It's my last trip this year and the last new ship of 2009 - Silversea's Silver Spirit. I'll be joining it for a short hop from Monaco to Barcelona, where it will be taking on its first paying passengers for one cruise in Europe before it heads over the pond to Fort Lauderdale.
The ship is something of a monster in Silversea terms - room for 540 passengers, compared to the 382-pax capacity of its two other big ships, Silver Whisper and Silver Shadow. Just think, if you add a nought on the end - 5,400 - you have the double occupancy capacity of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.
I feel I know very little about this ship as Silversea has kept quite quiet during the building process. There have not been any yard visits, I've not had any pictures or artists renderings of the vessel.
So all I know as I set off is that there are more balcony suites than on the cruise line's other ships, and more places to eat, which is not a surprise given its bigger size.
Internet willing, I'll be reporting back from the ship over the next couple of days, and hopefully also trying my hand at a bit of videoing, so keep checking in.
Jane Archer
Comments (5)
Jane,
There have been photos and even movie clips on the Silversea web site for months. If you go to the "Silversea Blog" tab on the home page you'll be able to see a lot of detail about Silver Spirit. She certainly bears a family resemblance to Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper, but is a good deal more "traditional" than Seabourn Odyssey, with which, inevitably, she will be compared. More than anything, she looks like a somewhat more lithe Regent Seven Seas Navigator. But you are right that her introduction has been rather low-key on the part of Silversea. It must be a deliberate marketing strategy rather than inattention or an oversight. As I hope to be sailing on her in 2011, I shall look forward to your impressions with great interest.
Posted by Philip Hurst | December 20, 2009 11:15 PM
Posted on December 20, 2009 23:15
Jane, thanks for sharing your spirit posting and postings to come.
As Philip posts above Silverseablog has been up since mid August and Silversea's PR approach has been low key. However, very recently SS hired an outside PR company to assist with the roll out of the Spirt. Also, Avid Cruiser (Ralph Grizzle) and ExpertCruiser (Anita Dunham-Potter) were two journalists invited on board during the Spirit's September sea trials..they posted numbers entries on the blogs and make numerous twitter posts about their impressions of the Spirit in September. They are onboard the Spirit with you now and also blogging and tweeting about the Spirit.
We are anxious to board the Spirt in 12 days for the maiden crossing and try to the two new specialty restaurants; Seishin (asian), Stars Supper Club (mediterranean menu + live jazz) in addition to Le Champagne and La Terraza. They will also
have a no alfresco dining option (hot lava rocks (fresh seafood,
grilled meats) on the pool deck
best, wes
Posted by wes | December 22, 2009 3:19 PM
Posted on December 22, 2009 15:19
Hi Wes. I was interested to read your comments and also Philip's. A few points. It's all very well hiring people to write blogs, etc, but if myself and others don't know about it, it's time and money down the drain. I am a very busy journalist and do not have time (or actually the inclination) to sit searching the internet on the off-chance of finding news about Silversea or any other cruise line. I need pictures and information delivered to my mail box. I was told about the blog Philip mentions when it was launched but I never even received a quick email to say "a new blog has been posted about xyz, why not take a look". Am I being unreasonable? Let's just say I did get this in the lead up to the launch of Oasis of the Seas. I might not always have been able to cover what was posted but at least I knew it was there. I am not sure what Silversea's PR company was doing, but they were not talking to me. I suspect they were American so the UK media was disregarded. I spoke recently to a group of agents who are members of the Leading Cruise Agents here in the UK and made the point that we journalists are many things but mind-reading is not one of our skills. If you have something to tell us, we need to be told. On another point, if there were pics I would have needed them emailed to me in order that I could use them. Anyway now I'm back from the two-day cruise and have my own pics, so keep a look out. I am sure you will enjoy the ship on the crossing but keep your fingers crossed for calm seas! We had cold, rain and a bit of a rocky time so there was no alfresco grill to try. In fact, going outside was an activity best left to the smokers.
Posted by Jane Archer | December 23, 2009 7:45 AM
Posted on December 23, 2009 07:45
Jane, thanks much for your reply...no worries about finding the
blogs..tells u how much time I have on my hand (retired this year) (and yes I search google for Spirit news daily..can u tell how excited we are to board her?...These daily searches are how I found your wonderful cruise site.
Will forward your blog comments to Brad Ball, Director
of PR at SS, he needs to see them
Btw, your recent dining post on the Spirit is the best I have
found on the details w/nice Pics on the Web...however,
checked with my TA and SS told her there is no
25 % discount for Seishin, but there is if you book
Le Champagne on line (using bon voyage gift link). u are
the second journalist to mention the discount along with Seishin..so my guess is the SS leadership on board mentioned it..but it has yet to show up on their website and at least
our TA is not aware of it.
Best, Wes
Posted by wes | December 23, 2009 2:11 PM
Posted on December 23, 2009 14:11
And thank you also for your kind comments. The information re the 25% discount came from exec chef Rudi during a press conference on board so I am trying to clarify what is actually the case, Meantime, I have taken away all references to discounts. I'll let you know what I discover.
Posted by Jane Archer | December 23, 2009 2:59 PM
Posted on December 23, 2009 14:59