The Silversea Silver Nova Luxury Cruise

Introducing the Silversea Silver Nova Luxury Cruise Ship

Are we living in a new golden age of cruising? We tend to think of the 1930s and 1950s as high points of ocean travel, when ships criss-crossed the Atlantic competing for the Blue Riband and celebrities rubbed shoulders and clinked Champagne coupes over games of deck quoits. But 2023 looks set to become a benchmark for luxury cruises, with a next generation of ships that are technically light years beyond the classic cruise liners of the 20th century, yet retain all their sense of romance.

This summer, an elegant, swan-white ship slipped its moorings and took to the water for the first time. Silver Nova is the twelfth ship in the Silversea fleet — and also a ship of several firsts for the five-star cruise line, and the sort of vessel that could only exist in 2023. Her design has been steered by both the growing environmental considerations of the cruise industry, and by cutting-edge developments in nautical architecture. Also at play here is a post-pandemic philosophy that views ocean voyages as slow-travel experiences for more considered, leisurely encounters with the natural world and with different cultures.

As she sails around the Mediterranean and North Africa, then down across the Atlantic to Central America, the Caribbean and South America, guests on board will be able to connect with their destinations in a wholly new way. Key to this is Silver Nova’s innovative, asymmetrical design, which gives the highest space-to-guest ratio in Silversea’s fleet. She’s the first Silversea ship to be built on a horizontal basis, meaning that cabin suites are spaced out along the entire length of the ship, rather than towards the front, away from the engines.

From the Classic Veranda Suites upwards, each cabin has its own balcony and floor-to-ceiling windows, providing a sense of visual drama that continues in the glass elevators, the two-storey atrium, the 270-degree panoramas of the Terrazza restaurant and the top-deck swimming pool and infinity whirlpool. As you sail up the Panama Canal or down the Amazon, along the strikingly icy-blue Hubbard Glacier in Alaska or into the busy harbours of Hong Kong or Sydney, the IMAX-style vistas will keep you on the edge of your seat.

As well as being a floating window onto the world, Silver Nova is actively engaged with it. As the cruise industry responds to the growing desire for sustainable travel, Silver Nova showcases a raft of new technologies aimed at energy efficiency and protecting the ocean. With her hydrodynamic hull and propulsion system helping conserve fuel, she is the only Silversea ship to produce zero emissions while in port, thanks to shore-power innovations. She uses battery power to optimise fuel consumption and a waste-heat recovery system to further improve efficiency. None of this behind-the-scenes engineering affects the sheer luxury of being on board, of course. This is old-fashioned cruising in the best sense, with transfers, butler service and in-room dining all part of the Silversea experience.

The wellness treatments in the Otium spa are inspired by those of ancient Rome, while public spaces have an Italianate sensibility that recalls the ice-cream colours of Capri or Sorrento. Guests can stretch out in the sun in the cabanas around the main pool, and arrange rendezvous in Kaiseki for Japanese cuisine, or Spaccanapoli for Italian dishes — just two of the eight restaurants that also include the immersive S.A.L.T programme. Sundowner cocktails can be taken in the Dusk Bar or Panorama Lounge, perhaps, while mapping out the next destinations.

With Silversea CEO Barbara Muckermann describing her new launch as “paving the way for the future of ultra-luxury, sustainable cruising”, Silver Nova is a shining example of just how far cruising has evolved — a fresh perspective in every sense. 

Explore the suite options and amenities of Silver Nova at silversea.com