Celebrity SILHOUETTE questions...

[Nz girl]

Hi all, 

My husband and I are cruising on a 14 night Scandinavia/Russia aboard Celebrity SILHOUETTE next month and I have a couple of questions from anyone who has been on a similar cruise and can offer advice.

- How long does it take to get off the boat once your docked? We're booking independent tours and want to make sure we make it on time 

- How pleasant is it to sit out on the pool / upper decks? 

- Are there exercise options / classes offered?

 

Thanks in advance :)

 

[Pear Carr]

We did this cruise last year - same ship and likely same itinerary - first time with Celebrity. Generally we had a great time, however, there is no guarantee that itinerary will be adhered to as we were unable to dock in St Petersburg due to high winds and spent 2 days adrift at the end of the channel entrance whilst other ships came and went.  Apparently due to size of Silhouette - no compensation and no alternative attempted. Hope you are more successful!

[HelenREMfan]

The weather...we have no control over.... we did the Baltic in mid June and had lovely weather.... but there are no guarantees! I have read differing reports re disembarking in Russia. It was fine when we did it and we were amongst the first off the ship and were met by SPB who were fantastic on our 2 days with them. If you have the status with Celebrity which enables you early disembarking then you should be fine. If not then there might be delays. I would imagine that all the tour companies operating there are used to that though so I would say don't worry. Celebrity do announce that passengers on their ship tours should disembark first. 

Other than that we were fine with no problems. Tallin was an easy reach from the dock as was Stockholm. We took the ship's tour in Copenhagen though I would not have bothered with the visit to the 'little mermaid' if going again - I really wish now we had visited the Tivoli Gardens. (ah the wisdom of hindsight eh?)

We were on the Eclipse(sister ship) when we were in the Baltic so am sorry but I can't help re exercise classes. 

[gold1953]

For tours there is a pecking order... meaning Celebrity tours get off first. Very unlikely that with no 'status' and no Celebrity tour that you can be off quick. Many others also book their own tours and also want off fast

[upwarduk]

We too were on the 23.06.18 sailing when Silhouette was not allowed into St Petersburg. I am still unhappy with Celebrity, as we were offered no compensation what so ever, just told to claim via our Insurance company. We didn't have cover for missed ports!!😪

I had however booked our tours via Celebrity, as they had an inside tour of Peterhof Palace which I wanted to do. The cost of the excursion was refunded to our On Board Account that  evening.

In 2015, we had booked tours with SPB and we paid by credit card at the end of the first day.  We just got up early the first day and made sure we were near the exit very early. I did read last year however, that the smaller vans of the tour companies were not allowed to enter the port until the bigger buses taking excursions from the ship had departed. I'm not sure whether this has continued, or whether it was because there were World Cup matches being played. I have added a photo from Google to show how narrow the channel is that Captains have to turn in to enter St Petersburg.

You will need your passport and tour ticket with you for immigration check in St Petersburg.

Go to the Northern European board to read about the various tours in the different cities.  You will pick up many tips up on those boards.

I'm afraid I can't add information about exercise classes, but there is a gym, which my husband uses.

Edited May 20, 2019 by upwarduk

[gold1953]

About exercise classes.. There are a few free ones and they seem to be 7am or around 5pm on most cruises. Sometimes there will be a class on the pool deck mid day. There are several pay for classes through out the day. These vary by ship . Just go to  the gym and they will have a print out  for the entire cruise . All activities will be listed on your daily which will be delivered to your cabin each evening for the next day

[hcat]

2 hours ago, gold1953 said:

For tours there is a pecking order... meaning Celebrity tours get off first. Very unlikely that with no 'status' and no Celebrity tour that you can be off quick. Many others also book their own tours and also want off fast

After the Celebrity excursions leave, others can  walk off  in non tender ports, where you do not need tickets.  They usually discourage  a  large crowd  gathering near  the exit areas...everyone wants to be first!

[Nz girl]

Thanks to all of you for your advice, appreciate it 🙂

[Katyoparty]

Regarding workout classes on Silhouette--there are usually signup sheets in the gym for the pay classes (yoga, pilates, spin, etc.) as they only take so many participants.  If you have your heart set on certain classes you should go sign up immediately to ensure you get in.  

[#1grammy]

When are you sailing?  We are on the June 2 cruise.

[shofer]

We did this itinerary on Vision of the Seas.  All our private tours were with ALLA tours and they were great.  Much better and cheaper than the ship's excursions.  Highly recommended on Trip Advisor.  Our group was about 12 that we gathered on this site and the roll call for this cruise. 

[wendychloecruiser]

Whatever you do go see Radley in the Sunset Bar!  

[Jeaannie55]

I also did this cruise last year, there was a heatwave, the only concern we had was that we had packed too many jumpers!  We had no problems getting off ship, in fact there was a slight wait at the dock until 2 passengers joined us, we were very well looked after.  We also booked with Alla tours, rather than Celebrity as their  itinerary was better for us, highly recommend them.  Had a fabulous time, hope you do too.