From The Deck Chair: Silver Spirit Day 7

Start the day off right: fresh-squeezed orange juice

and a glazed doughnut aft of the Panorama Lounge.

Today is our first full day at sea aboard Silversea’s Silver Spirit. After departing St. Thomas last evening, we ran into some moderately heavy seas and high winds that continued throughout the night. But passenger discomfort was minimal; the Silver Spirit rides like a much larger vessel, and the creaking, groaning and shuddering that plagues many ships is nonexistent here.

The best way to relax in the early morning: out on deck, aft.

We are passing off the east coast of the Dominican Republic, and are scheduled to cross near the Turks and Caicos later today before passing the Bahamas and Cuba sometime tomorrow as we sail to our last port of call, Key West.

Perhaps a day of relaxing by the pool is in order?

Just because it’s a sea day doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to do. In fact, I am impressed at how many activities passengers can choose to participate in. My initial thought would have been that luxury lines left passengers largely to their own devices, which isn’t the case here on Silversea – you can do as much or as little as you please. Here are just a few of the things happening aboard Silver Spirit today:

10:15 am – Passengers signed up for the Navigation Bridge Tour meet; Poolside Bar, Deck 9.

11:00 am – Wine Tasting with Head Sommelier Marjan; Panorama Lounge, Deck 9.

11:00 am – Vista Suite #1001 and Grand Suite #901 are open for guests to tour until Noon.

11:30 am – Cooking demonstration with Executive Chef Jerome Foussier; The Theatre, Deck 5

1:30 pm – “A Christmas Carol”, starring Jim Carrey; The Theatre, Deck 5

2:00 pm – Dance class with ballroom dancers Jodie and Greg; Panorama Lounge, Deck 9

3:00 pm – Pool Volleyball Tournament with the Production Cast; Main Pool, Deck 9.

4:00 pm – Italian Language Class with International Hostess Carla; The Bar, Deck 5

4:00 pm – Traditional High Tea; Panorama Lounge, Deck 5

5:15 pm – Galley Tour; The Restaurant, Deck 4

7:00 pm – Silver Spirit BBQ – Main Pool, Deck 9.

I can tell you exactly when I last saw a Bridge Tour advertised on the daily program on any cruise: 1998. Some mainstream lines offer tours of the navigation bridge as part of a larger, for-purchase “behind the scenes” tour, while many simply do not offer it at all. While wine tasting aboard many ships carries a surcharge, here on Silver Spirit, it is complementary. Between the bridge tour and the wine tasting – which set me back nothing here – I could have spent almost $200 per person to participate in the same two activities on another line.

The Pool Volleyball Tournament at 3pm is another fun little addition I wouldn’t have expected. As with my revelation about the fact that there are no onboard photographers on Silversea ships, I finally realized today that there are no onboard art auctions either. Never have I been so happy to not see “Champagne Art Auction!” in the daily program. I understand the art auction program is a significant revenue generator on mainstream ships, but for me, not having to trip over stacks of art or easels piled in the hallways has been fantastic.

You also won’t find “Snowball Jackpot Bingo!” here. There is Bingo every day at 4:30pm in the Panorama Lounge, but instead of cash, passengers compete for points that can be redeemed at the end of the cruise for a variety of different things. Because of this, Bingo is offered free of charge.

Being a huge maritime nerd, I took in the Navigation Bridge Tour. Limited to roughly 20 participants and conducted by Silver Spirit’s very capable Captain Corsico, it should not be missed by any maritime enthusiast.

Photography wasn’t allowed on the bridge itself, but Captain Corsaro and 2^nd Officer Salimov gave passengers an in-depth overview of the ship and her capabilities. Captain Corsaro stated one of the ship’s best features were her two Mitsubishi stabilizers: airplane-like fins that fold out of the hull below the waterline to help control rolling in rough seas. This is the motion likely to cause seasickness in most people, and with the stabilizer fins deployed, rolling can be cut down by eighty percent.

They are also automatically retracted in the event the bow thrusters activate; the Captain told passengers of how another passenger ship Captain once came into port and started moving alongside the pier with the fins still deployed. Needless to say, the encounter didn’t end well for the fin; a problem that is not possible here on Silver Spirit.

Time to geek out, courtesy of the Captain: Silver Spirit has two electrically driven bow thrusters capable of producing 1360 horsepower each. These are used to enable the ship to dock and undock without the need for tugs in most cases. She is 642 feet long, 87 feet wide (97 at the bridge wings), and has an air draft of 158.8 feet. Her maximum draft below the waterline is 21.7 feet. She has two 11560-horsepower propulsion motors that drive her twin fixed-pitch propellers through the sea at 21.5 knots, and four Wartsila generators providing 6520 kW of power apiece.

The expansive balcony of Grand Suite 901.

The wraparound balcony of Grand Suite 901 looks out over

the Silver Spirit's bow.

After taking in the fresh air on the port side bridge wing, it was off to another unique experience: the chance to see one of the Grand Suites aboard Silver Spirit.

The separate, forward-facing bedroom in the Grand Suite.

At 1,528 square feet, Grand Suite 901 boasts a number of features: it has a full separate living and dining area and is done in lighter colors and woods than other suites. An adjacent hallway connects the living room to the master bedroom, which features a window overlooking the bow, a walk-in closet, powder area, and a large, marble bathroom complete with a Jacuzzi tub, dual sinks, a separate shower area, and even a bidet. While bidets are not common in North America, they are de rigour in many parts of both Europe and Asia.

The walk-in closet adjacent to the bedroom.

Next to the closet is an ample "powder room."

The real ‘wow’ factor though is the beautiful veranda. Starting on the starboard side of the ship and wrapping around forward to the centre line, the balcony features a commanding view of the ship’s bow and the ocean ahead. With numerous deck chairs and loungers in place, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would ever want to leave their stateroom.

The fantastic, marble bathroom in Grand Suite 901.

Bvlgari toiletries.

For two, it might be a little big, but for a once-in-a-lifetime extended family cruise, it seems ideal. The adjacent balcony suite can be booked in conjunction with the main suite, and an internal connecting door provides for easy access between the two rooms. Alternately, guests can even book both forward-facing suites and have the forward balcony partition opened, allowing them to have full command of the entire forward deck space overlooking the bow. In short, it’s almost like having a chunk of the whole ship entirely to yourselves.

The spacious living area of Grand Suite 901.

The tour seemed to be a big hit, and there were constantly passengers milling about in the room. As nice as the suite was, there’s really no bad suite on this ship. Even the smallest – the oceanview “Vista Suites” on Deck 4 – are still a generous 312 square feet, roughly double that of a comparable stateroom on a mainstream ship.

I have to say, I still like our Silver Suite. For me, it’s the perfect stateroom. We were lucky enough to end up with it purely by chance, but I know I am going to miss its spaciousness and separate bedroom and living areas dearly on my next voyage. But it never feels too big; instead, we were remarking how it still feels “just right” to us.

A variety of chocolaty delights in La Terraza during High Tea.

Though I have to admit to something: I’m starting to treat the Observation Lounge, just a few doors down, as an extension of my stateroom. In fact, I’m writing this from there! During the day, the Observation Lounge has a variety of cold drinks – tea, coffee, juice, pop, as well as pastries in the morning. After five pm, the bar serves just about any drink concoction you can come up with. Though it is odd that there’s no public washroom on Deck 11; the nearest one is down two decks on Deck 9, near the pool. A future refit is supposed to address this issue.

It’s almost never busy here either, and prime seating is always available. I discovered a huge treasure-trove of maritime books yesterday in one of the many bookcases lining the walls, and I’ve found John Maxtone-Graham’s The Only Way to Cross is responsible for burning through a lot of my free time!

6 pm: setting up for the big barbeque on deck.

7:30 pm: the party is well under way!

This evening, passengers were treated to an outdoor barbecue buffet under the stars, complete with entertainment from the production cast. I’ve seen pool-deck buffets before, but never anything like this. The crew of the Silver Spirit pulled out all the stops; they spent three solid hours setting up tables, chairs, serving stations and decorations for the event, which started at 7:30pm and continued late in the evening.

Passengers – the most I’ve ever seen in one place during the entire cruise – were treated to a wide array of delicacies by the ever-smiling staff. Of course, at this point everyone knows many of the crew members who seemed as happy to see us as we were to see them. It’s the strangest thing – you get the impression that the smiles with which the crew greets you are genuine and not something they “switch on” in the passenger spaces. I have experienced excellent service before on many mainstream lines, but never anything quite like this.

The hard-working crew of the Silver Spirit assembled on Deck 10.

In keeping with that theme, Captain Corsaro took to the podium to thank the crew for all their hard work, and even handed out the recognition awards for Employees of the Month for November of this year. The crew – almost every one of them – paraded from Deck 9 by the pool up to Deck 10 and assembled by the midships staircase entrance, where they were given a standing ovation from the passengers.

The good times continue well into the night.

All told, today was one of the busiest – and most rewarding – days at sea I have experienced in a long time.

Stay tuned to From the Deck Chair tomorrow as we spend our second full day at sea aboard the beautiful Silver Spirit, destined for Key West on Sunday and Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

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Friday, December 17, 2010

Silver Spirit Day 7 - At Sea

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