economie

I sailed on Silversea’s new ultra-luxury cruise ship and was blown away by all the perks you get for $650 a day

July 2, 20240
The ship has a modern, high-end feel without being garish and over-the-top.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

Silver Ray upholds Silversea’s long-standing promises of good food, drinks, and service.

In an attempt to capture the next generation of wealthy cruisers, Silver Ray’s design moves away from some “stereotypical” luxury ship elements — which Andrea Tonet, Silversea’s vice president of product strategy, told reporters in mid-June includes being “very closed and, to some extent, also boring” — in favor of a modern yet understated flair.

The ship is filled with light, and the decor has stylish and contemporary sensibilities without being too unapproachable. Even the elevators have sweeping ocean views.

No need to fear dingy interior staterooms. Every cabin on Silver Ray has a balcony.
Guests can order complimentary room service caviar.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

On Silversea’s cruise ships, every guest has a butler who helps with tasks like booking restaurants, packing luggage, and setting up the dining table for room service caviar.

No need to stay in your cabin to indulge in fine cuisine.
The buffet has an al fresco dining area.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

The lunch buffet also features raw fish of Kaiseki’s quality, as well as stations of pasta, poached seafood, and freshly carved meats, for example.

In the morning, the breakfast buffet includes customizable smoothies blended to order, classic American breakfast items, and even congee.

In the evening, the dining room transforms into the Italian restaurant La Terraza, serving options like whipped mortadella with pecorino chips.
The 220-seat restaurant, designed to resemble a town square, has three menus. For lunch, diners can get dishes like poke and pizza.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

In the morning, the open-air restaurant serves relatively healthy breakfasts. The menu switches to pizzas, salads, and grilled fare during lunch.

In the evening, it transforms into a casual grill-it-yourself restaurant with tabletop hot rocks. Think Americanized Korean barbecue but with shrimp and steaks instead of bulgogi.

Guests in the mood for a more upscale dining experience can pay for La Dame and SALT Chef’s Table instead.
Guests must pre-reserve a station for SALT Lab.

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SALT — an acronym for “sea and land taste” — is one of Silversea’s prized programs, putting cuisines local to the itinerary’s region at the forefront of the cruise.

This means guests who sign up for the cooking class on a roundtrip Portugal cruise could learn to cook Portuguese tarts with almonds, for example.

There’s also SALT Kitchen, a more approachable and complimentary answer to SALT Chef’s Table.
Dolce Vita has “free-spirited” cocktails like the Pink Lady, prepared with Lyre’s London Dry Spirit and Orange Sec, lemon, egg white, and grenadine.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

Bars like Panorama Lounge have an alfresco seating area. But if you’re in the mood for some live music, head inside the lounge or go to Dolce Vita, both of which have a small stage for entertainers like pianists and violinists.

The bars are a great antecedent to the entertainment at the two-floor, 370-seat Venetian Lounge theatre.
The Arts Café had small bites for a do-it-yourself afternoon tea.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

But if you want a truly sober experience, go to the Arts Café.

Many new mass-market cruise ships now have a Starbucks. But who needs the coffee chain when you have a café that serves latte art-embellished espresso drinks and tea from TWG Tea?

The observation lounge also has a brew-it-yourself coffee and tea station.
The sauna and steam room are separated into a women’s and men’s area. Both sides meet at the gender-neutral thermal pool.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

Massages start at $299 for 75 minutes, while the cheapest facial costs $199 for 50 minutes.

Feeling wrinkly? The spa also offers dermal fillers and Dysport injections.

But if you want to relax without paying, the sauna, steam room, and thermal pool are complimentary for all guests. It’s a great way to unwind after a workout at the adjacent gym, supplied with Technogym equipment.

Like any traditional cruise, the largest pool is on an open-air deck.
Silver Ray’s stores sell high-end clothes, perfume, and jewelry.

Brittany Chang/Business Insider

The casino is notably small. So, if you get bored there, you can spend your money on the stores’ perfumes, jewelry, and Silversea merchandise.

But that’s assuming you haven’t already blown past your vacation budget just by booking the new vessel.
Silver Ray is Silversea’s second Nova Class ship. Its predecessor, Silver Nova, debuted in 2023.

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The cheapest Silver Ray cruise starts at $4,550 per person for a seven-day roundtrip sailing from Fusina, Italy, to destinations in Croatia and Italy.

If you want a fare inclusive of shore excursions, it’ll be $5,000 per person. (For reference, a spokesperson for Silversea told Business Insider that a SALT cooking class excursion in Lisbon’s Time Out Market would be about $219 per person.)

For an additional $1,500, Silversea will also organize your airfare and airport transformations.

But if all you want to do is wine, dine, and relax, the base fare will do. It may be steep, but that’s the price of being on a ship filled with fresh-cut flowers, unlimited cocktails, and room-service caviar.