Silver Spirit underwent a major refurbishment in May 2018 which involved the insertion of a whole new section of ship thus increasing capacity, as well as a general ‘musification’ of the entire internal areas to bring her in line with her younger sister, the Silver Muse. We joined her in December 2018 for a 10 day cruise around the Western Caribbean and Central America. Our suite for this voyage was suite number 712, a superior veranda suite located mid-forward on deck 7. Although the suite was located quite close to the front of the ship we never found this to be an issue with regard to either noise or movement of the ship. In fact this was one of the quietest ships we have ever sailed on and we loved the location of the suite, always only ever being a couple of flights of stairs away from any of the main public areas.

The recent refurbishment was clearly evident in the suite, which was beautifully appointed in lovely cream hues with contemporary fixtures and fittings. Upon entering the suite the large bathroom is just inside the door and boasts a separate bath and large shower unit. Already those little Silversea touches were evident with the addition of things like the beautiful array of Bulgari toiletries, make up wipes, and shower poufs, they really do remember everything for you!

Next to the bathroom is the large walk-in wardrobe which, along with the plentiful hanging space and separate drawer unit, houses a large safe and jewellery box, a sewing kit, laundry bag, shoe shining kit, clothes brush, umbrella, and two luxurious bathrobes and slippers. Also cleverly stowed away in the wardrobe is a handy table top which fits over the coffee sized table in the suite to make a table large enough for in-suite dining. Moving through to the bedroom area you won’t be able to avoid checking out your appearance. As well as a full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, there is another one in the corridor leading to the bedroom area and another even larger one at the foot of the bed. There really is no excuse to not look your best whilst on this ship! One of the most useful features of this suite is the abundance of sockets and charging points with one side of the bed boasting two USB charging points and the other two sockets. Both have an overhead light and reading light with a backlit switch for the main room lights. Another little Silversea addition which we loved was a little LED torch, handy for those middle of the night trips to the bathroom. 

Although Silver Spirit is a very quiet ship and we slept well reasonably well on our first night at sea, we did find the mattress a little too firm for our liking However, this was easily resolved with a quick call to our butler who arranged for a beautifully soft mattress topper to be placed on our mattress to make our nights more comfortable. And if you are particular over your pillow type, Silversea has an extensive pillow menu for you to choose from. We found the ones they had already placed on our bed to be perfect, as was the bedding which was the finest, most luxurious Italian bedlinen. All of this, combined with the nightly turn down and delicious pillow chocolates, meant we slept like babies for the rest of the voyage.

We have only ever had a butler once before when we sailed in Queens Grill on the Queen Victoria but in our experience this did not compare to the butler service on Silversea. Every suite on board has an allocated butler and they definitely make their presence known (unlike our experience with Cunard’s butlers) and will to do anything for you, nothing was too much trouble. Ours would let us into our room so we didn’t have to fumble for our key card, he would deliver our breakfast and any other room service orders we made, he would bring us caviar and champagne, he would polish our shoes and deliver our laundry, etc etc. Before sailing with Silversea we had heard how their guests love the butlers and will often chooses a cruise and a suite depending on their favourite butler being on board, and we can understand why, our fabulous butler really did make a positive difference to an already luxury experience.

The seating area of the suite was divided from the bedroom area with a curtain which, although we never used this, we could see how this would be useful if you were sharing your suite with children or had different retiring/rising times. One of my favourite things about this suite was the large vanity unit which, along with the huge mirror situated above it, ran the length of lounge area. This unit houses three large drawers, one of which has the very powerful hairdryer in it, and the mini fridge, which is always stocked with fresh water, beers, sodas and whatever else you request from your butler. Again there is an abundance of multi function sockets (European, American and British) and USB charging points. Another thoughtful addition was the large clock which could be seen from the bed so you always knew the time in the middle of the night. This also acted as a wireless phone charger and a bluetooth player, which we loved because it meant we could play our favourite Christmas tunes while we were getting ready for an evening on board.

The seating area comprised of a very conformable two seater sofa, a single armchair, two more drawer units and a large marble topped coffee table. The TV system on board the Silver Spirit is one of the best we’ve seen at sea.  It features plenty of on-demand movies, including new releases, classics and seasonal movies. Guests can also use the TV to access lots of other information, such as their room account, the ships position, voyage information, the daily chronicle, port lectures, restaurant opening hours and lots more. 

From the seating area and accessed via sliding patio doors is the large teak floored balcony featuring two reclining chairs and a small table. Throughout the suite the only slight disappointment we had was with with the balcony furniture, mostly the absence of some type of foot stool so one could recline whilst seated on the balcony. Also, we did feel that the size of the balcony table could have proven to be restrictive. The weather on our cruise was not really suitable for balcony dining so we didn’t have the chance to try this but it would be interesting to see how the butler manages to lay out your breakfast on this very tiny table! However, one of the things we love about traditional style ships is that the balconies usually have metal railings rather than the more modern glass screens. The balconies on the Silver Spirit still have metal railings which, for us, gives the balcony a more open feel and just makes you feel closer to the sea - we love them!

Overall we found the suite and its location to be near perfect. There were so many little touches that although we wouldn’t have thought them necessary, they really did enhance our experience. The butlers on board are a wonderful addition and again really did make our experience extra special. The suite, the butler and the amazing room steward really make this feel like a home away from home and we could comfortably complete an extended voyage in this suite without missing any of our creature comforts. Lets hope we have the chance to try it one day.

If you would like to read more on Silversea’s Silver Spirit look out for our Caribbean cruise review and dining guide which will be coming soon.

Thanks to Silversea Cruises for inviting us on this Caribbean voyage to experience their newly refurbished ship, the Silver Spirit.

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