Fort Lauderdale -- Luxury line Silversea Cruises today christened the Silver Spirit, its first new ship in nearly a decade.

The low-key event, held dockside under a blazing sun at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades, featured a short performance by an ensemble of Silversea musicians and brief remarks by several company executives.

"I think that few people will not say that this is the finest ship in the fleet," the company's chairman, Manfredi Lefebvre D'Ovidio told a crowd of invited guests, journalists and passengers sailing on the vessel's 91-day Grand Inaugural Voyage. "It's a piece of art."
Lefebvre D'Ovidio, whose family founded the line 17 years ago, said the ship's construction is a sign of the family's commitment to the brand.

"This is not only a very good investment, it's also something that we feel with our heart," he said. "It's part of us (and) ... a legacy that we want to leave to our new generations."

Pointing back to the ship, Lefebvre D'Ovidio indicated more new vessels were to come. "You will see more of these," he said.
Another member of the line's founding family, Silvia Lefebvre D'Ovidio, served as godmother for the vessel.

The only hiccup in the late morning ceremony occurred when it came time to break a bottle of champagne against the Spirit's hull -- a shipping tradition. The line used a mechanical device to fire a bottle against the side of the ship, but gusty wind caused the bottle to hit the vessel with less force than expected and it bounced off unbroken. The bottle, tied to a rope, was quickly hoisted up by a crew member and manually smashed against the Spirit's side. 

At 36,000-tons, the all-suite Spirit is about 27% larger by volume than the line's next largest ships, the Silver Whisper and Silver Shadow, allowing room for more restaurants, a larger spa and other new amenities.

The Spirit is designed to hold 540 passengers at double occupancy, about 41% more than Whisper and Shadow. With its addition, Silversea now has six vessels.