[/FONT]
We just returned from a fabulous cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. It was our very first Celebrity cruise although I am a very experienced cruiser. I am Platinum with NCL & Carnival, and have cruised Disney, RCI, HAL & the Big Red Boats back in the day. On NCL we frequently sail in suites, up to and including the Garden Villas. I only say this to give my review context.
. The day we flew down was Frank's birthday
This was also our first time sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. Other than cruising out of Boston (less than an hour from home) this was by far the simplest logistics wise. We flew out of Worcester airport the night before, and were lucky to get out between snow events.We took a quick cab ride ($20 with tip) to the Renaissance which was clean and nice. We had a fun dinner at the Bimini Boathouse next door. The food was mediocre, but after our brutal winter we were just happy to be sitting outdoors enjoying ourselves.
In the morning we toddled over to a bagel place in the shopping center next door just to get some coffee to hold us until we boarded. We paid $6 apiece for a shuttle from the hotel, and got on the first one at 10:30. It took only minutes before we arrived at the port, and we were whisked through the check in process in a flash. We sat for less than 10 minutes, and were onboard the magnificent ship by 11:15 with a mimosa in hand.
I had heard the buffet gets crazy this day, but because we were so early we decided to go there anyway. Ha, we were like the third couple there. Everything was fresh and beautifully presented. So we had a nice lunch, and then headed out to the AFT of the ship to enjoy the sunshine and a lemon drop martini. There was a duo playing and they were very enjoyable. I think they were called 5 O’Clock Somewhere or something similar. They played throughout the week mostly at the martin bar.
Rooms were ready shortly after 1 if I recall correctly and we were very pleased with our stateroom. It was spacious for a balcony stateroom with a well laid out bathroom, a sofa and a king bed along with sufficient storage. It was a ‘hump’ balcony, so the balcony itself was much larger than the regular balconies, with an angled front which allowed a nice view to the bow when standing at the rail. It was furnished with 2 comfortable chairs with adjustable backs and a nice round table. Footstools would have made it perfect
We relaxed out there until it was time for the Muster Drill. That was quick and painless and it was there that we first realized how many Canadians were on this sailing. Luckily they are a friendly fun loving bunch and I think that added to how much fun we had on this cruise! Our bags were in the room when we got back, so we unpacked and got ready for dinner.
Upon boarding we had booked dinner at the Tuscan Grill. Normally $45 pp we got a 20% discount so it was $36. We were seated at a lovely window table, and proceeded to eat & drink ourselves silly. This is the night I started to really get the value out of the Premium Beverage Plan I had surged on. DH does not drink, so he had the Premium non-alcohol plan and definitely got his value from that throughout the week. Anyway, our server and sommelier were both excellent, even bringing additional dishes for us to try, and everything was delicious with the exception of DH’s steak. The server seemed shocked that the steak wasn’t good, but recovered quickly and DH ordered something completely different. By this time, exhaustion and wine had caught up to me, so I had reached the silly stage. When the server came out with 4 desserts for us I couldn't stop laughing at the gluttony. They were all delicious although all we could do was try a bite or 2 of each! After dinner, I checked out the casino for a bit while DH went to the show and then it was time to go bed completely content
The next day was at Sea. This was going to be the test, as we were worried about being bored like we were on our one Holland America cruise. We started off with a nice enough breakfast in the main dining room. It seemed a bit rushed, but we enjoyed sitting with lovely people and starting our day.
I went to the casino for awhile, but I couldn’t get anything going at all. For my casino buddies, i will try to remember some of the slot selection now. There were a bunch of Quick Hits in many different versions, all penny denim with max bet of $1.50. There were 2 Beverly Hillbillies, 2 original Hangover, and 2 Sex in the City. There were 3 U-Spin penny denim, max bet $2 I think. A bunch of Bally machines like Sumo Kitty with $2 max bets and progressives. Some older WMS Hot Hot Super re-spin like Tigers Realm and ZEUS. One Wonder 4 (a version with Buffalo & the Dreamcatcher Indian game), One Buffalo, One Timberwolf Deluxe, a couple other Aristocrats, a few multi-denim reels between quarter and $2, and a few other reels that were $5 that may have been multi denim as well. There were some IGTs, some multimedia and a bank that turned into the new fangled tournament machines the land based casinos are using. There were more games as well, but hopefully this give you an idea. The Video Poker was 6/5 so I hardly played it, with the exception of some multi hand games that were at 7/5. Those were the only VP games that gave me any play at all.
They had a slot tournament on the 2 sea days. The first day anyone could enter, and the last day you just had to have earned 500 (I think) points to qualify. I sucked both ties. I continued to visit the casino most evenings, but I grew tired of it quickly and always left after a short time. I only had a couple of decent hits. Overall it was not much fun due to not just losing, but losing so quickly. So, I just saved some of each days bankroll for Vegas
We ate most mornings at the buffet for convenience. I loved the guy that was doing the Benedicts, although I never had one of those, I got my freshly poached eggs from him to go with the wonderful hash I found somewhere. I had a great omelet one morning, but I wasn’t happy with the waffles. I didn’t notice any variation in the selections from day to day, other than switching out the Benedicts a bit. But there was plenty of selection, so it was fine.
We did the buffet for lunch a few times, and it was fine. Again, other than changing the item at the carving station and a few of the hot items, not much changed day to day. The cheeses were pretty bland, and the cold cuts were not of the quality I would have expected. Salads were fresh and good, though, and again there was plenty to choose from so no real complaints.
The absolute worst meal of the trip was when we decided to try the Porch on our last day. It was an uncharge restaurant and we thought it would be a nice change. WRONG. The service was awkward and slow. My panini was supposed to be Italian of some sort, but the prosciutto was so tough and stringy that it was virtually inedible. The server never asked why it wasn’t eaten. DH had a Reuben and it was ok, but his soup was salty and cold. The dessert cupcakes were not fresh and probably had been previously frozen. It was really disappointing and I wish we hadn’t bothered!
Our favorite lunches were the 2 days we went to the Mast Grill for burgers. Hands down, the absolute best burgers and fries I have had on a ship. Just yummy, and it was very enjoyable sitting up there in the fresh air. I highly recommend the Mast Grill.
We had booked Select Dining which meant we did not have an assigned time or table, and could go whenever it pleased our fancy. Tonight we chose to have dinner in the main dining room and were fortunate to get another lovely window table. Our server was Jason and he was fantastic, and my sommelier was Diana and I loved her. For some reason we got their station again the next 2 nights without requesting it, but by this time we were so happy with them that we requested them the rest of the week. Every dinner was very good or better, and we enjoyed the main dining room so much that we never bothered with trying another specialty restaurant.
I am not going to go night by night and tell you everything we ate, but I will mention some hits & misses. I was disappointed in the soups I tried, but most of the salads were quite good. For appetizers, the crab cake was a standout and I had a spinach tart that was perfection. I rarely eat beef, but for some reason the beef dishes really appealed to me, and I tried quite a few. The beef short ribs were excellent, and the Beef Wellington was amazing. The turkey dinner was fabulous. DH absolutely loved the chicken saltimbocca. Desserts were good, but not outstanding most nights. DH really liked the cheesecake, and I enjoyed a Grand marina Soufflé. I was very happy with the available wines, and Diana helped me pair different wines to my courses. Clifford ay Sauvignon Blanc was a nice standby, and there was a nice Bordeaux that I really enjoyed. The Gruner Veltiner was very good as were both of Celebrity’s own wines. There was a very tasty Hungarian dessert wine that I had a few nights, too. I have no complaints about the wine
I will confess that I only went to one evening show, and I left partway through the first song because it hurt my ears. But I don’t generally enjoy the standard cruise ship shows, and this was one of those. DH went to most, and said they were pretty typical with the exception of one comedian that he really liked, and the extraordinary talent, Claire Vinkesteijn. She played piano and sang, and when he told me about her I didn’t think much of it but he convinced me to attend her matinee later in the week. I was blown away! She was pretty special!
The bands around the ship were all good. There was one guitarist that DH really liked, and he was very impressed with the stage band.
The pool area was really well designed with lots of shady areas with comfortable seating, and plenty of chairs in the sun. I actually spent a couple of hours by the pool, and actually even got in the pool, something else I almost never do onboard. It was just a really pleasant area as opposed to so many ships that are overcrowded and loud and doing silly pool games. I quite liked it. There is also a lovely looking indoor pool. Because our weather was absolute perfection, I didn’t even check it out, but it would be a great feature if you were doing an Alaska or other cold weather cruise.
There were lots of wonderful bars throughout the ship, but my favorite was definitely the martini bar. There was aways lively conversation and delightful concoctions to try. The bar itself was frozen which was wicked cool. Great bartenders made it the perfect spot to hang out.
The Molecular Bar was also pretty sweet. It was fun to watch the make the amazing creations that had so many exotic ingredients and unusual flavorings. It was especially cool when they finished them off with dry ice so they were smokin’.
The pool bar was only small, and they never seemed to quite catch up. The same held true of the casino bar, although the bartenders there were very sweet. Other bars I only saw in passing, but I know there were some more that ere pretty cool.
There was quite a bit of space devoted to retail. They had the usual gift shop, jewelry store watch store, clothing shop, liquor/cigarette shop and more. I never even looked in a single one, but they were always busy and people were buying, not just looking. They also set up tables outside the shops near the casino, and filled them with special deals (crap) every day, and quite frankly, it was tacky. Not very Celebrity like - haha.
The Captain was very, very visible. He was involved in a couple of shows, and did daily announcements. DH and I joked about how much he enjoyed the sound of his own voice. But he seemed nice and competent, so it was kind of fun to see him out and about so much. All of the officers were very visible and friendly. That is a nice touch on a cruise. The cruise director seemed to hit the right note without being too over the top or too subdued. He was a bit goofy, and his sock schtick got old, but I liked him.
I’m going to gloss over the ports of call.
Our first stop was Cozumel, Mexico which is a favorite of mine but we decided to just wander about town for a bit and stop at Pancho’s Backyard for margaritas and the fish tacos that I dream about between visits.
The next day was Grand Cayman, which is a tender port. We have been there a few times, and have hit all the highlights so we decided to remain onboard and enjoy a relaxing day on the ship.
Next came Falmouth, Jamaica. It was our first time at this particular port, so we had opted for an excursion to a plantation. The area where the ship docked was very secure, with a number of shops, bars, and snack spots. I had a delicious meat pie from a stand and we hit up Margaritaville for a frozen cocktail. I also had a yummy Blue Mountain Iced Coffee. Just outside the gates was the small city of Falmouth, and it looked like a very tough place to live. We passed through some very poor areas on the way to the plantation which was gorgeous in it’s day, and we had a lovely high tea which was also nice. The mountain road was narrow and scary, and we had an interesting encounter with a truck carrying sugar cane. I’m still not sure how we passed by! I think my only complaint was the number of people associated with the tour that had their hands out for tips. It was quite annoying.
The last port was Labadee, Haiti which was built by Royal Caribbean. It is a lovely spot on the ocean with beautiful lush mountain views. After walking off the ship at the dock, we found loungers in the shade by the water (with the help of a local with his hand out) and settled in. The water was just cool enough to be refreshing, although it was tough getting past the rocks and coral near the shore. Once in the water, it was heavenly. There was also a perfect breeze blowing, so even lying in the sun was comfortable. There were plenty of other things to do, such as jet skiing, zip lining (right across the ocean in front of us - looked awesome!), boat rides and so much more. One big plus was that drinks were covered by our beverage plan, so I had a couple. There was a beachside BBQ (no better than any other cruise line BBQ) and shops with crafts and artwork from the locals. They were very aggressive, and we skipped out of the shopping pronto. Other than that, this was a perfect stop and I will actively look for this port on future itineraries.
I will end with debarkation which was the simplest I have ever encountered by far! We took advantage of their Luggage Valet program. For $20 each, we put our luggage outside our stateroom and never touched it again until it rolled off the carousel at our destination airport of Worcester. With this program, we had the option of leaving the ship pretty much anytime after we were cleared. Our flight was at 11:29am, and since I had heard disaster stories about FLL on ship days, we decided to err on the side of caution. We left the ship about 8:30 and were checked in at the gate before 9 after a short cab ride of $20 including tax. Our flight got off on time and we arrived home in a lovely snowstorm. Other than the fact that I forgot where I packed the car keys (duh) everything went perfectly. Roads were just a bit slippery but we picked up the pups and were home shortly before 5pm. It was nice to be home, but I sure was sad to see the end of this lovely vacation.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by zeus
