New to Celebrity - questions before I book (Silhouette)

[phoenix1975]

Hi. I've previously cruised on P&O (a lot) plus a cruise each on Princess and NCL but am interested in booking one of the UK cruises on Silhouette this August with Celebrity mainly because there's no single supplement. I've not been on Celebrity before and have some questions if anyone can help me out with them please, before I book:

 

1. Is is best to book direct with Celebrity or through a specialist TA (e.g. is it cheaper)?

2. I'm looking to get a Verandah (Balcony) cabin. Am I right in thinking when you look straight down over your balcony, the hump ones are over the sea, and the ones set back between the humps are over the promenade deck? 

3. Is there any advantage in going for a Sunset Verandah cabin as there's not a lot of difference in price? Do these step out at the back - i.e. the lowest deck cabin is the furthest out?

4. Any deck best to get a cabin on? I think looking at photos, the ones on Deck 6 see the top of the lifeboats.

5. Free Wifi included in the Always Included thing - is that just to view emails etc. or can you stream with it? Does it work well in cabins?

6. Cafe al Bacio - can you get decaf coffee for all the coffee drinks?

 

Thanks in advance :)

[justcrusn]

Lots of questions here!

First, let me say Silhouette is our favorite Celebrity ship, we’ve sailed on many and love Silhouette the best. Slight differences, like between Miss America and the first runner up, but just know it’s a great ship.

1. You can go either way.  We generally DO NOT, but many others do. Using a TA can get you onboard credit! You also cannot directly call celebrity once a TA assumes the booking.  If you use a TA, it better be a good one! It is against the rules to mention a travel agent on this site FYI.

 

2. The differences in verandas is slight, although some are very long, usually class 1A. Looking down, not much difference especially if you’re higher up. 

3.  We love sunset verandah! The view is incredible, however it’s a long walk to the elevator (therefore everything).  Skip the bottom deck for a better view, the lowest row has a blue deck ( I think it’s the roof of BLU) in front of you. The cabins are terraced, meaning staggered so the bottom ones stick out furthest. You can find photos of that too, but the privacy is good but not perfect, people above you can see you when at the railing.

 Also, some of them are wider than others, look at photos to see what I mean.

 

4.We recommended higher than 6,7 to avoid lifeboats and tenders. If you are motion sensitive people recommend lower and in the middle of the ship, we aren’t so we like higher up.

 

5. I believe the included wifi is not good for streaming but fine for email, browsing, shopping, reading, etc.

 

6. I think so, if I’m wrong someone will correct me…..

[cangelmd]

Welcome too!

1 You need to get some responses from someone in the UK, because I think there are some differences in booking from there and booking from the states. Differences that seem to affect the costs and how booking is handled.

2-3 Some balconies are much shadier than others, as well as somewhat different sizes. Many of the Sunsets get lots of sun because they are in the back. Aqua Class cabins are under a deep overhang and are shaded most of the time.

Nothing really to add from the response above. Happy booking.

[Shore_rat]

we’ve travelled several times on celebrity on both UK and international itineraries. 

Booking from a UK perspective: The is not much difference between using a TA and booking direct. We have done both and have no preference. Usually a TA may be able to offer a slightly lower price but on the other side of the coin, often want a larger deposit and earlier payment of the balance.

 

One factor to consider, especially for UK cruises this summer, is some of the offers being promoted cannot be claimed under the best offer guarantee if booked through a T A.  We are cruising next on 17 Jul Silhouette sailing and since booking a number of dels have become available. We have been able to claim free parking and later, 10% discount (for being captains club members) by phoning celebrity directly whereas other travellers on the roll call on the same itinerary who booked via T A have been less successful in claiming these savings.

 

we are also booked to sail in October but there are far fewer offers and incentives available on that cruise (at the moment!! )

 

My advice, Compare what each offer as sometimes there are differences in OBC and perks. We tend to look at both and decide on what appears to be the best deal.
 

Balcony choice is IMO dependent on the itineraries. Some love hump balconies but theses can be susceptible to winds, others rave about sunset balconies but as previously mentioned these are sometimes overlooked  and largely shaded. Whist they are all different, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad one,

 

hope you enjoy your Celebrity experience……

[micheleata]

Yes, Cafe Bacio will make any of their drinks with Decaf if you ask.

[marieps]

Certain verandas come with add'l perks.  Deck 11 is home to Aqua Class.  The exact same room dimensions...but passengers get their own restaurant for breakfast and dinner, called Blu.  You also get unlimited access to the Persian Garden (steam, sauna ceramic loungers) and the Relaxation Room.  The shower is upgraded as well with body sprays.  Book forward for full sun, mid ship for shade, (but beware of the pool deck noise above.)  A couple of cabins are obstructed by a window washing scaffold.  1546-1540 starboard are fine.  Port is under the Spa Cafe.  That can also be noisy.

[phoenix1975]

Thanks for all your help. I booked this evening for 21st August on Deck 8, 1A Stateroom 🙂

[keesar]

9 minutes ago, phoenix1975 said:

Thanks for all your help. I booked this evening for 21st August on Deck 8, 1A Stateroom 🙂

I hope you enjoy your cruise.  Good choice of deck and room.

 

Don't expect too much from the Internet on board.  This is especially true when the ship is at sea.  Many times it will be similar to the old dial-up service.  Can be very  frustrating.  However, they have made progress in improving speed over the last couple of years.  We will use Internet when the  ship is in port when people are off the ship.  

[Chanbre]

For information on individual cabins look at the sticky thread "S-Class Cabin Information Compilation - ". The first post in that thread links to a spreadsheet. There are similar sticky threads for other Celebrity ship classes.

[talljules1]

I'm also from the UK, and agree with most of the comments made.

 

When we started cruising we booked our cruises direct with the cruise line. Then we met a fab travel agent who was a fellow passenger on one of our cruises - and she has been our TA ever since.  She saves us money.  As an example, we booked 2 cruises in aft corner sky suites for next year, and across those 2 cruises she saved us close to £1000 compared to the prices on Celebrity's website. For our cruise on 17th July (Royal Suite) we got the free carparking and saved on the price advertised on the website - so we're happy.  On our cruise to Iceland we had a problem in that our on board credit didn't come through (it was a sizeable chunk!) and we were struggling to get it resolved. I called her at our next port and she had it all sorted by the time we set sail again. 

 

So, the upshot for us is that we always get either some money off, more OBC, or carparking - sometimes all of them.  Well worth it to us to use a TA - and she is brilliant.

 

Re balcony staterooms - we like higher up. Generally your room will be quieter if there are staterooms above and below it. On deck 12 the staterooms under the cafe can be noisy (so when we've booked those we've looked closely at deck plans to choose ones NOT under the cafe - having made that mistake before!). That said, decks 9-12 are our favs.

 

One thing to consider re views obstructed by lifeboats is how much time you will actually spend on the balcony.  Although we always book a room with a balcony (standard veranda and above) we generally spend almost no time at all on it (so obstructed views not really so much an issue) - if we want to see the sights we generally go up on deck.

 

Can't answer your wifi question - I like to lock my phone in the room safe as soon as we get to our room and to disconnect from the world for the duration.

 

Can't answer your decaf question because never tried.  

[Denny01]

I agree with the comments about professional TAs. I used online discount sites, 1-800 (US) bookers, which is what they are - Booking Agents who help you get that one reservation set up and that’s it. 
 

Booking directly with the Line is fine but few additions. 
 

I found a local TA who goes well beyond making reservations and has not only saved me money but assisted while traveling and things went badly. 
 

the only time a TA can get you lower prices is when they set up a group booking they add you to. Not many options of lower SR prices. And they add OBC and so on. At least that’s my understanding. 
 

den