Live from Silhouette - Dec 11 - Western Caribbean

We just left today on Silhouette to the Western Caribbean. These boards were so helpful to me leading up to this cruise, so I am hoping to pay it forward to future cruisers with this thread. I will try to post the daily schedules and MDR menus for each day (or, all at once when I get back if the ship internet is too slow). I will also post pics of our Sunset Veranda cabin #8351.

FIRST, A LITTLE ABOUT US:

We are a married couple in our early 40s from the suburbs of Philadelphia. We both travel for a living, and have a lot of experience in hotels. We love to travel, but usually don't cruise or do all inclusives. We love and appreciate good food, but aren’t food snobs. We’ve set our expectations at “average” for the food on the ship. We want to be realistic, given the number of people they need to serve, and with limited resources. I would much rather be pleasantly surprised then disappointed! We are booked in a Sunset Veranda on deck 8 (not Concierge, Aqua, or Suite). We got the “Go Best” package with everything included. I also purchased the 4 Specialty Dinner package in advance for $125pp.

OVERALL FIRST IMPRESSION:

As many others here have said, the ship is nicely done - pretty classy all around. Overall, it seems pretty well maintained, though I noticed a few things that are showing their age (to be expected since I don't think this ship has had a refurb since it's debut). The ship is nicely decorated for the holidays in my opinion. It’s not overdone. So far, all the staff have been delightful - all are very welcoming and greet you when they pass you in the hallway. We’re happy to be on board, and look forward to a relaxing vacation.

Stay tuned, there is more to come soon - I just need to organize my photos!

Have a great time! We have been on the Silhouette several times and she is our favorite "S" class ship.

....Continued

ARRIVAL AT PORT EVERGLADES

We took an Uber to the port. There was security at the entrance and everyone in the car had to show ID. There was a big sign at the entrance telling visitors at which pier your cruise ship was docked. If you want to know in advance, you can find your ship’s pier here: https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webx/

Here’s a map of all the piers: https://res-5.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/porteverglades/Port_Everglades_Map_REVISED_November_30_2016_bae57d31-04c5-41d1-b193-a4bf242d9293.pdf

EMBARKATION

We arrived at Pier 25 at 10:50 and gave our suitcases to a porter. Got in the line and it took about 20 minutes to get through security, checked in, and on board. The inside of the building was very “industrial” and felt like a warehouse. I forgot to verify with the guy at check-in about our on-board credits, so we had to go to guest relations once on board to ask. All was well - just wanted to make sure before we got underway.

We went up to Oceanview Cafe and had lunch, and then explored most areas of the ship while we waited for the cabin to be ready.

CABINS

At 1pm, it was announced that cabins were ready. We got to our cabin and it was exactly what I expected. Decent size room, nice size bathroom (in my opinion!), good storage, and nice size aft-facing balcony.

I was happy to see Gilchrist & Soames products!

Over bed storage:

Thanks for the info so far on her next week

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If I had to find any fault with the cabin, it would be that the soft goods furniture is definitely showing it’s age (sofa and chair upholstery are pretty well worn, bed skirt is stained). Here's our sofa:

Other than that, the cabin and bathroom were spotlessly clean, so we are happy, and looking forward to the aft view!

There are 3 U.S. power outlets in the room that I could see. One in the bathroom:

And two on the desk:

Unfortunately, no outlets by the bed.

I’ve seen a lot of posts about the position of the bed (either near bathroom or near bed). Our bed in cabin 8351 was near the bathroom. If you are on deck 8, aft cabins, here is a picture of the floor plan and you can see where the bed will be by the way the cabin bows out just a little to accommodate the bed:

At 2:30pm, our luggage was delivered. Perfect!

Our cabin steward came and introduced himself after the muster drill at 4pm.

To be continued....

Nice start, excellent photos!

Thank you for the report. We were on Silly in her maiden year and looking forward to another cruise mid next year.

...continued

DAY 1 - Sunday 12/11 - Dinner menus for MDR and Blu

MDR - Left side has permanent selections (available every night):

MDR - Right side changes nightly:

Blu:

We actually ate in Murano this evening.....and it was terrific (Celebrity 1, Doubting Thomas Cruiser 0)! The service was very good - they really work as a team, and they were on point. Reminded me of what you get in a fine dining restaurant. The food was great too...we got the Chateaubriand, and it was cooked perfectly medium rare and was very tender and flavorful. I also want to compliment the butter (I know, weird right?!?!). The butter was awesome and was the european style and reminded me of Paris. The bread was good (fresh) and we both liked it. You can see the Murano menu on the website, so I did not take a photo. The only thing I was sort of disappointed in was the wine list. As I mentioned earlier, we have the Premium Drink package. There was no Cabernet on their list for $13 or less and no Cab listed in the "Premium Package" section for those who choose to do the tasting menu.

We are going to the MDR tomorrow night, so we'll hope the winning streak continues! That's all for now - still trying to figure out how I am going to post the daily schedules.

Enjoying your review. Following along.

We got off the ship the same morning that you boarded. We were also in an SV cabin but one deck down from you and on the Starboard side in stead of the Port side. While under way, and it was quite windy during our cruise, we experienced a strong diesel exhaust odor when sitting on the balcony. I'm wondering if it was the wind, the cabin, or an inherent problem with SV cabins.

Have a great time, and if you get a chance, try a cucumber martini with Hendrix Gin and Cointreau.

Yay for your review...so fun! We got off the Silhouette TA on November 20, and you're making me feel like I'm back on again. Especially since we were in 8346! I agree that the sofa in our cabin was also showing some wear.

We also took the Silhouette on a TA last month and loved every minute of it. Enjoy your cruise!!

Good job being objective. We are in Aqua, so we are eating in Blu, and are on the eleventh floor. Presently docked in Key West, warm and pleasant with only one other ship(Insigna) in.

Hal

Yay for your review...so fun! We got off the Silhouette TA on November 20, and you're making me feel like I'm back on again. Especially since we were in 8346! I agree that the sofa in our cabin was also showing some wear.

Thanks Lori! You inspired me! My thread will not be as robust as yours though. After all, I have a vacation to enjoy here! I was afraid I would not do it if I waited till I was back. So, this will be somewhat "short and sweet." Thanks again for all your time and work in your thread. :)

So I want to take a minute to address the wi-fi on the ship. It was included in our "Go Best" package price for 2ppl.

Here's how it worked:

We were given the instructions in our key packet at check in. Each person gets their own passcode. Then, each person needs to connect to the Celebrity wi-fi, set up your own "account" (create a username and PIN) using the passcode that was in your key packet, and then you will be on line. It only supports ONE device per person at a time. But, if you have other devices, you can just login on the next device (it will boot your first device off the wi-fi, to make room for your 2nd device). So again, only one device per person, but it's pretty easy to switch between them if you need to. If you absolutely HAD to have more than 1 device connected at one time, then you would need to "borrow" your spouse's login, and he/she would be left without it for awhile.

And now about the speed....well, it's not a T-1 line. It's definitely slower than on land, but it's not awful. Just takes a little longer to do things. But I have been uploading photos and it was not slow enough to make me stop!

DAY 2 - Monday 12/11 - Key West

Awoke to this...they should call it a Sunrise Veranda cabin!

Last evening, the captain informed us that this is the first time the Silhouette is actually docking in Key West. It is the largest ship to dock here. He advised that we would have to depart a little earlier than scheduled. I think he said it was because local officials require that we leave while it's still daylight. Coming in, we passed through a long channel of marker bouys, so I guess they just don't want to take any chances. Who knows.

We went out for a couple of hours and went to the Audubon store, Hemingway House, Southernmost Point, and then had a drink at Captain Tony's before getting back on the ship. Enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on our balcony getting some sun.

One of the polydactyl cats at Hemingway House. Hopefully he will grow into his paws someday:

And here are the menus for today (MDR and Blu are closed for lunch today) -

MDR Breakfast Menu:

MDR Dinner Menu:

BLU Breakfast Menu:

Blu Dinner Menu:

We also took the Silhouette on a TA last month and loved every minute of it. Enjoy your cruise!!

x 3. Beautiful ship. Great crew on the TA.

OP thanks for the review and the pictures. Look forward to seeing more.

Enjoying your review ... thanks

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We got off the ship the same morning that you boarded. We were also in an SV cabin but one deck down from you and on the Starboard side in stead of the Port side. While under way, and it was quite windy during our cruise, we experienced a strong diesel exhaust odor when sitting on the balcony. I'm wondering if it was the wind, the cabin, or an inherent problem with SV cabins.

Have a great time, and if you get a chance, try a cucumber martini with Hendrix Gin and Cointreau.

Yummy! I will have one Jan 22 sailing! This will be our second time on the Silhouette! Can't wait! :)

Thanks for taking time to do this review!

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looking forward to it.

Good job being objective. We are in Aqua, so we are eating in Blu, and are on the eleventh floor. Presently docked in Key West, warm and pleasant with only one other ship(Insigna) in.

 

Hal

And....you missed the snow in the hudson valley!

We were on the Silhouette for our Mediterranean cruise this past October. Great ship and great crew!:)

We were not "feeling" the MDR dinner menu last night, so we decided to change to a specialty restaurant. You are allowed to use your package of 4 dinners at Sushi on Five, so we did just that. You get unlimited choices off the menu (was a little surprised at that, but in a good way!).

The Kobe slider appetizer was perfect in my opinion (and burgers are one of the few areas where I would consider myself an expert!). It was thick, cooked perfectly (we requested med rare), juicy, and had great beef flavor. It came dressed with some Asian flair and it all worked perfectly together. The flair was not too much to overwhelm the beef. It was about 4 good-size bites. We split one and each had 2 wonderful bites. If you find yourself on the Silhouette and having a major case of burger withdrawal, go get yourself a couple of these. There is no roll, but you won't be disappointed. Sorry I did not take a photo of it. If I go back, I will!

The rest of the meal was good. We got the chicken ginger gyoza, lobster ramen, a shrimp tempura roll and my husband also ordered Nigiri. Gyoza was good. The dough was nice and thin. Good flavor. It was my next favorite thing to the slider. Lobster ramen and Shrimp tempura roll were pretty good in my opinion. I am not a huge eater of Asian food, so take my opinion as you will. Husband is a Sushi eater (not a fanatic, but enjoys it very much and has had the chance to dine at places like Nobu and Morimoto, so he has some decent perspective). He liked his Ngiri. Said it was better than expected. It's not Nobu, but it was good. He thinks most people would enjoy it. He also told me he thought it would be a good value for people who choose to pay a la carte. It was $4 for 2 pieces, and they were good size pieces.

To be continued.....

Daily Newsletters can now be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kworv76szu6v1z4/AAATFQjFkVZlzlEFqmUuF5kTa?dl=0

I will continue to add them as we go.