By Joanne Prime
It was with great pleasure that I sailed with Silversea onboard their original flagship Silver Spirit. A five-night treat sailing from Barcelona along the beautiful coast to Lisbon, Portugal, stopping at Malaga and the historic city of Cadiz.
Silversea’s ships are small and luxurious offering comfortable spacious suites all with ocean view and most with verandas.
As an ultra luxury cruise line, Silversea provides the best all-inclusive experience. This means the finest champagnes, wines, beers, and premium spirits are all ‘on the house’, not just in the public bars but also in the mini bar in your suite, which is replenished daily. Six of the eight restaurants are included in the fare, along with the gratuities and even some excursions.
‘Our’ ship was the Silver Spirit, which is a modern vessel with a guest capacity of 600 and a crew ratio of almost 1:1. She is elegant, extremely spacious and stylishly furnished with beautiful and interesting art pieces throughout. Although there is an open and modern feel onboard, Silver Spirit still retains a warm, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. The staff play a huge role in this, always ready to assist in your every whim with a huge smile.
Silversea is the only cruise line worldwide to offer ‘white gloved’ butler service for every suite onboard. Our butler Rani was so attentive, thoughtful and charming, always ensuring our comfort and needs were catered for in an effortless manner. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble, even when my travelling companion broke her sunglasses, he arranged for them to be fixed. One morning when we decided to enjoy breakfast in our suite, we called Rani and within 30 minutes of taking our order he delivered and laid out in true silver service style a banquet of tropical fruits, the best eggs benedict ever, tea, coffee, juices and pastries. We felt like royalty.
Our suite was a Super Veranda which was large and serenely furnished. The bathroom was spa-like with shower and a full-size bath, fluffy towelling robes and high-end toiletries. There was a walk-in dressing room with plenty of drawers and storage space. The living area could be separated from the bedroom and had a comfy sofa, TV, mini bar and balcony doors onto the veranda – this we enjoyed daily, either in the morning with our coffee or in the evening before dining with a glass of bubbly watching the land ebb away as we set sail for our next port of call.
With an amazing eight dining options on board, there is something for everyone. On the pool deck is The Grill, where we enjoyed freshly barbequed fish and steak burgers in a relaxed atmosphere with superb views. La Terrazza was another daytime favourite offering more alfresco dining (my preferred option when cruising) with a real authentic Italian feel. For the evenings it is recommended to book a table because this restaurant transforms into a wonderful Italian fine dining experience.
The Atlantide is open seating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here you can expect a sophisticated menu and ever proficient staff to serve and advise on wines to accompany your choice of meal. Indochine,as its name suggests, is a fusion of Indian and Asian cuisine that blew us away – this was a superb gastronomic evening and we were extremely grateful to the Maître d for informing us of a cancellation that enabled us to include it on our trip. Definitely book your table here as soon as you board!
But my favourite of all was our evening at the Silver Note where reservations are also required. This venue is spectacular; it is an intimate venue that offers small plate tapas style dishes of international cuisine combined with a first-class professional jazz/bluesy singer and pianist. It was truly refined and felt like we were in a VIP private members club.
There is also the Seishin, a Japanese restaurant where the chefs perform their arts centre stage and La Dame, an exquisite French dining experience offering a six-course bespoke menu. Both restaurants require prebooking and come with an additional supplement.
During the day, if you are not out and about on an excursion, you can enjoy lazing around the immaculate pool, relaxing in one of the cool lounges, or even taking advantage of the ship’s observation library, reading the daily papers or a borrowed book. The opportunity to make new friends was easy because of the mixed age range onboard – between 40 and 70, which made for fun and interesting conversations.
There are many other distractions onboard such as the well-equipped gym, the tranquil Zagara Beauty Spa with its men’s and women’s saunas and steam rooms. Also, the Arts Café for afternoon high tea, and Casino for those who enjoy a flutter.
During the evenings, after dining, we were spoilt with shows at the Venetian Lounge. This perfectly-sized theatre offers a fantastic range of entertainment from full-scale shows to classical soloists and Motown singers. On several nights, when we still had enough energy, we finished off the evening with cocktails and dancing at the Panorama lounge before retiring to our suite and ‘turned down’ beds ready for a blissful sleep.
Travelling with Silversea was a truly wonderful experience, in a nutshell, it gives real luxury and style while mixed with a fun and lively atmosphere.
Written by Joanne Prime for Century Travel. Contact: 70000970, info@centurycyprus.com or www.centurycyprus.com
