The four Silver Seas liners are small in comparison to other luxury international cruise ships that I am familiar with, and the ratio of guests to staff is very favorable, pretty much one to one in fact. The feeling is one of being a guest in an exclusive boutique hotel with excellent hands-on management. The bonus of course is the Italian flavor that comes with Silver Seas being an Italian line - you all know how much Rose and I love Italia.
In our suite waiting for us when we arrived were our suitcases (last seen at our hotel in Dubai) and on the table sat a frosty silver ice bucket containing an ice cold bottle of French bubbly with two glasses.
The suites are wonderfully appointed, as you can see from this pic, and the (“no extra charge”) minibar is stocked to your personal requirements. We requested white wine and a good scotch, and that evening found a litre of Johnny Walker black label, and a bottle of an excellent Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (NZ) waiting for us. These are continually replenished by Kelly, our lovely and efficient Brazilian stewardess, or her colleague Berry - the wine being varied from day to day, but always of a very high quality.
Shortly after unpacking, Kelly arrived to ask Rose whether she would prefer an alternative to the Bulgari amenities provided, and disused what other brand was available!
Even the pillows are provided to our personal requirements. We could choose from hard goose down, soft goose down, foam or therapeutic. We can (and do!) order room service 24 hours a day from a really good room service menu, or any of the meals on offer at any of the restaurants can be served in our suite. In this case, the waiter lays the table, complete with linen, silverware etc and we enjoy a fully served meal in the comfort of our suite. In the following pic, you can see the door leading to our veranda).
All of the restaurants are comparable to Durban’s best “old style” - think of la Dolce Vita - white tablecloths, silverware, napkins, attentive waiters, specialist advice on wine from the Sommelier and an extensive selection of wines from a high quality “cellar”... and again, all drinks are inclusive in the fare, at all times, whether in a restaurant, at the pool bar, or in the lounge.
There is a nice library, from which Rose collects her daily soduku – besides a wide selection of books, there is also a selection of up to date DVD’s for use in our suite (yes we have a DVD player). We have not needed this yet; there is a good selection of channels and movies on TV.
This is just an appetizer – much more to come later – I have to be economical with my internet minutes, which, as you can imagine, are of necessity expensive on board.
