!!! SILHOUETTE !!! Western Caribbean- The Ultimate Review & Complete Pictorial Guide!

I'm excited to read this review as well - loved the Allure one! I'm definitely interested in trying Celebrity in the future so anxious to see how you liked it.

Hi Gambee and Gambee’s Mom...I followed you on the Allure review. Best review ever!!! So excited to read your X review. It is amazing so far and I am already wishing I had a X cruise booked! Congrats on the drink package!!

We agree 100% about weather and your response! DH said the rain gave us more time to relax and enjoy the ship. I can't wait to see more of your review and photos. I love your style! I am only sorry we did not get to meet you onboard... We (us and Nancyluvs2cruise) tried to keep a look out @ the Martini Bar for you! ;):D

I found Gambee and his mom in Qsine. Took a chance approached and asked if he was Gambee? I told him his mom gave him away:)

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Hi Gambee (and mom too)! I can't believe you've already begun your review! You're amazing! I just figured I'd hop on to see how your day was before I go to bed, and started your review. Don't know how I can sleep now, I'm ready for more! I think your birthday is this week, although I could be wrong, set me straight, lol! Looking forward to reading more of your review, whenever you have time. Thank you, and Happy Easter!!

Wow! Amazingly detailed review so far, can't wait for the rest to come. Thanks!

You're welcome, thanks for tagging along.

Signing up Gambee!! Just cause I love your reviews :D

My reviews are nothing without my fans =)

Just one thing to say

 

:D

Hi Beth, it did not take you long to find my review, lol. I hope you like it, it will definitely be different than my Allure one. X is a different product and one that I now love as much as RCCL, just in a different way.

Great start so far! Love the details and spreadsheets (had some fun playing with it).

 

Bill

Glad you like the info, I like giving as much info as possible.

Yes, grinning ear to ear at the thought of another amazing Gambee Review!

 

Your writing technique is simply outstanding.

 

Oh, and P.S....

 

Thanks for the Honorable Mention!

 

.

No, problem. It is the least I could do after you pushed me to board this cruise. Thank you =)

Hi Gambee,:) ...congrats on that drink package...Sweet:D

Looking forward to reading and seeing all your review has to offer.

 

Oh, a big thank you too for the part (at the beginning)asking folks

to let you tell your review:D...seeing it is an X ship;)

Oh yeah, that drink package allowed us to try many many drinks and I have pictures of every single one of them.

I actually added that part right before posting that post, I don't want this thread to turn into a debate of lines. Hopefully it works =)

Excellent Gambee! Looking forward to your review

Hope you like it =)

Hi gambee! Nice to see another review from you. I really liked the use of Stewie from Family Guy to illustrate your excitement. I look forward to following your adventure! Harold. :)

Hi Harold!

I love family guy and when I saw that animation I knew I had to use it. Glad you liked it.

I'm here and ready for yet another wonderful review with amazing pictures!

 

That HAL ship surprised me.....now that is my kind of Captain!:D

I know right, trust me when I tell you that HAL ships are amazing when leaving port. I absolutely love it when they go out in style!

Hi all!

 

Gambee ~ welcome back! I followed along & am so happy to see you've started this in depth review so soon! :D Gives me something exciting to read 'til I take my 1st Carnival cruise in 13 days!!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

Hi Jo!

Glad to see you following along. I hope you have fun on your carnival cruise, we are looking at carnival for our next cruise.

Gambee, a cruise report from you is better than a visit from the Easter Bunny. :D

lol, I forgot about easter =(, no wonder my bf had a basket with eggs waiting for me :D

We're going on our first Celebrity cruise in January on the Silhouette so am very excited about this review! So detailed already. Looking forward to thoughts on the alternative dining options and hopefully info on the shows in the main theater and comedy show. We are doing the eastern cruise but am most interested on ship info right now as I already have ideas for our port excursions. So glad you got the beverage package...that is the promo that got me to make the snap decision to book our cruise. Have had to cut back a lot in vacations the past few years but after the long WI winter with no break I'll make any cuts necessary for a cruise next winter. I have almost 300 days to pay for it.

 

Fun and informative writing style...would never know English is not your first language!

 

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2

We visited the main 4 specialty restaurants, so you will get tons of info from there. Glad to see you here following along. Mom and I want to a eastern cruise badly, I think it is in our top to do list.

I will see you around =)

Work!! Unwinding!! You tease.

Lol, I am actually leaving for work in a few. I am beyond exhausted and my sea legs are driving me crazy lol.

I've been waiting for this review, it's excellent so far!!

Glad to see you following along.

Wahoo! Another Gambee cruise adventure! Thank you for taking us along with you on your journey!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

You're welcome =)

Glad I'm going to catch this review from the beginning! I really enjoyed your last adventures and look forward to reading about your and your mom's experiences again. Have a great day to all of you.

Barb

Hi Barb!

Glad you liked the Allure adventure hopefully this one will not disappoint.

LOVE your reviews! I absolutely can't wait for the NCL Breakaway one! I really want to sail on her or her sister ship when they come out.

We are really exited about our Allure one as well. Can't wait!

Great start, thanks for taking the time to write this amazing review. :)

Thank you, yeah time is a big factor, lol.

Yay! Another Gambee review - you know, you could do this for a living ;)

I am working on it, we will see what my future has in sight for me.

Hi Gambee,

 

I loved your Allure review and I'll be following you on this one!

 

You are off to a geat start, thanks so much!!

Glad to know that everyone is liking how it started hopefully it keeps on going just as good :)

We agree 100% about weather and your response! DH said the rain gave us more time to relax and enjoy the ship. I can't wait to see more of your review and photos. I love your style! I am only sorry we did not get to meet you onboard... We (us and Nancyluvs2cruise) tried to keep a look out @ the Martini Bar for you! ;):D

I was unable to make the meet and greet, the timing was just horrible. I think X is trying to make people not want to go to them. I was also told that the bar was not even open? How bad is that.

You will soon see why I missed the sail away, I always look for specific (photography) spots on the ship for my sailaways. And this sail away did not disappoint, the most exciting yet!

I met a few people from our roll call, but I would of loved to me more :/.

I can't wait to see your pictures of the ship. I am trying to convince DH to try one of the S class ships and am sure your pictures will help.

 

Linda

Hi Linda!

Hopefully my pictures will help you get on board. I will tell you one thing, X ships are stunning!

Hi Gambee! I can't believe you've started on this so soon.:) It's great so far and I look forward to following you and your Mom's adventures.

Heather

Hi Heather!

You know how I am, I love getting this reviews out fast. Thanks for following along :)

Would appreciate any info related to what happened with Michael Bayley (the Celebrity CEO) on this cruise. Did he have a Q&A? Were there any new announcements?

 

Many of us were hoping the changes to the Captains Club program would be announced on this "Presidents Cruise". Was there any discussion about the upcoming changes to the Captains Club program?

 

Thanks.

Well, I will be honest with and say that I did not notice anything related with the Presidents cruise. At one point they had the theater closed for a special event?!?, but no clue on what it was. I was not in captains club during this cruise, so maybe that is why I was not invited to any of the events.

Sorry I cannot be of more help, but anything I would tell you would be a lie. Maybe other members can comment on it.

Looking forward to your full review. Have been reading your Allure review. 45 minutes in and only on page 25. Lol

You my friend are a very fast reader, lol =).

Subscribed.

 

Heey Gambee, welcome back...get some rest and wind down..sucks you have to go to work today....but hey...gotta work to cruise (well at least i do)!

 

Your mom spilled your drink...just blasphemy!! LOL

Yeah work was ok, but I am definitely beyond tired. Can't wait until tuesday when I can truly get to relax and start my writing.

Hi Gambee and Mom,

 

I'm So glad I found you guys. Will you send over a link to the Royal site?

 

If not~~ no worries I will continue to follow along here.

 

Absolutely, an incredible in depth detailed review. You should definitely consider writing for a travel magazine. You are amazing and so talented.

I am really loyal to Royal but have sailed celebrity many many years ago and can't wait to see their new S-class through your review.

 

Can't wait to read more.

Thank You

Liz:)

I can see that you found the link already :)

You're in for a treat, X S ships are top notch!

Great review! Looking forward to reading more!

Hello hello, nice to see you made it :)

Wow - what detail, what mad Excel and photo skills! I am now absolved from all expectations and responsibility for writing my own review of Silhouette:) I look forward to future installments and will be happy to benefit from your research in planning our upcoming cruise.

 

I can finally convince DH that someone is a more obsessive planner than me!!!!

lol, my bf is always making fun of me about how much time I spend planning. I always tell him I am not the only one =). I am glad you like the beginning of the review.

Agree.....very interesting and informative.

Glad you find it informative, there is much more to come.

Hi Gambee and Gambee's mom! ;) This is Megan and Tim from the Molecular bar-- it was so great to meet you both! :)

Hello Megan and Tim!

We had a great time with you that night. It was really nice getting to meet you, I wish you safe travels and lots of future cruisers. Who knows we might meet again, this world is quite small you know. I finally tried all the drinks at molecular!

Glad to see you found my review =), I will see you around.

I really love your enthusiastic approach to review writing. It makes it very enjoyable to read.

Glad you like it =)

Gambee

 

Another excellent review. I really enjoyed sailing on X and can't wait to go on X again. I feel like I am on vacation when I read your reviews. Not to mention feeding my CC addiction.

lol, glad I can feed your addiction. I know I get my daily dose from plenty of reviews.

Hi Gambee and Mom...Just got off Reflection and am looking at Silhouette for our next cruise. Can't wait to hear and see your review. :)

Glad to have you aboard :-)

I can't believe you did this so quick! I just got back from the airport and am sorting through some things. The towels, pins, and pens all say President's Cruise on them :D. Even though I was on this ship with you, can't wait for the rest!

lol, you know I never came across anything related to the presidents week. I guess I was not invited to the events since I was not part of the club yet.

Oh you had me at.... "And as usual I come up with a spreadsheet" ;)

 

Can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

K

lol, I always make my spreadsheets, but in the end I hardly use them. Funny how all that over preparing gets wasted away. :D

What a fun read, can't wait for more!

Glad to have you aboard =)

Wow! Quite the amount of replies you have already, Gambee! Apparently your reviews are not to be missed!

 

My fiance and I are taking our first cruise in less than a month, and it is on the Silhouette! We are so excited, and I'm looking forward to your review to get me even more in the cruising spirit!

WOW, your first cruise on the Silhouette, you will be spoiled, lol. That ship is a pro at pampering cruisers. You will definitely have a lot of useful information from this review =)

Loved the Silhouette. Was on in December and going back in October. It was one of our best cruises, having done the 3 S class before her.

I only wished the weather would of been slightly better, but I have to agree she is a great ship!

Gambee and mom...thanks!!! Barely off the ship and already writing another amazing review!

 

Photos...spreadsheets....deck plans...awesome! Looking forward to the rest- Gambee, you're a rock star!

Glad to have you aboard!

I'm excited to read this review as well - loved the Allure one! I'm definitely interested in trying Celebrity in the future so anxious to see how you liked it.

Welcome welcome, hope you like this one as well. The two ships are completely different experiences.

Hi Gambee and Gambee’s Mom...I followed you on the Allure review. Best review ever!!! So excited to read your X review. It is amazing so far and I am already wishing I had a X cruise booked! Congrats on the drink package!!

I remember you :-), how you been? I am glad you like the start. I had hoped to have today off from work to get some actual work started. The good news is that I managed to scan all the documents already :-).

I found Gambee and his mom in Qsine. Took a chance approached and asked if he was Gambee? I told him his mom gave him away:)

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Hi Kevin!

Once again I was to apologize, our conversation ended so abruptly I wished we got to talk a little and maybe hit a bar for a drink. From what I gathered you seemed like a great fellow, maybe in the future :).

And you're right mom does give me away, its either her or my hat ;). lol

Hi Gambee (and mom too)! I can't believe you've already begun your review! You're amazing! I just figured I'd hop on to see how your day was before I go to bed, and started your review. Don't know how I can sleep now, I'm ready for more! I think your birthday is this week, although I could be wrong, set me straight, lol! Looking forward to reading more of your review, whenever you have time. Thank you, and Happy Easter!!

You're right, you have a great memory. My bday is later on this week, although I have no plans for that day. Glad you like the start of the review, I will post another short set tomorrow and more on tuesday. I will see you around, it's getting late and I need some rest :)

Hi Kevin!

 

Once again I was to apologize, our conversation ended so abruptly I wished we got to talk a little and maybe hit a bar for a drink. From what I gathered you seemed like a great fellow, maybe in the future :).

 

And you're right mom does give me away, its either her or my hat ;). lol

So now that you've "come out" to your fellow cruise critic members and been seen in the flesh on board are the rest of us going to get to "see" you and mom this time around? ;)

Sent from my Speak & Spell using Tapatalk

Subscribing...love your reviews Gambee! Awesome!

Btw love love Stewie:D:p

Subscribing...I love your reviews, Gambee!

So now that you've "come out" to your fellow cruise critic members and been seen in the flesh on board are the rest of us going to get to "see" you and mom this time around? ;)

 

 

Sent from my Speak & Spell using Tapatalk

Oh Beth, you make me laugh ;)

Subscribing...love your reviews Gambee! Awesome!

Btw love love Stewie:D:p

Hello Krystal thanks for following this one as well :). Isn't he so cute?

Subscribing...I love your reviews, Gambee!

Welcome aboard :)

Emergency Supplies

After the Carnival Triumph incident happened we decided that we need to pack a few extra items to make our stay a more comfortable one if an accident was to occur. Among the things we decided to bring was a Energizer Solar Rechargeable 9-LED Lantern, a hand crank rechargeable radio, extra flashlights, some baby wipes, a few more weeks of med supplies, granola bars and the 2 bottles of wine just in case they cut alcohol consumption :D. I also had my eyes in a solar charger, but by the time the cruise came I simply could not afford it, maybe I will pick it up before the Breakaway cruise.

Last Minute Shopping

I have been a momas boy ever since I was born, actually so much that I can't remember the last time that I bought cloths for myself. A few weeks prior this cruise I decided that I was grown up enough to try to venture into the mall and buy a few items :D. After all I wanted to look sharp during our cruise ;). What started out as a few shirts, ended up being an entire new wardrobe, I could not believe how much clothes I bought. I kid you not, when I say entire wardrobe I mean everything. I think the only thing that I brought on this cruise that was not entire new were my sandals and my signature hat. I think I found a new addiction =(.

ANTI-NAUSEA KIT, mom and I are prone to motion sickness and I will be damned if I get sick on my vacation. So as you might Imagine we do everything possible to avoid getting sick. So far we have done great on our two prior cruises, but then again the movement of those ships was minimal. I am sure we will eventually find some rough seas and I will be prepared for that day. Our normal anti-nausea kit includes Sea-bands, Ginger pills, Bonine and scopolamine patches (prescribed, absolutely last resort). We figure that one of them is odd to work.

The week before sailing is the time when emotions start to run high in our house hold :D, I become a nervous wreck and my mom is busy doing all the packing and organizing. As you might have seen we tend to go port everglades to see the ships depart from time to time. But one thing that I have always wanted to do is to go to Port of Miami, but unfortunately most of the ships departed on saturdays with only 1 or 2 on Sundays. Getting Saturdays off from work is not an easy task, but I decided to ask around and managed to get off on saturday one week before our sailing.

Would you believe that I have never been to South Beach before? Well at least not that I can remember, mom said we were there when I was a kid. Not sure why, but Miami has never really appealed to me. But the idea of seeing Epic, Reflection, Breeze and Disney Wonder was enough to get me there :D.

The funny thing is that I also picked the perfect weekend to go to Miami, not only was it spring break but they also had the Ultra music festival going on and it was San Patty's weekend. So Ummmmm yeah it was crazy down there, with lots of drunk students having fun at the beach.

To get there is pretty simple, just head to south beach and then take Alton road all the way down to South Pointe Park. Once you arrive there are a few options for parking, either a flat rate $25 or by the hour, there are also plenty of parking options around the area. It is a very pretty clean park with lots of areas for children to run around and play, also great for people watching and socializing.

Here are a few pictures from that day, this set was not my best work. Unfortunately the park where I take the pictures from is in the wrong side for good lighting.

They had these cool bikes to get around, you could rent them for a few bucks.

Yup, it's south florida, most dogs are not allowed to walk anymore (its against their nature). I think they are turning it into a law :D. That said, that dog looked soooooooooooooooooo cute in there, adorable.

The water in port of Miami is much nicer than the one in port Everglades.

This little guy was so cute! The pier was closed so most birds used it as a resting place.

They have these speed boats coming through the inlet every 20 minutes or so, mom said she would like to do it at some point it time.

This one went right through a flock of seagulls (not the music band, lol) that were fishing in that area, it was pretty funny.

This guy was going so fast, it was crazy. I am not entirely sure how he managed to not hit other people, he would swerve like a maniac, pretty cool.

Coast guard making their usual runs.

First one out was EPIC!

Doesn't the back of Epic kinda looks like a water slide at the end? It should be an interesting ride down, lol. (DO NOT ATTEMPT AT HOME!)

I am really sorry about most of these pics, like I said the pier is not on the right side for photographs. The sun is directly across from you :/

I really love the lines of the S-class ships, they are so majestic. But I have to admit that the bathroom of the Reflection Suite looks horrible. It completely throws off the beautiful lines of the ship. Although the view from that shower has to be incredible!

IMO Disney horns are the best in the industry, I absolutely love them. Specially when they battle it out.

Their ships are also very nice, that old look is really nice and match that with the magic of Disney and you have a great product.

Here comes the speed boat one more time! They had this really corny horn, lol.

For some reason I liked the picture of the Breeze the most, maybe it was because lighting had improved. Nice ship!

Well when I got back from the photo shoot from south beach I started looking at my pictures. Soon enough I noticed massive amounts of little specks on most of my pictures, it was something that I was not familiar with. I started fixing my pictures and noticed how time consuming this was. By then I was extremely worried and freaking out, there was no way I would be able to do an epic review with that much work going into fixing pictures.

To give you an idea of what my pictures looked like, I am posting this image. I circle around the dust particles for easy viewing. :eek:

After a little research I learned all about the wonderful world of sensor dust :/. I also learned how to do a test and found out that my sensor looked like a dalmatian, it was horrible. I spent the rest of the weekend doing research on ways to fix it and I was even thinking on buying a new camera. My bf always says that I am way too dramatic, I was freaking out ( a new camera was not in my budget). By sunday evening I had settled on two products VisibleDust SL-788 Arctic Butterfly with Light and Vdust Swabs. I wont go into the details of how easy to damage a sensor and all the details. I had both products overnight and they were due to arrive on tuesday, all this at a price of $118 :(.

When the products came in I rushed to attempt to fix the issue, the brush which was step #1 did not fix it fully. Then I moved into step #2 the wet swab and that pretty much took care of the entire problem. I am not entirely sure why I get like this every time before I travel. I am a nervous wreck, lol.

Anyway here is the comparison pictures of the before and after test. The sensor was really dirty, I am really not entirely sure when it got like that. It had to be after the Allure cruise at some point. Maybe testing out the new lens?

The good thing is that now I have both products to travel with me just in case the same issue appears mid-trip. I am very happy that I decided to go to Miami to take those pictures, otherwise doing this review would had been a nightmare.

So excited to read your review I loved the Allure one which made our trip on the Allure so easy as I felt like I had already been on it. We don't have anything booked at present so looking forward to reading this review as it will help with my cruise withdrawal

Thanks in advance for some exciting reading

Moira x

Mom did most of the packing just like our previous cruise, all I did was select what I wanted and she made sure to pack it. I absolutely hate packing, so if I can avoid I will, lol. Just like last time she packed the same way, splitting both our clothes in two bags that way we ensured if one of the bags went missing we both had something to wear. She packed everything in two medium size bags and a little backpack for my electronics and wine.

In my other review you might of noticed the bag to the left was the one that used for my camera. Since then I had to buy a bigger bag with more padding to protect the new equipment. Now I use the old bag for my chargers and cleaning supplies.

I used the same blue folder that I used for Allure trip. By the end of the week that folder would stuffed beyond believe with all kind of documents for my review.

One thing that I liked about celebrity is that they mail you the luggage tag to your house and you don't have to print them. You just ask for them in a link on their site and a few days later you get a lot of them delivered to your house.