Silver Nova review: Why Silversea’s newest ship redefines luxury cruising along Australia’s northern coast
There is a moment just after leaving Cairns when the coastline slips into haze and the Coral Sea turns the colour of brushed metal. The humidity loosens, the horizon widens, and Silver Nova — Silversea’s first Nova Class ship and the second-newest addition to the fleet – feels exactly where it should be. This is a vessel designed not to dominate the sea, but to dissolve into it.
Silver Nova is carved from light. Walls give way to sweeping panes of glass, corners soften into curves, sightlines carry the eye outward. The effect is a ship that moves with the horizon rather than against it. It feels less like being on something and more like being inside something, the sea close and always shaping the mood.
Suites — there are only 364 — continue this sense of gentle luxury. They are cocooned with timber textures, stone-soft neutrals and linen that cools the skin after time outdoors. Each has a private veranda, which makes sunrise and sunset something intimate rather than a grand sharing with thousands of other guests.
And each comes with a private butler, on call to deliver room-service breakfast, should you wish, or caviar, blinis and champagne as the day begins to fade.
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This time to truly consider your surrounds matters on an Australian voyage north because the coastline between Cairns and Darwin is not merely dramatic — it’s deeply storied Country that moves you in many ways. When guests step ashore it’s often with Indigenous guides; what unfolds is a conversation rather than the average coach-and-microphone tour.
Mangrove roots become markers of tidal calendars. Shell middens reveal thousands of years of human continuity. Every outing is shared with equal parts education, grace and humour.
One evening in Port Douglas stays with me long after departing port. The Flames of the Forest dinner is held deep beneath the Daintree Rainforest canopy, where fairy lights scatter like constellations and the air is fragrant with earth and night jasmine. The meal unfolds to the pulse of the didgeridoo with some fire twirling heating the mood between courses.
On board, time stretches in the best possible way. Days on Silver Nova are not filled with casinos and buffet queues, rather, insightful perspectives of the ports you’re visiting and the people who curate the journey. One day, a reef pilot speaks about reading the Coral Sea by colour, pattern and light. Another, a historian frames the Queensland coastline as a network of ancient trade and movement, with Indigenous and colonial stories shaping Australia’s heritage along the way. The tone is not instructional, and invites you start to look more closely.
The ship itself deepens that awareness. Silver Nova carries a considered collection of about 1800 artworks by 59 artists from 25 countries, most commissioned for the spaces they inhabit. The pieces don’t shout for attention, but they certainly turn heads. A bronze figure glimpsed between levels. A mosaic echoing tidal pools. Murano glass that glows differently as the day turns. It encourages a habit of noticing — the same habit that makes the coastline richer to experience.
Dining follows a similar logic — thoughtful, unforced and grounded in a sense of place across all eight restaurants and seven bars. Many restaurants are included in the fare, which keeps the mood relaxed. Atlantide is the ship’s culinary anchor and where seafood stars.
Kaiseki offers a Japanese aesthetic of clarity and precision. And The Marquee moves between indoors and outdoors, open to air and light and serving the day’s catch cooked over flames. Design here is inspired by the Med — think dusky blue tiles and tables set around four cherry blossom trees.
Then there are the specialty venues — worth the supplement. La Dame, with its low, warm lighting and quiet confidence, feels like an evening held in one of France’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants. And the Chef’s Table, seating only a small number of guests, unfolds as a 11-course degustation. Each plate is a bite that introduces conversation, both about the paired wine and the ingredients used, which, when in Australian waters, nod to native flavours — finger limes, muntries, Davidson plum, wattleseed, kangaroo, macadamias.
The Otium Spa extends the ship’s philosophy into the body. Inspired by the Roman ideal of luxurious leisure, it’s a place you could surrender to for a day. Many do. Perhaps beginning in the Finnish-style sauna with ocean views for days before booking a bathing ritual replete with candles and artful nibbles — you can also have these snacks delivered to your room.
Then, easing into a high-tech facial or massage, with add-ons to revive tired eyes after jet-lag or nourish your hair after a day in the ocean. The thoughtful touches on Silver Nova are not in-your-face – but they never go unnoticed.
