Which room should I book?

[FSU Girl]

We’ve finally decided on our honeymoon cruise. We’re going to go on the Celebrity Silhouette in 2019 to Iceland and Ireland in August. We now have to pick which room to book. I’d love to do the suites or aqua, but on a 15 day cruise they are way out of our price range.

 

So we are thinking of a balcony room mostly, or possibly ocean view room. I love balconies, but will it be too cold to enjoy it? The price difference is only a couple hundred so we’d probably do balcony if we could get good use out of it.

 

For room location, what would you recommend? I was thinking deck 7 midship, it looks like it has rooms above and below so it would be quiet? I like being up high should I try a different deck? Is there anywhere to avoid if I don’t like noise while sleeping?

 

I’m really excited we’ve finally decided on which cruise to do.

[Mr. Click]

Decks 7 and 8 are fine, rooms above and below. Go for the balcony, even if it is chilly it is nice to be able to sit out and watch the scenery go by on a trip like this one. With your own balcony it is easy to pop in and out to warm up.

[mfabz]

This far out you should try to get one of the angled rooms that have larger balconies.

[champagne123]

If any of these are available...the balconies are enormous..we had 7206. FABULOUS. They are angled balconies, right off the hump.

 

7286 7206 7264 7219

[gerelmx]

I like AFT in the corner starboard side, Eclipse is 7354 Cat 2B and Silhouette is 7356 Cat 2A. This cabins has a large balcony

The walking is part of the daily exercise

[Nanatravel]

Been in 7286 on Reflection. Great location.

 

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[TeaBag]

There are about 23 1A balconies still available on this sailing. 7258 and 7262 are two of them and these two cabins are located right beside the hideaway which is a nice little sitting spot with coffee always available. Silhouette is a lovely ship, our favorite of the fleet. Don't miss the Lawn Club Grill (extra fee, but you can get 30% discount on the first night.)

[FSU Girl]

Thanks everyone! I’ll take a look into these cabins. This will be my first celebrity cruise I’m really excited

[PhD-iva]

We have been in an angled balcony state room on a previous Celebrity cruise. It was absolutely huge and wonderful. We also have been on a sunset veranda balcony state room on the Reflection. It was fabulous as well. Congratulations on your nuptials and have a fabulous honeymoon!

 

 

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[FSU Girl]

One more question. When I book, should I do it directly through the cruise or through a travel agent? I’ve always booked direct because I like having control of my reservation. But I know you can sometimes get deals or OBC. Has anyone used a travel agency they like?

[phoenix_dream]

We are not allowed to mention specific travel agencies on the boards, but Google the internet and you will find some large cruise only agencies. They generally offer additional perks, sometimes a lower cabin price (if they have a negotiated group rate) and they can help you should you encounter any problems along the way. We always book that way these days. Very little downside (usually a small cancellation fee if you need to cancel)

 

As to rooms, I recommend the balcony because there will be some days you can go outside and enjoy it - even if only to stand and watch for awhile. Also, due to the large sliding doors the cabins just look bigger and more spacious which can make a difference especially on longer cruises.

 

Congrats and enjoy your cruise!

[PhD-iva]

There is (almost) no downside to using a (good) TA. Since you are going on your honeymoon, I will tell you my honeymoon story. In 2005, I asked my TA to keep an eye out for a good deal on a Mediterranean cruise for our Honeymoon. She found a 10 day round-trip Rome on HAL for an unbelievable price. That’s because it was a typo and the price was missing a digit. However, she called the cruise line, and they confirmed the price. She sent them a fax (faxes were still used back in those days) and they confirm the price in writing. Of course later when the mistake was discovered, they wanted to charge us the full price, which my fiancé (now husband) would never have paid. Because we went with a TA associated with a large agency, she was able to escalate through her management chain up to someone at HAL (a vice President of operations?). It was a lot of back-and-forth, and some crosswords were said to HAL, But in the end they split the difference with us and my fiancé agreed to keep our honeymoon plans. The first night in the MDR we were seated with a wonderful group of three other couples. Just before we were about to tell our funny story about how we saved so much money on our cruise price, another couple told their story about how upset they were because they got stuck paying so much more than they expected because of the same typo problem. They had booked their cruise directly with the company, and therefore had no one to intercede for them.

We learned our lesson, we are very loyal to our TA although I think she doesn’t get us many discounts or freebies. But she has proven her worth. Use a TA!

 

 

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[FSU Girl]

We are not allowed to mention specific travel agencies on the boards, but Google the internet and you will find some large cruise only agencies. They generally offer additional perks, sometimes a lower cabin price (if they have a negotiated group rate) and they can help you should you encounter any problems along the way. We always book that way these days. Very little downside (usually a small cancellation fee if you need to cancel)

 

As to rooms, I recommend the balcony because there will be some days you can go outside and enjoy it - even if only to stand and watch for awhile. Also, due to the large sliding doors the cabins just look bigger and more spacious which can make a difference especially on longer cruises.

 

Congrats and enjoy your cruise!

 

I didn’t realize about the travel agents, but thank you for the advice. And I agree the balcony would get good use.

[FSU Girl]

There is (almost) no downside to using a (good) TA. Since you are going on your honeymoon, I will tell you my honeymoon story. In 2005, I asked my TA to keep an eye out for a good deal on a Mediterranean cruise for our Honeymoon. She found a 10 day round-trip Rome on HAL for an unbelievable price. That’s because it was a typo and the price was missing a digit. However, she called the cruise line, and they confirmed the price. She sent them a fax (faxes were still used back in those days) and they confirm the price in writing. Of course later when the mistake was discovered, they wanted to charge us the full price, which my fiancé (now husband) would never have paid. Because we went with a TA associated with a large agency, she was able to escalate through her management chain up to someone at HAL (a vice President of operations?). It was a lot of back-and-forth, and some crosswords were said to HAL, But in the end they split the difference with us and my fiancé agreed to keep our honeymoon plans. The first night in the MDR we were seated with a wonderful group of three other couples. Just before we were about to tell our funny story about how we saved so much money on our cruise price, another couple told their story about how upset they were because they got stuck paying so much more than they expected because of the same typo problem. They had booked their cruise directly with the company, and therefore had no one to intercede for them.

We learned our lesson, we are very loyal to our TA although I think she doesn’t get us many discounts or freebies. But she has proven her worth. Use a TA!

 

 

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Wow that crazy, I can’t believe the cruise tried to make everyone pay for their mistake. I could definitely see how having the TA would help a lot.

 

When you use a TA can I still book my own excursions? Or would I have to tell them what I’d like to book?

[FSU Girl]

For anyone who’s done this type of cruise (Ireland and Iceland) which side of the ship would be better to have a balcony on? It looks like Ireland would be on the left side of the ship going up towards Iceland so there might be more to see on that side? But at Iceland it looks like there would be more to see on the right side of the ship?

 

Do people have a preference? I know for Disney cruises people like to be on a certain side in the Caribbean to see the private island when docked. I’m just wondering if one side is favored more than the other. If we do go with the balcony we will probably hang out there on sea days a lot

[champagne123]

I'm sure someone can help you, but may I suggest you also post this question (copy and paste) on the PORTS OF CALL section. Tons of suggestions and ideas. Sounds like an amazing cruise.

[PhD-iva]

When you use a TA can I still book my own excursions? Or would I have to tell them what I’d like to book?

 

 

Whenever the celebrity website is functioning, you can book your own excursions online. On the many occasions when it is non-functional, you’ll have to call celebrity to request their help to book the excursions. I don’t think a TA generally helps to book excursions, but I could be mistaken there.

Once you’re on board, you’ll forget all about the frustrating website and you’ll have a fabulous honeymoon!

 

 

 

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[sbrayr]

For anyone who’s done this type of cruise (Ireland and Iceland) which side of the ship would be better to have a balcony on? It looks like Ireland would be on the left side of the ship going up towards Iceland so there might be more to see on that side? But at Iceland it looks like there would be more to see on the right side of the ship?

 

Do people have a preference? I know for Disney cruises people like to be on a certain side in the Caribbean to see the private island when docked. I’m just wondering if one side is favored more than the other. If we do go with the balcony we will probably hang out there on sea days a lot

 

 

 

I cant recommend the side for this itinerary but on Silhouette we like cabins forward on starboard side (right) deck 9. We enjoy watching the docking and can easily see into the wing bridge as the officers and pilot command the operation. Bring binoculars for an even better view.

 

 

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[JMG]

We found a website that can be helpful in selecting staterooms. Google cruise deck plans. You select the cruiseline and then the ship...look for a feature called drag deck plans...the page will come up with all of the decks. You can then drag on deck over another and really see what is over/under a stateroom that you are considering. This is really helpful if you prefer to go with a higher deck.

 

We prefer to book direct with the cruise line. Our last cruise, the only available stateroom was with an internet TA. So, we booked it. We got OBC from the TA and Cruise line $150. That was all we got. When we booked we were told we could buy insurance from the TA. Insurance was with company X. It snowed the day we were to fly and our flight was cancelled. We drove 3 hours south and managed to get a flight at another airport. We incurred some minor additional expense. Once home we called the TA and asked how to file an insurance claim. Agent gave us phone # of company X. We called, they asked for our policy#..we had no #. Called the TA back and found out that they purchased the insurance from the cruise line and it did not cover any cost getting to the port...just the cruise! We were stunned, This was not what they sold us. If we had missed the ship and fly to the 1st port, the cost would not have been covered. We were very thankful that we did get to the ship on time and very angry with the TA. We will never use that TA again and when ever possibly book direct with the cruise line. The $50 OBC from the TA was not worth it.

 

Even if it is too cool to actually use the balcony...the sliding glass doors are floor to ceiling giving you a beautiful view.

 

Congratulations!!!

[PhD-iva]

We found a website that can be helpful in selecting staterooms. Google cruise deck plans. You select the cruiseline and then the ship...look for a feature called drag deck plans...the page will come up with all of the decks. You can then drag on deck over another and really see what is over/under a stateroom that you are considering. This is really helpful if you prefer to go with a higher deck.

 

We prefer to book direct with the cruise line. Our last cruise, the only available stateroom was with an internet TA. So, we booked it. We got OBC from the TA and Cruise line $150. That was all we got. When we booked we were told we could buy insurance from the TA. Insurance was with company X. It snowed the day we were to fly and our flight was cancelled. We drove 3 hours south and managed to get a flight at another airport. We incurred some minor additional expense. Once home we called the TA and asked how to file an insurance claim. Agent gave us phone # of company X. We called, they asked for our policy#..we had no #. Called the TA back and found out that they purchased the insurance from the cruise line and it did not cover any cost getting to the port...just the cruise! We were stunned, This was not what they sold us. If we had missed the ship and fly to the 1st port, the cost would not have been covered. We were very thankful that we did get to the ship on time and very angry with the TA. We will never use that TA again and when ever possibly book direct with the cruise line. The $50 OBC from the TA was not worth it.

 

Even if it is too cool to actually use the balcony...the sliding glass doors are floor to ceiling giving you a beautiful view.

 

Congratulations!!!

 

 

 

You purchased a (substandard) insurance policy issued by the cruiseline. Now that you are booking directly with the cruise line, which insurance policy do you think they will sell you?

I agree that your TA did not serve you well. I suggest that you would benefit by using a different TA. Talk to friends and family and ask whom can they recommend. IMO, you are more likely to be better served by a good TA than by purchasing directly from the cruise line.

 

 

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[Fishkillbill]

We will be on the Silhouette in two months. Our room is on the center of deck 7. The room does connect with the one next to it. We never had a room like that before. Does anyone think this is a problem, noise wise?