Eastern Caribbean Silhouette Feb 15 Review

[mlrandpkm]

Hi...finally got around to posting a review. Hope someone may find it a little helpful...I apologize, it's a little long. :eek: It was a beautiful ship!!! :D:D:D

 

 

Sail Date: February 2015

 

Destination: Eastern Caribbean

 

Embarkation: Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

 

We are a couple in our mid 40's/early 50's and lucky enough to travel a few times per year. We are still relatively new to cruising and have always preferred land based vacations. This is our 4th cruise (first one with Celebrity). Our other 3 cruises were with our (now) adult children on Carnival Glory & Liberty (twice).

 

We were very excited to be going on our first 'no children with us' cruise on Celebrity. I usually do quite a little bit of research before we book trips to any new locations/countries, etc., so I had done my homework on the Silhouette.

 

We had booked with a classic beverage package (upgraded to premium on board). We are not really big drinkers, but this certainly made things much more convenient and just made the trip feel that much "luxurious" to us...whether it was a special bottle of wine (at 20% discount, or having a lovely pre-dinner drink at the molecular bar, or sitting over a specialty coffee at Al Bacio. Not to mention, I drink a lot of water...and I mean A LOT of water...probably 3-4 litres per day myself. This package was perfect for us!!!

 

Check in was delightful! We were in a concierge balcony and arrived at Port Everglades (first time at this port) at 11:30 and literally, and I mean LITERALLY, checked in and walked on board in 3 minutes. We were THE ONLY people in the terminal at the time. We take longer to check in to a hotel room in any city than we did to board the ship. Having never been there before, we were like "are we going the right way?!". We were seriously on board by 11:45 and greeted with a mimosa on the ship on deck 5 by Al Bacio.

 

The Silhouette is an absolutely beautiful ship. She's very elegant and all week, we continuously raved about how well laid out she is, many different nooks and crannies for couples to quietly sit in...we thoroughly enjoyed her. She is maintained extremely well and the crew do a fabulous job of keeping her looking impeccably groomed and sparkly clean (including all of the public washrooms--fabulous job!!!!)

 

The MDR was good. We were underwhelmed, as we expected superior to that of the food/service that we receive on Carnival Liberty/Glory, however, it was quite comparable. This wasn't a bad thing, as we had nothing to complain about--food was delicious, presentation was great, and service was too--we just expected much more coming from a cruise line of "modern luxury".

 

Footstools on the concierge balcony were great! Not a lot of perks for a concierge balcony other than that though. We did receive fruit upon arrival, and it was changed out every day. And we did get canapes every afternoon between 4 - 4:30 as requested, which was delightful for getting ready for the evening. However, again, our room stewards were no different (and probably less personable, because of trying to be more "modern luxury") then Carnival. In fact, EVERY Carnival cruise, our room stewards would greet my husband or I, and each of our two children (in their own stateroom) by name. This always impressed me and didn't happy once on Celebrity. But again, service was fine.

 

Some of the bars on the Silhouette are incredible--mainly the Martini bar and the Molecular bar. We've actually already sent in our survey info pertaining to the molecular. They display all of their drink garnishes (thyme, rosemary, rose petals, etc.) on the counter in front of the guest. My husband and I sat one night, in amazement, when another couple took a sprig of thyme and massaged it through their fingers, trying to determine what herb/spice it was, while leaving it there to go in the next person's drink!!! And then the female of this couple helped herself to one of the "rose petals" of the garnishes to add one to her drink. WHY DO PEOPLE THINK IT IS ACCEPTABLE TO BE TOUCHING THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO BE PUT IN MY FOOD/DRINK??????. Immediately after they left, my husband and I told the bartender what happened, and she immediately threw out all of the garnishes. Such a shame. She said it happens all to well and you would think that people would know not to touch these things. WOW, I was surprised and it completely turned me off.

 

Oceanview Café Buffet is probably one of the best organized buffets that we have seen. Pls see above about the molecular bar, and you will quickly realize that we are germaphobes and don't mingle well with buffets (lol), but this one was fantastic, seemed quite hygienic and had a huge assortment of food. Great job!!

 

Big shoutout to a few individuals:

 

Denisa, hostess in the MDR--Thanks for table 485...it was perfect!

 

Jason (head waiter) and Anam (assistant waiter) of table 485--you guys both rocked!!! We loved you for the 4 days that we had you!!!!

 

Dev from the pool bar (caesar and clamato juice for my husband--thanks Dev!!!!!) Jelena from the Molecular Bar, Lazar from the Passport Bar and iMade from the Martini bar--us Canadians loved you, thank you!!!! There were many others, especially in the martini bar, but sorry, I wasn't good at keeping track of names

 

Disembarkation was ok...as well as can be expected. We did self-disembark. Unfortunately, and not unique to Celebrity...they do a great job of welcoming you on board, and all week, but do a really good job of letting you know that they are finished with you on disembarkation day. I realize they have no choice but to do this, as they are under a time constraint to turn the ship around...it's just still a shame.

 

We are boarding NCL Epic in 9 weeks in Rome, so we'll have another line to compare with, I just can't help but think that it won't live up to the classiness and elegance that the Silhouette had to offer....

[Bimmer09]

Michelle, thanks for your detailed ship review!

Did you take any Celebrity excursions in port?

 

Norris

[mlrandpkm]

Michelle, thanks for your detailed ship review!

Did you take any Celebrity excursions in port?

 

Norris

 

Thanks Norris!

No, actually, we didn't. We've been to San Juan before, so we just got off and walked around relatively close to port. In St. Kitt's, we really wanted to experience a port day on the ship (which we've never done before), so we just went in to the port for a little wifi time, and then back to the ship to enjoy. And in St. Maarten, we did a private tour (which was fantastic).

[C&F]

Great review, thanks. We board in 4 weeks!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your report.

[mlrandpkm]

Great review, thanks. We board in 4 weeks!

 

Have a wonderful time!!