Silversea Cruises’ 12th Vessel Silver Ray Inaugurated in Lisbon

Silversea Cruises officially welcomed Silver Ray to the fleet on June 12, during a naming ceremony in Lisbon attended by godmother Dr. Maria Josefina Olascoaga, professor of Ocean Science at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.

Travel Market Report was onboard, after sailing the ship’s shakedown cruise, which sailed roundtrip from Lisbon on June 9.

The 728-guest vessel is Silversea’s second ship in the Nova class, which first debuted in summer 2023 with Silver Nova. Silver Ray is a carbon copy of Nova, with the only changes being back-of-house improvements in efficiency, as well as tweaked menus in the Italian venue La Terrazza and French restaurant La Dame.

Departure from traditional Silversea design
The standout element of the Nova class is an innovative asymmetrical design. The result is a unique profile of the ship, with its funnel and stack located at opposite ends of the ship, and a revolutionary pool deck that completely faces outward. While sister company Celebrity Cruises started the outward-facing trend with its Edge-class vessels, Silversea has taken a giant step forward with the Nova class.

In the public areas, hallways are slightly offset, there aren’t any mirror images of seating areas or lounges from one side of the ship to the other. Even the elevator bays and staircases are asymmetrical. The forward lifts are only located on the port side while the aft lifts are only on the starboard side. While the pool deck is visually stunning and extremely functional, clients who are used to a traditional ship layout may find themselves disoriented while navigating the rest of the interior asymmetrical spaces.

Silversea’s goal to connect its guests with the ocean and the destinations is accomplished beautifully with more than 43,000 square feet (4,000 square meters) of glass wrapping around Silver Ray, including all six elevators. This results in 98% of the ship having stunning views through windows and wide-open top decks without obstructing bulkheads or superstructures.;

We can’t say enough about the gorgeous pool deck – and Silversea’s vice president of product strategy Andrea Tonet said it best: “Wherever we go, we are the best rooftop in town.” Indeed.

There are plenty of outdoor spaces in the sun and shade for lounging and relaxing, and the new-to-Nova-class Marquee venue combines healthy menus, a hot rocks grill, and a tempting pizzeria for all-day dining under the sun and stars. 

Horizontal layout also new to Silversea
Silver Ray also sports a horizontal layout – new on the Nova class, where all public areas are located on the bottom three and top two decks of the ship, and all accommodations are sandwiched between them on four decks. (Previous Silversea ships had all accommodations located forward on multiple decks while all public spaces are located aft.) Silver Ray’s layout allows a multi-level atrium, a two-story show lounge, and newly created categories of aft-facing suites. 

The Nova class boasts seven new suite categories, culminating with the 1,326-square-foot Otium Suite that has a private hot tub on the veranda.

Luxury that is definable and measurable
Speaking at a press meeting, Silversea’s newly appointed president Bert Hernandez said that luxury is definable and measurable through destination immersion, culinary innovation, and consistent, personalized service. 

“We are hyper-focused, and we have the resources to make this product even better,” Hernandez said, referring to the deep pockets of parent company Royal Caribbean Group, which spent approximately US$600 million to outfit Silver Ray with high-end amenities and sustainable technology. 

Silversea currently sails to nearly 90 countries on all seven continents, and its S.A.L.T. (Salt and Land Taste) culinary program further enhances the destination experience with regional food and beverages through a specialty restaurant, a bespoke bar, guest chef lecturers, and culinary-focused shore excursions. 

The S.A.L.T. Lab cooking class venue occupies prime real estate onboard Silver Ray, perched high on Deck 10 with a sky lit ceiling and a full wall of glass. In the evenings, the venue hosts an exclusive Chef’s Table dinner set only for 18 guests. 

At 54,700 gross registered tons and carrying only 728 guests, Silver Ray has one of the highest space-to-guest ratios at sea. To put it in simpler terms, if all 728 guests were to stand on Silver Ray’s pool deck, each person would have nearly 65 square feet of personal space. With 544 crew members, Silver Ray has one crew member for every 1.3 guests, and the result showed clearly in the service we received during our cruise. We were greeted by every passing crew member, service was prompt and anticipatory, and the hotel personnel remembered our names and preferences by day two.

One can typically expect missteps and misconnects during shakedown cruises, but we were hard-pressed to find any fault over our five-night experience.

Reaching new markets with Nova Class
Silversea has typically attracted affluent retirees and semi-retired professionals, but it is now experiencing growth in its demographics, we were told.

While the average guest age is mid-60s, the line is seeing a growing number of guests in their 40s to 50s, including many new-to-brand and even new-to-cruise customers.

The lower age group is also driven by Silver Nova sailing in Alaska with a dedicated kids’ program, and by Silver Origin, which offers seven-day family-friendly Galapagos sailings. The Antarctica Bridge expeditions that fly guests across the Drake Passage and shorten trips to as little as six days are also bringing younger cruisers, who otherwise may not consider cruising at all.

With Nova Class, Silversea is clearly aiming for a younger clientele who may have previously associated luxury cruising with stiff formality and a sedate atmosphere. Silver Ray offers nine dining venues, a chic pool deck, and – due to its asymmetrical design – sexy curves to boot.

Leveraging expertise from the Royal Caribbean Group, entertainment offerings have improved in number and variety, although it is still centered around solo performers and chamber musicians. The evening dress code has been relaxed – formal nights still exist but the number per voyage has been reduced and there is now an option for guests to opt out of dressing up (however, a jacket is required for gentlemen while indoors).

Where does that leave loyal guests, who may number as high as 45% on any given sailing? Now with 12 ships in the fleet, there are 10 other classic and intimate ships to appease traditionalists, and Silversea is fine with that.