Celebrity Silhouette Revolutionised
Our ship, Celebrity Silhouette, recently underwent a multimillion dollar facelift. In line with government limits, there were 1098 people on a ship designed for almost 3000 and the odd 98 were children. However we hardly saw them and in general, people were lazing around on deck,off in the spa, gym or listening to speakers, doing workshops, watching entertainment, eating, drinking or taking part in the sports activities during our sea days. There are plenty of lounges to sit with a coffee & a book if you don’t want to be outside and we never had a problem getting a sunbed or a seat in a bar or lounge. There's even an indoor solarium pool if it's bright but too chilly to be outdoors. We had a great atmosphere over dinner and during the evening entertainment when we all got together although it was a bit odd at first. The ship is looking fresh and modern with some new seating areas and new carpets throughout. The wine bar is now the Craft Social Bar and has an area that shows live sports. Whilst we were on board the Olympics were taking place and it was a popular place to be to cheer our athletes on. There's a new deck area called ‘the Retreat’ for guests in the suites. Michael's Lounge has become the Retreat Lounge and Luminae is now the assigned restaurant for those guests.
Lots of people have asked about the shore excursions and ports of call. There were just two ports, Invergordon & Liverpool on this 6 night cruise. As the whole ship was double vaccinated adults and PCR tested children sailing with a double vaccinated crew, we were one huge bubble. This meant that to preserve the safety of the ship, only official ship excursions were allowed. We’ve done Liverpool and pretty much all of the popular excursions there ourselves in the past, so we went for Invergordon. This is a working port just outside Inverness which meant lots of people went in search of Nessie. We chose Cawdor Castle & Gardens. This is still a charming home outside of the summer season when it’s open to visitors. Our guide was super excited to be back doing the job she loved again and taking us on a tour. She was extremely entertaining and knowledgeable and one of the ship’s crew was also with us to make sure we didn’t stray off and start chatting up the locals. It’s a shame we couldn’t do our own thing, but we knew that we would have to forego our trip to the gift/coffee shop when we booked the trip. Looking at the coaches on the dock and seeing the listings on the TV, I’d say that with the range of excursions offered, around 60% of passengers ventured out for the day in port. We were serenaded into the dock by a band of pipers which was a nice surprise.
Two days later Liverpool was beautiful as we sailed in at dawn and we were docked right next to the Royal Liver building, almost at eye level with the famous Liverbirds. Everyone that went ashore said they had a great time and there was a good selection of tours to choose from. Liverpool did us proud as we sailed out late afternoon to the sounds of Rod Stewart’s ‘I am Sailing’ serenading us from the dock and people waved us away. I haven’t ever associated Liverpool with beaches, but we sailed the whole 4km length of Crosby Beach and an army of iron statues looked back at us. The Antony Gormley ‘Another Place’ Sculpture has been refurbished recently and it was an unexpected bonus to see it from the ship.
Our cruise director Lewis greeted us on the first evening and told us that it was exactly one year, four months and 22 days since he had been on stage in front of an audience. Like many he had taken jobs to bring in some money during the cruise suspensions, but nothing can replace to joy of entertaining for those that have the talent to do it well. Throughout the ship there are places and time slots for live music and we saw all of the acts bar one. The spa was operational and there were activities going on all day around the ship if you wanted to be entertained. In the main theatre there are still seats blocked for social distancing and a few rows in front of the stage are kept empty. All crew members were still wearing masks around the ship when they weren’t actively on stage. We also had to wear masks indoors until we were seated to eat or drink or in the theatre, but everyone took the policy in good spirit. There were even sequinned masks worn on the 'evening chic' night.
One huge expectation on a cruise is the quality and choice of the dining. The choice was a bit more limited due to the lower numbers of guests, but that was to be anticipated and what we did have was still excellent. The international buffet was still operational but it’s no longer self-service. You choose your food station and ask for what you want, it will be served to you and then you’re free to wander and ask for other items from the other counters if you want to mix and match. The cutlery is also kept behind the counter and is given to you with your meal. The drinks station isn’t freely accessible but your drinks are served to you by a cheerful crew member. There are still social distancing protocols to leave empty tables or space between tables in the restaurants but there was never a problem getting seats for any of our meals. If you’re tech savvy you can see the daily activities and menus on the Celebrity app but a paper versions are still available.
We booked at the beginning of June to travel at the end of July and we were so pleased we did. Captain Georgious and his crew worked tirelessly to keep us safe whilst letting us enjoy some much anticipated time to relax and have fun. Even the weather was on our side!