Cruise Review - Celebrity Silhouette Norwegian Fjords

I just returned from a 7-night cruise from Southampton to Norway on the Celebrity Silhouette, and here is my review of that cruise. The Norwegian fjords are beautiful!
We stopped at Haugesund, Olden (almost kinda!), Molde and Bergen and alongside 2 sea days crossing the North Sea, we covered quite a few nautical miles and went further North than Anchorage in Alaska...
This was the second fullest any Celebrity ship has been anywhere in the word since the shutdown and it was great to see demand for cruising returning so strongly to the industry. Even if that created fierce competition for seats at the martini bar... The passenger load was 85% which alongside a staff load of 80% made for a slight service deficit early in the cruise, although the team adapted effectively over the first few days of the cruise. They even flew an entertainer in from New York when the scheduled entertainer was unable to perform - through injury we were told, rather than the you-know-what!
This video was originally released on my Matt's Planet channel, but as I am now featuring all of my cruise content on this new, cruising channel - Matt's Oceans.
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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - The lingering impact of the you-know-what...
3:08 - The cruise experience
6:37 - The ports
10:46 - Onboard service
12:00 - Entertainment
13:52 - Conclusions
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[@ccdoe2441]

Small portions are a positive for me, not a negative.

[@MattsOceans]

Its a good point - if you have a small portion and its not enough, you can always order another!

[@steve-marsh]

Love this channel having found you via Matt's Planet! Never been on a cruise, and not sure I would, but what really strikes me is the operation that must go on behind the scenes to make a cruise happen. So many staff, last-minute changes to entertainment etc etc it must be a challenging industry to work in. And good on you for providing such comprehensive coverage - sometimes 3-4 videos from a single voyage? Really impressive.

[@MattsOceans]

Thanks Steve - big fan of your content too! Cruising is a great way of seeing lots of places in a short time... Unpack once and see the world! Watched a few of your ferry videos - a cruise is a better experience! I could make one rambling, stream of consciousness video about each cruise (many people do!) but breaking it down hopefully makes my content more discoverable! Thanks for watching...

[@steve-marsh]

@@MattsOceans I'm still very tempted, but you will help me navigate the muddy waters of something I know nothing about!

[@lulubelle2009]

Great video with some beautiful clips of each port. You've confirmed my suspicion that I would detest this type of cruise, simply because of the weather. My no.1 criteria for my holiday = sunshine & warmth. I'm going to check out your other vlogs.

[@MattsOceans]

Louise - that is an appropriate conclusion for you to draw!!! Some days it felt like I was wearing all of my clothes! The solarium offers some warmth but even in the peak of Summer you'll struggle to find t-shirt weather in ports! Same goes for Alaska... Thanks for the comment and I hope you find the other content interesting.

[@brunkerj]

We just finished a 12 night Edge cruise. I also noted smaller portions, but enjoyed them even move. That way I would try multiple appetizers, entrees, etc.

[@MattsOceans]

I believe the Edge is based in Southampton next season and will replace the Silhouette...

[@brunkerj]

@@MattsOceans One thing for sure. Silhouette is doing at least one Norwegian cruise, as I just booked it today. 12 days, end of May 2024.

[@ronaldboonstra4834]

Thanks for the vid.

[@MattsOceans]

Thanks for watching the vid!

[@juliesmall1565]

Just come across your video and have to say that my sister and I were on the Celebrity Beyond at the same time and yes staff from Silhouette were on Beyond. We know this as we have been on Silhouette several times and noticed that some of Silhouette's flamboyant bar staff from the Martini and World Class bars were there, also from other areas !!!!!

[@MattsOceans]

I KNEW IT!!!! The cruise director denied it on the Silhouette but the Beyond's crew had to come from somewhere - you can't open a ship with 100% greenhorns... And its cheaper to fly them within Europe than from the other side of the world... What did you think of the Beyond? I made videos about the Edge and found it a bit too trendy - substance over form???

[@jlizardi5013]

Yes, I am considering Norway for next year but maybe by September, hopefully, warmer 🙏. I'm going on the Silhouette in December but to the Caribbean 😁

[@MattsOceans]

Might be getting colder again when September comes around!!! Silhouette in the Caribbean would be good - have a great cruise!

[@FraserAtSea]

Oh, Silhouette would be a fantastic ship for the colder-weather routes like Norway. We were on her for a cruise to Belfast and Liverpool last year (when we couldn't cruise out of the UK), and thought she was PERFECT for the UK market due to that indoor solarium etc!

[@MattsOceans]

Thanks so much. Did a similar UK cruise on Silhouette - the review is on the channel. Then did something similar on a Princess ship without a solarium and it was much more of a challenge!

[@FraserAtSea]

@@MattsOceans completely appreciate why - one of my U.K. cruises last year was on Britannia, and I found a huge difference with only outdoor deck areas onboard for that climate!

[@derekng8454]

After watching several videos of your Celebrity Silhouette reviews I'm finally sold on booking a 7 nights cruise to the Norwegian fjords in August 2023. I was going to choose the P&O Iona for the Norway trip but felt it would be worth the little extra money as I think the Silhouette is more in line with what I want, higher quality food, higher staff-to-customer ratio, more adult orientated, slightly more relaxed dress code and the Bergen stop by, which is not on the Iona itinerary list

[@MattsOceans]

Thanks Derek. It's still quite stressful when someone makes a decision based on my videos, but I guess that's why I make them!!! I just hope they go to the advertised ports!!!

[@andreejor]

I think anyone planning a Fjord cruise should carefully check the planned ports and itinerary, apart from Bergen the ports on this particular cruise look a bit underwhelming.

[@MattsOceans]

I think Norway is about nature and not the cities you visit, unlike other parts of the world...

[@karenvonbargen4472]

The crew can’t financially afford to get sick and I’d imagine crew quarantine quarters must be very like prison. The cruise ships are going to continue the hygiene theatre for a while yet but I’m certain it will go away eventually

[@MattsOceans]

Hi Karen. There's a few KZbin channels out there run by crew members so you do get to see the crew facilities - not as good as the guests get but a few notches up from a prison! And hygiene has always been a priority as a norovirus outbreak gets nasty, quick on a ship!

[@hw3006]

Could you imagine? "you're not wearing a mask, please don't join me in the lift."

[@MattsOceans]

Those were the days....