Where do you go after you’ve sold your personal yacht? For one couple aboard Silver Muse who have sailed around the world on their own luxury plaything, Silversea Cruises’ new ship became a perfect alternative.
They were among the many well-travelled guests who by the end of this cruise had already planned to muster out on future cruises of Muse, or her Silversea fleet mates that are getting renovated in a program to add the luxury finishes, advanced technology and multiple restaurant options that Muse introduced.
Even our itinerary is innovative on this cruise: from Japan to Siberia and across the North Pacific to Alaska. Here’s a look at why Muse is a game changer:
1) It’s a suite life
There’s more space than you’ll find on any other cruise line in every category of the all-suite Silver Muse. Our Deluxe Veranda Suite, like the majority of accommodations on the ship, features 323 square feet of inside space as well as a generous 64 square feet of balcony space. There are 34 even larger Silver Suites that measure 786 square feet and several even-larger categories that measure well over 1,100 square feet.
The suites feature marble-lined bathrooms and all but six feature a full-sized tub in addition to a large shower enclosure. That ability to stretch out for a bath is rare on cruise ships, but there’s no need to cut corners when you have so much space to work with. There’s an ample walk-in closet with built-in drawers and the bedroom area can be divided by curtains from the living room.
Wood and marble and rich carpets predominate in the design of every space on the ship making it all feel very residential. Guests in the Owner, Grand and Royal Suites get oversized beds custom crafted for Silversea by Savoir of England. But all the beds on the ship feature cloud-like mattresses and there’s a daunting choice of optional pillows. Did I mention the toiletries are from Bulgari?
2) Where’d the TV go?
Silver Muse features the latest in technology trends and the most notable advance is that televisions have become virtual. A remote control turns mirrored walls in the bedroom and living area into large screen displays with a complex menu of choices, from shipboard activities, to television, to a library of movies and entire seasons of TV series.
Satellite systems on the ship kept us connected live with news and sports from around the world. We were able to connect on internet most of the time, even near the top of the world in the North Pacific. Such a remote itinerary is maybe not a fair test of internet speed, the surfing was a bit on the slow side for the standard unlimited plan that cost $200 for our two-week cruise, but it was fast enough for my needs.
Anything streaming is strictly off limits and I chose not to pay an additional $300 for a premium package that offered more speed. Only one device is covered in the internet plans, but an extra $30 lets you connect your cell phone and other personal devices along with your computer to the Wi-Fi.
Among nifty tech features on the Muse are computer pads the wait staff use to place orders with the kitchen. And everyone is issued a RFID-equipped room key card on arrival that makes opening the suite door or checking off the ship or back on from shore excursions a matter of a simple tap. 
Sake and a show at the grill in Kaiseki –Photo by Wallace Immen
3) Eight dining choices
There’s no main dining room on Silver Muse and most of the eight themed restaurants don’t require reservations to dine any night you choose. We’ll give them taste tests in another story, but the innovative highlights include:
Atlantide, a stylish cross between a steakhouse and French bistro.; La Terrazza, an evening transformation of the breakfast and lunch venue into an Italian restaurant; Indochine, a large pan-Asian restaurant; Hot Rocks, a deck grill where the prime cuts and seafood sizzle on superheated stones at the tables; and Spanccanapoli, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria and gelato bar with a great menu of wines and beers.
There are also three intimate venues for special evenings where planning ahead is required:
La Dame, for classic French fare; Kaiseki for a classical Japanese Teppan grill evening with free-flowing sake, and Silver Note, an intimate supper club with nightly entertainment.
4) Scads of public space
Successful venues on Muse that are scheduled to show up across Silversea’s fleet include the Arts Café, a bistro bar with a variety of comfortable lounge chairs and a range of snacks that changes through the day. Coffee and pastries start the day, followed by sandwiches and cakes through the afternoon and then cocktails and canapes and desserts during evening hours.
Elsewhere, you’ve never seen a lobby lounge larger than Dolce Vita, a mid-ship zone filled with cozy seating for activities. Then there’s Panorama Lounge which is an observation lounge which traditionally faces forward but on Muse has a view from the stern of the ship.
A quieter and smaller forward-view lounge on Muse is known as Tor’s Library—named for Torstein Hagen, the founder of Viking Cruises, who is also a long-time friend of Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, the CEO of Silversea Cruises. And I’d almost believe it really is Tor’s personal library. It’s stocked with an entire wall of books dedicated to Viking lore and Norway.
There are also great views from the Zagara Beauty Spa & Fitness Centre featuring a range of high-tech fitness equipment.
The attractions of Muse have inspired a program called Project Invictus to add these game-changing features onto all of Silversea’s ships. Next up is Silversea’s all-suite, 388-guest Silver Shadow, which gets its refurbishment in November, 2019.
Silver Muse is also about to get identical sisters: Silver Moon arriving in 2020 and Silver Dawn in 2021, that will take their cues from the features on Muse.
5) Staff, plenty of staff
Silversea has always had one of the highest ratios of crew to guests of any cruise line, at about two crew for every three guests. Most suites have their own dedicated butler service.
One of the amusing, but always very welcome, things about a Silversea cruise is the unctuous attention to the needs of guests. My wife and I have always marvelled at what we nicknamed the Plate Police, staff who instantly offer to carry your plate to the table when you’ve filled your plate with goodies from the buffet at lunch. As soon as you’re seated the water and wine flow freely and if you have a preference for a different wine than the one they’re pouring, they’ll be happy to try to locate a bottle for you.
That personal attention is important because with more public rooms, dining venues and amenities, the level of personal attention could be affected. But personal service remains a key element everywhere.
Bonus: These ships really get around
Our current cruise is a very adventurous itinerary across the roof of the Pacific including ports that seldom show up on cruise itineraries: Aomori in Japan, Petropavlovsk in Siberia, Unalaska and Kodiak in Alaska.
With nine ships, Silversea has reached the scale where its fleet can literally span the world, and the coming itineraries are fascinating. Many include exotic ports few other ships ever reach and most can be combined back to back without repeating ports.
Two of the ships are specially built for expeditions. A notable upcoming Expedition World Cruise 2021 on Silver Cloud is being promoted as the Uncharted World Tour, visiting 107 different destinations from Antarctica to the North Cape and sailing a total of 39,000 nautical miles. Two of the couples I met on the Silver Muse cruise said they’ve already signed on for that trip in 2021.
Silversea’s reward program called the Venetian Society offers incentives to past guests to return again and again. Another couple on this cruise decided to book the owner’s suite for the 150-day 2021 World Cruise aboard Silver Whisper.
Nice, but I’d be content seeing the world while settled into a Silversea veranda suite. As satisfying as it may to chart your own course around the world on your own yacht, it’s a whole lot more fun to do it on a ship as spacious, stylish and service-oriented as Silver Muse.
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