Silhouette Maiden Caribbean Voyage 11/06 to 11/18

[Ma Bell]

This thread is under "Celebrity "Connections" Roll Calls" the Connections name can only be used for RCCL and Celebrity cruise lines. And are the only cruise lines that can use the term "Meet and Mingle" for some consideration to CruiseCritic (what it is they will not say what it is).

This gives Cruise Critic a leg up for groups.

 

IMHO

In My HAUTY opinion

 

PS I realize "Leg Up" is a sexist term.;)

 

I don't quite understand what this has to do with what I said. This thread is on the main board and is a review of the cruise.

 

"Connections" is used by Celebrity and "Meet and Mingle by RCCL but is something that needs to be signed up for and does not necessarily include people on a roll call.

 

The events being discussed also have nothing to do with the Connections Party which is available on all cruises when at least 25 people sign up for one. It's the other things that roll call groups want to do, such as luncheons, slot pulls, cabin crawls, games etc., that are optional and may or may not be arranged. These are done solely at the good will of the particular staff on board.

 

I guess the problem that some of us have is when an individual feels that they deserve extra special treatment because they belong to a group that may come back and post negatively if they aren't treated exactly the way they think they should be. I personally find it distasteful.

 

I speak as someone who loves "Cruise Critic" and the comraderie and information that it provides, but also thinks the attitude of entitlement sometimes gets a bit out of hand. We've have close to 70 cruise credits with Celebrity and have been members of Cruise Critic for a long time, but don't "expect" to be treated better than anyone else. If there is something special offered we certainly appreciate it very much, but find it hard to be critical of something that is done as a bonus.

 

By the way, you weren't the one who was critical.:)

[Ocean Dancer]

Since we will be on the Silly next week we really enjoyed the review and comments. But the review also reminded us why we no longer have any interest in attending Meet and Greets or related CC events on cruises. When it was just a friendly social gathering we thought it was fun, but in the past few years it has often become a bit clubby and too many have an attitude that they are entitled to special things (why?). Regarding the comment about salt causing swelling...DW has found this an issue on just about any cruise and seems to handle the problem by forcing herself to drink lots of liquids on the ship (helps flush the salt through your body). Its the unfortunate thing that comes with professonal chefs and banquet cooking (that is what they do on ships) where they add salt to everything because it makes food taste better.

 

The showroom drink holders are an issue we have encountered on other ships...and our solution is to generally not order drinks in the showroom. The "once a cruise" large luncheon buffet is a problem on any of the larger X ships and we cannot imagine a solution. The problem is that too many passengers want to go to that buffet within the first thirty minutes and the dining room cannot handle thousands of passengers at the same time. We have found that if we wait until near the end of the buffet cycle it is much easier. In fact that is our solution to many queues on any ship....we just never go during the first hour. DW and I are "queue adverse" which simply means we have developed strategies to avoid nasty lines.

 

And as a happy "Senior" we could not ignore the commends about the "elderly" made by the OP. Sadly, we agree that it can be a problem and we find rudeness to be inexcusable whether it be a senior, child, teen, or a drunk. I should mention that even thought we are "seniors" we have learned to minimize the use of elevators on any cruise ship. How often do you see a perfectly healthy person waiting a long time for an elevator to take them 1,2 or 3 floors. They do have stairs and using them is good exercise!

 

We were glad to hear that disemarkation went well (this seems to be a rarity in Bayonne) and hope we also get lucky :)

 

Hank

 

Since I am the OP, original poster, I just want to clarify any senior statments that I made. Please re read my original post, I said most elderly were a delight!!!!!!!!!!!!! But a few were on the rude side and I gave examples. This was my/our experience, To take this a bit further, some of the younger folks were also rude. Several times after waiting for an elevator, a scooter or hanicapped person was waiting longer than the abled. The young and abled just butted right in, leaving no room for the disabled waiting the longest. No wonder they developed an attitude!!

 

My DH had to actually intervien a few times to help these elderly folks/veterans get on the evevator. And we were blessed and thanked by each one!!!

[Ocean Dancer]

I don't quite understand what this has to do with what I said. This thread is on the main board and is a review of the cruise.

.

 

I guess the problem that some of us have is when an individual feels that they deserve extra special treatment because they belong to a group that may come back and post negatively if they aren't treated exactly the way they think they should be. I personally find it distasteful.

 

I speak as someone who loves "Cruise Critic" and the comraderie and information that it provides, but also thinks the attitude of entitlement sometimes gets a bit out of hand. We've have close to 70 cruise credits with Celebrity and have been members of Cruise Critic for a long time, but don't "expect" to be treated better than anyone else. If there is something special offered we certainly appreciate it very much, but find it hard to be critical of something that is done as a bonus.

 

By the way, you weren't the one who was critical.:)

 

Ma Bell, I guess you mean me:confused: But this is called Cruise Crittic!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also love Cruise Crittic and have been helped in the past by other posters with valuable info which I in return hope to pass on to others. All my comments are true and only relate to me/us!!!!! We were NOT treated any different and our only entitlement was to have a wonderful time which we DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ocean Dancer]

Shock horror people who's first language isn't English make a few mistakes with drink orders given in English. If you are wanting your bar staff and waiters to have their first language as English (ie Americans, British, Australians ect) then expect your cruise costs to go through the roof as many of the nationalities mentioned above simply would not work for the wage paid by the cruise line.

 

I think a lot of people pay these people gratuities so giving them carte Blanche to treat the staff with total contempt and like personal slaves, bark orders at them and berate them if they get something wrong.

 

When I have been on a cruise the attitude and hardwork of the crew put a lot of people in better paid people in other carrers to shame.

 

 

Milo, if I am asked if I want a drink in English, I would rightly expect my order to be understood in English. There was NO horror in any of our experiences and please do NOT put words in my mouth that I did NOT say!

These young girls were very sweet and polite to us. We did not make a big issue out of it, just relating what happened to us!

 

Just because we tipped a bartender in advance DID NOT make him our slave and I am offended by your comment!! He did some bar tricks for us that we did NOT ask for, had a genuine smile on his face when he saw us, and during slow times we had wonderful conversations. Santos truely enjoyed his job!!!!!!!!!!!! We treated all crew with respect.:)

[Ocean Dancer]

I've heard the tap water can cause this problem as well as it may be a little saltier than normal.

 

We had the drink pkg, and stuck to bottled water, but ice in drinks was disstilled from sea water and the soups were salty. Dh and I already lost 7 pounds of water and my shoes now fit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[Ma Bell]

Ma Bell, I guess you mean me:confused: But this is called Cruise Crittic!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also love Cruise Crittic and have been helped in the past by other posters with valuable info which I in return hope to pass on to others. All my comments are true and only relate to me/us!!!!! We were NOT treated any different and our only entitlement was to have a wonderful time which we DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This ship does NOT like Cruise Crittic. I had inquired about a message board for all 200 of us to leave notes as we had activies planned, This was denied and most of our CC plans fell through. Our CC luncheon was horrible. They served us meatloaf that was on the level as dog food, and no chocolate sufflee, very disapointing. A lot of us were spoiled by the Mercury and we would have had a better lunch in a section of the Ocean View Cafe picking out our own food!!!!!!!!! And please Celebrity, CUT down on the SALT!!!!!!!!!!! I never saw so many swollen legs and feet!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Sorry, this was the paragraph I found disappointing. No message board, no chocolate souffle, dog food for lunch. None of these things are normally provided for CC members. When CC activities are planned, it's up to the group to make contact with the others. If someone on the roll call keeps a list of participants and cabin numbers, it's easy to notify each other of plans.

[Ocean Dancer]

Ma Bell, the above is accurate of my experience, we had chocolate sufflee and outstanding food at prior luncheons. My mouth was watering for the sufflee, the most delicious dessert I've ever had. I did quench my chocolate craving during lunch in Ocean View.

 

Some of our CC event planners were not invited to the CC party and we were loosing track of each other. A small message center would have solved that. Many activies fell through. I was only trying to help and Jerry and I want to thank Fred and Barb again!!!!!!:)

[Milo_27]

Ocean dancer I didn't put any words into your mouth as I didn't quote anything you had written. The 'shock horror' comment was a british attempt at sarcasm that was maybe lost in translation I just find it amusing that people on all sorts of travel sites bemoan peoples limited English when travelling whilst making little or no attempt to converse in the local language / native language of the person they are talking to.

 

Please don't be offended it was more of a general observation than a dig at you.

[The Big Booper]

Sister line Royal Caribbean always has a message board right near the front desk in the corridor where affinity groups can leave messages for the group. No reason why Celebrity can't do this. I always check it out to see where the various Friends of Bill, Dorothy, etc. are holding their get togethers. Not that we ever go to these, we are just nosy.:D;):)

[Ocean Dancer]

Ocean dancer I didn't put any words into your mouth as I didn't quote anything you had written. The 'shock horror' comment was a british attempt at sarcasm that was maybe lost in translation I just find it amusing that people on all sorts of travel sites bemoan peoples limited English when travelling whilst making little or no attempt to converse in the local language / native language of the person they are talking to.

 

Please don't be offended it was more of a general observation than a dig at you.

 

 

Thank you Milo for clarifing that. We had many conversations and communications with many cultures on and off the ship. We enjoy meeting all from a different background. That is one reason why we enjoy cruising so much as passengers and crew are from different backgrounds. One cruise, the Captain said 103 countrys were represented. And no war!!:D

[Ma Bell]

Sister line Royal Caribbean always has a message board right near the front desk in the corridor where affinity groups can leave messages for the group. No reason why Celebrity can't do this. I always check it out to see where the various Friends of Bill, Dorothy, etc. are holding their get togethers. Not that we ever go to these, we are just nosy.:D;):)

 

 

Celebrity also has message boards for Friends of Bill, Dorothy and others that used to be in the daily program. They also have message boards for large group bookings. CC members book individually and they are recognized at the Connections party, but they are not considered a "group booking" unless it is some kind of Cruise Critic reunion cruise.

[Ocean Dancer]

Celebrity also has message boards for Friends of Bill, Dorothy and others that used to be in the daily program. They also have message boards for large group bookings. CC mem bers book individually and they are recognized at the Connections party, but they are not considered a "group booking" unless it is some kind of Cruise Critic reunion cruise.

 

 

If they were NOT invited, than how were THEY recognized???:confused: This was the whole reason I thought about a message center. End of story!:rolleyes:

 

 

Big Booper, have a wonderful cruise, she is a lovely ship!!:)

[New Hampshire]

HI Bill & Lyn,

 

Pool day? Maybe, but later in the day. There is a Solarium enclosed pool but it was not heated. The hot tubs were great!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Formal nights were night 2, 7 and 10.

 

We have sailed from Bayonne many times and both on and off the ship were a breeze. We arrived at the port around 10:30 and were on the ship in about an hour. Finding a porter at the end was difficult though, but customs was easy, I was even sniffed by a yellow lab drug/bomb dog while DH was finding a porter.

 

I'm sorry, I don't know who the Hostess was. We actually slept through the Captions Club Brunch.

 

 

Just double checking on the formal nights. Every Celebrity cruise I've been on has had a formal night on night 2 and next to the last night. You stated nights 2 and 10. You're certain it wasn't night 11? You also said night 7. Was that the day you were in St. Lucia? Thanks. I'm trying to set up our Specialty Restaurant nights.

[Ocean Dancer]

Just double checking on the formal nights. Every Celebrity cruise I've been on has had a formal night on night 2 and next to the last night. You stated nights 2 and 10. You're certain it wasn't night 11? You also said night 7. Was that the day you were in St. Lucia? Thanks. I'm trying to set up our Specialty Restaurant nights.

 

 

Yes, formal nights were sea day one, or 2nd night, St Lucia, and second to last night. I know it is confusing!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

[jcpc]

Ocean Dancer,

 

We also encountered a bar waitress who definitely had a hard time understanding our order......and our order was "dewars and water"....not a particularly difficult drink to understand. I actually had to write it on her paper for her. Of course, silly me, I didn't even think to write down "with ice". The young lady was really a nice girl and she was lovely when I asked her to bring me a glass of ice, but I'm not sure she was experienced in the bar area.

[Ocean Dancer]

Ocean Dancer,

 

We also encountered a bar waitress who definitely had a hard time understanding our order......and our order was "dewars and water"....not a particularly difficult drink to understand. I actually had to write it on her paper for her. Of course, silly me, I didn't even think to write down "with ice". The young lady was really a nice girl and she was lovely when I asked her to bring me a glass of ice, but I'm not sure she was experienced in the bar area.

 

Rum and Coke resulted in a can of coke and a one glass of ice, we KNEW Malibu and Diet Coke would have been a challange!! There were three of them, but as sweet and polite as can be.

[derf5585]

. If someone on the roll call keeps a list of participants and cabin numbers, it's easy to notify each other of plans.

 

There was a phone tree set up for the cruise but I was asked by some roll callers to delete it. So I did.

[Ma Bell]

If they were NOT invited, than how were THEY recognized???:confused: This was the whole reason I thought about a message center. End of story!:rolleyes:

 

 

Big Booper, have a wonderful cruise, she is a lovely ship!!:)

 

 

The people register for the Connections party so they are aware there is one. They use the telephone to inform people of the time and place. They do not send individual written invitations to these any more. All you need to do is check your phone messages.

[lysolqn]

This ship does NOT like Cruise Crittic. I had inquired about a message board for all 200 of us to leave notes as we had activies planned, This was denied and most of our CC plans fell through. Our CC luncheon was horrible. They served us meatloaf that was on the level as dog food, and no chocolate sufflee, very disapointing. A lot of us were spoiled by the Mercury and we would have had a better lunch in a section of the Ocean View Cafe picking out our own food!!!!!!!!! And please Celebrity, CUT down on the SALT!!!!!!!!!!! I never saw so many swollen legs and feet!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Sorry, this was the paragraph I found disappointing. No message board, no chocolate souffle, dog food for lunch. None of these things are normally provided for CC members. When CC activities are planned, it's up to the group to make contact with the others. If someone on the roll call keeps a list of participants and cabin numbers, it's easy to notify each other of plans.

 

Ma Bell, couldn't agree with you more; X owes no higher level of attention to CC members than it does to any other pax. That X's effort to go above and beyond for the benefit of CC members on this particular cruise is admirable but clearly unappreciated.

[Ma Bell]

There was a phone tree set up for the cruise but I was asked by some roll callers to delete it. So I did.

 

 

That's a shame. No wonder things didn't work out. I'm sorry you went to the trouble to arrange things and people didn't want a way to reach them.

[Ocean Dancer]

The people register for the Connections party so they are aware there is one. They use the telephone to inform people of the time and place. They do not send individual written invitations to these any more. All you need to do is check your phone messages.

 

 

Many people who registered for the CC party did not get a phone message. I understand what WAS supposed to happen, but did not, some fell through the cracks with no fault of their own.

 

Don't you have some pies to bake instead of pecking at me?:confused:

[Ocean Dancer]

Ma Bell, couldn't agree with you more; X owes no higher level of attention to CC members than it does to any other pax. That X's effort to go above and beyond for the benefit of CC members on this particular cruise is admirable but clearly unappreciated.

 

 

And please tell me who stated that anything was CLEARLY UNAPPRECIATED? NOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WISH I HAD A COPY OF MY COMMENT CARD to prove to anyone picking me apart to stop all this nonsense!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And again Happy Thanksgiving :)

[The Big Booper]

Let me clarify. On the RCI ships there is a physical large cork board mounted on a stand near the front desk wth a pad of paper attached to it. Any body can tear off the top sheet, fill in what group they are messaging and leave it pinned to the cork surface. Whenever we have a large CC group on one of these ships we all know to wander by the board, located in the Royal Promenade, to check and see what is planned. We don't depend on the ship's personnel to round up the people.

 

IMHO, the RP is the most significant improvement in ship layout in a long time for all the things that it facilitates.

[Ocean Dancer]

And please tell me who stated that anything was CLEARLY UNAPPRECIATED? NOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WISH I HAD A COPY OF MY COMMENT CARD to prove to anyone picking me apart to stop all this nonsense!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And again Happy Thanksgiving :)

 

 

This thread is getting way off track, I really wanted to relate my/our experiences on the Silhouette's maiden voyage to the Caribbean. I can not change my experience. Some of you CLEARLY ARE UNAPRECIATIVE of my time to honestly relate anything. I have truely enjoyed answering any questions many of you have asked and I hope I was of help. To all those booked, or thinking of booking, this is a wonderful ship and by the time you sail, I'm sure all these little kinks will be worked out.

 

I will still monitor my thread for any questions any of you may have, as that IS the purpose.:)

 

Thank you to all who sailed with us for adding to our cruise experience. We had a memorable time!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)

[Bozo]

The people register for the Connections party so they are aware there is one. They use the telephone to inform people of the time and place. They do not send individual written invitations to these any more. All you need to do is check your phone messages.

 

I have to disagree with you on this one we were on this cruise also and received an invite in our cabin to the CC connection party with the day, location and time this invite was there the day we got on the ship