Next year, Silversea will take delivery of its first brand-new, purpose-built luxury cruise ship in seven years: the 596-guest Silversea Silver Muse. Not only is she the newest ship in the Silversea fleet, she’s also the largest, carrying an additional 56 guests over her near-sister,Silver Spirit.
Silversea’s Silver Muse is moving ever closer to her April 2017 debut. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
Since we visited her at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Genoa, Italy back in December, Silver Muse has come a long way. Ten days before Christmas, we stood in front of the drydock for the traditional keel-laying ceremony. The ship that was to become Silver Muse hadn’t really taken shape yet; little more than a few blocks of the lower portion of her hull existed.
Eight months later, that’s all changed. On July 1, Silver Muse was officially floated out, her hull meeting the water that she will sail for the first time ever. Next, she’ll undergo her final fitting-out and sea trials before entering service next April.
Don’t be fooled by her exterior appearance: this is no Silver Spirit 2.0. While many of the Silversea features you know and love are returning to Silver Muse in a new and updated form, there are plenty of new features as well – including larger suites, more top-of-the-line suites, and an entirely new dining concept for the line.
Here’s what we’re excited about:
Revitalized Dining
Say goodbye to the main dining room: Silver Muse is pioneering a new, more intimate style of restaurant. Shown here is Atlantide, one of two new venues on Deck 4. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
The Restaurant, Silversea’s main dining venue aboard all of its ships, won’t be returning toSilver Muse – and we’re not sad to see it go. Why? Aboard nearly all of the vessel’s ships, the main dining room – while gorgeous – was never full. On Silver Spirit in particular, with its myriad of alternative dining options, the main dining room frequently feels empty, particularly on port-intensive days when guests are dining at odd times.
Silver Muse rectifies that by taking the space formerly occupied by The Restaurant and splitting it into two distinct dining venues – each of which will have their own built-in bar to allow guests to mingle over pre-dinner cocktails.
The two new venues – Indochine and Atlantide – will feature entirely unique culinary creations. Atlantide will, as the name suggests, feature a bevvy of seafood like royal crab, blue lobster and Verbena infused red snapper in a sea salt crust alongside more traditional steaks. Indochine, on the other hand, will unlock the flavours of Asia, from India to Vietnam.
The restyled Kabuki could be thought of as Seishin 2.0. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
Also returning to Silver Muse -but renamed – are La Dame by Relais & Chateaux, perhaps better known as Le Champagne, Silversea’s pinnacle dining experience that boasts dishes like Gold Leaf Risotto, Lobster Bisque, and exquisite cuts of meat and fish. Kabuki is the new iteration of Seishin, the Japanese-inspired restaurant introduced aboard Silver Spiritback in 2009. Another Silver Spirit innovation returning (but renamed) aboard Silver Muse isSilver Note, which takes the place of Stars Supper Club but which will still offer live jazz music paired with a set evening tasting menu that can be paired with hand-crafted cocktails or fine wines.
Past guest favorites La Terrazza, Hot Rocks, and the Pool Grill all return to Silver Muse. Frankly, we’re happy about that – all three are some of our favorite dining experiences aboard the Silversea fleet. Hot Rocks, introduced aboard Silver Sprit, was so popular with Silversea’s guests that the line retrofitted its four other classic luxury cruise ships (and its three luxury expedition ships) with it.
A Bigger Library & Connoisseur’s Club – and No Casino
A bigger Connoisseur’s Club – this time, with windows – sits adjacent to an expanded Library aboard Silver Muse. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
Say goodbye to the Casino. Always the saddest place aboard a Silversea ship (frankly, on all of our sailings, we’ve seen it heavily used just once), the Casino is bowing out onboardSilver Muse. In its place: a substantially larger Library and a much larger, adjacent, Connoisseur’s Club. The Connoisseur’s Club aboard Silver Spirit is a wonderful room – and no one is ever there, owing to its location adjacent to the ship’s shops and casino. Including the Library next door, along with a card room and a much-smaller onboard shop, should help bring more guests to this wonderful den of late-night cognacs and conversation.
A Restyled Theatre
The reworked main theatre venue, L’Opera. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
Silver Muse is also debuting a restyled theatre. Known as L’Opera, this new performance space looks to be a substantial improvement over the same space (known simply as “The Theatre”) aboard Silver Spirit. Gone are the clunky partitioned seats and crimson décor, replaced instead with lighter earth and sea tones and more intimately-styled seating options. The tables are a particularly nice option; it was always tricky to cradle a drink and watch the show at the same time aboard Silver Spirit – though we do get wistful for the gorgeous, two-story show lounges found aboard the line’s Silver Cloud, Silver Wind, Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper.
The Observation Lounge
The Observation Lounge returns aboard Silver Muse, looking better than ever. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
One of Silver Spirit’s most tucked-away spaces, this area on Deck 11 returns aboard Silver Muse. Why are we so excited about this? Because forward-facing observation lounges are being overlooked on a whole host of new luxury ships, and we’re happy that Silversea still offers this great spot overlooking the ship’s bow.
Silver Suites – And More of Them
Silver Muse will feature more Silver Suites than Silver Spirit, along with connecting suites that open up to an adjacent Veranda Suite. Rendering courtesy of Silversea.
There was only one problem with Silver Spirit’s massive Silver Suites: there simply wasn’t enough of them. Aboard Silver Muse, that’s all changed: with 786 square feet of living space and massively-oversized verandas, these spacious suites now make up the majority of accommodations on Decks 10 and 11, with additional Silver Suites on Deck 9. And, for the first time, two of these Silver Suites (936 and 937) will be available with a connecting Veranda Stateroom that will bump the square footage up to 1119 square feet. These connecting suites are ideal for families travelling together, with a total occupancy of up to five guests. Standard Silver Suites can sleep three.
Silver Muse makes her debut next April, with an eight-day debut voyage from Monte Carlo on April 10, 2017, followed by her official Maiden Voyage on April 19, 2017.
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