Celebrity Silhouette

[msppilot]

My wife and I are planning our next cruise in March of 2016 and currently the top runner is the Celebrity Silhouette. We have been on Princess, NCL, and Carnival in the past and liked Princess the best. What can you tell us about Celebrity and more specifically the Silhouette? I want to know the good and the bad. Right now the only thing I see about the Silhouette that I don't like is it does not look like there is a outside promenade deck. We have always enjoyed walking on the promenade deck but we can probably get over it if the other amenities make up for it.

[debandbruce]

The Silhouette is my favourite ship. You are correct there is no walk around promenade but there are other places equally enjoyable to walk. I love the public areas on the Silhouette and the lawn area is lovely. There are so many places to curl up with a book or just watch the scenery.

I have health issues and am quite sensitive to smoke so I greatly enjoy the stricter non smoking policy. It is so nice to play a bit in the casino and not have smoke to deal with.

My favourite spot is the solarium pool, did a transatlantic cruise and even on the cooler days I was able to get in a swim.

I could go on and on but I know others will fill in more, she is a lovely ship with an excellent crew.

[Turtles06]

My spouse and I have been on about a dozen cruises, on several lines, and so far the Silhouette is my favorite ship of all the traditional cruise ships on which we've sailed. It is stunningly beautiful, as the S-class ships are, and it has the benefit (imho) over some of the earlier S-class ships in having the Lawn Club Grill, which is an excellent and fun specialty dining venue.

 

OP, like you, I love true promenade decks, and it's really unfortunate that most newer builds just don't have them. But on the S-class ships, you can still walk outside on Deck 5 (though some of the water view will be obstructed by life boats), and walk outside with full ocean views on higher decks, including the walking/jogging track on Deck 13. (See photo below from the Eclipse.) I would not let the lack of a promenade deck deter me from booking an S-class ship.

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[Wj420]

I have had the pleasure of sailing on the silhouette five times because she is our favorite ship on our current favorite line. As a previous poster indicated, the build included some nice features (lawn club grill, favorite speciality dining venue) but is smaller than the newer reflection. We sailed reflection and found the additional deck, cabins etc just changed the atmosphere in a way we didn't appreciate.

Enjoy the ship and the planning!

[nojoke]

In May we did the Transatlantic crossing on the Silhouette. I think it is now our favorite ship.

The walk/jog track is plenty of sun/wind for me--and it’s very easy to get in 2 miles on it. The entertainment was the best we have enjoyed...with a very congenial and humorous Cruise Director. The crew were very friendly. We got both chocolates and towel animals--not a huge need, but they were there. Lots of activities available, and absolutely beautiful public spaces. We did the anytime dining--and never had to wait for a table. Great ship!!

[MR_T]

The silhouette was our very first cruise and we well and truly got bitten by the cruise bug...

 

Now as we have stuck with celebrity over the last 2.5 years since our first cruise (except a couple of mini p&o cruises) we might not be the best people to comment but just going on what everyone else says I believe we were very lucky to start off our cruising adventures with celebrity as it always seems to be considered a step above the other similar cruise brands...

 

We have cruised on the silhouette x 2 eclipse x 3 and the equinox x 1 and hands down think the silhouette is the best and I guess this is because it was our first cruise but also we love the addition of the extra places Vs the other s/class ships we have been on, the lawn grill was our favorite place to eat on both our cruises on the silhouette,

 

We have 3 booked next year on the reflection so will be interested in seeing how that compares and then another 2 on the silhouette in 2017...

 

We are ever so slightly addicted! [emoji483][emoji16]

[micmacmissy]

I have a photo review of Silhouette in my signature; there are lots of photos and our impressions.

 

It was our best cruise to date. The ship is gorgeous. Highlights for us:

 

-Ensemble lounge with live music and excellent drink service every evening

-Specialty restaurants we tried (Qsine, Lawn Club, Murano) were all excellent

-Solarium pool area is quiet and relaxing, and easy to get a chair

-Gym facilities were really nice

-Made to order omelet station in the morning was great

-Homemade, hard scoop ice cream is available (free) in the buffet area every day, and it is great! Flavors change daily

-Service was very good with the exception of the main dining room (we had open dining and it was chaos each night, but from what I understand this was an anomaly. That was the worst part of the cruise for us.)

[A1A]

 

-Service was very good with the exception of the main dining room (we had open dining and it was chaos each night, but from what I understand this was an anomaly. That was the worst part of the cruise for us.)

 

As a long time Princess and Celebrity cruiser I would recommend you try to the Silhouette, just to have your first Celebrity experience. Celebrity offers a very good product that is very comparable to Princess. There are more things more alike on the the cruises than different. Princess also lacks the prommanade on it's newer ships. The 123GO package Celebrity has been offering is also a big draw that princess does not have. I would also agree with Micmacmissy about the service in the MDR. Having come off the Silhouette 2 months ago we had the same experience! Have a great cruise!

Cheers!

Ken

[TeaBag]

We have only been on Silhouette once and it is our favourite too. msppilot, you have picked a great ship. Don't miss the Lawn Club Grill!

[CathyCruises]

We also did the Silhouette TA; we had late seating and had GREAT service every single night. However, on the last night we did Select so we could dine with a group of about 8 friends. It was chaos, and we didn't get out of the dining room until 11:15--when bags are supposed to be out in the hallway by 11. . .took 20+ minutes for dessert to arrive after it was ordered. Some friends who were in Select said it was like that on multiple nights. I was so happy that we didn't have to go through that every night.

[Turtles06]

We did Select Dining on the Silhouette last fall and it was absolutely wonderful. We typically ate on the later side, around 8:15, and either never had to wait or only waited a few minutes, and that was because we had asked to be seated in a specific section served by a waiter and ass't waiter we had on the second night, who were wonderful. We had great service.

 

I can only speak as to our own experience, but it worked out great.

[msppilot]

Thanks everybody for their imput. I am really looking forward to this cruise.

[barney50]

Is the Molecular Bar still in operation on Silhouette? Does anyone know when it will be replaced. We are on the 27th July sailing from Amsterdam?

[Tiggertastic]

There is also an f book page just for this ship with lots of great photos