Celebrity Silhouette - the good, the bad and the ugly

[Freecall]

Just back from 12 nights on the Silhouette and I though that I would share a few quick observations with other CC members.

 

The Good

 

There are a couple of improvements (in my opinion) over the other Solstice Class Ships. Firstly, the Lawn Grill is really well designed and works well on the open deck in the center. I would definitely recommend it. Secondly there is a new area known as ‘The Porch’ which is a kind of half inside / half outside eating area which we found very pleasant. In fact I can’t really recall what is in the same place on the other solstice ships. Thirdly, I really like the new arrangements in Michael’s Club although it was not used as much as it could have been. Finally I think that the private cabanas work well. We did not hire one ourselves (a bit expensive in our view at $99/$149 per day) but they made the central lawn area more useable for everybody and helped to create a pleasant atmosphere.

 

The Bad

 

Hopefully only a one off for this particular cruise but I have never seen so many children misbehaving. Lots of drinks being thrown, all the elevator buttons pressed, running up and down the corridors at 3am. They even managed to open the emergency hatch from the lift shaft. It was more concerning that the staff made very little effort to stop these activities.

 

The Ugly

 

The smoking policy was completely ignored. Many guests repeatedly asked staff to speak with the smokers. They usually did have a word but it made no difference. I even spoke to the Hotel Director about it. He told me that there was nothing they could do because there were a lot of Italians on board and they do not obey the rules.

 

 

Otherwise however the ship is fantastic and for anybody who has already sailed on a Solstice Class ship, they will feel completely at home. There are a few décor changes but all for the better I think.

 

.

[librarylady19]

Thanks for the report. Please post a cabin review on the Solstice sticky if you can.

Sorry to hear about the misbehavior, both kids and adults. It is quite disconcerting to hear that X dismissed your concerns. I would follow up with a letter to corporate. Silhouette looks like a marvelous ship and I would hate to see the experience diminished by rude behavior, regardless of the country of origin.

[TroubleT]

because there were a lot of Italians on board and they do not obey the rules.

 

EXCUSE ME??? The rules change based on the geographical location of the ship??? We are sailing on Silhouette in 10 days. I hope I won't hear this lousy excuse from the staff (especially from the Hotel Director).

[nycmode]

I even spoke to the Hotel Director about it. He told me that there was nothing they could do because there were a lot of Italians on board and they do not obey the rules.

.

 

LOL wow I wouldn't even know what to say if the HD told me this ...

[Orator]

You should have the most experienced senior staff on this ship and they should have been able to deal with the situation. Putting a few people off the ship at the nearest port and broadcasting why might have sent a stong message. Misbehaving children could have been confined to quarters along with their parents. If they still can't be controlled take the TV out of the cabin. If that doesn't work, remove them from the ship.The staff needs to enforce a standard of behavior from the start.

[cruising teacher]

LOL wow I wouldn't even know what to say if the HD told me this ...

Who is this Hotel Director? On previous Celebrity cruises there have been warnings issued and then the $250 fines began. That ended the problem immediately. Hope this is solved before my September 27 sailing.

[yayvacation!]

What a horrible response to you!! I planned on sailing the Med next summer leaving from Italy, if Celebrity plan's on ignoring the smoking policy simply because of where the ship is placed there is a big issue!

 

Really hoping this was a one-off for all of our sakes!

[Gracie115]

Just back from 12 nights on the Silhouette and I though that I would share a few quick observations with other CC members.

 

 

 

The Bad

 

Hopefully only a one off for this particular cruise but I have never seen so many children misbehaving. Lots of drinks being thrown, all the elevator buttons pressed, running up and down the corridors at 3am. They even managed to open the emergency hatch from the lift shaft. It was more concerning that the staff made very little effort to stop these activities.

 

The Ugly

 

The smoking policy was completely ignored. Many guests repeatedly asked staff to speak with the smokers. They usually did have a word but it made no difference. I even spoke to the Hotel Director about it. He told me that there was nothing they could do because there were a lot of Italians on board and they do not obey the rules.

 

 

Otherwise however the ship is fantastic and for anybody who has already sailed on a Solstice Class ship, they will feel completely at home. There are a few décor changes but all for the better I think.

 

.

 

 

I hope they get the smoking under control...but the kids...makes me even more pleased that we booked in mid-September, hopefully far less kids to keep under control....and PLEASE don't flame me because I LOVE kids ... but if the parents AND the staff aren't going to control the behavior I would much rather cruise without them!!!

[CruisingChick]

Yayvacation - We did a Mediterranean out of Venice on Millennium in August 2003 and I swore I would never go in the Summer again. There were over 400 kids (brats) on the ship.

 

The majority of people on board were non-US, the biggest group were the French. Talk about people not wanting to follow the rules. They would show up to the dining room any time they wanted (this was way before Select dining) and wanted to be seated. The poor maitre'd's and waiters were exhausted. They moved loungers all over the decks and had them right across the jogging/walking track so you couldn't even use it.

 

One group of children decided to take the chunks left over from the ice craving demonstration and started throwing them over people into the pool. Needless to say Security was called and when they tried to speak to these children they acted like they didn't understand English, which was not true, because my son, who at the time was 13, heard them speaking English.

 

From there on out there were two Security Guards at the pool for the remainder of the 13 night cruise.

 

There was also almost a fight getting on one of the shuttle buses in Barcelona.

 

If I hadn't been there and seen it with my own two eyes I still would not believe it.

[Freecall]

EXCUSE ME??? The rules change based on the geographical location of the ship???

 

I think that the issue with the misbehaving children probably was a one-off since by September they will be back at school.

 

From the conversation with the Hotel Director, it is not so much that the ship sailed from Rome (after all X has sailed from there for a number of years) but that a very large proportion of the passengers were Italian. As anyone who has ever been to Italy knows, smoke is everywhere and rules in general are not adhered to. This combination is what caused the problem.

 

The real issue however with both of these points (as well as the dress code being ignored) is that the senior staff was simply not interested in enforcing company policies. This was not a one off but a general approach experienced by the many US/UK passengers (who were in a very small minority compared to the French & Italians) who complained.

 

Hopefully, with time, the Silhouette will come into line with the rest of the fleet. After all, she is a fantastic vessel.

 

.

[TroubleT]

When does school start in Italy (or in Europe for that matter)? The more I read the more it (kids presence on board) bothers me. In all my cruising experience I never had problems with kids on board - there were some but without major issues in behavior. OP and CruisingChick' s stories horrified me.:eek:

[CruisingChick]

OP and CruisingChick' s stories horrified me.:eek:

 

It wasn't the Italians on our cruise as most of the passengers were French, then Spanish. There were very few Italians on our cruise. But all in all the Americans were in the minority.

[TroubleT]

I think that the issue with the misbehaving children probably was a one-off since by September they will be back at school.

 

From the conversation with the Hotel Director, it is not so much that the ship sailed from Rome (after all X has sailed from there for a number of years) but that a very large proportion of the passengers were Italian. As anyone who has ever been to Italy knows, smoke is everywhere and rules in general are not adhered to. This combination is what caused the problem.

 

The real issue however with both of these points (as well as the dress code being ignored) is that the senior staff was simply not interested in enforcing company policies. This was not a one off but a general approach experienced by the many US/UK passengers (who were in a very small minority compared to the French & Italians) who complained.

 

Hopefully, with time, the Silhouette will come into line with the rest of the fleet. After all, she is a fantastic vessel.

 

.

Hi Freecall!:)

Don't mean to be a pregidist here, but my first cruise was on Costa Fortuna (sailing from Genova). It was cruise from Hell. 70% of guests were Italians. I will leave aside smoking issues - at that time it wasn't enforced anywhere. But such simple things as order and a concept of lines were unknown to them. There was a mess everywhere: no lines at the buffet area, at the Guest Relations desk....

Hopefully Celebrity will fix smoking problem by the next sailing.

 

Here is a good example of how Celebrity can fix issues fast and effectively. There were 500+ Elite members on our TA cruise in May on Constellation. When guests showed up on the second night at Reflection Lounge for Elite Happy Hour they found dozens(!!!), and I mean - dozens (!) of tables with drinks on them but no guests. The area looked like ghost lounge. When surprised guests tried to occupy empty tables they were stopped by waiters and told that those tables were reserved for their "special" guests. You don't want to know what happened next. The next day at least five senior officers were in the lounge apologizing for unacceptable situation and assuring the guests it would never happen again. The rest of the cruise the rule "First come first serve" worked just fine and waiters were running like sweating bullets serving drinks.

[Presto2]

To be fair to the Italians we were more than cross with some English families who let their children run riot in the adults only outdoor pool alongside their father. (And we're English too) At the end of the day it is Celebrity's responsibility to enforce the rules - and they didn't. (Don't get me on the subject of sunbeds ------------

 

Re the smoking and childre. We were on the same cruise and never had a problem and our corridors were quiet. Then again we were in an aft cabin so may have escaped the noise.

[hcat]

It wasn't the Italians on our cruise as most of the passengers were French, then Spanish. There were very few Italians on our cruise. But all in all the Americans were in the minority.

 

we had similar issues on a spring /Easter cruise one yr on Royal C out of Miami-- lots of smoking, Americans who chose not to use English even to say excuse me..., unsupervised children, unruly children & adults, choc syrup thrown over onto the art auction area, damage to the sculptures in the enclosed pool area where children were not even permitted, , pushing others at the on deck sales, children in the elevators all day & overtaking the hot tubs, & "stealing" all room service requests so that only phone orders would be taken.....

 

we really try to avoid school holiday weeks & also leaving from certain ports. during vacation times.....

[Orator]

Who was the Hotel Director on this cruise?

[Minoushka]

Who was the Hotel Director on this cruise?

 

His name was Damien ...he did NOTHING about the smoking under my balcony ...They put it there so I had to put up with it Did not even respond to my letter ...but did say they will rethink its position so close to cabins

THis senior staff was NOt as visible as on Millie

Food was pretty bad when they could not even do chicken soup right!!!!Food in general was not very good

 

Michele

[Orator]

His name was Damien ...he did NOTHING about the smoking under my balcony ...They put it there so I had to put up with it Did not even respond to my letter ...but did say they will rethink its position so close to cabins

THis senior staff was NOt as visible as on Millie

Food was pretty bad when they could not even do chicken soup right!!!!Food in general was not very good

 

Michele

Damien is very experienced, Im suprised that he didn't respond.

[Gracie115]

Did they have the, for lack of a better name, "Masquerade" party in the center of the ship any evening(s)? On Eclipse last fall they did and it was one of the most fun evenings I've ever spent on a ship. They were dancing on multiple floors and in the elevators, just a blast!! Hope Silhouette is doing the same!! 3 weeks till we are on board!!:D

[Presto2]

Did they have the, for lack of a better name, "Masquerade" party in the center of the ship any evening(s)? On Eclipse last fall they did and it was one of the most fun evenings I've ever spent on a ship. They were dancing on multiple floors and in the elevators, just a blast!! Hope Silhouette is doing the same!! 3 weeks till we are on board!!:D

 

Sorry, no. Just 2 formal evenings and a cocktail eveing which was put on the 3rd day of our 3 day stop in Israel ! A stupid date for a formal night as everyone was worn out and many people had done 3 10 hr days on trips.

 

:confused:

[PS90]

IMO, if this happened to me:

 

1) Annoying, bratty kids - inconvenient and irritating, but does happen on any cruise ship at certain times of the year. Would chalk it up to bad luck and cruise with X again.

 

2) People ignoring the smoking restrictions - inconvenient and irritating, may even be a cultural issue (if the HD is to be believed). Would also chalk it up to bad luck, or possibly a less-than-perfect port of embarkation, but would cruise with X again.

 

3) Senior cruise staff giving a complaining passenger the "Oh well, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do and you will just have to live with these problems" excuse - I would seriously reconsider ever giving X another dime.

[Gracie115]

Sorry, no. Just 2 formal evenings and a cocktail eveing which was put on the 3rd day of our 3 day stop in Israel ! A stupid date for a formal night as everyone was worn out and many people had done 3 10 hr days on trips.

 

:confused:

 

 

Hmmm...I'll be one of those exhausted from 3 10hour days...wonder if it will be on same night....while I like formal nights it will be one less formal to carry with me from the USA....

[Presto2]

Hmmm...I'll be one of those exhausted from 3 10hour days...wonder if it will be on same night....while I like formal nights it will be one less formal to carry with me from the USA....

 

Most people didn't bother for that night, but they may change it for future cruises as it did seem a stupid choice of nights. Who wants to dress up when you have been out for 3 10 hr days in temp above 100 degrees ! :confused:

[Gracie115]

Curious if there was a piano entertainer anywhere on the ship since the change at Michael's. Does anyone know?

[Presto2]

Curious if there was a piano entertainer anywhere on the ship since the change at Michael's. Does anyone know?

 

Yes, I think he / she tended to play in the main foyer area. We also saw another grand piano in a bar near to the select dining restaurants - ie as we came out of the Tuscan Grill. Not sure what that bar is called, sorry.