Review: Silversea’s newest ship is a ray of light

A sunny springtime cruise around Spain on Silversea’s new Silver Ray is an immersion in history, culture and, most of all, food.

Sunset, and the al fresco Dusk Bar on Silver Ray was bathed in golden light. I was sipping a large G&T. The ship’s sax player, Mariia, was playing dreamy chillout tunes as the jagged Sierra Nevada mountains of Andalucia faded into the haze.

This, I thought to myself, is about as perfect as it gets. I was on a ship that ticked a lot of boxes for me – cool venues, outdoor living, great food, gorgeous balcony cabins – cruising around Spain, one of my favourite countries. My family has a house near Granada but I’d felt it was time to expand my horizons between our regular visits, which mainly consist of beach, BBQs and, in winter, skiing. This 11-night voyage would call at Cadiz, Tangier, Gibraltar, Malaga, Cartagena, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca, finishing in Barcelona.

Silversea’s Culinary Focus

The 728-passenger Silver Ray launched in summer 2024, an identical twin to Silver Nova. Like Nova, the ship embodies Silversea’s S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste) program, a mission to dive deep into local cuisine through dining, cookery classes and excursions. This mission was quickly accomplished as for me, at least, food was central to everything.

First Night Flavours

One restaurant, the S.A.L.T. Kitchen, is dedicated entirely to the food of the region the ship is sailing through: in this case, Portuguese, Spanish and Moroccan dishes appeared on the menu every day. Wasting no time, my husband David and I headed there on our first night. We’d just sailed from Lisbon in gusty winds, under rather disappointingly grey skies, but it was April, early in the season, and sunnier weather was promised as we headed south.

The first day’s specials were Portuguese. I kicked off with bolinhas de queijo de cabra – goat cheese fritters with a tangy tomato preserve – and dourada a lagareiro, sea bream with garlic roast potatoes and a lemony sauce with olives and coriander. Both were next level. The restaurant was quiet; I heard Italian, Australian and British voices but the American guests, by far the biggest group on board, were all (I presumed, snobbishly) eating steak in Atlantide, the very elegant main restaurant serving the kind of classics you’d find in a posh American grill.

Exploring Spain and Beyond

We docked in Cadiz and the ship emptied; nearby Seville is a big highlight of any Spain cruise. Having been there recently, David and I decided to explore the much-underrated Cadiz instead. It was fabulous. How could it not be with so much history? This is western Europe’s oldest city, founded on a skinny peninsula in 1100 BC by the Phoenicians, who called it Gadir. It’s all jumbled, whitewashed buildings, hulking churches and leafy squares lined with vast trees brought as saplings from the New World some 300 years ago.

We admired ancient strangler figs the size of houses, their branches propped up by scaffolding, and soaked up the spring sunshine on Playa de la Caleta, the city’s beach. This spot actually doubled up as Cuba in the Bond film Die Another Day; it’s here that a bikini-clad Halle Berry emerged from the water, attracting the eye of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond.

A Day in Morocco

While my primary reason for choosing this cruise was to learn more about Spain, I was thrilled to spend a day in Morocco, specifically Tangier. I’ve always wanted to see Chefchaouen, the Blue City, which lies in a bowl high in the Rif mountains, framed by sheer limestone cliffs. The whole of the medina, the original part of the city, is a warren of streets and staircases painted an eye-popping shade of cobalt blue. Some say it’s the legacy of the Jews who fled here from Spain in the 15th century and wanted to feel closer to heaven. Others claim that the blue is simply to ward off mosquitoes. Either way, I was enchanted. Cats snoozed in the sunshine, colourful Berber carpets hung from every wall, and vendors touted leather bags and baskets of mountain herbs, the scent of which filled the air. It was a wonderful day – and by the end of it I could even pronounce the place name, “chef-chow-un”.

Included Experiences in Every Port

If you book Silversea’s Port to Port fare, or the even more inclusive Door to Door, there’s an excursion included in every port. In Gibraltar, we joined the WWII tunnels tour, one of the included activities, and didn’t regret it, partly thanks to an excellent guide who took us through some of the labyrinth of tunnels inside the limestone monolith, once used to shelter troops and civilians and to store munitions.

We had another great guide on the included tour in Cartagena, where we explored the Roman Theatre Museum. This theatre was built in the first century BC but lay buried under centuries of development, undiscovered until 1988 when the first stones and artefacts were found during the restoration of a nearby church. Years of digging slowly back through time have uncovered the theatre in almost perfect condition.

In Malaga, we marvelled at the sombre religious art in the cathedral and clambered around the ramparts of Gibralfaro Castle, built by the Moors in the 10th century. The Moors ruled Andalucia for seven centuries and their legacy is everywhere, from place names to art and architecture to food.

Cookery Classes in the S.A.L.T Lab

David and I learned more about this back on board, when we joined a cookery class (included in the fare) in the S.A.L.T. Lab, making pollo en pepitoria. This dish of fried chicken in a deliciously gooey sauce containing almonds, wine, stock, saffron and hard-boiled eggs is an example of what people ate in Andalucia long before the days when potatoes and tomatoes arrived in Europe from the New World.

Relaxed Luxury Onboard

We spent so much time ashore, walking, that we tended to be lazy back on board. The pool is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen on a ship, but the air was still cool in spring, so instead, we’d ease our aching muscles in the infinity-edge hot tub, The Cliff, on Deck 11. We did a Spanish conversation class one day but left the Name That Tune and daily quizzes to our fellow passengers. One night, the Sevilla Flamenco Company performed in the theatre and had the whole audience on their feet. This was no cheesy tourist show; the singing, dancing and guitar were intense, passionate and dramatic.

Dining Highlights

A great deal of time, I admit, was devoted to food: thinking about it, deciding where to go, savouring it. Silver Ray is that kind of ship. The Marquee, a pretty space on deck with sunlight filtering through slatted shades, did the best healthy breakfasts – green juice, Greek yoghurt with nuts and honey, spinach and mushroom quesadillas. We’d often come here for lunch, too, of salads and spectacular pizzas straight from the oven.

There were elaborate tapas in Silver Note, a sultry supper club with a fantastic jazz duo. We enjoyed a spectacular, 11-course wine-paired tasting menu at Chef’s Table – as the S.A.L.T. Lab becomes at night, when it’s an exclusive restaurant for just 18. But we kept returning to the S.A.L.T. Kitchen, especially once I’d discovered the Moroccan platter and shlata chizo, a spectacular carrot, cumin and chickpea salad.

A Perfect Ending in Palma

I finally tried the S.A.L.T. concept ashore in Palma, Mallorca. We visited Oliver Moragues, a biodynamic winery high on Es Pla, the central plateau of Mallorca, with vines stretching away in every direction from a rambling, honey-coloured old farmhouse. Local chef Deborah Piña Zitrone, whose mission is to preserve Mallorca’s culinary heritage, cooked arroz meloso, a creamy rice dish using bomba rice from Valencia, explaining about the island’s cuisine as we sampled the estate’s light, dry rosé. 

Everybody else’s arroz meloso was flavoured with cuttlefish and sobrasada, a rich, pork-based sausage that appears on every menu here. My meat-free version was packed with flavours from fennel – using the bulb and the leaves – to artichoke heart, spring onion, peas and cauliflower. We ate at long tables in the shade of an ancient olive tree, sunshine filtering through the branches, a farm cat basking in a pool of warmth, before touring the vineyard in a happy, slightly boozy haze, with Gabriel Oliver, whose family has farmed this estate since 1511. I’d certainly saved the best till last.

Favourite meal

Without doubt, the offerings in S.A.L.T. Kitchen, although if you’ve got the money, the Chef’s Table is worth it; they’ll adapt the tasting menu for special diets.

What to pack

There’s no compulsory black-tie night on Silver Ray. Formal is optional so dressy eveningwear is fine for women and a jacket and shirt with collar is OK for men. All sorts of extras are provided on board, including sunblock by the pool and tasteful water bottles to keep.

Secret tip

Silversea is all-inclusive, so a decent choice of restaurants, a wide range of drinks, tips, basic WiFi, most gym classes and the thermal suite in the spa are all covered, as well as some tours, according to your fare basis. You can have an excellent cruise without paying a cent extra.

If you do want to try the extra-cost restaurants, bide your time and study the daily program. On my cruise, La Dame, for fancy French cuisine, was reduced from about $250 to about $155 on some nights, while Chef’s Table was down from about $280 to about $185.

To book a cruise on Silver Ray, head to silversea.com