Dining on the Silver Spirit Cruise Ship

By Linda Garrison, About.com Guide to Cruises
Friday April 9, 2010

One of the best things about the new Silversea Silver Spirit is the number of diverse dining venues onboard.

Some are the same as those past Silversea cruisers have grown to love on the cruise line's other ships--The Restaurant, La Terraza, the Pool Grill, and Le Champagne. A wide range of items are also available from room service, including full meals from the dining room.

In addition, the Silver Spirit has three excellent new dinner options. The first is Seishin, the Asian restaurant, which carries a surcharge from $30 to $200 per person, depending on the menu and the drinks.

The second is the Hot Rock Grill, a casual restaurant outdoors above the pool that features a variety of grilled foods, all cooked on hot lava rocks.

The third new option is Stars, a supper club with small bites of interesting flavors and textures, followed by live entertainment.

Dining on the Silver Spirit was a real highlight of our cruise. The ship has seven dining venues and extensive room service, all of which are appealing in their own way. Complimentary wine is included at all restaurants except Le Champagne, and the ship also has a connoisseur's wine list.

The Pool Grill is the most casual, serving a Wellness breakfast on the pool deck, followed by grilled foods for lunch. The Pool Grill is open until 4 pm, so those who return to the ship late from ashore can still have a nice lunch.

La Terraza serves a delicious buffet breakfast and lunch. The fresh mangoes were some of the best I've ever tasted. The outdoor seating area is much larger than on the other ships. For dinner, La Terraza is an Italian restaurant, with an excellent menu that changes periodically.

The Restaurant is the large, main dining room that serves open seating breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The meals are quite elegant, and the food is diverse. The daily menu for both lunch and dinner is included in the "Silversea Chronicles", the daily newspaper. Each dinner features appetizers, intermezzo, sorbet, entrees, and desserts.

Hot Rock Grill is a new type of restaurant for the cruise industry. Guests cook their own grilled meat, fish, or shellfish on very hot lava rocks. The restaurant overlooks the pool from a covered seating area on deck 10. I loved this concept, as did all the other passengers on the Silver Spirit.

Stars is the new supper club on the Silver Spirit. It serves light bites of a variety of food served over five courses. Each morsel is about 2 or 3 bites, so by the time you've tried about 15 different dishes, it's plenty for dinner! Those who are hearty eaters can sample a whole bowl of pasta before dessert, so there's no fear of leaving the table hungry. Although Stars is advertised as a supper club, the show doesn't start until 10 pm, so most diners have finished dinner before the live entertainment starts.

Seishin is the new Silver Spirit Asian restaurant. This restaurant has an extra surcharge, but it's well worth it for those who love fine Asian food that is superbly prepared and served. Seishin has four different pricing structures. The first is a choice of one of two sampler menus, which are four courses and include complimentary wines. This menu is $30 per person. The second is the standard 8-course menu with complimentary wines, which is $40 per person. The third choice is the standard 8-course menu and sake, and the fourth choice is the standard 8-course menu and premium wines.

Le Champagne is the Silver Spirit's gourmet restaurant, which specializes in food and wine pairings. Silversea has partnered with Relais & Chateaux to develop the menus for Le Champagne. Since the wines are very exclusive, Le Champagne has a $200 per person surcharge.

Dining Options on the Silversea Silver Spirit - Information and 24 photos of the Silver Spirit dining venues