Cruising | On board Celebrity Silhouette (part 2)

Did you catch my last post: Cruising | On board Celebrity Silhouette (part 1)? If you did, you’ll know that I wrote about our honeymoon cruise on board Celebrity Silhouette around the Baltic.

A bit of background for those that don't know – I used to work in the travel industry. Prior to that, I'd never cruised, nor considered boarding a ship for a holiday. But several ship visits and fam trips later, and it absolutely grips you! Regular readers who've seen my ‘30 before I'm 30’ list (yep, it's 40 now!) will notice I have “Cruise the Mediterranean” and “Cruise the Caribbean” on there. And I also want to travel to South Polynesia (there's a cruise for that too).

I will say that cruising is like Marmite – you either love it or hate it. I’m really not expecting people to read this post and want to go on a cruise immediately – as it’s not for everyone. But, guess what? I love cruising and Marmite!

In part one, I wrote about our stateroom accommodation and the dining options. In tonight's post, it's all about the facilities and entertainment on board. Read on to find out more.

Facilities

When you have a sea day – that’s a day spent at sea, on the ship while travelling to your next destination – your time can be spent doing as much or as little as you like. In my previous post I mentioned our room had a balcony and that was great – not only for catching the evening sun, reading a book, or in my case, getting all my evening outfit photos taken – it meant we could get some solace if we needed a quiet moment. There are places on the ship to relax and unwind, but there was something just serene about being sat in the room, literally listening to the waves and looking out beyond the horizon.

For the sporty, there was a well-equipped gym (I actually went to three or four times!) and outside, the walking/jogging track. Signs explained that 5 laps was 1km, while 8 laps was a mile. I got several miles in often in the morning. The gym had all the usual machines, as well as a selection of weights, exercise balls and other equipment. If you wanted to join a class, you’d need to book on and pay a supplement. For example, there was HIIT and spinning, amongst other classes. It could be because the ship was only half full, but I found there was never a queue or any kind of wait to use any of the machines, which made the gym slightly more desirable! It was hot up there, though.

However, if relaxation is more your thing, there's obviously the pool deck, as well as the solarium, with the indoor pools, and whirlpools. We didn't use the spa, so I can't comment on that, but the solarium was lovely. On the same deck as the spa and gym were a hair salon and beauty treatment rooms – again, I didn’t check those out.

Alternatively, The Hideaway was a great place to read, catch up on your emails or simply scroll through Insta. With tea and coffee facilities as well, you could simply relax. On deck 10, there was even a library – with books in all different languages.

Deck 4 was the place to be to – and where it was all happening. With the casino (again, we didn’t go there!) and a row of shops, selling a range of clothing, accessories, food & drink, and even make up/beauty products. I saw the loveliest Kate Spade handbag – and still deeply regret not snapping it up! Throughout the cruise, there were selected sales on clothing, jewellery and accessories. The details could be found in the daily magazine. It was also on deck 4, where you could find the theatre. Take in a show, a lecture or talk, and it was also the meeting point for any Celebrity-booked shore excursions, before disembarking at port.

Entertainment

There was plenty to see and do – and you're always in the know thanks to the Celebrity Today ‘magazine’ left in your stateroom during the turn down service. And there is something going on every hour (or even half hour) of the day. Boredom just isn't an option, in my opinion anyway. While we didn't get involved in any of the dance classes or arts & crafts (although there was an origami session or two which I would have loved), there are so many options to keep you entertained, whatever your interests.

We loved the quizzes, and there was usually a daily quiz in the morning, followed by and a pub quiz much later in the evening – both in the Sky Lounge. They only lasted 10-15 minutes and would be a quick fire round of between 10 and 20 questions, on a particular theme or topic.

We also got involved in some of the evening game shows. I was a judge for chat up line contest as part of ‘Mr & Mrs’. Later during our voyage, I also played a music game where you had to say (or sing, if you could or you had enough drinks!) a line of a song without repeating the same song. There were five of us and I actually came second. before my mind went blank. There was also the ‘Balloon Pop’ – and I'll say no more. Similarly. I won't talk about the X-rated version of Family Fortunes we played, also known as ‘Frisky Feud’.

Away from that kind of entertainment, we absolutely loved the house band ‘Bristol Fashion’. We must have watched them perform at least seven or eight times during our cruise. They were five piece, who performed many different genres. One night we even requested Oasis, and the following night they played Wonderwall. Music-wise, we also saw Toni Warne from series 1 of The Voice UK, The Knights trio, who played homage to music’s Sirs and Dames, and we caught the end of an Elton John tribute… I'm sure we saw some other musical acts too.

I think I mentioned in my last post about some of the masterclasses and seminars. At the martini bar, the staff often put on a show, and there were mixology classes to take part in. We did a World Wine Tour tasting, which took place in the Tuscan Grille, where we had our first meal. We joined three of the sommeliers to taste a dozen wines – six red, and six white. We were given a piece of paper and a pencil to make notes on each, and we could even cleanse our palates with cheese, bread sticks and fruit. My favourites were:

• Red: Yangarra Grenache, Australia
• White: Vermentino di Sardegna Sella & La Cala, Italy

There was also a food & wine pairing that sounded right up my street – but these special events came at a supplement of $42 per person, so we only did the one tasting.

And we even attended a silent disco at sea. We were given a pair of headphones with a switch, offering up a choice of three different songs at any given time – from different eras. I think I stuck to the 1990s to present channel. It was a really good laugh as I’d never been to one before. Who knew they'd be so much fun and a great way to bond over music in a strange sort of way?

There was a games room, although many passengers brought their own on board. We’d often see friends in Ensemble or Café Al Bacio playing cards or something else. And the staterooms had interactive TVs with a range of free (or pay to view) films, as well as information about the ship, bios on some of the crew and a map of the ship's route and current position - always in real time.

I’ll be sharing what we got up to in each of the destinations as well as some of the specialty dining experiences, we enjoyed on board – so keep your eyes peeled for those.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to shout out our wonderful travel agent Gary. I worked with Gary before – and he’s super knowledgeable. We highly recommend him and his services, whether it's a cruise you’re after, a staycation – or anything in between.

Love, Lucy xx