Trip Report: 12-night Holiday Cruise in the Caribbean on the SILHOUETTE (2018)

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, parrothead33 said:

Really enjoying your review, great job.  Can't wait to read more.

 

Thank you!  Appreciate the feedback!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day! (cont.)

 

The Uber driver knew how to get to Port Everglades, but he did not know how to follow the signs to Terminal 29, which is where the Silhouette was docked.  At the entrance to the port, we had to stop at the security booth to show our check-in document and passports.  There was no line of cars in front of us and we were through in just a couple of minutes.  The driver's GPS was taking us to Terminal 25 instead, and he turned left into this Terminal, even though there was a huge sign on those hideous, chain-linked fences that noted we had to keep going straight to Terminal 29.  No worries, he just did a U-turn and off we went, to Terminal 29.

 

Our first sighting of the Silhouette ... through the lovely chain-linked fencing.

 

We pulled up to the luggage drop-off area @ 10.35 am, where it was not that busy and tons of porters were waiting around.  We knew we had to bribe ... um, tip ... ahead of time; I warned dh about it and told him not to freak out, to please just hand over $10 and leave it alone.  Luckily, we got someone super-friendly and helpful, with no attitude, and even though he moved our bags a total of maybe 3'6" to the carts (something our eight-year-old could have done probably), we were still happy to "tip" him for at least being a friendly face and welcoming us and joking around with the girls.

 

After dropping off the bags, we walked over to the line of people waiting to enter the terminal.  It was moving already and there were maybe only 10 people in front of us.  We got in the back of the line and entered into the terminal maybe 30 seconds later, and were standing in front of security screening.  We put our bags through and went through ourselves, and were then directed to the check-in counters.  There was no wait at all; the whole terminal was pretty empty.

 

Check-in was a breeze, and we got our Sea Pass cards and our pictures taken.  Then, we were directed to go "that way" to board the ship.  I thought we were being directed to another section where we would be seated to wait to be allowed on the ship, but no - we went directly to Go, and didn't even stop to collect $200.  In fact, I had to tell the kids to slow down so I could take pictures!

 

Checking in ...

 

 

 

Here we are, walking through the main check-in area ...

 

 

 

Then through this set of doors with a nice welcome sign ...

 

Then up the escalators ...

 

Then down this long hallway that takes us closer to the gangway ...

 

 

Then it's onto the gangway!!

 

 

And we've arrived!!!  Time stamp on this picture: 10.55 am!

 

 

[DENIE]

Great review!  Love your writing style!  We got off the Silhouette in early December - wonderfully decorated for Christmas.  We loved the cruise (Southern Caribbean, ABC Islands).  One of the best ships we've been on!

[CruisersTimesThree]

Really enjoying your review!  Can’t wait to read more since we will be off on a 12 nighter on Silhoutte March 3rd!  Curious to hear about some of the islands since all but 2 are the same ports we’ll be visiting!

[amitje]

Love your style!!!

[vickykay]

So enjoying your review.  Love your sense of humor!

[SleepingUgly]

10 hours ago, DENIE said:

Great review!  Love your writing style!  We got off the Silhouette in early December - wonderfully decorated for Christmas.  We loved the cruise (Southern Caribbean, ABC Islands).  One of the best ships we've been on!

 

Thank you!  We loved the decorations on the ship, especially the gingerbread display on the main staircase.  That came down a day or two before New Year's, I believe, so we could actually walk down those stairs and get some pictures on them . We loved the Silhouette very much!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

8 hours ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

Really enjoying your review!  Can’t wait to read more since we will be off on a 12 nighter on Silhoutte March 3rd!  Curious to hear about some of the islands since all but 2 are the same ports we’ll be visiting!

 

Thank you very much!  This was a great itinerary and it sounds as if you will be enjoying a very similar one.  We took lots of photos in all ports and did a variety of activities.  At St. Kitts, we even just hired a taxi on a whim, with no plans, and just asked him to take us to a couple of places that I really wanted to see.  No planning!  And I survived.  Imagine that! 🙂

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

3 hours ago, amitje said:

Love your style!!!

 

Thank you very much for your kind words!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, vickykay said:

So enjoying your review.  Love your sense of humor!

 

Thank you!  No sure my kids would agree with you about my sense of humor, although they probably have taken after me more than they'd like to admit! 🙂 

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day! (cont.)

 

So, get this.  They actually expect me to work today.  Seriously, people, who do you think you are?  Ugh, the nerve.  And not only am I expected to work, but I actually have to sit in on a meeting for most of the day, where I can't even try to slack off.  Really, what has this world come to???

 

Anyway, I probably won't be able to post much throughout the day, but wanted to at least provide copies of the first day's Celebrity Daily.  Sorry if the photos didn't turn out so great; I will try to do better with future Celebrity Today postings.  The Today was left in our cabins, on our beds, as they were every night after that.

 

 

 

 

 

Here were the inserts for that first day.  I probably won't include for everyday after this, but just wanted to give you an idea of what was included that first day.  Note that no dining packages were offered on this cruise, most likely due to it being a holiday sailing.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[saltymac]

3 and 4 night dinning packages were available on board they were never advertised, but we got the 4 night package as soon as we boarded.

 

Dale

[RealBatman]

I love your writing style, and especially your sense of humour!! Your attention to detail (and the ability to remember it) is impressive! This is easily the most enjoyable review I've read in a long time. I find myself looking forward to each chapter as you go. And with only a few more days until our 12 day cruise on Silhouette, it's a great way to warm up for our trip!

 

Thank you for your efforts!

[rages100]

Thank you for your review, following it with interest as it is a very similar itinerary to ours next month. One question I do have as we have never been to the Caribbean before is what currency did you take? Do you get local currencies or just use us$?

[Sheal]

25 minutes ago, rages100 said:

Thank you for your review, following it with interest as it is a very similar itinerary to ours next month. One question I do have as we have never been to the Caribbean before is what currency did you take? Do you get local currencies or just use us$?

US Dollar will work in all of the ports.  No need to waste time trying to get the local currency.

Only port I have ever used local currency was in Martinque and only because I had some euros lying around.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Sheal
spelling

[cantstopingcruising]

Canadians.....

 

How were the lines at customs upon arrival back in Fort Lauderdale?

 

Thanks

[SleepingUgly]

8 hours ago, saltymac said:

3 and 4 night dinning packages were available on board they were never advertised, but we got the 4 night package as soon as we boarded.

 

Dale

 

I'm glad you were able to get those packages!  I'm sure I would have been tempted had I known about them, but since I did not, we just ate mostly in the MDR.  Hope you had a nice cruise!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

5 hours ago, RealBatman said:

I love your writing style, and especially your sense of humour!! Your attention to detail (and the ability to remember it) is impressive! This is easily the most enjoyable review I've read in a long time. I find myself looking forward to each chapter as you go. And with only a few more days until our 12 day cruise on Silhouette, it's a great way to warm up for our trip!

 

Thank you for your efforts!

 

Thank you so much for the compliments!  I will admit - I took notes on my laptop almost every evening, when we were back in our cabins and relaxing before dinner.  If it was earlier, like @ 4-5 pm, I'd take the laptop out to the balcony and type out there, enjoying the view.  Definitely made it seem less like work.  It also helps to have taken so many pictures as I'll recall little details as I am going through the photos.  We took a total of more than 7,000 pictures on this trip - that's from my phone, my husband's phone, our underwater camera (which we also used for land shots), my oldest daughter's phone and her GoPro (mostly videos).  We have yet to get our hot little hands on our 16-year-old's phone, so there may be quite a few pics there too!

 

I hope you have a fantastic cruise.  Let me know if you may have any questions.

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, Sheal said:

US Dollar will work in all of the ports.  No need to waste time trying to get the local currency.

Only port I have ever used local currency was in Martinque and only because I had some euros lying around.

 

Agree with Sheal.  We used US dollars on all the islands with no problem.  In Grenada, at the open-air market in town, we bought souvenirs from one lady who had to go searching for change for us in US dollars, but that wasn't really a problem.  Just be sure to note the prices and pay the USD amount! 

 

Hope you have a great trip!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, cantstopingcruising said:

Canadians.....

 

How were the lines at customs upon arrival back in Fort Lauderdale?

 

Thanks

 

I am not Canadian but I am not aware that they separated folks into different lines at customs when we returned to Fort Lauderdale. 

 

It was pretty much a giant mess.  First, there is a pretty long walk to get from the ship to the main room where the luggage had been placed.  They were sorted by luggage tag numbers so you rush to your section and grab your bags.  You then get in line to move onto the next room, where the customs officials are.  But, wait a minute - there are no lines!  There are only clusters of people, trying to sneak in front of others to get ahead of them.  I think there was originally one line, but the people started forming their own lines / clusters around the entrance to the other room, and no one stopped them!  So it started getting pretty chaotic in there. 

 

Once we made it to the next room, it was a bit more organized, but there were only three customs officers working.  Porters were shaking their heads and saying they had never seen anything like it.  The funny thing was, other customs officers were there, but they were just sitting around, watching.  I'm not going to complain about them because now I know they were all working without pay at the time, due to the government shutdown, so I am grateful for them having been there at all.  However, the whole operation was just a mess. 

 

When we finally got up to a customs officer, he was super nice and asked if we had been told about a separate line for Global Entry.  We told him that we had not, and he shook his head.  Guess they didn't create that line due to lack of personnel, but that would have helped us get through that mess much faster.

 

Anyway, I complained about this after our last Celebrity cruise in 2007 that it seems as if Celebrity just forgets all about you once you disembark.  There was no Celebrity personnel there to guide or direct you, unlike the check-in / embarkation process, where many Celebrity staff members (not terminal personnel) stood around and greeted us as we walked along.  It would really be nice to have at least a few of these folks around during the disembarkation process as well - yes, even in the terminal - so that our last impression of our Celebrity cruise vacation is not one of stress and chaos.

 

Linda

  

[helen haywood]

On 1/7/2019 at 6:43 PM, Bimmer09 said:

Great start to your review!

Thanks for including so many great pics.

Silhouette is my favorite ship to date.

Norris

Norris, you mean your favorite Celebrity ship or your overall favorite to date?  If it's the latter,  what an honor coming from you!

Edited January 9, 2019 by helen haywood

[SleepingUgly]

Day 1 – Embarkation (cont.)

 

 

I was the last member of our family to board the ship, with dh having been the first.  He likes to rush; I am always fashionably late.  Anyway, by the time I entered the ship via Deck 5, it was like feeding time at the zoo.  Namely, the Celebrity crew members were the starving lions and I was the one piece of steak thrown into the den that they have to fight for.  Seriously, people, back off!!  Yes, you can descend on me with your tray of champagne and greet me with a smile, but everyone else?  GO AWAY!!  Next time, I’ll have to remember to bring a stick so I can beat off all of you.  Yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Specialty Dining Package Sales Guy and Ms. Photographer and Ms. Fun Factory Representative.  I get it – you’re all doing your jobs, but dude.  I just got on the ship and I want to enjoy the moment, not feel like I’m walking through the night markets in Kowloon, with people yelling at me from all sides, vying for my attention and my business.  Cool your jets and leave me the heck alone for a bit!

 

Anyway, the first one to find us was the nice young lady with the tray of champagne.  Ah, yes, we meet again, cheap bubbly posing as champagne.  I haven’t seen you since freshman year of college. 

 

 

Next up, the specialty restaurant package salesperson, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but there on Deck 5, trying to sell fancy-schmancy dining packages to sweaty, over-exuberant tourists.  He didn’t even try very hard with me … probably saw me frantically chugging my champagne and was like, “Yeah, we’ll let that one go.  Move away slowly and carefully, and don’t make any eye contact.” 

 

Then came the Fun Factory representative.  Now, she did have an important job to do – she had to put a bracelet on our youngest daughter’s wrist that indicated her muster station location.  This must be worn at all times by any child under the age of 12 on the ship.  That way, if they are in the Fun Factory or not with their parents in an emergency situation, a staff member will be able to direct them to their correct muster station.  However, this would have been handled better at Check-In, when there is less chaos and excitement of having just boarded the ship.  This poor girl had to practically scream at us what she was doing and why she was doing it, due to all the noise and talking in the background.  I wanted to give her my champagne after she was done, she looked so exhausted, but then I remembered that I had inhaled the thing myself not even a minute ago.  Oops, my bad.

 

And, finally, the photographer, to capture that “Oh my God … we just boarded a ship and it feels like … I’m still on land” feeling.  We posed dutifully for a few shots.  I don’t care how corny these may be, you have to do these.  Even if it’s just to make fun of yourselves later when you see your pictures on display in the photo gallery.

 

 

 

 

 

And, then, after that … nothing.  We were left completely alone and ignored.  We had walked the gauntlet, survived, and were now deemed inconsequential.  Now THIS would have been a good place to put some Celebrity representatives, directing guests where to go and what to do, depending on the time they boarded.  For instance, it was about 11 am for us; they could have told us that we were free to roam around the ship for a bit, and that Oceanview Café on Deck 14 would open for lunch at 11.30 am.  This would also have been a better place for the Specialty Dining package guy to have been standing as I would have given him all of my attention then.  They could have handed out abbreviated versions of the Celebrity Today here as well.  Anyway, it was just kind of odd how we were mobbed in the first two feet of having entered the ship, only to then be ignored after that.  If you hadn’t done any research (and who doesn’t do their research these days anyway … oh yeah, my family), then you would have no idea what to do or where to go after all of this.

 

Luckily for my lazy family, I knew what to do.  Since we were in concierge cabins, I wanted to go to the Main Dining Room for lunch so we didn’t have to deal with the crush of passengers at the buffet.  We had about 30 minutes or so to kill, so we decided to go up to the top decks to check out the view and the public areas.  So off we went, to the elevator banks. 

 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 1 – Embarkation (cont.)

 

We went straight up to Deck 12 to check out the pool area first.  It was nice to be able to walk around without a lot of people around.  We enjoyed the views of the surrounding area around Terminal 29 as well.

 

This was the view from the elevator of the Grand Foyer area as we rode up to Deck 12

 

Just a few pics of the pool deck area

 

 

 

 

Views of the surrounding area from Deck 14 and the Sky Lounge

 

 

Next year's family Christmas card photo

 

And in case we didn't know where we all were, Snapchat was happy to inform us

 

[DENIE]

Your photos around the ship are bringing back memories (good ones!) from our cruise in December!

[snow bunny]

I am enjoying your review as we board her next month for the third time but with newbie Celebrity cruisers!

 

snow bunny