Celebrity Silhouette Western Med 24 Sept

[hamishcat]

Hello

I am knew to this so please excuse the silly questions. I am taking my 77 year old mum on our very first cruise in September. We are total novices and don't have a clue what to expect or what to do. Our ports of call are Amalfi Coast (Salerno), Messina (Sicily), Marseille (France), Nice (France), Ajaccio (Corsica), Florence/Pisa and Rome. Does anyone have any advice on tours that we can do or if any of the Ports we would be able to walk anywhere and not do a tour (as they are quite costly). Also any advice while we are on board with regard dining. We have the select dining option which we understand lets us dine any time. If this a good option. We are on deck 7 with a balcony room. Any useful information would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks :)

[TeaBag]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and the wonderful world of cruising. You have chosen a wonderful ship for your first cruise. Here is the roll call for it:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2107107

Perhaps you can join up with some cruisers on the roll call for excursions.

 

It will take you a while to read all the posts but you should learn something.

 

Select dining is good. I would go there no later than 7 as there can sometimes be a bit of a wait. If you want to spend $50pp for a special dinner, I recommend the Lawn Club Grill. It is fabulous. Sometimes they offer a discount if they are not well booked.

 

For free eats, there is the MDR, the buffet, the pool grill (wonderful hamburgers and fries) Aqua Spa cafe (a small venue that serves healthier but very good food. They have two hot orders/day which have to be ordered. They are on the menu.) Afternoon tea offers cakes, sandwiches and the lovely scones with Jam and whipped cream 9sorry not the clotted cream). Sushi is offered 5:30 - 9:30. if you don't want to dress up on formal night you can eat at the buffet where they grill meat and offer several other things like pizza, stir fry, made to order pasta etc.

 

Messina is very walkable. However, if you haven't been to Taormina, it is worth a tour. The rest of the ports, I'm sure you will get tips on the roll call. Have a great cruise.

Edited July 20, 2015 by TeaBag

[Copa2Go]

I cancelled the tours I set up with joebananatours.net. I decided to go with the tours on Celebrity. See you on board. The tours were Amalti coast by boat and Livorno port Pisa & Florence.