Note this cruise was taken before Royal Caribbean Group acquired Silversea Cruises in July 2020. Some reviews from regular SC cruisers since then have noted changes in food and inclusions. But others say they’re as good as before. So always do some research if considering booking a cruise.
Spring 2019 Silver Cloud Lisbon to Amsterdam
With one delightful Silversea expedition cruise under our belt, we happily signed up for another expedition with the company.
I love Lisbon so was more than happy to visit the city again in late spring, rather than the fierce summer heat. We were relaxed and ready to sail, after a few days staying at our favourite art deco hotel in the city.
The cruise was 12 nights/13 days with tours in Portugal, Spain, France and the Netherlands, with only the penultimate day spent at sea.
When is an expedition cruise not an expedition?
The itinerary and excursions didn’t mention zodiac rides and included only one bird watching option, so was interested to see how this ‘expedition’ cruise would play out with a full complement of expedition crew on board. This was billed as gourmet adventure through Portugal, Spain and France and had three guest chefs doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to entertaining and informing the guests.
Expedition crew gave occasional lectures (not as many as previous cruise) and were mainly relegated to manning the tour desk and accompanying some of the land trips.
The Silver Cloud
This is a true expedition vessel, used on company’s Antarctica cruises. With a passenger capacity of up to 254 passengers in non-polar regions, our European tour was at (or close to) full capacity.
This ship has a few more bells and whistles than the Silver Cloud, though is much smaller than most of the vessels used on Silversea’s other European cruises. The extra amenities included 4 restaurants (three inclusive in the price, Le Dame with a US$60 charge for a six course meal), cigar/cognac lounge, observation lounge and photo studio. There was an extra bar and DIY clothes washers and driers (as well the usual laundry options).
This slightly larger vessel also included an entertainment director (though too small to have actual shows at night, except a better than expected Galician group of young musicians). I’ve never got into the night time lounge activities before but really enjoyed playing trivia and our talented entertainer’s musical abilities.
The cabins, bars and lounges were similar to the Silver Discoverer but a bit bigger, with up to date interiors and clean lines.
The cruise
Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning. This cruise didn’t go to plan. Unseasonably rough seas meant additional days at sea with slow progress and three missed ports! Sadly these included the two big drawcards for me – Oporto and Brittany.
I’m usually a good sailor but at least half the boat was afflicted with mal de mer. Instead of feeling a little off colour, I had 17 hours of vomiting. My sister, who is prone to seasickness, had two severe episodes requiring a shot from the ship doctor. Not a good start to a gourmet cruise. Even members of the crew with many years at sea remarked they’d not come across this particular type of rolling plus back and forward motion before.
There was only one upside to the vastly redacted itinerary, we ended up having three delightful days/two nights moored up right next to the city in Bordeaux. It was such a charming town to explore and having so much time in one place is highly unusual for a cruise.
The tours
While some of the excursions were a disappointment, as many of our personal highlights were cancelled, there were two stand outs. These included a lunch in a Michelin starred restaurant in one of the Bordeaux wine regions and a very special tour of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.
What made the Guggenheim extraordinary, is where luxury tours like this excel. The early start (being docked almost an hour away from the town) allowed our group entry into the museum two hours before it opened to the public. Not only could we explore the art in small groups led by expert guides, with none of the thousands of visitors that come each day, but there was also a string quartet playing exquisite music in the atrium for the entire time.
Once again, Silversea treated us like adults. The local guides were of a high calibre and group sizes small. Our art historian guide for the Bilbao trip was so knowledgeable and passionate about the art, you could tell he absolutely relished having the freedom to guide his group in a sequence that he felt best explained the works.
Our cruise mates on the Silver Cloud
I didn’t notice any children on this cruise, with a gourmet theme it tended to attract the over 55s. There was a strong US contingent, many obviously wealthy, spending a lot of their time cruising. There were even women travelling alone, very comfortable being both part of new groups and seeking solo time.
Despite not being the best social/political match, I surprised myself getting on with a bunch of raucous Americans who invited us to join their trivia team, when we haplessly wandered in on an after dinner game. It was so fun we made a habit of joining them most nights.
Best bits
I may have been in the minority of passengers who love contemporary art (most could not fathom the value of such confrontational pieces, despite a lecture from one of the expedition crew the day before that had valiantly attempted to prepare and educate them) but I was certainly a very happy customer that day. It really was the highpoint of the entire cruise for me.
The culinary experts, especially Will Torrent – who seemed to always be in a good mood even when feeling ill, and made the dairy intolerant passengers three stellar desserts.
As always, all the crew were amazing. Cleaners, waiters, bar staff and of course our own butler. We still felt uncomfortable about having a butler and called on him infrequently, except our standing order for a morning coffee in bed. Ah…that’s luxury!
And having a free laundry!
Not so good
While a cruise is not responsible for the weather or when the unexpected happens, it’s how they deal with it that matters. On the whole the disappointments were handled well, with perhaps one exception. With additional days at sea, the was little or no extra lectures programmed. The expedition crew, most experts in their particular area, seemed to be on holiday during this cruise. As the team been a highlight on our previous cruise, perhaps our expectations had been set too high?
However the entertainment director* did a great job all round, including some extra afternoon trivia, for those who weren’t too indisposed to attend.
* OMG a shout out to the amazing Moss Hills, entertainment director and musician extraordinaire. Not only was he stellar in his role, had the patience of a saint and is an all round delightful person, on return I discovered he is also a bonafide hero! If you’ve not heard of his Moss Hills and the lives he saved on the Oceania in 1991 – I promise you that you’ll be amazed (and want him on every cruise).
Was this Silversea luxury small boat cruise worth the price?
“If this was my first Silversea expedition cruise, I doubt we would have taken a second one” was the feedback I gave at the end of the trip, that best sums up my experience. The Sri Lankan expedition was outstanding and perhaps set our expectations too high, as this was a very different itinerary.
The company delivered a high quality product, it’s just unfortunate that so many ports were missed and some of the expedition crew so obviously appeared to be on holiday themselves.
Read my reviews of small boat cruises:
Part 1: APT river and ocean cruising in Europe
Part 2: Aranui 5 Tahiti cruise
Part 3: Silversea across the Indian Ocean
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