Cruising | On board Celebrity Silhouette (part 1)

Forget Jane McDonald, this is Cruising with… Love, Lucy xx! Join me as I give you the lowdown on our honeymoon – a cruise on board Celebrity Silhouette.

How many cruise ships have I been on? Too many to count, as it’s definitely in double figures. How many Celebrity ships had I previously been on? I genuinely think it was zero… before embarking Celebrity Silhouette.

We did a 12-night itinerary – originally titled Scandinavia & St Petersburg, but for obvious reasons, was later named Best of Scandinavia. Visiting ports such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm, a no-fly voyage from Southampton meant a couple of sea days either side of our itinerary – and an additional one as we were unable to dock in Skagen (another port in Denmark).

As mentioned, Celebrity Silhouette was our floating hotel for the duration – and for those that aren’t familiar with the cruise line, it’s one of five ships in the Solstice-class of the fleet. I’d consider them small to mid-sized ships – with passenger capacity at roughly 2,850. Although, on our cruise there were only 1,000 guests (and 1,500 staff!).

In the first of this two-part series, I’ll be talking about our stateroom and dining & the bars. Read on, to find out more.

Accommodation

Our stateroom was beautiful – and while the majority of the staterooms have balconies, we were booked in a Concierge Class stateroom, which came with a load of benefits – which to be honest, we didn’t really take advantage of – as well as being a more desirable location on the ship.

We had a king-sized bed, with an additional seating area – plus a 42ft² balcony, with a table and two chairs. The bathroom was a really good size, with plenty of storage (for my fortnight’s worth of hair and skincare), and complimentary toiletries, as well as a hairdryer (which wasn’t the best).

We lived a life of luxury with a bottle of fizz and daily canapes, which were usually served between 3 and 4pm. Ash made the most of the binoculars which were in the room, while the umbrella would have come in handy in Tallinn – had we not left it behind! I loved the room service menu for breakfast – and the service was also complimentary.

Things we didn’t take advantage of were the welcome lunch (it finished at 2pm, which was the time we boarded… if only we knew before booking our check-in time), the use of concierge for booking dinner reservations (we did it all through the app) or shore excursions (we pre-booked ours) and some special events, including an art auction.

Our stateroom attendant was also really lovely – she was called Jacqeline and came from South Africa. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and when Ash got some laundry done, she even hung it all up! One night, I left her a note to say thank you and after that, we built up a correspondence using the branded notebook… although we often saw her in the corridor – either after breakfast, or on our way down to dinner and drinks. She also created the most incredible towel animals and it brought back memories of my first ever cruise – where we attended a napkin folding workshop, and learned how to fold the Sydney Opera House, amongst other random things. These were next level though!

Dining

I’m going to be positing some of the speciality restaurants we visited, and we ate at Tuscan Grille on the first night, before trying out QSine, Sushi on 5 and on our final night, Murano. Most evenings were otherwise spent at the main dining room, which was included – Grand Cuvee. We had open dining so we could pick and choose our time, otherwise there were two sittings: 6:30 and 8:30pm.

The menu in Grand Cuvee changed every day, unless you wanted a ‘Timeless Classic’, and you could always have a three or even four-course meal if you fancied. Some of the meals I enjoyed in the restaurant included:

• Tomato watermelon salad, followed by duck and wild rice
• Sesame-crusted tuna carpaccio, followed by Mediterranean seafood orzo
• Tuscan vegetable minestrone, followed by butternut farrotto

Nearly always finished off with a scoop of fat-free frozen yogurt or sorbet (it was genuinely all I could manage, most of the time – and the dessert menu was always so good).

The Oceanview Café was a buffet we often went to for breakfast, or lunch if we were on the ship – although we also went for dinner, the one night we genuinely couldn’t manage another three-course meal. I loved the Caesar salad station, where you could pick the elements you wanted, and the salad was dressed to order. I’d get some freshly grilled chicken to go alongside it. Again, there was plenty of choice and you could easily choose something different each time. The two dessert stations were also divine – and there was a small ice cream parlour.

For burgers, the Mast Grill was the place to go. I went turkey burger, with lettuce, tomato and pickles – and Celebrity sauce *chefs kiss*. I wish I had gone more. For healthy options, the Spa Café was fabulous. It was open for breakfast and lunch – and we tried both. The banana breakfast bagel was so tasty, and for lunch, there were some gorgeous noodle salads.

And if we ever needed a snack, Café al Bacio not only served the loveliest coffees (the caramel macchiato was my go-to), but complimentary cakes and pastries. It was next to the gelateria, which was a supplement, but it had such a great vibe – especially when there was live music playing. I regret not going more, especially not taking advantage of the free sweet treats – my waistline thanks me, though.

To quickly sum up the bars and lounges, some of my favourites included:

• Pool Bar – there was nothing better than relaxing in one of the gorgeous cabana chairs, sipping a frozen cocktail. The pina colada was great, and I also loved the strawberry and mango daiquiris.
• Sky Lounge – the best place to take advantage of your drinks package, alongside the entertainment on offer, and some exceptional sea views and sunsets.
• Craft Bar – to get your sports fix. I necked Proseccos while watching the FA Cup final, and the final day of the Premier League season was absolutely buzzing in there.
• Martini Bar – for all the martinis, obv. Sit at the ice bar for the best experience, or watch one of the mixology shows.

In part 2, I’ll be talking about the facilities and entertainment. And if I’ve not convinced you by then, there’s no convincing. Cruising is a definitely love it or hate it experience – and I’m firmly in the former team!

Love, Lucy xx