Silver Shadow is a cruise ship that entered service in 2000, and is operated by Silversea Cruises. The passenger capacity is 382 passengers, and there are 295 crew members. Her sister ship is the Silver Whisper, and both ships were built by the Mariotti Shipyard in Genoa, Italy. They both have a high space-to-passenger ratio at 74, providing more space per passenger than any other cruise ship. Space ratio is calculated by dividing a vessel's gross tonnage by its passenger capacity. The passenger-to-crew ratio is also high, at 1.31 to 1

On 16 March 2012, the Silver Shadow collided with another ship in thick fog off Vietnam. She was about five miles off the coast in Ha Long Bay when the accident occurred in the morning. There were reports of damage to the container ship and unconfirmed container ship crew injuries. There were no reports of injuries on the Silver Shadow, which passengers described as receiving some damage to her bow. The Silver Shadow continued her voyage 90 minutes later.
On 17 June 2013, in Skagway, Alaska, the ship failed a surprise inspection conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Crew members had alerted inspectors that supervisors ordered them to store food in their living spaces, not in refrigerators in order to hide the food from inspectors. The lead inspector ordered contaminated foods be discarded. He personally poured concentrated bleach on the food as it was thrown away to ensure it would not be salvaged and served later. The CDC has no authority to fine or detain a ship, so the ship was allowed to continue with its passengers.