Observations about the Current State of Celebrity from Sihouette March 2013

[Cruise Arizona]

1. Main dining room food and service was fantastic. Service was friendly, accurate and timely, even with people order some courses and skipping others, the food was always timed perfectly. We sailed back to back so between 4 of us one week and the addition of my MIL the second week, we probably tried about 80% of the menu. Some favorites were the seafood with saffron rice which had the flavors of Paella, but not cooked the same way. Beef Tournadoes, Beef Wellington, Ribey, trout, spaghetti bolognaise. I know food and tastes are subjective, but we've been cruising with Celebrity for 10 years and now and we felt this menu and its execution were the best we have had on Celebrity.

 

2. Music, Much has been written about the music on another thread. We were probably most impressed with the variety of music. Unlike those who would have you believe it is all 80's rock, here is a list of the music acts on our cruise. Celebrity can't read you mind, so read the daily and go where your kind of music is:

 

att McConney – Steel Drum Soloist – Really nice Caribbean Back Ground Music

 

Ian Leith – Guitar and Vocals – Great Acoustic versions of classic and popular rock and pop

 

 

Miami DJ’s and Percussionist – Recorded music with live Sheila E style drums and other percussion instruments – live percussion enhanced recorded music

 

 

Runaways – Party band/ pop cover band – I really liked them, they had a fun repertoire and three singers so that they could sing just about any song. I liked all the singers, but some did not like the girl that sang some the traditionally high male rock vocals like Led Zepplin songs. Pop and Dance was probably their strongest suit.

 

 

3-D – Jazz Quartet

 

 

Sean Golden – Vocals and Guitar – also nice acoustic versions of classic rock and pop songs

 

 

Silhouette Orchestra – great job accompanying the various guest artist.

 

 

Silhouette Orchestra Pianist – played as a soloist various times

 

 

3. Theater Acts:

 

High-C’s – A’Capella Group – Only saw them in the Main Theater though they performed at various times and venues throughout the ship. Pretty good if a’capella vocal harmonies are your thing. They did Beach Boys and Four Seasons songs with orchestral accompaniment in the main theater.

 

 

Chad Chesmark – Comedy and up close magic/slight of hand – We liked his theater performance so much that we went to see him upclose in the Ensemble Lounge for a small performance. Funny, self deprecating, and very good with the hands. He was so quick that maybe you might have an inkling of how he did a trick, but you were just guessing because he was so smooth and so quick.

 

 

Sin City Comedy – Tastefully Presented Adult 18+ comedy with a Burleque dancer in a bikini type lingerie. Nothing too risque here. Second week the dancer was better who “stripped” to a bikini. Nothing offensive. Comedians were pretty good and nothing more risque then what you might hear unbleeped on Comedy Central TV. First week there was a juggler who did pretty well with 7 tennis rackets in the low ceiling Celebrity Central Theater. Headliner was an Emmy award winning comedian who was a writer on Home Improvement. Second week the opening act was a Cris Rock style comedian and headliner made up funny songss, Bruce Springsteen style about ex-girlfiends and old cars. They do check ID’s for under 18 but the material was probably fine for 14+

 

 

Chris Riggins – Tenor week 1 -

 

 

Nick Page – Tenor Week 2 – good singer, but all the tenors seem to sing the same 8 songs on every cruise I’ve been on. Would like him to have had some slightly edgier songs, more rock-opera tenor in is performance.

 

 

 

 

Pete Matthews – Comedy Juggling – Very funny, especially his finale on the very tall unicycle. Comedy is probably a little better than the juggling, but juggling was pretty darn good.

 

 

Welcome Aboard and Farewell Shows featuring a variety of acts, including songs from Lisa Richard the cruise director, who was very good.

 

 

Broadway Nights – Highlights from the most Popular Broadway Shows, Great singers and dancers, very boring, “old hat” choreography that did not push any boundaries in the world of choreography.

 

 

Velocity – International Dance and Musical Review With Celebrity Singers and Dancers -good but synchronization of dancers could have been better.

 

 

Silhouette the Show – Cirque Style show with juggling, balancing, and high flying silks and more – slightly different than other Cirque Shows on Solstice Class ships. Excellent aerialists. Monotonous vocals with the cirques style music.

 

 

More to come....

[Cruise Arizona]

Activities

Trivia - Irish Trivia (St. Patrick’s Day) World History, Pop-Culture, Music, Pub Style, True or False, general knowledge, Bill Board Music Challenge – Fun! We went several times and Team Klasen got first or second almost every time we played. You can redeem all your points, which are tracked on a “Pass Port Card” , at the end of the cruise for prizes like pens, key chains, hats, golf tees and T-shirts. This was a great multi-generational activity with Teens, Parents and Grammy on our team.

 

 

Zumba – Taught by an Activities staff member certified instructor. Free, Well attended activity. Routines were simple so all ages and skill levels could participate. Used the same routines all week.

 

 

X-Box Kinect

 

 

Table Tennis - Family and Adult, Guest vs Officers – My husband and son played a couple of times and it gave them a chance to meet some of the officers.

 

 

Napkin Folding

 

 

Golf Chipping

 

 

Basketball – Shoot Out, guests vs officers, My son played a couple of times. He loved the chance to be active and to play against “old guys who still got game”.

 

 

Ballroom dance class

 

 

Karaoke – I was there. They have a system with all songs on hard drive so they can’t play your own disks. They have a pretty good selections, but limited Broadway songs. They actually got a whole new upload of songs for the second week and the DJ helped me find some of the new ones. They don’t have a good ability to change keys, just up or down a 1/2 step, which made songs like New York, New York a challenge because I usually sing it down a third.

 

 

Amazing X Race

 

 

Line Dancing

 

 

Pool Volleyball – Guest Vs Guest and Officers Vs Guest

 

 

Art Studio Classes – Some were free and some had a supplies fee

 

 

Cake Demonstrations

 

 

Pizza Demonstration

 

 

Interactive Theme Parties – Celebrity Roxx, Masque,

 

 

Youth Program Talent Show – Teen daughter participated but didn’t tell me, so I missed her

 

 

Chef’s Competition – guest help two of the Celebrity Chef’s select and cook a dish in 15 minutes which is then judged by the officers and an audience member. It was fun and gave the chef’s a chance to be creative with the guests selected ingredients.

 

 

Game Shows

Liars Club – Very Funny version of the classic game show. Cruise Director, Captain, Hotel Manager all participated and got to show a little bit of their personalities and have a little fun trying to fool the guests.

 

 

Newlywed/Not So Newlywed Game- Always funny, reality is funny than fiction, and guests were good sports.

 

 

Friendly Fued – Family Fued but teams only had to be friends, not necessarily family. Just caught a glimpse as they were set up in the entertainment court outside quasar and Celebrity Central.

 

 

Are You Smarter Than the Activities Staff

 

 

Dancing with the Stripes – One of my favorites activities. Guests are paired up with an officer and then compete in a dance off that included the waltz, salsa, tango, ballet, Bollywood and Gangham Style. The most creative tend to win, not necessarily the best technique. This was moved to the atrium so more people could attend than in the Sky Lounge where my husband participated 2 years ago.

 

 

More to come....

[MyDogRudy]

This is great information for someone like me who hasn't cruised Celebrity before and am working to plan a Silhouette cruise in January. Coincidentally, my Mom is coming over today for a planning session...she and my Dad have not cruised before and are coming with us. The show info was something I was not able to find in such detail...so thank you! I'll be following this review.

 

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2

[Cruise Arizona]

I think Celebrity attracts a very nice group of people and many nice families.

 

We were on for two weeks with the most children and teens with which we have ever sailed. Quite frankly, the large amount of kids was not even an issue. My teens sailed with me and they had a great time meeting others their age, and the activities staff did a great job of planning activities for teens. I was really surprised about how little I saw the kids and teens. So even with hundreds of kids and teens, it did not in any way take away from my cruise.

 

A few more observations, it was always easy to find a place by the pool in the shade, but it may have been more difficult to find one in the sun.

 

The very first seaday it started to rain at 12:00 right when the buffet opened, so this was the one and only day when the buffet seem a little crowded and we had to wait more than one or two people for food items.

 

There were some kids down the hall from me that would run. (This could happen on a cruise with 4 kids or 400 kids) This is the only time I really even noticed kids, because the running could be heard in the state rooms. So if you are sailing with kids, please emphasize that it is never appropriate to run on a cruise ship because they could trip someone else, and it make a lot of noise that vibrates into the cabins.

 

It definitely was not a "Spring Break" party. I would definitely recommend Celebrity at spring break even if you don't have kids but you are a teacher who can only get that time off. It was a fun time, but not a raucous party. With all the activities mentioned in my previous post, there was plenty to do, or if you just wanted to find a quiet place to read, then you could do that too.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or specifics. My faith in Celebrity has been completely renewed after these two weeks because we had such a wonderful time. We are sailing again on the Silhouette next Feb and then hope to do Norwegian Fjords on the Equinox in either May or August.

 

A big cudos to Celebrity for turning out a very high quality product!

[Cruise Arizona]

This is great information for someone like me who hasn't cruised Celebrity before and am working to plan a Silhouette cruise in January. Coincidentally, my Mom is coming over today for a planning session...she and my Dad have not cruised before and are coming with us. The show info was something I was not able to find in such detail...so thank you! I'll be following this review.

 

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2

 

 

Glad I could be of help, you probably figured this out, but the guest acts like tenors and comedians do rotate around, but it gives you an idea of what types of acts they have on the ship.

[Cruise Arizona]

I wanted to also emphasize how visible and accessible the officers were on the ship.

 

They were greeting guest and answering questions at the Captain's Club events.

 

They hosted several presentations and Q&A events in the theater about the ship, environmental programs, and navigation.

 

The participated in events like Bocce Ball and Dancing With the Stripes.

 

I talked with the winner of the Dancing with the Stripes during the second week of our BTB, before the second week of competition. He immediately knew I was back to back when I said "Oh there's that good dancer." We then talked about his job as training manager. He had been a corporate trainer for years and then started doing consulting for the cruise lines, and then signed on full time to do training on the ship. You could tell that he took his job very seriously, but also probably had the ability to make training fun for the staff and crew as well.

 

When we were talking about the visibility of the officers, and their attention to customer and details he joked "Well Disney had their Characters, and Celebrity has its officers." Truly the emphasis on excellence and attention to detail probably does start with officers who are good leaders who put the customers first. The only way to know real time if the customers are happy is to be engaged and visible to the guests.

[just_looking]

Thanks for writing this up. What a great summary of the different entertainment and activity options available. I wish Celebrity would make this type of info available to passengers in a pre-cruise email or something. We just got back from our first cruise and had no idea what to expect! Although I guess it was all a fun surprise for us. :)

[CPT Trips]

Based on other threads, what was your impression of the music in the martini bar? How was the music volume overall?

[SusieV]

That's really great to hear. We're booked on Silhouette in January and very much looking forward to it!

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Different ship, different crew, shows and entertainment.

Like 2 people witnessing the same accident, each saw two different things.

 

Glad your experience is better than ours was. :)

 

 

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[Blazerboy]

Hey, Suzanne,

 

Great thread! Even with 10 or more Celebrity cruisesunder my belt (or over it if I ate a lot!), this was a great review of what's available.

 

We hope to sail on Silhouette in October, but really enjoyed our TA on her a few years ago.

 

Same question as the other poster...how loud was the martini bar from your point of view? We didn't mind it two years ago, and sailed on Solstice and Summit since, but the music didn't drive us away. The live stuff in the atrium did send us elsewhere for quiet a few times, but we survived.

 

Nice to "see" you.

 

Andrew

[afto]

Oh, wow, you had me at "Led Zeppelin songs" but thanks for all this useful detail on the entertainment.

[Cruise Arizona]

Based on other threads, what was your impression of the music in the martini bar? How was the music volume overall?

 

We did happy hour in the Sky Lounge almost every night and if we weren't there we were usually in the Cellarmaster.

 

We did have a cocktail the very first night of the second week as they did not have the Captains Club happy hour in the Sky Lounge. I don't recall any loud music, but that is just my recollection, which may or may not be reality.

 

The martini bar is off the atrium and they often had bands or the Miami DJ's playing in the atrium, so I guess that would come into the martini bar.

 

Honestly the volume of the music was never an issue for me at any time during the cruise.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for your great review. It sounds like the music was top notch!

[richsea]

Different ship, different crew, shows and entertainment.

Like 2 people witnessing the same accident, each saw two different things.

 

Glad your experience is better than ours was. :)

 

 

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And that's why they make vanilla, chocolate, & strawberry.....& why a cruise vacation is so great; there's a ship/cruise line for everyone!

[Texed]

Suzanne,

Thanks for posting. :)

[Cruise Arizona]

Thanks Ed and Andrew,

 

Good to "see" you too.

[mcrcruiser]

Thank You for your wonderful posts :). Fantastic review of your cruise :D.All that you said is why we have loved sailing Celebrity ships for years & God willing we will be able to keep sailing for years to come:p:D:p

[Lastdance]

I also want to thank you for all the upbeat information, as my DH and I leave for Europe in a few weeks on the Silhouette. This just excites us even more about Celebrity!:cool:

[flyingv4me]

Thank you for your information! We're doing a B2B next January on her and can't wait. Information like this just makes us want to be on her sooner! Thanks, again!

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

And that's why they make vanilla, chocolate, & strawberry.....& why a cruise vacation is so great; there's a ship/cruise line for everyone!

 

Vanilla please! :D

 

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[drarill]

Suzanne:

Great review:) Thanks for sharing!! We loved the Silhouette last summer, going to the Eclipse in July. Hope the Eclipse's crew is as good as the Silhouette's!!

[Lois R]

Hi Suzanne:) great review. I sailed her on April 7th and thought

the food and service were both awesome too:D

[Blazerboy]

Vanilla please! :D

 

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Wonder if your choice is because you've had enough excitement in your life by living where you do?:D;)

 

Andrew

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Wonder if your choice is because you've had enough excitement in your life by living where you do?:D;)

 

Andrew

 

Interesting, but no. I am allergic to chocolate and don't like strawberries! :)

 

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