Live from Silhouette

We are getting ready to sail soon from St. Maarten.

We missed Puerto Rico. Supposedly due to sea conditions but the NCL Gem made it an hour later yesterday so... it must be the problem that the ship has had since Europe. All we have gotten so far is port charges back from PR. We also are not happy with the CC meet and greet. Officers showed up briefly and it as boarding day right after sailing. Not handled well at all. Not sure we will be sailing Celebrity in the future. Buffet has not been good or good selection either. I did the Wine dinner last night and that was prob the best thing I've done so far.

Sorry you aren't enjoying your cruise, and sorry you missed a port. We were on the Silhouette TA this month (15 nights) and it was fantastic, including the food. I know food is subjective, but I think the buffet in the S-class ships is well-designed, with numerous stations and food choices. My personal opinion.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope things get better for you in the remaining days of your cruise.

Sea conditions do change, I can't see how you could make the assumption that it's the propulsion issue just because another vessel docked at a later time.

That all being said, I hope you enjoy the remainder of the cruise.

There's no implication that officers will attend Connections parties. When they do show up its a bonus, but that's not the point of the party

We are getting ready to sail soon from St. Maarten.

 

 

 

We missed Puerto Rico. Supposedly due to sea conditions but the NCL Gem made it an hour later yesterday so... it must be the problem that the ship has had since Europe. All we have gotten so far is port charges back from PR. We also are not happy with the CC meet and greet. Officers showed up briefly and it as boarding day right after sailing. Not handled well at all. Not sure we will be sailing Celebrity in the future. Buffet has not been good or good selection either. I did the Wine dinner last night and that was prob the best thing I've done so far.

Wow. We were onboard the silhouette TA 2 weeks ago and it was awesome in every way. I know food us subjective but we thought it was great. And you don't care for the buffet? I'm thinking if you aren't impressed with this ship maybe celebrity isn't for you. Give NCL a try and I think you'll come running back to celebrity :)

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Cruises are a vacation. Relax amd go with the flow. I know that you are unhappy about missing a port. It happens. It has happened to me. Trust that the captain is trying to keep the passengers safe. If a particular port is that important to you, fly into it and stay. If you cruise, the ship is your first priority. Ports are also important. Be flexible and have a good time.

I'm with jerseygirl3. We also thought the Silhouette TA was wonderful. We loved the Top chef menu they had one night in the MDR.

OP, try the Lawn Grill. We thought it was fabulous.

I've been on board in the other situation for PR: big waves, and Eclipse was the only ship that made it in while other ships stayed off shore. Not sure how true it was, but the captain told us that he was the only one that was cleared to dock because of his experience. I will say, he timed the run perfectly, it was like we were surfing a wave on the way in.

Missing ports due to weather is a common occurance. We missed 2 ports on one 7 night Princess cruise. It would be really disappointing if it was a port that the cruiser had not visited before.

We are getting ready to sail soon from St. Maarten.

 

We missed Puerto Rico. Supposedly due to sea conditions but the NCL Gem made it an hour later yesterday so... it must be the problem that the ship has had since Europe. All we have gotten so far is port charges back from PR. We also are not happy with the CC meet and greet. Officers showed up briefly and it as boarding day right after sailing. Not handled well at all. Not sure we will be sailing Celebrity in the future. Buffet has not been good or good selection either. I did the Wine dinner last night and that was prob the best thing I've done so far.

Sorry it is not going well for you. Hopefully things will pick up - we have always had good experience with Celebrity.

 

OP, try the Lawn Grill. We thought it was fabulous.

Totally agree....fantastic:)

Hi, we will be cruising in a week. What type of clothing should we bring. Is it warm enough for shorts and tees during the day? Have you seen rain? Thanks.

Sea conditions do change, I can't see how you could make the assumption that it's the propulsion issue just because another vessel docked at a later time.

 

That all being said, I hope you enjoy the remainder of the cruise.

Because RCI Independence of the Seas made their 3 ports which were the same as Silhouette's. The only difference is they had St. Martin first and San Juan last. Now the cruise ships that had Western Caribbean ports did miss because of the weather.

The Silhouette gave us a rough ride all week. In the dining room you could hear the motor, very loud. What we learned was, the Silhouette would have been a little over 2 hours late to San Juan, but since that was only a 5 and half hour port, they decided to skip it.

If she was working correctly she would do 22 nautical miles an hour at top speed. She only does 17 max becasue of the issue, so yes she could have made it up if she was up to par.

We also learned form cruisers who had done back to backs on her that she lost 2 hours in each port the week before. So my guess is, the Silhouette December cruises that are scheduled for San Juan, St. kitts, and St. Martin will probably not have San Juan either. If your cruise is after the January drydock, you are okay.

I will say this, yes food quality has gone down form My January 2013 and June 2012 cruises. Meg is right. It was mediocre at best. I also noticed a considerable price increase on specialty coffees, drinks, and the specialty restaurant costs have gone up considerably too.

Unlike Meg though, I feel, it seems all lines have gone this way. I am finding cruising period is not the "dream vacation" it used to be. I am not in a hurry to book a cruise on any line right now.

Hi, we will be cruising in a week. What type of clothing should we bring. Is it warm enough for shorts and tees during the day? Have you seen rain? Thanks.

Barb, it was for us but you never know. We did the Caribbean in Dec. 2003 and about froze to death because of a winter storm that made the usual 90 degree weather turn into highs of 60 degrees with nights running about 45. The up side was it was still warmer than home lol! If I had brought a jacket and a couple of pair of long pants I would have been fine. Since then I ALWAYS pack a sweater and jacket. I also take mostly capris, but I do that because I am 60 and my legs are not so pretty lol!

Cruises are a vacation. Relax amd go with the flow. I know that you are unhappy about missing a port. It happens. It has happened to me. Trust that the captain is trying to keep the passengers safe. If a particular port is that important to you, fly into it and stay. If you cruise, the ship is your first priority. Ports are also important. Be flexible and have a good time.

It was more than that I assure you, (see my previous post) but she did have a wonderful time. Meg has only cruised Celebrity twice. This was my 5th cruise. To be honest my husband and I did not mind the extra sea day so much. it was more we were disappointed in the ship's experience over all and we had never felt that way about Celebrity before.

Hi AerynSun_JohnCrighton,

I hope your cruise is going better for you and all the other cruisers. Please update when possible. We are on the Silhouette 12/14 so all ears. Celebrity is a wonderful cruise line. Also is the ship decorated for Christmas yet?

Regards

Ed

Hi AerynSun_JohnCrighton,

 

I hope your cruise is going better for you and all the other cruisers. Please update when possible. We are on the Silhouette 12/14 so all ears. Celebrity is a wonderful cruise line. Also is the ship decorated for Christmas yet?

 

Regards

 

Ed

Hey Ed--I don't know about you, but I was just about ready to cancel.:p

Hey Ed--I don't know about you, but I was just about ready to cancel.:p

Gary,

As Lee Corso would say "Not so fast, my friend!". Looking forward to meeting you on the cruise.:D

We'll be on the 12/14 sailing as well. I don't understand what all the fuss is about with folks thinking about cancelling, etc. It's not like Silhouette isn't seaworthy. Guess I'm not concerned about moving a couple of knots slower than optimal. Just give me a slow boat to anywhere and I'm a happy camper.

We'll be on the 12/14 sailing as well. I don't understand what all the fuss is about with folks thinking about cancelling, etc. It's not like Silhouette isn't seaworthy. Guess I'm not concerned about moving a couple of knots slower than optimal. Just give me a slow boat to anywhere and I'm a happy camper.

Didn't you see my smiley face?;)

Any word on who is taking over as cruise director on the Silhouette? Also, what guest entertainment acts are currently on the ship? Thanks!

We sail 12/7 so I'm interested too. There are two November reviews posted at CC. Neither mentioned the rough motion or late arrivals.

One was unhappy with disembarkation, and one didn't care for the free drinks package, her table in the dining room, the bar service, etc.

I'm not questioning anyone's posts; I'm just hoping that the Silhouette and I manage to float along at our own leisurely pace and chill.

I'm past the editing point, so I will add here that I just read the HAL forum and their ships were experiencing the same problems - missed ports (both east and west) and rougher than usual seas.

I may have to take this up with Mother Nature. Surely she has time to calm down.

I was also on the 23 November Eastern Caribbean cruise. The first leg from Port Everglades to San Juan is a tad over 900 nautical miles. At an average of 18 knots it would take 2 days and 2 hours to reach San Juan. The Silhouette would not appear to be capable of this speed for any length of time. Any time I looked at the TV channel the speed was 17 knots. At 11 am in the morning the captain announced that we were 167 nautical miles away from our destination, and that we would be late. He said he would get back to us with a new ETA. By my calculations at 17 knots that is 10 hours travelling. (The average speed up till the captain's announcement was only 17 knots.) We would be arriving there just as we were due to leave (9pm). Several hours later the captain confirmed we would be missing San Juan. Not sure why it took him hours to do that simple calculation. The Silhouette is just not capable to travelling such a long distance in 2 days. Celebrity should be more honest with their customers. The broken azipod is so obvious to the eye. I have many photographs of the poor performance from the affected engine.

The two November reviews are for the other trip the Silhouette does to the Western Caribbean. It only needs to average around 14 knots for this trip.

Could I suggest to Celebrity that they look for an alternative port for next weeks journey, in my opinion the Silhouette is just not capable of of reaching San Juan quickly enough. To arrive by 3.30pm requires an average speed of 19 knots. Even that allows passengers only 2 hours before sunset. Remember the normal cruise speed for a Solstice class ship is over 22 knots.

I feel very sorry for the couple who were travelling to San Juan to get married. All of their friends had travelled by air to save costs. Several of the entertainers were also affected by the missed port. Finding themselves in the wrong place.

I will be watching Celebrity's actions for next week with interest.

HI:

We are on the 12/7 cruise. Are you really missing a port?

Thank you.