Okapit

Hi Les - did you create a walk-through of Spirit you can share? Thank you!

How were the excursions on your voyage?

Les - thank you! I'm sure many others will be excited to see the video of refreshed Spirit!

Okapit.... I will post a walk through video for the Spirit similar to those done I've done for the Wind, Cloud and Muse.... And will also shortly post a new one for Cloud Explorer in the next week or so.

Spirit is back in service. Why are there no new reveal videos? Or even passenger created videos of the first sailings? All that's on the net are the new section insert videos. I'd like to see the public spaces post refurb.

I noticed that Silver Sea recently updated the deck plans to reflect the after refurb layout. It is a lot like the Muse in terms of restaurants and Arts Cafe, etc. Silver Note is different in that they serve food from their own menu. It's kind of like Tapas or small bites. Seishen was empty at lunch and there was no adder to eat there. If you like sushi you will love it. Most of the restaurants do seem to require reservations. Some are more popular than others. I recommend you making reservations as soon as you are able under mysilversea.com profile. You can always change or cancel. I wouldn't be too uptight about getting in the restaurants as other guests make changes too and things have a way of working out acceptably. Regarding dress code, at a minimum, I suggest you bring at least one blazer and even a tie if you don' want to feel uncomfortable on formal nights. As a cruiser who likes the pageantry of one or two formal nights I have to say it is irksome to see casual dress fans eating in the venues that are supposed to be formal for that particular evening. You can always eat at one of the more casual restaurants if dressing for dinner is not your thing or you can order room service and eat on your balcony. That can be quite fun.

Here is a reply from our SS cruise consultant about dress code on the Muse and reservations that may be helpful. My opinion is: there are so many cruise line choices today. If you don't like or refuse to dress for formal nights then maybe you should consider an alternate line to Silversea. We enjoy the two formal nights on Silversea and expect passengers to abide by the dress code. If bringing a tux is too much trouble you probably should find an alternate cruise line. Don't spoil it for those of us who like the idea of formal dress on a couple of nights. And for those of you wondering....country club casual is not cut-off blue jean shorts and a wife beater tank top. Thank you.

1. Clothing aboard the ship

Shipboard attire ranges from casual to formal. Casual resort wear is appropriate for daytime aboard ship or ashore. Recommended evening attire, see below:

Formal Women: Evening gowns, Cocktail dresses

Formal Men: Tuxedos, Dinner Jackets, Dark Suits (tie required)

Informal Women: Dresses, Pantsuits

Informal Men: Jackets (tie optional)

Casual Women: Pants, Blouses, Skirts, Casual Dresses (no jeans)

Casual Men: Open Neck Shirts, Slacks (no jeans)

Exceptions below (important for guests not wishing to dress in formal attire):

. On formal nights, guests may dine in La Terrazza and choose to dress informally; dresses or pantsuits for ladies, jackets for gentlemen (tie optional).

. This option also applies to Seishin and Stars on board Silver Spirit, and Spaccanapoli and Silver Notes on Silver Muse.

. Dining at The Grill is optional casual all nights.

Following dinner, all guests are free to take advantage of any or all public spaces, however, a jacket for the gentlemen is required.

12 nights onboard:

2 formal

6 informal

4 casual

2. Reservations are required for Kaiseki, La Dame, Atlantide and Silver Note.

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For the rest of the venues reservations are recommended, not required and will have open seating.

On both of our SS cruises, we found a wide range of ages and as earlier noted even the more senior passengers are very active. I also agree that the general attitude of SS passengers is gracious. Maybe we have been lucky but SS loyalists seem to understand that on a smaller ship you need to show some grace because you will very likely be unable to avoid anyone with whom you have a disagreement. I also like that there were no small children on either of our voyages. I love kids but we did an Oceana that had a large contingency of young children and they were not looked after by their parents. It was a big intrusion on our enjoyment.

I can only compare SS to Oceania (taken 2 SS and 1 Oceania). The biggest reason I prefer SS is the all-inclusive set-up. It makes for a much more relaxing voyage. If you meet fun people on the cruise (and you will) when everyone meets up for say a drink there is the awkward moment when the bill comes on Oceania unless you specify to the bartender when ordering whose drinks you are covering. While Oceania may appear cheaper when comparing rates with SS, by the time you add in all of the extras at disembarkation on Oceania, it's about the same. I found the class of passengers on the SS to be diverse and more interesting and dare I say wealthier. We stayed in a Penthouse suite on Oceania which was slightly larger than the SS verandah but very close in dimensions and trim. The decor on the SS ships is understated compared to a lot of larger ships that feature a lot of glam and sparkle. The Oceania was very traditional and actually I liked it better in some ways than the generic finishes on SS. But I am anticipating the Muse to be a whole new level of style from SS. I'll know in July! I have to say the food was slightly better on Oceania not that SS food is not good but seasoning-wise Oceania was slightly better. SS passengers on our two cruises complied with the dress code more faithfully than on the Oceania. The crew on SS is outstanding generally speaking. We even saw some of the same people and they remembered us. Also, we have an outstanding SS rep we deal with who has great attention to detail and makes thoughtful suggestions whenever we are considering another trip. To sum it up, SS in my view lives up to their brand promises. I hope you have a great sailing and that your experiences with SS are as good if not better than mine.

Will there be any sea trials video or other sneak peek from SS before April? I am booked in late summer and would love to see any pics or videos about latest status of the Muse. If any marketing folks working at silversea are reading this post: give us some updates please! :)

OK one more...this pic was taken two days ago!

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2613534

Lois - I think you will have a great time on Silversea as a solo traveler. The passengers I have met on 2 different SS cruises were all exceptionally friendly and welcoming. You'll meet people from all over the world and a lot of them are seasoned SS devotees. On some SS voyages there are gentlemen hosts who will dance with solo female travelers or act as a dining companion if you wish. We met a very nice gentleman on one of our cruises who was traveling in this capacity and he was very charming and fun to be around. The voyages with this service have a bow tie next to the itinerary on the main web page of sailings by ship. Good luck!

Will there be any sea trials video or other sneak peek from SS before April? I am booked in late summer and would love to see any pics or videos about latest status of the Muse. If any marketing folks working at silversea are reading this post: give us some updates please! :)

Scroll down this string to see an aft view but the link here supposedly is of the Muse. It definitely is a SS ship per the logo on the stack. There is an odd vertical solid section that runs up all the decks that does match what is in the rendering on SS.com. I was wondering what this structure was. Maybe add'l reinforcement?

http://www.themeditelegraph.com/en/shipping/cruise-and-ferries/2015/07/01/fincantieri-build-silver-muse-for-silversea-cruises-mfEcGkjhe6tUfwfiGNHgCM/index.html

Well here is a link to an aft view of Muse actually in the water. So it really does exist and is painted!

http://www.cruisereiziger.nl/2016/07/18/silver-muse-uitgedokt-uit-bouwhal-fincantieri-in-genua/

Terry in Ohio: your comments are always very helpful and constructive. Thanks!

If you login to "mysilversea.com" and go to dining reservation selection it appears to give you an hourly choice of reservation slots. My cruise is too early to know if this works but I don't see why it wouldn't. Also, your butler can assist with reservations after you are on board unless you have very specific plans for dining each night.

We have used Silversea for flights including biz class upgrades twice and had no problems. We are traveling in July on the Muse and already have made our biz class seat selection. Because it was so early, we had our pick of the cabin.

I'll take you up on the couple of glasses of wine but I'm interested in seeing a behind the scenes preview not seeing passenger reviews. I bet there are many others anticipating the Muse who would agree.

Will there be any sea trials video or other sneak peek from SS before April? I am booked in late summer and would love to see any pics or videos about latest status of the Muse. If any marketing folks working at silversea are reading this post: give us some updates please! :)