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THE EXPERIENCE:

I could tersely begin and end this entire section with my daughter's pronouncement: "Amazing. Just... amazing!" and leave it at that, but I won't.

First of all, this was not a smooth crossing. We experienced very rough seas during a great portion of our journey. We ended up missing two ports in the itinerary.

In an unfortunate scenario such as this, it's -- at the very least -- comforting to be on a ship like The Shadow and in the capable hands of an experienced, professional, responsible and fast-thinking officer like our Captain Chiesa. He was, in fact, heroic.

Safe in St. John's

When he found out that we would be sailing directly into the path of Hurricane Gustav's tailwinds as it edged up the coast of Canada, he increased speed and got us through the narrow mouth of St. John's (Newfoundland) Harbor where we sat, safe and secure, for two days. The Golden Princess, a much larger ship, wasn't so fortunate. Following virtually the same itinerary, she was about an hour and a half behind us in arriving at St. John's; she arrived when scheduled but by then, the winds were too high to negotiate the harbor mouth. She and her passengers had to anchor in open seas, battered and pounded by Gustav, while we on The Shadow were tied down and comfortable at dockside. Sure, it was disappointing to have to miss Sydney and St. Pierre, but we didn't suffer... we were in an all-inclusive luxury resort with a water view, and we were safe.

The "experience" began when we received our documents from Silversea, which arrived via Fedex. Inside a cardboard box was a simple, elegant jewelry case, low enough and flat enough to go into a suitcase. Inside that was a leatherette document folder which held our documents, luggage tags, and two booklets. One of the booklets, in fine velum paper with a silver cover, was a listing of shore excursions and port information; on closer inspection, we saw that it was printed specifically for our trip, with the voyage number and the exact dates of our stops. That alone gave me insight into how classy and personalized our journey was to be.

All of the Silver Shadow suites are large and beautifully appointed. All guests are greeted with a glass of Moët et Chandon champagne on boarding, and will find a chilled bottle waiting for them in their suite. (The larger suites, Silver, Grand, Royal and Owners, are afforded just a few perqs that the Vista and Verandah suites don't get: Complimentary laundry service, for example, a Jacuzzi bathtub, and hors d'oeuvres delivered daily at 5pm ship time.) A selection of wines, liquor and soft drinks are available on request for in-suite consumption, each suite has a television with a VCR and an excellent selection of first-run movies, a walk-in closet and a desk/lamp. The shelves are lined with atlases, travel books, and books of historical significance. The bath amenities are by Bvlgari, and Silversea is the only cruise line to boast a Bvlgari boutique (duty free) on board each ship.

The decor of The Shadow is muted and placid, with original artwork in the public areas and pale blues, taupes, rust and sand colors in the suites. The suite bathrooms are a combination of gray marble and black granite with blue flecks; all suite bathrooms have a double vanity, a full-sized bathtub and a separate shower stall. The Grand and Royal suites also have bidets.

There is no neon. There is no midnight buffet. There is no "chocoholics extravaganza."

Tea is served daily in the Observation Lounge (forward on Deck Ten) and in the Panorama Lounge (aft on Deck Eight.) Hot and cold hors d'oeuvres are served in the Panorama Lounge before dinner. Room service is available 24 hours a day, and during meal times, in-suite dining can be selected from The Restaurant menu. In fact, the room service menu is flexible. We had missed lunch one day and there wasn't anything on the room service menu that appealed to me so I asked if I could get some berries. I got them. We asked for cookies with coffee too, and received a small plate of fresh buttery cookies, a different kind every time we ordered them.

The wine list is extensive, with well-informed sommeliers to describe the vintage, nose, bouquet and all the other oenophile terminology that is lost on me (my daughter has a fine palate for such things.) The Davidoff Humidor, decorated in a masculine leather-meets-library theme, has a selection of cigars (available for purchase) and a selection of brandies and after-dinner liqueurs.

Because of the rough weather, the Poolside Grille was closed for most of our journey. It had been open on our first day at sea but we didn't visit it. I was disappointed because I had heard that it serves excellent grill fare.

After nearly two weeks of gourmet cuisine my daughter needed something a bit more plebian, so she ordered hot dogs and pizza and pronounced herself absolutely satisfied.

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