Review of Silhouette Nov 2016 Transatlantic

[tweetylori]

Thanks! LOVING your review so far.

 

But which one was better- the crema catalana or the regular crème brulée? :p

 

 

Cheers,

 

Thank you Digital Curator! Crema Catalana definitely the favorite!

[tweetylori]

Now the only danger of dining early is that one can find themselves a bit peckish before turning in. Don't know if it was the the strenuousness of sitting for a Vegas-worthy show, or wandering aimlessly around the gorgeous ship, having a drink or two or three at the lounges or what, but somehow we must have ended up at the buffet before going to bed, because I have the photo evidence of it. :eek:

 

Late night nachos? Why not?

 

 

 

I became really fond of the Caesar at the buffet...can add bacon & anchovies...yum!

 

 

Meanwhile, Husband's sweet tooth prevailed:

 

[tweetylori]

So off to bed we went, and when we woke up, lo an behold we were in FRANCE. Toulon France! It was a Monday and we weren't going to work! Our Monday morning view from our balcony:

 

 

So now we had to finally pay attention to what our Daily said...we needed to purchase $15 ferry tickets at the Service Desk in order to proceed into port. Now mind you we had stopped by the desk the day before to get Husband's sea pass card exchanged as it wasn't letting him into our cabin, but we weren't smart enough to buy our ferry tickets at the same time. :rolleyes: So off to line up we went:

 

 

It wasn't a bad wait though, and goodness knows we weren't in any hurry. We had no plans in Toulon other than to get off and wander.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[tweetylori]

Thanks for the review.

 

Very much appreciate you saying so! I will keep it coming!:D

[tweetylori]

So off the ship we went, and what a fine beautiful ship it is!

 

 

Off to our ferry:

 

 

 

 

We ended up here:

 

 

Important info, especially if you are winging it on your own and not doing a ship tour!

 

[tweetylori]

So beautiful!

 

 

Charming town!

 

[tweetylori]

We wandered around Toulon for awhile. Honestly we were looking for a restaurant I had found on the net. I pulled it up on my phone, we hit Waze, but it failed us completely! We walked and walked and got into areas that didn't make us feel comfortable. Finally walked back toward the tourist areas and found this area that had some good looking restaurants. Poor us, we hadn't eaten breakfast in anticipation of good French cuisine, so we were ready to land somewhere!

 

 

Despite the non-French name, we sure enjoyed sitting outdoors and dining here!

 

 

Not sure what any of this means, finally pointed a finger to a red with 20 euros next to it and we got a nice bottle

 

 

 

Plenty of outdoor seating around us. Important to not be in a hurry as service is not rushed.

 

 

Husband's Steak Frites with Salad...he did not complain:

 

 

Meanwhile I could not have been happier with this wonderful chicken dish!

 

[tweetylori]

This trip turned me into a huge fan of espresso!

 

 

In need of a restroom I went inside this restaurant, down the stairs (they seem to always be downstairs in Europe) only to run into this dilemma! I took my best guest that F stood for female or something like it, and went in!

 

[tweetylori]

Back up the spiral stairs I went:

 

 

Total damage for our France experience wasn't bad at all for the quality!

 

 

Another cool-looking restaurant in the same square:

 

[tweetylori]

Now mind you we had not had dessert at Soul Kitchen. We felt we should spread some US dollars around (via euros) more, not to mention we felt the need to experience a French patisserie so we walked the few steps to this one in the same square as our restaurant:

 

 

Despite being just early afternoon they were already running out!

 

 

We shared one of these with yet more espresso:

 

[tweetylori]

Husband was intrigued by this comic book shop on the way back to the ship:

 

 

 

Then there was chocolate! The folks at work benefited from this stop:

 

 

[tweetylori]

Loved this foodie shop as well!

 

 

Can't wait to give this a whirl!

 

 

Almost back to the ferry:

 

 

Last shop:

 

 

Complete with cute dog!

 

[tweetylori]

Way too soon it was time to say good-bye to our short time in France:

 

 

Back aboard the ferry:

 

 

 

[tweetylori]

What a great place to come home to after a great day in port!

 

[lilghallinsf]

Your review is wonderful and so refreshing. So often you hear people complain and they seem over entitled. I love that this was your first trip to Europe and your first big cruise. We have take three transatlantics on Reflection. The same trip three years in a row from Miami to Rome. This year we are doing the Silhouette to Amsterdam. Your review is getting me excited and prepared. Again, thanks for the fresh perspective.

[tweetylori]

Back on ship we were walking back to our cabin on Deck 8 and they were replacing all the air filters:

 

 

Onward!

 

 

 

 

This was the first Evening Chic night, so we changed clothes and started wandering:

 

 

 

 

[tweetylori]

Your review is wonderful and so refreshing. So often you hear people complain and they seem over entitled. I love that this was your first trip to Europe and your first big cruise. We have take three transatlantics on Reflection. The same trip three years in a row from Miami to Rome. This year we are doing the Silhouette to Amsterdam. Your review is getting me excited and prepared. Again, thanks for the fresh perspective.

 

Oh wow, so exciting that you've experienced so many of these!! Looking forward to more myself! In the meantime I just want to keep reliving this amazing one. :p

[tweetylori]

Wandering landed us at the Ensemble Lounge. Attempted this lounge a couple times but didn't feel overly welcome. Since it is near Michael's, perhaps we should not have been there? They did (somewhat begrudgingly) serve us, however:

 

 

 

Back on our balcony for some sail-away beauty!

 

 

 

Pinch me, I know I'm dreaming!

[tweetylori]

Shockingly it was time to go to dinner in the main dining room again. :rolleyes: I know, we are shameless! But you gotta do something to soak up the alcohol on the premium dining plan, ya know? :D

 

Tonight's menu:

 

 

 

I just had to try the Crispy Frog Legs, and it was our first (and most definitely not our last) glimpse into our Head Waiter's great sense of humor when he asked me if I wanted the right or the left?

 

 

They were not what I expected as they were super heavily breaded, but I assured our Server that the right was indeed better than the left. :D

Edited November 27, 2016 by tweetylori

[tweetylori]

Husband was not very hungry so he just wanted the Stuffed Portobello Mushroom. I am not a 'shroom person myself, but I will say that this dish was gorgeous, and Husband enjoyed it very much! And yes, I was super surprised he didn't get a beef dish!

 

 

 

Meanwhile I thoroughly enjoyed this Shrimp Scampi...perfectly cooked!

 

 

Then we shared one of the best desserts in the Main Dining Room: a delicious Apple Pie with Ice Cream:

 

 

[tweetylori]

A little Frangelico with that Decaf? Why not? 'Tis the Premium Package at work :p

 

 

So waddled out of the dining room, and stopped by the Casino on the way to the show. I'll be darned if this didn't happen on a dollar:

 

 

 

This sure never happened to me in Vegas! Hello $75! :eek:

[tweetylori]

They were supposed to be putting on the production show of Pearl on this night, but this set up was waiting for us:

 

 

Sure enough, Cruise Director John came out and announced that they were having technical problems with the complicated show of Pearl and would try to do it later in the cruise, but instead were doing an impromptu show of Broadway tunes. This turned out to be one of our favorite shows of the whole cruise. Dante did a killer job with a song from Pippin, and Jahmal tore down the house with a song from Violet. (just to name 2) We would happily sit and listen to this group do Broadway songs any day!

 

[tweetylori]

Back in our cabin for the night...I never ever got tired of coming home to this!

 

 

Next up...Barcelona and so much more! Thanks to all who are reliving this once-in-a-lifetime journey with me!

[vickykay]

Enjoying your review as we will,be on this trip next fall.