What Was Worth It on My Celebrity Cruise + What Was Not Worth It

My partner and I recently went on a 10-night Celebrity cruise for $2,357.
Our interior cabin was laid out well and felt like a great deal.
The entertainment on the ship was fantastic, but the evening buffet let us down.
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Recently, my partner and I went on a 10-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette for $2,357.
We’ve sailed on this ship four times and each experience has been unique, even when the ports were the same.
Here’s what was worth it and not worth it for us on our most recent sailing.
We were pleased with the value we received for the interior cabin we booked
We selected an interior cabin for this voyage, as we appreciate sleeping in complete darkness after spending a day in the sun.
We locked in the cheapest cabin available using the Sail Away rate option. This rate doesn’t allow you to select your location on the ship and isn’t eligible for additional perks, but it includes entertainment, complimentary dining, and a selection of non-alcoholic beverages.
Our cabin was small and laid out well with plenty of storage even though, as usual, we overpacked. We asked for and received extra hangers, towels, feather pillows, an ice bucket, robes, and slippers at no additional charge.
The Silhouette has so many unique spaces that we love to take advantage of
The library on the Celebrity Silhouette has tons of books you can borrow. Ann Peck
The Silhouette has a few unique areas we love to visit and its library is one of the most beautiful at sea. It’s worth checking it out even if you’re not a big reader.
It has no librarian, and taking and returning books is on the honor system. As avid cruisers, we’ve learned to go to the library as soon as possible after boarding for the best selection of titles.
We each found a couple of books to read during our cruise. At the end of the trip, we returned the ones we borrowed and left behind the ones we’d brought from home.
Another location I love on the Silhouette is the Lawn Club. Located on the ship’s top deck, it’s a lawn of green grass where guests can lay out in the sun, read a book, or watch a movie on the big screen.
The Celebrity Silhouette has a lawn area where you can sunbathe. Ann Peck
It’s worth a visit even if just to walk barefoot in the grass while floating in the middle of the ocean.
We kept as busy as we wanted and enjoyed the ports and ship’s musical entertainment
Entertainment is available throughout the day across the ship — trivia games, live music, lecturers, a silent disco, and shows.
On this cruise, we skipped the activities and instead focused on the musical offerings and shows around the ship.
There were a bunch of shows on board. Ann Peck
At the martini bar, bartenders put on a fun, lively performance set to music outside the main dining room each night. They set up a pyramid of martini glasses and poured cocktails into them while standing on the bar.
If you can grab a seat or stand close to the bar, you can receive a petite martini at no charge. We went to this show on our first night and ordered regular martinis since we arrived early but were charged $40 for two. Next time, we’ll just watch the show.
You can get a free petite martini during some of the shows. Ann Peck
Some of our meals even came with entertainment. One of the most romantic spots on the ship is in front of the Murano specialty restaurant, the Ensemble Lounge.
We started most evenings here, enjoying a cocktail and listening to live music before having dinner. I thought cocktails were reasonably priced at less than $9 each.
On the other hand, we were disappointed to find a scaled-down offering of items in the evening buffet
Complimentary dining at the Oceanview Cafe, the ship’s buffet, was available for three meals daily, plus late-night snacks.
The lunch buffet was outstanding with multiple stations and plenty of food choices to accommodate special diets and allergies. But in my opinion, previous cruises on this ship had a better evening buffet. On this sailing, more than half of the buffet was shut down during the evening.
We could also eat in the main dining room for a complimentary dinner, but the buffet is usually our bail-out when we don’t like the menu there. I definitely wish we’d had more buffet stations to choose from once it got later.
Specialty dining can be a pricey additional cost, and we skipped it this time around
Specialty dining is available in multiple locations on the Silhouette and it costs extra. There are outdoor options like The Porch, which serves seafood, and The Lawn Club, which has grilled entrees. There are also specialty dining locations serving sushi, Italian, and fusion dishes.
We’ve done specialty dining on previous sailings but have noticed prices going up in the past few years — some spots now cost about $60 per person plus a 20% gratuity charge unless you purchase a special package.
This time, from purely a budgetary standpoint, we didn’t feel it was worth it to pay extra for it since our cruise fare included all the food we could eat from the complimentary dining areas.