Pillow menus and tapas from Peru...

Today’s cruise ships can offer holidaymakers an amazing assortment of luxury options, as Caroline Hendrie discovers

MY BUTLER Jithin is standing before me in my spacious cabin bearing a silver tray arranged with posh toiletries. Which brand would I prefer? I can’t decide, so Jithin puts an end to my dithering by stocking the bathroom (which has a tub as well as a walk-in shower) with sets of both Ferragamo and Bulgari products.

Next, he presents me with the pillow menu. There are eight types – I plump for one buckwheat and one memory foam, to be covered in silk pillowcases with hidden pockets filled with fragrant lavender.

Decisions, decisions, and I’ve only been on board Silver Muse for a few minutes. I quickly discover that life on board Silversea’s newest ship is all about choice.

In the lavish Zagara spa, you don’t just pick a treatment but select the mood you wish to create from a range of lighting, sounds and scents. Feeling peckish? There are 26 ‘dining concepts’, including ordering room serv- ice but having it delivered to your favourite lounge or deck.

Silver Muse was christened in Monaco last Wednesday, but I was on board for a sneak preview just two weeks before, sailing from Genoa (the vessel was built at the city’s Fincantieri shipyard) to Marseilles.

Cruising slowly through the bright blue Mediterranean, I had a day and a half to explore the ninth and largest ship in the Italianowned Silversea fleet. Silver Muse is designed to appeal to babyboomers who would rather spend their kids’ inheritance on experiences such as fine dining and luxury travel than watches or cars. So there are butlers and balconies for all passengers, in-suite minibars constantly restocked with your favourite drinks, and bars throughout the ship.

Instead of a main dining room, the 596 passengers can choose a different restaurant each night of the week.

These include Atlantide, which specialises in fish and steaks, and Spaccanapoli, which overlooks the ship’s large swimming pool, and rustles up pizzas to order from morning until night.

The most adventurous is Silver Note, which serves imaginative dishes of Peruvian-fusion tapas.

If you’re still hungry, the Arts Cafe is the place to snack at any time while browsing a selection of coffee-table books. So many menus, so little time. I’ll just have to return to Silver Muse and finish my research as soon as possible…