Silhouette TransAtlantic Review

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Hi Howard,

Thanks for your review. I’m on the Silhouette TA next April 2014 - first eastbound TA.

I hosted the December TA 2012 wine party. It was held in the Tuscan Grill dining room. We were charged $5 per bottle for the corkage fee. I felt that was very reasonable and so did the group.

Sorry you had people on your roll call that didn’t show up when they said they would, especially at Qsine.

Looking forward to sailing with Captain Demitrius. He was so funny last year with his daily announcements.

Do you have your dailies that would show the days of the time changes?

What nights were the formal nights?

Thanks!!

Monica

 

It would be hard to say since they are different routes

Our ports where first , next year the ports are at end of the trip

Beside I read somewhere formal days are to be cancelled

[howndder]

Good morning all, Monica, I'm sorry but have no idea of when the time changes were. they were on the way to Europe, if I remember correctly. The formal nights were held on the 1st sea day after Coco Cay, the next to last night before Rome and somewhere in the middle of trip. Hope this helps.

 

Mark, you are now Elite? :eek:

 

Time to change cruise lines:)

 

Howard in dark yet magnificent Fort Lauderdale

[dublin]

It would be hard to say since they are different routes

Our ports where first , next year the ports are at end of the trip

Beside I read somewhere formal days are to be cancelled

 

Formal nights cancelled? Wow that would be surprising.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Good morning all, Monica, I'm sorry but have no idea of when the time changes were. they were on the way to Europe, if I remember correctly. The formal nights were held on the 1st sea day after Coco Cay, the next to last night before Rome and somewhere in the middle of trip. Hope this helps.

 

Mark, you are now Elite? :eek:

 

Time to change cruise lines:)

 

Howard in dark yet magnificent Fort Lauderdale

After the November TA

Mark

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Formal nights cancelled? Wow that would be surprising.

 

Some people will post anything :p

 

Mark

[11dfr11]

Hi Howard,

Thanks for your review. I’m on the Silhouette TA next April 2014 - first eastbound TA.

I hosted the December TA 2012 wine party. It was held in the Tuscan Grill dining room. We were charged $5 per bottle for the corkage fee. I felt that was very reasonable and so did the group.

Sorry you had people on your roll call that didn’t show up when they said they would, especially at Qsine.

Looking forward to sailing with Captain Demitrius. He was so funny last year with his daily announcements.

Do you have your dailies that would show the days of the time changes?

What nights were the formal nights?

Thanks!!

Monica

 

I am hosting the Slot Pull. Are there any other activities that I can sign up to and where are they? I can't wait for this cruise. A little afraid of the seas being ruff as everyone says it is better coming back on a TA than going.

I also think that CC people make the cruise much better. Being in Blu is also a delight as you either sit next to each other or you join tables.

We are now Diamond and looking forward to meeting new people in that group.

I am doing my research on Italy as we have never been there before. There is a Vesuvius tour in Trastevere that we will take in the evening in Rome. We will stay until the 9th of May. Any suggestions as you have been there before?

Dale:cool:

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I had load up my Kobo with hundreds of books, and I only had time to finish the book I started before the cruise :eek:

I missed most of the Mexican train games , :(

There was not enough sea days to get everything in :p

 

Mark

[6andy6]

Interesting review.

[Austrian]

Originally Posted by Compass Rose Monica

.......

 

Looking forward to sailing with Captain Demitrius. He was so funny last year with his daily announcements.

 

Do you have your dailies that would show the days of the time changes?

 

What nights were the formal nights?

 

Thanks!!

 

Monica

Hi Monica

 

From the Celebrity Today Handouts

Apr 16 Coco Cay

Apr 17 Sea day

Apr 18 St Maarten

Apr 19 Sea day Time change

Apr 20 Sea day Time change

Apr 21 Sea day FORMAL NIGHT

Apr 22 Sea day Time change

Apr 23 Sea day Time change

Apr 24 Sea day Time change

Apr 25 Funchal

Apr 26 Sea day

Apr 27 Sea day FORMAL Time change

Apr 28 Sea day

Apr 29 Civitaveccia

 

It would be hard to say since they are different routes

Our ports where first , next year the ports are at end of the trip

Beside I read somewhere formal days are to be cancelled

 

With 7 sea days expect no time change the first sea day (maybe FORMAL that night if they still exist) and then 5 of the next 6 days with time change. The last time change on the sea day after Gibraltar. Probably FORMAL the same day.

 

I expect to be on that cruise, but with the price rollercoasters this year (I changed cabins 4 times) I won't be booking until early 2014.

 

Harald

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I expect to be on that cruise, but with the price rollercoasters this year (I changed cabins 4 times) I won't be booking until early 2014.

 

Harald[/color]

 

Around sixty days out was some of the best pricing

Keep in touch

[JonAlone]

We travelled Aqua Class and BLU was very good on most nights... The evening we are in MDR we made up a table for 12 and had amazing food and excellent service. I really like the MDR, it is a beautiful room in every respect.

I had the chicken roulade and it was moist and succulent. The wine waiter was attentive AND they allowed us to bring the Champagne from the room for serving at the table! (no corkage)

 

The buffet in OceanView was excellent every day.... we were on the ship for 15 days and there was certainly enough choice for those who wanted it.. The stir fries, the mexican kitchen, pizza, burgers, + all the salads and other offerings were well maintained and always looked fresh, whatever time one chose to eat.

 

After 3 days I was on fruit salad, with the odd hot dog or burger from the Mast Grill, purely because I found too much with all the lazing around in the sun by the pool.

 

Quazar was fun most nights after the shows, but the Martini Bar was a great meeting place for all! We were a good group of guys who all got on well... no dramas... and several other passengers who joined our group seemed to enjoy the company...

 

I love this size ship... it is easy to get around, and has enough venues on-board for it never to seem crowded. Service everywhere was excellent and the ship was immaculate always.

 

I said it in the forum before this sailing, and I am happy to repeat that for me, Silhouette is the best ship afloat... It never fails to please and I look forward to sailing again, when Celebrity sort out their pricing policies (US v UK) and their special offers stop excluding us Brits! If they take too long to sort this, I will be trying Princess without a doubt.

 

It was a pleasure meeting everyone on board - one of the best fun and up-for-it CC crowds ever!:)

[howndder]

I am hosting the Slot Pull. Are there any other activities that I can sign up to and where are they?

 

"They are whatever you make them to be. We had a myriad of activities that included, Murder Mystery, Cabin Crawl, Poker Run, Dinner Parties, etc.." YOU make the cruise. Start Cracking Dale.

 

I am doing my research on Italy as we have never been there before. There is a Vesuvius tour in Trastevere that we will take in the evening in Rome. We will stay until the 9th of May. Any suggestions as you have been there before?

Dale:cool:

 

"Walk your feet off" Ask you hotel for a map and GO!

 

 

I will not buy anything in advance until I see great fares, or I'll try another line.

 

Howard in Beautiful Fort Lauderdale

[11dfr11]

Are there any takers? I'm in.

Dale

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Are there any takers? I'm in.

Dale

 

You should be asking here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1813192, as this is Howard review for the 2013 TA

Do you use Juliann's rules ?

[Compass Rose Monica]

Originally Posted by Compass Rose Monica

.......

 

Looking forward to sailing with Captain Demitrius. He was so funny last year with his daily announcements.

 

Do you have your dailies that would show the days of the time changes?

 

What nights were the formal nights?

 

Thanks!!

 

Monica

Hi Monica

 

From the Celebrity Today Handouts

Apr 16 Coco Cay

Apr 17 Sea day

Apr 18 St Maarten

Apr 19 Sea day Time change

Apr 20 Sea day Time change

Apr 21 Sea day FORMAL NIGHT

Apr 22 Sea day Time change

Apr 23 Sea day Time change

Apr 24 Sea day Time change

Apr 25 Funchal

Apr 26 Sea day

Apr 27 Sea day FORMAL Time change

Apr 28 Sea day

Apr 29 Civitaveccia

 

With 7 sea days expect no time change the first sea day (maybe FORMAL that night if they still exist) and then 5 of the next 6 days with time change. The last time change on the sea day after Gibraltar. Probably FORMAL the same day.

 

I expect to be on that cruise, but with the price rollercoasters this year (I changed cabins 4 times) I won't be booking until early 2014.

 

Harald

 

Thanks Harald, I had not thought about the different itineraries when I posted my questions. :o Thanks so much for this information.

 

I would guess the 3rd (middle) formal night would be around the 6th sea day. I can't imagine Celebrity dropping formal nights.

 

Monica

[rln44]

Thanks for your review Howard. We still owe you a drink for your post alerting us to a price drop on this cruise. We were able to get an upgrade from a 2b cabin to 1a with a refund of $220p/p. We certainly didn't get this info from our travel agent. We were no shows for the meet and greet. when the number started approaching 300 we felt a little overwhelmed. Considered Harald's wine tasting but didn't sign up. It never occurred to me that Celebrity would want a corkage fee for a private party. How much were they asking for?

We did not sign up for the shuttle-sharing rides into Rome organized by other cruise critic members as we enjoy taking the trains in Europe-a big mistake. With all of the ships arriving in Civitavecchia that morning(5 or 6?), the train station was a total zoo. Standing room only on the trains-looked like the trains in Mumbai during rush hour.

[Nick_C]

Hey Howard, interesting to read your review.

 

I tend to agree that the S class ships are a little too big, but the economies of scale keep the costs down and keep cruising very affordable. I also really like the cabins on the S class ships, particularly the bathrooms, and my "hump" cabin - 7286 - had an enormous balcony (about 2.5 times normal size).

 

This was my first solo cruise, and being quite shy and retiring (honestly, I put on a good act!) I was a little apprehensive, but the crowd at the martini bar each evening were very friendly and I too met some great people. I also really enjoyed having a cabin to myself - lots of wardrobe space, and a double bed to myself were real luxuries.

 

Getting back to the size of the ship, I found that although the evenings were very sociable I could walk around some days and not see anyone I knew!

 

I loved the lectures on this cruise, and while I'm with you Howard on cruise ship entertainment (people who say the shows are West End or Broadway standard have obviously never been to the West End or Broadway) I did think Lisa's short show was terrific. I would pay good money to see her perform. She had a real stage presence and great comic timing. I found her back story inspirational.

 

Our dining table started out looking as if it was going to be a disaster. I was allocated to a table for 8, all singles (I think), and the first evening 3 people turned up. The second evening, one of the 3 was missing, and a fourth single joined us. After that, a couple of guys from the Martini Bar switched from Select to join us most evenings, and a couple of ladies from who knows where joined us a couple of days later. We ended up with a great group of 7 single people, and we all had a ball, going to all the speciality restaurants together. We have talked about doing the TA again next year, and I hope some if not all of them are able to.

 

One thing that was very odd. On the second formal night, a single lady allocated to our table turned up for the first time. She was going on to a gambling tournament at 9:30, she had pre-ordered her meal, and was out of the dining room by 9:15. I thought this was very rude. Really, why bother. She said she would join us for the last formal night. Apparently, she did turn up, but the rest of our table had decanted to Murano for the night.

 

Howard, I totally agree with you about the half price speciality dining. We started out with a 4 night package but I will never buy it again. I went back to Qsine a second time half price, and we were able to book an extra dinner in Murano at a 30% discount. Next time, I will just negotiate a deal on the day.

 

Incidentally, we were 5 and 7 people on our visits to Murano, and each time we had the private dining room (wine cellar). It made it really special.

 

Having made it to Elite last year, it will have to be an exceptionally good itinerary (or a bargain in the Queen's Grill) to get me to sail with anyone but Celebrity now. I liked the voucher system for the free drinks, as I was able to line them up at 7pm and they lasted through until dinner!

 

Nick, in rather cold but occasionally sunny Worthing. (Can you believe, it hailed last night? Howard, send that gulf stream back where it belongs, immediately!)

[karelet]

Hi All,

 

Karen and I did the B2B to Greece and Turkey, so I am a little late posting here, but hopefully someone will read this.

 

We spent 26 straight days on the Silhouette and loved every one of them. It was sure good to return "home" after a tiring day exploring ports in the Mediterannean. I guess we generally agree with JonAlone's review. We split our time eating in Blu, the MDR, and the Specialty restaurants. We didn't but the dinner package because we learned from our CC Roll Call before the cruise about the daily discount pricing (it pays to read all the posts). We had fun shopping for "deals". We had awesome service in Blu from Roberto and Sachin, the assistant manager. We found the Maitre'd a little too rule oriented vs. customer service, but there will always be personality differences.

 

As some have indicated, I organized the Cabin Crawl, and was lucky to have a great group of Cabin Hosts, and help from Mark. I don't think 100

people showed up, but I didn't think they would given the conflicts that occur sometimes.

 

We met so many great people, but there are others like Jonalone and Howard and others that I wish we had spent more time with. Really enjoyed meeting Mark - and thank you for the books!

 

We had a great slant cabin on the "hump" with a large balcony and no wind tunnel effect at all. We did think the storage was a bit less than on some other Celebrity ships, but we did pack for two cruises and made out fine.

 

We turned elite for the second leg of the cruise, but didn't get to take advantage of the benefits much because of the busy port days, and being so tired when we returned. Who says cruises are for lazy people?

 

One last point: the Silhouette has so much to offer, I don't think most people know or take advantage of many hidden treasures. For example, Karen and I spent several wonderful times in the Relaxation Room at the front of the ship on deck 11, and we were the only ones in there. It is a great place to watch an approach to port. I also stopped at Baccio in the mornings to get one or two of those delicious Blueberry crumble muffins to take to breakfast or our room. They are delicious, and that is the only place you can get one. And how many people participate in activities like Bocce Ball or Golf Putting. I was last in Golf, but won the Bocce Ball tournament. Great fun!

 

Right now, we are looking at the Reflection for our Westbound T/A in the Fall! Can't wait to try out those Elite perks. Hope to see many of you again. Thanks for your friendship!:D

[Ex-Airbalancer]

John, It was great travel with you

Hope we can do again

We on the Equinox, for the westbound TA

I think I read more this weekend then I did the 2 weeks on the cruises lol

 

Mark

[Giles2000]

Just booking for November, 2014

 

Is the balcony completely or partially covered on Sunset suites, stateroom 8348? Last trip balcony completely uncovered. I hated that. Thanks for the advice.

[howndder]

Hi Giles 2000, from my recollection they are partially covered. They are wonderful cabins. I especially liked them on the Millie class vessels. Hope this helps.

 

Howard in Sunny and warm Fort lauderdale

[twosit]

We did not sign up for the shuttle-sharing rides into Rome organized by other cruise critic members as we enjoy taking the trains in Europe-a big mistake. With all of the ships arriving in Civitavecchia that morning(5 or 6?), the train station was a total zoo. Standing room only on the trains-looked like the trains in Mumbai during rush hour.

That's interesting because we took the train in to Rome and had no problems at all. I guess we were lucky that we got off early.