I knew my first luxury cruise would be different from Royal Caribbean, but a few aspects truly surprised me.

I've been on almost 100 Royal Caribbean sailings, but I was intrigued by the prospect of trying something completely different.

When loyalty status matching was updated, I jumped at the opportunity to try out Silversea.  It meant going on a luxury ship without truly abandoning what I'm familiar with, because Silversea is owned by Royal Caribbean.

After spending a week on Silver Dawn, I came home with 11 surprises from the experience that I wasn't expecting.

The butlers are very different from a Royal Genie

I was excited by the idea of having a butler for the first time on a cruise, but the experience was very different from the Royal Genie service.

Luxury cruise ships are known for offering each suite a butler, but in practice, it's not what I expected.

I suppose in retrospect it makes sense that your butler is only available to help you in your suite.  If I had a butler in my house, they would be there too.

I asked a few different cruisers I met how they maximize their butlers, and most told me the same thing: you basically have to live in your suite to get the most out of it.

That's a bit different from the Royal Genie in Star Class suites, where their services can be used around the ship.

Moreover, I liked I could message my Royal Genie through WhatsApp.  On Silver Dawn, I could only get a hold of the butler by calling them from my cabin phone.

That's not a big deal, but on a few occasions it would have been more practical to message the butler to prepare something as I make my way back to my room.

I expected a stuffy dress code, but most people wore collared shirt and no jacket

If I had a concern before my first Silversea cruise, it was the dress code requirements.

I came into the cruise worried about having to wear a suit every night, but the truth is it's not as formal as I expected.

Silversea relaxed their dress code standards fairly recently, and it was no where near as formal as others had warned me about.

There wasn't even a formal night on our sailing. Evidently I have to be on a longer cruise to have one.

The basic dress code was no jeans or shorts after 6pm, and you needed to have a collared shirt in the restaurants.  Jackets were optional.

And yes, the crew did enforce the rules. I spoke with various guests who told me about how they or someone else were informed they didn't meet the dress code standards.  In those situations, men were offered a jacket to borrow.

During the day, I had no issues wearing what I would wear on Royal Caribbean. Shorts, t-shirts, flip flops were all perfectly acceptable.

Far fewer men than I expected wore a jacket to dinner, so it wasn't nearly as strict as I once feared.

No lines anywhere

One thing I quickly noticed on Silver Dawn was that there were basically no lines or crowds.

You often hear about how cruises have long lines and crowds, but Silver Dawn didn't have them at all.  In fact, a few times I went to figure out where everyone was because so many areas were completely empty.

When I asked cruisers onboard why they picked a luxury ship, many said they did it to avoid crowds. They could appreciate what the big ships offer, but didn't want to deal with competing for lounge chairs or lines.

I certainly didn't think the ship would feel as crowded as an Oasis Class ship, but I never thought it would be as empty as it felt.

The incredible service by crew members

No matter which cruise line I've sailed on, crew members have always worked incredibly hard to stand out.  But on Silversea, it went to a different level.

Because the crew to passenger ratio is lower on a luxury ship, I think it was easier for the crew to learn passenger names and what they liked.

By the third day of the sailing, I could count on walking into a bar or lounge and at least one crew member greeting me by name  as soon as I walked in.

Food selections are incredible, even at buffet

I expected the food would better on Silversea than on Royal Caribbean, and I wasn't disappointed.

I think it's fair to assume a luxury cruise would have better food, and it was exemplified at the buffet when they had every day a large selection of sushi.

There were cooking stations at the buffet too, but the dishes came out looking like something I'd get from a specialty restaurant.

In the ship's Main Dining Room, every night there was filet mignon, lobster tail, shrimp, and other cuts of steak to choose from. 

When I ate at the ship's French specialty restaurant, La Dame, there were some really high-end food served, such as foie gras.

My favorite place for food was at the S.A.L.T. lab and restaurant, which sources food from the areas your ship visits.  

Not only is it a really smart idea to incorporate the ship experience into the region you are visiting, but there were fantastic food choices. 

Surprised the premium WiFi costs extra

Considering Silversea is all inclusive, I was surprised there were tiers of internet service.

The cruise fare comes with basic WiFi included, but it's fairly useless.  It's heavily throttled and works only for messaging.

I paid $365 to upgrade to a 2-device premium WiFi package. Not only was that a high cost, but I think a luxury cruise line that says it's all inclusive should include the high speed internet.

In case you're wondering, Silversea uses Starlink too, and the speeds were great.

The only furnishings that disappointed me were the balcony chairs

From the pool chairs, to the lounges, to the towels in my cabin, everything felt luxurious except for my balcony chairs.

It's a minor thing, but I spent time on my balcony on numerous occasions and noticed the chairs and table out there were almost identical to the ones you'd find on a new Royal Caribbean ship.

Moreover, Royal Caribbean suite balconies have more plush chairs with ottomans. 

I felt like it was an easy fix, and perhaps Silversea's newer ships already have them.

Beer selection is surprisingly bad

I think the only double take I did on my cruise was when I asked about the beers to order.

Royal Caribbean's beer selection has always been disappointing, but Silversea's beers are even worse.  You'll find just the generic beers, with little flavor discrepancy.

As you can see in the photo, there isn't much in the way of IPAs, craft beers, or some of the trendier malt beverages.

I'm guessing the average Silversea cruiser doesn't ask for them, but considering how much wider their liquor selection was than Royal Caribbean, I was surprised how limited the beer options were.

No app or check in

I thought I did something wrong when I couldn't find the Silversea app, but turns out there isn't one.

From what I understand they are working on developing an app, but in the meantime there isn't an app.

Truthfully, you don't need the app onboard because there's a mobile website you can access once connected to the WiFi and it had what I needed: activities, my bookings, a copy of the newsletter, and more.

I was equally surprised to find a lack of an online check-in option, but maybe that's just because I'm conditioned to have one on Royal Caribbean.

When I arrived at the ship for check-in in Copenhagen, there was no line at all and just one person ahead of me.  I suppose you don't need a fancy online check-in if there's not a crowd issue to contend with.

Reservations needed for the popular specialty restaurants

Another nuance of the luxury cruise experience is how specialty dining works.

There are essentially three tiers of restaurants on Silversea:

1. Included restaurants that don't require reservations (Main Dining Room)
2. Specialty restaurants that are included in your cruise fare (Silver Note, The Grill)
3. Specialty restaurants that cost money (Kaiseki, La Dame)

How all the reservations worked was more confusion than I anticipated pre-cruise.  

Some restaurants absolutely require reservations or you pretty much cannot dine there. Kaiseki and La Dame pretty much sold out almost immediately, whereas Silver Note and The Grill had more flexibility.

The takeaway here is just because restaurants are included, you can't go in anytime you want. I'd recommend making reservations as early as you can to ensure you can get in.

Status matching was easy, but it didn't get me much

I tried Silversea because of the status matching offered, but it really didn't get me much.

That's a bit misleading, because Silversea includes so much more in the cruise fare than Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.

If you think about all the best benefits you get from Crown & Anchor Society or Captain's Club, they're almost all perks that included with a luxury cruise.

I got free laundry, which was a godsend to not have to ration clean clothing. 

Speaking of status, there isn't as much recognition of status like you do on the other lines. Your Seapass card doesn't have your status level listed or different colors to your card. That's fine with me, just a different approach.

I've been cruising with Royal Caribbean for 20 years, but a recent change in the loyalty status matching opened my eyes to trying a luxury cruise.

Royal Caribbean Group owns three primary cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea.  Thanks to an improvement with status matching across all the lines, I thought this was the perfect time to try Silversea.

The idea of going on a small ship that can get into places the bigger Royal Caribbean ships cannot, along with an elevated touch through with cuisine and service, sounded like something worth trying.

Thanks to an invitation from Silversea, I was able to sail on Silver Dawn on a 7-night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. In the interest of full disclosure, Silversea paid for my cruise fare, dining, and shore excursions onboard.

I had just completed a Norwegian fjords cruise on Independence of the Seas, so I was excited to compare the experiences.

Silver Dawn: A new ship with enough to keep me busy

A luxury cruise is quite different from a Royal Caribbean cruise, yet it retains the basics of both.

It launched in 2021, which makes it the same as as Odyssey of the Seas.  That's effectively still a new ship, and I've always gravitated towards new ships because they offer the latest and greatest features onboard.

The ship boasts have only suites as its cabins, numerous restaurant choices (including the S.A.L.T. program), and the Otium spa and wellness concept. 

I chose this ship and itinerary for two reasons: I wanted to be on a newer ship so I could enjoy the best features, and I wanted an itinerary to take advantage of the ship's size.  

Silver Dawn has 11 decks (although decks 1 and 2 are not accessible to passengers), and it can accommodate 596 passengers. 

Like all Silversea ships, it's all-inclusive, which means much more of the cruise experience is included in your fare.  Drinks, most specialty restaurants, basic Wi-Fi, and even some shore excursions are included.

A different way to cruise

There are two aspects of a Silversea cruise that stood out to me from the get go that intrigued me.  They are all inclusive and everyone gets a butler.

While the core cruise experience is the same, nearly every nuance of it is different on Silversea and it was an interesting change.

Silversea includes far more in its cruise fare than Royal Caribbean does, although the cruise fare will likely cost more on Silversea.

In speaking with several passengers that had booked the same suite type as me, the cost of this cruise was between $8,000 and $10,000 for two people.

That includes:

• Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
• Food, including all but 2 specialty restaurants
• Butler service in your suite
• Gratuities
• Basic Wi-Fi access

There are no inside cabins here. The most basic of suites has a balcony, bathroom with shower and tub, sofa, dining area, and more.

In addition to the stateroom attendant, the butler will arrange almost anything you can imagine while in your suite.

Your butler can unpack your bags, draw a bath, set up any meal or snack you ask for, bring you drinks, and more.

You share the butler with 13 other suites, but I think I waited more than 35 seconds for my butler to appear after paging him just once.

The downside to the butler is their services work only in your suite. Unlike the Royal Genie service, they aren't available elsewhere.

I asked other cruisers who have sailed with Silversea a lot what's their secret to the butlers, and many said the same thing: to best utilize the butler, you have to basically live out of your suite.

That's fine for some people, but I like to be out and about.  Nonetheless, my butler was very helpful when I needed him and more.  One day I came back from a long shore excursion and he had drawn a bath for me without me asking. I didn't need it, but it did feel lovely to have it.  On another day, there was truffle butter popcorn waiting in my room for a movie night (I just ate the popcorn instead).

The all inclusive nature makes it difficult to compare to Royal Caribbean, especially the Crown and Anchor benefits.

I did a status match before my cruise began with my Pinnacle Club status to Silversea's Venetian Society.

When I did that for Celebrity Cruises, I was impressed how good their top level Captain's Club benefits were.  However, since so much is already included with Silversea, the best I had was free laundry.  To be clear, I used my free laundry benefit a lot, but don't expect much from your equivalent Venetian Society benefits.

The great thing about pretty much all of the food and drinks being included (and even some shore excursions), is you don't fret over what you want to do.

Just like the convenience of a Royal Caribbean drink package, you're able to take full advantage of what the ship has.

What's it like onboard

Speaking of the ship, the onboard experience was probably the second most asked question after the cost by our readers.

Silver Dawn is quite small compared to any Royal Caribbean ship, but it has a pool, hot tubs, bars, restaurants, jazz lounge, observation lounge, and spa.

What you won't find are kids clubs, water slides, adults-only areas, suite-only areas, and the Royal Caribbean level of live entertainment.

Many readers wanted to know if I was bored, and I can honestly say I wasn't.  

There was a production show every night, which is roughly the same quality as any Royal Caribbean production show on a pre-Oasis Class ship.

But I fell in love with the S.A.L.T. Bar onboard.

Silversea's S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste) program is about integrating local food and drink with the cruise experience.  In the lab, you can learn to cook local food. In the restaurant, you can dine on local cuisines.  In the bar, you can enjoy liquors from the region.

The bar was my go-to spot because they had the best mixologists I've ever had on any cruise. It was a masterclass in cocktails, and they even offered a cocktail making class.

There was a schedule of events each day (printed in a paper newsletter or available on the TV or online), and there was just enough happening to keep you busy. You certainly could attend almost every event in any day.

In terms of dining, there's no question the quality of food offered is better than most restaurants on Royal Caribbean.

The buffet blew me away with always having sushi and sashimi every day at lunch. Atlantide (the Main Dining Room) had filet mignon, lobster, shrimp, and a litany of daily choices to consider.

I tried the S.A.L.T. cooking class, where we made venison and berry tarts.

At Silver Note, I enjoyed a jazz duet while having dinner. And The Grille had hot rocks you could cook on, with filet, lobster, mahi mahi, and more.

And then there's the service onboard.  Royal Caribbean has great crew members, but because the ratio of crew to guests is much lower on a luxury ship, the crew are going to know you very well, very quickly.

On a few occasions, they knew my name before I ever said introduced myself or gave them my card. I still don't know how they did it.

And of course, the ship is small and there are no crowds. I never waited for an elevator, always found seats at the pool and bar, and many times had to go out of my way to try to find where there were a group of people.

Fjords, trains, and berries

One of the best reasons to sail on a small luxury ship is where it can go, and I had a packed itinerary.

Our sailing departed Copenhagen, Denmark and visits 5 ports of call in Norway: Vik, Nordfjordeid, Ålesund, Trondheim, and Åndalsnes.

Because of our ship's size, we could fit into ports that big ships cannot, such as Vik.

I booked a variety of excursions, including boat tours and trains that take you all around.  

There were two tours that really stood out in Vik and Ålesund.

In Vik, we boarded a classic train on the Flåm Railway that took us through some of the most scenic areas of the trip.

The railway is 20 km long and takes you through spectacular valleys that offer great views of nature and the exceptional engineering skill to have built the railway itself.

Over in Ålesund, I wanted to experience more of the fjords, so I booked a boat tour of nearby Hjørundfjorden.

We hopped right onto a boat to take us on a journey where we saw steep mountains, deep fjords, and small villages around the way.

Our captain even pulled right up to a waterfall and gave us all a cup of water from it.

The beauty of Norway surrounds you on this cruise, and what I really liked being able to turn almost anywhere and find something to see.

Something else that would never happen on Royal Caribbean is the Captain announced after our visit to Vik, he purchased bushels of fresh strawberries from a farmer he knew and there would be fresh strawberries for us to enjoy.

Sure enough, every morning there were fresh strawberries and it was such a treat.

Who is Silversea for?

I spend most of my week thinking who is a Silversea cruise ideally for, and I came up with three groups of people:

• Someone regularly booking an Owners Suite or Grand Suite on Royal Caribbean
• Someone who cruised with their family, but the kids are older and moved out
• Someone who wants to visit places Royal Caribbean ships never/can't go

That's not the limit, but I think people fitting into one of those categories would find the transition the most opportunistic.

You're going to likely pay much more for Silversea than a mainstream line, but you'll get much more included, along with a lot less people to contend with.

I think the Silversea product is designed for people that value service, fine dining, and no crowds. Plus, the places Silversea ships can visit are incredible.  

You'll find Silversea ships sailing to Antarctica, Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, The Galapagos, and offering world cruises. The destinations alone might be the most attractive factor.

Kids are welcome onboard, but there aren't dedicated areas for them. I think my teenage girls would like the butler services and the fact they can order filet mignon every night. My oldest would miss the teen club, but I doubt she'd mind having the pool deck virtually to herself.

My first Silversea cruise spoiled me, and I wanted more

My takeaway from a week on Silver Dawn was the level of service and things you can only find on a luxury ship really stood out.

There's no question there's far less happening onboard than on Royal Caribbean, but I leaned into the luxury experience more and more as the sailing went on.

Because of the ratio of crew members to guests, after a couple of days, you're going to feel like Norm from "Cheers" when you walk into any bar, restaurant, or lounge.  Everyone knows your name, and probably your order.

I thought having a bath was silly, but I used it a few times as a way to unwind before dinner.  I asked once for raspberries from my butler, and then there was a bowl always stocked in my cabin.

When you look at the price of a luxury cruise, there's going to be sticker shock if you're used to booking rooms lower than a suite. But what you get is a different kind of experience that triples down on the service, food, and experiences you can't get on a megaship.

Another cruise line relying on the Healthy Sail Panel will require all of its passengers to be fully vaccinated.

SilverSea, a luxury cruise line part of the Royal Caribbean Group, announced it will require all guests and passengers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

An update on its website notes the new requirement, "All embarking crew and guests must have been fully vaccinated prior to sail date in order to board our ships. This requirement may differ according to region and country obligations."

SilverSea is now the second cruise line with ties to the Healthy Sail Panel that plans on allowing only fully vaccinated guests, following Norwegian Cruise Line's proposal to the CDC to do the same last week.

The Healthy Sail Panel is an independent group of scientists and public health experts, which is a joint venture of the Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Royal Caribbean International has not proposed to require all guests be fully vaccinated on its ships.  In fact, Royal Caribbean has only committed itself thus far to requiring the vaccine for adults on select ships restarting sailings this summer.  Children can sail with a negative Covid test.

Read more: Everything we know about if Royal Caribbean will require a vaccine

SilverSea has other protocols listed that are similar to Royal Caribbean's plans, including:

• Pre-embarkation health screening
• COVID-19 test prior to boarding
• Potential reduced capacity during first months returning to service
• Shore excursions only booked through the cruise line
• Masks in all indoor public areas
  • Masks will not be required while seated in restaurants, at tables in bars, and in outdoor areas in which physical distancing can be maintained

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has banned cruise ships from sailing from the United States since March 2020 due to operating a cruise ship during the global health crisis.

Cruise lines have been doing just about anything they can in order to get permission to sail again from U.S. waters. Proposals like NCL and SilverSea are seen by some as a move to do everything they can to cater to the CDC's concerns.

On April 3, the CDC released a small update to its recommendations for cruise lines that want to restart operations in U.S. waters, but there was not much hope in the update that cruises sailing again was coming soon.