Suite

Silversea

Lisbon

Monaco (Monte Carlo)

Lima

Barcelona

New York (Manhattan)

Europe - All

Europe - British Isles & Western

Mediterranean

Europe River

Portugal

Douro River

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Spain

U.S.A.

Transatlantic

Panama Canal & Central America

Italy

France

Caribbean - All

South America

Africa

Morocco

Panama

Bermuda

Caribbean - Eastern

Caribbean - Western

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Mexico - All

Wales

Very Good

Average

Excellent

Terrible

Silver Spirit

Silver Shadow

Silver Muse

Silver Whisper

Silver Dawn

Silver Moon

Silver Nova

Silver Origin

Beautiful Ship with a few bugs

Quebec City

Went with two friends, at their recommendation. Silver Nova is a very nice ship, with good interior design. Service was excellent on board. 

The food was a let-down. The menus were great, but the food was mostly below par. We had reservations at the paid dining rooms, but we cancelled when the prices were raised to astronomical levels. I can understand having paid restaurants, but trying to bleed us after paying for an expensive cruise was insulting.

The shore excursions were mostly disasters. In one instance, for example, departure time was 7:30am. the gangway was not opened until 8:30. No prior notice. Large crowds standing around waiting. Then herded on to 3 buses, carefully arranged to arrive at all four stops simultaneously . The result was spending a lot of time standing around in parking lots, waiting for the previous group to finish. The overall feeling was being treated like a herd of cows.

About 50% of the shows were reputedly quite good, although scheduling them at 10pm resulted in many people (including me) passing.

Nice Ship, food and excursions lacking

The booking was triggered by a trip over Christmas and New Year with the destination Central America. Added to this was the cruise line's "reputation" in the premium segment.

The ship is a very new ship (built in 2023) and therefore the condition of the ship is of course top.

The cabins leave nothing to be desired. They are beautifully furnished and offer plenty of space and storage space. All cabins have a balcony and the bathroom is very spacious with a bathtub, walk-in shower and large washbasin.

There are plenty of seating areas dotted around the ship, inviting you to linger.

At the pool (deck 10) and on the deck above there are plenty of sun loungers and of course a pool bar.

There are 9 restaurants, some of which have to be paid for separately (e.g. La Dame, Kaiseki).

We liked the Atlantide (International Grill) and the Silver Note (International) the best

There are also 12 bars. Our favorites were "The Shelter", "Panorama Lounge" and the "Salt Bar".

There is a quite spacious cigar lounge which also has a nice outdoor area but unfortunately is often not cleaned properly and neglected by the Panorama Lounge Bar staff.

There is also a gym (good equipment), casino (very small - tiny) etc.

The staff were very nice overall.

The food was good but not up to the premium segment. Especially if you include the restaurants, which were associated with an extra charge (we were in Kaiseki).

It was noticeable that after just a few days there was no more salad and, for example, the Cesar salad was taken off the menu. Furthermore, there were no lemons, berries or avocados available on request.

We discovered quite early on in the tour that there were difficulties with the organization and communication...either poor or missing.

The following are just a few examples

- The possibility of visiting the bridge of the ship, for example, was not communicated. Only on request was it communicated that this was possible and when it would take place.

- on one of the shore excursions, the entire docking and check-in process was delayed, so that all excursions could not start on time. Instead of informing the passengers properly, the guests stood in the stairwell for up to 1.5 hours (this was somewhat dependent on when the actual excursion was due to start). We stood for roughly an hour.

The worst part was all the excursions. It very quickly became clear that nobody could have really cared about the quality of the excursions or have checked the excursions in advance before offering them. e.g.

- Visit to a beach in Cozumel: sunbeds, chairs etc. rusty, unkempt beach, totally overcrowded

- Snorkeling tour in Cozumel: both "reefs" were dead; there was only dead coral and nothing else

- Visit to Panama - visit to an Indian village: on the outward journey we were told that the journey would take 0.75 hours, after approx. 35 minutes we were told that the journey would take another 30 minutes and after a further 25 minutes we were told that the journey would take another 30 minutes. In the end we arrived at our destination (boat landing stage) after 1.5 hours. After a short boat ride, we had to wait at least another 0.5 hours for the other group in the Indian village, so that we only had 1.25 hours for the actual visit. Due to the traffic, the return journey then took not just 1.5 hours but more than 2,25 hours.

- Visit to Jamaica - visit to the Bob Marley Museum incl. Devon House: the visit to the Bob Marley Museum was great but when we visited the Devon House the groups were so large that the explanations were difficult to understand

- Cozumel and Cartagena: On the excursions where bicycles were to be used, they were in such a desolate condition (rusty, dirty, not adjustable or even completely unrideable) that the participants were given cab vouchers to get back to the ship. A bicycle tour was not possible with these bicycles.

- Cartagena: Horse carriage tour called "Cartagena at night" was a tour where we were brought to a jewlery to buy some stuff. We were not able to see the "promised" places previously written in the shore excursion overview. The "free and included refreshment" was a cup of bad coffee that was given by the jeweler.

Summary: It is a new, beautiful ship with friendly staff and good food. However, all the excursions are a disaster and therefore the classification in the premium segment (and the associated high price of the cruise) is definitely not justified.

We will not be traveling with Silverseas again.

A new ship does not always mean a good cruise

Riga

My wife and I chose this cruise because it left where we wanted (New York, a 30 minute cab ride from our apartment) and went where we wanted to go (Barbados) with stops on the way (Bermuda, San Juan, St Barts) we like, plus it was a new ship, looked beautiful in the photos and we like being at sea.  We're not ardent cruisers, but will take traveling by ship over an airplane when a ship is an option, and Silver Nova was a great option. The ship is beautiful, has lovely public rooms, comfortable cabins, the nicest pool deck of any ship I've been on, a great staff, and the best selection of library books I've found on any ship outside the Viking ships. The only things I wish Silversea had done differently: I like a real promenade deck like you find on the QM2 and one dinner venue where you can serve yourself from a buffet with outdoor seating. We're not really steak and chops eaters and found the dinner menus monotonous after about three days.  While we liked the ambience of the Grill, we didn't really get into the vibe of cooking a slab of meat on a 400 degree hot rock. The ship is also too large for the ideal Caribbean cruise. No Soper's Hole, Cruz Bay, Les Saints or Pigeon Island on this cruise. It's all St Thomas and like ports of call with Diamonds International front-and-center. For future Caribbean cruises we'll probably stick to Windstar, but I'd book Silver Nova again in a minute for a transatlantic trip from New York stopping in Bermuda, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Sadly, it's a trip they don't offer.

Beautiful ship, not ideal for the Caribbean

Paris

I chose this cruise because it crossed the Atlantic and Silversea is always a bit better quality than the competition. I had been on the Muse before but found it too small, so I thought had hoped this ship would be the perfect size.

What I found was this ship is still too small for me. That’s a personal preference. That said, I never found it crowded. I often wondered where all the passengers were as the ship felt pretty empty.

The ship is modern and it’s new. There is a smell of fresh flowers everywhere. A lot of longtime cruisers complained about the new informal dress code and the odd layout of the Arts Cafe but I welcomed both. The arts cafe is less congested now and the informal dress code is the future. Young people like me don’t want to wear a tuxedo. That’s the bottom line and I’m glad to see Silversea looking toward the new generation. I never wore a tie either and had no issues.

The service is what I would describe as “a work in progress”. It is a new ship with a lot of new crew so everyone is learning. For example, at the pool, more times than not I was not offered a towel. Some nights at dinner waters would go unfilled, I had to ask four times for a ginger ale once and the bread sometimes came and sometimes didn’t. Once I asked for a lemon water without lots of lemons and the waiter returned with a glass and one tiny lemon in it. In the main dining room soups were warm, not cold. The staff were always friendly and gracious even if inexperienced. I was happy with the service which I expect will improve over time. 

The La Dame restaurant was outstanding and the highlight. It was a nice reprieve from crowded Atlantide. I had no issue with the extra charges. The food was hot, the servers on top of everything, and the food was delicious. I loved how they all greet you at the entrance with a synchronized “good evening” and open the doors. It was just a good experience. 

The Kaiseki restaurant for dinner was not good value. The service was good but the food was mediocre. I understand now why it is jammed packed for lunch. I would recommend scrapping this restaurant altogether and using this as a card room (more on that below)!

A few other things:

The casino is small. I don’t really play so I am ok with that but others may find that disappointing.

The spa was excellent. Treatments were pricey but I had really good service. The gym is small but sufficient. I never waited for a treadmill. News flash: if you go to a regular gym in your home city at 8-9 am during the week, chances are all machines will be in use. 

So why would it be any different on board?

The observation deck is basically bridge player territory only. I found that the card players took over the entire observation deck more times than not and it felt like I was intruding when I went in there. I didn’t like that. On Muse they had a separate room.

Overall, I would travel Silverseas again. I like the changes. I would probably choose a warmer destination though.

A Good New Ship 

Nice new modern ship, with some growing pains (LONG review of TA 11/7-11/18/23)

My wife had been itching to try a transatlantic cruise; I was intrigued by the description I read about the new ship; we both liked the Lisbon to New York itinerary.

We previously sailed on Europa2 in May and enjoyed it immensely.  We have also sailed on Sea Dream, Crystal, Viking Ocean and Oceania among others but never on Seabourne, Regent, or Azamara.  I was expecting an upscale experience relative to food and service with some curiosity about the Butler Service I thought would prove unnecessary; it turns out I was right in some respects, wrong in others.

Our cabin was toward the rear of the ship and was one of the quietest cabins we have experienced and was very well designed.  We had a few bumps due to rough seas but nothing of consequence.The only issue I had was the down comforter caused me to wake up soaked in sweat several times, whereas the down comforter in our Lisbon Hotel Room was fine; my wife had no issue with either after the first night’s cruising.  

Our room Butler mostly asked to shine my shoes; he took notes on my dining reservation requests but in the end I had to follow up myself.  The room was cleaned twice a day and our refrigerated water was always topped off.

We ate at all 3 extra cost venues for $900.00; Kaiseki was quite nice but not up to the Nobu inspired restaurant on Crystal.  La Dame was just okay and their sautéed Foie Gras looked good but had almost no flavor.  Chefs Table was big on presentation but uneven.  The remaining restaurants were uneven except that you could count on any classic dessert like Crepes Suzette, Tarte Tatin and Tiramisu to be horribly deconstructed.  Caviar at Atalantide was decidedly inferior to that on Europa2.

The most reliable food was at breakfast, with lunch at the Marquee also being good ( but not the dinner/steak on stone). 

 Room service one time was surprisingly good.

We enjoyed the ship itself, the sauna, the test kitchen, and passengers were mostly pleasant.  Entertainment and lectures were based on  Broadway and we are off off Broadway types; a duo of a pianist and singer presented lite Kenny G type sounds.  No real classical music as we’ve enjoyed on HAL,Crystal and others. We had books and we read them.  The library was scattered around the ship but was fairly thin.

At La Terrezza the pastas were misses,  and we discussed with our waiter whether the food quality was a result of Royal Caribbean (we had an awful experience in Celebrity Bleu class a few years ago.) His comment was “I hope it doesn’t get worse”). He then served us a delicious Veal Milanese which made up for everything

The good and the notso

We traveled Lisbon to Lisbon for 21 days starting mid-October.  We chose this cruise because it included many ports we had not visited previously.  Unfortunately, they had to cancel two ports - Tangier and Casablanca - presumably due to the situation in the Mideast.  But they substituted an extra night in Malaga and Lisbon, so that was fine.  Since we have previously cruised with Seabourn, we were most interested in seeing how Silversea compared.

Overall, it was a fabulous cruise.  We loved the ship, the staff, the food and our cabin (Medallion), as well as the entertainment and lectures, most particularly the Silver Nova jazz band.   So nothing stated below should detract from our overall impression, but should be viewed as areas requiring some improvement.

1.  Our greatest and most important disappointment was that the restaurant menus do not change often enough.  Basically, we mostly ate in one of three restaurants – Atlantide, La Terrazza, and Salt Kitchen.  We did not consider La Dame and Kaiseki as viable options in view of the considerable additional charge.  By way of comparison, on Seabourn, one could dine at the upscale Thomas Keller Grill for no additional charge.  Both Silver Note and the Grill had limited menus that did not change at all.  Same menu for three weeks.  As for the Grill, we are not fans of cooking our own meal.  Of the three restaurants we rotated through – Atlantide, La Terrazza, and Salt Kitchen – their menus repeated for three consecutive days.  That was a big disappointment and potentially a deal breaker when it comes to considering future cruises.  On Seabourn, the menu changed every night so there was always something interesting and different to choose from in addition to the 5 or 6 basic items always available.  Plus – and this is a big one – the Seabourn main dining room always had a soufflé of the day on the dessert selection.  It was a big hit for our family.  We highly recommend that Silversea change its dining menus more frequently.

2.  La Terrazza should remain open longer for lunch to accommodate late arriving excursions.  Many of our excursions arrived around 1:30 or later.  We would rush directly to the restaurant, start eating a salad only to have staff gently prod that they are closing in 10 minutes.  After being out on an excursion for 4 hours, we would like to enjoy a more leisurely lunch without feeling like we have to wolf down our food.  One day, the restaurant closed before we could dine.  On another day, they did keep the restaurant open until 2:30 because there were many late arrivals.  But that should be the protocol every day.  On the day we arrived too late, our only option was the Grill, which was okay, but not nearly as nice as the terrific buffet at La Terrazza.  Our recommendation is to keep La Terrazza open until 2:30 to accommodate everyone.  Also, while the lunch buffet at La Terrazza is great, the layout produces chaotic traffic as guests and staff move in unpredictable directions.  For example, the salad fixings are in different locations with lettuce and dressing in one area, tomatoes and cukes in a different area, and onions in a third area.

3.  Venetian Lounge.  They need to serve drinks.  Seabourn does this.

4.  Suite bathroom.  The light surrounding the mirror needs to be brighter.  I could barely see my face while shaving.  The overhead spotlights actually make visibility worse.  We would prefer softer towels and, more importantly, softer toilet paper (e.g., Charmin Ultrasoft).

5.  Poor luggage handling pre-cruise.  We had 5 bags – 2 large ones and 3 small ones.  After they had been taken from our hotel room, we later found the 3 small bags next to the elevator on our floor.  We took them down to the lobby and placed them next to our two large bags, all bags being labeled with our name and suite number.  Before boarding the transfer bus, we had to identify our bags.  That’s fine.  Then, on boarding the bus, I noticed two bags were left behind.  So I retrieved the two missing bags from the lobby and brought them to the bus.  After we got to the ship, we then had to identify our bags again and ensure they were placed on a trolley.  That’s great.  All our bags are together on one trolley.  About two hours or so after we checked into our cabin, two bags finally arrived.  Where are the other three and why aren’t they all together?  Finally, two of the bags arrived about two hours after that, then eventually the one remaining bag showed up.  There is no reason for such chaotic baggage handling when all bags were initially all together and properly marked with Silversea luggage tags with our name and suite number on them.  (Note:  We are mindful that things could’ve been worse as some luggage was dropped into the sea, which was a disaster for those passengers.)

6.  Some very minor points.  The bathrooms are too far from La Tarrazza and Atlantide and the automatic doors close way too slow.  You could read a book waiting for the doors to close.  There were no lemons or blueberries on the last few days of the cruise.  When I ordered iced tea with lemon, I got lime instead and was told no lemons.  I was disappointed when my order for blueberry pancakes could not be prepared.

Fabulous Cruise - But Need To Change Menus More Frequently

Ketchikan

First cruise under Royal Caribbean brand ! Have enjoyed Several SS cruises before it was sold. 

RC had already bumped us from maiden voyage on Dawn so have been reluctant to revisit SS , however the new design Nova enticed us to return. 

New design has positive and negative aspects. The constant during our cruise was the outstanding efficiency and friendliness on the entire crew. 

Personally our biggest negative was an ever present bad smell in our cabin and in certain areas of the ship. We were eventually offered a move but declined ( mistake ) having been told the problem would be resolved. It wasn’t !!

Dining- 

Atlantis’s is excellent but too small for purpose. 

Salt is good but not great and the country menu concept is laughable. Only one course starter and main changes Not the full menu. 

Kaisaki , $90 surcharge always empty!

La Dame $ 180 surcharge, days are numbered. 60 cover restaurants that is also ghost town. 

Note is good if you can get a reservation. 

Marquee is good but they need to drop the evening reservation only policy. 

La Terraza was very good but also needs to drop evening reservations policy. 

Here’s what I don’t get. SS have relax the dress code to the point that a polo shirt is the norm for many. Yet they expect that same crowd to pay $ 180 and wear a jacket in La Dame. 

Result ! empty La Dame / Kaisaki and queues at Atlantide and Salt. 

Arts cafe closed @ 6 pm - WHY ! 

Open deck - limited sun beds in the sun far too many under shade. 

Lots of comfortable chairs/ beds in shade. 

Dusk bar very enjoyable. 

Salt bar enjoyably but isolated . 

The Shelter is a holding pen for the restaurant guests waiting for a table rather than a champagne bar . 

Venetian lounge looks good but I didn’t like the seating layout or comfort. 

Cabin layout was good with a large shower in shower only suites. 

Conclusion- sort out the dining options rapidly. 

Finally the Dolce Vita , if you are going to have dance hosts dancing here give them a dance floor away from the thoroughfare of guests moving through.

Radical design Nova 

Just returned from 16days on Silversea newest ship the Nova. While the ship is beautiful and the service for the most part was exceptional as always on Silversea I personally( actually several passengers agreed ) the Nova was not my cup of tea. The color palette thru out is very monochromatic and frankly dull. The spacious deserted long, long passages within the ship connecting venues made us feel,at times, we were in a convention center. Many times saw no one.

The much promo new linear pool area at times felt a little jumbled,without  clean lines a deck chairs in a row. It tended to make people change the positioning of their chairs, to maximize the sun, into a variety of positions so at times you were lying with you head facing someone’s feet! Not cool.

All the surfaces are composites. None of the luxurious finishes, rich woods, marble, crystal,of Regent’s newer ships such as the Grandeur, Explorer or the Splendor. Admittedly I prefer a more opulent cruise ship with interesting art work fresh flowers around every corner. The Nova has none of this. It prides itself on being the most eco friendly ship at sea but to me it seemed sterile, utilitarian rather than luxurious. The butlers in uniform, while extremely helpful and attentive looked out of place in such a dull environment.

The best restaurant was LaDame and evidently due to a misprint was not the usual up charge.We booked several times pre cruise and did not have to pay the up charge due to their error.No need to pay the $160 per couple for Kaiseki as the sushi at the luncheon buffet is delicious and varied.

The lecturers were just so so the topic’s uninspiring for the most part.Entertainment was minimal from many cou)tries with every night either a violinist, pianist or saxophone player at various bar lounges. The three shows we attended were good one in particular The McDonald Brothers a duo that was terrific, a must see. We saw both their shows. Food in LaTerraza, the breakfast venue transformed into Italian at night,was excellent.Silver Note small plates with great variety, order several More pretty to look,at then to taste however.Small dance floor only one on the ship. Folks did dance at other locations but no dance floor per se. S.A.L.T. Restaurant the most casual,for evening was just okay.Part of menu changed daily with local port selection.Not our favorite.

The suite attendant was superb.Suite always made up and ready fast.Closet space smaller than Regent Bathroom utilitarian in design and the shower floor filled with water, poor drain design. Linens fabulous.

Guests were from many countries and most well heeled. Tended to dress up in the evenings with lots of long dresses and stylish cocktail dresses.Sport coats and suits, some tuxes were common for the men.Regent relaxed their dress code to Elegant Casual,which we didn’t like as folks were more casual,than elegant 

They really need to improve on their guides however.A couple were outstanding Gibraltar and Casablanca others just okay with poor acoustics Some dreadful. Felt like they were just locals grabbed off the street in a pinch.

There is nothing bad on this ship and many very good things however I guess I’m a Regent Girl.

Extraordinary Nova…not my style

We were on the ship for 17 Days Lisbon to Lisbon which wasn't a back to back when we booked it but it was split at a later date when the itinerary was totally changed

We have cruised with Silversea 3 times before (Shadow and Spirit twice) but saw an interesting itinerary on a new ship and thought we would give it a go. Here is how our cruise turned out which was not what we had hoped for.

Transfers and check in

The transfer was a shambles at Lisbon airport with the ground agent failing to gather people and luggage together in the correct place for the transfer. They didn’t seem to have enough staff to cope. It was made worse this time as smaller mini buses were being used so we had to be split up into smaller groups. The port check in went smoothly but on boarding the ship the security staff couldn’t see our photo on the suite key so we had to make another trip to reception to have them taken again. Then we discovered that one of the cards wouldn’t open the suite door so back to reception again. Meanwhile we were supposed to watch the safety video on our tv and attend a presentation at our muster station. This all proved a bit difficult as Silversea had switched us onto later flights which meant it was almost 17.00 before we boarded the ship.

The Suite and the butler/suite attendant

I am not a fan of the butler concept on Silversea and much prefer to have room service and room stewards with a clear responsibility for each. The mid afternoon Room Service team delay requests until 16.00 when the Butlers come on duty. Room service will only deliver glasses of champagne but your butler can bring a bottle so if your butler is off duty or doesn’t anticipate your needs 1 glass with a cling film lid is all you will get.

Our Butler was a nice chap but showed no initiative in providing us with things to make our cruise special. He was slow to respond to requests and had to be left notes to remind him to top up our fridge. The empty bottles/cans were removed but not replaced. Speaking to other passengers on board it seems ours was not the only disappointing butler but some others had excellent service. Our butler rang our doorbell when we were getting ready for bed one night and the "do not disturb" sign was on the door! I put my shoes in the shoe bag for cleaning but it was never picked up.

We had no fruit in the room until we asked for some which is presumably another cost cutting measure. 

The veranda cabins (lets face it they are not Suites) have limited and badly designed storage space. I’m glad we didn’t have lots of thicker clothes for a colder climate cruise. A lot of the coat hanger space is front to back and very narrow so you have to lift all the front hangers off to get to something at the back. They have also cut the corner off the wardrobe so it is hardly a walk-in wardrobe anymore. 

The balcony door handle was very difficult to open/close and after 2 technician visits still no better. The door lock opened with a loud clunk so I apologise to our neighbours for the mornings I opened our door at 06.30 to get some fresh air into our cabin. Our butler said all the doors had the same problem. The door also caused an aircon malfunction one day as the door apparently didn’t close properly which was confirmed by another technician visit.

The sink in the bathroom has 2 taps but all one sink with one waste outlet. I am not sure how you are supposed to share this sink with the same water? The sink also has a sloping base so the only deep water is at the back. The sink corners are all 90 degrees so difficult to clean I guess?

There is a good size shower with a seat which is handy to store the shampoo etc but no tub in our basic suite. The was a handy bin under the sink for used towels instead of placing them in the tub. 

The safe is in a drawer but not really big enough. It will take a standard 15 inch laptop but you will struggle with tablets, jewellery, passports and all the other stuff you have to look after on holiday. 

The balcony furniture was not very comfortable and the seats do not recline. There are no cushions so we had to obtain some towels from the pool deck to sit on and cover the salt spray.

We heard noise from theatre (directly below our cabin) occasionally in our suite during the afternoon rehearsals and later in the evenings so we had to resort to wearing earplugs.  Most shows started at 22.00 which is too late for us. 

The shelves in the room with a lip are not high enough to accommodate a normal shaped bottle so if it’s rough on the transatlantic crossing it may be a problem. No wine glasses or stirrers are provided. 

The Vero bottled water does not agree with us but our butler couldn’t get anything else. After a visit to the Hotel Director our butler managed to get us tetra pack water but we had to keep reminding him to bring more. In the MDR our waiter brought us glass bottles of Evian but apparently, we can’t have this anywhere else? 

The door bells from adjacent cabins are loud enough to wake you in your cabin.

Suite entrance doors are stiff to close so consequently they get slammed.

There is no clock in the cabin but the time is on the TV

We had strong vibration from the bow thrusters on several occasions and everything in the cabin shook and rattled. You could feel the vibration through the soles of your feet.

I picked up a cough after about 7 days on board which disturbed my sleep and my wife’s a lot so we felt pretty washed out. My wife then picked up a cough too so more disturbed sleep. On a sea day we went back to our cabin mid-morning for a nap but we discovered that the pillow covers, duvet cover, and bed sheet were all wet! I spoke to the cabin steward and he told me he sprayed the bedding with water so that he could get it nice and smooth! I pulled the bed apart and discovered the duvet was really wet as were the pillows and mattress topper so i had all these replaced. It is a pity that we didn’t realise the problem earlier as the consequential health issues had a big impact on our holiday. 

With the revised itinerary the last 2 ports of call were the only ports we hadn’t visited before but we stayed on the ship not feeling well enough to venture ashore. We self-tested for covid just to make sure but tests were clear. I took the issue up with the head of housekeeping via reception to possibly stop others having the same problem but no senior staff visited us to check on the problem.

Food

The food was generally good but some portions are very small so you are never sure if you need to order extra sides. The menus didn’t seem to change much in 14 days so we got a bit bored with them. We were not impressed with the chefs table or the grill menu. The biggest disappointment was the steaks as they were quite tasteless. We felt the food was better at breakfast and lunch and tended to eat more then than at dinner.

The included wine was very acceptable throughout the cruise and the offered wine tended to reflect the region we were sailing in. Not a great choice of beer.

The grill was ok for a change at lunchtime (and very popular) but it has a limited menu for dinner. I found the burger tasteless. It had a big patty and was well cooked but seems to be poor quality meat

We had a reservation for La dame but we cancelled as we didn’t like menu. I suspect others cancelled too as lots of staff we redeployed into Atlantide when it got busy. 

Some of fish in MDR was tasty enough but seems very watery? Has it been defrosted properly before cooking? Watch out for the curry! Normally on a ship I ask for a little more spice but on Nova I needed more wine to cool my mouth.

The kitchen in Atlantide doesn’t seem to cope well when it gets busy. If there is a short event at 19.00 this bunches people up for dinner and the MDR is not big enough or full width. We saw queues forming to get a table on quite a few nights as early as 19.30 

There are no table numbers on the tables in restaurants so waiters get orders mixed up especially in La Terrazza. 

The Marquee kitchen is too small for the number of tables and can’t cope when shore excursions come back en mass.

We tried room service for dinner one night but all the food was cold and served on cold plates. Our butler told us we couldn’t have hot plates as it was a Health and Safety issue? Hot plates were available in La Terazza and used extensively in the MDR so maybe our butler had sensitive hands? Room service breakfasts were a lottery as to what would turn up. Over 50% of our order one morning was missing or wrong.

Ship design (a passenger’s view)

The Arts cafe doesn’t have an outside area and not a great selection of food limited I suspect by the size of the bar area. The windows look out onto the tender boats. It is too small to cope with the people who want to use it.

La Terazza has a nice outdoor area with lots of shade so we ate most of our breakfasts and lunches there when a table was available.

The buffet area of la Terraza is not well laid out and it is very crowded when all the shore excursions arrive back at once. It lacks a natural flow and people come at it from both sides meeting in the middle.

Smokers are a problem at the dusk bar as the smoke blows across the deck and people using the walking track have to pass through the smoking area.

The ship has lots of public space and lots of seating areas with the vast majority outside. They have nice cushions but if it rains, they don’t remove the cushions so you need to wait for them to dry.

It is difficult to find a time when the self-serve launderettes machines are free. Not many people on board get complimentary laundry I guess so self-serve launderettes are popular. People queue up from 07.00 to get in.

The Observation lounge lacks the atmosphere it has when it has a bar. You can get drinks served in there from the Salt bar but the waiters don’t patrol it. This area is used extensively for card games and painting classes etc

There is so much glass around the railings on decks 10&11 that an army of staff spend much of their time cleaning it especially after rain.

Only 1 hot tub up on deck 11 but it hasn’t got a shade so always in the sun.

Lots of wasted space on deck 4 and 5 corridors towards aft.

Elevators work well with touchscreen for each floor. Very little waiting time.

The Marquee is 80% unusable after early morning rain so pressure is put on la Terrazza. The Cushions on the chairs are supposed to be waterproof but are still too damp to use even after the floor has been mopped up. It really needs a retractable roof.

When we were sitting in Dolce Vita listening to the pianist, he was partially drowned out at times by the violinist playing in the Shelter as the sound caries up the open space between decks 3, 4 and 5 

Other issues

The hygiene of passengers entering the restaurants was a cause for concern. The hand sanitisers are difficult to find as they don’t have a sign advising what the metal box in the wall is for. The excellent fully automatic soap, water, and paper towels handwash sink in the entrance to La Teraazza was seldom used and most passengers walked past us as we used it. The buffet food is well protected from passengers breathing on it but the weak link is still the spoons and tongs used by all passengers to help themselves. The crew understandably did not urge passengers to use the provided facilities as they did when we were on Spirit in 2021. Maybe the utensils need to be cleaned on a more regular basis.

Organised Group events such as passengers from the same country (new markets for Silversea I think) and trivia absorb all the wait staff resources in the panorama bar so good luck getting a drink in there when these events are taking place usually when the only other bar open is the pool bar.

The ships laundry turnaround time is good but some items were shrunk and pressing is not the best unless our butler managed to screw my shirts up when delivering. He carried all the clothes and did not have a trolley. He also brought us some of another suite’s laundry one day.

It emerged in conversations that some individuals had been invited for a bridge visit but this wasn’t advertised to all. Likewise, a small group had an informal meeting with a senior engineer to find out a bit more about Novas innovative technology again not open to all.

Senior staff not happy about their accommodation on Nova and applying to transfer to other ships. Small rooms and no windows.

One WiFi login per person is a pain. Most people have at least 2 devices.

The Arts Café only has flimsy paper cups for takeaway coffee and no carriers. Make sure to take your own re-useable cups and carrier if you have them and like to take coffee to your room.

The Dress code is a joke as jeans, t shirts and shorts with trainers were in evidence in the evening dining venues (not sure about La Dame and Kaiseki)

The shore excursions were very well organised and when a bus reached its scheduled capacity it left. Unlike another 6* line there was no waiting in the theatre to leave. Arrive 10 mins ashore before the scheduled departure time and off we go. Most buses had mid 20s on board and only once did we exceed 30 passengers.

Transfer to the airport

The transfer to the airport went very well. Check in at Lisbon airport was as usual a slow process and we waited in line for over an hour to drop our bags (business class). Then we waited in line for 15/20 mins to gain access to the ANA lounge as it was overcrowded. 

Conclusion

The itinerary for this cruise changed totally after we booked it. In the end we decided to go ahead with the new itinerary as we found shore excursions visiting places we hadn’t been before. 

The cruise was disappointing and not value for money. The “all Inclusive” ship has 3 speciality restaurants which are not included, no included laundry, and we had issues with the butler that shouldn’t happen. Sleeping in damp bedding did not make for an enjoyable cruise either.

Having cruised 3 times this year (June Seabourn, July Regent) we are able to make a comparison of the three cruise lines and Silversea (and in particular Nova ship) fall way behind the other 2 in quite a few respects.

Not the cruise we had hoped for

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