The Suite Life With Silversea – Part 1

Recently I was invited to join the Silver Spirit for a 4 night sailing from Athens to Marmaris.

It’s was very last minute so finding  suitable flights was difficult. I normally fly from Birmingham but this was not an option so I ended up booking flights out from Heathrow and back to Leeds Bradford.

With the flights being from different airports I opted to take the train. Now I have taken the train to Heathrow before, which was a train from Birmingham to Reading then the Heathrow Express bus. This time however the route took me from Birmingham to Euston, then I had to take the underground. This is something I will definitely avoid in the future as I had to take three more trains and there were delays so it took much longer than expected. Whilst waiting for the last train I got speaking to a very anxious man who’s flight to Dubai was leaving in just over an hour and we were still stuck on the platform!

Luckily I wasn’t so pushed for time as my flight wasn’t leaving until the following morning. So once I finally arrived at Heathrow I meet  up with my two colleagues Teresa and Charlene who had patiently been awaiting my arrival.

We we’re keen to find the pod transfer to our hotel, however this wasn’t as easy as we thought and we couldn’t find where to pick it up, so instead we thought it would be a good idea to take the free shuttle bus. After waiting over 20 minutes we came up with another plan. Lets get a taxi! So after waiting there another 20 minutes our driver told us our journey would cost us between £20 – £25. For less than a three mile journey we felt this was excessive so went back to wait for the free shuttle. Thankfully the bus arrived pretty quickly and we reached our Hotel by about 23:00

We didn’t see much of the Thistle as we arrived so late but the room was comfy enough and we had collected our pod tickets at check in, ready to use in the morning.

I have used the pod to transfer around terminal 5 before but never from out side of the airport. It’s very sci fi and took no more than five minutes to reach the terminal. It’s totally unmanned so all you have to do is enter your ticket and your away!

Check in at T5 was excellent, there was no queuing at the bag drop or security, so before we knew it we had a coffee in hand and ready to board!

Athens airport was again very good and we were through security in no time.

We meet up with two others from our party in Athens airport and as the others would not be arriving for another three hours we decided to make our own way to the ship. The taxi cost us 20 euros each which we all agreed was reasonable.

There were a few ship in port when we arrived at the Terminal in Athens and  we were instantly approached by a Silversea rep who organised the relevant luggage labels and sent our luggage off with a porter, leaving us free to make our way though security.

Once on board we we’re greeted with a nice cold glass of champagne and guided to reception to complete check in. A much nice way of doing things than in the terminal building.

First impressions of Suite was excellent, very light and airy and plenty of space.

After seeing our new home for the next few days both Charlene and I were both very excited, then we hear a knock on the door and it’s our Butler Lorenzo coming to introduce himself.

All guests on board are lucky enough to have Butler regardless of what cabin type you book, but this was a first for me.

This is where I really noticed the Silversea difference, We were served a chilled glass of Prosecco whilst Lorenzo talked us through our suite and onboard services. He then brought out a try and we were given the choice between  Bvlgari or Ferragamo toiletries.

From this point on we knew we were in for a real treat.

Muster drill was very efficient and very thorough as you can see we had to leave the must station doing the conga (optional) and were lined up outside at our allocated life boats.

After the drill the cruise director gave a great welcome meeting up at the pool deck and the entertainment crew even performed a couple of songs to give us a taste of what’s in store. This was all very relaxed and a much better way of doing things than at the end of a muster drill when people can’t wait to leave.

That night we thoroughly enjoyed dining in the main dining room, the menu choice was extensive and the food excellent.

After a long day it was time to retire to bed.

(Sunset over Athens)

If you have enjoyed reading so far, join me next time as we head to Chios and Kusadasi.