The www.CRUISE.co.uk team were lucky enough to be invited to take a tour of Silversea’s Silver Cloud in London recently whilst she was docked on the Thames. We got to have a good look around so we could let you know exactly what it’s like to be on-board a 6 star luxury cruise ship and what you can expect from the Silver Cloud in particular…
First of all, here’s a bit of basic information about the ship…
But what does she actually look like? Well check out the below…
The Rooms
A great thing about this ship was the sheer amount of space. There are no inside cabins on-board Silver Cloud and 85% of suites have a balcony. Despite being able to legally hold 600 passengers (due to the size of the ship) the ship only accommodates 296 passengers, giving them one of the best passenger space ratios at sea!
The largest suites, (the owner’s suites) act as an apartment on the ship, offering a whopping 587 to 827 square feet of space!
There’s also two wheelchair accessible cabins available for those that need them and it’s worth remembering all that rooms start at suite level, beginning with a Vista Suite, meaning that everyone experiences a true luxury cruise on-board.
We don’t know about you, but we’d quite like to travel in this much style…
The Facilities
There’s certainly no rock climbing walls or skydiving experiences on-board here – but that’s the beauty of a small ship – it comes with select, refined facilities and an atmosphere to match! Whilst Silver Cloud is Silversea’s oldest ship, she still has plenty of facilities to wow guests.
If you fancy a splash you can head to the saltwater pool and two hot tubs (it’s a salt water pool- it’s meant to be green – honest!)
For a bit of light reading or to find a DVD to watch – head to the library.
If you want more action, try out the casino which has two multi-purpose gaming tables and a range of slot machines.
For relaxation why not try the spa and salon? The changing rooms feature a steam room and sauna and there’s a full range of luxury treatments available.
Evening entertainment can be found in the lounge where you can sit, relax with friends and have a drink or just lean back listen to music.
Or alternatively venture to the stage for shows and cabaret style entertainment.
There is also a boutique on board which sells a range of luxury goods such as handbags, cosmetics and luxury accessories.
The most surprising thing about this shop was the fact that they had real Faberge eggs! This isn’t something that we could afford to impulse buy unfortunately… We wonder which of the future guests will end up buying this beauty…
The Food
For us, the biggest highlight of the visit was the food. We tried all six courses (it’s a hard life but someone has to do it!) and can verify that each was delicious.
We had salad followed by scallops, champagne sorbet, beef served with asparagus, chocolate cake and a round of chocolates and coffee. It’s safe to say we were full afterwards!
The restaurant we dined in was aptly called “The Restaurant” and is the ships main eatery, serving anytime dining between 7pm and 9.30pm.
However there is also a speciality Italian restaurant called “La Terrazza” which is a spacious, warm feeling restaurant that overlooks the back of the ship with a wall of windows to make it feel light and airy.
There’s also an even more exclusive restaurant called “Le Champagne” which offers an intimate dining experience for 20 people and is the only Relais & Chateaux restaurant at sea.
As well as this, there are casual facilities to eat by the pool.
Our cruise consultant Amy travelled with Silversea this year and told us about the food onboard:
“The waitress was very friendly and professional it was certainly silver service at its best. She helped us chose our courses and advised us which food would best suit our individual tastes, it was very impressive.”
You can read more about Amy’s adventures with Silversea here!
The Service
One thing that that really makes Silversea 6 star luxury cruising is their exceptional service. The staff to passenger ratio is 1:1.3, meaning that you will always have a member of staff nearby to help you should you need anything.
There is also a dedicated butler for every 8 suites – and he will do whatever you need him to, whether it’s to help you unpack, make dinner reservations, draw you a bath or even organise an in suite cocktail party. These butlers have been trained at the Guild of Professional English Butlers, who also help to train Butlers that serve Royal families!
Whilst we didn’t have the good fortune to have a butler of our own during our short visit, our cruise consultant Amy told us all about her experience of this:
“Sailing on board Silversea was truly memorable in every way, I disembarked feeling like a Princess. My butler Mark was fantastic he catered to our every need and always with a genuine smile.
The dining experience exceeded our expectations, the service and food was to the highest standard I have every experienced from a cruise ship.”
Read more about what Amy thought about Silversea in her other blog here!
Where does she go?
When we visit her, Silver Cloud was in the Thames – and looked pretty stunning sat in front of The Shard!
However, she also travels to the Amazon, Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, the Med, South America and Northern Europe. It’s more the question of where doesn’t she go?!
She’s able to get to very small ports and have immersive itineraries because of her small size, getting you much closer to your destination that is possible on the much larger ships.
Would you like to embark on a luxury cruise with Silversea? You can learn more about them here.
Have you sailed with them before? Did you think the same about the ship as us?
Let us know in the comments below…
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