This new luxury ship is a feast for all the senses – but not how you’d expect

Words by Harriet Mallinson

It’s around the time our veal tartar is spritzed with anchovy perfume that confessions start to spill. You can learn a lot about fellow diners during an intimate 11-course meal with free-flowing wine, it turns out.

Conversation is perfectly civilized as the chef brush-paints ribbons of courgettes with vinegar and shaves truffles akin to volcanic rock over croquettes. But from the moment he sprays our plates like they’re heading out on the pull, the secrets come out. Marital affairs, raging public spats, broken promises: the stories seeping from fellow guests at Silver Ray’s Chef’s Table could rival a Jeremy Kyle episode… and I love it.

Bone broth bellows smoke like it’s escaping a sauna as the man’s third marriage is revealed. A lamb Wellington guarded by a security squad of peas is served as that infamous vacation is unveiled. Meringues are blowtorched – a quartet of huns getting a fake tan ahead of a Big One, their white exteriors turning a nutty brown – as the girlfriend’s shocking age gap becomes clear.

Silversea may not intend it, but time your trip to this added-extra dining experience [below, left & center] right and you could find yourself indulging in a feast of multiple senses: an unspoken benefit of small-ship cruising. Deepest fears and foolish hopes are shared as wine, champagne and espresso martinis are knocked back; boring “What do you do?” questions dispensed with as our culinary marathon bonds our intimate party for life.

– READ MORE: Sailawaze’s complete ship guide to Silver Ray –

This memorable repast aboard the new Silver Ray cruise ship is an unforeseen highlight of my journey from Venice to Athens but this must-book outpost isn’t the only thing to surprise me on my first Silversea cruise.

The luxury line is making great strides, with its new vessel, to steer away from cruise ship stereotypes, offering more swanky, we-do-it-differently hotel vibes than a staid, pile-up-at-the-buffet liner feel. Those who can afford it will doubtless be dazzled. “We can’t go on any other cruise line after this!” fellow passengers exclaim.

I myself emit a “Wow” when I first emerge onto the pool deck and take in an orange tree, an asymmetrical pool, myriad comfortable loungers (ensuring towelspace for all, even on sea days) and a restaurant studded with white flowers. Coupled with beach cabanas and Ibiza beats, it’s not unlike a Mediterranean rooftop; perhaps just one of the reasons Silver Ray has successfully been tempting those younger guests.

Silversea’s famous 24/7 champagne and caviar plus butler service certainly has its allure for cruisers old and new, but for me the gold-leaf topping is the free sushi at lunch in Kaiseki, where the salmon sashimi is so throat-slidingly rich I suspect it’s the lovechild of Nigella and Elon Musk. It’s the there’s-the-book-I-want library, with its striking constellation ceiling. It’s the simple yet effective cabin lighting modes, from “night”, which conveniently gives you time to hop back into bed before darkness falls, to “movie” mood-lighting – best enjoyed with fancy room service from Otium: Silversea’s Ancient Roman-inspired wellness and leisure concept. I choose lobster ravioli and crab rolls followed by macarons and a cinema box of popcorn. It’s what Caesar would have wanted.

– READ MORE: Everything to know about sister ship Silver Nova –

Epicurean novelties don’t stop there. In French eatery La Dame – where, upon arriving solo, I narrowly avoid being sat with someone else’s husband, like a Molière farce – there’s more smoke-infused drama. It blooms when a glass clôche is removed from my amuse bouche like a Gauloise-puffing genie and reveals a teeny, tiny onion – and nothing else. Later a palate-puzzling, pre-dessert pavlova brims with… goat’s cheese?

Over at musical-themed restaurant Silver Note, what M&S has done for Scottish salmon, Silversea has done for hors d’oeuvres. It’s not just bread, it’s pesto bread. It’s not just balsamic vinegar, it’s balsamic “pearls”. It’s not just olive oil, it’s “olive oil snow” – added maltodextrin transforming the velvety appetizer into, huh, white powder. Investment bankers will feel right at home (which is fortunate because you’ll need the salary of one to stay in Silver Ray’s opulent suites, clocking in at over £15,000 for this 11-nighter).

Of course, there’s a swanky gym onboard, too. In the Otium spa, Silver Ray helpfully provides motivational hunks by way of classical statues and images of Roman gods by the running machines – and the outside views are equally impressive from the thermal pool and sauna thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows (although no promises on the eye candy).

It’s up on the Panorama Lounge terrace sipping an Old Fashioned I feel the greatest wave of wellness wash over me though; strains of music from the live band drifting through the doors while the warm, sultry night somewhere off the coast of Croatia promises, well…anything.

– READ MORE: These are the best cruise lines in the world –