Celebrity Silhouette Holiday Cruise Review

[greygypsy]

Celebrity Silhouette Cruise Review – December 22, 2023 – Caribbean Holiday Cruise

 

I actually wrote a regular cruise review for the Reviews section of Cruise Critic a couple days after we returned from the cruise on January 3, but it has not been published by January 17.  I am not certain what the delay is – but two weeks waiting for a review to be published is bad website management. 

 

We are two late-60’s, experienced cruisers who have primarily cruised with Celebrity and Regent over the past 20+ years.  We have Elite Plus status with Celebrity. This holiday cruise had been postponed three times due to Covid concerns and we were very happy to be able to feel comfortable cruising again.  To be honest, we felt more comfortable Covid wise on the ship versus the airports and airplanes coming and going!

 

We were in Royal Suite 1609 on the 11^th deck.  This was convenient because we were sailing with our 10-year-old granddaughter, and we appreciate many of the Retreat benefits.  The benefit we used the most was relaxing on the Retreat sundeck.  Although it could (and did) get windy at times, the daybeds were much more comfortable than those around the pool or on deck 14, it was very uncrowded, and we had pretty much a private bar and excellent lunch service – even on days in port. 

 

Other benefits of the Retreat were not as great.  Our butler was nice, but except for bringing us a cold breakfast a few times and making sure we had some wine and snacks in the evening, wasn’t all that necessary.  Granted, we are not very demanding guests, but I’m sure our cabin attendant (who was excellent) could have done what the butler did.  Those in the sky suites (who are now without an individual butler) didn’t really lose much.

 

While the service in Luminae was super (we highly recommend our server Stephen), the food selections were limited and if we hadn’t also been able to order from the main dining room, we wouldn’t have had much choice at all.  Some friends we made on the cruise – also staying in a Retreat suite – had friends in an Aqua class cabin and ate in Blu a few times with them and said the food was better in Blu.  We did eat once with some new friends in the main dining room (they had a standard seating at 6 pm and 3 extra seats at their table and it was easy for us to join them) and we felt the service and food were good. 

 

One of the Retreat benefits is also “unlimited” meals in any of the specialty restaurants.  We made our dining reservations ahead of time, but it looked as if you wanted to dine at 8 or later that you wouldn’t have any issues getting in.  Murano was excellent both times we dined there, and the Lawn Club was a pleasant surprise.  The Tuscan Grill was OK.  We did not do Sushi at 5 (wife and granddaughter not fish eaters) or the seafood restaurant up near the Lawn Club.  Lunch choices at the Retreat Sundeck were limited but the food was good and service top notch.

 

Our granddaughter did the buffet a few times and she was happy with the food and selections.  From my walking through the lines, it looked to me like the food choices were very good.

 

I enjoyed the coffee bar Bacio at least once a day and the coffee and service were good. 

 

We had no trouble getting drinks and wine that were enjoyable with call brands that we like all being available for the premium package.  We did order a special wine for one night and the up charge was very reasonable.  Sommelier service both in Luminae and the main dining room was excellent. 

 

We are not huge entertainment folks, but I did see two shows that were decent, a headline act doing a rock and roll tribute, who were quite enjoyable and a magician who was fairly pathetic.  Around the ship there was a particularly good classical style guitarist, an excellent house pop/rock group (the female lead singer and guitar player were both exceptional) and a 40s-50s quasi big band that needed to practice more.  Overall, I’d say the entertainment was better than average. 

 

Christmas activities included family and kids only stuff including Santa (if you really needed Santa…).  New Years rocked on deck even if it was a bit windy.

 

Our granddaughter made a new friend early on at Camp at Sea and the staff there had plenty of stuff for all age groups. 

 

For the pool people I noticed there seemed to always be some available deck chairs, even some in the shade when the pool was especially busy (such as the beautiful sea day we had on the day before we disembarked). 

 

The stops were fairly typical for the Caribbean – we didn’t use many of the ship’s excursions, but we heard mixed reviews from fellow passengers.  Overall, we feel that in the Caribbean you can almost always do better arranging your own off-the-ship activities with little or no worry about getting back in time.  We probably had the most fun at the first stop in the Bahamas where we went to the Baha Mar water park, and I got exhausted while our granddaughter had a blast.

 

The crew was very visible with some of them having family on board due to the holiday.  Service everywhere was up to the usual Celebrity standards.

 

The ship was in great shape.  This was our first time on an S class ship and except for my wife and granddaughter getting lost while using the incorrect elevator, the design and available amenities were as advertised. Just remember that you cannot cross the ship on the 15^th or 16^th deck – that the 14^th is the last outside deck you can cross the ship on (and the 11^th the last one you can cross inside). 

 

The prices on Celebrity have gone up substantially since before the pandemic and we are not sure that the cost/benefit ratio is worth it any more for the type of luxury cruise experience we enjoy the most.  Our next cruise will be back on Regent, and it will be interesting to compare. 

 

If you have any specific questions that you would like answered feel free to reply or message me directly.

 

I think in the “formal” review – if it ever gets published I gave the cruise 5 stars because I really felt it was 4 ½ and decided to err on the top side.  The Celebrity Silhouette is a fine ship with a fine crew and good service.  It doesn’t have the energy of a Royal Caribbean cruise or the refinement of Regent – but is a good choice for something in between.    

[marieps]

2 hours ago, greygypsy said:

Some friends we made on the cruise – also staying in a Retreat suite – had friends in an Aqua class cabin and ate in Blu a few times with them and said the food was better in Blu.    

We were on Silhouette's TA in October and opted for Blu rather than Luminae one evening.  The food was excellent.  After several Suite cruises we are dropping back to AQ for our next two =X= voyages.  We have also booked Regent for 2026.

Edited January 17 by marieps

[scanditaly]

Thank you Grey Gypsy.  Your words were spot-on as we were there as well. Being Retreat guests of Luminae I would say that we ordered something from the main dining menu at every seating. 
 

Scanditaly 

[QuestionEverything]

All the negative comments about the menu in Luminae. I have been observing this for years - "I always order off part off the MDR menu"........

I look at the menu and would never pay the prices they want for the Retreat given the food. Have read many reviews of the burger being hard packed meat.......

The food offerings seem very limited versus the premium lines like Oceania etc.

Why?

 

 

[marieps]

2 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

All the negative comments about the menu in Luminae. I have been observing this for years - "I always order off part off the MDR menu"........

I look at the menu and would never pay the prices they want for the Retreat given the food. Have read many reviews of the burger being hard packed meat.......

The food offerings seem very limited versus the premium lines like Oceania etc.

Why?

 

 

I'm OK with the burger in Luminae.  The day one lunch lobster roll on the other hand, is nothing like any New Englander would expect.  Minced warm-water lobster in a bland mixture.  Nope.  

[greygypsy]

On 1/18/2024 at 6:30 AM, QuestionEverything said:

All the negative comments about the menu in Luminae. I have been observing this for years - "I always order off part off the MDR menu"........

I look at the menu and would never pay the prices they want for the Retreat given the food. Have read many reviews of the burger being hard packed meat.......

The food offerings seem very limited versus the premium lines like Oceania etc.

Why?

Good question.  As mentioned above, except for the really good service, I wouldn't eat at Luminae regularly for the food.  

On 1/18/2024 at 6:30 AM, QuestionEverything said: