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| The beautiful Celebrity Silhouette in Cozumel, Mexico. |
NOTE: Celebrity in no way compensated me nor asked me to write this review. I'm writing this review because the experience was AWESOME!
Why Celebrity?
About a year ago, the Celebrity Silhouette was featured in an episode of "Project Runway." When Bunny and I started talking about a cruise, I remembered the segment. Plus, in doing my research, it had won many awards. The final decision was made because it is owned by Royal Caribbean, not Carnival. Carnival is the huge cruise corporation with all of the problems: poop cruise, Italian disaster, etc.
Booking
Our fabulous travel agent Sue at World Wide Travel Service in Walla Walla, Wash. (shout out to my favorite town in the world!) made all of our travel reservations. I loved her expert advice and the experience was stress free for Bunny and I. We had picked the 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette. She picked our stateroom based on our needs (balcony room that is quiet for a light sleeper) and recommended an area of the ship that would experience less movement. PLUS! in December, Sue got us upgraded to Concierge class for free. Never underestimate the power of a fantastic travel agent.
Getting on the Boat
We flew across the country into Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and spent the night. Sue didn't want us to cut it close in case there was bad weather and flight delays. Getting to the port dock at 12 p.m. was easy and check in was as well. We drove by boats with HUGE lines of passengers waiting to get on. Not Celebrity. We hopped in the Concierge line and zoomed right through. We were on the boat in about 20 minutes.
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| We loved the vanity in our room and getting dolled up for dinner each night. This is what we wore on the first formal night. |
Our Room
Our stateroom was lovely. We had lunch on the ship and made our way down to find it around 3 p.m. and it was already ready for us. We had two twin beds, a seating area, nice bathroom and a perfect vanity for makeup and hair. The balcony was nice for extra room. We loved it and would never cruise without one. Our housekeeper Sandra was friendly and kept things immaculate.
The Ship
The ship was huge. I am directionally challenged and Bunny spent some time trying to orient me. What!? There are two stair cases? There was beautiful art hung all over the ship that helped me remember where I was. I loved the outdoor and indoor pool areas and the hot tubs. The top deck was windy, but had a lawn and stunning views. The main dining room Cuvee had art that looked like champagne bubbles. It all felt extremely luxurious. I took two yoga classes and got some exercise in the gym on the 14th deck. Why not hop on the elliptical and enjoy the view? You really want exercise? Take the stairs everywhere. Bunny and I are still sore from them, I think.
Where to Hang Out
We hung out on our balcony enjoying the view, by the outdoor pool, we walked around the shops, but mostly hung out at our favorite bar in the center of the ship on Deck 4. There was live music in that area and it always felt like a party. Plus, the bartenders there were our most favorites. We had the classic beverage package and it was perfect for our trip. Some things we asked for were on the premium package, but the bartenders were great about gently letting us know and suggesting other similar options on our plan.
Unplug & No Alarm Clocks
Bunny and I decided not to pay for Wi-Fi on the ship. I decided to leave my phone at her house in Portland, Ore. She did have her phone, but didn't use it while we were cruising, except to take photos. She and I agreed that truly disengaging from the world while we were on the ship was a huge treat that we loved. And no, we didn't have an alarm clock in our room. To make sure we were up in time for our excursions, we often ordered our room service at the time we wanted to be woken up. The crew called us to let it know it was coming, and arrived about 5 minutes later. It was perfect to get coffee at our door to start the day.
FOOD!
My favorite meal of the day was dinner in the Cuvee dining room. We had select dining, which Sue had recommended. The perk of this plan is we had NO SET DINNER TIME! We didn't have to sit with the same people every night. We would get back on the ship or finish up any activity, get dressed and ready for dinner and head down to the hostess. We would get in right away, or we would be given a pager and we'd grab a drink in our favorite bar to wait. It was never more than 20 minutes. On the second night we met our favorite waiter, who we then requested every night. Constantin was great. We got tables by the window, wonderful meal recommendations and he sent cake to our room after dinner two times. He spoiled us and we loved him for it. We had breakfast once in the main dining room and it was better than the food in the Overview Cafe, the buffet on the ship. Overview was great for a snack or a quick lunch. But the food in the dining room and through room service was better. We had breakfast in the room and that was always a treat. We did not eat at any of the extra-cost restaurants for $45 or $50 per person, per meal, and we didn't feel like we missed out.
Shopping & Entertainment
The shopping on board was very nice. We did spend some time in the Kate Spade store and Bunny bought a wristlet. The shows, which were more like musical reviews, were fantastic. We did not attend the ventriloquist (weird), nor the tenors or the singer. On those nights, we went to bed early (jet lag) or hung out with friends at our favorite bar. Or, went to the pool party and danced in the pool until midnight.
Friends
OK. You are being warned that the demographics of Celebrity Cruises are older white people in their mid-50 to 90s. I saw about 12 kids the whole time and they were French. Bunny and I liked this, however. Not everyone was just trying to get drunk the whole time. The group was pretty mellow overall, although there were many entitled complainers. We definitely stuck out in the crowd, but we hung out with our two favorite men from Boston and with a college gal and her dad who liked to drink tequila straight. Our favorite personality was 93-year-old Helen, deemed "Hell On Wheels," who joined us on our tequila tasting excursion in Cozumel, Mexico. Her lively "Here we go!" and "I'm great but I'm seeing double" comments plus her desire to walk everywhere gave me new life goals for when I'm 93. We considered most of the crew our friends as well. They were kind and helpful at all times. Most of the cruisers were squabbling married couples. It was nice to go with a friend who was independent. We did what we wanted to, didn't fight and supported each other in what we wanted to do and see. I definitely recommend a cruise as a fun girls' trip.
Getting off the Ship
This was the roughest part. We had been awake until 1 a.m. the last night trying to say goodbye to all of our friends and celebrating. Then, we had to be awake at 6:30 a.m. to get off the boat at 8 a.m. to meet our final excursion on time. It was efficient getting us off the boat, the customs line was long (what do you mean I can't put a smiley face on our customs form?). Bunny was sad to leave the ship and our friends, but I was too tired to feel emotions.
Verdict: I would absolutely sail with Celebrity again. Carnival and Royal Caribbean groups we had met on excursions were too much of partiers for me. The food and room were great. The crew was outstanding. Go with a friend! Darling Husband had started a new job and didn't have enough time off to join us. And we were OK! And please, don't pay for Wi-Fi. Unplug and enjoy.
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| Bon voyage! |
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