Silversea is on a roll. Despite pandemic challenges, the ultra-luxury cruise line has added an unprecedented five vessels to its fleet since 2020. The recent introduction of Silversea’s Nova class, which includes Silver Nova and Silver Ray, means the operation has grown from seven ships to 12 in three years.

What makes Silver Nova and Silver Ray such groundbreaking vessels?

As cruising has bloomed as a vacation option in the last quarter-century, many cruise lines have looked inward to engage their guests. Shows staged on board rival what you can find on Broadway, in casinos that compete with the world’s gambling capitals and on thrill rides, including roller coasters and go-kart racetracks to distract youngsters.

Contemporary cruising has missed the mark in an important way: It hasn’t focused on the essence of the journey and its destinations.

Nova class innovates by bringing the sea back into the cruise experience and by ensuring the ports of call stand front and center, wherever it sails. This is more than marketing mumbo jumbo: One look at architectural blueprints, and you’ll see two components that create this: an asymmetrical design and a horizontal layout. (More explanation on that below. )

Then, there’s glass — acres and acres of it that wrap the ship, creating “a ship of light.”

How does else do Silver Nova and Silver Ray innovate? Let us count the ways.

Shifting the deck plan

All of Silversea’s previous ships have a common layout: Suites occupy the forward part of the ship on nearly every deck; common areas such as restaurants and lounges sit aft. This has worked well for Silversea, ensuring that noise from the galley, for example, doesn’t drift into the sleeping areas. It also means ceiling height is consistent throughout the ship from front to back.

For Nova class, the architectural team filled Decks 6 to 9 with nothing but suites. This longitudinal distribution means you will not find common areas on these decks and that the ceiling height is what you would find elsewhere on Silversea ships.

That makes the ceiling height taller on the decks where people gather. For instance, Silversea’s theaters generally have not been taller than one deck. That limits staging and screen size. On Silver Nova and Silver Ray, the Venetian Lounge is 2½ decks tall, so it has a proper stage and a giant screen for presentations. Other venues on the ship feel even airier. This also is the first Silversea design that has a true atrium.

The ships have curves

Cruise ship design is typically an exercise in symmetry: Fore and aft, port to starboard, the layout can be one big mirror image. But here, the architects embraced something daring: asymmetrical design.

This is more obvious on the top decks and aft because the pool, rather than being centered, as is traditional, is on the ship’s starboard side. The aft of the ship isn’t squared off like most current ships but instead boasts voluptuous curves and bulges. Indeed, one choice table at La Terrazza seems to hang over the water.

Silver Nova and Silver Ray are 103 feet longer than the Muse class ships and carry 120 more guests than Silver Spirit. Many people overlook one important metric, though: the passenger space ratio – that is, the number of guests relative to the size of the ship (in tonnage). Here, Nova class ships come out with more elbow room per passenger than almost any other cruise ship operating.

Although the suites line up conventionally on either side of the ship on their decks, elsewhere, you’ll discover one area after another that defies symmetry.

The Venetian Lounge — the ship’s largest venue by volume – is starboard; the Dusk Bar – a new offering – sits on the port side. The ship’s elevator shafts ride halfway outside the ship. The port-side elevators are forward and aft are to the rear. Not only does asymmetry offer a chance to maximize views, but it also produces a more organic and aesthetically pleasing vessel.

The end-all be-all pool deck

The most dramatic feature aboard these twin ships – and the one guests rave about – is their magnificent pool area (pictured across the top and above), positioned on the side of Deck 10. Not only does the pool embrace the view, but the seating area surrounding it, including on a narrow terrace that represents Deck 11, also creates an amphitheater-like setting, offering a CinemaScope panorama of whatever visage fills the scene to their starboard sides.

Don’t worry if your preferred vista pulls up opposite. The port side is open to the view as well (sans pool).

If a whirlpool is your fancy, you’ll find it perched on Deck 11, named, appropriately enough, the Cliff.

You can see clearly now

Every suite – all accommodations are suites – comes with unimpeded balcony views, and by moving much of the ship’s heavy superstructure inside, the ships gain more spaces fronted by glazing, in many cases, spanning floor to ceiling.

The three-story Atrium, another first for Silversea, is framed in glass, the elevators are see-through and even the Venetian Lounge has windows on one side to let the outside in.

Check out the snazzy tender boats. Besides offering comfortable, individual seats (rather than bench seating), the boats are ringed by windows, providing natural light and ample views for tender port transfers.

Yes, Silver Nova and Silver Ray are big

When Silver Nova was announced, some expressed concern about the ship’s size. I sympathize: I love the intimacy and camaraderie built into the line’s smaller expedition ships, but I also enjoy the additional dining options offered on the larger ships, especially the S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste) program.

Many people overlook one important metric: the passenger space ratio: the number of guests relative to the size of the ship (in tonnage). Here, they come out with more elbow room per passenger than almost any other ultra luxury cruise ship.

You can feel this throughout the ship. Arts Café, for instance, becomes the beating heart of the ship, and guests will find plenty of nooks secreted around the ship. You’ll find more loungers and chairs on the pool decks than passengers.

The best suites

Accommodations on Silver Nova and Silver Ray break the mold, introducing seven categories of suites. There are, for example, two Otium Suites. They are in the aft starboard corner of the ship, one atop the other, another benefit of horizontal layout.

Silversea has never had aft-facing accommodations, and because these are on a corner and they have a balcony that extends out a few feet farther, they afford 270-degree views of sea and sky. Sitting on this 431-square-foot veranda is a private hot tub, and the inside wraparound floor-to-ceiling windows allow you to enjoy the ocean.

Before disembarking, I also peeked at one of the Master Suites, which are at the port aft corners. Although smaller, they still have that wraparound balcony.

Places, everyone

You’ll find new and noteworthy venues, starting with the Marquee, a glorious, pergola-topped alfresco dining room sitting atop Deck 10. On Nova and Ray, this is a catchall name for the Grill and Spaccanapoli, which return Silversea guests will know. Whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner and no matter what menu you order from, the sea beckons from both sides of the room.

S.A.L.T. Lab, where guests partake in hands-on cooking demos, now has a spectacular test kitchen aboard Nova and Ray, relocated to Deck 10 and sporting a raised ceiling plus a wall of windows for the view. The space has a second use, serving an 11-course S.A.L.T. Chef’s Table dining experience, focused even more tightly on cuisines of the sailing itinerary, procuring specialty items and sharing the stories behind them.

Aft, but not least, the Dusk Bar sits on Deck 10 and is loaded with Silversea’s usual stock of unusual spirits. This perch is a sure-fire sunset selfie setting. Fear not, though: Even when the sun sets, the Nova class ships remain luminous.