We really enjoyed our cruise. Silverseas is a luxury line & it shows, they are a little too luxury for our taste. There were 3 formal nights, about 8 informal nights & the rest casual. My husband didn't like the fact this meant he was wearing a jacket to dinner almost every night. We prefer cruising a little more casual. There is not much to do on the ship other than the casino & evening shows, but we got off in every port so it wasn't a big issue. The land tour across the south island was our favorite part of the trip. All of the staff were top notch and service was great. We truly celebrated our 40th anniversary in style.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Quick and painless
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Our favorite restaurant on board was the grill. Most of the restaurants would take 3 hours to have dinner, too long for us. We weren't fans of La Terraza for dinner, but It was fine for breakfast or lunch buffets. The best place for coffee, hot chocolate, cakes & truffles was the Art Cafe. Indochine was probably our second favorite restaurant, followed by Atlantide.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
There really isn't much to do on the ship. The Casino was small (no craps tables unfortunately) but well staffed.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
All of the musical performances we saw were excellent.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our butler was excellent, took care of our every need. The shore excursion staff was very helpful & attentive. The cruise director was funny, welcoming and easy to understand. He had a tendency to lie about the weather haha
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship is beautiful, clean and new. The color & decor are welcoming & soothing. The wall art is not my taste though.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
At first I was concerned about getting a small cabin but it was quite comfortable and had more than adequate storage & seating. The bed was a little firm but we slept well. The 5th floor turned out to be perfect for us as the gangway was on our floor many port days & the shore excursion & reception desks were on our floor. There weren't as many cabins as some of the decks so our laundry wasn't always busy so that was a plus. Our cabin on the 5th floor was the EXACT same size & style as our friend's more expensive cabin on the 8th deck. Don't pay extra just to be on a higher deck has always been my cruise policy and the same was true on this ship. Most of the shows each night were on our deck in the back of the ship too. It was very quiet in the cabin (except for some creaking in transit).
Ship tip
Book all of your excursions as soon as you are able, the best excursions fill up & have long wait lists. You can book spa appts online but there are many more openings when you get on the ship so once you board go to the spa & book sea day appts if you couldn't get them online. The massage I booked online didn't show up in the system after I was on the ship anyway so I'm glad I made appts on the ship.
Good, wanted to see Sydney but after 2 days felt like I had seen plenty & wouldn't go back. We did our own tour day 1 (harbor cruise & Sydney opera house) & the Featherdale wildlife tour day 2. The fires were not a problem even thought we thought they might be.
We loved Melbourne, would go back & stay a while for sure. Did the Yarra River cruise & Fitzroy garden tour. The river cruise was a bit boring. If I had more time I would have rented bikes & ridden along the coast in St Kilda. We shopped in Melbourne & went to an opal store that taught us all about opal mining.
We did the Gunns Plains Caves & Wildlife tour. We saw lots of animals, watching the Tasmanian devil feeding was entertaining. The caves were fun (lots of stairs).
We loved Hobart, would go back ad stay a while. Did the Tasmania by air & sea tour, cost $599 each but saw a lot of the island. There was wonderful shopping and we had a delicious dinner at the Blue Eye.
Milford Sound was the highlight of the trip, it was raining and the waterfalls were gushing. We got off the ship for the land excursion (had to book well in advance, extra $2,400 each) 3 days & 2 nights staying in Queenstown and back on the ship in Dunedin. Was well worth it, only 19 on this part so we got to know the other passengers. This is the only way to see the middle of the south island on this cruise. This opportunity is not publicized enough, was the best part of the cruise, national parks, bungy jumping (optional :), hiking, wildlife, Lord of the Rings sites, wine tasting, shopping, etc. Do it if you get the chance.
We didn't see Christchurch, did the high country explorer tour which took all day. The 4X4 part of it was not that great, the jet boat was fabulous. They should offer a half day and just do the boat part so you could have half a day to see the town.
We loved Wellington, would go back again. Did the Waterfront cycling tour and loved it, was great to be active after being on the ship so much. Then we walked around & rode the cable car to the top & came down through the botanical & rose gardens. We met such nice people, one was a man who helped us find the cable car entry. Well done Wellington!
We loved Napier! Would definitely go back here to stay. We took the Hawke's bay express train, very informative & entertaining. The shopping is great here and the little town is very walkable, the art deco style is everywhere & quite adorable. There were vintage cars everywhere & people dressed in 20's clothing. Beautiful parks & flowers.
We didn't really see the town but took the Sailing Lake Rotoiti tour. The catamaran was great & we got to sit in the hot springs too. The weather was perfect and we really relaxed on giant bean bags on the sailboat.
Try sailing with regent. We have sailed with silversea long ago and switched to regent. I’d go back to silversea In a heartbeat though, we loved it. I love the smaller ships
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