Diamond and Silhouette

[dinosaurdem]

Having cruised for 16 days on the Silhouette and 32 on the Diamond, in less than 6 months, I thought that I would undertake a comparison. I have sailed 5 times on Princess and 12 on Celebrity. Embarkation was excellent on both ships. Disembarkation from the Diamond in Whittier was excellent; from Silhouette in Fort Lauderdale, poor. In terms of appearance, even though the ships differ in age by only 7 years, the Diamond looked dated. Also, some design decisions resulted in poor traffic flow, with the exception of the Diamond's very pleasant promenade. The Atrium is a real plus for Diamond, not so much because of design, but because Princess chose to have classical music and jazz at modest levels, as opposed to Celebrity's very loud pop music. The exception was anything hosted by Diamond's CD, who was loud and irritating.

Shows - We don't attend.

CD Activities - We don't participate.

Lectures - Very subjective, but I give the edge to the Silhouette.

Pools - Diamond has more and varied locations with fresh water. Silhouette's indoor pool is gorgeous. Ede to Diamond.

Staterooms - Similar in size. Diamond has better cabin storage. Silhouette has more pleasing décor. Both have good beds.

Bathrooms - Silhouette wins, hands down, with more space and storage, and larger showers with glass doors.

Staff and crew - With very few exceptions, staff were excellent on both ships.

Coffee - Princess wins because of the coffee card, otherwise Silhouette was bad and Diamond worse.

Bars and drinks - Not a big issue for us.

Coffee Bar - Limited on Diamond, better on Silhouette, but the International Café on other Princess ships is better than either.

Library - Content equivalent. Décor and seating options go to Silhouette. On noise level Diamond wins. Silhouette has palatable coffee on library.

Announcements - All Silhouette on this one, as the announcements were fewer and at less ear'-splitting levels than on Diamond.

Casino - Smoke free on Silhouette and occasionally smoke free on Diamond, with a smoking bar next door.

Smoking - Diamond provides more smoking areas both indoor and out, for those who choose to indulge. You choose the winner.

Public Restrooms - Diamond seems to have more, with the exception of a few areas, and Men's and Women's are often located side by side. Very convenient. Silhouette's are classier.

Daily News Summary - Diamond wins simply by having one.

Free Ice Cream - Silhouette has ice cream made on board with a variety of flavors and toppings, including peanut M&Ms.

Pizza and Pasta - Diamond.

Burgers and Dogs - A tie. Both good.

Movies - Diamond wins here with more and newer movies, But loses points for having MUTS blaring way too frequently.

FOOD

Since I am a fairly serious foodie this will be the longest section and I will start with the easiest comparisons first. You may have noticed that there are a few above.

Pub Lunch - Diamond excels on both location and quality, bar versus buffet. The soggy fish and chips on the Silhouette were awful.

Creperie - Silhouette

The Porch - Sandwich, panini, soup, salad shop. No Diamond equivalen.

Murano - quasi French. No Diamond equivalent.

Qsine - Quirky contemporary. Not terrific food, but fun and no Diamond equivalent.

Aqua Spa Café - Very good and light spa cuisine. No Diamond equivalent.

Blu - A continental restaurant for a particular cabin class. Adored by many, but considered over-rated by me. No Silhouette equivalent.

Italian Specialty - Sabatini's is more authentically Italian and the Tuscan Grill is, to me, of better quality but leans toward steaks. The old Sabitini's, while offering too much food, was both more authentic and just better food than either.

Steakhouse - Sterling offers very good steaks, mediocre bernaise and fair sides in a buffet atmosphere. The Lawn Club Grill offers excellent steaks, creative sides, and an outdoor dining experience. Maybe a tossup for most.

Specialty Restaurant Pricing - Diamond

Buffet - Attractive décor goes to Silhouette. Silhouette offers a much wider variety of options at lunch, but fewer at dinner. Some may find the size and number of options confusing. The options include a benedict station, stir fry station, sandwich station, fried eggs available at omelet station, curry station, and pasta station. While not important to me, some like the partially set tables on Diamond. Staff were mostly helpful on both ships, and very willing to assist. We used the buffet sparingly on both ships and never for dinner.

Room Service - Both ships serve hot breakfast, but Diamond does not admit it and requires you to write it in. Lunch is more or less equivalent. For dinner, you can order from the MDR menu on Silhouette.

MDR - While Silhouette's MDR is beautiful and Diamond's 5 are dated, the size on Diamond makes them very appealing. Also, the variety allows choosing wait staff and headwaiters of your preference. We found excellent staff on both ships. Food preference is highly subjective, but I'm going to make a stab at some individual items. While both ship serve very good French onion soup, with an edge to Silhouette, it is rarely available on Diamond, although we didn't try special request Bernaise sauce is always available on Diamond, but sometimes it is Hollandaise and sometimes appears to be simple white sauce On Silhouette it is good, but requires a day's notice. Breakfast and lunch are available in the International Dining room on Diamond, which is in an isolated location. To us, Princess has an edge with pasta. The breads on Princess have improved markedly, but the nod goes to Silhouette for variety. The Diamond was particularly lacking in dark rolls and bread. The new cinnamon bread, available every other morning on Diamond is excellent. The eggs benedict appear to be premade and microwaved so that the Hollandaise is a crust. Lamb on Diamond suffered in both quality of cut and frequency of availability. I seldom recommend a meat dish with a lot of fat and gristle, but the, always available, osso bucco is excellent; however, order it with mashed potatoes, since the risotto is not so good. Overall, I still give the edge to Celebrity because they, to my taste, do more adventurous dishes, such as beef wellington better, but it is a matter of taste. We enjoyed both ship, largely because of staff.

 

A Tip - While the shuttles in southeast Asia mostly run about every 15 minutes, those in Shanghai run every hour, and there is a walk of over.5K simply to get out of the terminal.

[EvelynAlexa]

Did you notice a difference in elevator service?

 

What about shows on MUTS during the day?

We saw silent movies on Coral and music production shows on Emerald.

 

Thank you for comparing Diamond to Silhouette.

[dinosaurdem]

did you notice a difference in elevator service? Not that we noticed.

 

What about shows on muts during the day? Mostly pop concerts. Founf muts most irritating during the day when outside trying to talk over the noise.

We saw silent movies on coral and music production shows on emerald.

 

Thank you for comparing diamond to silhouette.

123

[dinosaurdem]

Having cruised for 16 days on the Silhouette and 32 on the Diamond, in less than 6 months, I thought that I would undertake a comparison. I have sailed 5 times on Princess and 12 on Celebrity. Embarkation was excellent on both ships. Disembarkation from the Diamond in Whittier was excellent; from Silhouette in Fort Lauderdale, poor. In terms of appearance, even though the ships differ in age by only 7 years, the Diamond looked dated. Also, some design decisions resulted in poor traffic flow, with the exception of the Diamond's very pleasant promenade. The Atrium is a real plus for Diamond, not so much because of design, but because Princess chose to have classical music and jazz at modest levels, as opposed to Celebrity's very loud pop music. The exception was anything hosted by Diamond's CD, who was loud and irritating.

Shows - We don't attend.

CD Activities - We don't participate.

Lectures - Very subjective, but I give the edge to the Silhouette.

Pools - Diamond has more and varied locations with fresh water. Silhouette's indoor pool is gorgeous. Ede to Diamond.

Staterooms - Similar in size. Diamond has better cabin storage. Silhouette has more pleasing décor. Both have good beds.

Bathrooms - Silhouette wins, hands down, with more space and storage, and larger showers with glass doors.

Staff and crew - With very few exceptions, staff were excellent on both ships.

Coffee - Princess wins because of the coffee card, otherwise Silhouette was bad and Diamond worse.

Bars and drinks - Not a big issue for us.

Coffee Bar - Limited on Diamond, better on Silhouette, but the International Café on other Princess ships is better than either.

Library - Content equivalent. Décor and seating options go to Silhouette. On noise level Diamond wins. Silhouette has palatable coffee on library.

Announcements - All Silhouette on this one, as the announcements were fewer and at less ear'-splitting levels than on Diamond.

Casino - Smoke free on Silhouette and occasionally smoke free on Diamond, with a smoking bar next door.

Smoking - Diamond provides more smoking areas both indoor and out, for those who choose to indulge. You choose the winner.

Public Restrooms - Diamond seems to have more, with the exception of a few areas, and Men's and Women's are often located side by side. Very convenient. Silhouette's are classier.

Daily News Summary - Diamond wins simply by having one.

Free Ice Cream - Silhouette has ice cream made on board with a variety of flavors and toppings, including peanut M&Ms.

Pizza and Pasta - Diamond.

Burgers and Dogs - A tie. Both good.

Movies - Diamond wins here with more and newer movies, But loses points for having MUTS blaring way too frequently.

FOOD

Since I am a fairly serious foodie this will be the longest section and I will start with the easiest comparisons first. You may have noticed that there are a few above.

Pub Lunch - Diamond excels on both location and quality, bar versus buffet. The soggy fish and chips on the Silhouette were awful.

Creperie - Silhouette

The Porch - Sandwich, panini, soup, salad shop. No Diamond equivalen.

Murano - quasi French. No Diamond equivalent.

Qsine - Quirky contemporary. Not terrific food, but fun and no Diamond equivalent.

Aqua Spa Café - Very good and light spa cuisine. No Diamond equivalent.

Blu - A continental restaurant for a particular cabin class. Adored by many, but considered over-rated by me. No Silhouette equivalent.

Italian Specialty - Sabatini's is more authentically Italian and the Tuscan Grill is, to me, of better quality but leans toward steaks. The old Sabitini's, while offering too much food, was both more authentic and just better food than either.

Steakhouse - Sterling offers very good steaks, mediocre bernaise and fair sides in a buffet atmosphere. The Lawn Club Grill offers excellent steaks, creative sides, and an outdoor dining experience. Maybe a tossup for most.

Specialty Restaurant Pricing - Diamond

Buffet - Attractive décor goes to Silhouette. Silhouette offers a much wider variety of options at lunch, but fewer at dinner. Some may find the size and number of options confusing. The options include a benedict station, stir fry station, sandwich station, fried eggs available at omelet station, curry station, and pasta station. While not important to me, some like the partially set tables on Diamond. Staff were mostly helpful on both ships, and very willing to assist. We used the buffet sparingly on both ships and never for dinner.

Room Service - Both ships serve hot breakfast, but Diamond does not admit it and requires you to write it in. Lunch is more or less equivalent. For dinner, you can order from the MDR menu on Silhouette.

MDR - While Silhouette's MDR is beautiful and Diamond's 5 are dated, the size on Diamond makes them very appealing. Also, the variety allows choosing wait staff and headwaiters of your preference. We found excellent staff on both ships. Food preference is highly subjective, but I'm going to make a stab at some individual items. While both ship serve very good French onion soup, with an edge to Silhouette, it is rarely available on Diamond, although we didn't try special request Bernaise sauce is always available on Diamond, but sometimes it is Hollandaise and sometimes appears to be simple white sauce On Silhouette it is good, but requires a day's notice. Breakfast and lunch are available in the International Dining room on Diamond, which is in an isolated location. To us, Princess has an edge with pasta. The breads on Princess have improved markedly, but the nod goes to Silhouette for variety. The Diamond was particularly lacking in dark rolls and bread. The new cinnamon bread, available every other morning on Diamond is excellent. The eggs benedict appear to be premade and microwaved so that the Hollandaise is a crust. Lamb on Diamond suffered in both quality of cut and frequency of availability. I seldom recommend a meat dish with a lot of fat and gristle, but the, always available, osso bucco is excellent; however, order it with mashed potatoes, since the risotto is not so good. Overall, I still give the edge to Celebrity because they, to my taste, do more adventurous dishes, such as beef wellington better, but it is a matter of taste. We enjoyed both ship, largely because of staff.

 

A Tip - While the shuttles in southeast Asia mostly run about every 15 minutes, those in Shanghai run every hour, and there is a walk of over.5K simply to get out of the terminal.

 

Noticed an odd error for a news junkie. Silhouette has a news summary daily, not Diamond. Having just read another comparison and the responses, I continue to be impressed that so many people seem to react so strongly to either Celebrity or Princess. After 5 cruises on Princess and a dozen on Celebrity, it is difficult to find much that is awful about either line. I will continue to cruise both.