Silhouette is ready for her close-up

It’s less than three weeks since Celebrity Silhouette left her shipyard and made the journey to the sea down the River Ems. Yesterday the £500 million cruise ship headed inland again, making a 50-mile journey up the River Elbe to Hamburg, where she will be christened in a lavish ceremony tomorrow.
I will be there to see godmother Michelle Morgan, a leading figure in the American travel industry, cut a pink ribbon to trigger the traditional Champagne bottle smashing against the ship. Like the godmothers of sister ships Silhouette, Equinox and Eclipse, she is a breast cancer survivor, and the naming ceremony will benefit breast cancer charities.
At 122,000 tons and more than 1,000 feet long, the vessel will be the largest ship to be named in Hamburg. The ceremony will take place at the Graasbrook Terminal in the re-vitalised HafenCity area of the city.
“We’re immensely proud that our German-made cruise ship will enjoy its prestigious naming ceremony in Germany – a first for Celebrity Cruises,” said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. “Celebrity has a longstanding partnership with shipbuilder Meyer Werft, and the celebrations in Hamburg are a gesture of thanks to all those involved in creating Celebrity Silhouette. As a global business, it’s exciting to officially launch our ships in destinations that are major markets for our brand.”
We’ll set off on a day-long cruise down the river tomorrow evening and on Friday I will be hoping to try out the barbecue facilities at the new Lawn Club Grill with Jacques Van Staden, who is the line’s vice president of culinary operations, and savouring a Champagne High Tea in the Murano restaurant. I’ll do my best to keep you updated here.
If you want to watch the ceremony live, it will be broadcast on Celebrity’s Facebook page. It’s due to start at 5.00 pm local time, (4.00 pm in the UK). Go to www.facebook.com/celebritycruises, and then click on the Livestream link at the left of the page.