Post Cruise Notes--Silhouette TA 22 October 2023

[cluso]

A few notes from our recent sailing from Southampton to Ft Lauderdale.

Elite+, Our 5th TA, 11 nights,7245 Deluxe Veranda, port side, rear facing on the hump. 

 

We were in England early visiting friends up north.  The Wednesday before our sailing, we received an email from Celebrity saying our cruise might be delayed a little bit due to storms. We had reservations at The Moxy in Southampton for Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, after seeing a thread on CC about the delay, we extended our stay another night.  Turns out the cruise before us was in Lisbon when they closed the port due to the storms.  We received more emails from Celebrity.  We were to leave on Monday vice Sunday.  There is a whole thread on this, "Delayed Boarding Oct 19 by PGI GUY", so I won't go much deeper.  Celebrity did fine by us.  We received a full day's credit for each of us and a day's gratuities for each of us-all in REFUNDABLE credit.  They also allowed up to 200GBP for the extra night in Southampton--which covered our bill.  In fact, we totally enjoyed our extra day.  The weather was perfect, and we took the ferry to the Isle of Wight.  Pictures below.

 

--We felt the ship was in great condition, along with our cabin and veranda.  Our cabin steward, "Prat" was awesome.

--The crew was happy and hard working.

--Cafe Al Bacio was excellent, a tiny bit slow due to all the Elites onboard.

--Sushi on Five was Excellent.

--It was kind of an "off" night in Murano for us on night 7.  We arrived right on time and the hostess didn't have a table for us.  She got the Head Waiter to take us to a 4-top.  They removed the extra settings.  We ordered cocktails and the empty glasses were left on the table throughout the meal.  We ordered a bottle of wine, and the wine list was left on our table throughout the meal.  The loup  entree was excellent, however the preparation overpowered the fish.  Luckily, the fish was on top, so my DH was able to eat the fish without too much sauce.  My rack of lamb was done just right (MR) and was great.   Two men were wearing gnarly jeans, and at another table a man had on a white t-shirt (think Hanes, not Polo).

 

--The main dining room definitely had cutbacks on menu selections, quality, and service.  The prime rib was cooked medium rare but was too fatty and swimming in pan gravy.  Beans/carrots.  The Steak Diane was swimming in a cognac mushroom sauce.  I only ate a third of it because there was too much gristle.  Beans/carrots. The Ceasar salad seemed watered down/lacked flavor, and they did not offer to sprinkle extra cheese on it.  Lots of turkey, chicken, pork, and whole wheat pasta dishes.

--The corned beef in the am had definitely changed.  It didn't seem to have much potato in it and it was extremely watery.  I had to blot up the juice with paper napkins.  Looked like dog food.  One and done.

--The burger in the OVC was too thick for the bun, like the new burgers at the Mast Grill a year or so ago.  The bun fell apart.  Condiments and meat were located before the buns as were the slices of cheese (which were melted together).  Kind of a hassle to put it together without holding up the line.  Ended up eating the last half with a fork and knife due to the bun falling apart.  Mustard and ketchup at another station. 

 

--We enjoyed the duo "Bright Avenue" and the string duo from the Ukraine.

--We did not care for the shampoo, it seemed harsh.

--We didn't get to stop in the Azores due to our late departure.  Luckily, we had stopped there last year.

--The app menus were not always correct.  Sometimes the app would say a venue was open, when it wasn't.

--There was not a strong showing for the two 'chic nights".

--Lots of Elites on this cruise so the Elite Breakfast was the "old" buffet style which we like better than the new "plates".

--Celebrity did not honor the higher drink prices for the Classic and Premium Packages when sailing out of the UK and AUS.  It is specifically stated on their website and on the app.  Some of us went through 3 levels of the chain of command to sort this out.  The answer was "it's a glitch".  Actually, it is false advertising.

 

Overall, we enjoyed our trip.  We did spend a lot of time on our balcony reading because the weather was not great the first several days.  The library had lots of books!  Next Celebrity trip in January--hopefully the food issues will be cleaned up.  Then, Star Clippers and Oceania.

Sante`

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for the well written and balanced review.   I was disappointed to read of your experience in Murano.  

[hcat]

sorry Murano  dining was not as good as it should have been..

 

We  have noticed from various photo  posts that many dishes lately are swimming in sauce and gravy.  We plan to ask for all gravy and sauces to be served on the side!

 

 

[Baynanno1]

Good review, thanks.

 

@hcat our first night on Solstice recently the Roasted Turbot was served in a bowl in smallish pieces swimming in a creamy sauce - rather like soup.

Subsequently we asked for detailed descriptions of meals we were considering before ordering. Sauce was  served in a jug.

[mahdnc]

8 hours ago, cluso said:

A few notes from our recent sailing from Southampton to Ft Lauderdale.

Elite+, Our 5th TA, 11 nights,7245 Deluxe Veranda, port side, rear facing on the hump. 

 

We were in England early visiting friends up north.  The Wednesday before our sailing, we received an email from Celebrity saying our cruise might be delayed a little bit due to storms. We had reservations at The Moxy in Southampton for Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, after seeing a thread on CC about the delay, we extended our stay another night.  Turns out the cruise before us was in Lisbon when they closed the port due to the storms.  We received more emails from Celebrity.  We were to leave on Monday vice Sunday.  There is a whole thread on this, "Delayed Boarding Oct 19 by PGI GUY", so I won't go much deeper.  Celebrity did fine by us.  We received a full day's credit for each of us and a day's gratuities for each of us-all in REFUNDABLE credit.  They also allowed up to 200GBP for the extra night in Southampton--which covered our bill.  In fact, we totally enjoyed our extra day.  The weather was perfect, and we took the ferry to the Isle of Wight.  Pictures below.

 

--We felt the ship was in great condition, along with our cabin and veranda.  Our cabin steward, "Prat" was awesome.

--The crew was happy and hard working.

--Cafe Al Bacio was excellent, a tiny bit slow due to all the Elites onboard.

--Sushi on Five was Excellent.

--It was kind of an "off" night in Murano for us on night 7.  We arrived right on time and the hostess didn't have a table for us.  She got the Head Waiter to take us to a 4-top.  They removed the extra settings.  We ordered cocktails and the empty glasses were left on the table throughout the meal.  We ordered a bottle of wine, and the wine list was left on our table throughout the meal.  The loup  entree was excellent, however the preparation overpowered the fish.  Luckily, the fish was on top, so my DH was able to eat the fish without too much sauce.  My rack of lamb was done just right (MR) and was great.   Two men were wearing gnarly jeans, and at another table a man had on a white t-shirt (think Hanes, not Polo).

 

--The main dining room definitely had cutbacks on menu selections, quality, and service.  The prime rib was cooked medium rare but was too fatty and swimming in pan gravy.  Beans/carrots.  The Steak Diane was swimming in a cognac mushroom sauce.  I only ate a third of it because there was too much gristle.  Beans/carrots. The Ceasar salad seemed watered down/lacked flavor, and they did not offer to sprinkle extra cheese on it.  Lots of turkey, chicken, pork, and whole wheat pasta dishes.

--The corned beef in the am had definitely changed.  It didn't seem to have much potato in it and it was extremely watery.  I had to blot up the juice with paper napkins.  Looked like dog food.  One and done.

--The burger in the OVC was too thick for the bun, like the new burgers at the Mast Grill a year or so ago.  The bun fell apart.  Condiments and meat were located before the buns as were the slices of cheese (which were melted together).  Kind of a hassle to put it together without holding up the line.  Ended up eating the last half with a fork and knife due to the bun falling apart.  Mustard and ketchup at another station. 

 

--We enjoyed the duo "Bright Avenue" and the string duo from the Ukraine.

--We did not care for the shampoo, it seemed harsh.

--We didn't get to stop in the Azores due to our late departure.  Luckily, we had stopped there last year.

--The app menus were not always correct.  Sometimes the app would say a venue was open, when it wasn't.

--There was not a strong showing for the two 'chic nights".

--Lots of Elites on this cruise so the Elite Breakfast was the "old" buffet style which we like better than the new "plates".

--Celebrity did not honor the higher drink prices for the Classic and Premium Packages when sailing out of the UK and AUS.  It is specifically stated on their website and on the app.  Some of us went through 3 levels of the chain of command to sort this out.  The answer was "it's a glitch".  Actually, it is false advertising.

 

Overall, we enjoyed our trip.  We did spend a lot of time on our balcony reading because the weather was not great the first several days.  The library had lots of books!  Next Celebrity trip in January--hopefully the food issues will be cleaned up.  Then, Star Clippers and Oceania.

Sante`

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, Kim.  Thanks for posting your review and the nice photos.  It's good to hear that you were satisfied with the compensation that Celebrity offered for your one-day-late cruise.

 

David

[upwarduk]

9 hours ago, hcat said:

We  have noticed from various photo  posts that many dishes lately are swimming in sauce and gravy.  We plan to ask for all gravy and sauces to be served on the side!

We were on the cruise which finished on 11th October.

My biggest complaint was the lack of vegetables- my husband was served cake x2 and was told it was Sweetcorn cake. Extra carbohydrates are not required!

I had fish served with chickpeas. I thought they were baked beans.

There after we put in a special order for vegetables.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by upwarduk

[cluso]

upwarduk--I like chickpeas, but that serving looks like overkill and not too appetizing.

[upwarduk]

9 hours ago, cluso said:

upwarduk--I like chickpeas, but that serving looks like overkill and not too appetizing.

I had already eaten some as well.

I almost always eat everything on my plate, as I was brought up during the war, when food was scarce.

[cluso]

We got our refund from Celebrity for our extra night in Southampton 3 days after emailing the hotel receipt.  Not too shabby!  🤑

[gold1953]

7 hours ago, cluso said:

We got our refund from Celebrity for our extra night in Southampton 3 days after emailing the hotel receipt.  Not too shabby!  🤑

same, sent it in Nov. 5th