Silhouette lost at sea?

I have been struggling with why our 12 day British Isles cruise was not more enjoyable than it was. It can't be the small stateroom because the cabins were just as small on the Constellation and we enjoyed those voyages. It can't be the service because from stateroom attendant through dining staff the service was great. Embarkation and disembarkation were flawless. I think the ship design is silly but that's not enough to be the problem, we enjoyed our voyage on the even sillier Anthem of the Seas just a month ago. Yet Silhouette was not enjoyable even with Elite and Concierge perks.

First thing that tweaked me was our Concierge. We stopped at his desk as soon as we had access to our cabin to make specialty dinner reservations for that evening and the next night - an "at sea" day - and were told it would be difficult but since we were flexible with timing he would see what he could do. He didn't. We had dinner at The Porch the first night, there was one other couple there, as walk-ins. The next morning I made dinner reservations at Murano for that evening and Q-Sine the next night at a table near the Guest Services desk. Not very difficult. We never heard from the Concierge.

Then there was laundry service. When I take shirts and pants to our local cleaners they are washed and pressed and returned on hangers. My first load of shirts and pants came back washed and folded (no ironing) at 5X the cost of my local laundry (yes, I expect to pay more but I also expect the same service). The second load came back washed and ironed (incorrectly ironed but ironed) and on hangers. The third load was washed and folded. They were all the same style shirt and pant....but the service was inconsistent and well below expectations. I call this a management failure.

Ships tours. We had only one tour where the tour service was unacceptable but multiple times when the ship's tour organization was flawed. Almost everyone on the Tattoo excursion understands the difficult logistics of moving that many people to and from shore on tenders and almost everyone on the excursion knows it could have been done much better by having the ship moored closer to the dock (as it was on Day 2 in Edinburgh) and using more tenders. The "ship" could have taken better care of those customers. We went on a number of long tours, tours that should have been the first ones off the ship to compensate for the length of the tour but two out of three times we barely made it back by "on board" time - and two busses on the same tour delayed the ship departing - because the start of the tour was late in the morning. I call this a management failure.

Venues for activities. Morning lectures on sea days were SRO, after the first time why weren't they moved to the empty theater? Afternoon trivia was SRO but we were told no other venue was available ...... maybe Tuscan Grill? On a ship this size there should be space for ship's activities that are appropriate for the size of the audience. I call this a management failure.

It's too early to write off Celebrity, based on one cruise and the hype for Edge, but I do think I am going to write off Silhouette because the current management does not seem to be interested in my business.

Is this your first sailing on Celebrity?

I realize that each of us place more emphasis on different aspects of our cruise. I would not have given a second thought to the things that you mentioned, with the possble exception of the lack of follow through from the concierege; but I most likely made specialty resvervations directly with the restaurant. But I do agree that it seems that there is a lack of attention to detail from Celebrity, which used to be their strong point.

And wally, he did mention that he sailed on Constellation.

turbobob, I must say your thread starter" Lost at sea" IMHO was just childish to say the least. Yes it caught my attention but seriously, the nonsense you wrote about troubled you for days. wow... I have read some of your past posts on CC and I was not surprised at what I read. It seems you are a very tough sell turbobob . You were not happy with Viking, even in the penthouse suite really??, and you were not happy on the Rhapsody. Can you honestly say the design of the Celebrity ships you find to be are note worthy being "silly" and the laundry service awful. Perhaps you should have asked for all your clothes to be pressed on hung on hangers, they will gladly do that for a fee. So I guess what I have to say to you before you decide to cruise on any line again is, having 27 Celebrity cruises under my belt and several other cruise lines also, I have had a few things that have bugged me but,who cares in the end? Just go on a cruise to enjoy and be thankful you can, don't look for the petty crap !!! I do hope you have many happy voyages in you future.

luvstosail

Boston Ma

Sounds like numerous cruise lines were not to your liking. Perhaps its time for a land vacation,.

turbobob, I must say your thread starter" Lost at sea" IMHO was just childish to say the least. Yes it caught my attention but seriously, the nonsense you wrote about troubled you for days. wow... I have read some of your past posts on CC and I was not surprised at what I read. It seems you are a very tough sell turbobob . You were not happy with Viking, even in the penthouse suite really??, and you were not happy on the Rhapsody. Can you honestly say the design of the Celebrity ships you find to be are note worthy being "silly" and the laundry service awful. Perhaps you should have asked for all your clothes to be pressed on hung on hangers, they will gladly do that for a fee. So I guess what I have to say to you before you decide to cruise on any line again is, having 27 Celebrity cruises under my belt and several other cruise lines also, I have had a few things that have bugged me but,who cares in the end? Just go on a cruise to enjoy and be thankful you can, don't look for the petty crap !!! I do hope you have many happy voyages in you future.

 

luvstosail

Boston Ma

Now I see. That explains alot. Thanks.

Well said...But some people will always find something to complain about. I am thankful just to be able to cruise!

turbobob, I must say your thread starter" Lost at sea" IMHO was just childish to say the least. Yes it caught my attention but seriously, the nonsense you wrote about troubled you for days. wow... I have read some of your past posts on CC and I was not surprised at what I read. It seems you are a very tough sell turbobob . You were not happy with Viking, even in the penthouse suite really??, and you were not happy on the Rhapsody. Can you honestly say the design of the Celebrity ships you find to be are note worthy being "silly" and the laundry service awful. Perhaps you should have asked for all your clothes to be pressed on hung on hangers, they will gladly do that for a fee. So I guess what I have to say to you before you decide to cruise on any line again is, having 27 Celebrity cruises under my belt and several other cruise lines also, I have had a few things that have bugged me but,who cares in the end? Just go on a cruise to enjoy and be thankful you can, don't look for the petty crap !!! I do hope you have many happy voyages in you future.

 

luvstosail

Boston Ma

I must agree with some others here 100%. I have worked in customer service for 35 yrs now and I deal with people like this every day. I see them weekly and every single time they have to complain about something. They are just never ever satisfied.

I could see if maybe their ipad was stolen out of their room and was refused compensation then they would have a gripe. (Happened to us on an AI, we still had a great time)

Or their son had a huge gouge torn out of his ankle from something in the pool, without as much as a sorry. (Happened to us once on Carnival and cost over $2000 in medical costs. We still had a great time)

The bottom line is your vacation is what you make of it and when theres over 2500 people onboard a ship some things aren't going to be smooth sailing as they say. lol.

When we have something minor happen on any of our cruises we just think of the old saying that a bad day on vacation is way better than a great day at work.

Well said...But some people will always find something to complain about. I am thankful just to be able to cruise!

Well, I have a really legitimate complaint. Every time I have my pants or my wife's slacks pressed, they come back with the crease on the sides of the leg, not the front and rear. Invariably, we have to send the item back to have it redone. It is so distressing, I am almost brought to tears. I can't remember if other lines do the same, but I am ready to drop Celebrity and try something different!!!

I have been struggling with why our 12 day British Isles cruise was not more enjoyable than it was. It can't be the small stateroom because the cabins were just as small on the Constellation and we enjoyed those voyages. It can't be the service because from stateroom attendant through dining staff the service was great. Embarkation and disembarkation were flawless. I think the ship design is silly but that's not enough to be the problem, we enjoyed our voyage on the even sillier Anthem of the Seas just a month ago. Yet Silhouette was not enjoyable even with Elite and Concierge perks.

 

First thing that tweaked me was our Concierge. We stopped at his desk as soon as we had access to our cabin to make specialty dinner reservations for that evening and the next night - an "at sea" day - and were told it would be difficult but since we were flexible with timing he would see what he could do. He didn't. We had dinner at The Porch the first night, there was one other couple there, as walk-ins. The next morning I made dinner reservations at Murano for that evening and Q-Sine the next night at a table near the Guest Services desk. Not very difficult. We never heard from the Concierge.

 

Then there was laundry service. When I take shirts and pants to our local cleaners they are washed and pressed and returned on hangers. My first load of shirts and pants came back washed and folded (no ironing) at 5X the cost of my local laundry (yes, I expect to pay more but I also expect the same service). The second load came back washed and ironed (incorrectly ironed but ironed) and on hangers. The third load was washed and folded. They were all the same style shirt and pant....but the service was inconsistent and well below expectations. I call this a management failure. Your first and last service was free because of your "Elite" status. You paid for the second load.

 

Ships tours. We had only one tour where the tour service was unacceptable but multiple times when the ship's tour organization was flawed. Almost everyone on the Tattoo excursion understands the difficult logistics of moving that many people to and from shore on tenders and almost everyone on the excursion knows it could have been done much better by having the ship moored closer to the dock (as it was on Day 2 in Edinburgh) and using more tenders. The "ship" could have taken better care of those customers. We went on a number of long tours, tours that should have been the first ones off the ship to compensate for the length of the tour but two out of three times we barely made it back by "on board" time - and two busses on the same tour delayed the ship departing - because the start of the tour was late in the morning. I call this a management failure.

 

Venues for activities. Morning lectures on sea days were SRO, after the first time why weren't they moved to the empty theater? Afternoon trivia was SRO but we were told no other venue was available ...... maybe Tuscan Grill? On a ship this size there should be space for ship's activities that are appropriate for the size of the audience. I call this a management failure.

 

It's too early to write off Celebrity, based on one cruise and the hype for Edge, but I do think I am going to write off Silhouette because the current management does not seem to be interested in my business.

Interesting, as the S-class ships of Celebrity are rated as some of the best at sea.

Can you list what other ships you have sailed so we can get a feel for where you are coming from. Cabin sizes on the Silhouette and the Anthem of the Seas are larger than the industry average. I would put these two ships in my top five for overall design. Anthem lacks in the food department, but the ship itself is outstanding.

I know that you are a newbie and apparently feel that putting a deceptive and incendiary title on your post will attract readers. I have reported you to the board moderator and asked that he remove your post.

DON

My experience of the Concierge (Alexander?) was quite the opposite . He did follow through a couple of requests albeit neither was for a reservation in a specialty restaurant. As others post, I've found it is better to make these in person although YMMV.

I must agree with some others here 100%. I have worked in customer service for 35 yrs now and I deal with people like this every day. I see them weekly and every single time they have to complain about something. They are just never ever satisfied.

I could see if maybe their ipad was stolen out of their room and was refused compensation then they would have a gripe. (Happened to us on an AI, we still had a great time)

Or their son had a huge gouge torn out of his ankle from something in the pool, without as much as a sorry. (Happened to us once on Carnival and cost over $2000 in medical costs. We still had a great time)

The bottom line is your vacation is what you make of it and when theres over 2500 people onboard a ship some things aren't going to be smooth sailing as they say. lol.

When we have something minor happen on any of our cruises we just think of the old saying that a bad day on vacation is way better than a great day at work.

Based on your last statement, you either have/had a crappy job or very low vacation expectations, or even both.

I have been struggling with why our 12 day British Isles cruise was not more enjoyable than it was. It can't be the small stateroom because the cabins were just as small on the Constellation and we enjoyed those voyages. It can't be the service because from stateroom attendant through dining staff the service was great. Embarkation and disembarkation were flawless. I think the ship design is silly but that's not enough to be the problem, we enjoyed our voyage on the even sillier Anthem of the Seas just a month ago. Yet Silhouette was not enjoyable even with Elite and Concierge perks.

 

First thing that tweaked me was our Concierge. We stopped at his desk as soon as we had access to our cabin to make specialty dinner reservations for that evening and the next night - an "at sea" day - and were told it would be difficult but since we were flexible with timing he would see what he could do. He didn't. We had dinner at The Porch the first night, there was one other couple there, as walk-ins. The next morning I made dinner reservations at Murano for that evening and Q-Sine the next night at a table near the Guest Services desk. Not very difficult. We never heard from the Concierge.

 

Then there was laundry service. When I take shirts and pants to our local cleaners they are washed and pressed and returned on hangers. My first load of shirts and pants came back washed and folded (no ironing) at 5X the cost of my local laundry (yes, I expect to pay more but I also expect the same service). The second load came back washed and ironed (incorrectly ironed but ironed) and on hangers. The third load was washed and folded. They were all the same style shirt and pant....but the service was inconsistent and well below expectations. I call this a management failure.

 

Ships tours. We had only one tour where the tour service was unacceptable but multiple times when the ship's tour organization was flawed. Almost everyone on the Tattoo excursion understands the difficult logistics of moving that many people to and from shore on tenders and almost everyone on the excursion knows it could have been done much better by having the ship moored closer to the dock (as it was on Day 2 in Edinburgh) and using more tenders. The "ship" could have taken better care of those customers. We went on a number of long tours, tours that should have been the first ones off the ship to compensate for the length of the tour but two out of three times we barely made it back by "on board" time - and two busses on the same tour delayed the ship departing - because the start of the tour was late in the morning. I call this a management failure.

 

Venues for activities. Morning lectures on sea days were SRO, after the first time why weren't they moved to the empty theater? Afternoon trivia was SRO but we were told no other venue was available ...... maybe Tuscan Grill? On a ship this size there should be space for ship's activities that are appropriate for the size of the audience. I call this a management failure.

 

It's too early to write off Celebrity, based on one cruise and the hype for Edge, but I do think I am going to write off Silhouette because the current management does not seem to be interested in my business.

Sorry your cruise wasn't as good as you expected, but it does sound as if you overall did have a nice time. Some things are more important to some than others, so at least you know not to sail on Silhouette again. I also have a few ships/lines that I won't go on again. Live and learn.

Who sends their laundry out 3 times on a 12 day cruise?

Grandgeezer,

Where is your assumption combining from? I do not think your assessment of last sentence if fair. I know that it certainly is not true for me.

For my career I had jobs that I simply LOVED, great pay, and enjoyable responsibilities (about 98% of the time). I still enjoyed world travel by cruise ship and some land trips even more. I learned so much from travels to over 30 countries while still working, the fascinating folks I met on land and on the ships (and even some of the not so fascinating ones). The same could be said of be land travels. (In retirement travel has expended to included over 110 countries.)

In terms of how easily satisfied one is with the services received - I am certainly NOT high maintenance, but I DO expect to receive the level of service I subscribed to when I made my reservation choices.

Who sends their laundry out 3 times on a 12 day cruise?

turbobob?

26 posts

Elite and gets one bag of laundry.

Has laundry done 3 times on a 12 day cruise?

FAQ Lists the prices for laundry.

Has laundry done at home. Why do you need hangers for stuff that can be folded. Waste of resources.

Wants the ship closer in tender ports. I am sure they get as close as they can. NO. Let's moor as far away as we can to make or more difficult for our crew and passengers.

Oh well. Entertaining read as some people are all into me, me, me

I sailed on the Silhouette in March and loved it. Really nothing different than most of my cruise experiences on X.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

I have been struggling with why our 12 day British Isles cruise was not more enjoyable than it was. It can't be the small stateroom because the cabins were just as small on the Constellation and we enjoyed those voyages. It can't be the service because from stateroom attendant through dining staff the service was great. Embarkation and disembarkation were flawless. I think the ship design is silly but that's not enough to be the problem, we enjoyed our voyage on the even sillier Anthem of the Seas just a month ago. Yet Silhouette was not enjoyable even with Elite and Concierge perks.

 

First thing that tweaked me was our Concierge. We stopped at his desk as soon as we had access to our cabin to make specialty dinner reservations for that evening and the next night - an "at sea" day - and were told it would be difficult but since we were flexible with timing he would see what he could do. He didn't. We had dinner at The Porch the first night, there was one other couple there, as walk-ins. The next morning I made dinner reservations at Murano for that evening and Q-Sine the next night at a table near the Guest Services desk. Not very difficult. We never heard from the Concierge.

 

Then there was laundry service. When I take shirts and pants to our local cleaners they are washed and pressed and returned on hangers. My first load of shirts and pants came back washed and folded (no ironing) at 5X the cost of my local laundry (yes, I expect to pay more but I also expect the same service). The second load came back washed and ironed (incorrectly ironed but ironed) and on hangers. The third load was washed and folded. They were all the same style shirt and pant....but the service was inconsistent and well below expectations. I call this a management failure.

 

Ships tours. We had only one tour where the tour service was unacceptable but multiple times when the ship's tour organization was flawed. Almost everyone on the Tattoo excursion understands the difficult logistics of moving that many people to and from shore on tenders and almost everyone on the excursion knows it could have been done much better by having the ship moored closer to the dock (as it was on Day 2 in Edinburgh) and using more tenders. The "ship" could have taken better care of those customers. We went on a number of long tours, tours that should have been the first ones off the ship to compensate for the length of the tour but two out of three times we barely made it back by "on board" time - and two busses on the same tour delayed the ship departing - because the start of the tour was late in the morning. I call this a management failure.

 

Venues for activities. Morning lectures on sea days were SRO, after the first time why weren't they moved to the empty theater? Afternoon trivia was SRO but we were told no other venue was available ...... maybe Tuscan Grill? On a ship this size there should be space for ship's activities that are appropriate for the size of the audience. I call this a management failure.

 

It's too early to write off Celebrity, based on one cruise and the hype for Edge, but I do think I am going to write off Silhouette because the current management does not seem to be interested in my business.

Why you compare your local cleaners with ship board ;aundry is beyond me. Laundry on board is wash, dry, fold. Period. If nyou want pressing, then you need to indicate that and pay for it.

The ship's theater is often used for rehearsals during times when there is nothing planned for passengers. It is NOT empty and unused. You can't just change the venues after the daily is printed.

As for how close the ship is moored and how many tenders are used, there are numerous logistics (not in control of the ship) that go into that. Do you honestly think they moored further out just to make it a longer ride?

Tours? The ship doesn't run the tours. Local company's do. The ship waits for you if you return late. hat more can you possibly expect from the ship?

Your complaints are way off base.

Who sends their laundry out 3 times on a 12 day cruise?

We send our laundry out 4 times on a 12 day cruise, We are Elite Plus so we each get two coupons. It allows us to travel with just carryons if we choose.

I think somebody needs to charter his own yacht from now on. Maybe then he'll be satisfied.

I fail to understand why people choose to argue and disagree with someones "OPINION". In reviewing this thread you'd think the OP was giving misinformation. I don't believe anything they state is wrong, they just view it differently than many of you.

To me their post simply shows the need for cruisers to fully investigate the cruiseline/itinerary they are planning on taking to make sure it meets their needs and expectations.

As my mother used to say, if you don't have anything good to say, keep quiet.

Is this your first sailing on Celebrity?

Nope, third. First two were on the Constellation, that's how I could eliminate cabin size as the source of the problem.

For what it's worth the "Lost at sea" title was intended to convey that from my perspective Silhouette management had lost, or perhaps has never had, customer focus that I provided my customers and expect from my suppliers. The "at sea" part should be obvious.

I think somebody needs to charter his own yacht from now on. Maybe then he'll be satisfied.

Maybe he should charter the ship on Bravo's Below Deck. That way we can have an entertaining view of his dissatisfaction and how the crew reacts to him.

Turbobob, not one bad word bout the food? You missed the boat on that one.