Amanda PhillipsFrancesca Barone is one of our Brilliant Travel Homeworkers who specialises in cruise and luxury holidays. She was recently invited on board the Silver Muse, the newest ship in the SilverSea fleet. Here’s her blog on the ammenities found on board.
Recently I was one of the fortunate few to receive an invitation onto one of Muse’s ‘shakedown’ voyages. Mine commenced on the 5th April – just 3 days after she had left the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa and we travelled just 539 nautical miles from Marseille via Tarragona to Barcelona.
Silver Muse is now the largest of their nine strong fleet. She accommodates just 596 guests and has 411 crew who comprise more than 40 nationalities amongst them. Her tonnage is 40,700 which means the space ratio is very generous.
Dining on Board
The first thing you need to note on Silver Muse is that they have done away with the main open seating dining room that can be found on all their other ships. Saying that, Silver Muse boasts a fantastic selection of dining options.
On Deck 4 there are a selection of four different dining options – La Dame (the Relais and Chateaux dining experience – US$60 pp cover charge); Kabuki (theatrical ‘performance’ of teppanyaki cuisine – US$60 pp cover charge); Atlantide (surf and turf style) and Indochine (Asian fusion).
Moving up to Deck 7 you have Silver Note (on Spirit this is called Stars Supper Club), offering Tapas style tasting menu in a great environment replicating iconic jazz clubs (‘food-ter-tainment’). Also on this deck you have La Terrazza that offers the more casual breakfast and lunch dining option with ample indoor and outdoor seating areas. In the evenings La Terrazza offers up what Silversea considers to be the finest Italian dining venue afloat in what has become their signature Italian restaurant.
For al-fresco dining options you have the Pool Grill menu available to you on Deck 9. In the evenings you can experience Hot Rocks dining. One deck up, on 10, you have the Spaccanapoli (previously named Regina Margherita) pizzeria. I can personally vouch for the fact this was a FAB menu and hors d’oeuvres that came with our drinks included some of THE most delicious cherry tomatoes I have ever had (my pizza was also amazing). The menu boasted use of a 26 year old aged parmigiano.
Another new characteristic to be found on Silver Muse, is the Arts Cafe, aft on Deck 8. A lovely colourful area with interesting pieces of artwork and some lovely seating (both inside and out). A place you can come and sit quietly to read, chat, meet friends. Have a coffee or a snack of some description (depending on the time of day). You can also have your chosen drink as a take out if you wish. I really loved the outdoor seating area in this part of the ship – a selection of lovely comfy chairs.
If you prefer a silver-service (a la carte) breakfast, you can do this in Atlantide on Deck 4. And of course if you prefer to dine / snack / drink in privacy there’s always All Round Dining (24 hour room service).
Suites on Board
Like most Silverseas vessels, accommodation on-board the Muse was primarily balcony suites – Classic, Superior and Deluxe Verandas all at 387 square feet (slightly larger than Spirit though the balcony is 1 square foot smaller). My friend and I were allocated a Deluxe Veranda midships on Deck 8 # 856, so we had a pretty perfect location for our short two nights on board.
Being rather kept on the ‘down low’ are the 6 Vista suites on Deck 4. Three of them are accessible suites. One of these also offers a convertible sofa (so three berth). Each of them also interconnects with another Vista Suite. The thinking behind the layout of these suites is that they’d be suited, say, to guests who need an accessible suite and perhaps, their carer (thus interconnecting). Price of these will be on request basis.
There are a small amount of interconnecting balcony suites aside from the ones mentioned above and 24 suites offering convertible sofa-beds (therefore a third berth) spread across the Classic, Superior and Deluxe categories. ALL Silver Suites have a convertible sofa bed.
The suite furnishings were in keeping with the Silversea ethos of neutral and earthy colours – sticking with the understated luxury that’s been their chosen design palette since the outset. Amenities that come as standard include Pratesi bed linens, Rubelli fabrics, Bvlgari amenities (other options available), pillow menus, your own personal butler & complimentary WIFI.
In Summary
As with anything else in life, there will be people who love Silver Muse and those who don’t ‘take’ to her. For new to cruise guests and/or new to Silversea guests I think she will rate very highly.
The most wonderful thing to bear in mind is that Silver Muse is opening up a slightly different concept of the way the Silversea ships operate/are designed and as such they are providing a more diverse selection of cruising-styles within their expanding fleet. What wonderful choices to have and great decisions to make – which is (or will be) your favourite Silversea ship?