Atlantic Coast from Southampton, 20 September 2024 (14 nights)

Seven night cruise from Barcelona to Rome (April-May 2019). This was our first cruise with Silversea and we were very impressed. Our transfer from the airport was good and embarkation (and disembarkation) was well organised. Silversea are at the expensive end of the market but what you get for this is a modern, luxurious ship with relatively few guests that consequently feels very spacious and uncrowded. Most importantly, you get highly professional staff with an almost one-to-one staff to guest ratio. Our Veranda Suite cabin (770) was excellent, with a large bath and a separate, reasonably large shower, which was the perfect combination for us. There was also a walk-in wardrobe, a comfortable sitting area and a decent-sized veranda. We have had 'butlers' on other cruises but our Silversea butler was actually really useful. We ate at both open dining restaurants, Indochine and Atlantide, and particularly liked the former. We also dined at La Terraza (plus all breakfasts and most lunches) and alfresco at The Grill and Spaccanapoli; they were all different and were all very good. Our only additional costs were spa treatments (relatively expensive but excellent) and shore excursions. Like on most other cruises, excursions can be expensive but in all the ports we visited it was also easy to go ashore independently. Overall, no matter how good the cruise infrastructure is, and on Silversea it was very good, it's the staff who make you want to come back, and we did, and we will.

As usual the service is amazing and everyone caring and friendly. HOWEVER We did not like the new restaurants concept. The menus never changed and not all of the restaurants were our taste. The afternoon tea has been stopped and a cafe installed which is not big enough ie people not able to get a chair and certain foods are only available at certain times. Cakes and biscuits not available at all until about 4.0pm. There are a lot of bottles which are taken out to have boiling water poured onto for soup and lots of glass jars which no one seemed to have. That was so disappointing. The cabin was very noisy and it seemed that the cabins were not quite attached in the refit. Ours was extremely noisy, creaking and vibrating. To be fair, we were treated with respect and listened to and we were moved but there was no way I could sleep even with ear plugs. If you put this on cruise critic it would look bad and Silversea do not deserve a poor report when we think of all the other holidays we have had with them. We met 4 couples who have not travelled with them before and no one is coming back. I dont think I want to travel with Spirit again but who knows. Elaine

The services onboard ship were excellent as were the staff. They were extremely helpful including helping contact shore based services to resolve issues. Being in a suite at the front of the ship meant early morning disruption with the noise of side thrusters and especially with deployment of the anchors. However I suspect this was a ship wide problem just more pronounced at the front. The food quality and choices were very good and varied. The wines were also good but if not to personal taste an alternative was always available. The entertainment was probably the best we have experienced but the shows were for a fairly limited time starting at 10.00pm, perhaps slightly earlier would have been better for us but they have to allow for late diners. My wife has a garlic allergy, this was notified before departure and her meals, order the night before, were prepared without garlic with no fuss. Overall a great on board experience.

I recently spent a week sailing from Venice to Monte Carlo on the Silver Spirit. Our balcony suite had a full marble bathroom and was very spacious. Every suite has butler service and nothing is too much trouble for them. On arrival we were presented with a selection of bathroom amenties , we chose Bvlgari and a welcome bottle of champagne. For a special treat one evening we dined at Le Champagne by Relais & Chateaux , be sure to book early as there are only twelve covers and it gets booked up very quickly. It wasn't cheap but the six course tasting menu was superb. The ship was beautiful with stunning public rooms, one small criticism was the lack of pool deck space on sea days. It was quite crowded, however we managed to find a quiet spot towards the back of the ship. One of the deck attendants noticed us there and came round every 20 minutes or so to check if we needed anything — how's that for personal servic ! I would certainly recommend Silversea , it is true 6 star cruising.