Can you remember the names of the first bus, train, and plane you travelled on, and the most recent ones too? Nope, neither can I. But everyone remembers the first cruise ship they sailed on.
In my case, it was the MV Africa, a seven-deck Lloyd Triestino ship which transported nine-year-old me from Beira, Mozambique, to Venice over four fabulous weeks in 1970. And I’ll remember my most recent cruise, on Silversea’s Silver Nova, for a long time to come. That was something else! (Did I notch up a personal best with the number of scones and biscuits packed on and around a teacup and saucer? Did I, the clumsiest chump in the world, chop off any fingers – mine or my neighbour’s – at a calamitous cooking class? Do I have a fixation for faucets? Read all about it here.)
That’s the beauty of cruising: unlike a bus or plane, a ship is a real travelling companion with a persona of its own. Each cruise company has its own style, too. Find your perfect match and let the relationship blossom.
A good cruise ship is your home away from home, except you don’t have to do any chores; she’ll be your culinary adventure and amusement centre for however long enough you’re lucky to be on board. A week-long cruise will feel like seven Mother’s Days rolled into one. All that pampering to be relished! Pampering that you deserve, because really Mother’s Day should be turned into Mother’s Week, if not Mother’s Month, don’t you think?
Blow your blue mind
On board a cruise ship is also where you can bask in the benefits of getting a ‘blue mind’ – a mental tonic and sense of calm, the maritime equivalent of forest bathing. It’s real, I’ve felt it, and other travel writers more seasoned than I have felt it, too. There’s nothing as soothing as the vastness of the ocean, uninterrupted horizons, the hypnotic swell of the sea, the caress of an ocean breeze, the purr of the ship’s engines and the ever-changing patterns in the water, where silvery slithers and wisps of white foam waltz and weave over a canvas of blue.
My Silversea cruise was short but very sweet: from Sydney to Brisbane with a stop in Sydney, but it was so refreshing. A much better way to travel than crammed into a car amid the frenzy of the Pacific Highway.
Granted, as in other aspects of life, you have to take the rough (seas) with the smooth, but at least we live in an age when ship stabilisers have been perfected, and sea-sickness tablets have been invented.
Scary jellyfish and modern marvels
Much as I adored the MV Africa, which introduced our family of six to the delights of Italian cuisine while visiting stunning places such as Cape Town, Tenerife, Gibraltar, Barcelona and Athens along the way, if she were still around today and I were to board her, she might not look so appealing.
Like many liners of the pre-jumbo jet era, she was a passenger-cargo hybrid. The O’Shea family budget stretched only as far as the cabins on the lowest passenger deck. We were just above the waterline, and when the ship rocked n’ rolled in choppy seas, our porthole masqueraded as a front-loader washing machine, giving scary-looking Benguela compass jellyfish a good scrub. The jellyfish gave my seven-year-old sister nightmares.
But MV Africa had a swimming pool, ping-pong tables and deck quoits. There was fun to be had and friendships to be made, for adults and children alike. And somewhere along the way, at the innocent age of nine, strange feelings stirred in me – my first crush. I loved cruising, I loved travelling, I loved not being at home or at school. And I was smitten! There’s a Jane Austen novel lurking in this.
Waste not, want not
On the roughest stretches, MV Africa’s dining room became MV Ghost Town, most passengers too seasick and discombobulated to even think of eating. Not me, though. I got my sea legs the moment I walked up the gangway. Surrounded by waiters with few people to attend to, I revelled in the attention and made sure none of the pasta, prosciutto and pastries went to waste by diverting it to my waist instead.
It was a memorable experience at the time, but modern cruising is so much better. The latest ships, including the Silver Nova (launched in 2023) and sister ship Silver Ray (2024), have advanced active stabiliser fins, dynamic ballast controls, hulls designed for comfort over speed and other technological marvels. More than once on the Silva Nova, I had to pull open my cabin curtains to see why we had stopped, only to find we were still moving. She’s a smooth operator. Nobody needs to reach for the sea sickness tablets or miss a meal on the Silver Nova!
And whatever Lloyd Triestino’s chefs managed to conjure up in their 1970s kitchens, Silversea’s modern restaurants and S.A.L.T (Sea and Land Taste) culinary program would put it to shame.
Med classics and grandeur
Silver Nova’s main focus now is a grand Mediterranean season that runs to early December. It’s full of variety: Western Med and Eastern Med classics, concentrated Greek Island immersions and more.
Next up is a stint in the Caribbean, where the lucky ones on board can toast in the new year. That will be followed by a comprehensive spell around my favourite part of the world, South America, exploring both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Think Bridgetown to Rio de Janeiro with a sortie up the Amazon River as far as Manaus; Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires; Buenos Aires to Valparaíso; and Valparaíso to Miami. Or go the whole hog on the 2027 Grand South America Voyage.
Silver Ray will also focus on the Med until early December, when her Caribbean season begins out of Miami. Both ships will also be on duty again for the peak 2027 Mediterranean season.
Be over the Moon in 2026-27
Australians love cruising – 1.45 million Aussies sailed on a cruise in 2025, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. Our favourite sailing region by far is close to home: Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, luring 80.3 per cent of us last year. Of the far-flung places, the Mediterranean’s the favourite with 6.3 per cent.
In the coming 2026-27 southern summer cruising season, you can enjoy the Silversea experience on the Silver Moon, which arrives in Sydney on December 4, 2026.
Silver Moon has modern comforts. She was launched in 2020 and has eight distinct dining venues, including those that feature on the Silver Nova, such as Alentide, Kaiseki, La Dame, La Terrazza and the famous S.A.L.T. Kitchen. In other words, you’re in for a treat. Maximum passenger capacity is 596, so you’ll enjoy the small-ship intimacy and spaciousness.
Heavenly sounds
The real moon might be far away, but this Moon will get you to alluring places. Australian ports of call on her southern hemisphere season include Cairns, Airlie Beach, K’gari, Townsville, Mooloolaba and Eden.
In New Zealand, the highlights are visits to Dunedin, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Auckland, Picton, Tauranga, Akaroa (the ‘French capital of New Zealand’), Stewart Island as well as the stunning Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.
Silver Moon’s 2026-27 Australian and New Zealand season will appeal to those who love travelling in leisurely depth. Take your pick from:
- December 4-18, 2026, Sydney to Auckland (14 days)
- December 18 – January 3, 2027, Auckland to Melbourne (16 days)
- January 3-17, Melbourne to Cairns, then down to Sydney (14 days)
- January 17-31, Sydney to Auckland (14 days)
- January 31 – February 14, Auckland to Sydney (14 days)
- February 14 – March 4, Sydney to Singapore (18 days) or go the whole hog from Sydney to Tokyo (34 days till March 20).
Best Silversea cruises for blue/green euphoria
According to health experts, combining Blue Mind wellness (being near the ocean or freshwater) with forest bathing (immersion in green spaces) does amazing things for your well-being. I failed chemistry at school and botched biology, so I won’t attempt to explain why. But even I can attest from my neighbourhood watch that ocean blue and forest green are much healthier and more invigorating than concrete jungle grey.
You can get healthy dollops of blue and green on the following Silversea cruise itineraries.
- The seven-day sailings between Vancouver and Seward (Anchorage, Alaska). The coastline along Alaska’s Inside Passage is thick with trees, as are the many islands en route. They’re part of the Tongass National Forest, the largest National Forest in the US.
- The 10-day Copenhagen to Copenhagen itineraries explore gorgeous Norwegian fjords, which sparkle with greenery in the warmer months.
- Any cruise between Sydney and Auckland that includes Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. You’ll get lots of lush New Zealand greenery along the way.
- On one of Silversea’s smaller expedition ships that visits Australia’s Kimberley region – “the ultimate explorer’s paradise”, as Silversea calls it. The Silver Cloud, built in 1994 but grandly refurbished in 2017, is on duty there this year and next.
- On the Silver Origin, which operates all year round in the sunny Galápagos Islands, which have an aura and a unique ecosystem of their own. Details at silversea.com
Memories are made of …
What happened to the love of my youth, the MV Africa? After 24 years on the oceans, she was withdrawn from service in 1976. In 1980, she was sent to Taiwan. Not to admire the scenery, but to be broken up for scrap metal. What an undignified way to go!
But at least I can say that her cruise director’s linguistically musical opening line on the public address system, “Attenzione, prego!” (“Attention, please”) still rings in my ageing ears, alongside my 2020s tinnitus.
Did you know?
Lloyd Triestino had three ships in its Australia Class, the MVs Australia, Oceania and Neptunia. The largest and fastest ships in the company’s fleet, they sailed between Sydney and Genova or Trieste.
MV Australia was sold to Italia Line in 1963 and renamed Gaetano Donizetti for service between Italy and Chile. She, too, was broken up for scrap in 1977 in Italy.
If anyone in your family ever sailed on the MV Africa or MV Australia and other Australia Class ships, share your memories. And here’s to future adventures.
