Silhouette., what's new, good, better and not so much

Who I am : I sail a lot on Celebrity. I've spent approximately 25 weeks sailing on six different Celebrity ships in three categories over the last 3 years. Veranda, AQ and Suites ( S1,2 ).

I've recently written about how I feel that Celebrity's service and food quality have declined as prices have risen. I just returned from a one month B2B cruise aboard the Silhouette. So, that being said...here's what's new , different and or interesting, at least to me.

1). The pool BBQ .

For me far and away the best new Celebrity idea. We had two aboard the transatlantic. The officers told me that they were trying it out for the Caribbean. It was fun and the food was good...the Oceanview cafe was open, and most people brought their food in. The one misstep was on BBQ day two, No BBQ sauce. I asked a server how they could have a BBQ with no sauce..he didn't know, the maitre d didn't know...well...

2) The Liquid Lounge

A great concept that needs a lot of work. Essentially they turn the solarium into a Vegas style nightclub at 10:30 PM. Special drinks, a DJ and acrobats.

Unfortunately the transatlantic was populated with mainly older people that weren't that into it. There wasn't a dance area either. The special drinks tasted like Hawaiian punch. Yuch.

3 Blu, and game birds

I've written many times that I don't get why Blu serves so many game birds, because they don't know how to cook them. They are inevitably tough and cooked within an inch of their life...the waiters even warn guests about it.

Well, aboard this ship I found the game birds edible and actually good for the most part. Some were even cooked medium instead of well. By the way, you can ask for them cooked however you want, they come out the way they want regardless ...been there, tried that.

Why does Blu close at 8:30am on port days? It isn't a " privilege " to eat there, we PAY , a lot to eat there. This is a common complaint, but falls on deaf ears.

The service wasn't real restaurant quality, but much better than on prior journeys. The wait staff praised the head chef, he even put a new item on the menu. Pan seared Drumfish with lemon capers and blanched tomatoes over mashed potatoes ..very good.

4). Tuscan Grill

Ok, I'm not a fan of the new pick your protein and sauce idea, it reminds me of Olive Garden. It shouldn't be in a restaurant that charges and extra $50 a person. There should be well designed and executed dishes.

That being said, the Red snapper was good, and the filet too. The sides are overcooked boring stuff, but so be it. My question was about the butter. It came cold and foil wrapped. Really? Even the MDR serves it room temperature on a dish.

5) Michaels Club

We knew people on both cruises that resided in suites better than ours that had access to Michaels Club..both were kind enough to invite us in. ( once per cruise is the limit ). Anka, the concierge was nice and helpful and allowed us to spend additional time with my parents who were in a Royal suite. ( really nice btw, but out of my price range ). Don't spend a lot just for Michaels club access, it isn't worth it IMO .

I really found what we called " The road to nowhere " amusing. I took a pic of it.

At embarkation sites at ports is the customary line and ramp up to the security check. Well they have a special line, red carpet and sign for " special access for Michaels club and Zenith members ". The special line is out on its own, unconnected to any entrance. It's ridiculous but amusing...like the liquid Lounge, more work in progress

6) Fares and pricing.

We went into future cruise sales on Nov 11, the first day the new European cruises for 2016 were unveiled . Except for the transatlantics, the fares for suites began at about 450$pp or 900$ per night. That's about 50% more than they were a year or two ago. So the 2015 pricing wasn't an aberration.

I hope the new suite restaurant is worth the extra 300$ per night, but I doubt it.

I can sail on Oceania or Seabourn for that price, and the food's a LOT better.

That doesn't mean that we won't sail on Celebrity again, but given that I prefer suites for the extra room, we won't be sailing on Celebrity soon despite the improvements.

Yes, there were improvements and upgrades...kudos to the staff on the Silhouette...overall a good experience.

Now, if they could only disconnect that annoying woman's voice in the elevator that commands you to " stand clear of the door please! " at every stop...!

Hi Kevin, glad you enjoyed your cruises.

Thanks for the updates. We are glad to hear that the game birds in Blu were cooked better, hope this is the case on the Eclipse next month. The BBQ sounds like a good sea day addition hopefully we will have BBQ next month.

Like your "line to nowhere" we have laughed about the red tacky carpet laid away from security and not headed near the gangway.

Hope our paths cross again on a ship.

Joan & Greg

Hi Kevin, glad you enjoyed your cruises.

 

Thanks for the updates. We are glad to hear that the game birds in Blu were cooked better, hope this is the case on the Eclipse next month. The BBQ sounds like a good sea day addition hopefully we will have BBQ next month.

 

Like your "line to nowhere" we have laughed about the red tacky carpet laid away from security and not headed near the gangway.

 

Hope our paths cross again on a ship.

 

 

Joan & Greg

Thanks Joan:

We enjoyed the cruise and hope to see you on one again. I tried to give what it thought were interesting new highlights for people that are pretty familiar with Celebrity already. If I look back in my notes I'm sure I could find a few more.

I forgot to mention the table side faux Cesar ( spelled correctly ) salad preparation at Tuscan Grill. The purpose of preparing it table side is so that one can watch the dressing being made fresh out of ingredients like garlic, egg yoke, Worcester sauce, anchovy etc..sort of like the table side lobster preparation at Murano . Edith's in Cabo is famous for that. Nothing like freshly made dressing tossed with crisp romaine,

Unfortunately the Celebrity dressing is actually the same pre made one offered at Oceanview cafe. They just toss it table side for show, which seems pretty pointless.....and not worthy of a $100 per couple restaurant.

What food is served at the new poolside BBQ and how is it prepared? BBQ means many different things depending on where you're from, so I'm just curious as to how it differs from food that would otherwise be available at the buffet, are we talking smoked meats or grilled, etc? Thanks

What food is served at the new poolside BBQ and how is it prepared? BBQ means many different things depending on where you're from, so I'm just curious as to how it differs from food that would otherwise be available at the buffet, are we talking smoked meats or grilled, etc? Thanks

I was also on this TA. The first poolside BBQ had real charcoal grills and flames [rare on a ship, and thus the biggest fire extinguisher I have ever seen was positioned nearby]. Just about any sort of food that could be grilled was served -- ribs, fish, steak, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, etc. I thought the ribs and chicken were excellent (I didn't try anything else). This was not the food available at the buffet.

(The second BBQ was so soon after the first that we passed on it, so I can't say what was served there.)

BTW, sorry the OP doesn't seem to have enjoyed his meal at Tuscan Grille. We thought ours was exceptional, both the food and the service. We'd gladly eat there again.

Overall, and as I have posted elsewhere, we thought the food on this TA was quite good.

Thanks for a good review. We love Celebrity.

Interesting comment about Celebrity's prices, We too after 15 weeks worth of sailings in the past 3 years are looking at other cruise companies due to the increase in prices. Here in the UK for July and August the AQ prices are £193 a day which is about $ 288 a night. Suites start at £300 which is about $450 raising to £1073 which is about $ 1608 for the RS.

These prices are for the Equinox.

There are no offers on the peak session, no 123 go or no obc. We like Blu but with no change in menu for the past 3 years and the wait times increasing, the change in breakfast opening times as Blu used to stay open until at least 9am on port days we too are starting to question it's value.

Until reviews of the new suites come out we will not know if S2/S1 are good value, after all Michael's club etc is not for these suites. The only addition as far as we are aware is the new suite dinning room .

We also agree that Oceania and in our case Azamara and Cunard's princess Grill are coming in at a similar price.

The question is are these prices with no offers sustainable as we have been watching the number of cabins left in AQ for the past 8weeks and hardly any are being sold.

We are now just playing a waiting game with Celebrity whilst seriously thinking of booking Oceania and Azamara.

Sorry to hear that you don't plan on sailing Celebrity again in the near future.

I admit the new Europe prices are absurd:confused:

Related to the Michaels Club. We are Zenith but have never heard that one can invite guests in with them. When the new Michaels Club first opened on the Century in February Sheldon (the HD) told us that even he could not let anyone who was not Zenith or a high level suite in. Has this policy changed? They also used to prohibit a non-Zenith cabin mate (even if a relative) from access. We will be on the Connie in December with non-Zenith friends.

Thanks.

How were the shows on the Silhouette? Is it true they have a new cruise director? Also, if you had the chance to dine there, how was the food in the MDR?

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Thanks for posting this! We are on Silhouette next month. I was wondering if you dined in any of the other specialty restaurants? I would also be curious if Tuscan kept some of the original menu or if they changed the entire thing? It seems like they have been tweaking that menu for a while and not necessarily for the better.

Ok, I'll try to answer questions I remember.

The first pool BBQ was great. They were grillin away with real grills, but smokers or slow cooked BBQ except for the pork shoulder. They had two lines of serving stations, grilled burgers, steaks, salmon, pork shoulder, ribs and chicken ...served with all the fixings.....

The second one was a little less so, no ribs or BBQ sauce. I think they were running out of food, it was a TA.

We dined in all of the specialty restaurants except Qsine. We've tried it many times, and it's just a little too heavy for us. My mom is gluten free which is another complication. The food in Murano is always good! I like the Lawn Grill probably the best. Our waiter brought us rice, raita and chutney from downstairs to go with the tandoori chicken ( something that shouldn't be lacking ) ..I love the sides and casual atmosphere, and the pizza is ok too....maybe they could add BBQ chicken?

Tuscan Grill. I posted on that topic after our last cruise on the Reflection. I don't like the new menu. Pick your protein and sauce is low end. For 100$ per couple they should offer real entrees that require expertise to prepare. It's like pick your pasta and sauce at Oceanview. I feel that the atmosphere is what you're paying for. The fake Caesar salad prep and the cold butter in foil topped off my negative feelings about it. But you get two free specialty restaurants with a suite, so I'll probably go back.

Re: Michaels Club. The concierge told both of the couples we knew that had access that they were allowed one invited guest per cruise....so we went twice during the month..

They are pretty strict, and to be honest we could have probably gotten in a few more times if we really wanted, but I actually prefer the Ensemble lounge. Free drinks is the main draw, and we had the premium beverage package. That gave us better wine than they offer for free in Michaels Club.

Shows? Just a few...the Celebrity singers and dancers, and faux Cirque de Soleil

All were good.

We ate in the MDR a few times, and it was pretty good. Not better or worse than previous times. The Top Chef menu wasn't very good, which is disappointing given that it's my favorite show, and I've eaten in many of the competitors restaurants. Most recently Ink, Michael Villagios restaurant. His sous chef May? is currently a front runner on this seasons show. Also Richard Blaise's restaurant in San Diego, Juniper and Ivy. I digressed

The Oceanview cafe offered Mediterranean food one day each cruise which featured Gyros, lamb and turkey along with hummus and tzaziki ...a very nice addition.

Overall, as I said this was a really good cruise. I definitely felt an effort as far as food was concerned to improve what I considered to be stale menus and poor execution of those menus. I think the head chef was Rijos? He deserves credit for innovation and better food. I told many an officer " whoever came up with the pool BBQ idea deserves a raise and promotion ".

Thanks for taking the time to post some more of your thoughts. I agree, Qsine is also our least favorite as well. This will be our first time at the Lawn Club Grill and I'm very excited based on what everyone has been saying. Shame about Tuscan, this may be our last time there. I remember on our last cruise noting that the pasta/pasta sauce at the buffet was more flavorful than what I got in Tuscan.

Now I want BBQ...

Reading the posts has me wanting to add our own comments. Regarding Qsine, DW and I consider it one of our favorite at-sea restaurant venues although once a cruise is certainly enough. Qsine is a very innovative concept which we enjoy for the change of pace and some of the very interesting dishes. It is especially fun if you go with a small group (even 4).

Tuscan - It has long been our least favorite alternative restaurant.

Pricing! Ok, I want to tiptoe through the minefield. Folks that book high end suites are a small minority on any mass market cruise ship and they have their own agenda. But having cruised on 14 different cruise lines (and more then 60 different ships) we have never understood the attractiveness of paying a high price for a larger cabin on any ship where you get the same food and most amenities as those paying a fraction of the cost. On X, we either book a normal veranda or Aqua Class (Blu is a nice plus). If we want to pay suite prices we will go on an upscale line such as Crystal, Seabourn, or Regent where we get a lot more for the higher per day cost. I once calculated that on most cruises we average less then 3 waking hours in our cabin. The idea of paying hundreds of extra dollars per day for those 3 hours just never seemed like a good way to spent our money. In some cases it would cost us $200+ per waking hour for that suite!

As to overall pricing, we can remember back in the early 70s when we cruised for about $100-$120 per passenger day...in tiny cabins with no balconies. Now, over thirty years later, we can cruise in balcony cabins (on nicer ships) for about $120 a passenger day. Given the inflationary rate of the dollar this means we are cruising for a fraction of what it cost in the olden days. Now we will grant that in those olden days we were paying less then $2 for a drink and the food quality/quantity was better then what we get today. But none of us needed all that food, and I have trouble understanding how I could finish a late sitting at 10:30 and then go to the late night buffet about an hour later :)

I would add that many other things have improved from those olden days. For one thing, the beds (and bedding) is a lot more comfy. The showers work a lot better, A/C is better, ships offer many more amenities, etc. And the reality about X is that whether or not we have the drink package (which we often have) we seldom pay for many drinks since we are Elite Plus. But so be it!

Hank

My spouse and I had one dinner each at Tuscan Grille, Murano, Qsine, and the Lawn Club Grill on this TA. I've posted my comments above about Tuscan -- an excellent evening with impeccable service and wonderful food. We also really enjoyed the Lawn Club Grill -- the relaxed atmosphere, great service, and, again, excellent food. To us, those were the top two dining venues. and we'd gladly dine again at each of them.

We'd eaten at Qsine twice before, on two different ships, and this time found the food to be a mixed bag. The fish dishes were very good, the meat dishes were not. We've also decided that the Qsine "shtick" has worn very thin, and came away thinking that we have no real need or desire to eat there again.

Murano was a disappointment, particularly after we'd had such a wonderful experience last year at the SS United States (same menu) on the Infinity TA. We thought the service at Murano was indifferent and the food, with minor exception, nothing special.

Food of course is subjective, those are our personal reactions.

To the poster who asked about the entertainment: there were a number of very talented guest performers on board, including a couple of spit-up-funny comedians as well as some talented singers, including Anthony Stuart Lloyd, who not only did an evening performance but an afternoon poolside concert. He's an opera singer who sings popular opera, show tunes, and other familiar music, and we enjoyed him very much. On one of the evenings, the production company put on an entertaining performance of medleys from Broadway musicals; for a cruise ship, it was well done (and I say that as a show tunes junkie).

We were also on the Silhouette TA. We thought the food in the MDR was greatly improved from some of our recent cruises. We loved the Top Chef menu.

We tried the Lawn Club Grill in the first few days of the cruise. It was so good we went back a second time. It was just as good the second time.

We went to Qsine with about 18 cruise critic people. We would not do this again. It was just OK.

All in all, a wonderful cruise.

We are still in Orlando and we went today to Cape Canaveral after visiting the Kennedy Space Center. We had noticed several bus tours with Celebrity people on them at the Space center and were reminded that Eclipse was in Cape Canaveral, so we went there to see her off! Can I say we love Celebrity?

 

We tried the Lawn Club Grill in the first few days of the cruise. It was so good we went back a second time. It was just as good the second time.

 

They are also open for lunch. The charge was $5 but may have gone up to $7. Well worth it, fantastic panini's and other goodies plus a great view!

We tried the Lawn Club Grill in the first few days of the cruise. It was so good we went back a second time. It was just as good the second time.

They are also open for lunch. The charge was $5 but may have gone up to $7. Well worth it, fantastic panini's and other goodies plus a great view!

Happy2cruise: you are talking about the Porch (not the Lawn Club Grill), which is open for breakfast and lunch [not dinner] and does indeed have wonderful paninis (although on the advice of others who had dined there before we did, we asked them to add extra meat so as to have a sandwich that was not more bread than filling). The charge is $7. The Lawn Club Grill, which is a separate venue, is open for dinner. Also excellent!

They are also open for lunch. The charge was $5 but may have gone up to $7. Well worth it, fantastic panini's and other goodies plus a great view!

I wasn't aware of this. I thought that was for The Porch. The Lawn Club Grill, although we never tried it on this TA, always seemed to be bustling in the evenings, even on formal night. Incidentally, guests were asked to dress appropriately for formal night even in all the other venues.

I wasn't aware of this. I thought that was for The Porch. The Lawn Club Grill, although we never tried it on this TA, always seemed to be bustling in the evenings, even on formal night. Incidentally, guests were asked to dress appropriately for formal night even in all the other venues.

That blurb about dressing appropriately always appears in the daily on formal night...it means dress according to the dress code of your restaurant....not that you have to dress formal at all restaurants.

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That blurb about dressing appropriately always appears in the daily on formal night...it means dress according to the dress code of your restaurant....not that you have to dress formal at all restaurants.

 

 

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Indeed. And the folks at the Lawn Club Grill (on our recent Silhouette TA) even told us to come in shorts for dinner on formal night if we wanted to. :)

Tuscan Grill is only $35pp on the website.

To answer the question about why people spend the much higher amount for a top level suite: for me I get on Celebrity what I can't get for the same fare on Crystal or similarly priced lines: a large cabin and balcony (similar size would be much more expensive), big ship amenities, and a younger, more lively atmosphere. Those three things are more important to me than food, although looking forward to the new suite restaurant and all-inclusive dining starting April 2015.

To answer the question about why people spend the much higher amount for a top level suite: for me I get on Celebrity what I can't get for the same fare on Crystal or similarly priced lines: a large cabin and balcony (similar size would be much more expensive), big ship amenities, and a younger, more lively atmosphere. Those three things are more important to me than food, although looking forward to the new suite restaurant and all-inclusive dining starting April 2015.

That's beginning to change now that suite prices on Celebrity have risen dramatically. I priced a few 2016 European cruises when they opened up on Nov 11. S2's were starting at about $900 per night per suite. That's with just a classic beverage package. I generally take B2B cruises , and regular cabins on Celebrity are too small for us given the amount of clothes, etc...

Seabourn, Silverseas and Oceania cabins are almost 300 sq ft, slightly smaller than a Celebrity suite, but 30% larger than a regular Celebrity cabin. They are in that same price range.

Dollar for dollar I would ( and am ) sailing on Seabourn for about $900 per night, because the food, service and ports are in a completely other category than Celebrity. Especially on the new ships. ( a better crowd and fewer people too, I hope I don't get flamed for saying that )

Celebrity suites used to be a good comparable value at about $500, not at all at $1000. The transatlantics for 2016 are about $600 per night, we booked both spring and fall.

I think at these price points these suites have left any kind of financial value comparison behind. I've sailed fairly extensively on Crystal, less so on Regent, and have no complaints about Celebrity service overall, and found service issues on the more deluxe lines too. Agreed that there is no comparison on food, but a Royal Suite or Penthouse Suite on Celebrity costs about half of what a similar size cabin costs on Crystal, unless I'm missing something.