Day 7 - Villefranche, France

Daily Chronicles

Silver Muse is anchored off the coast of Villefranche, France, this morning. When we pull open our drapes, we see a beautiful sight: Silver Whisper is also anchored nearby. We immediately reflect back on our very first Silversea cruise in 2004 aboard Silver Whisper.

Unfortunately, this is our last day aboard Silver Muse. The week has gone far too quickly. We really could have used a few more days to cover all of the great features of this beautiful new ship. I meet our butler, Hayley, in the hallway to go over some disembarkation information. She has been amazing and has gone above and beyond to assist in every way possible. Every suite on Silversea has butler service, and we have found that to be a huge value.

Hayley, Silversea butler

We did not book an excursion in Villefranche, so we are able to stay on board for lunch. Today, we want to try Kaiseki for lunch. Our dinner there the other night was so amazing, we were excited to see what they offered at lunch. Kaiseki is basically a sushi bar from noon until 2:00pm each day.

Ready for sushi at Kaisecki

There is a selection of sashimi and sushi rolls at lunchtime, and that's it. So, if you love sushi, this is the place to get it. We each ordered a selection of sushi roll pieces. The chef was very accommodating, even making a shrimp tempura roll for Rickee without the barbequed eel. All of the items we tried were delicious.

My platter of sushi rolls

So, Kaiseki is two-for-two in our book, a great place for dinner and a great place for lunch! After lunch, we decide to take the tender over to Villefranche to check out the town. Honestly, there's not that much to see in Villefranche in the area near where we anchored, other than some nice seaside cafes and restaurants. We did find a souvenir shop where we picked up a couple of items, but that's about it.

We only stayed in town about 30 minutes before boarding the tender back to the ship. There was a little excitement on the tender ride back to Silver Muse, but we will save that story for our final review.

Tonight, we have reservations at Atlantide on Deck 4. We arrive a little early and decide to enjoy a cocktail in the Atlantide bar. Atlantide is one of the larger restaurants on board, seating up to 164 guests. The menu focuses heavily on seafood, but there are plenty of other choices.

Our dinner in Atlantide has some interesting twists, but we left very satisfied and anxious to try the restaurant again on our next (hopefully) Silver Muse sailing. Watch for a full review in our Cruise Ship Dining Reviews blog.

We finished our packing and had our luggage outside of our suite by 11pm. Tomorrow, we will disembark Silver Muse and fly home to Dallas. It has been a wonderful, but all too short, cruise on this beautiful new ship. Watch for our full review coming soon!

Day 6 - Livorno, Italy

Silversea Daily Chronicles

Livorno is typically the "jumping off" port for excursions to Florence, Italy. However, other Italian treasures are just down the road from Livorno. There's Pisa, with its leaning tower, and also the medieval town of Lucca. We have been to Florence at least twice, so we decided to check out Lucca.

We LOVE afternoon excursions, for obvious reasons. First of all, we get to sleep later! Second, we can enjoy lunch on board Silver Muse before disembarking, which is exactly what we do at La Terrazza today. La Terrazza is Silver Muse's buffet lunch venue located on Deck 7 aft. La Terrazza has been expanded in size and scope from what we have experienced on other Silversea ships. The buffet serving line has been divided into several free-standing stations to alleviate long lines.

Serving area in La Terrazza

I am pleased to see that the cold seafood station includes a large platter of fresh Sashimi and beautiful (and large) Sushi rolls.

Fresh sushi

There is also a separate stir-fry station serving a different Asian stir-fry each day and a beautiful antipasti station with freshly-sliced Parma ham, Proscuitto, salami and cheeses. There are so many choices that a return trip to the buffet line is required! Wait staff circulate through the dining room offering complimentary glasses of white or red wine and offer to carry your plate from the serving line to your table. Typical Silversea service.

After a delicious lunch at La Terrazza, it is time for Rickee and me to gather our things and disembark Silver Muse for our 2:00pm excursion. As instructed in the Daily Chronicles, we meet our tour guide pierside five minutes before excursion departure time.

The drive from Livorno to Lucca takes about 45 minutes. Along the way, our guide talks about the area and hands out Audiotours audio units to each guest to use during the walking tour.

When we arrive in Lucca, it is cold, rainy and windy. Everyone has his or her Silversea umbrella close at hand in case the wet stuff begins to fall from the sky. Fortunately, it never does. But, it is still very windy and quite cold. Our local guide, Anna Marie, begins explaining the history of Lucca as we walk toward the entry to the old town.

Anna Marie, our local guide

One we enter the old town of Lucca, things begin to get a little more interesting. First, the narrow streets and a tall building give us a little refuge from the wind, but not completely.

Tour group in Lucca

As we walk into town, we stop briefly in front of a local street vendor who is selling star anise-flavored "biscuits" which look more like potato chips than what we think of in America as a biscuit. The vendor fills a large bag with the freshly-made "biscuits" and gives them to our guide, who invites everyone to try one. They are warm, sweet and have a licorice flavor. Not to my liking, but if you like licorice, you would love them.

A little farther into the city and we come to St. Martin's Square and the impressive cathedral. It is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Martin and the seat of the Archbishop of Lucca. Construction was begun in 1063 by Bishop Anselm (who later became Pope Alexander II).

The photo above does not capture the ground view, only the second level up, to show the individual columns, each of which is unique. As we walk through town, Anna Marie points out one of the remaining towers in Lucca, The Torre Guinigi, the most important tower of Lucca. It is a typical example of local Romanesque-Gothic architecture. This tower is one of the few remaining within the city walls.

The Torre Guinigi

One of our last stops on our walking tour was Piazza Anfiteatro, a circular public square (no pun intended) surrounded with shops, cafes and boutique hotels.

Piazza Anfiteatro

We were given about an hour of free time to explore Lucca on our own. Rickee and I used that time to purchase a few souvenirs and postcards. We were able to easily mail our postcards using a small postal drop box outside one of the shops. On the main street into the city on our way back to the meeting point, we found a shop specializing in locally-produced olive oil. I could not resist.

La Boutique dei Golosi

La Boutique dei Golosi is a small, one-man shop with an incredible selection of locally-produced olive oil and balsamic vinegars. The owner, who spoke English, took the time to direct me to a good choice based on what we will be using the oil for. The small tin should also be easy for us to pack. If we did not have the stupid "no liquids in carry-on' rules from the airlines, I would have purchased a larger bottle.

The selection of oils and vinegars at La Boutique dei Golosi

By the time we returned to Silver Muse, it was close to 7:00pm. We do not have any dinner reservations this evening, and really don't feel like getting all dressed up. There are a couple of casual dining options on Silver Muse. Unfortunately, both of them are outside. That is not a fun option when it is 55 degrees and windy, but Silversea does place blankets on the chairs to help guests stay warm.

Wrapped in a blanket to stay warm while dining on deck

We decide to re-visit Spaccanapoli for pizza (Deck 11). Rickee went back to her favorite Margherita Pizza (San Marzano tomatoes, cheese and fresh basil) while I decide to try the Prosciutto e Rucola (San Marzano tomotoes, cheese, Parma ham, fresh arugula).

Prosciutto e Rucola pizza at Spaccanapoli

I am pretty close to declaring Spaccanapoli as having the best pizza on a cruise ship. It is one of the few pizzas that could hold its own on land. If this place were within five miles of where I live, I would drive there to eat the pizza, it's that good. The crispy, thin crust is the key. However, I would like to see Silversea issue diners a rolling pizza cutter instead of just a knife and fork. It is a real struggle to cut the large pizza with a knife.

After dinner, we visit Arts Cafe for a nightcap. This peaceful little space is right down the hall from our suite and makes for a nice spot to relax and enjoy a cup of tea, or a cocktail. It has been a long and active day of walking around Lucca, so we decide to skip tonight's show and get some sleep.

Tomorrow, Silver Muse will be in Villefranche, France.

Day 5 - Civitavecchia, Italy (for Rome)

We were originally wait-listed for a sold out excursion in Rome that sounded like fun: a "Rome by Ape Calessino" tour. The Ape (ah-pay) is a tiny three-wheeled vehicle that you often see buzzing all over Italy. It is basically a scooter with three wheels. In any case, since that tour was sold out, we really did not see any other excursion that interested us in Rome. And, we have seen just about everything there is to see in Rome, multiple times. So, we decided to remain on board Silver Muse, relax, and take the opportunity to get some more photos for our blog and review.

Silver Muse docked in Civitavecchia (MSC Splendida is in front of us)

For lunch today, our choices were pizza at Spaccanapoli (done that), the buffet at La Terrazza (done that), full menu service at Atlantide (done that), Sushi at Kaisecki (too nice outside to do that), or the Pool Grill (perfecto!). We arrive at the Pool Grill on Deck 10 a little before noon and pick a table in the sun. It is still a little cool outside in the shade, so the warm sun feels really nice.

Rickee peruses the menu at Pool Grill

Some new items have been added to the Pool Grill menu since our last Silversea sailing and the menu itself is much more elegant than before. We decide to start off with a Meze Plate (babaganoush, yoghurt dip, cucumber, hummus, pita, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and feta) which the menu says is for sharing. All of the ingredients on the Meze Plate were good, but the portions were too small to share.

Meze Plate

I ordered a cheeseburger with onion rings instead of French fries and Rickee ordered the hot dog. I received the Silversea Beef Burger which comes with bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce, red onion, tomato, and pickle.

I also ordered my burger medium rare and was pleased to find a pink center when I cut into my patty. The burger has been much improved over what we were served at the Pool Grill on previous Silversea cruises. I still would like to see crispier onion rings, but they are on the right track with the burger! It was very good!

Rickee's Silversea Hot Dog was festooned with bacon and carmelized onions. She immediately removed everything and promptly added a dollop of mustard and relish, as would any self-respecting Texan. The only reliable way to tell if Rickee likes something or not is to look at the plate when she is finished. The hot dog was almost gone, as were the fries and onions rings. She liked it.

After filling up at the Pool Grill for lunch, the sunshine offers the perfect opportunity to relax on our beautiful balcony with a view of the ocean. We spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing but enjoying our Deluxe Veranda Suite. We even asked Hayley, our butler, to ice down a bottle of Prosecco for us to enjoy, which she was happy to do.

Prosecco on ice

One of the great things about cruising is the option of going on an excursion, exploring a destination on your own, getting involved in all of the onboard activities, or just doing nothing at all. One of the great things about Silversea is that you can do nothing at all with style!

Tonight, we have dinner reservations at Silver Note on Deck 7.

Silver Note menu cover

Silver Note defies description. It is sort of a restaurant/jazz club, like an old-school dinner club you see in movies from the 1940s. The menu and the dishes served here are even more difficult to describe. Let's just say that dining at Silver Note is a very unique experience that you won't find on any other cruise ship. Or, on land for that matter.

Silver Note dining room

I won't even attempt to describe our meal here. I am going to save that for a more in-depth review in our Cruise Ship Dining Review blog. However, I will say that the entertainment was excellent. Helene was singing popular jazz songs while being backed up by Andre on the piano. It would be worth having dinner here just for the music!

Helene and Andre entertain during dinner at Silver Note

After dinner, I was ready to call it a day, but Rickee wanted to go to the evening show. So, we parted ways. When she came back to the suite after the show, she went on and on about how great Marissa Nelson, one of the Silver Sea Singers, performed. Now I wish I had gone with her!

Tomorrow, Silver Muse will be docked in Livorno, Italy, where it is Labor Day so lots of venues are closed. Most guests will go to Florence, but we are going to do something a little different this time.

Day 4 - Sorrento, Italy

This morning we board the ship's tender for the short ride to Sorrento where we meet our local guide. We have booked the "Sorrento Coast & Tasting at Quatro Passi" excursion.

Our guide for the morning, Valerie, greets us as soon as we step off the tender.

Valerie, our local tour guide

She escorts us to a shuttle bus that takes us up a steep, winding road into the center of Sorrento and to a parking lot where we transfer to a larger, more comfortable bus for the drive to Nerano, Italy. Once we are in the larger bus, Valerie begins her description of Sorrento and the typical Neopolitan lifestyle common to the area. We make one stop along the way to get a clear view (and photo op) of the island of Capri.

Isle of Capri in the background

Rickee and I visited Capri in 1998, on our very first Mediterranean cruise. My only real memory was getting seasick on the hydrofoil ride from Sorrento to the island. It takes close to an hour for our driver to navigate the narrow, winding roads to the little town of Nerano, Italy. There does not appear to be much of a town here and seems an unlikely place to find a 2- Michelin-star restaurant.

The driver drops us off right in front of the restaurant where Chef Antonio Mellino, owner of Quattro Passi, invites guests into his place of business.

First, we have an opportunity to visit the impressive wine cellar at Quattro Passi. We walk down stone steps into a cool, dimly-lit cellar that has multiple rooms filled with vintage wines -- over 1,600 bottles in all! There are wines from Italy, France, USA, New Zealand, and more. Many bottles are wrapped in plastic wrap, not to protect the wine, but to protect the labels. They are even aging their own Balsamic Vinegar in small casks down here!

Wine cellar at Quattro Passi

After our tour of the wine cellar, we had the opportunity to sit on the beautiful patio for a wine tasting.

Beautiful setting for a wine tasting

Two wines were poured for us, one red and one white, and platters of antipasti were filled with Prosciutto, Italian cheeses, and Bruschetta.

A small table was set up at one end of the patio with a sample of Italian products for us to try and/or purchase to take home. Many guests purchased Extra Virgin Olive Oil or a bottle of Limoncello. We purchased a jar of amazing strawberry and lemon marmalade.

All to soon, it was time to re-board the bus for the drive back to Sorrento. When we arrived back at the drop-off location, some guests chose to remain in Sorrento to do some exploring on their own. Silversea has a hospitality desk at the shuttle stop to assist with directions or answer questions.

We have seen Sorrento many times on previous cruises, so we decide to go back to the ship. The sun is trying to once again make an appearance as the tender approaches Silver Muse.

Silver Muse off the coast of Sorrento

We are back on board by 1:00pm and I decide this would be a good time to check out La Terrazza's lunch buffet. The restaurant, located on Deck 7 aft, is much larger than restaurants of the same name on other Silversea ships. Many of the buffet items are organized into separate, free-standing stations, making long lines a thing of the past.

The seafood station caught my eye and I found myself going for the fresh Sushi right off the bat.

Fresh seafood station on lunch buffet

There is a lot of indoor seating, and a pretty large outer deck area for al fresco dining. On a beautiful day like today, the choice is clear. A table outside is the obvious choice. How often do you get to have lunch overlooking Sorrento?

Dining al fresco on Silver Muse

It is a little cool outside, so small heaters have been turned on to provide additional comfort. A waitress offers me a glass of wine, which I accept. After my sushi course, I visit the stir-fry station where a Thai beef stir-fry looks tempting. I order mine extra-spicy, to which the chef responded with a healthy dollop of red chili flakes.

Thai beef stir-fry (extra spicy)

This afternoon, I was back at the Team Trivia challenge with my Kiwi friends. Rickee was not feeling up to the challenge, so I represented Texas. It was a poor representation. Rickee is the trivia champ in our camp, certainly not me. Our team did not fare well today. After trivia, I went to Dr. Elovitz's final lecture on China's incursion into the South China Sea. Once again, Dr. Elovitz gave a thought-provoking talk.

Dr. Mark Elovitz

This evening, we have reservations for dinner at La Terrazza. By day, La Terrazza is the ship's buffet breakfast and lunch venue, but in the evening, La Terrazza is transformed into an Italian-themed bistro with full menu service. However, in a departure from Silversea tradition, La Terrazza now has a single menu that does not change throughout the cruise.

The menu, on the other hand, is quite extensive. In fact, it is the largest and most comprehensive menu we have found on board. When we arrive for our 8:00pm reservation, the restaurant is buzzing with activity. The only table for two is one positioned right in front of the antipasti station. There is a lot of foot traffic in this area with waiters zooming past, carrying trays of food to diners. Perhaps not the best spot for a quiet, romantic dinner for two? Also, our table had an annoying wobble.

Service was a little slow this evening. After an hour, all we had completed was our antipasti course, a trio of Bruschetta. Once our second course arrived, things did seem to speed up and we were able to complete our meal before the 10:00pm show. However, we skipped the dessert course. I will go into more detail when we review La Terrazza in our Cruise Ship Dining Review blog.

Trio of Bruschetta antipasti

After dinner, I went to Deck 5 to get a good seat in The Venetian Lounge for tonight's performance, Musica Maestro.

Cruise Director, Jimmy Kovel, greets guests in Venetian Lounge

The show consists mostly of Italian opera vocal arrangements, performed very nicely by the three male and three female singers. It was an excellent performance, perhaps one of the best we have ever seen on a Silversea ship.

It is after 11pm when the show is finished and exiting the theater takes longer than expected. There is only one exit and many guests stop and chat with the performers outside the venue. It has been a long but wonderful day aboard Silversea Silver Muse.

Tomorrow, Silver Muse will be docked in Civitavecchia, Italy (for Rome).

Day 3 - Amalfi, Italy, (for Positano)

I begin my day around 5:30am, which makes it a challenge to find a location on most cruise ships that have hot water (for me to make my coffee) at that early hour. I discovered Silversea's "Anytime/Anywhere dining" can solve this problem. I go to Panorama Lounge at 5:30am, dial 404 and room service brings hot water, a coffee cup and a glass of ice water right to me. Life is good!

Panorama Lounge is the perfect early morning workplace for me

Today, Silver Muse is anchored off the coast of Amalfi, Italy. We have booked the Leisurely Positano ($89/pp) excursion through Silversea's Shore Excursion Desk. Rickee and I have never been to Positano, so we thought this would be our chance to see it.

As instructed in the Daily Chronicles, we met our fellow guests in the Venetian Lounge at 8:10. It was not long before our group was called to head to the disembarkation deck (3) to board the tender. The tender ride to Amalfi only takes about 10 minutes and the swells make the tender docking procedure a little, shall we say, "exciting." It is raining when we disembark the tender and meet our local guide, Rosella.

Rosella, our local tour guide for Positano

There are only 13 of us on this trip to Positano, so we are able to utilize a small bus for the tour. Rosella tells us all about the area as the skillful driver navigates the narrow, winding roads of the Amalfi coastline. You would never believe how these buses and trucks can pass each other on these tiny roads. You would swear there is not enough room, but they do it. This has to be one of the most scenic, twisty roads in the world. All I could think about was how much fun it would be on a motorcycle. It is a shame that it was so cloudy and rainy. I can imagine how beautiful it must be on a sunny day.

On the road to Positano

Positano is one of many villages and towns along this road, so we pass through many others as we work our way up the mountain to Positano. The drive takes about an hour, but time passes quickly as there is so much to see along the way. When we finally arrive in Positano, the driver lets us out close to the middle of town. Rosella walked us down to the beginning of the shopping district and then set us free to explore on our own.

The narrow streets are lined with beautiful shops selling linen clothing, souvenirs, and anything "lemon". The whole area is known for the production of lemons which are used primarily to make Limoncello (lemon-chello), a lemon-flavored liqueur.

Lots of lemon products for sale

You can find dozens of different products made from lemons including soaps, hand lotions, air fresheners, candy, etc. Who knew lemons were so useful? We also found some of the most beautiful ceramics we have ever seen. There is a ceramic factory here that makes amazing, colorful tables, wall tiles, and other ceramic items. But, we limit our purchases to souvenirs including our fridge magnet, a small ceramic bowl, a beautiful Christmas ornament and some lemon-drop candy.

We decide that it would be a crime to visit Positano and not enjoy a Limoncello. We find a small, out-of-the-way bar and pay a visit. Soon, we are served two small, icy cold (the only way to drink it) glasses of delicious Limoncello.

Limoncello is actually a pretty potent liqueur, a fact I had forgotten. After all, it is only 10:30 in the morning! Nevertheless, it was delicious and it is another one of those little memories that we will reflect back on one day. "Remember when we sat in that little bar in Positano at 10:30 in the morning drinking Limoncello?" Aren't memories like these why we travel in the first place?

After some more shopping and browsing through the little town of Positano, it was time to return to the bus for the drive back to Amalfi, which also takes about an hour. The sun is trying to make an appearance by the time we return to the port and prepare to board the tender for the ride back to Silver Muse. We had just a glimpse of what this place looks like on a beautiful, sunny day.

The sun tries to make a brief appearance

Once back on board Silver Muse, it is time for lunch. Today, we decide to try Atlantide on Deck 4. At lunchtime, Atlantide is the closest thing you will find to a traditional cruise ship dining venue on Silver Muse, with a lunch menu that changes every day. While most guests will opt for the buffet at La Terrazza on Deck 7, we prefer the quieter, less crowded Atlantide today. But, never fear, we will try La Terrazza soon!

The lunch menu at Atlantide

After lunch, it is time for another lecture by Dr. Mark Elovitz.

Today's topic is "An Outsider's Look Into North Korea". Once again, Dr. Elovitz gave everyone a lot of information to think about and digest. As usual Dr. Elovitz's lecture is very informative and interesting. After the lecture, we waste no time walking down the hall to Dolce Vita lounge for afternoon Team Trivia. Cruise Director Jimmy Kovel hit us with 20 tough questions today, but we were still able to squeak out a 2nd place win.

Cruise Director, Jimmy Kovel

Just before our trivia challenge began, everyone was drawn to the outer decks when sister ship, Silver Spirit, did a "sail around" Silver Muse. The ships saluted each other with several blasts from their whistles. The ships passed close enough to each other that we could easily see Silver Spirit guests on their balconies and the outer decks waving to us.

Sister ship, Silver Spirit, sails right past Silver Muse

After we say goodbye to our trivia friends, we head to the suite to get ready for dinner. Tonight, we have reservations at Kaisecki, Silver Muse's Japanese teppanyaki-style restaurant. We arrive a little early and are shown to our seats "ringside", right next to the grill where the chef will prepare our meal.

Rickee ready for the Kaisecki adventure to begin

After a few other guests arrive, the show begins. Chef Edmund begins making a huge batch of fried rice. He takes time during the cooking process to show off some of his spatula skills and what he can do with eggs.

Chef Edmund does not mind performing for guests at Kaisecki

Kaisecki is a degustation menu restaurant. You only need choose from Vegetarian, Meat or Seafood for your starter course. After the starter course, every guest enjoys lobster, Miso Cod, and Waygu beef. Kaisecki is one of two dining experiences on Silver Muse that come at a cost of $60 per person, the other being La Dame. Of course, you know we will do a full review of Kaisecki for our Cruise Ship Dining blog, so you just have to wait a few days for all the details. What we can tell you is that our dinner at Kaisecki was one of the most innovative and interesting meals we have ever had on a cruise ship.

Tomorrow, Silver Muse will be anchored off the coast of Sorrento, Italy.

Day 2 - Taormina, Sicily

Mount Etna sending up some smoke this morning

My first morning on Silver Muse has me searching for the best place for early morning coffee and a comfortable place to work. I settle on Arts Cafe on Deck 8 aft. It is conveniently located on the same deck as our suite and they have "early riser's" coffee. As the sun is rising, I can see Mount Etna in the distance and it is clear enough this morning to see the smoke billowing from the volcano.

We did have an excursion pre-booked (through the My.Silversea website) for today, but it was cancelled due to failure to meet the required minimum number of guests. We considered booking another excursion here, but nothing really caught our eye. We did consider taking the ship's complimentary shuttle service into Taormina to do a little exploring on our own, but we were here just a couple of years ago so we decide to stay on board Muse and do our exploring on the ship.

Schedule for complimentary shuttle bus from pier to Taormina

I start by heading up to the pool deck (10) where I find a very large swimming pool surrounded by padded lounge chairs.

The Pool Deck with Taormina in the background

For lunch today, Rickee and I decide to try Spaccanapoli pizzeria on Deck 11. You pretty much have to know where Spaccanapoli is because there are no signs to identify the restaurant. Basically, it is on Deck 11 overlooking the pool. Spaccanapoli serves one thing and one thing only: pizza. There are no salads on the menu, no sandwiches, no pasta. There are several varieties of pizza offered with a choice of toppings. Each pizza is made to order by a chef who looks like he knows what he is doing. When the pizzas arrive hot and fresh, it is evident that he does.

Rickee is wondering how she is going to eat all that pizza!

We will go in to more detail about the pizza when we review Spaccanapoli in our Cruise Ship Dining Blog. We both left full, and smiling.

This afternoon, we decide to give Team Trivia a try. When we arrive at Dolce Vita lounge, we are immediately recruited by "The Kiwis", a group of New Zealanders who have formed a struggling four-person trivia team. Twenty questions later, our team comes in First Place!

After trivia, we have just enough time to walk down the hall to the Venetian Lounge for an excellent lecture on Why Could Europe Become Eurabia by Dr. Mark Elovitz.

Dr. Mark Elovitz

This was a great lecture on a very timely topic facing Europe. We really enjoyed it and will be at Dr. Elvowitz's next lecture on the topic of North Korea.

After the lecture, it is time to get into our "after 6 on Silversea" attire and head to Panorama Lounge to enjoy a well-deserved cocktail. The Silver Muse Contemporary Trio is providing musical entertainment as we order our drinks.

Rickee is now in Lemondrop mode and I am enjoying a Crown Royal. A waiter offers a tray of tempting hors d'oeuvres.

We spent most of the evening enjoying the music in Panorama Lounge, with a brief stop at the small Casino to make our "donation".

Tomorrow, Silver Muse will be in Amalfi, Italy.

Day 1 - Embarkation in Valletta, Malta

Our morning begins with an amazing breakfast at the Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel, Paris. The breakfast buffet was massive, with every item you could ever want.

Amazing bread selection at breakfast buffet

A chef was cooking eggs-to-order so I ordered two poached eggs and Rickee ordered Eggs Benedict. They were the most perfectly poached eggs we have ever eaten. You would not believe how hard it is to get a perfectly poached egg. We both agreed, this was one of the best breakfasts we have ever had.

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and found our driver, Gilles, already out in front of the hotel waiting for us. We had arranged a private car transfer with Paris Major Limousine through their website (www.1st-limousine-services.com) a couple of weeks before our trip. We received a confirmation from Mahdi Oustani, Sales Director for Paris Major Limousines, which we printed and brought with us.

S-class Mercedes

We were pleasantly surprised to find a brand new Mercedes S-Class waiting for us out in front of the hotel. This is a beautiful, top-of-the-line Mercedes and was in immaculate condition. Two bottles of complimentary water were provided for us in the back seat. After our luggage was loaded, we were on our way.

About two blocks from the hotel, Rickee asked me if I had our passports. Oops! I left them locked in the safe in our hotel room. Panic mode!! We asked Gilles to turn around and go back to the hotel, which he gladly did. Because of the one-way streets, it was going to be quicker for me to get out and walk (or run) back to the hotel while Gilles and Rickee drove around the block to meet me and pick me up. I went to the Reception desk, had them make me a key, and ran up three flights of stairs to our room get our passports out of the safe. Now, with passports in hand, I run down the stairs and to the waiting car.

Whew! I am exhausted and stressed not knowing if that ordeal will delay our drive to the airport and cause us to miss out flight. Gilles did a great job of working the big Benz through the insane Paris traffic and got us to the airport by 8:45am. After unloading our luggage, he placed it on a cart and escorted us into the airport terminal to help us locate our check-in counter! Excellent service. We will definitely be using PML on our next trip to Paris!

It was a good thing that Rickee asked about the passports when she did. If we had waited until we arrived at the airport to discover they were back at the hotel, we would have missed our flight and possibly the cruise.

Gilles escorts into the Paris airport

We checked-in with plenty of time to spare and boarded our Air Malta flight on time.

The Air Malta Airbus A320 was crammed full of passengers and seating was very cramped. But, the flight arrived in Valletta on time at 1:15pm. The flight crew was friendly and they even handed out complimentary bottled water along with tuna sandwiches.

There was no need to clear Customs and Immigration in Malta since we flew in from an EU country. It did not take too long for our luggage to arrive at baggage claim, and soon, we were trying to locate a taxi to take us to the cruise port in Valletta.

Transportation information in Malta International Airport

Total cost for a taxi to the cruise port was 14€ for both of us and the drive took about 30 minutes. We arrived at the cruise terminal by 2:00pm. Fortunately, our driver was able to drop us off right at the Silver Muse gangway, eliminating the need to go through the Malta cruise terminal!

After checking in at Reception on Deck 5, we were escorted to our Deluxe Veranda Suite (848) to drop our hand luggage and, to our surprise, our larger duffle bags were already there! We decided to get the un-packing out of the way. Our initial impression of the Deluxe Veranda Suite on Silver Muse was a very good one. The decor is beautiful and a lot of thought has gone into the design of the suite. Of course, we will give a detailed description of the suite in our upcoming full review of Silver Muse.

Our luggage had been delivered before we arrived

After unpacking, we wasted no time in heading to one our favorite spots on any Silversea ship, the Panorama Lounge. Silversea has even cleverly installed a special staircase at the aft end of our hallway that leads directly up to Deck 9 and into the Panorama Lounge! We toast to the beginning of another adventure with complimentary glasses of Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine).

We toast to another Silversea cruise

After our glass of Prosecco, we proceed to our suite to gather our lifevests. We have been instructed to meet at Dolce Vita on Deck 5 for a muster drill since we boarded in the second week of the cruise. When we arrive, we meet three other guests who also embarked in Valletta. The International Hostess, Kersten, soon arrived and explained all of the emergency procedures

We had pre-booked dinner reservations this evening for Indochine through the My.Silversea website. However, when we went to confirm our reservation at Reception, they could find no reservations of any kind for our suite. Apparently, all of our restaurant and shore excursion reservations are missing. Yikes! A further investigation is required.

The good news is that the Restaurant Manager assured us that we would have no problem with our restaurant reservations. We will tackle the missing shore excursions tomorrow. For now, we need to get ready for dinner. When we return to our suite, we see that Hayley, our butler, has already returned my sport coat and dress shirts from Silversea's laundry (I sent them out to be pressed when we arrived). Dinner tonight is at Indochine and the dress code is "informal" meaning a jacket is strongly suggested for men.

Upscale Asian decor at Indochine

Our meal began with an appetizer of Papadum and two chutneys all of which were delicious.

Papadum appetizer

We will post a thorough review of our Indochine experience on our new Cruise Ship Dining Blog soon, so watch for more details to come. After a delicious (and spicy) dinner, we decided to call it an early night.

Tomorrow, Silver Muse will be anchored off the coast of Taormina, Sicily.

Pre-Cruise: Documents Arrive From Silversea!

Silversea Cruises does everything with style. Even the documents you receive prior to the cruise foretell of a luxury adventure that is just beginning. The document package, which arrives in a beautiful silver box, consists of a nicely bound "Travel Journal", pre-printed luggage tags for each guest, and two hard plastic (permanent) luggage ID cards.

The Travel Journal contains all the documents required for boarding the ship. Of course, you will also need your passport. In addition to embarkation information, your suite assignment, packing suggestions, and other pertinent information, the Travel Journal also includes in-depth information for each port-of-call on your itinerary. You can research Silversea Shore Excursions offered in each port.

The Travel Journal is a complete guide to your upcoming cruise with information on all of Silversea's dining venues, butler service, hotel and transfer information and passenger contract. There are even a few ruled pages at the back where you can take your own notes about your cruise experience (use that to submit your review to CruiseReport.com!). The document package is complemented by Silversea's guest portal website, My Silversea (my.silversea.com). Booked guests can use My Silversea to complete Guest Information Forms online, make advance dinner reservations, book spa treatments, or to book shore excursions.

The My Silversea website is one of the most comprehensive Booked Guest Portal sites of any cruise line and makes preparing for your Silversea Cruise much more hassle-free. Silversea's travel docs, combined with the excellent My Silversea website, give guests everything they need to prepare for a seamless, luxury experience.

Day 10 - Disembarking Star Pride

This morning, Star Pride arrives in Aruba for the conclusion of our 9-day cruise.

Star Pride docks in Oranjestad, Aruba

Our two large pieces of luggage were tagged with black luggage tags last night and placed outside our suite. The "black tag" group is scheduled to disembark at 8:30am for hotel transfer, so we had time this morning for our ritual of disembarkation-day breakfast. By the time we arrived at Veranda, the restaurant was pretty crowded. There were no tables outside, so we found a table for two inside. A waitress brought us coffee and juice and we went to check out the buffet. Rickee and I both ordered eggs cooked-to-order at the egg station.

Chef Frances cooking eggs to order

The breakfast buffet has anything you could want. There are all kinds of fresh fruit, cereals, breads, bagels, scrambled eggs, bacon, two types of sausages, beans, pastries and much more. By the time we finished breakfast, it was time for us to go to Reception to pick up our passports. Our passports had been stamped by Aruba Immigration and were ready for us.

Passports stamped and ready

The rest of disembarkation went very smoothly. Groups were called by tag color over the ship's PA system and, because this is such a small vessel, there are no huge crowds of people pushing and shoving to get off the ship. We left our suite when our group was announced and getting off the ship was a very leisurely process. As we exited Star Pride for the last time (at least on this journey) and walked down the gangway, the Captain and Hotel Manager were at the entrance to the cruise terminal to bid guests farewell.

Exiting the ship to the Aruba Cruise Terminal

After saying goodbye to Captain MacAry and Hotel Manager Marotos, we entered the terminal and quickly found our luggage. We then exited the terminal and boarded a motor coach for the transfer to our hotel. Windstar offers transfers to the airport, or to hotels for guests who are extending their vacations. When we originally booked our return flight to Miami, it was scheduled to depart at 9:15am, so we did not feel that we could get to the airport from the ship in time; therefore, we booked a night at a local hotel.

Motor coach transfer to hotels

Our hotel, Renaissance, was the first stop on the transfer. We were in the hotel lobby by 9:00am but the room will not be ready until many hours later. The rest of our story really is about the hotel and Aruba, which is for another time. For now, we want to begin work on our review of Star Pride and reflect on the past nine wonderful days. Be sure to watch for our in-depth review of Star Pride on CruiseReport.com.

Day 8 - Bonaire

This morning, Star Pride is docked at Kralendijk (prononced "crawl en dike"), Bonaire. This is our first visit to Bonaire, so we wanted to get off the ship and do some exploring on our own.

Kralendijk, Bonaire

As one might deduce from the name "Kralendijk", Bonaire is a Dutch island. As such, it is very clean and very safe for tourists. After disembarking the ship, we walk down a pier to the security gate exit into the city.

About to exit the security gate at the pier

After you exit the security gate, if you walk to the right, you will find the post office, a bank and a nice tourist information center. Walk to the left, and you will be headed past restaurants and shops and will eventually arrive at a nice public beach. However, if other ships are in port, this beach can get crowded pretty quickly. A better, albeit more costly option, is to take a taxi (about $5 for two people) to Spice Beach. Spice Beach is a private beach that charges a nominal entrance fee, but that fee is applied to any food purchases at the restaurant there.

Spice Beach

Bonaire is one of the world's top diving and snorkeling destinations. So, if you are SCUBA certified, or just want to float on top of the water, this is the place to book your water excursion. Windstar offers a variety of snorkeling and SCUBA tours here.

If you are looking for souvenirs (as we always are), there is a small shopping mall just down the street from where the ship docks, right on the waterfront. We found a beautiful shop, "MG Bonaire", that had everything we were looking for at reasonable prices. Another plus is that the US Dollar is the official currency here, so when you pay with dollars, you will get dollars back in change!

A great place to find souvenirs just a short walk from the ship

There is a nice wide sidewalk that runs along the waterfront, all the way to the public beach. There are lots of benches along the way where you can stop and take a short break if necessary and just admire the beauty of the ocean. We enjoyed taking a stroll along the waterfront, stopping periodically to look at some colorful fish through the crystal clear water.

Star Pride docked in Kralendijk, Bonaire

This evening, we walked around the outer decks of Star Pride at sunset to get some photos. It was a perfect Caribbean sunset after a brief rain shower cooled things off.

Sunset in Bonaire

We end up at the Star Bar, as most guests do at sunset. This is the best place to be on Star Pride at sunset to meet for cocktails and conversation.

The Star Bar at sunset

We decided to skip dinner this evening. We have been enjoying ourselves a little too much at the dinner table! The food is good and we have little self-control. Another walk around the deck to burn off a few calories is in order.

Deck 8 after a brief shower

Tomorrow, Star Pride will dock in Curacao.