Sailing with Silversea Aboard Silver Nova

My colleague Shannon and I were privileged to be invited to sail on the Silver Nova for three nights while they repositioned the ship to sail in Alaska this summer. Our trip was in early May of 2024. We boarded the ship in San Francisco and disembarked in beautiful Vancouver BC.

The Silver Nova is Silversea’s first Nova-class ship, and her maiden voyage was in August of 2023 (her sister ship, the Silver Ray, sailed her maiden voyage in June of 2024).

This was the first time both Shannon and I had sailed with Silversea, and it was a wonderful experience. The ship has a unique asymmetrical design. It has a guest capacity of 728 passengers with a crew of 544.

After settling in our lovely Medallion Suite, we ventured up to The Marquee on deck ten. This is al fresco dining including The Grill and Spaccanapoli, and the views of San Francisco were incredible. We had a delicious lunch before heading down to meet the rest of our group of travel industry colleagues for our ship tour.

The ship really is quite unique and beautiful and has many areas throughout to gather with family and friends or just curl up alone to relax with a good book. The pool is also on deck ten and not situated in the middle of the deck as most cruise pools are. It is the largest Silversea pool and is offset to the starboard side of the ship. There are close to 300 comfortable sun beds on both decks ten and eleven. It was too chilly on our cruise for sunbathing, but I could imagine spending lots of time there if I was sailing through the Caribbean or Mediterranean. There is a pool bar that I predict would be full of guests enjoying drinks while socializing in the sunshine. If you are not a sun person, there are plenty of areas to relax in the shade while still enjoying the fresh air. On deck eleven there is an infinity edge whirlpool called The Cliff.

We were spoiled in our spacious Medallion Suite on deck nine. There is a bedroom with a very comfortable bed and a separate sitting area with a veranda. There are two sets of sliding doors that can be closed to keep the bedroom area quiet and private. This would be nice if one guest preferred to sleep in while the other was an early riser, or one liked to go to bed early while the other liked to stay up and watch TV or read a book. There are two large flat-screen TVs in the suite; one in the sitting area and the other in the bedroom. There was ample closet and drawer space and a dressing table for ladies to do their hair and makeup. There was another desk off the sitting area in the hallway.

The marble bathroom was a nice size. We had both a shower and a large bathtub. The toilet was in a separate room off the main bathroom and had a second sink there too. We could access the toilet room from either the main bathroom area or the hallway, which was nice.

The only negative about this suite was it was situated directly under the pool. We were at sea all three nights and the water got very choppy at times. This caused the pool water to slosh around quite a bit and could be extremely noisy. The first night we couldn’t figure out what that noise was, but we realized the next morning it was the pool. Now we know not to ever put our clients directly under that pool.

The cuisine on the Silver Nova for the most part was exceptional. We ate at the buffet for breakfast and there is no way anyone could go hungry with this spread of food. The Arts Café on deck 4 was a lovely place to sit and relax while enjoying a specialty coffee (Shannon is not a coffee drinker but they won her over at The Arts Café). They also have lovely breakfast items and then in the afternoon, fun little bites and beautiful desserts if you are feeling hungry.

On day two, it was very cold and windy, so we skipped eating lunch outside and ordered room service. They brought cheeseburgers, fries and everything needed and set up the lovely spread on the table in our suite. Room service is always included on a Silversea ship. We had lunch on Wednesday back on deck 10 at the Marquee and ordered pizzas from Spaccanapoli. They were delicious and I had to stop myself from eating my entire pizza! It was a bit chilly, so the crew provided blankets to keep us warm.

We had dinner each night at a different specialty restaurant. Two of the nights we were hosted by Cindy, our Area Sales Manager for Silversea. We were with her daughter and two other couples, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with these lovely people. The cuisine both nights in S.A.L.T. Kitchen and La Terrazza was exceptional, as was the service. The risotto I had at La Terrazza was delicious.

The specialty restaurant we weren’t crazy about was Kaiseki – this restaurant serves a Japanese menu. While our service was very good, the food just was not our favorite. I have had clients who have raved about this restaurant so no doubt it was just a personal preference for Shannon and I.

We enjoyed bingo and trivia in the Panorama Lounge. Many of the other guests who had been on the ship since Ft. Lauderdale were very serious about trivia. Many had formed teams and were engaged in a friendly competition. We enjoyed a great show one night in The Venetian Lounge – the Silversea singers and dancers were quite good, and everyone agreed it was very entertaining.

Both embarkation and disembarkation flowed smoothly. After our last breakfast on Thursday morning in the buffet, we met our new friends in the Observation Lounge while waiting to be called to disembark the ship. It was a quiet place with stunning views of Vancouver.

Shannon and I would highly recommend the Silver Nova and a voyage with Silversea. Here’s hoping we can take our husbands one day and introduce them to an all-inclusive, luxury cruise on this fabulous cruise line.