This review concerns our cruise aboard the Celebrity Silhouette which in our case was a charter by an Australian tour operator called 'Cruise Co'. The name of the Cruise was 'Bravo' and featured a star studded entertainment lineup from the UK. The fact that it was a Charter, created some issues since it was impossible to complete some requests such as pre-purchase of beverage packages before the prices went up etc. Once through the check in process, one has to run the gauntlet of an army of staff selling food venue upgrades, on-board experiences, tours and beverage packages. I purchased both the beverage package and upgrades for us both for three nights at any of the available upgraded dinner venues on board. Good decisions all as it turned out. We have experienced Celebrity before on the Celebrity Zenith, a much smaller ship for a weekend experience in the Pacific Northwest. It was impressive, compared to other 'non ultra premium' cruise operators we had tried to that point. The Celebrity Silhouette was a great example of how both ships and the Celebrity company have grown up over the years since the Zenith. The ship is nothing short of spectacular. At 122,000 tons, one doesn't need the walking track to keep in shape! Everywhere one looked, the eyes were treated to spectacular and equally tasteful bling. Our experience in the three dining choices was really good. We had previously hooked up with another couple via Cruise Critic and dined with them at all three of our venue choices. I cannot stress enough the value of seeking out new friendships via Cruise Critic via the Roll Call before the cruise if you are traveling as a couple or alone. We not only made new long-term friends, but our entire cruise experience was so much more enjoyable and memorable. We event went ashore with them and shared the cost of renting a car to tour the Normandy Beaches! The French Restaurant decor and service was stunning end exceptional respectfully. Our other Specialty dining choices were the highly novel and unique Q'Sine restaurant and the Tuscany Grille. We enjoyed ocean front tables at all three restaurants. The level and quality of friendly service from every sector of the ship was as good as it gets. Every customer facing employee appeared to be loving the job and the opportunity to serve the guests. We have been on Seabourn and Regent Cruises and love the concept of being called by your name by the service staff. Although one could be forgiven for thinking that I spent too much time at the bars, it was very rewarding to be called by your name as you approached the counter. "What can I get you Mr. Graham" was typical. There were about 2800 guests on this ship, so either my liver needs checking or these staff are well above average - I find comfort in believing the latter. To provide insight into the charm and humor of the service staff, I asked the Jamaican (how appropriate) server at the pool bar when they ever let them off the ship. His response will become an enduring classic. "Only on sea days". :) The service in the main Grand Cuvee' restaurant was as good as it gets in any upmarket restaurant. The choices were very good, well prepared and efficiently delivered. My only complaint is that the dining chairs are wrong for a restaurant. They leave you leaning too far back. A couple of times I asked for and received a cushion to bridge the gap and normalized the experience. The entertainment was what this cruise was all about. Several Internationally renowned operatic, light operatic, Broadway show crossover singers were aboard, including Katherine Jenkins, the current best Mezzo Soprano in the world, and Alfie Boe, and Ruthie Henshall of Les Miz fame. The way they organized the ability for 2800 people to see every headliner performer was to divvy up the passenger list into three color coded room key cards, Gold, Blue and Grey. They would only allow grouping of a given color card to enter the main theater at a time. There was always room to find seating so that concept worked. Unfortunately, our new friends were 'Grey', and we were 'Gold'. Since we were most always dining together, we successfully utilized some 'creativity' to resolve the issue of getting into the same show times. Each night, there was major entertainment in the main foyer. The issue with that is there is nowhere close to being enough seating for that. People are jammed up the stairs, sitting on the floor, standing and some even sitting on laps. The various pillars between the seating and stage didn't help, and for whatever reason, an over-sized statue effectively doubles the width of an offending pillar and could so easily be moved to ensure more people get a better view. Our favorite 'Non headliner' entertainment was provided by a pair of pianists and a drummer from Australia called 'The Ivory Stompers'. We became groupies with these guys, seeing them perform a total of five times, including to a packed house in the main theater. The ports of call of Bilbao, Vigo in Spain and Cherbourg in France were OK, but again, this cruise was more focused on the entertainment. In Bilbao, we went with an organized group to visit the famed Guggenheim Museum on a day it was closed to the public. The tour concluded with a large Champagne reception in the main foyer. As spectacular as the titanium clad building is from the outside, after viewing what they called 'modern art' inside, I'm of the opinion they should have served the champagne first! The visit to Vigo produced some pleasant surprises. We took one of the tours to visit a winery with some stops along the way up the coastline of Galicia and into a quaint village for a break. The winery was quite lovely, especially since it included several tastings from the unique white wine varieties only created in that area. In Cherbourg, we rented a car and went around the coast to Omaha Beach via Sainte-Mère-Église, the place where the American Airborne forces dropped on D-Day. We toured the American Cemetery adjacent to Omaha Beach where the fiercest and costliest battles took place. We enjoyed a lovely lunch in a seafood restaurant right against the bluffs of Omaha Beach, which was in all a fitting experience just a week shy of the 74th anniversary of the D-Day landings. On balance, this cruise takes its place among the best of the best among the many we've experienced. It's a tough assignment to juggle so many people in a confined place, but Celebrity did an extraordinary job of it. We will certainly go with Celebrity again, maybe even another Bravo cruise if the opportunity presents itself. Read Less

We choose this cruise primarily to visit St Petersburg with it’s palaces. You need a visa to enter Russia, unless you arrive on a cruise ship and are on an organised tour. We enjoyed all the ports of call with the exception of Skagen. Skagen was like a large fishing village, when we ventured into the centre, around 11 o’clock, most places weren’t open. We were very fortunate with the weather throughout the whole trip, as with any holiday, the weather can make experience good or not so good. This is our third cruise, we have only sailed with Celebrity so far and this was the third ship in the fleet that we have been on. Celebrity Silhouette is very very clean (as was Infinity & Eclipse) with crew/staff around every corner with a warm greeting and a smile squirting hand sanitiser. All staff on board are really friendly and helpful. We have always had an inside stateroom, we find these very clean and comfortable. There are always plenty of toiletries in the bathroom and the cabin is maintained to a high standard. The cabin has a safe, TV, minibar, bathrobes, hairdryer, sofa and a small table. The cabin is basic but more than adequate as we don’t tend to spend much time there unless changing or sleeping. We generally eat all our meals in the Ocean View Restaurant as it is a buffet style and very informal which suits us perfectly. There is normally plenty to eat, plenty of choice and plenty of clean vacant tables, although you may struggle with a table during breakfast as it can become crowded. There are plenty of other dining options aboard, but it is not always obvious (to us) before entering if you have to pay extra at these venues! We went to the theatre each evening where the entertainment is world class. The shows are performed twice in the evening so you should find a time to suit you. There is also more entertainment at several other venues throughout the ship (singing, piano, dancing) but we can’t comment on those as we didn’t attend them. Each evening you will find in your stateroom a pamphlet (called ToDay) which is a program of events and things to do throughout the ship the following day. We didn’t go on any excursions except when at St Petersburg where we visited the Summer & Winter palaces. These 2 tours were very well organised from start to finish, the local tour guides were very informative and kept a good pace, ensuring we were all catered for, we were supplied with headphones, an absolute must for this kind of tour, the tour guide kept in contact with us using a microphone and frequently counted us to make sure she didn’t lose anyone. The only negative thing we have to say (apart from not knowing which restaurants had additional charges) is about gratuities. We opted not to “prepay” gratuities, but when we checked our account, on the TV in our stateroom, we found we were still being charged $14.50 per person, per day, although this was soon resolved with a visit to Guest Relations. Based on our experience, we would recommend Celebrity X, we will be on our next cruise with them in October, this time around the Canaries. Read Less

This was our first cruise with Celebrity - we cruised for the first time with Norwegian last year. Our main reason for choosing Celebrity was the destinations , particularly St. Petersburg. We parked our car in the adjacent car park, which is very convenient, although when we returned to it, we were horrified to find it was covered in a greasy, oily filth which had dropped on it from some "cherrypickers" parked in an adjoining property. The windscreen washer wouldn't shift it and I had to use some alcohol wipes to scrape away a clear panel to look through. Once home, I spent 2 full days cleaning, clay barring, compounding and finally polishing the car to get it back to its former condition! So I strongly recommend DO NOT park anywhere near the cherry pickers. Anyway back to the cruise - checking in at our allotted time was a breeze, although we received contradictory emails as to the time we were required to check in. Our cabin was clean and well presented, although the wardrobe door had seen better days and the drawer fronts were a bit loose. It seemed to me that the spec. of the furniture was not really up to the task of continuous use as subject to on a cruise ship. Mario, our cabin attendant, introduced himself and showed us all the features of the cabin - we found him to be very friendly and helpful, a credit indeed to the company as were all the staff we dealt with. We initially chose the 6:15 dinner sitting and since we requested this way back when making the original booking, were disappointed to find ourselves being shown to a table with 8 strangers. It felt most awkward as though we were intruding at a private party.After a word with the maitre d for the rest of the cruise we were assigned our own table although we had to switch to the 8:30 sitting to get a table. The food in the main dining room was faultless as were the staff:Joel, Polina and Carmen were the epitome of friendliness and service! The entertainment was just brilliant: the band playing as we boarded to the evening "Jazz Walkers" - sublime. The comedian in the Theatre very funny. I especially enjoyed the talks given by the crew on Navigation, how the ship works etc. but found one or two of the activities such as 'quizzes' a trifle lame, - -a bit Hi-de Hi! The service was perfect - the staff seem to be very hard working but always polite and friendly. Whatever they get paid, I think they are worth quite a bit more. We decided to do self guided tours of the ports except for St. Petersburg and it worked well for us. The hop on-hop off buses are fairly good although we had problems with the headsets only working intermittently, which was a bit frustrating. We booked the 2 day tour of St. Petersburg through Celebrity to avoid the visa saga and overall enjoyed it. The 2 guides on our bus were great and kept us well informed, although again, the headsets were occasionally a problem, which given the price of the tour, was slightly disappointing - I felt sorry for our tour guide as she was visibly embarrassed by the frequent need to fiddle with the intercom system. We really liked exploring St. Petersburg and have vowed to return out of season when the place is not so overrun with cruise tourists! I do wonder how long it will be before action is taken to control the volume of tourists visiting these 'honeypot' sites. Read Less

First time on the Silhouette. It was excellent. Setting off from Southampton means you don't have to worry about luggage constraints although the new informal dining arrangements (that seemed to have confused some) requires no serious formal wear. We have sailed with Celebrity before and will do again. The quality is everywhere from the food to the entertainment. We particularly liked ending the evening with a quality coffee at the wonderful Al Bacio coffee lounge that topped the night off. Great itinerary - particularly loved Kristiansand and Skaggen, small towns that are walkable but you end up feeling you've seen a little of genuine local life. The weather was a real bonus but still a little chilly on deck so the solarium became a regular location, beautifully warm enough to enjoy reading a book and occasionally pop in the indoor pool. Need to get planning the next one now ! Read Less

Having cruised enjoyably on 2 other Celebrity ships we didn’t expect to be SO disappointed with our trip around the Baltic on Silhouette. We assume some of our observations are due to cut-back - if they are not then RCC should be ashamed of themselves. Inside cabin was spacious and we even didn’t mind the noise of the service lift behind our headboard. Our cabin steward was wonderful and nothing was too much trouble. This is as we expect from Celebrity. However we did have to ask for a laundry list and bag - not standard in cabins. The staffing in the bars and lounges was dire in terms of numbers - too few everywhere. No nibbles unless you asked and the cost of the drinks was unrealistic-suggesting that they want you to buy packages - no real savings there unless you’re a fish. The Sky Lounge was frequently used for ‘private events’ when we were cleared into other areas of the lounge and the request to do so was not always kindly. The specialist restaurant food was excellent. The main restaurant food was so-so, not as good as before by a long way. The Tuscan Grill was possibly twinned with the moon - no atmosphere, but like alll the restaurant staff, including the main restaurant, theirs were first class. When the weather was poor (and we were so lucky with calm seas and lovely sunshine) the self service restaurant was a bun-fight. The food there was variable but great if you liked melon. Choose your trips carefully - if it includes a meal we would avoid it. Celebrity need to ‘secret squirrel’ the restaurants on shore. If you wish for peace and quiet - don’t try the library - opens out to the main lift shaft and all the noise comes up from the floors below. Finally, to see concierge cabins advertised just a week beforehand and outside cabins with Drinks packages for less than we paid for a no frills inside cabin was a further irritant as we were told we couldn’t upgrade. We find it hard to believe that first time cruisers get FAR better deals than Captains Club members. We hate writing disparaging reviews but we feel we have been taken advantage of. We are sailing on Azamara in September, we hope that hasn’t deteriorated since our last trip with them. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the Baltics itinerary and especially St. Petersburg, Russia. It was a great trip blessed by unusually warm weather for May and very smooth seas except for one evening. Overall, the ship is big but never felt overwhelming or crowded, except in the Oceanview cafe for breakfasts and day-at-sea lunches. There is plenty to do and places to relax and get away from the crowds if not in your room. On and off in Southampton was very easy and not crowded during the embarkation. Since the ship sailed out of Southampton, it was primarily British guests, so the entertainment and some of the food was geared towards that clientele, so not quite the international flavor we were expecting. We did not take any ship-sponsored shore excursions due to cost and variety, but did hire a private guide for the 2-days in Russia, which was a great move. Loved Tallin, Estonia. Copenhagen was neat but overwhelming to try and see much in about 6 hours. Helsinki was neat. Kristiansand, Norway is not much but fortunately took a 2 hour hike in Baneheia park above the city. Skagen, Denmark is even less (the port and lot of tourist shops, some restaurants) but we walked 45 minutes each way to Grenen to the northern tip of Denmark, A pretty easy hike on the flat path next to the road or can go on trails along the dunes. Only main complaint about this cruise is that we were in port very early on all but one stop (typically 7am) so getting up very early on port days, and typically left at 3 or 4 in the afternoon (and onboard 30 min before that), so did not stay up too late and felt pretty rushed to see as much in port as you could. I wish they would stay in port a couple more hours but it is all about the dollars and getting you back on ship to buy drinks etc. We were very fortunate to have a fantastic main dining room crew across the board. Very accommodating and friendly. A couple of nights we were not real enthused about the entree choices so just ordered salads and extra appetizers and came away happy. Entertainment was very good for the most part but thought the cast production shows were excellent. We tried four of the specialty restaurants - Qsine was by far the best with fun service and the ability to try many small to not so small dishes. Murano was good, Tuscan Grill was not really much of a cut above the steaks in the main dining room. The veal was extremely tough, which they took care of, but almost fumbled all over themselves trying to apologize and make it up to us. Lawn Grill was fun but service was a little stunted and not the best choice for a cool night at sea. Oceanview Cafe was somewhat disappointing compared to other cruises. Could never get a hot pancake, waffle or poached egg. We tried the main dining room for breakfast one morning and avoided the crowds but did not find the food was much better in terms of temperature. Fitness class selection was a little lacking and mostly all very early in the morning. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinary- going places we wanted to see. The ports were interesting- especially St. Petersburg. The crew aboard the ship- dining and stateroom- were friendly and extremely efficient. They helped us feel welcome. The entertainment and on board activities were not up to par. The entertainment staff,again, was lovely but young and would benefit from some “help” in planning activities to involve more passengers and encourage commaraderie. We had had “putting” on a previous ship and it brought many passengers together. When I inquired I was told there would be putting each at sea day - there was 1 day out of 4. Also we did not always have to be in competition with staff- competition among passengers would have been nice also. The days at sea were very long and the ways to meet others was very limited. They were boring. The evening entertainment was mostly blah. Two other concerns: the new age of “nickel and dining” the passengers- Had the classic drink package but the martinis were a $3 upcharge... And poor communication ... Read Less

We were total cruise virgins and so somewhat apprehensive but totally converted. From the initail car park next to the ship when our luggage was taken from us and delivered to our stateroom until the sad day of our return when it was collected from ourside our door and taken to the baggage hall it was a dream. Our cabin was on deck 6 Helped by exceptionally good weather. The food was really good and we had booked 2 special restaurants but would not do so again as the food in the restaurant was really good with a large varierty to choose from. We did have the regular drinks and gratuities package which was really good. The only thing we would say is that the music is more geared to 70 and 80 year olds it would have been nice if one of the venues had more 60s and motown music, we might like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby but not all the time. The shows were very professional. We booked our own excursions. A free walking tour in Copenhagen and TJ Travel in St Petersburg which was a fraction of the one by Celebrity. Both very good. Take two USA adaptors and one two round pin european. There were only three points in our room. All in all we had a really good holiday and are already thinking of the next one. Read Less

Where do I start?We chose this cruise because I have always wanted to go to Russia.When I booked I was advised to go Aquaclass because I could have hot stone massages-thats a laugh because they cost $161.It included the Blu restaurant which was not too bad at least better than the main restaurant.When we first got on board we were accosted by someone trying to upgrade our drinks package.All celebrity seem to think about is making more money!The shops were selling very cheap products at very expensive prices!There was nowhere you could buy a forgotten essential.The trips out were very expensive and again another rip off!The one day I chose to go to the spa it was closed!! My husband and I walked around for hours trying to find a seat anywhere when the ship was at sea.Never again!!! The entertainment was very bad and Sue Denning-entertainment director was very rude and should not be there Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary as it was to ports which we had never visited. The Silhouette is a wonderful ship. My wife is in a wheelchair so we had booked an accessible cabin 6137 - this was twice the size of a 'standard' balcony cabin with an electrically opening cabin door. There was even a ramp to get us over the 'lip' onto the balcony. We were impressed that all the public toilets on board had electric doors both for accessibility and hygene. The theatre had wheelchair spaces on both levels with uninterrupted views to the stage. All the performaces in the theatre were very professional. We dined the majority of the times in the MDR and the food and service were excellent. The only minor moan was that they ran out of our favourite Zinfandel Rose wine 2 days before the end of the cruise and also ran out of the French rose before the last night - probably because the choice of wines was so good!. We had the classic drinks package which included everything we usually drank - beer, soft drinks, g&t and mojitos as well as Jamesons. A couple of times my wife decided to try some of the more exotic cocktails which weren't in the package and we were only charge the extra dollar or two. We enquired about wheelchair accessible excursions but unfortunately Celebrity had none available so we had to improvise. Kristiansand was a nice small town which we were able to walk around. Copenhagen - the Red hop-on buses had a wheelchair ramp so we used those to visit the city - We though Tivoli gardens well worth a visit. Tallinn - the hop-on buses had no ramp but luckily 2 of the ship's shuttle buses had ramps so we were able to get to the city. Most of the old town is pedestrianised and cobbles so it was not a very comfortable experience but nevertheless very interesting. St Petersburg - We had made enquiries before the cruise and found a company T J Travel who offered accessible tours - They were fantastic! Our guide Victoria and our driver Tony did their best to ensure that we had accessible access where ever possible. The mini bus did not have a ramp so they made sure that she had the seat nearest the door so she only had to negotiate 2 steps to get on board. Once I had shown Tony how to dismantle the wheelchair by removing the batteries and folding it up - every time we stopped to visit somewhere, he had the chair reassembled ready for my wife to step down into. We really enjoyed the tour and would gladly recommend you especially to anyone travelling in a wheelchair. Another bonus was the cost - the ship's similar 2 day tour cost $ 399 per person whereas TJ were only $210 and we had the benefit of travelling in a much smaller group so the guide had flexibility to get us to certain venues before they got busy - we did not have to queue to get into the Hermitage. Overall the sights of St Petersburg are unmissable. Helsinki - We used the hop-on bus but overall they was not a massive amount to see. Read Less