I have been lucky enough to cruise on some of the biggest ships to have sailed out of the UK including both the Celebrity Silhouette and the MSC Virtuosa.

I enjoyed both of my adventures on the ships and have to say from the off that I was impressed by both, so that of course got me thinking about which is the best and that is just what I look at in this post where I take you through the different aspects that makes or breaks things for me on a cruise ship.

That includes the onboard experiences, what’s included in your base fare, the entertainment offered, your accommodation onboard and the food and drink offered onboard.

For clarification, I sailed onboard the Silhouette in May 2022, sailing on a round trip from Southampton to the Norwegian Fjords whereas we sailed on the MSC Virtuosa in May 2024 on a Mini Cruise visiting Zeebrugge and Cherbourg.

So, let’s go through each of those, one by one, to decide Celebrity Silhouette vs MSC Virtuosa: which is the best.

Silhouette vs Virtuosa

For our sailing on the Celebrity Silhouette, there were some small changes due to world events but that didn’t impact things in any way as our whole time onboard the ship was incredible.

The Silhouette has two central entertainment areas including the main atrium and there was always something happening there on our sailing including plenty of live music acts.

With the ship having quite a laid-back style to it, there were plenty of places to just sit down and listen to it, or you could of course grab a drink in a bar or café.

That’s not to say that you cannot keep busy on the ship as there was plenty happening throughout the day and well into the late hours, but she was a ship where you could easily do as much, or as little, as you wanted to do.

It was also a ship where you could do things when you wanted to without the need to do much in the way of pre-planning as we chose the dine when you want option and things such as the shows in the theatre didn’t need any pre-booking.

The top deck on the ship is a great place to spend some time even on a relatively cold weather cruise such as the one we did, as there is a variety of seating including some rocking chairs that went down well with my wife.

If the Silhouette offers a relaxed onboard experience, where things are up to you to how busy you are, it is certainly a different experience on the Virtuosa.

I should say that the experience was impacted by the nature of my cruise which was full of large groups celebrating birthdays and also a number of stag and hen dos, but I should also say that there wasn’t really any sort of problem with that as people were just on it to have a good time.

The way that the ship is set up, where there is nowhere to just sit and relax and with the business model of the line where you pay little for the cruise but then have to pay extra for everything onboard, means that the experience is more about the line trying to keep you busy and keep you spending.

We knew that before boarding, so knew what to expect and there is certainly no requirement to spend but it can lead to a more chaotic feel at times.

Nothing is more chaotic than the, to be honest dangerous, muster drill where everybody on the ship goes to their rooms at the same time, before all heading to the theatre (or other muster station) at the same time, leading to 1000’s all trying to use the stairs at the same time.

There are also times when they set it up for most people to be in a place at the same time, such as for the digital ceiling ‘show’ in the promenade where they then set up stalls to sell you packages etc.

The top deck is much more a party atmosphere, which was ideal for our cruise, but aside from a few seats at the back of the buffet, there are few places to sit and relax with a view.

Winner: So, whilst both have different onboard experiences, both do make for a good holiday but for me, the Silhouettes onboard experience is much more to my liking, so the win in this category goes to Celebrities ship.

Both ships are strong representatives of their cruise lines, as there is plenty included onboard the Silhouette and lots of pay extra things on the Virtuosa.

On both ships, you get all of your meals in the Main Dining Room and buffet including free basic drinks in both such as teas, coffees and fruit juices.

Both also give you lots of included entertainment around the ship such as musicians in bars and shows in the theatre

On the Silhouette, there was a lot more entertainment included including more guest entertainers and more performers around the ship.

Both also include a large gym, swimming pools, a solarium and more- so if you just want to pay the base fare, you can certainly have a good holiday on both without the need to pay extra.

There are some differences however, as the Silhouette has places such as the library where you can sit, with an included drink of tea or coffee and both the Spa Café and Café al Bacio offer included food such as sandwiches and cakes whilst it also offers free ice creams in the buffet.

If you are travelling with a family, or like to keep active on a cruise ship, the Virtuoso arguably has more on offer that is included including a large sports court, foosball tables, flumes and a kids splash pool.

This one really comes down to what you want from your cruise ship as whilst they both offer the basics of cruising included, they also both offer different things.

Winner: If I was cruising with a group or with kids, the chances are that I would pick the Virtuosa for this one, but as I tend to cruise with just my wife and for both of the sailings on these ships, it was just me and wife onboard, I am going to give the win in this category to the Silhouette.

Once more, there are plenty of similarities between the two ships when it comes to the entertainment on offer with numerous venues around the ships offering lots to keep you entertained whilst cruising.

In bars and lounges, you will find musicians at different times of the day whilst both ships have activities and entertainers in the atrium.

On the Silhouette, you will get singers in the bars and Café al Bacio of the central atrium that can be heard on all level, whilst on the Virtuoso, it is best to be placed on the lower level.

Both ships will also feature guest entertainers in their theatres, whilst the Silhouette also has Celebrity Central, a second entertainment area for quizzes, comedians and even movies.

Winner: With so many similarities, it really comes down to the quality and variety of the entertainment and that must go to the Silhouette.

The were many more entertainers around the ship and they provided a wider variety of music genres and the same can be said for the theatre where both the production shows and the guest entertainers were more varied.

For this one, I best start by saying that on the Silhouette me and my wife treated ourselves to a balcony cabin whilst on the Virtuosa, we stayed on a sail away rate inside cabin.

Long term readers of this website or viewers of the CruiseHols YouTube channel will know that we tend to sail in inside cabins, so I certainly won’t hold that against the Virtuosa for that.

Both cabins were incredibly comfortable, offered plenty of space and we finished to a high standard, so I would have any issues with rebooking the same room or similar room if I was to sail on either ship again.

Our stateroom on the Silhouette had everything you can ever need from a cruise cabin including lots of storage space for all of your clothes and other bits and bats and the famous Celebrity Cruises bed, arguably the comfiest at sea.

The spacious bathroom had the all-important glass shower door and the only minor gripe that I can really think of was a lack of USB ports.

The cabin onboard the Virtuoso was also well equipped in the main including a modern tv, a large and comfortable bed, a spacious bathroom with a glass door on the shower and decent bathroom storage.

The only big difference between the two was the lack of storage for your clothes on the Virtuoso and although were only onboard for a Mini cruise, it was still noticeable, if we were to have booked a 2-week cruise, we would have had to continually be packing and unpacking throughout the holiday.

Winner: As mentioned, I am used to issue cabins so it wasn’t just the different cabin type and from talking to other who sailed on the ship in a balcony cabin, the storage there was poor as well, so with the margins so fine, that is the dela breaker and we are going to give the win once again to the Silhouette.

For all of our time on the Virtuosa, we ate in the buffet, whilst most of our meals were eaten in the buffet onboard the Silhouette and that is what the bulk of this section will be based on.

With that said, I really did enjoy eating in the MDR on the Silhouette, although there were a couple of dishes not quite to our liking and as mentioned already me and my wife are huge fans of the café on the ship.

The Virtuosa does have the café inside of the chocolate shop but that is on the main promenade which makes it noisy and busy all day and all night.

Both ships have plenty of bars and good variety of drinks and the non-alcoholic drink selections were decent on both.

We did eat in a speciality restaurant onboard the Silhouette but our trip to the Tuscan Grille was a huge let down whilst the included drinks at the pay-extra show onboard the Virtuoso wasn’t too great either.

So again, it comes down to the buffet and its quite close for me in that regard as I was impressed by the buffet on the Virtuoso as it was a bit of a concern before boarding as in our research, lots of other people were all that complimentary about the food, with quite a few videos on YouTube saying it was inedible.

That was far from the case and in fact the food offered was very enjoyable, but it was very Mediterranean heavy and didn’t change too much from one day to the next.

If you love pizza, mozzarella (which they cook onboard in a show kitchen) and Italian breads, you will be in your element but it can be tricky getting to the things that you want as despite the buffet been massive and not too crowded, its lay out makes it difficult to see what is at each station before you get to them.

The Silhouette utilised a multiple station set up and islands that makes it so much easy to walk around and see everything but the thing that always separates the line for me, is the amount of cooked to order offerings that they have.

That was the same on the Silhouette and she offered more variety when it came to cuisines and themed nights plus the quality of the food is that bit higher, so you do tend to enjoy every bite a bit more.

Winner: I also love that you can get free actual ice cream and not just Mr Whippy style onboard the Silhouette, so all in all, the Silhouette once again picks up the win in this category.

Overall, the win goes to the Celebrity Silhouette and it’s not too surprising as the ship is one of my favourites and was almost perfect for me and my wife but the majority of these categories were close between the two and if you are just wanting a cheap getaway, the Virtuoso is a great ship to go on and is one that I would highly recommend.

If you are looking for a dream holiday, I would highly recommend seeing if the Silhouette, or one of her class, is sailing where you want to go, for the price you want to pay as I am sure it would be worth it.

Winner: The Celebrity Silhouette by 5 points to 0.