Silhouette around Britain staycruisecations

[Definitas]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

as they are a foreign registered company and all the ships are registered in a port of convenience I doubt if it makes much diffeerence. They are exempt from all working hours, minimum pay rates etc. Port fees are probably less. The ships are already geared to calculating VAT (AVT) as this applies in many ports when the ship is docked i.e. order a drink in port and the price is different to when she is at sea on the same cruise. Cruises are pretty much always cheaper in the US more competition, less distance to move supplies and staff. Also the cruises in the US tend to be shorter so you need to work on a daily price and the headline prices don't include taxes and fees. We once worked out (with the help of the Chief Engineer and the Environmental Officer on Solstice at a series of morning coffee discussions held on a Trans Pacific)  that the fuel costs per passenger per day was $25 - I don't expect that will have changed much.The modern ships i.e. all of the Celebrity fleet break even at 30 to 35% capacity. 

Personally the biggest problem is Celebrity introducing AI pricing which has increased the costs of the November Transatlantic in 2021 by 80% compared to 2019. We are Elite+ and  can't  drink alcohol so we are now paying $100 per person per day extra for nothing. The increase has already forced us to cancel our 2021 Transatlantic and, unless the pricing changes, our April 2022 TA booked before AI will probably be our last on Celebrity. Geoff

These were direct comparisons because I priced them both on the UK site for comparison and then again on the US site for the Caribbean cruise. I definitely agree that the cost of the AI has added significantly to the cost. We never used to purchase the drinks package and, although we both drink, we never ever ranup a bill that came close to the cost of the package. I have had US friends say that they like the package because it is so much more convenient than signing bar chits! Now it is even worse because I like craft beer and Sheila likes fizz and we both like San Pellegrino with meals so upgrade to the premium package works for us, which adds yet more cost. My biggest gripe is the lack of bar staff. Once upon a time t would have been unthinkable to queue at the bar for a drink. Indeed, we would sometimes almost complain that we got pestered by staff trying to get us to have a drink (and earn them commission). Now Celebrity take payment in advance so the business  model has changed dramatically. It is now in their commercial interest to reduce the number of drinks served and so there are far fewer staff, particularly in Ocean View. I asked the Food and Beverage manager a couple of cruises ago if he would walk the ship with me and count how many bar staff we could encounter out on deck and in Ocean View and he said it would be pointless because he knew there was a chance we wouldn’t see any and blamed it on head office.  As for “always included “, when it involves the internet, it would be more accurate to say “always paid for, often unavailable” when we had our week in a suite in July we said that the level and availability of service in exclusive suite areas was how it used to be throughout the ship. It’s just a shame that Celebrity has seen fit to reduce it everywhere else. 

[Definitas]

1 hour ago, LGW59 said:

I’ve never paid a different price for a drink in port v at sea.

You may not have paid more but you may have been billed more. Drinks in port in Barcelona used to attract Spanish VAT and VAT is charged on everything (bars, shops etc) on the UK staycation cruises. Drinks were still included in the packages despite attracting 20% VAT. The duty free shop was screened off and closed throughout too. Tax is also charged i port in Singapore and no doubt there are other places too. 

[teabear]

On 8/29/2021 at 12:01 PM, travelsoftwo said:

Hi all - I have a question for folk who have been on this cruise already. My mother in law has just returned from her cruise and complained that, as a single female traveller, she found it very hard to get served at the bars. She thought that male guests were served in precedence to her and I was curious if anyone else had this experience. It doesn't seem to fit with expectations of Celebrity (or any cruise line really). My sister was hoping to book onto the same cruise in a few week's time but she's concerned about the service, as she would also be a single female traveller. I'd appreciate any feedback about service on the ship, particularly for women travelling on their own. It just doesn't seem right to me but I obviously wasn't there! Thanks all.

Just returned from last weeks Silhouette - have now been cruising solo for a few years since my husband passed and at first I was very anxious but have never had a bad experience and last week was no exception - in fact, I would say the opposite  happened - crew including bar staff were right there offering service as soon as I turned up anywhere - they couldnt have been more welcoming and do enough to make sure I was enjoying my experience.   I was seated at excellent tables in each of the restaurants = right in the window overlooking the bow in Tuscan Grille - amazing to have a lovely meal watching us leaving  Southampton and a lovely sunset - tell them both to pack pretty things and a warm jacket just in case and go for it - worth every cent

[swjumbo]

Glad you had a lovely time!

To all other followers of this thread something just occurred to me and it may be in another forum but I can’t find it.

 

Where was Sue Denning? I would have thought she was perfect for U.K. cruises!

[downsmead]

2 hours ago, swjumbo said:

Glad you had a lovely time!

To all other followers of this thread something just occurred to me and it may be in another forum but I can’t find it.

 

Where was Sue Denning? I would have thought she was perfect for U.K. cruises!

I believe she is on the Summit, she is certainly on one of the ships currently sailing 

[upwarduk]

9 minutes ago, downsmead said:

I believe she is on the Summit, she is certainly on one of the ships currently sailing 

Yes she is, they are on the way from St Maarten back to Maimi.

I was surprised the she wasn’t on Silhouette, she used to say it was ‘her ship.’

Edited September 5, 2021 by upwarduk

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, swjumbo said:

Glad you had a lovely time!

To all other followers of this thread something just occurred to me and it may be in another forum but I can’t find it.

 

Where was Sue Denning? I would have thought she was perfect for U.K. cruises!

She's great(ish) as long as she doesn't sing.

I expect it will be Lewis (no socks) straight out of TOWIE.

[upwarduk]

9 hours ago, the penguins said:

She's great(ish) as long as she doesn't sing.

I expect it will be Lewis (no socks) straight out of TOWIE.

He certainly wasn’t ‘everywhere like Sue was.

On our 2018 Baltic ‘World Cup ‘cruise, she would be seeing you off at the pier and welcoming you back. She organised a choir and when we were unable to get into St Petersburg due to high winds, she reorganised schedules, so we had something to keep us occupied for our unscheduled sea days. We even had the England World Cup games shown in the theatre, together with snacks.

I once asked her if she ever slept? Her reply was ‘ don’t you worry about it.’

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by upwarduk

[emmas gran]

9 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Yes she is, they are on the way from St Maarten back to Maimi.

I was surprised the she wasn’t on Silhouette, she used to say it was ‘her ship.’

We have cruised a few times with Sue and Yes she is very good , never seems to sleep! Some cruise directors are invisible, not Sue and a different pair of shoes for every outfit.

[MX-Drew]

19 hours ago, teabear said:

right in the window overlooking the bow in Tuscan Grille

Not sure how you can get a seat in the Tuscan Grille on Silhouette overlooking the bow. The Tuscan Grille is at the stern of the ship hence being able to have great views of Southampton as you leave.😁 

[emmas gran]

5 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Not sure how you can get a seat in the Tuscan Grille on Silhouette overlooking the bow. The Tuscan Grille is at the stern of the ship hence being able to have great views of Southampton as you leave.😁 

teabear obviously made a slight mistake with back and front!!

[Esprit]

18 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

We have cruised a few times with Sue and Yes she is very good , never seems to sleep! Some cruise directors are invisible, not Sue and a different pair of shoes for every outfit.

Personally I prefer Lewis. We first met him on Reflection in 2018 and he was very visible and energetic, Unlike Maarten on our Edge inaugural who was Mr Invisible. He delegated a lot of his work to the Activities Manager, Valentina (my DD). Needless to say he didn't last long as CD after!

Lewis worked tirelessly on our August Silhouette cruise. He was on the gangway and said goodbye to everyone that debarked the ship too

[emmas gran]

22 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Personally I prefer Lewis. We first met him on Reflection in 2018 and he was very visible and energetic, Unlike Maarten on our Edge inaugural who was Mr Invisible. He delegated a lot of his work to the Activities Manager, Valentina (my DD). Needless to say he didn't last long as CD after!

Lewis worked tirelessly on our August Silhouette cruise. He was on the gangway and said goodbye to everyone that debarked the ship too

We loved Lauren (Scottish) she wasn't a CD when we met on Transpacific, totally agree re Maarten. Although Eddie isn't entirely visible I do like him, where is the red haired northern chap these days? It wouldn't do for us all to like the same people or things.

Edited September 6, 2021 by emmas gran

[MX-Drew]

41 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

teabear obviously made a slight mistake with back and front!!

I know, it is called humor hence the 😁

 

I give up on these forums with the lack of a sense of humor!

[mrpie90]

10 hours ago, downsmead said:

I believe she is on the Summit, she is certainly on one of the ships currently sailing 

Glad she is on the Summit.

I'm not going on the Summit😁😂

[bluwes]

1 hour ago, emmas gran said:

We loved Lauren (Scottish) she wasn't a CD when we met on Transpacific, totally agree re Maarten. Although Eddie isn't entirely visible I do like him, where is the red haired northern chap these days? It wouldn't do for us all to like the same people or things.

The red haired northern chap would be Dan France. He was posting on Instagram early summer from the Silhouette when all the entertainment team were getting back together in Barbados. For some reason when she sailed across to the UK he wasn't on board and had been replaced by someone else, who also didn't last long as we had Lewis on our UK sailing last month. He was good, nothing special though, and yes he did see us off at the gangway.

[laslomas]

1 hour ago, bluwes said:

The red haired northern chap would be Dan France. He was posting on Instagram early summer from the Silhouette when all the entertainment team were getting back together in Barbados. For some reason when she sailed across to the UK he wasn't on board and had been replaced by someone else, who also didn't last long as we had Lewis on our UK sailing last month. He was good, nothing special though, and yes he did see us off at the gangway.

 

Yes, they certainly made quick changes. I was following Dan's postings from Silhouette early summer. I was on the first sailing 3rd July expecting to see him, and was surprised to find the CD was Manuel. So he has now been replaced by Lewis, according to a previous post. I wonder who will be CD when I am on board again in 2 weeks?? What on earth is going on?

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, laslomas said:

 

Yes, they certainly made quick changes. I was following Dan's postings from Silhouette early summer. I was on the first sailing 3rd July expecting to see him, and was surprised to find the CD was Manuel. So he has now been replaced by Lewis, according to a previous post. I wonder who will be CD when I am on board again in 2 weeks?? What on earth is going on?

I was reliably informed that Dan was let go following an incident on board. Crew have to adhere to strict protocols regardless of their position. 

As Lewis lives in the USA he couldn't board Silhouette straightaway following Dan's dismissal. 

[sgmn]

4 hours ago, Esprit said:

Personally I prefer Lewis. We first met him on Reflection in 2018 and he was very visible and energetic, Unlike Maarten on our Edge inaugural who was Mr Invisible. He delegated a lot of his work to the Activities Manager, Valentina (my DD). Needless to say he didn't last long as CD after!

Lewis worked tirelessly on our August Silhouette cruise. He was on the gangway and said goodbye to everyone that debarked the ship too

I was so impressed with Lewis. Two of his ships production cast were positive with covid last week so the whole cast had to self isolate, therefore no singing and dancing ships production shows . He worked very hard to get good headliners at short notice to provide shows every day 

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

I was so impressed with Lewis. Two of his ships production cast were positive with covid last week so the whole cast had to self isolate, therefore no singing and dancing ships production shows . He worked very hard to get good headliners at short notice to provide shows every day 

Were there any more covid cases or just those amongst the production cast?

 

Im curious, who were the replacement acts? Thanks

[KaryEstelle]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

I was so impressed with Lewis. Two of his ships production cast were positive with covid last week so the whole cast had to self isolate, therefore no singing and dancing ships production shows . He worked very hard to get good headliners at short notice to provide shows every day 

Are they having one show per night, due to the reduced numbers of passengers?

[downsmead]

8 minutes ago, KaryEstelle said:

Are they having one show per night, due to the reduced numbers of passengers?

They still had two shows a night on the earlier staycation sailings, and I think it has stayed that way. Someone else will chip in with regards to more recent sailings.

[KaryEstelle]

Thank you for your reply.

[the penguins]

43 minutes ago, KaryEstelle said:

Are they having one show per night, due to the reduced numbers of passengers?

2 per night with most guest entertainers doing extra (different) performances  - matinées in the theatre, nights in Sky Lounge and Grand Foyer.

[royallondon]

We came off the Silhouette Saturday and had a really good time.

Two main showtimes still in place at 7pm and 9pm.

 

Lewis certainly had a challenging week with the resident show team down (he told us he was 27 staff members down).  Getting acts on at short notice over the Bank Holiday weekend who had to be PCR tested apparently was a real challenge.  

The McDonald brothers joined the Ship at Liverpool (their first time on Celebrity) and the Shamrock Tenors at Belfast.  The Baracade boys were also on but not sure if they were replacement acts or scheduled ones.

 

Regards