UK Staycation Cruise Honeymoon

Nicole Warren, Retail Travel Consultant at our Hythe travel agents, took a 7-night UK Staycation cruise on board Celebrity Silhouette for her honeymoon. Here are her thoughts on her trip.

Destination: UK Staycation Cruise
Operator/Host: Celebrity Cruises
Accommodation
(Hotel names/Ship name): Celebrity Silhouette
Duration: 7 nights

Accommodation

First Impressions whilst stepping into our cabin was how immaculate it was, we stayed in Cabin 7110 which was a Forward Balcony Cabin. You couldn't really get a cabin anymore forward too be honest but it was quite smooth in terms of sailing apart from the last night as we were cruising past Bournemouth it was very rocky then.

What Was Included?

All our food and accommodation was included as well as onboard entertainment and much more.

Trip Highlights

There wasn't anything in particular that was my favourite as the whole trip was amazing.

Although I did however happen to get a Disney print from the art gallery which will arrive from Miami in 6 weeks which was an early Christmas present.

Recommendations

I don't really think anything can be improved on as everything onboard or everything we experienced we couldn't fault apart from 1/2 passengers onboard.

All staff members onboard were very polite and nothing was ever too much trouble, everytime you walked past a staff member they always said hello, or asked whether you needed a drink etc. Wherever you sat on the ship within 5 minutes of you sitting down someone was around asking if you'd like a drink, so the service was exceptional.

My husband and I are both first time cruisers and he was hesitant about going onboard as he thought it was going to be too posh for him, but his perception changed after meeting guests onboard and seeing how friendly everyone was. Especially as he has two sleeves of tattoos which funnily enough became a talking point as he has Johnny Cash tattooed on his arm, which was an icebreaker as people were then talking to him about Johnny Cash. There was a few other smokers onboard which they all seemed to form a type of smoking club and they'd all meet up at certain times throughout the day.

Husband has decided that he wants to do another cruise next year, but he doesn't want to go on any other cruise line but Celebrity as he did thoroughly enjoy himself whilst onboard, we've both been spoilt whilst being onboard and even other guests have said they wouldn't cruise with anyone else. He said the gym was quiet but it was spacious with a whole variety of different equipment to use.

Special Mentions to the following members of staff for making our trip memorable.

Lewis the Cruise Director - we were spoilt for choice onboard Celebrity Silhouette, Lewis did an outstanding job of making sure there was always activities ongoing no matter what time of day it was. Musicians and singers onboard were fab, especially the Shamrock Tenors, Trust Me Jack, and Starlighters. We didn't get chance to see The Barricade boys, or Danny Smart, purely because there was so much choice which really did cater for all onboard.

Dominic for hosting the gameshows up in the sky lounge, such as the Movie Music Trivia quiz in which he got passengers onboard to help act scenes depending on the music that was playing. For example he asked for over 70's to volunteer and asked them to act like they would in their natural environment and played Jurassic Park theme tune. He also used my husband a few times with the more physical strength ones such as Jaws with him having to lay across a chair pretending to swim.

Luigi for doing a fabulous Music bingo in which I did win a pack of Celebrity Cruise playing cards.

Cristobal, Anna, Anam, Carene, Ljuben and the rest of the waitressing staff, nothing was ever too much trouble whilst dining. My husband can't have alcohol in his food which we mentioned the first night, and after this we were given the menu for the following night so that he could have his food catered for him so he didn't miss out on anything. Food was exquisite onboard and there was such a variety of choice, we did stick to eating in the main dining room for our evening meals and we used the Oceanview Café for our breakfast. On our first night the chef had prepared us a 'Honeymoon' cake which was delicious.

Katarina and the housekeeping staff, when we arrived they knew it was our honeymoon, and throughout the week we had surprises left, such as petals and towel swans left on the bed, a $50 spa voucher although we didn't get round to using it. The cabin was cleaned twice a day, and if we wanted a lie in in the morning there was a 'Deep Sleep' sign that you stuck on the outside of the door.

Shamrock Tenors, they truly were a great group of guys who we met onboard and got quite friendly with by the end of the cruise, they were very down to earth and their music was one of a kind, it was a lovely touch to be able to have an Irish band onboard as we had Belfast on our Itinerary, and they were more than happy to speak to us about Belfast and the history of the place.

Must see? Belfast, The evening musicians
Must do? Singalong evenings in the sky lounge
Must try? The last day's buffet lunch

If you would like to experience a Celebrity Cruise like this, talk to the team in your local branch. We have travel agents in East Anglia and along the south coast.