August 8th sailing----British Isles Cruise

[flames9]

Thanks - this will be 3rd time on the Silhouette and really looking forward to it. It is an amazing ship and the staff should be proud of it - they do an amazing job.

 

Let us know how you get on tomorrow

 

Appears the day is off to a good start..I can say that as I have done my work out for the day and can go back to being a slacker....appears to be a nice day outside....

 

And I believe the Norovirus extra precautions are now OFF....as I was able to serve myself a coffee at the Aqua cafe (just outside the gym)

 

Taxi Trax emailed me this morning...all is well.....

Edited August 17, 2015 by flames9

[GroomsportGirl]

Appears the day is off to a good start..I can say that as I have done my work out for the day and can go back to being a slacker....appears to be a nice day outside....

 

And I believe the Norovirus extra precautions are now OFF....as I was able to serve myself a coffee at the Aqua cafe (just outside the gym)

 

Taxi Trax emailed me this morning...all is well.....

 

As promised....the sun is shining in Belfast....enjoy your cruise down Belfast Lough!

[flames9]

As promised....the sun is shining in Belfast....enjoy your cruise down Belfast Lough!

 

I am...sitting outside chilling with an ice cold beer. Ty for the sunshine

[flames9]

Belfast: I see we are near the airport..and the Ikea is off our beam....doesnt appear much is around us. Huge empty parking lot with buses and tour group vans/taxis awaiting us.

[GroomsportGirl]

Belfast: I see we are near the airport..and the Ikea is off our beam....doesnt appear much is around us. Huge empty parking lot with buses and tour group vans/taxis awaiting us.

 

Yes, the docks are on the edge of the city centre but a short taxi will take you closer to civilisation

[flames9]

Belfast: Taxi Trax was awesome!! Gerard Rooney our driver/guide was simply awesome! Saw a lot and even had time to take in a short political tour.. Too tired to jot down all that we did today. Will do that when i do the full review of the cruise when we get back to Ecuador. A great day and we managed not to get rained on...well the car got rained on for a bit, but not a drop at any of the stops!! Awesome day

 

And norovirus precautions are now OFF....back to normal!!

Edited August 17, 2015 by flames9

[GroomsportGirl]

Belfast: Taxi Trax was awesome!! Gerard Rooney our driver/guide was simply awesome! Saw a lot and even had time to take in a short political tour.. Too tired to jot down all that we did today. Will do that when i do the full review of the cruise when we get back to Ecuador. A great day and we managed not to get rained on...well the car got rained on for a bit, but not a drop at any of the stops!! Awesome day

 

And norovirus precautions are now OFF....back to normal!!

 

Excellent!!!!

[flames9]

Greenock Scotland! Another perfect day weather wise!! Nothing but sun!! Everyone keeps telling us how lucky we are! In other words expect rain,lol And if u get sun, u are fortunate!

 

Private tour today with Scottish Terrier Tours..set up by a fellow CC member. Tour guide was very good, very informative. One does have to keep in mind that vans here are a bit smaller....we had a 8 passenger van..6 in the back, 1 in the front and of course the driver....it was kind of snug! Fairly new Mercedes van.....To get to the rear row (3 seats) u had to be a bit flexible....might be an issue if one is not flexible..hip or knee issues! I have noticed the vans are on the smaller side...when they say 8 passenger, they really mean 6, and if they say 6..4 may be a better #.....On our Cork tour..we had 6 of us..3 sat in the middle and 2 of us in the back and 1 in the front.....it was very difficult to get to the rear...something to think about when forming tours. I had actually asked for a 8 person van for the six of us (cork) but I guess when I told them we were going with 6, they gave us a 6 person van (which was a Taxi)

 

1 celebrity bus was late today..Captain came on and mentioned that..and we watched them pull up while we ate in BLU....

 

Liverpool tomorrow..arrive 0730..and now depart 5 hours later..2300.

 

As mentioned earlier,norovirus precautions are off......Another super day onboard the Silhouette.

[chemmo]

So glad you are continuing to enjoy your cruise. Remember to take time during your tours (away from the other 6/8 people in your group) to take a few quiet moments taking those mental pictures that memories are made of.

[flames9]

In most of the private tours I have been on....when the situation allows (which is often the case) most of us do go our separate ways and agree on a time to be back at a meeting point.

[flames9]

Liverpool: Ship is docked right downtown, right by the museums. The rain found us today, along with the wind! Its not that bad, wear a light rain jacket and 1 is fine! Lot of great and free museums right by the ship, good way to kill the day.....Now 2 sea days and back to Amsterdam....thanks to the tall ship festival we are docking at a different pier: Amsterdam Marine Terminal, Corsicaweg 10, Harbour No. 5035..wonder what kind of nightmare is awaiting us,lol We have a taxi reserved, as they say taxis may be in short supply!!

[IrishLassie]

Sounds like your all having a great time on this cruise. Just wanted to ask one more time, if anyone goes to the Martini Bar before you dock, would you PLEASE, PLEASE see if the server, Taz from Turkey, is still on duty. I would REALLY APPRECIATE IT. :D

[flames9]

yep a great cruise and looking fwd to the 2 sea days now.....Not a Martini drinker, and I don't like to bug the staff. Maybe someone else will look.

[IrishLassie]

yep a great cruise and looking fwd to the 2 sea days now.....Not a Martini drinker, and I don't like to bug the staff. Maybe someone else will look.

 

No problem, but thanks for responding. We are just hoping he's still on the ship when we sail in Jan. He's a great employee and always has a great smile for everyone. :D Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[flames9]

No problem, but thanks for responding. We are just hoping he's still on the ship when we sail in Jan. He's a great employee and always has a great smile for everyone. :D Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Just back from the martini bar....yes Taz is on the ship, but he was not working tonight....he has been on the ship for at least 3 months, the bartender did not know if he would still be here in January.......I was told by our waiter, they know do 7.5 month contracts.....

 

Has been a great cruise..wish I could have enjoyed these 2 sea days more, but started to come down with a cold while in Liverpool....lucky me, and know my wife has it,lol so the past few days have mostly been spent in the cabin

 

Hopefully tomorrows disembarkation goes well....guessing it won't as it at a terminal they normally do not use----this is due to the tall ship festival taking place in Amsterdam

 

Will write how that goes and when we get home, will do a complete review.

[IrishLassie]

Just back from the martini bar....yes Taz is on the ship, but he was not working tonight....he has been on the ship for at least 3 months, the bartender did not know if he would still be here in January.......I was told by our waiter, they know do 7.5 month contracts.....

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the info. We'll keep our fingers crossed that he's still on the ship when we sail. We were on during St. Paddy's Day with him & had a great time. Thanks again, really appreciate it. Will look forward to your review & hope your feeling better. Take care & safe journey home.

[chemmo]

Have a safe journey home, hope you and the wife feel better soon. I have enjoyed following your travels.

[flames9]

We were lucky group #14...and were off the boat in no time..it had said 0810 in the departure form...but we were on the road by 0800..lots of taxis....super easy

[cruisamatic]

Regarding tender tickets, my wife and I tendered all 3 ports with no ticket. Daily planner stated no tickets required at arrival time. So just took elevator to Deck 2 and got on board. But I did get a voice mail telling me to go to the Ensemble lounge to get a ticket. So conflicting info on board.

 

I was told there were 40 cases of Noro by one of the staff. Getting coffee and tea was the biggest wait, not enough staff early on.

[flames9]

Regarding tender tickets, my wife and I tendered all 3 ports with no ticket. Daily planner stated no tickets required at arrival time. So just took elevator to Deck 2 and got on board. But I did get a voice mail telling me to go to the Ensemble lounge to get a ticket. So conflicting info on board.

 

I was told there were 40 cases of Noro by one of the staff. Getting coffee and tea was the biggest wait, not enough staff early on.

 

I know there was Tender tickets for the 1st Tendered port, as we had tender ticket #7 (they stated that few people went ashore early and they didn't need tickets)...didn't go ashore the 2nd tendered port....and for the 3rd one, we just lined up early! But you never truly know how they may do things. I think with this cruise they started off with no tickets, then once it got busy, then used the ticket system!

 

Didn't find much interruption with the Norovirus precautions, only time I noticed was after working out and had to wait a bit to get someone to pour me a coffee at the Aqua cafe!

[prish]

I know there was Tender tickets for the 1st Tendered port, as we had tender ticket #7 (they stated that few people went ashore early and they didn't need tickets)...didn't go ashore the 2nd tendered port....and for the 3rd one, we just lined up early! But you never truly know how they may do things. I think with this cruise they started off with no tickets, then once it got busy, then used the ticket system!

 

Didn't find much interruption with the Norovirus precautions, only time I noticed was after working out and had to wait a bit to get someone to pour me a coffee at the Aqua cafe!

 

Flames9, only now saw this thread, I just had the elite internet minutes which I used to check on emails during the cruise. Will watch out for your detailed Trip Report...

 

For those of you who asked no elite tender tickets on this sailing. At Guernsey we met the CC hostess at the Ensemble Lounge and she escorted us down the stairs, later on we just didn't bother, especially since we were getting off early for private tours. At both Waterford and Holyhead we met our group at 7.45 and lined up near the stairs, we got the first tender both times, even the Celebrity tours went later I believe. BTW flames, we must have been on the same tender in Holyhead as I saw Mary and Jim on it, sorry I missed you:mad:

 

Re norovirus, I was told that about 8% of the passengers were affected, no crew members though. It was rather a pain at breakfast in OV but luckily the precautions were lifted after about a week, so that wasn't too bad.

 

Embarkation was simple, I'd read reports of the July 15 BI sailing and was anticipating long lines but Celebrity had obviously learned from that experience, they just took away our passports for UK and Irish immigration. Disembarkation was also easy, we walked off the ship by 8.15, took Celebrity's free shuttle to Sloterdijk station and then a tram to our hotel.

 

All in all a wonderful cruise, the weather gods were kind, except for the afternoon in Liverpool when it poured cats and dogs. We had to cancel a proposed trip to Chester but were also happy for some down time. Back to work now, next cruise coming up in May 2016...:D

[flames9]

Getting on was a breeze--we were onboard at 11 am.....I thought getting off the boat was going to be a complete gaggle as it was at a cargo pier, and 1 they normally did not use..but it was a breeze as well. We were #14, suppose top be off at 0810.....we were already on a taxi at 0800....and there were a lot of taxis waiting.....

 

I had not intended to get the internet pkg, but we had a pile of OBC from Celebrity and our TA, so why not! They did use the Celebrity OBC 1st, which is good as it is non-refundable. Fellow at guest relations told me they use Celebrity OBC 1st, then ur TA's OBC..no clue if that is the way 100% of the time, but it worked that way for us.

 

Now if only I can get over this crummy cold that started the morning of liverpool.

[Edgewater601]

Flames9, only now saw this thread, I just had the elite internet minutes which I used to check on emails during the cruise. Will watch out for your detailed Trip Report...

 

For those of you who asked no elite tender tickets on this sailing. At Guernsey we met the CC hostess at the Ensemble Lounge and she escorted us down the stairs, later on we just didn't bother, especially since we were getting off early for private tours. At both Waterford and Holyhead we met our group at 7.45 and lined up near the stairs, we got the first tender both times, even the Celebrity tours went later I believe. BTW flames, we must have been on the same tender in Holyhead as I saw Mary and Jim on it, sorry I missed you:mad:

 

Re norovirus, I was told that about 8% of the passengers were affected, no crew members though. It was rather a pain at breakfast in OV but luckily the precautions were lifted after about a week, so that wasn't too bad.

 

Embarkation was simple, I'd read reports of the July 15 BI sailing and was anticipating long lines but Celebrity had obviously learned from that experience, they just took away our passports for UK and Irish immigration. Disembarkation was also easy, we walked off the ship by 8.15, took Celebrity's free shuttle to Sloterdijk station and then a tram to our hotel.

 

All in all a wonderful cruise, the weather gods were kind, except for the afternoon in Liverpool when it poured cats and dogs. We had to cancel a proposed trip to Chester but were also happy for some down time. Back to work now, next cruise coming up in May 2016...:D

 

Thank you! Regarding the tenders again, I have a group of elite and nonelite (majority of whom are elite) that I need to get off the ship quickly at each of the tender ports for private tours that I have arranged. I realize they could do everything differently on our Silhouette cruise next year, but I want to confirm that you met your group about 1/2 hour before docking and then went in a group to the stairs about 15 minutes prior to wait and were able to get off the ship first. I want to be sure I have a correct meeting time for my group to allow us to be first off. Thank you again for all the info!

 

Connie

[flames9]

in our group(no tickets), we met at 0745 on deck 5, then walked down to deck 2 and they started the tenders at 0800 and we were on the 1st tender....

[prish]

Thank you! Regarding the tenders again, I have a group of elite and nonelite (majority of whom are elite) that I need to get off the ship quickly at each of the tender ports for private tours that I have arranged. I realize they could do everything differently on our Silhouette cruise next year, but I want to confirm that you met your group about 1/2 hour before docking and then went in a group to the stairs about 15 minutes prior to wait and were able to get off the ship first. I want to be sure I have a correct meeting time for my group to allow us to be first off. Thank you again for all the info!

 

Connie

 

Connie, our group met at 7.45 at Cafe al Bacio on Deck 5, we had a small group of 6-8 and everyone was there on time, so we immediately proceeded to Deck 3 and waited in line. They cordon off the stairs and you can't go down any further, so we just waited, as soon as the ship was cleared we were allowed to walk down to Deck 2 and from there onto the tender. Getting back on the ship wasn't an issue either, except in Guernsey where we waited about 30-35 minutes.

 

I'd met the CC hostess immediately after embarkation and asked if I could have priority tender tickets for my group, she said they weren't issuing tickets but asked us to meet her at the Ensemble Lounge. But after the first tender port of Guernsey we knew there wouldn't be a problem if we were getting off early.

 

Can't say if this will change in the future, this was the first time I've seen no tender tickets, usually the cabin attendant would leave them for us the previous evening.

Edited August 26, 2015 by prish