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Cruise: Celebrity's New Silhouette
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Check out the latest way to sail the Caribbean this winter
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BY BARBARA PECK
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| The multi-story grand foyer of the Celebrity Silhouette; a bar on the pool deck. |
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Just before Celebrity’s newest ship, the 2,886-passenger Silhouette, embarked on its winter sailings to the Caribbean, a group of travel agents and journalists—including yours truly—trooped onboard for a two-night Cruise to Nowhere from the ship’s home port in Bayonne, New Jersey, a short drive from New York City. This was my second outing on a Solstice-class ship, and at first glance everything looked pretty familiar. As I learned, Silhouette is slightly larger (by 17 cabins) than Solstice, Equinox and Eclipse, her three sisters, and has benefited from a few tweaks.
CHEF FOR A DAY
On the earlier Solstice-class ships, passengers can watch glass-blowing demonstrations in the outdoor area called the Lawn Club (named for its now-famous half-acre patch of real grass), on Deck 15. On this ship Celebrity decided to ditch the glass-blowing in favor of the Lawn Club Grill, where guests can perform an activity they’re more likely to undertake back home: cooking their own meal on an outdoor grill. As chef Jacques Van Staden, Celebrity’s V.P. of culinary operations, cheerfully admits, “All the pressure is off us—if you mess it up, you can’t blame us.” It’s most fun when you come as a group to eat family-style and share the cooking responsibilities. You can start by making pizzas, stretching out a ball of dough and then sprinkling on toppings from a salad-bar setup. (The kitchen crew helps pop it into the oven and monitors the cooking.) For the main course, grillers can choose from platters of meat or fish, add seasonings and then wield their tongs or spatulas. The best part: no food prep or cleanup required. The catch: a $40 per person surcharge.
The eight Alcoves are another welcome addition to the Lawn Club. These Wi-Fi-enabled private cabanas rent for $149 per day (for days at sea; $99 for days at port), which includes the loan of an iPad 2 loaded with games, books and movies. Once you’re ensconced, staffers will deliver a wicker picnic basket for lunch, or you can amble over to The Porch, a casual “Hamptons-style” restaurant.
ART AT SEA
Gone are the days when cruise ship hallways were hung with motel-room art. The collection onboard Silhouette includes works by such noted artists as Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst and Roy Lichtenstein. Guests can borrow an iPad® from guest services and roam the ship, calling up details about the various paintings and sculptures found around every turn. Seek out Troy Abbott’s Birdcage Series: Victorian-style cages that hold small video screens showing video birds endlessly fidgeting on their perches. One site-specific installation by Julie Heffernan, a New York artist, turned the entrance hall to the specialty restaurants into a painted paradise of lush greenery, with recorded bird and insect chirps as sound effects and a real boulder you can sit on to enjoy the scenery.
ANCHORS AWEIGH
There’s plenty more to discover around the ship, such as the 60-plus craft beers behind the bar at Michael’s Club. And you’ll have lots of time for tastings if you sign on for a 12-night Caribbean cruise this winter. “The traditional home port for Caribbean cruises is Miami or Fort Lauderdale,” says cruise industry expert, Stewart Chiron, CEO of CruiseGuy.com. “But Celebrity wanted to introduce their Solstice Class of ships to the New York area, so they chose Cape Liberty as the home port for their newest and largest ship.” In April, Silhouette heads for Europe to cruise the Mediterranean. And there’s more news on the horizon: The fifth Solstice-class ship, Celebrity Reflection, is scheduled to launch in October 2012.
NOTE: Information may have changed since publication. Please confirm key details before planning your trip.
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Published: January 12, 2012
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Photos: Simon Brooke-Webb(2)
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