Silhouette's new Retreat

[cruising teacher]

2 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Zeniths have access to the Retreat Lounges.

Yes. Which is the old Michaels Club just redecorated. Again they really do value our loyalty🥺

[Gracie115]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

I won't return until it's restored to all

 

I suspect you will have a very long wait.....

[AQFan]

Is there is an elevator to get up there? There was not one on Equinox which makes it hard to access for those with mobility issues.  Thanks.

[helen haywood]

3 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Wrong, they have taken away two decks with forward view from all guests. If you have ever cruised e.g. in Norway or Alaska or Iceland this is the best place to watch the approach into a Fjord or to a Glacier. In the Caribbean I agree it does not matter that much. Issue is that Silhouette goes only to North Europe and South America in the next years so it will be colder and windy on most cruises, suite guests will no do sunbathing there that often and others are not allowed to go there just for nature watching. 

Silhouette still has the forward facing Sky Lounge on deck 14.  Open to all.

[rotoal]

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Isn‘t this in front of the Spa not the gym and for Sauna guests and others in bath robes only? Never been there because of that.

It is in front of the gym, and we have found that it takes a bit of nerve and bravery to walk right through the gym for the sole purpose of getting a great view, with no intention of using any of the gym equipment.  And we've never seen any furniture on deck 12.   So, if the 90% of us not allowed on deck 16 each grabs a chair, we could nicely furnish the area in front of the gym equipment.  We would then be blocking the view of those poor souls who actually are exercising.

 

The relaxation lounge is inside, in the front of deck 11.   It is supposed to be limited to Aqua class passengers and perhaps people waiting for spa treatments.

 

For those of us who could find no other place to sit in the sun, we will miss the area on deck 16  This was the place where we could run away from the loud crowded area around the pool.  It was never the nicest area on the, sometimes too windy and cold, but usually we were able find a place to sit.  

[BigAl94]

11 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

I suspect you will have a very long wait.....

As will Celebrity for my future business 

[Gordoncruickshank]

15 hours ago, cruising teacher said:

Yes. Which is the old Michaels Club just redecorated. Again they really do value our loyalty🥺

Don’t understand your point. Michael’s and access there is the same as before. Other than redecoration nothing has changed other than the name. Zeniths have the same access as before.

[JBare]

14 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Silhouette still has the forward facing Sky Lounge on deck 14.  Open to all.

Yes, nice and cosy in cold or rough weather but useless for anyone wanting to take quality photographs.

At least its there though unlike the Edge which has neither open deck or sky lounge for non suite guests.

[JBare]

17 hours ago, sippican said:

 As a suite guest on our last cruise, I didn't visit the Retreat once. Nothing to be envious of. 

 

Unfortunately on our Edge cruise a lot of other suite guests felt the same and occupied space in the remaining areas of the ship leading to a sort of overcrowded experience in the MDR's and other public areas. Understandable really but not helpful if suite guests don't stay in their special areas, especially as their special areas are quite large chunks of the ship. Not their fault its X's.

[sippican]

55 minutes ago, JBare said:

 

Unfortunately on our Edge cruise a lot of other suite guests felt the same and occupied space in the remaining areas of the ship leading to a sort of overcrowded experience in the MDR's and other public areas. Understandable really but not helpful if suite guests don't stay in their special areas, especially as their special areas are quite large chunks of the ship. Not their fault its X's.

 

Are you saying that you believe the suite guests were dining in the MDR?  Seems a bit farfetched since our expereince has always been that we could order off the MDR menu in Luminae.

[Drwho32]

17 hours ago, cruising teacher said:

Is this correct? The Retreat Lounge is on Deck Five? Does it open to outside?

No.it is the previous Michaels club and only has inside access.  No outside area like the Edge.  Also went to retreat sundecks yesterday and due to lack of wind break screens, it was so windy even standing was challenging, so non suite passengers are not missing much.

[prim8keeper]

18 minutes ago, sippican said:

 

Are you saying that you believe the suite guests were dining in the MDR?  Seems a bit farfetched since our expereince has always been that we could order off the MDR menu in Luminae.

 

You can't do this on Edge due to the location of Luminae. In Luminae on Edge they offer the Luminae menu and then there is a separate everyday menu which has the standard items like steak, chicken, salmon, etc. that is similar to the everyday items in MDR. Now, they will do what they can to make you happy, but if you were set on eating off one of the MDR menus on our sailing they were making reservations for people in that particular MDR. That said it seemed like the bulk of suite guests were eating in Luminae or specialty dining. However, if you sailed regularly I could see the appeal of visiting the various MDR's on Edge for some variety since none of the menu's are updated very frequently and eating the same thing no matter how good can get boring.

[sippican]

6 minutes ago, prim8keeper said:

 

You can't do this on Edge due to the location of Luminae. In Luminae on Edge they offer the Luminae menu and then there is a separate everyday menu which has the standard items like steak, chicken, salmon, etc. that is similar to the everyday items in MDR. Now, they will do what they can to make you happy, but if you were set on eating off one of the MDR menus on our sailing they were making reservations for people in that particular MDR. That said it seemed like the bulk of suite guests were eating in Luminae or specialty dining. However, if you sailed regularly I could see the appeal of visiting the various MDR's on Edge for some variety since none of the menu's are updated very frequently and eating the same thing no matter how good can get boring.

 

Thank you for the clarification. We have not sailed Edge, and have no plans to do so in the near future, but good to know.

[prim8keeper]

2 minutes ago, sippican said:

 

Thank you for the clarification. We have not sailed Edge, and have no plans to do so in the near future, but good to know.

 

It is definitely different and has it's pluses and minuses. The everyday menu addition was added later so depending on how early on people sailed there could have been even more suite guests visiting the MDR. We are going back again next month so we will be curious to see what tweaks they have been continuing to make. Hopefully most things will have been worked out for Apex. 

[Drwho32]

8 hours ago, Drwho32 said:

No.it is the previous Michaels club and only has inside access.  No outside area like the Edge.  Also went to retreat sundecks yesterday and due to lack of wind break screens, it was so windy even standing was challenging, so non suite passengers are not missing much.

So today - day 4 on the new Silhoutte after our on shore in Aruba, we went back to the ship and decided it would be nice to go to the retreat sundecks 15 or 16 to read a bit and have a drink.  Same as yesterday, totally unusable.  Even sitting in one of the only two cabanas it was like sitting in a wind tunnel.  Apart from ourselves and two other hardy guests the only people there were the staff.  this was in port, ship was stationary and we could not let go of our drink or it was gone.  We lasted 5 minutes and retreated to the inside of the ship.  What a waste of space.  If they couldn’t replicate the edge with the high wind shields then they should not have done this.  Guarantee this will not last very long.  So disappointing.  My advice if you have the choice of ship - chose the Edge.

[teamflames]

16 hours ago, sippican said:

 

Are you saying that you believe the suite guests were dining in the MDR?  Seems a bit farfetched since our expereince has always been that we could order off the MDR menu in Luminae.

On our last cruise our friends were in a suite and they regularly dined in the MDR with large groups of other suite guests. Apparently they preferred the vibe. I thought it strange but several of them told us they didn’t like Luminae.

[teamflames]

Has there been any other general changes to Silhouette that affect all passengers?

[Carole2313]

We’re sailing a B2B on the Solstice this April in a Sky Suite.  Unfortunately it’s not scheduled to be revolutionized till next year.  To the Suite people, on which S-class ship would you prefer to book your next Suite?  Not sure where we want to go, we just love cruising, and we love the Suite Life.

[Xport]

On 2/15/2020 at 4:20 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

No pool?

No secret!

 

It’s been clear from the outset that—due to weight/balance considerations—no pool could be added to revolutionized M-Class and S-Class ships upon addition of the Retreat Sundeck areas...  Edge is smaller than her S-Class sisters—with about the same guest capacity—but Edge weighs a good bit more (some related to the additional forward pool; some related to the midships Magic Carpet) than the S-Class ships...

[chemmo]

9 hours ago, Drwho32 said:

So today - day 4 on the new Silhoutte after our on shore in Aruba, we went back to the ship and decided it would be nice to go to the retreat sundecks 15 or 16 to read a bit and have a drink.  Same as yesterday, totally unusable.  Even sitting in one of the only two cabanas it was like sitting in a wind tunnel.  Apart from ourselves and two other hardy guests the only people there were the staff.  this was in port, ship was stationary and we could not let go of our drink or it was gone.  We lasted 5 minutes and retreated to the inside of the ship.  What a waste of space.  If they couldn’t replicate the edge with the high wind shields then they should not have done this.  Guarantee this will not last very long.  So disappointing.  My advice if you have the choice of ship - chose the Edge.

 

Really surprised to read this. When we were in ports on Equinox the breeze level on the Equinox Retreat Deck was generally quite nice....The snag was the lack of shade and no water feature. It did feel pleasant but you could quickly burn. At sea the breeze was stronger but not generally so strong to blow glasses over.

 

It will be interesting to see how you get on in other ports.

 

Could you please comment on the comfort level of the sun beds, chairs, table/chair areas to snack in and confirm if the snack menu is the same as Edge/Equinox Retreat areas? Thanks!

 

 

 

[GastroGnome]

11 hours ago, Drwho32 said:

Same as yesterday, totally unusable.  Even sitting in one of the only two cabanas it was like sitting in a wind tunnel.  Apart from ourselves and two other hardy guests the only people there were the staff.  this was in port, ship was stationary and we could not let go of our drink or it was gone.  We lasted 5 minutes and retreated to the inside of the ship.  What a waste of space.

 

Surely this would be the same whether it was a retreat sundeck or an open access area?  The physical location and the wind speed have not altered - just the access.  As others have observed this was always one of the least used areas of the deck.

[colliercruiser]

2 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

Really surprised to read this. When we were in ports on Equinox the breeze level on the Equinox Retreat Deck was generally quite nice....The snag was the lack of shade and no water feature. It did feel pleasant but you could quickly burn. At sea the breeze was stronger but not generally so strong to blow glasses over.

 

It will be interesting to see how you get on in other ports.

 

 

 

 

Aruba is well known for being windy much of the time, so that may have played a part in your in-port experience.  Will also like to here what you find in other ports.

Edited February 18, 2020 by colliercruiser

[paulh84]

3 hours ago, GastroGnome said:

 

Surely this would be the same whether it was a retreat sundeck or an open access area?  The physical location and the wind speed have not altered - just the access.  As others have observed this was always one of the least used areas of the deck.

Right! It seems like some are under the impression that this is a totally new area. It’s the former Solstice deck and basketball court with new furnishings and restricted access. High deck, forward location and a notoriously windy port are going to cause some messy hair. 
 

 

[Saab4444]

3 hours ago, GastroGnome said:

 

Surely this would be the same whether it was a retreat sundeck or an open access area?  The physical location and the wind speed have not altered - just the access.  As others have observed this was always one of the least used areas of the deck.

The difference is if the few Suite people will really use it for sunbathing in the wind or if some of the 2900 guests like to go up there from time to time just to watch the scenery ahead and take pictures e.g. when you cruise into a Fjord in Norway. In the future it will be empty but not accessible for us.

[C-Dragons]

6 hours ago, Carole2313 said:

We’re sailing a B2B on the Solstice this April in a Sky Suite.  Unfortunately it’s not scheduled to be revolutionized till next year.  To the Suite people, on which S-class ship would you prefer to book your next Suite?  Not sure where we want to go, we just love cruising, and we love the Suite Life.

Reflection, hands down. 😎