Silversea Cruises Silver Spirit floats out at Fincantieri shipyard

Silversea Cruises' has now floated out its new ship Silver Spirit from dry to wet dock at its Italian shipyard. This was was marked by a ceremony at the shipyard attended by senior management from Silversea and Fincantieri.

Before being delivered in December, the 540-passenger Silver Spirit will now undergo its final outfitting works over the next few months.

All-suite Silver Spirit will embark on her 11-day "Holiday Spirit" maiden voyage on the 23rd December, sailing from Barcelona to Lisbon. This will then be followed on January 3, 2010 by a 16-day "Maiden Crossing" from Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale where her formal naming ceremony will be held on January 21. She will then set a course for New York on her Grand Inaugural Voyage.

“This is the dawn of a new era of luxury cruising for Silversea and the industry at large,” said Silversea Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre. “Much planning and collaboration has gone into the design of our newborn, and it is exciting both as a company, and personally, to see Silver Spirit evolve through the final phases of her construction.”

The ship, the fifth in the Silversea fleet, will spend the summer in the Mediterranean and reposition to the Caribbean for autumn and winter cruises.

At 36,000-tons, she will accommodate 540 guests in spacious suites, 95 percent of which feature a private veranda. The vessel will also have one of the highest space-to-guest ratios at sea, at 6,700 cubic feet of personal space per guest. Italian architect Giacomo Mortola has designed the public areas with a 1930s Art Deco ambience. Silver Spirit will also  boast an 8,300-square-foot indoor/outdoor spa with a whirlpool (and another three by the pool), and six restaurants, including an alternative venue for Asian-inspired fusion cuisine and a supper club offering contemporary foods and all-night entertainment.

Phil's comment: In a world headlined by the largest cruise ships to set sail and the biggest theatres, pool areas, climbing walls - the list is endless... Yet here we have a fantastic example of big is not always beautiful and one thing that I can assure you, is, Silver Spirit will be beautiful. You will be able to research the itineraries online at www.thecruisevillage.com and also our luxury cruise website www.cruiseinstyle.co.uk

Please do not hesitate to call Lisa, Kathy or Vicki for further information on Silversea Cruises newest addition to their fleet - Silver Spirit.

This is a cruise blog entry by Phil