Silversea Cruise on Silverspirit
I had cruised with Silversea before, and this was my second time on Silver Spirit which is their newest and largest ship carrying 540 passengers. I was slightly concerned that it may have been too large but the space ratio per passenger is the highest on any cruise ship and as we wandered around the ship, after a lovely lunch at the Pool Grill, I knew we were going to be fine.
Our suite was stunning with plenty of space, a private teak veranda, two flat screen TV’s (built into the mirrors so you couldn’t see them unless they were on) and a beautiful marble bathroom with full size bath and a walk in shower – bliss! And if all that was not enough, we had Paul – our very own butler who would pack/unpack if you wanted, clean your luggage and shoes, run you a bath or book your restaurant for dinner, I really don’t think there was anything he wouldn’t do!
Talking of restaurants, on board the Silver Spirit you have a great choice for dining – there is of course the main restaurant which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With open seating you can just dine whenever and with whoever you please. La Terrazza has authentic Italian cuisine and here you can eat inside or outside and an al fresco table for two soon became our favourite spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also enjoyed the Black Rock dining under the stars, where you could cook your own fresh seafood and prime meats on a heated volcanic rock plate – perfect! Completely different was Stars Supper Club, a small plate selection (like tapas) from around the globe accompanied by live jazz and a cabaret singer – certainly on board Silver Spirit you would never get bored of the dining choices.
Waking that first morning after a great night’s sleep, perfect black out curtains and not a sound to be heard all night, we stepped out onto our balcony to see that we had arrived in Nauplia, Greece. As we were here all day, we decided to spend the morning by the pool, which we had to ourselves as almost everyone else had gone on shore and then after a leisurely lunch we decided to wander ashore ourselves. Nauplia was a pretty port with lots of interesting back streets with interesting shops all looking very tempting. We stopped for a drink in a square, where the bars spritzed a light mist of iced air to cool you down – I thought at first Paul the butler must have followed us, but no it was just an ingenious idea!
The ports of call just seemed to keep getting better, one of the advantages of being on a smaller ship is that they can get into the smaller, prettier and more interesting ports and at most of them you can just get off and wander about which is perfect. We visited Corfu, Greece, Kotor, Montenegro, Zadar, Croatia and finishing in Venice. My favourite (although it was a difficult decision) was Kotor and from there we did a Silversea excursion by speedboat to the Blue Caves, a natural phenomenon offering you the opportunity to swim in crystal clear water , stunning and then to the beach where we were provided with a cold beer!
The most romantic thing for me was sailing into Venice for our final port of call. We woke in the morning and saw the amazing view from our balcony and raced to the observation lounge. There we grabbed a coffee and pastry and went up on the top deck and took in the view, it was just amazing and something I will never forget!
From the fabulous shows and the great fun we had in the Casino and the BBQ by the pool to dancing at the disco to DJ Rocco, it was fantastic. The 24 hour room service – breakfast on your own balcony was just lovely – and standing at the back of the ship watching the wake and the horizon makes me smile just thinking of it!
