Just back from the Silhouette TA – a brief review after 4 years away from Celebrity

[Turtles06]

Since we were in a C2 cabin, I wanted to give my thoughts on Concierge Class, especially since the question whether CC is "worth it" is often discussed here. 

 

We are very particular about our cabin location, and, on the S-class ships, we really like to be in one of the cabins on the slant of the hump with the larger balconies.  Also, on a westbound TA, we prefer to be on the port side, which is sunnier in that direction.  On this TA, we started out with a nice 1A balcony on the slant of the hump, and wound up moving our cabin two times before sailing in order to improve our location; in the final move, we were able to grab a C2 on the slant of the hump, port side, when one opened up.  In fact, it was the exact cabin we would have chosen if it had been available when we booked.  So we were happy campers.  And the price of our C2 at that point was the same at which we had booked our 1A, so the decision to book it was a no-brainer.

 

So, in terms of whether to book CC class, location is important to us.  We could have booked a C2 cabin from the start, but it would not have been on the slant of the hump, and thus booked the 1A instead (better location, larger balcony).  Our decision to book CC in this case was driven by the specific C2 cabin that became available later on.

 

As for the CC "perks," I do like the footstools on the CC balconies, and I think it's really chintzy of Celebrity not to have them on all balconies.  (We've sailed on RCI's Anthem of the Seas, which in many respects is a Celebrity S-class ship on steroids; Anthem's balcony furniture is pretty similar to that on the S-class ships, except that all balconies have the footstools.  C'mon Celebrity, stop being so cheap!)   In contrast to the footstools, the afternoon canapes delivered to our stateroom, another CC perk, were just terrible, and often visually unappetizing.  

 

Since our last sailing four years ago on the Silhouette, also in a C2, Celebrity has added a couple of CC perks that did have value to us.  The first was the embarkation day lunch in the MDR, which saved us from the utter chaos of the buffet upon embarkation.   The second was the Concierge, now located at a desk in the Library.  She was extremely helpful  several times in sorting out our changing dinner reservations.  We could have done all of that ourselves, but she could make one quick phone call and take care of everything.   We had no problems we needed her to help solve, but we did see her working with folks extensively to help sort out various issues.   

 

There's been some confusion here on CC as to whether this Concierge is restricted to helping guests in CC cabins, and so I asked her.  She told me that she's the only Concierge on board, and that if a non-CC guest asks her for assistance, she will do her best to help.   I think, however, that giving her "office hours" at a desk in the Library on Deck 10, near so many CC cabins, made her particularly visible to, and accessible to, CC guests.

 

Finally, we were pleasantly surprised one day to receive an invitation, as CC guests, to be on the helipad for the sailaway from Boston.   We thought that was a very nice gesture by Celebrity.

 

Is Concierge Class "worth it?"   On this cruise, it certainly was to us.  

 

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

Fantastic information here. Thank you for sharing!

😎

 

[Turtles06]

31 minutes ago, Palms2Pines2Sea said:

Fantastic information here. Thank you for sharing!

😎

 

You're welcome, and thank you for the kind comment!

[Turtles06]

I almost forgot to mention one of the most fun things that that Sue and her staff organized for us -- an ABBA sing-along/dance party in the Sky Lounge late one night.  The place was packed and it really was HUGE fun. 

 

A few months ago, we took our first Holland America cruise.  We chose it for the very unique itinerary, and we really enjoyed it.  But I have to say, it could have used some ABBA sing-alongs in the evenings.  😜  

[Shadow9612]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

In contrast to the footstools, the afternoon canapes delivered to our stateroom, another CC perk, were just terrible, and often visually unappetizing.  

I usually sail in a concierge class cabin. 

 

I look forward to the afternoon canapes since I'm usually getting hungry by then, and I get excited as I look  for the surprises under the silver cover, but then wonder, why the canapés are not more visually appealing and tastier!  

I see a lot of negative comments about them, so I'm curious why celebrity doesn't improve them - I suppose some people like them.  I would guess I eat 40% of the items.  I have at times requested a cheese tray instead. 

[davekathy]

19 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I love to photograph ships in the evening, and "the beautiful Celebrity Silhouette," as most of the staff appropriately call her, is a great subject.  One of my favorite spots was above the pool deck, with its colorful lights.

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

Fantastic pictures. 

[CTSandy]

Thank you for posting - will be sailing on Silhouette next week and looking forward to it!  Not my first time on Celebrity, but first trip on Silhouette - last trip was Bermuda this may and in Aqua; I do love dining in Blu but we decided to try the main dining room this time.  Enjoyed your comments!

[Luckynana]

I am enjoying your Silhouette TA posts, Turtles 06.  We were on the Silly in 2016 for our Mediterranean cruise, and will be on her November 2019 for the ABC Islands.  Love the Silhouette!  We've been on the Equinox twice now, and last year for Veteran's Day,  her Captain and Crew also honored all the Veteran's onboard.  My DH is a Vietnam Vet; this was very special for all in attendance.😊

[cruisesport]

Thank you for taking the time to do a review.

[BosoxI]

Boy, there seems to be a spate of real reviews ecently, and I appreciate them tremendously.  Thanks, Turtles 06, especially as we'll be doing a B2B starting 11/30.  We haven't been on the Silhouette in a few years, but now you have me hoping the food will be as good as it was on the Equinox this past September. 

[Turtles06]

17 hours ago, Shadow9612 said:

I usually sail in a concierge class cabin. 

 

I look forward to the afternoon canapes since I'm usually getting hungry by then, and I get excited as I look  for the surprises under the silver cover, but then wonder, why the canapés are not more visually appealing and tastier!  

I see a lot of negative comments about them, so I'm curious why celebrity doesn't improve them - I suppose some people like them.  I would guess I eat 40% of the items.  I have at times requested a cheese tray instead. 

The canapes used to be better.  I think this is cost-cutting.   Some of the stuff (little clams and various fish-like things in particular) were beyond gross looking.  We really should have told our steward not to deliver these trays.  If we needed a late afternoon snack, I usually ran up to the buffet and made up our own cheese plate.  (I was amazed by how much blue cheese was always available. Yum.)

Edited November 24, 2018 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

Thanks everyone for the very kind comments, and for taking the time to read along!

[Turtles06]

Exercise . .  . The high winds made it difficult for me to take the walks on deck that I love to take, especially early in the morning, but I did get some outdoor walks in.  I also love to swim laps, which is pretty hard in the relatively tiny pools of a cruise ship, and impossible in nice weather when the pools are in use.  But given our weather, the outdoor pool was not really in use, especially early in the mornings, and I got some swimming in there.  To my surprise, the water was a comfortable temperature.  Of course, the wind chill getting in and out made for a bit of an adventure!   I also swam laps in the indoor solarium pool when I realized late one morning that while people were taking up all the loungers around the pool, no one was actually going in the water.  (That was not the case in that pool very early in the day, when a number of folks were doing water aerobics.)

 

My wife was often in the Fitness Center, where she uses an indoor rower.  While the Silhouette did have a Concept 2 rowing machine, there was only one, so she sometimes had to wait a long while to use the machine.  (Other ships we've been on have at least a couple of Concept 2s, and the Silhouette really should get another.)  There were plenty of treadmills, and, based on my wife's observation, usually little or no wait to use one, at least when she was there.

[Straughn]

This has been a great read. I board Silhouette next Friday for nine nights.

 

Looking forward to cruising with Sue Denning. Thanks for the info on John Bressler. I have seen two of the three production shows on various ships. We saw Life and thought it was a total waste of good talent. Pearl isn’t much better. As much as I enjoy the production shows (theatre major in me), these are two I won’t waste my time on again. I will give Cosmopolitan a chance. We had a broadway review, done by the singers and dancers, one day. I thought it was the best showdown that cruise. It was billed as them performing  songs which had significance to them. Whether that was true or not, it was very entertaining.

 

Interestingly, a lot of your comments about the specialty restaurants mirrored my experience last March. Mirano was excellent,  but it is important to know that the service is measured. For some folks, that can be an issue. The only thing consistent about Tuscan is the its inconsistency. I am perplexed how it can be so good one evening and so bad another night on the exact same cruise. I had my first Lawn Club experience last March and will definitely be dining there again. 

 

Oh, and my chocolate chip cookie in the Lawn Club was definitely served in a skillet.

[Turtles06]

20 hours ago, Straughn said:

Oh, and my chocolate chip cookie in the Lawn Club was definitely served in a skillet.

 

Ha, thank you!  I thought perhaps I was losing my mind.  (Which I probably am anyway, but not about a chocolate chip cookie!)

 

Have a wonderful cruise!   

[Turtles06]

It's not my intent in this thread to cover our ports, but I do want to mention our overnight in New York, as it was so special.  We've sailed in and out of NY Harbor many times, and I believe that this is one of the most magnificent sail-ins and sailaways in the world.  Our prior sails have been on cruises that were starting and/or ending in NY, which means the sail-in was typically around sunrise, and the sailaway in the afternoon, during daylight hours.

 

The Silhouette TA was the first time we've had a port call in NY, and our sail-in was in the afternoon.  Even better, our sailaway was in the early evening the next day, when it was dark out, giving us all a chance to sail past the beautiful lights of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, and slip under the Verrazzano Bridge.   It was a stunning sailaway.

 

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[breezer]

Love your photos.  Thanks for sharing.  Will be on Silhouette in just a few more days Nov 30.

 

[Covepointcruiser]

Thanks for the NYC sailaway photos.   This sailaway is always one of my favorites.   Surprised you didn’t enjoy Darren Dowler.   He sang mostly oldies and had performed as the lead vocalist for several well known groups.   He was on after we left Boston and we did enjoy the music.   

[TeaBag]

We loved the sailaway too, also sailing into NYC listening to the band playing "New York, New York" was very special.

 

Love your pictures, Judith.

[Turtles06]

Thanks for the kind words about my photos.  And I agree, the NYC sail-in was great too -- how lucky were we on the weather?  I think it was the only day of the entire cruise when we had NO wind!  Of course, it was really cold on deck -- my hands were on my camera, not in my gloves, and my fingers were pretty numb by the time we docked.   I love that Captain George tooted the ship's horn each time we went under the Verrazzano; as many times as I've sailed in and out of NY Harbor, no other Captain has done that.  

 

Unfortunately, the grey, flat sky did not make for great photography, but here are a few images to remember the day by:

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Ontario Cruiser]

Will Sue Denning be on the Silhouette by March 24th? We were on th Eclipse crossing with her a few years ago and really enjoyed her. She is the Energerizer Bunny. Ontario Cruiser

[hcat]

On 11/22/2018 at 8:36 AM, Iamthesea said:

Very nice review, Turtles!  🙂

 

The Silhouette is also our favorite ship, to date.  And Lawn Club our favorite specialty.  It does get a bit windy up there at times.  We are off on the Edge in a couple of weeks.  Will be interesting to compare the ship to the Solstice class.

We are enjoying this very smooth flowing review! Outstanding NYC photos!

 

Silhouette is also our fav X  ship currently..and LCG but only on port nights when it is less windy

 

I Am Sea ...It would be a great perspective if you post a comparison of Silhouette..S Class and EDGE .

Edited November 26, 2018 by hcat

[signman]

Turtles, your photos are really really good.   Will you share what equipment you are using and how your night shots are so sharp?

[Silkroad]

Turtles06, I’m enjoying your great review, and beautiful photos. That night shot over the pool deck (post #15, top photo) is a real stunner. Kudos too, for your NYC skyline shots. Silhouette is indeed a beautiful ship. We’ve sailed her twice, most recently this summer, in our first Concierge cabin. We had the same fears about the MDR (based on recent CC reviews) but had such a wonderful experience in the MDR that we cancelled our specialty dining package. I’m looking forward to the rest of your review😊

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, signman said:

Turtles, your photos are really really good.   Will you share what equipment you are using and how your night shots are so sharp?

 

6 hours ago, Silkroad said:

Turtles06, I’m enjoying your great review, and beautiful photos. That night shot over the pool deck (post #15, top photo) is a real stunner. Kudos too, for your NYC skyline shots. ..

Thank you both for such kind comments, I really appreciate them.   

 

Silkroad, that photo is one of my favorites from this trip.   I'm always so happy when the sky cooperates like that.

 

Signman: I was using a Sony a6300 mirrorless camera, with Sony's 18-135mm lens.  I've been shooting with a Sony mirrorless for several years, but that lens is new for me; it's the first trip I've taken it on, and I've been pleased with it so far.   The NYC night shots were taken at a high ISO, 6400 and 12,800, sometimes using a really neat feature on my camera called Multi-frame Noise Reduction, which takes a burst of images and stacks them to reduce the noise as much as possible.   (Even so, there's plenty of noise in those photos, but my lens is not a fast lens and it was totally dark out except for the lights of the buildings, etc., and so I am happy with the results.)

 

Thank you both again.