REVIEW: What has happened to our favorite cruise line??? Silhouette 12/17/17

As the old saying goes, there is a first for everything, and this is no different. This is the first time in 12 cruises with =X= that I’m posting a negative review of a Celebrity cruise. In full disclosure, my wife and I are 54, no kids, and this was our 36th cruise. To be even more transparent, Celebrity has been our go-to cruise line for a long time. We always seem to enjoy our experience better on Celebrity than on other lines. We’ve had other great cruises (Oceania was amazing), but Celebrity has always gone the extra mile. That is until this past December, the week before Christmas, 2017.

It all started at embarkation. Lots has been said about the cluster of confusion in Fort Lauderdale and yes, it was a mess. They gave us$25 for our troubles, which was a nice gesture, but embarkation was awful. So many people at a small area not knowing where to go or what to do and not many people helping you. Meh, whatever, we finally got on the ship.

To summarize things, we found the food in the MDR to be the worst ever. Dishes that seemed thrown together, not very tasty, and very generic. In past experiences, we’ve raved about their food. Not this time. We had one meal in the MDR that we found good to very good, but the rest were unappealing.

The production shows were equally bad. We found all of them to be borderline bizarre and the singing was not good. I’m no expert but I know good singing versus flat singing and I heard a lot of sour notes. We didn’t stay for one complete show. That has NEVER happened to us. I will say that the other shows in the theater were very good.

We almost had to avoid going through the shops area (the jewelry and watches shops). The workers actually hawked us like at a state fair or something. It was terrible!

Our CCH seemed like she did not want to be there. I won’t divulge the name but that has never happened to us either.

And what about one of the things I like most about Celebrity, the greeting that almost every crew member gives you when they meet your gaze. This time? About 40%. WHAT?

There were some bright moments, like an amazing collection of lounge performers. Most were very good, with one exception, but that is normal. The duo I speak of was not our cup of tea. The Lawn Club was awesome,both lunch and dinner. Q-Sine still continues to impress us, and the special Taj Mahal night they had with the Indian fare was incredible. Do not miss it if you like Indian food. Finally, our cabin steward, Revelon, was probably the best we’ve ever had.

So, be honest, did we miss a memo or something? Have these changes been gradually phased in and we just missed it? Granted, we hadn’t been on a Celebrity cruise in over two years so things may have changed. Still, to change this drastically really has us concerned. What has happened to our favorite cruise line??? Not sure where to point the blame. Is it the new CEO? Maybe it’s the ship, a jinx or something. Maybe it’s just us expecting too much (like a repeat of past awesome experiences is asking for too much). We were excited about booking the new Edge for her inaugural sailing, but we’ll see how things go on our March cruise aboard the Summit. We might have to cancel the Edge, and worse yet, may have to find another favorite cruise line. Sorry Celebrity, but we were really disappointed this time. :loudcry::loudcry:

What happened? LLP!!!!

In November we were on a sister ship and had a fantastic cruise experience because of a number of staff and crew members.

We are now on another ship and the food has been great in the MDR and buffet.

However there is a spark missing. Entertainers are mediocre and a wonderful cast just left. There are two wonderful bands playing almost nightly but a guitar and vocalist have no flair at all.

We found staff friendliness lacking. The CD says daily Oh another thing... I love you” but never bothers to talk to anyone when we see him about the ship.

Captains club events are scheduled at different times because they conflict with Park West. One week the celebration was held at noon on the next week 7:30 at night. During the day Park West takes over the Sky Lounge on sea days. There are also many groups from week to week that put the Sky lounge off limits due to private functions except for elite hour.

We have decided to take a break from cruising for a while.

What happened at embarkation at Port Everglades? We’ve sailed from there many times and it has always been as smooth as can be. Minus the time our luggage sat in the rain.

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QUOTE "Our CCH seemed like she did not want to be there. I won’t divulge the name but that has never happened to us either."

OP, I am going to assume she was the same Captain's Club hostess that was on our January 7 Silhouette sailing. She was by far......the worst ever!!!!! Besides giving the impression of not wanting to be there and having absolutely no personality, she did not do her job. Not one voice mail reminding us about special CC events and the new tender process. Bring back Donna & Graham!!!!!

I was on that cruise and had a great experience. We had awesome stateroom service and friendly people. We had a group of 8.

The embarkation from the convention center wasn't as bad as the transfer from San Diego to Ensenada for Solstice, so while we had a wait, that was really the only issue. They had lots of people there checking with guests and trying to smooth issues. We had from 20 to 74 in age across 3 generations including Dad in a wheelchair. It is all perspective. It isn't like we are new to crusing, either.

We are back on Silhouette now. The officers are out and about, and stopping to greet with a smile. The Concierge is fantastic (in CC room this time). A great string duo, and had the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet this morning on the first sea day.

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We were very pleased with our TA cruise on the Silhouette this past Nov. I do remember something about the crew changing after the TA. I wonder if that impacted your cruise.

The Concierge, whose desk is on the starboard side of deck 10 and Captain's Club Host/Hostess whose desk is on the port side of deck 10 on the Silhouette, are two different positions!!!

QUOTE "Our CCH seemed like she did not want to be there. I won’t divulge the name but that has never happened to us either."

Bring back Donna & Graham!!!!!

Graham was not my cup of Tea, but I really miss Donna (last year we ran into her on board, she had switched to onboard cruise sales). We also like Ratti.

We are on the Silhouette in 3 weeks and hope our experience matches our previous Silhouette sailings. No idea who the CC host you had was, but it sounds like I should cross my fingers and hope we have someone else.

Glad to hear the onboard musicians were good.

QUOTE "Our CCH seemed like she did not want to be there. I won’t divulge the name but that has never happened to us either."

 

OP, I am going to assume she was the same Captain's Club hostess that was on our January 7 Silhouette sailing. She was by far......the worst ever!!!!! Besides giving the impression of not wanting to be there and having absolutely no personality, she did not do her job. Not one voice mail reminding us about special CC events and the new tender process. Bring back Donna & Graham!!!!!

Donna is very special. She's now very happy in Future cruises.

Most of us don't enjoy reading negative reports about Celebrity, but honestly, it is important to share constructive criticism on these boards. How else is Celebrity going to know how many of its customers feel? A cruise is a vey special endeavor, one that is planned for and expectations are high for another wonderful cruise. Why would so many of us return time after time if this was not the case? Sure, we all have bad days now and then, but overall the product being offered should make us want to return...sorry your cruise fell short of your expectations.

What happened? LLP!!!!

Celebrity has been "Royalized" and not in a good way.....not much left of the Modern Luxury cruise line we enjoyed for many years

Hoping EDGE elevates Celebrity as something special again,,,,more than an LLP Royal clone!

The embarkation from the convention center wasn't as bad as the transfer from San Diego to Ensenada for Solstice, so while we had a wait, that was really the only issue. They had lots of people there checking with guests and trying to smooth issues. We had from 20 to 74 in age across 3 generations including Dad in a wheelchair. It is all perspective. It isn't like we are new to crusing, either.

 

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We were on the Ensenada to Hawaii cruise and that was a total cluster. It went fairly smoothly for us until we hit the pier in Ensenada. We must have waited an hour on a hot bus before they let us get off to board the ship. I'm not sure which was worse though, that or the customs fiasco in Hilo. Nearly saw fistfights waiting in the customs line. Some of those old ladies got pretty feisty when people cut the line.

We had a poor cruise on the Eclipse late 2016 that almost put us off cruising Celebrity again. But our last two cruises were pretty good. So I guess sometimes you just board the ship on an off week. We have two more booked and then we are thinking we might try some land vacations instead. But I know my wife and she will see a cruise or her friends will invite us on a cruise... and we will be cruising again. A disappointing cruise still beats work!

Celebrity has been "Royalized" and not in a good way.....not much left of the Modern Luxury cruise line we enjoyed for many years

 

Hoping EDGE elevates Celebrity as something special again,,,,more than an LLP Royal clone!

Couldn't agree with you more. It started with MB and has been even worse with LLP :(

Celebrity has been "Royalized" and not in a good way.....not much left of the Modern Luxury cruise line we enjoyed for many years

 

Seems everything fell apart when Celebrity introduced Modern Luxury. Guess introducing the word "modern" gave them the flexibility of redefining luxury and cutting corners wherever possible. Our first Celebrity experience in 1993 in an ocean view cabin on the Horizon was 10 times better than our dining experience in Aqua Class on last months Jan. 7 sailing.

 

When we booked the Anthem of the Seas for our 50th Anniversary celebration with our family which includes 8 grandchildren from 8 to 18, we picked the ship because we wanted everyone to have lots of bells and whistles to keep everyone happy. Little did I know the dinners in their MDR would be so much better than last month's BLU experience.

After having cruised X several times along with HAL and Princess in the last 4 years, I know X is still a notch above for us. No, everything is not always perfect and some things from the past have disappeared, but every time we step on a Non-X cruise we are wishing we were back on Celebrity.

As the old saying goes, there is a first for everything, and this is no different. This is the first time in 12 cruises with =X= that I’m posting a negative review of a Celebrity cruise. In full disclosure, my wife and I are 54, no kids, and this was our 36th cruise. To be even more transparent, Celebrity has been our go-to cruise line for a long time. We always seem to enjoy our experience better on Celebrity than on other lines. We’ve had other great cruises (Oceania was amazing), but Celebrity has always gone the extra mile. That is until this past December, the week before Christmas, 2017.

 

It all started at embarkation. Lots has been said about the cluster of confusion in Fort Lauderdale and yes, it was a mess. They gave us$25 for our troubles, which was a nice gesture, but embarkation was awful. So many people at a small area not knowing where to go or what to do and not many people helping you. Meh, whatever, we finally got on the ship.

 

To summarize things, we found the food in the MDR to be the worst ever. Dishes that seemed thrown together, not very tasty, and very generic. In past experiences, we’ve raved about their food. Not this time. We had one meal in the MDR that we found good to very good, but the rest were unappealing.

 

The production shows were equally bad. We found all of them to be borderline bizarre and the singing was not good. I’m no expert but I know good singing versus flat singing and I heard a lot of sour notes. We didn’t stay for one complete show. That has NEVER happened to us. I will say that the other shows in the theater were very good.

 

We almost had to avoid going through the shops area (the jewelry and watches shops). The workers actually hawked us like at a state fair or something. It was terrible!

 

Our CCH seemed like she did not want to be there. I won’t divulge the name but that has never happened to us either.

 

And what about one of the things I like most about Celebrity, the greeting that almost every crew member gives you when they meet your gaze. This time? About 40%. WHAT?

 

There were some bright moments, like an amazing collection of lounge performers. Most were very good, with one exception, but that is normal. The duo I speak of was not our cup of tea. The Lawn Club was awesome,both lunch and dinner. Q-Sine still continues to impress us, and the special Taj Mahal night they had with the Indian fare was incredible. Do not miss it if you like Indian food. Finally, our cabin steward, Revelon, was probably the best we’ve ever had.

 

So, be honest, did we miss a memo or something? Have these changes been gradually phased in and we just missed it? Granted, we hadn’t been on a Celebrity cruise in over two years so things may have changed. Still, to change this drastically really has us concerned. What has happened to our favorite cruise line??? Not sure where to point the blame. Is it the new CEO? Maybe it’s the ship, a jinx or something. Maybe it’s just us expecting too much (like a repeat of past awesome experiences is asking for too much). We were excited about booking the new Edge for her inaugural sailing, but we’ll see how things go on our March cruise aboard the Summit. We might have to cancel the Edge, and worse yet, may have to find another favorite cruise line. Sorry Celebrity, but we were really disappointed this time. :loudcry::loudcry:

Sorry you have a disappointing time on Silhouette, especially since I am booked on her for 20Jan2019 (out of FLL!).

I recently cruised on Eclipse for the third time on a 14 day cruise (unfortunately she is going to South America next year). Since Eclipse is a similar ship to Silhouette, I share your impressions, especially about the MDR food (although service was decent) and production shows.

HOWEVER ... I had a good time. I think the difference is the people on board:

Capt. Leo is engaging (and cute according to my GF) and is always around, as is his staff (especially Andrea the Hotel Director who seems to be everywhere). All X Captains can steer the boat safely: that is assumed. However, Capt. Leo's real contribution is how his staff behaves (and it all starts at the TOP). They seem like family and it shows: they are consistently friendly and always have a warm greeting for the passengers. The officers are engaging and actually talk with you.

The other Eclipse asset to mention is our Cruise Director, Eddy-from-Wales. He is GENUINE and professional, unlike other CDs that we have experienced who act more like 80s game show hosts. Eddy goes out of his way to make our experience fulfilling and pleasant, despite having to follow Corporate dictates. He actually listens to passengers' needs and wants. A small example of this is arranging some music in the Celebrity Central (a quiet area) so that the music (from Classical to Ellington/Porter) can be heard and appreciated as opposed to noisy venues like the Grand Foyer. He also gives talks about what he is passionate about, rather than the usual drivel.

The point of all of this? Despite the [many, disappointing] changes that have come from Miami in the LPP tenure, the ship experience really does depend most on those in charge on-board. These people change. I would respectfully suggest that you give Celebrity another chance: you might find that next time you will have an amazing voyage.

Good luck with your travels

o.k. another Silhouette cruise review that does nothing to instill confidence that our first 'X' cruise a couple of years from now will be a step above the many Carnival cruises we've taken. Not to be a Debbie downer, but my wife has MS. Thankfully, it has not progressed to the point where her mobility is greatly affected. So, we're trying to see and enjoy (and cruising is by far our favorite way to vacation) our vacations as much as we can before, God forbid, her disease prevents us from cruising.

We're growing tired of sailing Carnival for a plethora of reasons and this isn't the forum to discuss any of that. We have 2 more cruises booked with them for this April and a 14 day Hawaii cruise next year. 2020 will be our first 'X' cruise.

We chose 'X' over Viking based on cost and itinerary and the fact that it is supposed to be head and shoulders above many other lines. I want my wife to be able to really enjoy herself on these cruises and feel special, like we've been on our Carnival cruises.

Yet, there seems to be more negative reviews on this ship in particular as of late and I'm wondering now if we made the wrong choice.

Silhouette was Ship of the Year last year and the most amazing crew was sent to other ships. From F&B Manager down the dining services were completely changed. The HD was sent to Constellation and a Captain was transferred to another ship. This might partially explain the decline on Silhouette that some cruisers are reporting. I notice many new names on Arno's charts. Experienced MCC have been promoted to Suite Managers and there are many new CC Hosts and Hostesses. Some experienced Hosts/Hostesses have moved to Future Cruises where they don't need to deal with rude passengers. Others have left Celebrity. I'm seeing new names all over the charts, including recently promoted Captains. This is all normal as an experienced Officer corps ages. Might take time before new training shows results and I see this as the real challenge to Celebrity.

o.k. another Silhouette cruise review that does nothing to instill confidence that our first 'X' cruise a couple of years from now will be a step above the many Carnival cruises we've taken. Not to be a Debbie downer, but my wife has MS. Thankfully, it has not progressed to the point where her mobility is greatly affected. So, we're trying to see and enjoy (and cruising is by far our favorite way to vacation) our vacations as much as we can before, God forbid, her disease prevents us from cruising.

 

We're growing tired of sailing Carnival for a plethora of reasons and this isn't the forum to discuss any of that. We have 2 more cruises booked with them for this April and a 14 day Hawaii cruise next year. 2020 will be our first 'X' cruise.

 

We chose 'X' over Viking based on cost and itinerary and the fact that it is supposed to be head and shoulders above many other lines. I want my wife to be able to really enjoy herself on these cruises and feel special, like we've been on our Carnival cruises.

 

Yet, there seems to be more negative reviews on this ship in particular as of late and I'm wondering now if we made the wrong choice.

Fear not, Celebrity is way better than Carnival. Also keep in mind you are about 500 times more likely to see a bad review online than a good one. Few people post reviews if their experience was good, but a high percentage will post if it was bad. And people on the same ship can have very different experiences. On our last Eclipse cruise my parents had the early dining we had late. They were raving about the short ribs so we ordered them and they were gawd-awful. nearly everyone on our table of 10 ordered them and we all sent them back. So same cruise, same meal but different times resulted in vastly different experiences.

o.k. another Silhouette cruise review that does nothing to instill confidence that our first 'X' cruise a couple of years from now will be a step above the many Carnival cruises we've taken. Not to be a Debbie downer, but my wife has MS. Thankfully, it has not progressed to the point where her mobility is greatly affected. So, we're trying to see and enjoy (and cruising is by far our favorite way to vacation) our vacations as much as we can before, God forbid, her disease prevents us from cruising.

 

We're growing tired of sailing Carnival for a plethora of reasons and this isn't the forum to discuss any of that. We have 2 more cruises booked with them for this April and a 14 day Hawaii cruise next year. 2020 will be our first 'X' cruise.

 

We chose 'X' over Viking based on cost and itinerary and the fact that it is supposed to be head and shoulders above many other lines. I want my wife to be able to really enjoy herself on these cruises and feel special, like we've been on our Carnival cruises.

 

Yet, there seems to be more negative reviews on this ship in particular as of late and I'm wondering now if we made the wrong choice.

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We were on the same cruise. 4 staterooms. Dad in an accessible one. We all had a great time. Remember it is all subjective.

 

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I know it is and we try not to "look" for things to be negative about. We love interacting with the crew and have always had someone greet us with a smile or 'hello' on previous cruises. Very sad to read that this might hit or miss.

The MDR is one experience we always look forward to. Maybe our tastes are simple, but we've always enjoyed the food on that other cruise line. And I understand that declining food quality is one of the common negatives themes across the major cruise lines. We are hoping our experience doesn't fall in line with some of these reviews. And food in general is not the main focus of our cruise, but we want to enjoy what we eat no matter what venue. Some of the specialty dining like Qsine has us very intrigued.

We don't put much weight into embarkation, as we've had some very smooth and some just meh. Same goes for production shows. There was one really weird one last year on Vista....'Flick', it was called. Only production show we walked out on. And we've seen shows that were outstanding and some, again, that were very lackluster. But, we do like that piano bar. Always a great time if you have a host that can sing and entertain. We will be looking forward to the lounge performances.

However there is a spark missing. Entertainers are mediocre and a wonderful cast just left. There are two wonderful bands playing almost nightly but a guitar and vocalist have no flair at all.

 

We have decided to take a break from cruising for a while.

That's a great way of putting it, there is a spark missing. That's it! I don't know what has happened but I'm looking at an MSC cruise that will save me a few bucks and be (hopefully) just as pleasant if not more so. We've done MSC before and have enjoyed them immensely. We'll see in March. Come on Celebrity, don't let us down!

QUOTE "Our CCH seemed like she did not want to be there. I won’t divulge the name but that has never happened to us either."

 

OP, I am going to assume she was the same Captain's Club hostess that was on our January 7 Silhouette sailing. She was by far......the worst ever!!!!! Besides giving the impression of not wanting to be there and having absolutely no personality, she did not do her job. Not one voice mail reminding us about special CC events and the new tender process. Bring back Donna & Graham!!!!!

Yep, sounds familiar. I was really disappointed. I gave her a mediocre review even though my wife told me to be nicer. Nope, not for the money I spend and the expectations.

What happened at embarkation at Port Everglades? We’ve sailed from there many times and it has always been as smooth as can be. Minus the time our luggage sat in the rain.

It was AWFUL! We got dropped off at the convention center, had no idea where to go (as did the hundreds of others walking aimlessly). We finally found where to enter, went through check in (simple enough) and then waited for buses to take us to the ship. Cluster (blank) is the best way to describe it.