Live-ish from Silhouette Dec 24 - Jan 4

[lovetocruisee]

1 hour ago, zaxanon6 said:

From today's Celebrity Today:

"Christmas Village

Our Christmas Village in the Grand Foyer will be available for viewing and picture taking until the evening of January 2nd."

 

I'll ask guest services if I get a chance, but I'd imagine they'll want to take off the decor and put it in storage during the turnaround between cruises.

thanks for the answer. I would have loved to see them. I’ve only seen it once, on a transatlantic a few years ago. 

[countess5]

There is no Lawn Club on Equinox. They still have the glass blowing set up.

 

Cheers! 

[zaxanon6]

As one might predict, after a night of ringing in the new year, the ship was very quiet this morning. You could practically have a seating section to yourself in Oceanview, there was little competition for loungers by the pool, and there were lots of 'Deep Sleep' signs on stateroom doors. The seas are still rough (the poor Christmas tree in the library is rocking and crooked) and winds are still high (up to 35mph), but the Captain said in his morning announcements that it should get better this afternoon once we pass Haiti and start heading northwest along Cuba.

 

The morning announcements also revealed that another 13 passengers tested positive over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 26 passengers and 3 crew. There was no 6pm announcement of cases last night; perhaps that was a morale-based decision. Seems like everyone freezes and holds their breath whenever the overhead system goes 'bing-bong'. We are currently still on course to Bimini, so no word about entry issues with the Bahamas.

 

Today will likely be a quiet day with activities like watercolor painting or another Beyond the Podium lecture.

[sakigemcam]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

I like the menu-however my DH would say "throw in garbage"  He wouldn't eat anything except fruit salad on it.!  LOL

 Yes kind of bummed it's Indian cuisine which is the one cuisine we just never enjoyed. I'd love a Middle Eastern extravaganza or an authentic Chinese or Mongolian or Nepalese or Peruvian, etc. Maybe down the road!

[Peery5]

1 hour ago, zaxanon6 said:

As one might predict, after a night of ringing in the new year, the ship was very quiet this morning. You could practically have a seating section to yourself in Oceanview, there was little competition for loungers by the pool, and there were lots of 'Deep Sleep' signs on stateroom doors. The seas are still rough (the poor Christmas tree in the library is rocking and crooked) and winds are still high (up to 35mph), but the Captain said in his morning announcements that it should get better this afternoon once we pass Haiti and start heading northwest along Cuba.

 

The morning announcements also revealed that another 13 passengers tested positive over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 26 passengers and 3 crew. There was no 6pm announcement of cases last night; perhaps that was a morale-based decision. Seems like everyone freezes and holds their breath whenever the overhead system goes 'bing-bong'. We are currently still on course to Bimini, so no word about entry issues with the Bahamas.

 

Today will likely be a quiet day with activities like watercolor painting or another Beyond the Podium lecture.

I would love to know if there is any common thing about those testing positive (in casino together, dining tables close by, spa treatments etc). Also if these folks were masking or not. Might make it easier to avoid while on ship.  Sailing on the 4th.

[stones902]

2 hours ago, zaxanon6 said:

As one might predict, after a night of ringing in the new year, the ship was very quiet this morning. You could practically have a seating section to yourself in Oceanview, there was little competition for loungers by the pool, and there were lots of 'Deep Sleep' signs on stateroom doors. The seas are still rough (the poor Christmas tree in the library is rocking and crooked) and winds are still high (up to 35mph), but the Captain said in his morning announcements that it should get better this afternoon once we pass Haiti and start heading northwest along Cuba.

 

The morning announcements also revealed that another 13 passengers tested positive over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 26 passengers and 3 crew. There was no 6pm announcement of cases last night; perhaps that was a morale-based decision. Seems like everyone freezes and holds their breath whenever the overhead system goes 'bing-bong'. We are currently still on course to Bimini, so no word about entry issues with the Bahamas.

 

Today will likely be a quiet day with activities like watercolor painting or another Beyond the Podium lecture.

Disheartening but not surprising that cases continue to rise. 

[BlueFish2000]

4 hours ago, Peery5 said:

I would love to know if there is any common thing about those testing positive (in casino together, dining tables close by, spa treatments etc). Also if these folks were masking or not. Might make it easier to avoid while on ship.  Sailing on the 4th.

At least they are notifying guests - Princess does not disclose. When we were on in July there were 4 cases but we only found out through crew. 

[BigTorino]

7 hours ago, Peery5 said:

I would love to know if there is any common thing about those testing positive (in casino together, dining tables close by, spa treatments etc). Also if these folks were masking or not. Might make it easier to avoid while on ship.  Sailing on the 4th.

I must be missing something. The main thing these cruisers have in common must be they show up at the infirmary with symptoms, right? None of the asymptomatic, but covid positive passengers would ever be identified. No general covid testing is performed among the passengers on the ship, until at best at the end of the cruise, and only then if you're traveling home on an international flight or if you're scheduled on a B2B. Therefore, you will not know until a couple of days after you return home if you've encountered and caught omicron from one of your fellow (presumably asymptomatic?) cruisers. Correct?

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, BigTorino said:

I must be missing something. The main thing these cruisers have in common must be they show up at the infirmary with symptoms, right? None of the asymptomatic, but covid positive passengers would ever be identified. No general covid testing is performed among the passengers on the ship, until at best at the end of the cruise, and only then if you're traveling home on an international flight or if you're scheduled on a B2B. Therefore, you will not know until a couple of days after you return home if you've encountered and caught omicron from one of your fellow (presumably asymptomatic?) cruisers. Correct?

 

Not necessarily correct.  You are right that general testing of guests is not going on.  At some point during the cruise, someone feels ill and goes to medical and is tested.  If the person is positive, the ship will start doing contact tracing and testing others in the same cabin, traveling party, dinner table, shorex bus, etc.  So it is quite possible that asymptomatic guests will in fact find themselves getting tested on board.

[RichYak]

6 minutes ago, BigTorino said:

Correct?

Not necessarily. For each symptomatic confirmed positive, there is some number of close contacts that are tested. These could add up and could account for many asymptomatic positives. And those would lead to more close contacts, etc etc etc.

[FFMilesJunkie]

I can’t speak for what the situation has been on the Silhouette, but on the Connie they describe one person shows up with mild symptoms and that triggers testing of close contacts which is resulting in multiple additional asymptomatic positives. Everyone has been described as having very mild or no symptoms at all. If it were not for the contact tracing and testing, we would probably only have a handful of cases on each ship. Here on the Connie I think only 2 or 3 have actually showed up at medical. The others are all contact tracing. 

[BigTorino]

18 minutes ago, FFMilesJunkie said:

I can’t speak for what the situation has been on the Silhouette, but on the Connie they describe one person shows up with mild symptoms and that triggers testing of close contacts which is resulting in multiple additional asymptomatic positives. Everyone has been described as having very mild or no symptoms at all. If it were not for the contact tracing and testing, we would probably only have a handful of cases on each ship. Here on the Connie I think only 2 or 3 have actually showed up at medical. The others are all contact tracing. 

Thank you all CC members who reminded me about diligent contact tracing!  Gives me some hope.

 

 

8 hours ago, Peery5 said:

I would love to know if there is any common thing about those testing positive (in casino together, dining tables close by, spa treatments etc). Also if these folks were masking or not. Might make it easier to avoid while on ship.  Sailing on the 4th.

I must be missing something. The main thing these cruisers have in common must be they show up at the infirmary with symptoms, right? None of the asymptomatic, but covid positive passengers would ever be identified. No general covid testing is performed among the passengers on the ship, until at best at the end of the cruise, and only then if you're traveling home on an international flight or if you're scheduled on a B2B. Therefore, you will not know until a couple of days after you return home if you've encountered and caught omicron from one of your fellow (presumably asymptomatic?) cruisers. Correct?

[TourDeCruise]

10 hours ago, countess5 said:

There is no Lawn Club on Equinox. They still have the glass blowing set up.

 

Cheers! 

Darn it. I've seen the glass blowing a couple times. I need Lawn Club Indian food. lol.

[zaxanon6]

45 minutes ago, TourDeCruise said:

Darn it. I've seen the glass blowing a couple times. I need Lawn Club Indian food. lol.

I think two things have been confused. The 'Taste of Taj X' is at Sushi on Five, and I don't know if other ships besides Silhouette have it. The Lawn Club Grill is separate; we went there a few days ago (and unfortunately left disappointed).

 

However, Taj X tonight was amazing. We are lucky to have multiple very good Indian restaurants in our hometown, and this was just as good if not better. They decorated Sushi on Five for the occasion, giving the place a different feel. The menu was the same as previously posted, and it was $40pp. Our waiter was not from India, but our assistant waiter was. She was happy to chat with us about the food, her country, and her experience on the ship. Our waiter also talked about his experience with Celebrity; he just came onboard for a new contract. The food was wonderful; every dish was very flavorful and well cooked. It was A LOT of food, (we did not eat it all) but I was glad it was a tasting menu because I probably wouldn't tried so many things otherwise. I'd recommend this experience to anyone. If you like Indian food, you should be very happy. If you don't have experience with Indian food, it's a great way to start and they'll explain the dishes.

[TourDeCruise]

48 minutes ago, zaxanon6 said:

I think two things have been confused. The 'Taste of Taj X' is at Sushi on Five, and I don't know if other ships besides Silhouette have it. The Lawn Club Grill is separate; we went there a few days ago (and unfortunately left disappointed).

 

However, Taj X tonight was amazing. We are lucky to have multiple very good Indian restaurants in our hometown, and this was just as good if not better. They decorated Sushi on Five for the occasion, giving the place a different feel. The menu was the same as previously posted, and it was $40pp. Our waiter was not from India, but our assistant waiter was. She was happy to chat with us about the food, her country, and her experience on the ship. Our waiter also talked about his experience with Celebrity; he just came onboard for a new contract. The food was wonderful; every dish was very flavorful and well cooked. It was A LOT of food, (we did not eat it all) but I was glad it was a tasting menu because I probably wouldn't tried so many things otherwise. I'd recommend this experience to anyone. If you like Indian food, you should be very happy. If you don't have experience with Indian food, it's a great way to start and they'll e're rexplain the dishes.

w

This is great news! I really hope Sushi on Five on Equinox has The Taste of Taj X. We're ready! Love Indian food! 

[Turtles06]

32 minutes ago, TourDeCruise said:

w

This is great news! I really hope Sushi on Five on Equinox has The Taste of Taj X. We're ready! Love Indian food! 

Sushi on Five on the Silhouette is just the physical space used for the one-time Taj X dinner. 

 

1 hour ago, zaxanon6 said:

Taj X tonight was amazing 

So glad you liked it as much as we did! 
 

Enjoy the end of your cruise!

[asnaleah]

Thank you Zaxanon6. Your posts are truly appreciated! We’re keeping our plans for Jan 24. So far…

[asnaleah]

I have a question for you. Are the shows available in your cabin via closed circuit tv?

[zaxanon6]

42 minutes ago, asnaleah said:

I have a question for you. Are the shows available in your cabin via closed circuit tv?

I confess I've watched little TV on the ship, but I polled my family and they've seen the holiday production, as well as the Beyond the Podium lectures on the TV. All were recordings after the fact, not live.

[asnaleah]

4 minutes ago, zaxanon6 said:

I confess I've watched little TV on the ship, but I polled my family and they've seen the holiday production, as well as the Beyond the Podium lectures on the TV. All were recordings after the fact, not live.

Thanks for the info. We may not be comfortable attending in person, so this is a nice option.

[zaxanon6]

Good morning from off the coast of Cuba. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning, great weather for a walk on deck. The seas are MUCH calmer today, with just some small waves, and we have a tailwind. There are a lot of ships around us - cargo, Regents, Norwegian, and a US (I think) coast guard cutter.

 

From the Captain's morning announcements, we are currently still headed for Bimini. I have no idea what the Bahamas' threshold for denial of docking is, but the positive case count as of this morning is 38 passengers and 5 crew. That's 12 and 2 more than yesterday's totals, so although the numbers have increased, it's not exponential. I'm grateful that the Captain is continuing to give us information. A man in an elevator yesterday said 'everyone' on deck 7 is sick, but that appears to have been an exaggeration. The Captain again strongly recommended (twice) that everyone wear masks unless eating or drinking and social distance around the ship.

 

Today will probably be another quiet day. Looking forward to going back to the MDR again and seeing our wonderful team.

[countess5]

2 hours ago, zaxanon6 said:

Good morning from off the coast of Cuba. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning, great weather for a walk on deck. The seas are MUCH calmer today, with just some small waves, and we have a tailwind. There are a lot of ships around us - cargo, Regents, Norwegian, and a US (I think) coast guard cutter.

 

From the Captain's morning announcements, we are currently still headed for Bimini. I have no idea what the Bahamas' threshold for denial of docking is, but the positive case count as of this morning is 38 passengers and 5 crew. That's 12 and 2 more than yesterday's totals, so although the numbers have increased, it's not exponential. I'm grateful that the Captain is continuing to give us information. A man in an elevator yesterday said 'everyone' on deck 7 is sick, but that appears to have been an exaggeration. The Captain again strongly recommended (twice) that everyone wear masks unless eating or drinking and social distance around the ship.

 

Today will probably be another quiet day. Looking forward to going back to the MDR again and seeing our wonderful team.

You may of shared this before but how many passengers are on your cruise?

We are deciding on whether to move our B2B January 14 and 24th Silhouette cruises to March. 

 

Thanks!

 

Cheers! 

[zaxanon6]

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

You may of shared this before but how many passengers are on your cruise?

There's been multiple answers...

The Captain said a bit over 1000 on the first night. Another passenger responded that they'd been told a bit over 1400. I asked guest services and was told a bit over 1300. So... Something in that ballpark. 50% or less.

[stones902]

Surmising that the current positivity rate is roughly 3%. That’s about the same reported in the general population. 
 

We’re planning on masking up for the Jan 4 cruise when inside unless eating or drinking. 

[Russ Lomas]

15 minutes ago, stones902 said:

Surmising that the current positivity rate is roughly 3%. That’s about the same reported in the general population. 
 

We’re planning on masking up for the Jan 4 cruise when inside unless eating or drinking. 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Russ Lomas
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