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I was lucky enough to spend a day onboard
Celebrity Silhouette in New York, as part of the prize package for winning one
of the 12 places on TW Cover Stars 2012.
Having already been on Celebrity Equinox and
Celebrity Eclipse, I couldn’t see how the latest Solstice class ship could
really have been improved. How wrong was I?
All the things I loved about the previous
Solstice class ships were still there, including: -
·
Martini Bar & Crush
·
Tuscan Grille, Qsine, Murano
and Blu speciality restaurants
·
Ocean View Café, Bistro on 5, and
Café al Bacio & Gelateria
·
Cellar Masters, where you can
learn about and taste wines from around the world
·
Fortunes Casino with over 200
machines as well as gaming tables
·
Quasar nightclub, with its
amazing furniture and great lighting, as well as a large dance floor
·
The adult only Solarium with
its indoor lap pool and comfortable lounge chairs
·
Aqua Class staterooms and the
Persian Garden
·
The Lawn Club, with half an
acre of well maintained real grass
·
Over 85% of staterooms with a
balcony
The overall feel of the ship was still one
of modern luxury, with friendly attentive service, and it is hard to imagine
anyone not being wowed by a cruise on a Solstice class ship.
However, they have removed the Hot Glass
Show from Celebrity Silhouette (and Celebrity Reflection in 2012). The plus
point with this is that it has freed up space for a number of new additions to
the Lawn Club deck.
·
The Alcoves – your own private
cabana-styled haven on The Lawn Club. These are for up to 4 people and give
stunning views of the sea and lawn, complete with lighting for those darker
evenings. Within the price you receive four bottles of water, a fresh fruit
plate, hand held fans, chilled towels and the use of an iPad loaded with
movies, music, games, magazines and more. You can order picnics, drinks etc
from your Alcove Attendant, and the cost is added to your stateroom account. A
wide range of Alcoves Spa Services are also available. The cost of an Alcove for
the day is $99 on a port day and $149 on a sea day and that is per Alcove, not
per person. They can even be booked online in advance of your cruise.
·
The Porch – a great new restaurant on
The Lawn Club, which seats just 48 people, and offers fast and fresh food for
breakfast and lunch, including freshly baked bread, pastries and coffees,
salads, wine and beer. There is a surcharge of just $5 per person
·
The Lawn Club Grill – this is a highly
interactive open air restaurant, seating just 58 people, which is based around outdoor
grilling. The food served includes a gourmet salad bar, build your own pizzas,
beef, seafood and poultry. One person from each party can be a Grill Master who
gets paired with one of the chefs to work together in cooking the food, although
you can opt out and let the chefs do all the cooking. Reservations are
required, and it is open from 5pm to 10pm every night, and noon to 2pm on one
sea day per cruise. There is a surcharge of $40 per person, which includes a
complimentary apron and tongs for the Grill Master in each party.
·
Art Studio – this new venue at The Lawn
Club offers activities such as drawing, painting, beading, cooking lessons,
tasting and demos to small groups. Some of these sessions are free while others
carry a surcharge.
Elsewhere on the ship there have been some
other changes: -
·
The Hideaway – this new venue is located
on Deck 7, and is a retreat where guests can rest and relax. You can read a
book, do the crossword or perhaps listen to music. It has seating for just 30
people so you can be sure of a relaxing time.
·
Michael’s Club – for Silhouette (and
Reflection in 2012) they have added a selection of more than 50 international
beers, including ales, lagers, lambics, ciders, wheat beers and even beer
cocktails. There is a selection of homemade snacks, such as potato crisps,
parmesan bread sticks, and caramel popcorn, all of which are made daily. There
will be beer tastings and even challenges to test your knowledge of different
beers.
What is next?
Well when Celebrity Reflection launches in
2012 she will have a few more additions: -
·
She will have an extra deck
added
·
There will be a number of new
suites: -
o
34 luxurious Aqua Class Suites,
each 251 sq ft plus a 57 sq ft veranda
o
5 signature suites, with a
441sq ft stateroom and 118sq ft veranda which can each accommodate up to 4
guests
o
1 Reflection suite with 2
bedrooms, which can accommodate up to 6 guests, measuring 1,636sq ft and a 194
sq ft veranda (complete with a hot tub and rain shower)
·
More seating will be available
in the dining rooms, and the theatre
·
More sun loungers will be
available on deck
Summary
We all had a really good day onboard, with
some of the winners having their makeover done in the AquaSpa. We then had an
enjoyable lunch in ‘Bistro on 5’, before leaving to head into New York for
dinner at Planet Hollywood followed by Chicago on Broadway
It seems that the best just got better with
Celebrity Silhouette, but will get even better still next year, with the debut
of Celebrity Reflection.
Posted
20 Dec 2011 12:13 PM
by
GoCruiser