Aboard the Celebrity Silhouette

After being “MIA” for a while with life in crazy motion, I’m back and ready to treat you to some special information and photos.

CLM San Juan January 5-12, 2014 marked a great week of exposure to the Solstice Class Celebrity Silhouette and everyone has rave reviews.  The best bargain was upgrading to the AQUA class and receiving all the perks related to that class of cabin.

There were 5 cabins in my group, 4 of which occupied cabins in a row on the 10th Deck which enabled the balcony partitions to be opened…..and all enjoyed afternoon sessions of sharing what went on during the day for each of us.

The lifeboats on Deck 5 had a sign on them, so here you can see me starting where they are located.

CLM Celebrity Silhouette Upon arrival to the Cabin the day of Embarkation, we found a note to enjoy a specialty restaurant of our choice for 50% off.  After consideration of our choices (there are several) and costs involved (most were $45), we chose the MURANO and were not disappointed by that decision.  It was delicious and ambiance sublime!

Speaking of eating, a popular favorite for our breakfast and lunch became the Aqua Café, located in a small corner of the “indoor pool” area.   (It’s not really indoors, but does have a see-through cover so you can enjoy the pool on a rainy day….  Or just enjoy the peaceful zen-like atmosphere with quiet music everyday!)  The Aqua Café offers healthy yogurt “sundaes” and different choices of breakfast and dinner treats that speak to the heart-healthy type.  We all loved the variation of menus and the presentation of salads and/or sandwiches, Quiche or whatever the day offered.  It is a welcome choice for those tired of hamburgers and hot dogs or pizza, fries, etc.

Of course if the main buffet or the Mast Grille serving hamburgers and hot dogs was your choice, that was certainly okay too.  The buffet had MANY healthy choices of various kinds of salads, every ethnic food you can imagine and always seemed to be non-crowded and abundantly equipped with various items.Murano Dining Room

You can easily walk from the indoor to the “outdoor pool” which was also very nice but with much more “noise” like Zumba or dance classes, pool activities, etc.  We also found the classes very energetic and were amazed to find the Captain leading a kick-boxing class as well!  Now that’s a first for me on ANY cruise line.  I must say it was a class to tell all about.  Obviously Captain Dimitris Kafetzis stays in shape and could out-box many (including me) in the class with his steps and punches.  Very FUN!

The Library area was another interesting location with cubicles where you could literally curl up and read or relax in a barrel type chair…  or even a more enclosed privacy space to share with another.   Books lined several walls and the quiet zone(s) were busy every day we were on the ship.

I-pad, IMAC classes on Silhouette-phone and I-anything classes were offered in a special meeting room.  I found these to be totally informational and the excellent instructor had big audiences every day at sea.  Gearing totally to the Apple products, the Internet was also available in a computer lab filled with MACs.  Apple purchases could be made on board the ship as well.  As I am a MAC user, I found this to be interesting AND fun as well.

SKY Conference on SilhouetteEntertainment was good and I would simply say costumes were “interesting” to say the least.  Sometimes the choice of songs didn’t exactly come together with the costuming, but then that also is just a matter of opinion I’m sure.  All in all I wouldn’t rate the cruise down a notch because of it.  The singers and dancers themselves were amazing and theater seating was quite comfortable.

Celebrity Cruise Lines are consistently “elegant” in my opinion.  There is a certain feeling of luxury when one steps onboard and it never leaves.  The artwork is nice and several art auctions were held daily.   Also a Specialty Coffee on the Silhouette offers that all-favored latte and beautiful pastry and/or dessert selection.  There is also a Gelato stop for those so inclined.

The SPA was always busy with many choices in the way of classes, work-out equipment, foot problem consultation, special massage treatments and of course complete salon for nails and hair styling.  I must say our small group of women left a chunk of change in that area.  Isn’t that what cruises are for in some cases?  It always seems to be important to my groups, and I cannot argue with that.

A special treat included for the AQUA class client is the Persian Garden where heated chaise lounges look out over the water, another quiet atmosphere where relaxation is key.  There are also steam showers with various fragrances to enhance the experience, and that definitely was a favorite place to rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit.  Quiet is the key word there, too.

The Main Dining room was on two decks and had many delicious choices for all 3 meals.  We even found a table for 10 one night so all could come together to discuss the day’s activities.  It seemed quite large and impersonal compared to the private BLU dining room, but choices were many and staff was incredibly knowledgeable in every selection being served.  Staff is hard to beat on this Solstice class ship.

blue dining roomI left the BLU Specialty Dining Room on Deck 5 until last (but definitely not least!) to talk about.  The food there was consistently elegantly presented and deliciously enjoyed every evening.  The BLU is only available to AQUA class or Suites and gives out a special ambiance with blue glasses adorning white tablecloths in the area.  There are 2-top tables up to 8-top and quite adequate for the number of people in those classes.  We seldom had to wait for a table, even for 8.  The two in my group who ended up booking a lower category were sorry in the end they had not joined us for the week – it was under $200 per person to go from their level to ours.  Oh well.  NEXT time on the Celebrity Cruise Line!

All in all, we all had a wonderful time on this year’s “Bling Bling Cruise” for ladies!  We celebrated one evening with hats one of the gals had made….. and wore them to the “repeater” party.  I must say we were a big HIT, given the fact the Captain came to join us for a photo.

Indeed it was great being back on Celebrity Cruise Line.  I highly recommend the Celebrity Silhouette, and the Caribbean stops we made (San Juan, St. Maarten/St.Martin and St. Kitts) brought back many memories from cruising and staying on land at these locations years ago.St. Kitts - photo 4

St. Kitts - photo 2

photo 1 St. Kitts - photo 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come cruise with me next year and you are guaranteed to have a great time.  You can even name your own cruise – after all Bling Blings started buying a $10-$20 “bling” each year and that’s how it all got started.  And I do believe we managed to leave another chunk of change in some of the ports as well.  Ahhhh. More blings!

I praise Celebrity for this particular itinerary.  A good time was had by ALL!!!

“Getting Paid to Cruise” is what it’s all about.  Decide to come along on the next cruise.  I can almost guarantee YOU, TOO, will have a good time as well.

Thanks for listening and learning.

Until next time….