Celebrity Silhouette - Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director

Continuing our coverage of Celebrity Silhouette, this we have interviews with two of the individuals who play a major role in creating the cruise experience on Silhouette - - her captain and the hotel director.




The captain of a cruise ship does not just drive the ship. In fact, only a relatively small portion of his time is spent with his hands on the controls - - usually just going in and out of port. Rather, the captain has ultimate responsibility for everything that goes on aboard the ship. He is the CEO, the big picture guy.



Captain Nicholas Pagonis is the captain of Celebrity Silhouette. A very open and friendly person, he is often seen out and about amongst the guests. This is in order to further his vision of what the atmosphere on Silhouette should be like. At the same time, the safety of the ship and the guests is his number one priority, which he takes quite seriously.



In our conversation, we spoke about Silhouette both from a nautical perspective as well as about the overall cruise experience it offers. The interview is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-silhouette-captain-interview.html



Sue Richardson is Silhouette’s hotel director and as such is directly responsible for most of the things that the guests experience onboard - - the accommodations, the dining, the entertainment and the activities. I asked her to describe the cruise experience that Silhouette offers and who the Silhouette is seeking to attract as guests. That interview is at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-silhouette-hotel-director-interview.html

Inside Celebrity Eclipse - - talking with the Captain, Hotel Director and Jacques Van Staden

This week we take an inside look at Celebrity Eclipse. Eclipse is Celebrity Cruises latest ship, entering service late last April. She is the third os Celebrity’s critically acclaimed Solstice class ships. These are large ships (122,000 gross tons) but carry only 2,800 passengers. (A mass market ship of the same size would probably carry a thousand more guests). This means that there is more room per passenger and more room for luxurious features and detailing.

It is a firmly held belief of Beyondships that regardless of the physical beauty of a ship and regardless of its features, the quality of a cruise experience depends to a great extent on the people who actually operate the vessel. Accordingly, the site presents interviews with ship’s officers, management and cruise line executives so that you can read what these people have to say about what they are doing with their ships.

To that end, this week the site features three new interviews with key players on Celebrity Eclipse.

First, there is a conversation with the master of Celebrity Eclipse Captain Panagiotis Skylogiannis. Captain Skylogiannis was responsible for bringing not only Eclipse into service but also the first ship in the class Celebrity Solstice into service. He takes great pride in both ships but Eclipse is his personal favorite. My conversation with him is at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-captain.html

Second, Hotel Director Simon Weir is in charge of practically all of the services that touch but the guests’ cruise experience from the accommodations to the entertainment to the dining. He has brought out all three of the Solstice class ships and is able to discuss how the product has evolved. In his view, Eclipse does not really compete with other cruise ships but is comparable to luxury hotels on shore and he seeks to ensure that Eclipse does not come out second best. My conversation with Mr. Weir is at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-HD.html

Third, Jacques Van Staden is the celebrity chef who in 2007 left that world in order to become Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations for Celebrity Cruises. In that position he not only oversees the restaurants on the existing Celebrity ships but develops new ideas for dining venues. Celebrity Eclipse debuted the latest of his ideas, a revolutionary restaurant called Qsine. This dining venue differs from all other cruise ship specialty restaurants in its menu, presentation and décor, combining the familiar with the unexpected. Chef Van Staden talks about Qsine at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-VanStaden.html