Celebrity Silhouette - Profile, Photos and Dining

This week we begin coverage of a spectacular new ship - - Celebrity Silhouette. She is not spectacular because of her size although she is a large ship (122,000 gross tons). Nor is she spectacular in the sense of having shock and awe decoration. Rather, she is spectacular in the way everything comes together to form a really high quality whole.




Silhouette is a premium cruise ship. Her interior design is eye-pleasing and decorated in a contemporary style. There has been attention to detail in the design and in the people flow through the public rooms. Guests have an impressive range of dining options as well as a range of choices in entertainment and activities. It all just comes together very well.



One of the things that I like very much about Silhouette is that she is not merely a clone of her three sister ships - - Celebrity’s Solstice, Equinox and Eclipse. Having built one successful ship, a cruise line might well be tempted to merely build all the rest of the class in the same way. However, such an approach tends to make the subsequent ships uninteresting. In addition, it overlooks the fact that the cruise industry is quite competitive and the other cruise lines will have analyzed the first ship in the class and adopted the best ideas into their own fleets. Thus, to stay competitive, innovation is the key.



While Silhouette was built on the model of her predecessors, she also has several new innovations. For example, there are two new dining venues - - The Lawn Club Grill and The Porch. Several of the bars have been re-focused to create a different experience. She has a new Art Studio where guests can unleash their creativity. These innovations on top of the differences in décor give Silhouette her own character.



The Beyondships profile page for Celebrity Silhouette is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Silhouette-Profile.html It includes examples of the ship’s daily programs (Celebrity Today) as well as copies of menus from most of the ship’s dining venues.



The multi-page photo tour of the ship’s public areas begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Silhouette-Tour-1.html



In addition, we have a dining guide in which Food and Beverage Manager Carlos Echaiz describes each of the ship’s dining venues. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-silhouette-dining-guide.html



Rounding it out, there are my reviews of Blu - - a dining venue that is both a first class restaurant and a healthy dining venue. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-silhouette-blu-review.html and of Silhouette’s innovative new dining venue The Lawn Club Grill. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-silhouette-lawn-club-grill-review.html

P&O Cruises Adonia - - Profile, Photo Tour and Interview with Managing Director Carol Marlow

Adonia is one of eight jewel-like ships that were originally built for Renaissance Cruises. After Renaissance went bankrupt the eight were dispersed amongst various cruise lines and now after a period of nomadic wandering have settled with two being owned by Azamara Club Cruises, three by Oceania, two by Princess Cruises and one, Adonia, by P&O Cruises. Despite their difficult beginning, the eight have gone on to achieve a very good reputation amongst cruise connoisseurs.




I am not particularly partial to small ships. However, I thought the 30,000 gross ton Adonia was a charming ship when I first saw her back in the days when she was the Royal Princess of Princess Cruises.. With its wood paneling, cushioned furniture, and traditional art work, the interior has the charm of an English country house. The ship is nicely laid out as well. The designers were able to include most of the things one would expect on a modern cruise ship - - specialty restaurants, a spa, a pool, shops, bars and lounges, etc - - within a relatively small space.



When the ship was transferred from Princess to P&O Cruises earlier this year, very few changes had to be made. P&O serves the British market and the ship already had a British decor. Consequently, all that had to be done was modify a few public areas so as to include some of P&O’s signature venues. Of course, the existing specialty restaurants which were signature Princess restaurants, also had to be changed. For that task, P&O turned to celebrity chef Marco Pierre White to create a new restaurant for Adonia. The other specialty restaurant was developed in-house by P&O.



To mark Adonia’s arrival at P&O Cruises, I asked P&O Cruises’ Managing Director to give us her thoughts about the line’s new ship. She discussed how the ship came to P&O Cruises and what the line plans for the ship. That article is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Adonia-Marlow.html



I’ve also created a Beyondships profile of Adonia that includes copies of daily programs, menus from the restaurants, and other information about the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Adonia-Profile.html. As always, there is a photo tour and commentary about the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Adonia-Tour-1.html