdown in some of the key electrical systems. As a result, power was lost to parts of the ship, including the galley and, for a while, the air conditioning. Long story short, we understandably could not depart port on schedule, and dinner options were reduced to a bland sandwich or (I’m guessing) the salad/vegetarian options available from the sandwiches fixings. Based on the price of the cruise, we have started calling these the “$1,000” sandwiches. We were stuck in port until 6:00pm the following day, which resulted in a modified schedule to the overall cruise (no overnight in Sorrento and no stop in Amalfi). They did hastily organize some bus tours of Rome for the day that we were stuck in port, but having just come from Rome (where we had done a bus tour) this was not an attractive option. During the port day, we did try to see it as a “sea day” and just hung around the ship (although some of the passengers were decidedly annoyed with this). Our main problem was with the Silversea response, or lack thereof. The Captain gave the mandatory “no option but to fix the problem” announcements (which we agree with), but the Silversea corporate reaction was non-existent until we reached out to them. We have had 4 hour flight delays that have resulted in communications from the airline, but a 24-hour delay in a “luxury” cruise was met with radio silence from management. When we did reach out to them, they gave a lukewarm apology and a rebate on a future cruise, which may or may not be used. The bigger issue is a complete breakdown in customer service. There should have been proactive outreach from the corporate office. I understand that the Captain had to keep the ship in port until he was certain that it could sail, but it was not an “act-of-God”, it was an equipment failure, which resulted in them not being able to deliver the product that they sold to the travelers. This lack of communication left a bad taste in our mouths. Silver Suite: I thought that the suite was great. We have been in larger suites on other ships, but in reality this suite had all the space you need. Lots of closet space, a nice bathroom, and a very nice separate bedroom. The only notes would be that the balcony was a bit small, which would have been okay, but the furniture on the balcony wasn’t great, so it felt more humdrum than it should have. The second note would be that the sofa was on the small side, and at 6’1” it was a bit tight for my afternoon nap (granted, this is definitely a “first world problem”). The TVs in the suite also need updating - they were often a pain to turn on and off. Other than that it had a nice bar that the butler kept stocked and added treats like M&Ms to the room on a daily basis. On that note, I can’t say enough about the butler service, which was truly wonderful. The butlers are both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Always there when you want them, but remarkably unobtrusive. The same can be said about the steward, who kept the room immaculate. This suite also came with laundry service, which was great because we were able to have our clothes washed for the second part of our trip before we left the ship. Our suite was next to the service stairs, and while I could hear people going up and down the stairs, it didn’t bother me at all. Meals & Drinks: I thought the meals were fine. For a luxury cruise, the food wasn’t demonstrably better than we have had on other ships. I should note that we never did get around to dining in the upscale “La Dame” restaurant, but we ate at “The Grill” one evening, which was pleasant (but a little hot...no pun intended), and at “La Terrazza” on another night. We had breakfast in-suite most mornings, but when we did have it in the restaurant, it was (again) fine. All of that being said, the service made the difference for every single meal. The wait staff, like the suite staff, was exceptional. I should mention that the ship does have a strict dress code after 6pm, and I saw a few men who didn’t have jackets be provided with jackets for dinner. I wasn’t really happy with the choice of alcohol on board, as they seem to carry mid-shelf options. While I don’t expect them to carry top shelf as stock, I did expect they would make some effort to cater to their price-point. As a rum drinker, maybe a Europe voyage is not the place to get better quality rum, but if you are expecting top-shelf options, be aware that you may have to compromise or pay extra. That being said, It was fine and there’s no lack of drinks on board. Ports: We were scheduled to have stops in Rome, Sorrento, Amalfi, Trapani (Sicily), Cagliari (Sardinia), Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, and Barcelona. Rome: Rome is lovely. It is very easy to get lost in the tiny streets and discover beautiful buildings and great places to eat, which is pretty much what you want. While it was peak season and there were clearly a lot of people around, it never felt truly crowded. Note that if it is your first time in Rome and you are going on a cruise, the city is over an hour from the port, so plan accordingly. We stayed in Rome for 24 hours before the cruise but could have easily enjoyed a few more days there, just strolling around. Our favorite restaurant “Vini & Cucina” was a great little find close to the Pantheon. Sorrento: Sorrento is a lovely little town, we did a day trip to Pompeii, which was stellar. Had some great gnocchi at Il Pozzo, and wish we would have been able to spend more time, but this stop was cut short due to the issues with the ship. AmalfI: We were looking forward to just chilling in Amalfi, but we had to skip it completely due to the ship issues. Sicily: We did a day trip to Erice, which was the “unexpected gem” of the cruise. A definite must. Lots of walking, but just a lovely little town. It’s sort of like Pompeii, except instead of being a town that was frozen in time by a volcano, it is a town that is timeless. Sardinia: We did a boating trip here as we both love swimming and snorkeling. One issue with this excursion was that we thought that it was billed as a trip where you could swim and snorkel, but there was no snorkel gear provided, and the area where they anchored really had nothing to see. That being said, it was a lovely sailing trip that we would not have traded for another excursion. The captain pretty much knew only four words of English “Jump” (for jump off the boat), “Swim”, “Drink” and “Eat”, so he knew the basics for the trip. HIs wife was better at English, but not fluent, but that’s part of the fun. Malllorca: We did a bike trip with Palma Bicycle Tours around the Old Town and loved it. Great place and great guides; we had all levels of cyclists with us, from great cyclists to people who hadn’t ridden in 20 years. Valencia: Loved it, even though we only went to the Cuidad de las Artes y Las Ciencias. As a side note, for both Valencia and Barcelona, Catalan is the local language. Between my wife and I, we speak five languages reasonably fluently and learned some Italian for this trip - but Catalan is a language unto itself, which we both really enjoyed - even though we could barely understand it. Barcelona: I’ve always wanted to see the Sagrada Famila and it’s an incredibly amazing cathedral. Overall it’s a lovely city, but it’s overrun with tourists and the locals are starting to speak out about it. I counted anywhere from 4-5 very large cruise ships coming in each day, and many of these have Barcelona as their start or end point. My rough guess is that this puts 10-15k new people in Barcelona every day during the high season, then you add all of the other tourists that all want to see the same things, and I think Barcelona is close to a breaking point. Hopefully they manage this before things start breaking down. We did have a lovely meal of beer and tapas at an "off the beaten path” restaurant that was great and mind-blowingly cheap. We also had one of our favorite meals of our trip there, overlooking the city, at Restaurant Martinez. Read Less

I travelled with family and they recommended this cruise line having sailed with them before. The ship is smaller than what I have previously cruised on so I was concerned about motion - turned out to be a non-issue (not sure if it was just the ship or the calmer waters we sailed mostly in Alaska). We were traveling with my senior citizen mother so the smaller ship was a great size for her to easily navigate. Although the ship was at capacity we never felt crowded, never waited in any line, and service was impeccable. Cabin was spacious (Verandah Suite Deck 8) and we had 3 in the room with no issues. Bathroom was very spacious and the shower was wonderful with great water pressure. Loved the towels and bath amenities. Our butler was excellent, and it was a nice service. We booked tours in all our ports independent of the ship so I cannot comment on this aspect. Entertainment was basic and we did not do much during the day other than bingo while at sea, which was fun. The evening entertainment was just OK. The best show was the tribute to Queen. Casino is small but not overly crowded. One table each for blackjack, poker and roulette and there were some slot machines. The ship was beautiful and well kept, service outstanding as I mentioned. A few blips to be aware of: 1. Embarkation timing could be seriously improved. We arrived in Anchorage the day before the sailing and took the scenic railway to the ship with the cruise line the next day. Our bus to the train did not depart until 1230pm, so the morning was quiet and sort of boring with not much we could do. The train ride was pleasant, scenery was beautiful, but the ride was long and we arrived at the boat close to 6pm. We were on the last car of the train so last to exit and get on board. As soon as we got on board it was muster drill time, we did not even have time to walk around the ship and get acclimated. After muster we had to get ready for dinner and felt very rushed to unpack and get organized. Rather than keep us in Anchorage, it would have been better to have us depart and arrive at the ship an hour or so earlier to allow passengers to get their bearings. I know most passengers arrive on the train so it gives the crew max time to prepare the ship, but there should be a happier medium. 2. Remember to bring converters. The USB ports did not work and there were not enough USA outlets. There were no converters available to us when we asked our butler and we did not read that converters were recommended to bring- our fault for not asking I guess. 3. Restaurants were overall pretty good. Some blips in service and food quality during dinners in both Atlantide and La Terrazza. I thought the food was good but I think I expected better given the luxury level of the line- it was not much better than I have experienced on other 'less luxurious' ships. What was nice - service was outstanding all over the ship, maitre d's addressed you by name within 24 hours of being onboard, staff was friendly everywhere, and the available wine and any beverage you want anytime were certainly nice! So overall we had a wonderful cruise on the Muse and for our Alaska trip but I am not sure I would book again with them at this time. I reserve the right to reconsider my comment though if I cruise again and see significant advantages to Silver Sea. Read Less

This was our first Silversea cruise, although we have done many cruises on other lines, including an expedition cruise to Antarctica on Ponant. We had originally booked another Ponant cruise, however it was cancelled in December due to chartering of the ship, so we booked this after getting a great deal that included business class airfares from Australia. As we had previously done an expedition cruise we compared to that rather than on the larger mainstream lines. Our flight from Oslo to Tromso was delayed, so we arrived at the ship at about 3:30, on a Silversea transfer with about 20 other people. On arrival, we couldn’t get in to the gate,as security was on the gate and they had to wait for a staff member to let us in, we waited for about 10 minutes in light rain, with no cover, not exactly an ideal reception. On entering the ship check in was efficient and we were escorted to our room, a vista suite, first impressions, the room looked old and in need of a refresh, the bathroom was small with very little storage, the shower was large. Our butler introduced himself within 5 minutes, he showed us the room, but didn’t really explain how we could best use his services. We I’d ask for alcohol (although this information wasn’t forthcoming), we didn’t really warm to him, and that seemed to be the consensus of many in our area (mainly Aussies in this part of th ship), our maid was lovely and kept the room clean. We found the food to be generally very good, however I couldn’t get a poached egg cooked correctly the whole time (they always came out too raw), despite me requesting that the white was to be cooked, finally on the second last day, the maître de, organised for them to be cooked perfectly, other than that there was a few dishes we didn’t care for, but that was just personal taste. I longed for a fresh sandwich at lunch and would hav loved the option to make a sandwich if possible, the little dinner rolls just made it to difficult. I dont eat seafood or red meat, but I found something to eat most days, it would hav been nice to have chicken on the menu more regularly. We found the wines average, I finally found a white that i liked ( i prefer an oak Chardonnay) and they just didn’t have anything similar, i found most of the whites quite tart but eventually ordered the Macon Bousseir (?sp) nearly every meal. The expedition staff were great and it was very organised, getting on and off the zodiacs was easy (although not as easy as Ponant), some of the older passengers struggled though. We were disappointed that we weren’t advised about wildlife as promised, there was a pod of orca whales one night that we weren’t aware of. Would i return? It will be based on itinerary and price, I don’t think we would ever be loyal to Silversea, I just dont think they stood out as the 5 star they suggest they are. Service was good not amazing, staff were friendly, the rooms and ship looked old and a little rundown Read Less

To begin with this review, the cruise with the Silver Wind was fabulous as always. Food was great and the service could not be better. The ship need a renovation, but that happens nex year. Dining at eveningtime we prefer The Restaurant. Meals are very good and the service also. At lunch we prefer La Terrazza outside. It's so nice to sit there with a nice view. In St Peters Port the weather was the best, so nice then to have lunch outside. Service in La Terrazza exellent! Entertainmaint was also very nice, we liked the performance of the singers. Butler en housekeeping as always, very good service! Room was very clean. You may know, me and my partner sailed more then 400 days with Silversea. Why did a rated this cruise one ball? That's because of the price. I booked suite 439 (Vista) and pay including 10% off, because more then 250 days, and 5% on board booking Euro 2.254,- You may know, the last half year before this cruise, start the price was going up to Euro 4.000,- per guest excluding flight, transfer. In the Netherlands is a website for crew members for airlines workers and touroperator workers. They can booked a lot of Silversea cruises for VERY MUCH LOWER prices. There was a couple on board they had in the past worked by KLM and booked this cruise for Euro 1.700,- for a vista suite. Three days before boarding they get a message from the operator that they got an upgrading to suite 741, yes a Medallion suite. Almost three times bigger then a Vista suite. Also including free laundry. Is this normal? Of course not!!! Possible you know that pilots working with KLM had a year income to Euro 275.000,- The may also booking this cruise for this price. I call this larceny! Okay some people get discount, but that upgrading is far from right. Ans this was not for the first time. Last march this couple did a 13 day cruise with the Silver Muse from Singapore to Hong Kong. Price for a Vista Suite USD 1.300,- Once they came on board they get an upgrading to a veranda suite. First i was interested to do a cruise with the Silver Shadow from Rome to Venice in 11 days starting at september 22 this year. Price for a Vista Suite on the Silversea website Euro 7.700,- per guest. Price on www.insidertravel Euro 2.600,- for a Vista, per guest! NO WAY that we booked this cruise. Read Less

I wish I had read the Cruise Citic Reviews for this ship before I booked. I would not have gone ahead. Many of the reviews do not have nice things to say about this ship and they are accurate. Silversea claim that this is a 6 star ship. I have done several Cruises and it is1 -1.5 stars at best. So in summary I paid a six star price for a 1 star ship. Everything on board is the cheapest of the Cheap. Even the bottled water in the cheapest they could buy. No Evian here - cheap water from somewhere in China. Cabins are rusted, no AC working, crew is not allowed to speak any other language then English and they are Latin Americans. The quality of the meals is the worst ever I have, the lowest quality and charged as a 6 Stars. Ship - Tired and Run Down. Staff - poor levels of english and you have to ask for everything 4 times Management - Don't care - we told them of our dissappointment only to be ignored - One manager organised one special meal for us and that was it. Special Requests - At first they tell they can't do special things for you hoping you will stop asking then after a while the reluctantly give in and get it for you - not what was expected on a "6 star" ship. Don't expect any pampering on this ship. They claim to have daily yoga, pilates and fitness classes - they had nobody on board to do them. This is the worst cruise I ever gone and not worth a Penny is TRASH.. Read Less

Our first mistake was assuming that, like Viking, Silversea cruises would be adults only. In fact, out of 580 passengers, 76 were children, about two thirds of those under 5 years old, or even babies. There are virtually no facilities for young children on the ship, so they were mostly bored and amused themselves running up and down the stairs and corridors uunsupervised. The swimming pools and hot tubs were completely taken over by the kids, even though under 12's were not supposed to use the hot tub. They also made their presence felt in the dining rooms, crying and tipping over chairs, and rather spoilt some of the excursions. We were particularly shocked when, on the first day, young children were helping themselves from the buffet using their hands. Aside from the children, there were several other things that were disappointing. The restaurant menu only changed once and then only a few items were different. We had one instance of shockingly rude service in the grill restaurant. The alternative restaurants were fully booked months ahead. We found that there were few places to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee and that these were usually very crowded indeed. The room service meal we had one evening was supposed to be served course by course within 20 minutes. In fact, it took an hour to arrive and then it all came at once, except the wine, which took a further 15 minutes to arrive and the meal was only warm, not hot. The room was not always as clean as I would like and the bath supplies were not replaced except when I asked. We had been advised to have a low floor cabin for wildlife viewing, but we were over the lounge and had quite a bit of noise from the activities there, notably the bingo, quizzes and late night music. On the plus side, the cabin was amazing and the bathroom was superb. The bed linens were very luxurious, as were the toiletries and there was a choice of pillows. All the food and drink was included, and this was mostly of a very high standard. We also had a selection of fresh fruit in the cabin every day. The scenery and excursions were excellent and we were very lucky with the weather and wildlife sightings on the trips. However, overall the experience fell well below what we had expected from this luxury brand. Read Less

Disclaimer - this was our first cruise and perhaps our expectations were unrealistic. The ship was beautiful. The food and service were spotty. We enjoyed the food and experience at Silver Note, Kaiseki and Indochine. Atlantide was the most disappointing. The service was inconsistent (i.e. at the empty Grill at lunch it was hard to get anyone's attention for a second glass of wine and when it finally came it was not with a smile!). We couldn't get a decent steak on board. Our son ate steak at practically every restaurant and a request for 'medium' came back either blue or brown - never pink! That was a real let-down. The Hot Rocks concept was gimmicky and not worth the effort. The over-sized dentist bibs they provide did not protect our clothing from getting spattered with grease. La Dame and Terrazza both had decent food and the service was outstanding - especially the maitre d' (Rodel) in La Dame - he was a real charmer! Service is where we feel Silversea really dropped the ball. We had a large suite with a separate dining area so we decided to have breakfast in the suite each morning. It arrived cold every day and on the second day I asked our butler how many suites he serviced. He responded 14, which surprised me. I asked him what happened if everyone wants breakfast at the same time and he said he tries to get his colleagues to help. He was hardworking but rushed off his feet. It wasn't unusual for him to be paged by another suite while he was with us and he would then use our phone to call and see what his other guests needed. While 1:1 service is impossible, one man servicing 14 suites will never equate to luxury service. We felt bad for him so tried to ask for as little as possible. He was also off-duty from 12-4 and during that period no one answered his phone. We never used his service after 6pm so I'm not sure if the timing of the break is the most sensible? Silversea offers a 'dedicated butler' which I think means only that you'll always see the same face? In our experience it put too much pressure on one person and it would be much better to have a team helping each other and ultimately the guests. Echoing other reviewers, the pool area, while pretty, was not restful. It was teeming with young kids. We traveled with our mid-teens and although they fancied going for a swim or in the hot-tub the atmosphere was always off-putting. We loved the afternoon trivia, ping-pong and the kids appreciated the large selection of streaming media. This was our first time in Alaska and we were impressed by the ports and the people. We didn't do any shipboard excursions but we thoroughly enjoyed the trips we privately arranged - whale watching in Juneau, Emerald Lake/Yukon tour in Skagway, Wildlife Boat Tour in Sitka and Anan Creek Bear Tour by float plane in Ketchikan (this is a must do if you don't mind the small plane). One of the on-board highlights was the afternoon at Hubbard Glacier. Having the forward deck was a huge plus. I thought that the Captain turned the whole ship 360 at the glacier, but all it did was pivot to port and starboard a few times. We saw plenty of spectacular calving. We had fully intended to re-book Silver Origin for the Galapagos while on board but our experience just wasn't compelling enough. On our return we were offered a sizable incentive to re-book but we decided to try Celebrity Flora instead - even though it was slightly more expensive. I waited a few weeks to write this review to see how the experience settled on us, and while I wouldn't say it dissuaded us from cruising again, I don't think we'd ever revisit Silversea. Read Less

We were so excited to sail with Silversea through Alaska. I must say the excursions have been great, the rooms are nice and the food very good (although no healthy options available.) Where the boat really fails is it’s amenities. The gym is very poorly equipped and overcrowded (weights do not go over 20kg and it is cheap equipment.) Where it really fails is the pool. It is a very small pool that I’m sure it nice but we haven’t been able to get into it since we’ve been here. The pool is filled with kids every hour of the day. Parents are not watching, kids are sliding all over the wood and pushing each other into the pool. It’s a safety hazard and inconvenient for anyone who is looking to have a relaxing vacation, or a swim after a hot day. If you want a room and food Silversea is great. But I believe most people go on a cruise for the full experience. If so, you’re better off on a different boat. We will not be cruising with Silversea again. Read Less

We managed to book our cruise/expedition at a very good price due to a late booking, our previous cruise with Scenic Eclipse was cancelled at very short notice. Which was disappointing at the time, but Silverseas have now gained a loyal follower! I can't imagine travel on any other line after the great experience that we had. We were met at Oslo and Tromso by Silverseas agents and professionally looked after till we boarded the ship. We had managed to upgrade to a Silver suite on the Silver Cloud, which is, in effect 2 cabins together, so a separate bedroom/dressing room with two shower rooms/toilets. Our butler was efficient, polite and a real gentleman, "Arun" helped to make this trip memorable. With only about 230 passengers, the voyage is made all the more enjoyable as it is possible to meet more people, who are from all over the world, and we met some very lovely people. The food was of an exceptional standard, real fine dining, and the staff on all levels were polite, friendly and knowledgeable. How they manage to remember all our names is a mystery, but they do, The Zodiac trips were well organised with a priority on safety, which is encouraging given the choppy seas at times, and also the land excursions to see the wildlife were also expertly organised, with forward parties going on shore to check out safety i.e.meaning making sure there were no Polar bears loolking for an early meal! It is the first trip we have had in many years, that we were not wanting it to end. Full credit to Silverseas and the ace team that they have working on the Silver Cloud, they made the expedition into one our our most memorable trips.. Read Less

This was our 9th Silversea cruise all previous being on Spirit and Shadow, so we were keen to sample the Muse. We stayed in Fairmont Waterfront pre cruise, and exceptional hotel, top tip, choose a harbour view Gold floor room. It was a mixed experience on the Muse. The new Musification decor and the ship did not disappoint, a stunning ship and much improved over the older ships. The crew as always were superb, always friendly professional and a delight. However, we for sure noticed a slipping of previous standards. The main points we noticed, all small, but it's the small detail that counts: This was an Alaskan cruise, with the spotlight on scenery and wildlife, previous Silversea cruises always had binoculars in every cabin, wow, not any more, when I asked the reply from the Cruise Consultant was, it cost to much as guests steal them, a lowering of standards. I was surprised to see on the open forward deck, Zodiacs and Kayaks tied down, very unsightly. It became clear during the cruise that this cruise was partially an Expedition cruise, unfortunately this was not made clear in any pre cruise matterial. One day of the cruise was modified, without any pre cruise notice, to facilitate the expedition element as the ship moored for 12 hrs in Rudyard Bay, yes lovely scenery but after 12 hrs looking it became tiresome, it was all for the Expedition and tours using Zodiacs and Kayaks. Dining in the La Terrazza restaurant was very disappointing, the changes have created a more open cafe concept, very noisey taking away its previous charm. Top tip, try it once but dine in Atlantide, Silver Note or La Dame, these are all very good. We noticed the service was not as before, standards from Silversea are dropping, these points are small but important, to me all drink measures are smaller, canape are meager, one other guest called it the "Meega Muse" Also lacking was the old Silversea luxury of a waiter taking ladys by the arm to escort to table. Sliding standards. And what happened to the luxury touch of your butler giving you a choice of toiletries for your cabin. Sliding standards. If you have this option, take the Juneau Silver King Lodge tour, amazing wildlife and lunch. To summarise; Yes Silversea are exceptional and I would certainly cruise with them again and recommend them. However, the new Musification is missing something, I'm not sure what but they seem to have just taken there eye off the ball, and are cutting back on small luxury items, but I would suggest that it's just those small luxury touches that have made Silversea. Read Less

This was our 1st cruise on Silversea and they nailed it! Top to bottom, the experience exceeded all of our expectations, and was superior to our recent Seabourn Encore cruise in NZ/Australia. The ship was stretched and fully refurbished last year, it looks brand new with top notch high end touches in every venue. We are very seasoned cruisers and have been on nearly all the mainstream cruiselines (Regent, Seabourn, Oceania, Celebrity, HAL, etc.) with over 60 cruises under our belt. We traveled as an adult couple in our late 40's along with our 22yr old daughter, sharing a cabin with her. We choose this cruise for two main reasons. 1. Experience a Silversea cruise 2. Itinerary to Norway where we haven't traveled before. The ship was fully refurbished and stretched last year (read about the changes on CC) and it shows with high quality touches in every venue. The ship sailed full, but we never encountered any crowded areas and the space to pax ratio is very high! This ship offers everything you could want in a smallish footprint luxury line. No sings of wear or tear anywhere. Beautiful fresh flowers are found throughout the ship, adding an upscale high end vibe to the ambience. SHIP 5 STARS The standard suite was very spacious, well laid out, included high end toiletries, stocked bar, shower & tub, balcony, and a butler. Many discussions about how to utilize a butler can be found on CC. Ours provided us with balloons/cake/decorations for our Anniversary, caviar, canapes, dining reservations, room service, a VIP dining experience on our balcony one evening with roses, and so much more. This is something Seabourn doesn't include that we truly feel sets Silversea apart from them. CABIN 5 STARS Dining options were excellent and well balance with most types of cuisine represented on the ship from Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Steakhouse, Italian, Continental, pizza, gastro pub special lunches, and so on. Some CC's threads complained about the lack of variety of choices on Silversea...I don't see how this is truly possible! With so many dining venues and new menus every 3-4 days we never felt like we repeated meals or bored of the food offered after 14 days onboard. The quality, variety, and presentation was superior to any other cruiseline we have traveled. Unlimited caviar is now included with Silversea, leveling the field with the competition. We loved Artist cafe's excellent lite bites and high quality coffee service. I could go on and on about the food, but won't bore you to tears other than to say it simply was the BEST we have experienced to date (Seabourn was well below Silversea). FOOD 5 STARS Entertainment was geared towards an older demographic, which was expected. The singers (no dancers) consisted of 2 opera performers and 4 others.The theater had excellent sight lines with no obstructed views like we experience on Seabourn. One show per evening, around 9:30pm was offered. The opera singers were excellent! A few other strong vocalists mixed with a few average. The jazz duo in Silver note delivered an authentic jazz club like atmosphere and were a hit! One knock was having no duet or soloist that sang and played an instrument. The guest entertainment consisted of a comedy magician that was excellent and another pianist (the ship already had a full time one on staff). Why repeat the same entertainment that already existed from the staff onboard? ENTERTAINMENT 4 STARS The service was absolutely without a doubt 5 star luxury level at its finest! We felt as guests and not pax for our 2 weeks onboard. They would bend over backwards for you; we felt the staff enjoyed their jobs and were happy to work onboard. A very high percentage of staff knew our names within a few days onboard, similar to what we experienced on Seabourn. Seabourn dining room service always felt chaotic and understaffed. We didn't run into this on Silversea. The vibe was much calmer, more chill, and less stressed we felt from the service staff compared to Seabourn. The cherry on top was having a butler catering to our needs no matter how big or small. He went the extra mile to give us top notch service that sets Silversea apart from the competition. SERVICE 5 STARS Ports and excursions were all excellent and have been discussed many of times on CC. We enjoyed all of our stops in Norway and loved the authenticity of Norway vs places like Alaska that felt touristy. We had a very early arrival in London and were greeted by staff taking our luggage from us and then directly to the ship. We were delighted they took us to a city center high end hotel to have breakfast and refresh before our transfer to the port. PORTS 5 STARS We rank Silversea Silver Spirit #1 out of our 60+ cruises. If you're looking for the best of the best, you have found your ship! Read Less

I chose this expedition because of its’ interesting ports of call and its departure under the Tower Bridge. (Magic!) A bonus was finding ourselves in the Channel on the eve of D Day and in Guernsey on D Day. Unfortunately a big storm came in that night and we had to miss 3 or 4 of the next ports. It was an expedition cruise and this is to be expected. The ship has been updated beautifully - great showers in the bathrooms, even with seats. Deluxe cabins are very comfortable. Public areas attractive and as comfortable as when I first sailed her in 2002. Terrific. The reception, butler/housekeeping staff, bar and dining room staff are as wonderful as Silversea has always produced. They’re great. On this cruise their line let them down. The expedition staff, not so much! As a now solo traveller (widowed) I commend Silversea for making solo travellers comfortable and included in their voyages. There were plumbing/sewage issues from boarding time onwards which affected a number of decks and many passengers. The cruise was brought into Reykjavik a day early (which it seems to have done on other cruises, I see). Disappointingly, Silversea has not responded to my comments and complaints. Very disappointing for a formerly very loyal Silversea cruiser. Read Less

We have sailed Silversea before but chose this cruise for the itinerary and also to experience expedition cruising and find out the difference. Staff on board incl butler were great, cannot fault them , dining was also impressive , so was the quality and variety of the food and wines offered. The shore excursions were not too different from a standard cruise. Only one shore activity during the 14 day expedition cruise involved some expedition like feature when we had a wonderful afternoon going ashore on the zodiacs watching a variety of seabirds nesting on the Scottish Island of Lunga. There were a lot of shore landings cancelled due to stormy weather. Enrichment lectures were generally good, although some were repetitive due to the increased requirement of additional lectures after many cancelled shore landings. Expedition staff seemed to display a lack of interest at times. Our Vista Cabin had a sewage issue on day 2. We were moved to another cabin after that. It became obvious after talking to other guests that Silver Cloud has had ongoing sewage issues. We feel that it shows that the ship is 25 years old and has had a refit to comply with expedition ship/ice class regulations, mainly the strengthening of the hull. Apart from that there were a few serious problems visible like huge cracks in the cabin doors and also cracks in the fire doors of the ship. And the sewage issue. In our opinion this ship is past its use-by-date and should not sail Arctic or Antarctic regions . Read Less