ladylemondrop

Me too, great photos, lots to remind us how wonderful cruising is. thanks Stockjock!

Lovely photos! I am sure you will have a wonderful time, we are about to board Silhouette tomorrow, we are not in a suite, my husband treated the kids to a free holiday instead of booking us a suite! Lol. I will be posting photos and honest opnions on dinners etc, but, am sure that it is still a beautiful ship, with a fantastic crew who will be trying their best to please. Congratulations on retirement, enjoy it! 😊

I am 51, we went with my friend and my sons girlfriend who is 21 - she loved it! They have a lot of activities, enrichment speakers (all subjects and wildlife in particular ORCA etc for marine wildlife) quizzes, deck games, crafts, art studio, dance classes, and Martini classes, cookery demos.... Couple of speciality restaurants (asian/indian style) but we loved the main dining room food. Shows are production, comedy, vocalists, classical, all kinds and very varied. Plus guitarists in pub, string trio in bar etc. I think the average age range depends on time of year, and length of itinerary, shorter cruises are younger demographic while longer (including world) are older. Not many children. I think you could try looking at a short 5 nighter to start maybe, as a taster, you might be surprised!

If any of you are UK based and enjoy the smaller ships, please take a look at Fred Olsen, they have two new ships, Bolette & Borealis (formerly Holland America) and the food is fantastic! Having cruised with both Celebrity and Fred Olsen many times, I can honestly say that service, food standard and prices of drinks etc is better on Freds. Some photos from our last cruise on Borealis - menus for reference, no upcharging!

We used to love the Cirque style shows! Sadly recent entertainment has been quite dull in comparison. My favourite ship for entertainment is Anthem of the Seas, the Two70 theatre was mind blowing, with the huge windows acting as video screens, and lots of acrobatic style performing. We also loved their full productions of Grease, and We will Rock you. The most entertaining activity we did on our last cruise on Reflection was Silent Disco!

Lemon drop martini! 🍋 Vodka, lemon juice, triple sec and syrup

Yes, Ephesus is Turkey, OP is booked to do that hence the mention. We have also been to Akrotiri and it was incredible, to think they just find these lost civilisations, so intact and well preserved is just amazing! What a great itinerary, I think its one of my favourite parts of the world.

Stockjock mentioned being persuaded to visit ruins in Turkey. - 'Having said that, cruise critic talked me into seeing the ruins in Turkey, so I guess that will be interesting'

If by ruins you mean Ephesus, its incredible and so worth it! Your tour here in Santorini looks fantastic, your photos are excellent.

Thanks Hcat, its been a while since we sailed together! 😊

Looks beautiful! Great photos

Some great advice about ordering an extra side salad, that's a great idea! I will be running to the first point of call I see to book the restaurants too, thank you.

Oooo! That sounds exciting! I believe it is Captain George, who we have met before. Love him. I am hoping there might be alternatives to the mash.... lets see. I too am praying that the Bay of 'sickbay' as we call it, is calm....please! I am not a good sailor. We deliberately avoided Move Up just in case I got assigned anywhere other than mid ship. We have sailed Silhouette, Reflection, Constellation, all a few times, so we have a good idea of what we would like to expect, and open minds to what the reality will be based on a lot of recent posts here. I am generally a glass half full person, but food is everything on my holiday so am hoping its good.

I am so sorry that you are having these issues at dinner, it’s really sad that you can’t just relax and enjoy your meal! It should be a decadent experience not a crazy canteen kerfuffle. I hope that you can find someone senior to discuss it with. Maybe try an evening in Murano to cheer up your lovely girlfriend.

It’s the lack of variety and the look of them which I think is the main issue, what if you are not a mashed potato person? (My husband loves them, me - not a fan) the presentation is lumpy! I love some pomme purée with creamy butter but not this school dinners style. Looks cheap. Do they offer french fries, or baked potato?

Hi, we are in a Concierge cabin, chosen primarily for location (mid ship hump aft) so we could be next to our son and his girlfriend, so unfortunately no access to luminae or blu or butlers, but if I meet anyone in suites will ask! We have always been really happy with service in the past - we are already anticipating this will be a much busier cruise than last year, when it was kind of half capacity (ours is full this time).

Thank you, will be thinking of you. My husband has just finished five weeks of chemo/radiotherapy, and we are so lucky that he is well enough to travel!

Hello! We are embarking Silhouette this Saturday, in Southampton, to the Med for 13 nights. I will have premium wifi so hopefully I will be able to update this while away. Hoping to report in about pressing issues such as - MDR food!! Food is very important to us, we do have a speciality dining package, 6 nights, but we still hope to enjoy the MDR as we have done in the past. Lets see..... I will try to take lots of photos. If there is anything anyone would especially like to know, please ask! I am going to be very busy though, enjoying my drink package, finding ducks, (seems to be a new 'thing') and eating cookies. 😁 I actually wouldn't mind the mash if it looks like this......

When we took the cable car down last year we waited five to ten minutes at most, and it was fine, nothing to overly worry about…

Crepe Balon Rouge is my husband’s absolute favourite dessert. Its wondeful to sit and watch them cook! Now I know how my kids feel at home 😂

If there are any dining packages that are longer, they are usually better value, we have purchased a six night one for our 13 night cruise, we plan to do them all at least once, but for Murano definitely twice. Its fantastic. Your cruise sounds wonderful have a great time!

Hi, we did this excursion last year, we bused to Oia, no cable car required we went direct from the ship to the bus, I think the town may be Kamari? Famous for the black beach! Its not too far from Thira/fira. And definitely take the cable car back, its easy and as previous poster said, the donkey path down is treacherous - uneven, slippery, and long! Have a wonderful time, Santorini is really special.

Bland…. And the mash looks awful! Stodgy lump. Thanks for sharing these.

Interesting. Am hoping there is a chance to comment on MDR food cutbacks, and cutbacks in general!

Part of me wonders if they have adapted the menu to UK tastes (in their opinion) as it is sailing out of UK? i.e. Mashed potato, yorkshire puddings etc...? If so, as a UK resident I would ask please DONT! I would much prefer the previous menu options of baked potato as a side dish etc. I hope that people who have recently sailed, or are about to, contact Celebrity to voice concerns/opinions. I will be there in less than two weeks, and will happily report back. Just say NO TO MASHED POTATO! 😁