CNSfromHI

We used Flights by Celebrity (FBC) to book our round-trip flight from the U.S. to U.K. in August. We did so after checking the many travel sites for a long time after booking our cruise. Ultimately, FBC offered the lowest cost. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any issues -- such as delays, cancellation -- that might have required FBS's promised customer service. cjr

I stressed about this very thing before our recent cruise in September. The info Celebrity offers on its site was specifically vague enough to leave me wondering, and the advice here and elsewhere varied. Here's my experience: In the MDR, on Chic Nights, and during the evenings generally (after 7:00 p.m.), I wore black or khaki pants, with either a polo-style shirt or one by a designer whose name rhymes with "Pommy da Llama" 😃 (Not sure if mentioning the name would violate the CC rules.) Anyway, while I didn't pack a suit, sport coat or dress shoes for this cruise, I did not encounter any issues with staff or someone else complaining about my clothing. Also, on a few days, we returned late from excursions and decided to grab a drink or two before heading to our cabin despite wearing shorts, T-shirts and, probably, a tired, long-day aspect on our faces 🤣 Again, no problems in our experience. I generally wear Wranglers and have no idea what comprises "designer" jeans, but I saw many folks wearing jeans in the MDR and on Chic nights. That said, a significant percentage also wore suits with ties, tuxes, dresses, evening gowns, etc. Paraphrasing @SusieAV8R, wear what's comfortable. To that, I add: hedge your bet and bring an outift that essentially qualifies just in case you think "Uh oh" once you're at sea. Hope this helps, cjr

Before our cruise in September, I thought using my iPhone to unlock our cabin door would be cool/handy. (I also wear an Apple watch but never even thought about using it to do the same thing, but I like that idea.) Anyway, I found that to use your mobile, you need to pull out your phone and unlock it (requiring either a fingerprint or face ID), launch the Celebrity app, and then hold it near the door... Bottom line: I found it easier to just use my SeaPass card. Even if you could use your watch, there would still likely be some sort of additional step(s) to authenticate now. It won't be as simple "wave it near the door" thing, unfortunately, given Apple's emphasis on OS security these days. BTW, I found the same thing to be true of the Celebrity app's "remote" feature to control your cabin TV. I found it easier/more functional to use the actual TV remote. Hope this helps, cjr

Same here about Aussie FB; I'd forgotten how fun it is to watch because of its non-stop action and (seemingly) ruleless play. 😃 We watched one match in the casino bar with a mother/father and son from Australia -- the latter was REALLY into the match because the sport was somewhere in its playoff system at that point, i.e., win or go home. Until you mentioned it, I'd forgotten that college football was also available during our cruise on a channel or two. I don't recall which ones, though, but hopefully you'll find enough offerings during your cruise! cjr

This is true based on our Silhouette experience in early September. We only noticed this after the folks in the room next to us started accumulating multiple room-service trays each day outside their door. In the evening of Day 10 of our cruise, the captain announced that the ship had surpassed a certain positive-case threshold (I don't remember; perhaps 3%?) and recommended that passengers start wearing masks when in elevators, public areas, on excursions, etc. This prompted us to start wearing masks again but also to ask about the quarantine process. cjr

We cruised aboard the Silhouette in September and there were plenty of entertainment options. Those are listed in a newsletter called "Celebrity Today" that you'll find in your room or outside your door each evening. There were usually ~60+ options listed each day. As for dining, we too selected anytime dining but also visited Craft Social, a pub-like place with very good food; the Luminae, a Retreat-only place; and Sushi on 5. There are many others onboard, but we tend to keep odd hours and, very often, would just hit the Oceanview Cafe for something quick when convenient. As far as casual, the Luminae is not; and shorts are "not allowed in the evening hours" (so they say but we returned late from two excursions wearing shorts and wandered about for a drink and to unwind, and nobody seemed to care.) But "casual" is relative and, if you don't mean shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops, then know that I wore a collared polo shirt and black or khaki trail pants in the evenings; no suit coat or tie, although many passengers dress to the nines, as the expression goes. Hope this helps, cjr

Our cruise in September was aboard the Silhouette and the TV in our room was a Samsung. cjr

Apologies for the tardy reply! We booked all of our excursions through Celebrity. Our ports in Iceland comprised Akureyri (7.5 hours) and Reykjavik (24 hours). We booked the "Nature, Folk & Flora" excursion for Akureyri and loved it. It's a tour-bus based excursion that stops at a number of spots around northern Iceland, including a botanic garden/public park; a cafe/outdoor museum sort-of place where you can explore an old church/graveyard and step inside preserved homes with their grass roofs; and, the showstopper, the incredible Godafoss waterfall. Of course, along the way between stops, we saw incredible vistas and scenic landscapes that make Iceland unique. Also, our guide was a lovely woman from the area who recounted its highlights and history with a dry wit that kept everyone chuckling throughout the excursion. In Reykjavik, we took the "Golden Circle with Lunch" excursion. This, too, is tour-bus based and offered our only opportunity to visit the country's interior. There we visited an energy plant and learned about this Iceland's zero-emission, clean-power; enjoyed a private lunch at a quaint guesthouse; and witnessed the raw power of Earth's interior courtesy of a spot housing numerous geysers, fissures, fumaroles, etc. The excursion concluded as the sun sank on the horizon at Thingvellir National Park, which is an ecologic wonder and situated on two of the three tectonic plates running through the island. Sounds geeky; trust me, this is something not to miss if you enjoy incredible scenery. The next day, we took the "Discover Reykjavik" sightseeing tour, which visits the iconic Hallgrímskirkja church; the Perlan observation deck, which offers 360-degree views of the city; an outdoor museum preserving numerous Icelandic homes, service buildings, a church, etc., that demonstrate both the ingenuity and resilience of early settlers; and the National Museum of Iceland. This final excursion visited a lot but felt a bit rushed, given its time limitation. The previous day's Golden Circle tour proved the opposite; it's a lot of bus time but, again, given the parameters of the cruise, it was our best option to visit the interior of this amazing country. Hope this helps! cjr

As mentioned, Craft Social is the onboard sports bar on Silhouette. I'm an English football (soccer) nut so I scouted this place a.s.a.p. so I could keep up on the Premier League action. The place has a nice pub-feel and numerous flat-screen TVs on the walls, but I found the seating at the high-top tables uncomfortable. There's no foot rest on the central table spindle, so I had to keep my feet tucked under my seat along the chair rails and often found my leg snoozing on me. Also, the tabletop is small and between pint glasses, app-plates and then meal stuff, it's a wonder we didn't drop something to the floor. (Our waiter was somewhat inattentive and didn't clear stuff much, but to be fair, it was busy.) Anyway, if you get there early enough (before a big game), I recommend sitting at the bar or in one of the niche areas along the wall (a small table with seats around it and a TV on the wall). The food was very good; the beer selection fairly mundane -- at least on draft. Eventually, we found that the casino bar offers more comfortable seating, plenty of TVs, attentive service, etc., and watched a number of matches there. Finally, the TV channel selection on board is fairly limited, but Sports 24 offers Premier League, Aussie Rules FB, rugby and other sports. I can't speak for NFL games since I didn't try, and the NBA season had not started yet. Hope this helps and sorry for the tardy reply. cjr

I just signed into the Celebrity site with no issues (iMac using Firefox) and on my iPad using Safari. BUT, on my iPad, I went to my CC page and it loaded just fine, but then went black and said there was an error, reloaded the page just fine, went black with error message, rinse, repeat... Something's not working on iPads, possibly? cjr

We booked flights for our cruise in late-August via Celebrity. We did our online homework and found the fares competitive enough that the guaranteed "we'll get you there" thing Celebrity promised proved the tipping point. (I still picture Lucille Ball arriving via helicopter-sling on that episode where she misses her boarding, though 😆) Anyway, our (direct) flights from Chicago to London, and vice versa, were trouble free, so I have no idea how readily Celebrity might have solved a travel issue. That said, we still arrived 24 hours early in London just in case something might occur that would prevent us from boarding the cruise we'd looked forward to for almost a year. We're already booked on another Celebrity cruise in March 2023 and, while we haven't booked airfare yet, I'm certain we'll consider Celebrity's offering again if it's competitive. We still plan to arrive in Miami a day early, just in case, so I suspect whatever "savings" we encounter on airfare is probably more than offset by an additional day's lodging/dining... cjr

As a traveler who recently completed his first Celebrity cruise, we booked with the all-in-one stuff right away and didn't regret it -- despite the zillion "offers" we received via email or saw on the Celebrity site afterward. In my limited experience, there is some financial benefit to the all-in-one offer. cjr

Even better chance our future tower resembles the one you received! cjr

In the North Atlantic on our recent cruise, the motion of the ocean around Day 9-10 got to my wife even though she'd never been seasick before. I'd brought along those acupuncture-wristbands despite her insisting she'd "never need them or wear them" (and calling me a nerd for even buying them). Unfortunately, they didn't help her so I sought out some meds onboard and received meclazine packets, which helped her within six-ish hours. On our next cruise, I won't bother with the wristbands and will just bring our own meds. Hopefully, she won't need them again! cjr

Noob, here, but what does "the hump" mean? Thank you in advance, cjr

Thank you for the pix! I doubt we'll be able to just get the Tower (not that we'd want to, I suspect), and I understand that was 2021, but it looks tasty and fresh. And thank you to everyone who's shared their photos/insights about The Porch/Seafood Tower, too. Everything makes my mouth water! cjr

Thanks for the explanation! Again, sorry I misinterpreted your intent. cjr

During our Silhouette cruise earlier this month, my wife and I twice made reservations for The Porch on different days. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our rez both times (don't ask), so we never experienced this place or, specifically, its "Seafood Tower." My bride loves seafood, as do I, but she constantly focused on this tower thing for some reason, which was an additional cost per person on top of the basic cost. ($17 per person, I think.) Anyway, we have another cruise scheduled for March 2023 and I know she will make experiencing this tower happen. So, what is this tower thing? Is it worth the additional expense? It's not about the cost; it's mainly that the shrimp platters/cocktails we ordered were, um... "small" 🙂 Firsthand descriptions and/or photos will be appreciated! 🦞🐟🦐 I hope the Seafood Tower, and this venue, are awesome! Thank you, cjr

Silhouette. cjr

Love the "ignore" function on this site. Anyway, @Jim_Iain, I've found your posts friendly and useful since I joined. Sorry if I misread the intent of your reply above but there's no context on text-based forums like this, so I just asked so I could hear from you. 🤣 cjr

Honestly, I never noticed a difference in the foil night-to-night. Hate to think I left a pile of the tasty dark stuff sitting there? On our next cruise this spring, I will at least try a few so I don't make this mistake again. cjr

👍 cjr

I posted what I was told, @Jim_Iain. Not sure why you felt it necessary to correct me here? cjr

Wasn't trying to trigger a flame war; mine was a sincere question and nothing to do with ABV. My wife is a Diet Coke devotee, too, but we had no problem getting 'em on our recent cruise, whether at a bar, restaurant, stocked in our stateroom, etc. Sorry if your experience was different. cjr

I did the same thing 😄 cjr