Silhouette vs. Eclipse for TA?

[USVIcruizer]

Looking at Westbound TA on either Silhouette or Eclipse. We love Celebrity but have yet to try Solstice class.

Pros, cons, advice appreciated. TIA!

[Maligator]

They're almost identical. Eclipse has the Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Show on the Lawn Club, whereas Silhouette has the Lawn Club Grill in the same location.

 

Other than that, I'd say the only other consideration would be the itinerary.

[Gerrym]

They're almost identical. Eclipse has the Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Show on the Lawn Club, whereas Silhouette has the Lawn Club Grill in the same location.

 

Other than that, I'd say the only other consideration would be the itinerary.

 

Agreed, only the itinerary would be the deciding factor, the lawn club grill is great but not a deciding factor for me. I think the only S class that does warrant more thought by some is Reflection.

 

 

Cheers

 

Gerry

[TMLAalum]

We love the itinerary for the Eclipse that stops in Boston, overnights in both NYC & Bermuda, stops in Nassau and ends in Miami.

 

We could have conveniently booked the WB TA following our October Reflection sailing, but the ports-of-call repeated.

 

BTW, both the Silhouette or Eclipse ships are beautiful ships!

[LuAnn]

while we are loyal X cruisers (Elite Plus) we will only do Azamara or Oceania T/As in the future...the past T/A on "Sillie" was a disaster...too many Elites in too many small venues...the breakfast area had to be expanded...too little to late on day 5 or so...and the HH was a ZOO...too many people and not enough servers.

 

So sorry...as we have supported the X product over so many years...and will still cruise them for other cruises...but not for a T/A...just too many Elites who love X...but not the venues/staff to support them!! LuAnn

Edited January 10, 2017 by LuAnn

[jagoffee]

Looking at Westbound TA on either Silhouette or Eclipse. We love Celebrity but have yet to try Solstice class.

Pros, cons, advice appreciated. TIA!

 

I would first look at he price and itinerary.

 

If everything is equal I would pick the Silhouette because it has a better outside Oceanview area, the Lawn Grill, and th Porch.

 

I would recommend you ignore LuAnn's advice as it does not really answer your question.

 

I have been on both ships several times and either choice is good.

 

Good luck.

[Hlitner]

We love all the S-Class ships :). All other things being pretty equal, we think you should weigh the Hot Glass Show (done by 3 artists from the Corning Glass Works) versus the Lawn Restaurant. If you have a real interest in Glass Blowing then you might want to choose the Eclipse. If alternative restaurants are of interest, then the Silhouette gives you the Lawn and Porch...neither of which is on the Eclipse.

 

Hank

[springfire]

We did the westbound Silhouette TA cruise in 2015. We had an excellent cruise. The ship was beautiful. We will be doing the westbound TA on the Eclipse this year. I guess I will have a better opinion after completing both cruises. I would say go by the itinerary that you would enjoy the most, that would be the deciding fact for me.

[Jim_Iain]

I have sailed both and would go with Silhouette if ports and pricing were of equal weight.

 

I sailed Silhouette Westbound TA in November and believe she is my favorite ship at this point.

[Turtles06]

My wife and I have sailed a TA on both ships, and they are both beautiful ships, but we give the nod to the Silhouette because we loved the Lawn Club Grill and thought it was a much better use of that space than the Hot Glass Show. We also enjoyed the Porch on the Silhouette, but the menu has changed greatly then, so that's probably no longer a factor. We do think the alcoves on the Silhouette are a negative.

 

You can't go wrong with either ship, they are stunningly beautiful. I'd look at price and itinerary; the latter would be the key for us. The westbound TA we took on the Silhouette in Nov. 2014 out of Civi was simply wonderful; it was essentially a Med cruise followed by the crossing.

 

The TAs that include port calls in Bermuda and/or Nassau don't really interest us; if we want to go to those ports, we'll take a cruise specifically for them. We just have no interest in combining Europe with those ports.

 

YMMV.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide!

[gordylad]

Have sailed on Eclipse not on Silhouette. Our favourite is Reflection.

 

We prefer when the sailing takes in the caribbean islands and then finishes in Miami as we can get to Europe pretty easy.

 

Having said that we will be on the Reflection TA in October and this will be our 3rd TA on this ship.

 

We have never given the Eclipse TA a thought as we like warm weather and sailing from Southampton to Boston or New York in November doesn't float our boat we prefer sailing South.

Edited January 10, 2017 by gordylad

[Lastdance]

Just remember that everyones' experiences are different. People have made some good points above; I would also go with itinerary as your first reason for sailing and then cabin type and location...just my opinion...have a great cruise on which ever ship you decide to choose!:)

Edited January 10, 2017 by Lastdance

[LabGuy64]

I think they need to make elite status harder to achieve.....then it would not be such a "zoo" or go suite class....we thoroughly enjoyed our TA

 

 

while we are loyal X cruisers (Elite Plus) we will only do Azamara or Oceania T/As in the future...the past T/A on "Sillie" was a disaster...too many Elites in too many small venues...the breakfast area had to be expanded...too little to late on day 5 or so...and the HH was a ZOO...too many people and not enough servers.

 

So sorry...as we have supported the X product over so many years...and will still cruise them for other cruises...but not for a T/A...just too many Elites who love X...but not the venues/staff to support them!! LuAnn

[pacurnl]

We have been on both ships, and I would recommend the Eclipse. We loved the Corning Glass shows, and we went to almost every one. Had a very bad experience on the Silly, could hardly get a refill of wine at dinner. The service was just lacking, although many others like it. Been on the Silly twice, never again.

[LuAnn]

I would first look at he price and itinerary.

 

If everything is equal I would pick the Silhouette because it has a better outside Oceanview area, the Lawn Grill, and th Porch.

 

I would recommend you ignore LuAnn's advice as it does not really answer your question.

 

I have been on both ships several times and either choice is good.

 

Good luck.

 

Duplicate post

Edited January 12, 2017 by LuAnn
Duplicate post

[LuAnn]

I would first look at he price and itinerary.

 

If everything is equal I would pick the Silhouette because it has a better outside Oceanview area, the Lawn Grill, and th Porch.

 

I would recommend you ignore LuAnn's advice as it does not really answer your question.

 

I have been on both ships several times and either choice is good.

 

Good luck.

 

The question was asked which ship...and I answered that question...based on my experience...that the T/As are now just too crowded with Elites in those venues...I too have been on both ships..The OP asked for advice..."pros/cons/advice...and that is what I gave. I would never post that another CCer should "ignore advice"...as that is what this website is all about......LuAnn

[jagoffee]

The question was asked which ship...and I answered that question...based on my experience...that the T/As are now just too crowded with Elites in those venues...I too have been on both ships..The OP asked for advice..."pros/cons/advice...and that is what I gave. I would never post that another CCer should "ignore advice"...as that is what this website is all about......LuAnn

 

Poor choice of words by me. I did not intent to offend, therefore I apologize. I should have just said I did not concur with the advice and explained myself for the benefit of the OP.

 

I assumed the OP was asking for advice between the two ships and not whether to book a TA.

 

I should have said that I personally would not pick a cruise based on how many Elite CC members are on board the ship. I book longer cruises like the TAs and 14 day cruises that always have a lot of Elite or higher cruisers resulting in the use of drink vouchers. They are always bars that do not accept the coupons that are less crowded during the 5-7 free cocktail hour time. I also never go to the Tuscan Grill for the continental breakfast. However I do enjoy some of he other benefits of the Elite plus status such as free internet and laundry.

 

Although the OP did not ask, my wife and I have decided we like 14 day cruises in the Caribbean better than TAs because we can stay on board when in port on a lot of port days and enjoy quiet "port sea" days. Everyone seems to stay on board for Sea days when not in port!! We like the cruising into and out of ports as well. Also we are finding the TAs are not the bargain that they were previously.

 

I also would not cruise on a different cruise line just because I did not have loyalty status or avoid Celebrity because I did.

[doublebzz]

They are always bars that do not accept the coupons that are less crowded during the 5-7 free cocktail hour time.

 

I also would not cruise on a different cruise line just because I did not have loyalty status or avoid Celebrity because I did.

 

A lot of double negatives here - are you saying there are less crowded bars that accept the vouchers? If so, that was my experience on Oasis of the Seas a couple of years ago and it worked out perfectly.

 

I completely agree with your second point. We sailed on Oceania in September because of the great itinerary. The cruise also came with a number of perks which essentially replicated Elite status at a cost equal to or not much higher than Celebrity.

 

Interestingly enough, we just got off a 6 day Caribbean on Eclipse with 3,500 guests on board and very few Elites. Never more than 20-30 guests in the Observation Lounge for happy hour.

[jagoffee]

A lot of double negatives here - are you saying there are less crowded bars that accept the vouchers? If so, that was my experience on Oasis of the Seas a couple of years ago and it worked out perfectly.

 

I completely agree with your second point. We sailed on Oceania in September because of the great itinerary. The cruise also came with a number of perks which essentially replicated Elite status at a cost equal to or not much higher than Celebrity.

 

Interestingly enough, we just got off a 6 day Caribbean on Eclipse with 3,500 guests on board and very few Elites. Never more than 20-30 guests in the Observation Lounge for happy hour.

 

No. I meant to say that only the bars that accept the coupons may be crowded and there are bars that do not accept coupons that will not be as busy. You can drink in the less busy bars if you pay for your drinks or use a drink package.