Like most cruise ships, Silver Spirit has a good
assortment of services and features beyond the basics of accommodation, food,
and entertainment. Here's a sampling:
Library. Silver Spirit
has two libraries:
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The
main library on Deck 7, where you'll find a good assortment of popular
books, magazines, the day's newspapers in various languages (see photo
above), DVDs that you can view in your suite, audio listening
stations, and PCs where you can browse the Web (see below), transfer files from your camera or
laptop to CDs, or print documents.
-
Several
bookcases in the Observation Lounge on Deck 12, which are filled with travel
guides and books about ships.
Books and DVDs are borrowed on the honor system: Just take what
you want and return it at your convenience. (No checkout required.)
Newspapers
in multiple languages. Each morning, you'll find a
four-page digest-style newspaper in the mail bracket outside your door.
Newspapers are supplied in a variety of languages, and--where possible--content
is targeted to the passenger's nationality.
In addition, Silversea offers a "Silvernews" option for
well-heeled news junkies. For US $7.50 per issue, the ship's staff will
download, print, and deliver a large-format satellite edition of a newspaper to
your cabin each day. (Choices include 280 newspapers from 50 countries.) Feeling
thrifty? You can save money by browsing among the newspapers in several
languages that are brought to the ship's library each day.
Casino.
Silver Spirit's small casino on Deck 8 is open for blackjack, roulette, and
slot machines when the ship is at sea. If your tastes run to contract bridge or
Old Maid, you can retire to the Card Room,
which offers "unsupervised play" for addicts of the four suits. (Some
voyages have bridge tournaments; look for a "Bridge" icon in Silversea's cruise
calendar.)
Boutiques.
You'll probably want to do most of your shopping on
shore, but if you have money to burn after winning at the casino--or if you have
an onboard credit that you need to spend--you can shop
for jewelry, designer clothes, cruisewear, Silversea logo items, perfumes, and
necessities in the shops on Deck 8.
Fitness
Center and Jogging Track. Silver Spirit has a
well-equipped gym on Deck 6, a small running track on Deck 10 (with free bottled
water in a cooler), and classes led by a personal trainer. Table tennis and
golf-putting competitions are also available, and you can swim laps in the pool
if you manage to beat the crowd.
Spa.
We didn't indulge ourselves with spa treatments (we're too Calvinist in our
upbringing to appreciate hands-on pampering by strangers), but readers of
Condé Nast Traveler Magazine voted Silver
Spirit's spa #1 in a 2012 poll. The spa, which measures 8,300 square feet
or 770 m², has nine treatment rooms, a thermal suite (inset photo), and other
amenities. Haircutting and other beauty treatments are also available.
Internet
access. Silversea has a variety of Internet packages, starting at 100
minutes. Alternatively, you can pay as you go. You'll pay the same rate whether
you use the PCs in the library or access the Internet via Wi-Fi anywhere on the
ship. (Our Internet package cost US $85 for 250 minutes, and satellite speeds
were excellent during our voyage from Lisbon to Monte Carlo.)
Laundry.
In addition to free laundromats, Silver Spirit provides same-day
laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing at rates that are comparable to what you
might pay at home. Just hang a laundry bag outside the door of your suite before
9 a.m., and your butler will bring the clean clothes to your suite during the
afternoon. (Your butler will also shine shoes at no charge.)
