Review of Silhouette Nov 2016 Transatlantic

[okieyankee]

Searching for tables, having one person hold the "real estate," not finding a place to sit and coming back later sounds awful to me.

 

We almost always go and prefer the dining room for breakfast.

 

Sometimes we do go to the buffet after to see if we've missed anything.:o

 

A couple of times I've been sitting there with a small serving of corned beef hash and someone that I've met through the roll call comes by and says:

"my goodness, is that all you're eating?" and I reply

"yes, I eat like a bird." :D Little do they know that it's breakfast #2.:o

To each his own. We always found a table and it was always outside watching the beautiful horizon.

 

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[tweetylori]

Searching for tables, having one person hold the "real estate," not finding a place to sit and coming back later sounds awful to me.

 

We almost always go and prefer the dining room for breakfast.

 

Sometimes we do go to the buffet after to see if we've missed anything.:o

 

A couple of times I've been sitting there with a small serving of corned beef hash and someone that I've met through the roll call comes by and says:

"my goodness, is that all you're eating?" and I reply

"yes, I eat like a bird." :D Little do they know that it's breakfast #2.:o

 

Only #2? ;)

 

And isn't it grand that we have choices?

 

Now, if I'd had to deal with the buffet for every meal, I wouldn't have been too happy about it!

[tweetylori]

15 TA's should make you an expert for this question: Is the weather warm enough to be outside by the pool during the day. I could never convince my wife to try a TA cruise unless we could be outside in the afternoon.

 

 

 

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Hopefully the expert will weigh in on this, but I can tell you that we had several days that were warm enough by the pool, and others that were rainy or cooler. It got warmer the closer to Florida we got, for the most part.

[tweetylori]

To each his own. We always found a table and it was always outside watching the beautiful horizon.

 

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That's wonderful! A lot depended on what time we showed up.

[Orator]

15 TA's should make you an expert for this question: Is the weather warm enough to be outside by the pool during the day. I could never convince my wife to try a TA cruise unless we could be outside in the afternoon.

 

 

 

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It is a truism to say that future weather is only a guess. The chances of using the outdoor pool may depend on route and time of year. A Southern route would probably allow for greater pool use.. On the Silhouette TA , Southern route, there was rain that hampered use of the outside pool. I've been on several TAs where there was heavy use of the pool once the ship moved South. I've expereiced colder weather and rougher seas when taking aNorthern Route. Honestly, I don't use the pools preferring to go to the lectures. I know that this may not be overly helpful to you in your planning.

[slidewilson]

That's me!! I'm the trombone player :)

 

I can't tell you how insane putting the Broadway show together was. Usually rehearsals run in very orderly fashion but that day was chaos. I don't think they've ever had problems with the technical components in Pearl before. We did have a Pearl rehearsal earlier that day and it was stopped about halfway through because of the technical issues. The staff spent a few hours trying to fix the problem and they called it off around 6pm because it just wasn't working as well as they needed it to. Most of the musicians and singers are getting ready for the show an hour before - I was called by the bandmaster and told to be in the theatre immediately (this never ever happens). We had performed some of the Broadway tunes before but most of the musicians were new to the band (we come and go on different schedules) and it's simply not easy to throw this stuff together. I remember guests opening the huge fire doors themselves at around 6:40pm - the house usually opens at 6:30pm but we were still rehearsing! It was truly a great team accomplishment that we were able to get that show up and running, and the singers sang wonderfully for such short notice!

 

Anyway, very much appreciate all the work you've put in here, thank you!

[Orator]

That's me!! I'm the trombone player :)

 

I can't tell you how insane putting the Broadway show together was. Usually rehearsals run in very orderly fashion but that day was chaos. I don't think they've ever had problems with the technical components in Pearl before. We did have a Pearl rehearsal earlier that day and it was stopped about halfway through because of the technical issues. The staff spent a few hours trying to fix the problem and they called it off around 6pm because it just wasn't working as well as they needed it to. Most of the musicians and singers are getting ready for the show an hour before - I was called by the bandmaster and told to be in the theatre immediately (this never ever happens). We had performed some of the Broadway tunes before but most of the musicians were new to the band (we come and go on different schedules) and it's simply not easy to throw this stuff together. I remember guests opening the huge fire doors themselves at around 6:40pm - the house usually opens at 6:30pm but we were still rehearsing! It was truly a great team accomplishment that we were able to get that show up and running, and the singers sang wonderfully for such short notice!

 

Anyway, very much appreciate all the work you've put in here, thank you!

 

Pearl appeared to have a major rewrite since I first saw it when it debuted. Much better this time, but IMHO still requires some work. I thought the singers, dances and orchestra were absolutely wonderful throughout the cruise and added to the overall cruise experience. I said the same thing on my survey. Thank you for sharing your talent.

[tweetylori]

That's me!! I'm the trombone player :)

 

I can't tell you how insane putting the Broadway show together was. Usually rehearsals run in very orderly fashion but that day was chaos. I don't think they've ever had problems with the technical components in Pearl before. We did have a Pearl rehearsal earlier that day and it was stopped about halfway through because of the technical issues. The staff spent a few hours trying to fix the problem and they called it off around 6pm because it just wasn't working as well as they needed it to. Most of the musicians and singers are getting ready for the show an hour before - I was called by the bandmaster and told to be in the theatre immediately (this never ever happens). We had performed some of the Broadway tunes before but most of the musicians were new to the band (we come and go on different schedules) and it's simply not easy to throw this stuff together. I remember guests opening the huge fire doors themselves at around 6:40pm - the house usually opens at 6:30pm but we were still rehearsing! It was truly a great team accomplishment that we were able to get that show up and running, and the singers sang wonderfully for such short notice!

 

Anyway, very much appreciate all the work you've put in here, thank you!

 

Thank YOU so very much for YOUR work. We soooo appreciated the live music! To think all of you threw together that show so fast and it truly was one of our favorites of the whole cruise. I hope I never see the day when live bands are gone from them!

[tweetylori]

So back to our morning, we must not have gotten any coffee at the buffet, because we headed to Cafe al Bacio for some espressos. At home I am not a coffee drinker, but on this trip, starting in Rome, I sure loved espressos!

 

 

And the Cafe is such a nice place (mid-ship) to hang out:

 

[tweetylori]

Here we are on Day 9 of our cruise and up until now we had been so distracted with ports and such that we hadn't paid a lot of attention to the Silhouette today daily activities. Today we started paying attention and were rewarded with interesting speakers. Lots going on!

 

 

 

We were also JUST catching on to the Captain making 10 am announcements. Once we realized that you had to either have Channel 6 on your tv in your cabin on at 10 am or be in a public area to hear him, we learned to be where we could hear. Or, well, attempt to hear. Because honestly even if we could hear we didn't always comprehend what he was saying. :confused: Think of the old Charlie Brown shows when any adult would talk and it was like wha wha wha wha (only this was with a Greek accent ;)) Or Husband thought it was like listening to the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. :o We would TRY really hard because what he had to say was interesting. Suggestion to Celebrity: have a translator do captions and re-run it later in the day!

[tweetylori]

Anyway, the Beyond the Podium speakers would start at 10:15, so as not to interfere with the Captain (or the cruise director, as John would do a quick run-down on the day's events after the Captain's talk)

 

The first one we went to was the only one where we had no idea what it would be about. It was a gal named Janne Lillehagen with a presentation called "With Strings Attached":

 

 

This Norwegian Gal has quite the adventurous spirit despite having heart problems. Truly remarkable! Give her a mountain, an iceberg, whatever, you can't keep her from conquering it! I know she was disappointed (as were we) that whatever kind of videos she wanted to show weren't working. But her pictures were great.

[tweetylori]

In between speakers, why not check out what they are serving in the main dining room for lunch?

 

 

 

Oh, and you can go to Guest Relations for these:

 

[tweetylori]

Shortly before we left for the cruise, on the roll call board I found out that one of our speakers was going to be Melinda Bates. I had never heard of her before, but when I saw she had written a book, I ordered it immediately. It is called White House Story. Melinda worked as head of the Visitor's Bureau for all eight years of the Clinton administration. She has fascinating stories to tell, great pictures to share, plus has become an expert on the White House. This day was my first time catching on of her lectures and it was indeed as fascinating as her book!

 

[tweetylori]

Husband went to the Fitness Center instead of the lecture :rolleyes: so he was good and hungry. Apparently I was also after sitting through two strenuous presentations, as I have this buffet evidence:

 

 

Then we went up to Sky 14 for our first trivia. Name That Tune: The Divas.

 

 

 

We were fortunate enough to meet a delightful man named Ben who we teamed up with. Despite the name of the trivia not quite matching and with some very hard questions, we turned out to be a good team on this day and actually managed to win it. :p I give 99.9% of the credit to Ben & Husband!

 

[tweetylori]

On a completely different note, I have to say that I was super impressed with all the public bathrooms on this ship! They were kept spotless at all times by hard-working smiling attendants. Oh and not just paper towels...no, we got the good ones too!

 

 

And nifty buttons to push to open doors so we didn't have to strain ourselves ;)

 

[tweetylori]

We found where the kids would probably be hanging out had they been on this sailing. We literally saw two kids the whole cruise, and the ones we saw were pretty young.

 

 

 

 

 

This looked totally empty also:

 

[lilghallinsf]

Thank you for this wonderful review. I really enjoyed reliving it through your review. We were also on this cruise and had all positive experiences. Can't wait for our Transpacific from Sydney in April.

 

 

 

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I have been to tenerife hour times. 3 times the last three years. Grant it, I wasn't able to get off the ship this past visit due to my illness but you saw things that I have never seen. Congrats. Always shows there is something to learn everywhere.

[lilghallinsf]

15 TA's should make you an expert for this question: Is the weather warm enough to be outside by the pool during the day. I could never convince my wife to try a TA cruise unless we could be outside in the afternoon.

 

 

 

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I have done four and that is a hard question to answer because everyone senses cold in a different manner. Is the water sometimes cold? yes. Is it hot at times in the sun? yes. I would say that if you like to be in the water and sun, then you will enjoy a TA because you have sooooo much time to enjoy it, unlike a carribean where your time is dominated by ports. Go, enjoy it and hope that your weather is great. The route of course has a lot to do with the weather. But go! It is wonderful.

[blueboro]

Funny how different cruisers have different experiences. We were on the same 7 day Thanksgiving cruise following the TA. In the past year and half, we have been on the Reflection and the Solstice as well. We found the staff and crew to be the best on this ship out of the three. We did not eat in the MDR and did not see any of the shows other than the Broadway one on the last day. Of the three ships, the Silhouette is my favorite by far.

 

Debarkation was a complete zoo - no argument on that though. I don't know what happened there.

 

Don't get me wrong, we had a good cruise. And maybe the service not being up to what our past X experiences have been was simply luck of the draw. I just felt the entertainment, which IMO has always been average on X, was even a little less than that this cruise. The grand foyer, which in the past has always seemed a hub of activity, just seemed dead the entire week. But we are back on her in February and hopefully there are some new acts on board.

[lindy sails]

[emoji106]I agree Celebrity ships have the best bathrooms! There seems to be an attendant cleaning or close by!

 

 

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[sippican]

On a completely different note, I have to say that I was super impressed with all the public bathrooms on this ship! They were kept spotless at all times by hard-working smiling attendants. Oh and not just paper towels...no, we got the good ones too!

 

There was absolutely the sweetest attendant working in the women's restrooom on Deck 3, outside of Luminae (not sure where else) I ran into her a few times. She sang constantly and had the voice of an angel.

I wish I had looked at her name so I could have written a positive note on a comment card.

Edited December 2, 2016 by sippican

[tweetylori]

I have been to tenerife hour times. 3 times the last three years. Grant it, I wasn't able to get off the ship this past visit due to my illness but you saw things that I have never seen. Congrats. Always shows there is something to learn everywhere.

 

So sorry you had to deal with an illness on this cruise! And I agree with you that there is indeed something to learn everywhere.

[tweetylori]

[emoji106]I agree Celebrity ships have the best bathrooms! There seems to be an attendant cleaning or close by!

 

 

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And they were all so cheerful too...so nice!

[tweetylori]

There was absolutely the sweetest attendant working in the women's restrooom on Deck 3, outside of Luminae (not sure where else) I ran into her a few times. She sang constantly and had the voice of an angel.

I wish I had looked at her name so I could have written a positive note on a comment card.

 

So sweet!

[tweetylori]

Afternoon and Evening Options:

 

 

 

And there was always this: (note rain drops on railing)

 

 

And the view from the Bridge...plus here it was just Sunday November 13th and we weren't arriving in Fort Lauderdale until the 20th! What a wonderful feeling to know we still had that much time left!

 

 

Sounded like Martini-Bar Time to us! One of these nights, might have been this one, we met a couple from our hometown. It was enjoyable talking to them.