LIVE from Silhouette 1/14/18 12 night Ultimate Caribbean

[WonderMan3]

After breakfast we changed into our beachwear and met up with John and Cindy then headed off the ship. Our destination was Grand Anse Beach. As you leave the ship pier you cross through the terminal building and then back out again on the water side and the water taxi to the beach is a few hundred feet down. There was one boarding just as we arrived. They depart every 20 minutes or so and cost $10pp round trip. The ride takes about 15 minutes. You board the taxi from a dock in St. George’s but what we didn’t know was that you have to exit the taxi into the water at the beach. The dock they had there was apparently destroyed during the hurricanes last year and is in the process of being rebuilt. The construction is going on now and there is a lot of noise associated with it (today they were dropping gigantic pilings into the beach). The taxi drops you off at the far left side of the beach (when facing the beach from the water). For people who have been there before this is at the extreme opposite end from where that Umbrellas beach place is, so you’ll have a long walk to get there and back. We decided to get some chairs at the place where the water taxi dropped off. Mike went to one end of the beach chair area in order to keep his and John’s smoke away from other people. This is where problems began. Staff was friendly but were all over you like flies. Every other second someone was coming up trying to sell you drinks or massage or watercraft rides; the drink girls were even competing with each other to get our order which was really weird. Then there was the aforementioned construction noise, which, while not constant, did disturb the peace off and on. The area behind the beach chairs was kind of sketchy with some run down shacks with groups of locals hanging about and about 4 to 5 wild dogs running around who kept coming out to the chairs area and we had to keep shooing them away. And then Mother Nature was not cooperative. About every 15 minutes a tropical shower would move through. The first two were quick and light. But the third was a windy torrent of rain that went on for at least 10 minutes. Following that, the little channel of water near our chairs we figured out was a storm runoff channel from street drains as it suddenly surged with water after the showers and brought a lot of black dirty gunk into the ocean. At that point I was ready to go and Mike agreed after seeing all that runoff washing into the sea and turning the water in front of our beach area blackish. Cindy and John had just ordered beers and food and decided to stay. So Mike and I walked back to the water taxi area. There was one waiting and we were the first ones on but we had to wait there for about 30 minutes as he filled up the boat. After we got back to the port we checked out the shops in the terminal quickly but didn’t see anything we liked so we got back onboard, showered and headed to Oceanview for lunch.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

After lunch my neck was feeling ridiculously stiff and uncomfortable. Mike tried to give me a little neck massage but it only helped a little, so I went down to the spa and had a 50 minute neck and shoulders focused massage. It was originally supposed to be 25 minutes but I was enjoying it so much I extended it to 50. My masseuse Alicia was fantastic. She worked that neck and upper back area around my shoulder blades like I’d never felt before. Definitely ask for her if you go to the spa here. I am going to have her assigned to my Deep Tissue Massage for the upcoming sea day on Wednesday. I went back to the cabin and Mike was napping so I laid down as well until shortly before sailaway. Unfortunately, after the sun went down Mike had a mishap. Our doorbell rang and when he went from the balcony into the cabin to answer it the lights were off and he tripped over the coffee table and fell down getting a nasty rug burn with a little bleeding on his knee. So now he’s down in the infirmary getting a bandage to cover it up. I tracked down Cindy and John to tell them we wouldn’t be eating at 7:15 as we planned so they decided to go to the Main Dining Room.

 

 

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[Keys2Heaven]

This morning we had our first breakfast at Luminae this cruise and it was wonderful. Great service and tasty food. Mike had pancakes while I had Eggs Benedict and we both had some delicious pastries; the cherry danish and blueberry cake were to die for!

 

Eggs benedict is a cruise ritual of.mine, along with a bloody mary.

[h20cruzer]

Love your review and pictures, its just what I needed today. I am with you about the mac and cheese at the LCG. We spoke to the restaurant manager in April 2015 TA, to make matters worse no lobster in it either. He listened to our concerns but the mac and cheese never improved. Back on the Silhouette 2016 TA same issue. Same experience when any of the speciality restaurants are not busy the the service is poor. Not sure why they are not paying attention to the customers they have. Still love Celebrity and will continue to cruise with them. The crew is what makes the difference, LOVE the Martini Bar!!!!

[Reenwad]

Hope Mike heals quickly!

Thanks for Alicias name, I'll ask for her with my massage next week.

[brockmom]

Thanks. Yes, we had heard good things about The Porch from someone else. Almost checked it out for lunch today. Will do so before we get off.

 

 

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Thank you for the honest review. We have enjoyed this restaurant several times in the past...even bringing our own small bottle of buffalo sauce from Home for our pizza . ( we ate there twice and left the rest for the staff who loved it) but clearly see they had a change in staff. We have the 4night package next week and will not pick this restaurant ...will do the porch instead. Thank you for that !

 

 

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[Gordoncruickshank]

Thanks. Yes, we had heard good things about The Porch from someone else. Almost checked it out for lunch today. Will do so before we get off.

 

 

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We did a number of times the last time we were in a RS. It was good and a nice place to relax for a sunny lunch. I do not think that I would pay the $30 pp cover charge for it. It is not that good!! $10 pp perhaps.

[SassyGirl]

We too were disappointed with the mac 'n cheese at Lawn Club Grill and I had the same reaction....almost no lobster and tastes like it was made with Velveeta. Not good. We did love the grilled fish and kabobs, the salad bar and the warm cookie dessert, though. And the pizza was to die for.

[WonderMan3]

Finishing up from last night, Mike spent a good hour down in the infirmary mainly due to waiting in line to be seen. They put an ace bandage around his knee and he was good to go. Will most likely have a nasty bruise soon but hopefully swimming in salt water will help heal the rug burn. After he came back he wanted to eat so we headed down for another wonderful meal at Luminae. We had the Short Rib Ravioli and Scallops as appetizer portions, the chicken for our entree and then chocolate soufflé and macaron for dessert.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Today’s daily

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Port shopping info

 

 

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[njaloha]

Thanks. Yes, we had heard good things about The Porch from someone else. Almost checked it out for lunch today. Will do so before we get off.

 

 

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If you think the lobster mac and cheese at LCG is pathetic, wait until you see the 'lobster' roll at the Porch. Minced celery salad with tiny bits of pink that could be lobster. Terrible especially when the words lobster roll invoke images of large chunks of lobster meat on a bun with little to no celery ala typical New England offerings.

 

I miss the old venue here. Gorgeous Location. But didn't care for the food.

 

 

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[Reenwad]

Couple more don't questions, if you don't mind.

:kiss-mark:

I see hueveos rancheros on the breakfast menu at Luminae, which is my favorite while on a cruise, but Im not in a suite next week. Do you know if it's available in the dining room, or at buffet, or anywhere else?

How are the hair dryers? Should I bring my own?

[NauticalBrees]

Adam,

 

Just wanted to thank you for posting...hubby and I are on Silhouette and April and it's a new ship for us, having sailed on the smaller Celebrity ships prior. Thanks for giving us a 'preview' of all that Silhouette has in store!

 

Andrea

[msteries]

I get on the Silhouette next Friday, and have been so grateful for your enjoyable and very informative posts. New ship for me. I know that the evening before disembarkation can be so fraught, but if you could spare the time to post any news of the noro cleaning situation before you leave, I would be very grateful. If they delay boarding because of a special cleaning, the wait can be hot and tedious, and the lines long. No sense in arriving at my usual 10:30. Wonder if they push back the concierge lunch, or just cancel it altogether?

 

 

Here’s hoping Mike’s knee doesn’t hurt too much!

Mary

[Reenwad]

Yes, also curious about the Noro cleansing, and if we'll be delayed boarding on Friday.

Anything you notice out of the ordinary, or did they just set up a few more sanitizing stations?

[WonderMan3]

Yes, also curious about the Noro cleansing, and if we'll be delayed boarding on Friday.

 

Anything you notice out of the ordinary, or did they just set up a few more sanitizing stations?

 

 

 

 

Nothing has really changed. Same number of people sanitizing at entrances, no items removed from restaurants or cabins, etc. The only thing I have noticed is staff cleaning areas more often; handrails on the stairs, machines in the casino, etc. Boardings being delayed and massive deep clean sanitation efforts generally only happen when there has been a massive outbreak on the ship. This sounds like it was isolated to a few cases and they wanted to be proactive and transparent so people would be overly cautious with hand washing and cleanliness and prevent it spreading any further.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Couple more don't questions, if you don't mind.

 

:kiss-mark:

 

 

 

I see hueveos rancheros on the breakfast menu at Luminae, which is my favorite while on a cruise, but Im not in a suite next week. Do you know if it's available in the dining room, or at buffet, or anywhere else?

 

 

 

How are the hair dryers? Should I bring my own?

 

 

 

Honestly we have only made it to breakfast once during this cruise (and once with room service) so I’m not sure if that is offered elsewhere. I feel like I want to say that I’ve seen it in the buffet as a special item on prior cruises but not 100% sure.

 

And we don’t use the hair dryers so can’t comment on that. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

 

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[WonderMan3]

If you think the lobster mac and cheese at LCG is pathetic, wait until you see the 'lobster' roll at the Porch. Minced celery salad with tiny bits of pink that could be lobster. Terrible especially when the words lobster roll invoke images of large chunks of lobster meat on a bun with little to no celery ala typical New England offerings.

 

I miss the old venue here. Gorgeous Location. But didn't care for the food.

 

 

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Sounds terrible. Being from New England ourselves though we tend to avoid ordering dishes that are native to our part of the country like lobster or clam chowder as it is rare to find any that are ever as good as back home.

 

 

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[njaloha]

Sounds terrible. Being from New England ourselves though we tend to avoid ordering dishes that are native to our part of the country like lobster or clam chowder as it is rare to find any that are ever as good as back home.

 

 

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Indeed

I googled images and found some where the lobster roll looked better (silhouette) but the one from the reflection didn't.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Our day here in Barbados started out rainy. It let up in time for us to exit the ship at around 8:15. But just as we entered a cab at the port terminal it started up again, and it was down pouring as we got to the Boatyard Beach Club. The rain may have kept a lot of people away as the club was not busy at all until after 12. Of course during that time we got hit with about 4 different tropical showers about every 30 minutes. Luckily the rain moved away finally by noon and we were able to enjoy the sun. Boatyard is possibly our favorite beach destination in all of the Caribbean. We love the beautiful turquoise water and the soft sand. Plus the staff is friendly and they keep their place clean and the food and drinks are good, although pricey. The beach vendors were less annoying this year which was nice.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[Megan01]

Thanks so much for your review of the Silhouette. We are sailing Feb 11 so your comments are very helpful. One question though: have you noticed if the progressive dinner is offered on the ship and if it’s still $99 pp. We aren’t in a suite this sailing so are trying to make some dining decisions. We have a package booked but it sounds like some of the specialty restaurants may not be worth the additional charge... Thanks!

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Thanks so much for your review of the Silhouette. We are sailing Feb 11 so your comments are very helpful. One question though: have you noticed if the progressive dinner is offered on the ship and if it’s still $99 pp. We aren’t in a suite this sailing so are trying to make some dining decisions. We have a package booked but it sounds like some of the specialty restaurants may not be worth the additional charge... Thanks!

 

 

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Sorry, I’m not familiar with that option.

 

 

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