Back from Silhouette 3/4/18 Sailing

This was our first cruise on Celebrity. We have cruised many times w/Royal Caribbean and Disney. Before we left I read many, many threads about the Silhouette and was actually concerned about some of the things that were posted. Now that we are back I wanted to share my feelings...I can honestly say that the only issue we encountered was on Embarkation Day. The change from Fort Lauderdale to Miami didn't go too well. Even though we were prepared for the change and the late boarding, what we didn't expect was getting to the Miami Port and being told we should spend the next few hours at Bayside (outside shopping mall) in Miami. By the time we went to Bayside and came back per their instructions we didn't get to board the ship until approx. 4:30 p.m. This really eliminated the first day and was disappointing. However, we are positive people and don't complain so we put that aside and started our trip. From that point we had a wonderful trip on the Silhouette. The concerns that I read about Anytime dining, short staffing in bars and poolside, food, wearing towels, poor entertainment, issues at Guest Services etc. were non existent for us. We had Anytime dining and NEVER had an issue. We walked up, gave our stateroom number and within in minutes were at a table for two. Anytime we went into a bar or were sitting poolside, within minutes there was someone asking us what we would like and when our drinks were "low" they were there ready to get us another. Food was wonderful. We went to Murano which was an amazing experience and amazing food. The MDR was wonderful as well. The times we did go to the Oceanview we were satisfied. The towel issue-no problem for us. We enjoyed the shows, some more than others but we were entertained and enjoyed ourselves. We were impressed overall with Celebrity. They don't miss any details. The staff was really wonderful and friendly and ready to help. After the trip I had to remind myself that people like to complain about just about anything and just aren't happy people so you need to take what they post with a grain of salt. We had a great time, loved everything and look forward to our next trip with Celebrity!

Thanks for posting your review! We’ll board Silhouette in June, so I’m very happy to see that you had a great experience (other than the embarkation delay). Murano is our favorite too. The MDR experience you described was exactly what we experienced on Silhouette several years ago, and we hope to have the same luck this time:D.

I do agree that some people love to complain, but many of the people who posted recent negative reviews about Silhouette did not fall within that category (hence my concern). I’ve been reading the Celebrity boards long enough to recognize the people who regularly write balanced, honest reviews, and some of the negative reviews (as well as some of the positive) were posted by such people. Officers and crews change too, so this month’s ship and last month’s ship may be quite different. Regardless, your review makes me very hopeful that we’ll board a happy ship:). Cheers!

I would love to hear from someone who has done numerous cruises with Celebrity, on the Silhouette specifically to see if their impressions of the MDR are the same. They would have had the same menus for several years now and would be able to do a fair assessment of changes.

Thanks to brolfashion for a concise and informative report. Since you have experience with Royal Caribbean how did your experience on Celebrity compare with what you would expect on Royal?

I would love to hear from someone who has done numerous cruises with Celebrity, on the Silhouette specifically to see if their impressions of the MDR are the same. They would have had the same menus for several years now and would be able to do a fair assessment of changes.

Done several on the Silhouette. I love the ship. The food is excellent throughout the ship. Don't worry. MDR food is excellent. I like the variety of selections offered.

Thanks for the report.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and will sail Celebrity again.

Thank you for taking the time to write and share this report.

Keith

So glad to read your review. We will be sailing on Silhouette in August and were dismayed to read how badly organised Select dining appeared to be. Never had problems with Select dining before, so pleased to hear your wonderful review. hapicruisin

Thank you for posting your review. Glad you enjoy your cruise. We sailed on her before and are looking forward to our 2nd time on the Silhouette! We truly enjoyed our first time on the Silhouette and expect this time to be even better.

I have to say that we have loved Celebrity since our first cruise aboard the Century many years ago. She holds a special place in our vacation life and it is our favorite; we would love to sail on her again someday.

Happy Sailing!!!

Thanks for your review! We will sail on the Silhouette in November this year. We saw the same thing before our first Celebrity cruise on the Infinity in 2017 - "worn out, bad carpet, bad food, lots of rust, etc.". We did not experience that, and very much enjoyed the cruise!

Very much looking forward to our upcoming Silhouette cruise!

Thanks for your review! We will sail on the Silhouette in November this year. We saw the same thing before our first Celebrity cruise on the Infinity in 2017 - "worn out, bad carpet, bad food, lots of rust, etc.". We did not experience that, and very much enjoyed the cruise!

 

Very much looking forward to our upcoming Silhouette cruise!

On our recent cruise on Silhouette, there was a lot of rust on the veranda and the chairs had really bad peeling paint. Huge chips on the veranda. The chairs in the Ensemble Lounge were in need of being re-upholstered. Great shape but looking tired.

Thanks to brolfashion for a concise and informative report. Since you have experience with Royal Caribbean how did your experience on Celebrity compare with what you would expect on Royal?

We've always enjoyed our Royal Caribbean cruises and never had any issues or complaints. We made the change for only that reason, a change. In comparison we think Celebrity was a slight step up from Royal. Celebrity just seems to be a bit classier. Again, Royal Caribbean is great but Celebrity was really great.

I have sailed Silhouette many times. On our most recent sailing in January we had a disastrous experience in Select Dining. I posted it here. I explained that I thought the reason for the long delays was that a group of 300 people had been bumped out of Early Dining into Select and it was overwhelmed. I did not post that to make any negative assertions about Silhouette....just to suggest that people might want to think about making reservations as a precaution if such conditions ever arose again. We have a 12 night cruise on Silhouette booked for next January so obviously I'm very happy with the ship.

Our second Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette and have booked a third. I cannot imagine what would compel us to try any other line. I would say - other than sh*t show on embarkation day, which we did not experience last time, everything was pretty darn close to perfect. Food - outstanding. we tried specialty dining this time, and while it was fabulous, love the MDR so much not sure we will bother next time. The staff is outstanding.

We went on the Silhouette during Thanksgiving of 2016. It was the ship's first outing back after being in Europe. This led to some disorganization on both embarkation and debarkation. The other thing we noticed was the Main Dining Room seemed understaffed. Some evenings our waiter would take our order, and we would not see him again. Otherwise, it was a great cruise and these issues did not take any enjoyment away from us. It was my wife's first cruise and she now says she will never go on another type of vacation.