First Time Cruising with Celebrity: the Silhouette

While we were parked at Rose Bay, Aaron found an EXTREMELY last-minute (and cheap) cruise with Celebrity - just 2 days' notice!  It happened to fit well within the time we were parked at Rose Bay, so we decided to go!  This was our first time cruising with Celebrity, but we'd heard great things, and we were excited to try it out aboard the Silhouette.

We loved this cruise!  To start, we had booked an inside guarantee room and with the half-full ship we were upgraded to a balcony room - and not just a balcony room, but one with a HUGE balcony!  We had heard the food on Celebrity was remarkable, and it really was - starting with our first trip to the buffet restaurant, which had so many different and delicious options, and free hand scooped ice cream!  The ship had a lot of great spaces - from a quiet lounge in the middle of the ship with little nooks to sit and read, to a beautiful adult indoor pool area, to an actual lawn with real grass on the top deck!  We spent a lot of our spare time watching the World Cup on the big screen over the lawn.

One of the reading nooks

Walking barefoot on the real grass

Watching the World Cup on the real grass

The ship was decorated throughout for Christmas

Nighttime on the top deck!

The ship stopped at Key West and Nassau, though we didn't bother getting off at Nassau this time.  We love Key West though, and rented some bikes to explore the island again, making it to the Southernmost Point ahead of the crowds, checking out the Christmas decorations on the Harbor Walk, exploring an old fort we hadn't seen before (West Martello Fort, now a botanical garden), and finding a nice waterside bar for some cold drinks.

At the Southernmost Point - note the 
festive reindeer!

One of several nautical-themed trees on the Harbor Walk - this one had plastic
 lobsters inside the lobster crates!

Dining and entertainment were excellent aboard the ship.  The first production show was a bit of a disappointment, perhaps because it featured music from the 00's (who wants that?? ;-)), which most of the audience didn't recognize and the performers just didn't seem to be able to get into.  However, the next show was an amazing "Reigning Rocks" featuring rock music from Britain, and the final show was an incredible Cirque du Soleil-style production - we absolutely loved both of these, and the performers seemed to as well!  Our last evening we splurged a bit and dined at Le Petit Chef, and amazing restaurant featuring a bit of an animated show playing out on your tabletop!

The tabletop at Le Petit Chef - here they 
are telling the history of the tomato - the 
colors on the table are projections from 
a camera above the table

Amazing acrobatics at the Cirque du Soleil-style show

As we debarked in Miami, we noticed one final nice touch - as they called each luggage group, the announcers rotated to feature members of the various departments aboard the ship, thanking you for sailing with Celebrity.  We LOVED this cruise and can't wait to sail with Celebrity again...unfortunately they are normally quite expensive, so we'll have to wait for Aaron to come across another amazing last-minute deal!