Silhouette around Britain staycruisecations

[upwarduk]

57 minutes ago, woodards said:

but can't see there been trips of interest in Dover or Portland but will see, may be surprised.

Dover Castle was featured by one of the staff on Twitter (1st sailing I think).

 

“What a gorgeous day in the City of Dover. 3 fabulous castles. Stunning Kent wines & cheeses & so much to enjoy. Thank you @sonia_limbrick @PortOfDover And an incredible send off for Celebrity Silhouette @CelebrityUK @CelebrityCruise”

Edited July 30, 2021 by upwarduk

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, downsmead said:

@chemmo isdoo has answered most your questions. The Persian Gardens is available on port days for Elite and above but we were limited to an hour in theory, though none checked and we ended up spending 90 minutes there. There was one other person there are the start of our slot, and a two people came in at the end so keeping numbers down I presume.

We love the breakfast but didn’t get chance to visit this sailing as the days we had excursions we had breakfast in our cabin.

 

Thank you! An hour would be more than enough for us...

[Wichenford Wolf]

1 hour ago, downsmead said:

@chemmo isdoo has answered most your questions. The Persian Gardens is available on port days for Elite and above but we were limited to an hour in theory, though none checked and we ended up spending 90 minutes there. There was one other person there are the start of our slot, and a two people came in at the end so keeping numbers down I presume.

We love the breakfast but didn’t get chance to visit this sailing as the days we had excursions we had breakfast in our cabin.

It has been many years since we last cruised with Celebrity so are unsure of what all the facilities are like, but the availability of Persian Garden was an important factor in our settling for an Aqua cabin. Hopefully it’ll be a pleasant place to relax from time to time. 

[hairymcclary]

1 hour ago, woodards said:

Finally made the decision to book (4th Sept), thank you to everyone that has contributed to this topic and others to help make the decision!

 

One question that I cant find the answer to, is when registering for PCR test the portal asks for a 20-22 digit code - cant find anything like this on any of my booking material? Any ideas from people that have already been through the process?

 

Also have all sailing had a lack of excursions - currently for our itinerary there are only trips for Belfast, nothing for Portland or Dover. Also shows a lot of info for ports we are not visiting which I assume is a hangover from cancelled cruises that haven't been sorted.

 

Haven't sailed on Silhouette since 2015 so looking forward to seeing the changes and first time in a suite on Celebrity🙂

I also had issues with the Eurofins Portal to the point of being on the verge of deciding not to bother and book a Boots test instead. However, if you hold off doing anything for now as around 2-3 weeks before your sail date Celebrity will send an email to everyone on your booking - to the lead email address which contains a link to register and book your complimentary Eurofins PCR test - this was really easy to do and we now have tests booked. We sail on 14th August and received the emails on 25/7, I would guess that as you are sailing 4th Sep you should receive your emails around 14th August.  Hope this helps .

[hairymcclary]

1 minute ago, hairymcclary said:

I also had issues with the Eurofins Portal to the point of being on the verge of deciding not to bother and book a Boots test instead. However, if you hold off doing anything for now as around 2-3 weeks before your sail date Celebrity will send an email to everyone on your booking - to the lead email address which contains a link to register and book your complimentary Eurofins PCR test - this was really easy to do - it already contains your Booking details , you just have to confirm Passport No and address details and we now have tests booked. We sail on 14th August and received the emails on 25/7, I would guess that as you are sailing 4th Sep you should receive your emails around 14th August.  Hope this helps .

 

[chemmo]

21 minutes ago, Wichenford Wolf said:

It has been many years since we last cruised with Celebrity so are unsure of what all the facilities are like, but the availability of Persian Garden was an important factor in our settling for an Aqua cabin. Hopefully it’ll be a pleasant place to relax from time to time. 

 

Some guests really enjoy the area and consequently book Aqua or buy the pass for the cruise. They will visit frequently and thoroughly enjoy.

 

We like an occasional visit, once per cruise is enough for us and on a port day when the area is more likely to be quiet (hence the value to us of the Elite perk). On S class it is nice to relax on the tiled beds looking out to sea, we never bother going on M class.

 

I suggest you look up reviews and pictures on the ship you are in to help you decide if the additional cost is worth it to you. Remember the other perk of Aqua is Blu, also a deciding factor for some.

[Wichenford Wolf]

9 minutes ago, chemmo said:

 

Remember the other perk of Aqua is Blu, also a deciding factor for some.

Yes, I had forgotten that - it was another factor in our choice. In addition on the last Celebrity cruise we took (Eclipse) we were on a hump, so the similar location this time attracted us.

 

Two weeks to go!

[chemmo]

36 minutes ago, Wichenford Wolf said:

Yes, I had forgotten that - it was another factor in our choice. In addition on the last Celebrity cruise we took (Eclipse) we were on a hump, so the similar location this time attracted us.

 

Two weeks to go!

 

Hope you enjoy!

[little britain]

Someone saying on the book of face of a positive test on a child on Silhouette? 

[isdoo]

2 minutes ago, little britain said:

Someone saying on the book of face of a positive test on a child on Silhouette? 

 

Yes, earlier this cruise. 

 

Hence why children now need a PCR test and why it might be rolled out globally as RCI has just done. 

[woodards]

7 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Dover Castle was featured by one of the staff on Twitter (1st sailing I think).

 

“What a gorgeous day in the City of Dover. 3 fabulous castles. Stunning Kent wines & cheeses & so much to enjoy. Thank you @sonia_limbrick @PortOfDover And an incredible send off for Celebrity Silhouette @CelebrityUK @CelebrityCruise”

I stand corrected cheese and wine is always interesting - unfortunately not being offered as an excursion yet on our cruise but fingers crossed!

[woodards]

6 hours ago, hairymcclary said:

I also had issues with the Eurofins Portal to the point of being on the verge of deciding not to bother and book a Boots test instead. However, if you hold off doing anything for now as around 2-3 weeks before your sail date Celebrity will send an email to everyone on your booking - to the lead email address which contains a link to register and book your complimentary Eurofins PCR test - this was really easy to do and we now have tests booked. We sail on 14th August and received the emails on 25/7, I would guess that as you are sailing 4th Sep you should receive your emails around 14th August.  Hope this helps .

Thank you🙂

Edited July 30, 2021 by woodards

[Wichenford Wolf]

On 7/30/2021 at 5:16 PM, woodards said:

I stand corrected cheese and wine is always interesting - unfortunately not being offered as an excursion yet on our cruise but fingers crossed!

Because we have to choose a tour to get off the ship, and because Karen can’t manage any significant coach travel, we have booked the Glenmorangie distillery excursion from Invergordon.

 

I’m not complaining 🥃😂

[chemmo]

15 hours ago, Wichenford Wolf said:

Because we have to choose a tour to get off the ship, and because Karen can’t manage any significant coach travel, we have booked the Glenmorangie distillery excursion from Invergordon.

 

I’m not complaining 🥃😂

 

I guess one of the better things about the staycations and needing to do Celebrity only tours is that many people will do something that would normally not be on their agenda...A distillery tour sounds good!

 

There are so many things in the British Isles we always plan to do someday but never actually get around to...

[chemmo]

If you do a Celebrity tour how full are the coaches? Are guests spread out or is it the more usual every seat is taken?

 

Has anyone booked a private Celebrity tour? Are they even offering them?

 

 

[downsmead]

The coaches are only half full with notices on the empty seats to keep them free to space out the passengers. Masks to be worn on board.

They are offering the private tours on the excursion list.

[chemmo]

4 minutes ago, downsmead said:

The coaches are only half full with notices on the empty seats to keep them free to space out the passengers. Masks to be worn on board.

They are offering the private tours on the excursion list.

 

Thank you!

[downsmead]

Seeing the debacle about the Celebrity Edge disembarkation testing and boarding and also the delays in Southampton where P&O are doing testing at the port before boarding makes me appreciate the pre cruise testing we had, although I appreciate it was not necessarily stress free for some. 
I find it amazing that one company can differ so much between countries where it operates, though it seems the US sailings will now adopt the U.K. approach, though not sure about mask wearing on board, I suspect this will not be well received if required for US sailings.

Celebrity U.K. have worked hard to ensure that the U.K. sailings are as safe as can be, and as such the very few cases we have seen on board support their approach. We had a fabulous cruise and wish everyone yet to cruise a great time.
 

[EdinburghTim]

Just onboard Silhouette now. Checkin was easy at 1PM. 18 minutes from car park to ship.

Ship has 1,005 passengers with 98 children. Rather more than expected considering there is little for them to do onboard.

Happy cruising everyone 

[chemmo]

5 minutes ago, EdinburghTim said:

Just onboard Silhouette now. Checkin was easy at 1PM. 18 minutes from car park to ship.

Ship has 1,005 passengers with 98 children. Rather more than expected considering there is little for them to do onboard.

Happy cruising everyone 

 

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise! Please keep posting!

[isdoo]

18 minutes ago, EdinburghTim said:

Ship has 1,005 passengers with 98 children

 

The ship declared total passengers as 1029 with 860 crew over the radio - so I hope we haven't lost any since Southampton 😂 😂 

 

Unless that is 1005 + 98 in which case we have stowaways 😂 😂 

[EdinburghTim]

An observation on mask wearing. 

It seems pretty well observed indoors. Exceptions seem to be a few elderly people,  particularly elderly men. Children and teenagers also do not seem to be following the rules and crew are not visibly enforcing them.

[EdinburghTim]

8 minutes ago, isdoo said:

 

The ship declared total passengers as 1029 with 860 crew over the radio - so I hope we haven't lost any since Southampton 😂 😂 

 

Unless that is 1005 + 98 in which case we have stowaways 😂 😂 

 

[EdinburghTim]

The lady at guest relations said there were 1,005 passengers but she could be wrong or not including infants ( of which there are a few) or something.  Anyway, 1,000ish passengers on a 2,800+ ship means there is plenty of space!

[mrsgoggins]

We disembarked yesterday after a very enjoyable 8-day cruise.  In 3 weeks’ time, we’ll be back on board Silhouette hoping to visit the Scottish ports that had to be removed from last week’s cruise.

 

I was discussing with the MDR Maitre D, how much we had enjoyed being on a ship with fewer passengers.  He did say they are expecting larger numbers in the next few weeks; maybe a few hundred more.  
 

Despite our mixed weather - Caribbean-like when we left Southampton and Gale-force winds on the days before we returned, necessitating the Captain abandoning the attempt to dock at Portland - it will still go down as one of our favourite cruises.

 

I wish those of you sailing now calm seas and a great time on board!