Review!!! December silhouette and eclipse b2b

We just got back a couple days ago from our "Holiday Adventure!" Some of you may have been following the live blog I was doing. Unfortunately, I was not able to update my postings as much as I would have liked while away...there was way too much laying on the beach and martini drinking to do! Here are the two cruises we just returned from:

Silhouette Western Caribbean December 14th

Eclipse Southern Caribbean Holiday Cruise December 21st

I am going to post full reviews on both cruises but first I will start with the Silhouette and I will get to the Eclipse tomorrow as I don't think I will have enough time tonight to upload the proper photos, videos, dailys, etc. for both cruises.

Before I begin let me tell you a little about ourselves. My partner and I are from Chicago. I am 27 and Edward is 32. Edward has only cruised on Celebrity, but I have cruised on Carnival in the past. The Silhouette cruise was our 5th Celebrity cruise and the Eclipse will make the 6th. We love Celebrity because we enjoy the clientele on the ship, the great service, the food, and the low amount of children.

Originally we did not plan to go on the December 14th Silhouette cruise. We booked the December 21st Holiday cruise in October of 2013. As we were a couple of months out from the Eclipse cruise we started looking at hotel prices in South Beach to stay for a couple days before embarkation. Well after adding in the hotel costs, the dinners and of course the great deal of drinking we would be doing we figured it would be cheaper (or near the same price) to take a cruise before. Edward was able to take the time off of work and for me this time of year is slower anyway, so we decided to book the December 14th Western Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette! 21 total days at sea. It sounded like true bliss. Now lets get to the cruise! I'll save you some of the basic details of our trip because you may have already read that in the live blog / review.

I've uploaded photos into Flickr for easy viewing and videos onto Youtube. I'll make all the addresses I include in the review hyperlinks so you can click on them, but if for any reason they do not work just copy and paste the link into your browser.

Celebrity Silhouette Western Caribbean 12/14/14

Itinerary

Day 1 - Sail Away from Fort Lauderdale

Day 2 - Sea Day (Formal Night)

Day 3 - Cozumel, Mexico

Day 4 - George Town, Grand Cayman

Day 5 - Falmouth, Jamaica

Day 6 - Labadee, Haiti (Formal Night)

Day 7 - Sea Day

Back in Fort Lauderdale

The Officers:

MASTER: Captain Anastasios N. Lekkas

STAFF CAPTAIN: Vittorio Cantu

CHIEF ENGINEER: Konstantinos Pechlivanidis

GUEST RELATIONS MANAGER: Sinisa Micetic

HOTEL DIRECTOR: Christos Karavos

CRUISE DIRECTOR: Mark Bachiochi

FOOD & BEVERAGE DIRECTOR: Stephane Coutouly

EXECUTIVE CHEF: Carlos Miguel Fernandes

Our Cabin

We were in a C1 cabin that we received after booking a Concierge Gty. It was an Aft C1 which we were quite excited about! Cabin #1411. We did feel the boat move a bit more since we were in the aft. The balcony did have some soot on it which I was not crazy about but I expected it as it was an aft. The views were phenomenal though! We had a very good cabin steward who kept our room spotless. We received a couple of towel animals as well which I haven't gotten on Celebrity before...or at least not that I remember??

Here is a video of the cabin:

Here is a video of the sunset from our balcony:

The other problem with an aft cabin is the LONG walk! But hey, you're on vacation...what else do you have to do right?

Sail Away

The Sail Away party was to originally gather at Sunset, however the Cruise Critic Connections party was scheduled for 5pm at The Porch. Below is some video of us sailing away. We did attend the Cruise Connections party which was well put together. We met several groups of people and some officers turned out for the party as well. It was beautiful weather for sail away. Mid 70s and sunny.

Here are some videos of us sailing away!

The AZIPOD!

So many of you may be familiar with the azipod issue on the Silhouette. Some people were complaining on Cruise Critic. Some were freaking out complaining that an engine was out. Some even were bashing the azipods saying we should return to propellers??

We were delayed getting into all ports, yes. Did I personally care? No. We always prefer the ship over ports, at least in the Caribbean. The only time I cared was Labadee. We found the island to be absolutely beautiful! I felt sorry for those who really wanted to get off in Grand Cayman. Tendering started at around 11:30am and the last tender ticket was not called until after 2pm, but all aboard was roughly 5:30pm.

While I know some were greatly disturbed by the azipod issue, which I can appreciate; it did not bother us.

You can see the difference in the wake:

The Ports

Cozumel, Mexico

We have been lucky enough to come to Cozumel several times. With this being said, there was no need for us to explore this port. We simply got off the boat and walked the 30 minutes to Margaritaville to get WiFi (Yes I know there are closer places, but we wanted a nice walk). We logged onto the internet to check e-mails, make some cruise critic posts and update Facebook. It was beautiful weather when we were in Cozumel. I would say low 80s and perfectly sunny.

George Town, Grand Cayman

We've been here before as well. Last time we were here it was considerably cloudy. This time it was a bit cloudy again. We did not pick up a tender ticket and figured we would wait for open tender (this is when all ticket numbers have been called and anyone can get off the boat). Open tender did not come until around 2:30pm and we had to be back on board by 5:30...I think last tender left at 5:15? So there was no point for us to get off. We made this our private boat day...enjoyed most of the ship to ourselves!

Falmouth Jamaica

We did not have anything planned for Jamaica. We actually planned to not even get off, but since we did not get off the ship in Grand Cayman we decided to check the port out. We walked into town which was really not much of a town at all. You could not walk more than a few feet without someone trying to peddle you something. After walking a block into town we stumbled across a large open structure with a sign that said WiFi. Someone who appeared to be the owner (also appeared to be American or Canadian) came up to us and invited us in. We sat at what was basically a folding table with folding chairs and logged onto pretty quick Wifi for $5. We ordered a couple drinks...only $3 each and sat there checking e-mails for an hour. It seemed like many crew members came here. The internet was pretty quick and I found out cheaper than in the port ($10 for WiFi). After this we then went back to the port and walked around a bit. Sat outside and took in some sun, and then went back to the ship.

Labadee, Haiti

For those of you not familiar with Labadee it is Royal Caribbean's private island. Though, it is not really an island, it is simply a section of Haiti that was "given" to RCCL. We arrived about an hour late because of the Azipod issue. The weather was PERFECT. Roughly 85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky until around 2pm when some clouds started to roll in (then darker ones around 3:00/3:30).

Labadee is gorgeous. The sand was beautiful....the layout was perfect. There were beach chairs, there were cabanas, jet skis, beach volleyball...you name it and it was there! All the Celebrity staff was out on the beach serving drinks and several full buffets of food. You can leave you iPad, laptop, cell phone or whatever on your chair and walk into the water for a swim without a care in the world. The water was pristine. It was a great beach. I wish we could have stayed there overnight and had a party on the beach!

Photos of Labadee:

Video of those Ziplining in Labadee

Video of my view from my beach chair in Labadee

Our Routine

We are creatures of habit. At home we have our usual restaurants, our usual dinner nights, our usual bars, etc. While I love trying new things I also love to stick with what works but most importantly I love knowing what to expect.

Every evening our routine was the same. We would start getting ready for dinner around 5:30pm and usually make it to the Martini Bar by 6:30pm. We would sit and have a couple drinks. I was drinking either the Blu Martini or a Kettle One martini. Edward would either have a Kettle One on the rocks, Kettle One martini or Belvedere Soda (Not really sure why he changes the vodka when he adds soda...I don't think he knows either...but oh well). I loved coming to the bar every night and having the bartenders know us and know our order.

We would then head to dinner between 7:45 and 8:15pm. After dinner we would either go see the production show or head to the martini bar. They had a couple late night dance shows such as the pool party which I will link a video to or the Liquid Lounge event which was held in the Solarium. We always made sure to attend those.

Select Dining / MDR / Buffet

We had select dining and our Hostess was Denisa. She was amazing. By the second day she knew our cabin number and kept us in the same section every night. Sangay was our waiter and was always very nice and attentive.

We found the food in MDR to be pretty good and we really did not have any major complaints. We enjoyed everything and we would usually end up sharing a desert as well. Our Sommelier was always brief, but he was quick to fill up the wine when it was running low and when we told him we wanted a different wine for the entree, etc. he always stopped by before the entree came out to take care of us.

JOHN F if you're reading this! You asked us to find a table number for you and I didn't even see the post until now (I'm rereading my live blog to jog my memory). Go see the Maitre'd or especially Denisa. Denisa was amazing and she will take good care of you. In Sangay's section there were 2 tables that were slightly off to the side and somewhat private. They were not crammed together like most of them. If you enter on the right side of select dining his section is toward the middle of the room and the two tables I am referring to will be to the right, near the servers station.

Buffet was pretty good for lunch. Nothing amazing but no complaints. I always eat my usual things at the buffet. The sushi selection during sushi hour was not incredible...I was hoping for more options but it was not a big loss for me.

Room Service

Well if you know me you know I use this a lot! We always have great deal to drink in the evening and right around 2am when we get back to our room we are hungry. We ordered room service most nights and we were pretty happy with the results. The pizza was very good. Edward really liked the spaghetti bolognese and we both always ended up ordering a salad or chicken skewers as well. Yea I know...it is like we had a second dinner. Room service was actually pretty quick. One time they said within 45 minutes but it still only took them 20/25 minutes which was the average time for room service.

Now, keep in mind while I did always enjoy the room service food my judgement was not spot on. After all, it is 1 to 2am and we have had more than several martinis so anything served to us probably would have tasted excellent.

Bar Staff

All the bar staff on the ship was great, no real complaints. They did get very busy sometimes but they were always trying. My favorite bartender was Caglar at the martini bar. We actually met him on the Constellation in the spring. He was always in a great mood. Why? Because his wife was expecting their first son in 10 days! Every night we'd ask him if he was a father yet. You could just tell he was already beaming with pride over his son.

The Martini Bar was our favorite spot and is always our favorite spot. It is near the atrium so we could hear music and see all the action.

The martini bar, in the evening would have a DJ in the corner with a sax accompanying his songs. It was not as loud as I thought it was going to be. I know this is a controversial issue and I don't like very loud music either....but I found it to be nice and upbeat. Here is a quick video of the sound level:

Below is a video from the martini bar on the Silhouette of the Martini Flight pour!

Singers / Bands

I LOVED the house band on the ship, SOUL. They were fantastic! The lounge band Soulstiss was also very good.

Here is a video (hopefully you can hear them!) of SOUL. I was sitting at the Martini bar...I didn't want to give up my seat :cool:

The Liquid Lounge

So what is the Liquid Lounge? The Liquid Lounge was held on the 16th, so the 3rd day of the cruise. It was held in the Solarium at 11pm and it was a night club / lounge party. They had a small little show in the pool and a couple bars set up. The music was pretty good and it provided a nice atmosphere especially if you had a few people to sit and talk with. They even had a special VIP section for those with access to Michael's Club. Thanks to some British friend's we met on the ship ;) we would able to gain access (though it is just a little roped off section by the pool but they were great seats!).

Here is a video of the Liquid Lounge

The Pool Deck Party

The Pool Deck Party was held at 10:30pm on the 18th, which would make it the 5th night of the cruise. It is called Celebrity ROX and features the dancers and singers from the production show. It was rock music from the 80s and it was a lot of fun. They had a couple bars set up on the pool deck and the dancers got the crowd involved. It is interactive so while the dancers have their own routine they get the crowd to join it. The turn out was actually pretty good and we had a great time. Below is some video!

http://youtu.be/js-D6LG_cN8

http://youtu.be/e_1VLcJjsyo

Cleanliness of the Ship

As always Celebrity ships are spotless and the Silhouette was no exception. Everything is exceptionally clean. I always comment on how clean the bathrooms are. Whenever we saw any kind of spill or anything of the sort it was promptly cleaned up.

The People

I've saved the best for last! One reason I LOVE cruising is because of the ability to meet new people from all over the world and really get to know them. There is no other form of travel where you see the same people day in and day out for such a long period of time where you feel like you've known them forever once you get off the ship.

It seems like every cruise we meet people that we wish we could have in our hometown and this cruise was no exception. We met a great couple from Florida, one of whom was originally from St. Marten. When he found out we were going to St. Marten on our next cruise over the holidays he gave us great tips on things to do.

We met some great people from the Chicago suburbs even that we enjoyed hanging out with and running into almost every night.

But I must give a BIG shout out to Darren and Kennie who we truly enjoyed hanging out with during the cruise. They were a blast to talk to, absolutely hysterical (typical British humor which I really enjoy) and truly interesting people. It turned out they actually knew someone from the production cast so one night some of the dancers and one of the singers came to the martini bar and we enjoyed drinking with them into the middle of the night. It is always a blast to have a good talk with those who live and work on the ship. They definitely helped make our cruise that much better and we hope to meet them again sometime in the future. When we were getting off the cruise we wished we could have brought them on the Eclipse with us.

Menu's, Daily's and More!

Here is a combination of bar menu's from both ships, but pricing is the same.

SOMTHING TO NOTE! THE RESOLUTION OF THESE PHOTOS IS ACTUALLY PRETTY DECENT, BUT FLICKR WAS DESIGNED FOR MOBILE DEVICES. SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ZOOM IN AND READ THE ACTUAL DAILYS WITHOUT STRAINING OPEN UP ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR YOUR TABLET. IT WILL BE MUCH EASIER TO FULLY READ. ALL DAILY'S ARE IN ORDER STARTING WITH THE FIRST DAY, ETC.

Bar Menu's

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129725878@N04/sets/72157650081518276/

Spa Menu with Pricing!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129725878@N04/sets/72157647837467513/

Daily's

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129725878@N04/sets/72157647828938904/

Towel Animals

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129725878@N04/sets/72157650149785142/

General Photos of the Ship from the first day

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129725878@N04/sets/72157647810903934/Overall we were very happy with our cruise on the Silhouette. We are thrilled we decided to add it to our vacation and would not have it any other way.

NOW I STILL HAVE TO POST THE REVIEW OF THE ECLIPSE, OUR TRANSITION BETWEEN THE SHIPS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE WHICH WILL COME IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS.

QUESTIONS? Feel free to ask! I'm sure there are many things I have left out of this review of the Silhouette which I will add in the coming days. But please feel free to ask any questions you may have even if you already asked them in my previous live posting. I will do my best to answer.

Are there differences between the ships?

We have only been on Eclipse.

I enjoyed reading your live reports and think it's great that you are taking time post-cruise to share a review and so many details. It will be very helpful to future cruisers. Like you, we love the Celebrity product and are big fans of the Martini Bar and Blu.

I would love to hear at some point about whether the 21 days on a ship were what you expected and if it got boring or repetitive.

Thanks again!

Are there differences between the ships?

We have only been on Eclipse.

Very little differences. Silhouette has the Lawn Club and Porch where the hot glass show is on the Eclipse. Other than that and probably the pictures in the alcoves of the Martini Bar and different art, you could think you were still on the same ship.

We dis a week on the Silhouette after having done 5 cruises on the Eclipse. We had AQ rooms throughout but while Blu on the Silhouette was identical, it was weird not having all the familiar faces fro Blu on the Eclipse.

We did think that Michael's Club was better in the days when we were allowed in it and it didn't have Perry Grant performing.

For some reason the paragraphs about Grand Cayman and Falmouth Jamaica did not load so here is our experiences with those ports.

Grand Cayman: We arrived around 11:30 and this is a tender port. We had no plans so we did not get a tender ticket and we figured we would just wait for open tender. It was not until 2:30 that they finished going through all tender tickets. Problem was the last tender back to the ship was roughly around 5:15 so there was really no point for us to get off. So we continued to stay on the ship which wasn't a bad thing. The ship wasn't that crowded and we had our own private ship day.

Falmouth, Jamaica: Our original plan, for a couple reasons, was not to get off in this port. However, since we did not get off in Grand Cayman and since the weather was so nice we decided to get off and check out the port. I wanted to get wifi and Edward wanted to walk around. Well, we didn't see any signs for wifi in the port. However, for future reference the port does have wifi, it is $10 to purchase. So, we decided to walk beyond the walls of the port into town. We walk down the Main Street of town which was quite run down in my opinion. You could not walk more than a couple feet without someone trying to hard sell you. We walked a block and came to a crossroad where we saw a large open air building with a sign saying wifi. A guy came up to us (who appeared to be the owner and was clearly American or Canadian) and asked if we were looking for wifi. He said the charge wa only $5 and he guaranteed it was double the speed of the port Internet. He sat us down at a communal table and we ordered a couple drinks (only $3 to $5 per drink) and logged into wifi. The wifi was quite fast and we saw a lot of crew members there so we figured we must be in a decent place. So I updated my blog, checked my emails, checked facebook and Edward did the same. We then just walked back to the port and walked around the port shops some and then got back on the ship which was fairly empty.

Now I have my personal reasons for not wanting to explore Jamaica more. However, if you port in Falmouth and want to explore I would recommend taking a tour to the falls. We spoke to several people who did that and absolutely loved it.

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Are there differences between the ships?

 

We have only been on Eclipse.

Gordon hit it spot on. Eclipse has the glass blowing show but the silhouette has lawn club and the porch. The outdoor seating for the ocean view cafe is a little different. On the eclipse you have more couches outside and lower tables at most of the tables near the railing overlooking the aft balconies. On the silhouette you have higher tables which make it a bit easier to eat. You also have more two person tables which makes it easier to find a seat outside. You'll also notice some minor differences in the set up of the sky lounge but they're minor differences. Besides that, like Gordon said, you won't know which ship you're on once you're inside.

When I write my review on the eclipse, hopefully later today if work schedule allows, I will cover Blu. We absolutely loved Blu on the eclipse and we will only book Aqua or above now after our experience. We are officially spoiled lol

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I enjoyed reading your live reports and think it's great that you are taking time post-cruise to share a review and so many details. It will be very helpful to future cruisers. Like you, we love the Celebrity product and are big fans of the Martini Bar and Blu.

 

 

 

I would love to hear at some point about whether the 21 days on a ship were what you expected and if it got boring or repetitive.

 

 

 

Thanks again!

Very good question. Edward and I will probably have slightly different opinions and I will cover this more extensively later today but the short answer is we are very glad we booked 21 days but probably won't cruise that long in the future in the Caribbean. I think 14 nights is quite perfect. If we do another B2B in the future we will definitely do it on the same ship. Having to pack and unpack, organize and reorganize was a bit of a hassle and seemed to be hanging over our heads the entire Silhouette cruise. However, I suppose if that is the biggest problem we are worrying about life is pretty good!

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Hi Chicago Paul-

Looking forward to the next review. We sail on the Silhouette, in AQ, in 3 weeks. Have been following your reviews with earnest. Glad to see the daily's you posted! If possible, can you post the menus for Blu on your next review. We are so excited to try this more intimate style of dining. We have only been on 5 cruises and we are already over the MDR. Thank you for all your work!

Hope T.

Hi Chicago Paul, a great many thanks for your help on the table for 2. Really enjoying your reviews and pictures!! Looks like you guys know how to have a great time on board, as we always try to do!! We will be at the martini bar the very first night!! :) John F

I would love to hear at some point about whether the 21 days on a ship were what you expected and if it got boring or repetitive.

We have done this a few times. We did 20 nights on Emerald Princess which was good as it was mostly different ports on the 2 loops. We have also done 22 nights on the Eclipse which was again good but in both cases the entertainment and menus repeat. What we did last year was the 14 day on the Eclipse a day at shore and then 7 days on the Silhouette, This year we do Reflection on 21/2 and the Eclipse on 1/3. Unfortunately this year we have to do Eastern Caribbean on the Silhouette although there is only one port repeated. Western works better for us on a 7 day as there are less sea day.

Will us having done 7 cruises all in AQ since Nov 12 you do get fed up with the Blu Menus although we could go to the MDR or a speciality for a change but usually don't. You get to know the staff in Blu and they always look after you well.

The entertainment repeat is a bit of worse but you never get to everything anyway.

It hasn't stopped us as we are booked for the 21 nights next year and for 2017. I don't think I would like doing the 14 night twice as a B2B. It is just too much the same but it works jumping ships (and ports in the next 2 years as we have to disembark in Miami and embark the same day at Port Everglades).

I would recommend it.

Gordon

Hello Chicago Paul -

When you were on the beach in Labadee, did you have to purchase drinks or were they included with your drink package?

I loved your reviews - thank you for taking the time! Pictures and videos are awesome, too.

Select Dining / MDR / Buffet

 

We had select dining and our Hostess was Denisa. She was amazing. By the second day she knew our cabin number and kept us in the same section every night. Sangay was our waiter and was always very nice and attentive.

We found the food in MDR to be pretty good and we really did not have any major complaints. We enjoyed everything and we would usually end up sharing a desert as well. Our Sommelier was always brief, but he was quick to fill up the wine when it was running low and when we told him we wanted a different wine for the entree, etc. he always stopped by before the entree came out to take care of us.

 

JOHN F if you're reading this! You asked us to find a table number for you and I didn't even see the post until now (I'm rereading my live blog to jog my memory). Go see the Maitre'd or especially Denisa. Denisa was amazing and she will take good care of you. In Sangay's section there were 2 tables that were slightly off to the side and somewhat private. They were not crammed together like most of them. If you enter on the right side of select dining his section is toward the middle of the room and the two tables I am referring to will be to the right, near the servers station.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your review and pics. We've sailed on both the Silhouette and Eclipse, so this is fun to read.

We were on the Silhouette TA in November, our first time trying Select Dining (which we loved!), and lucked out on the second night getting seated in Sanjay's section. As good as he was (and he was), his assistant waiter, Lucia, was even better. After one night, *she* knew what we liked to drink and when. We asked to be seated in their section after that. Once we had one of those more private tables you mentioned, but we were quite happy in the very center near the railing (and even snagged the table next to the railing once). Yes, not as private, but we wound up meeting some very interesting people at the other tables. :)

Looking forward to your review of the Eclipse.

Are there differences between the ships?

We have only been on Eclipse.

Hi Jackie, we've sailed on both. As others have noted, the ships are virtually the same. Perhaps the biggest difference is the Hot Glass Show on the Eclipse, space that is used for the Lawn Club Grill on the Silhouette. There's a very active thread right now about one versus the other, and I don't intend to have this thread go off on that. I'll just say that we very much loved the Lawn Club Grill, as well as the Porch, which is also not on the Silhouette.

The Silhouette has alcoves on the lawn, the Eclipse doesn't. Personally, I think they are an eyesore and detract from the lawn.

If both ships were doing exactly the same itinerary at the same price, and the dates worked, I'd pick the Silhouette over the Eclipse, just for the Lawn Club Grill, but I'd happily sail on the Eclipse again. They are both stunning ships.

Thanks for taking the time to post your review and pics. We've sailed on both the Silhouette and Eclipse, so this is fun to read.

 

We were on the Silhouette TA in November, our first time trying Select Dining (which we loved!), and lucked out on the second night getting seated in Sanjay's section. As good as he was (and he was), his assistant waiter, Lucia, was even better. After one night, *she* knew what we liked to drink and when. We asked to be seated in their section after that. Once we had one of those more private tables you mentioned, but we were quite happy in the very center near the railing (and even snagged the table next to the railing once). Yes, not as private, but we wound up meeting some very interesting people at the other tables. :)

 

Looking forward to your review of the Eclipse.

THANK YOU FOR POSTING LUCIA'S NAME! I could not think of it for the life of me and wanted to include her in my review as well as the survey for Celebrity! She was excellent and yes, after one night she knew what we liked to drink as well.

We only had the side private section twice. I actually preferred the tables by the railing as well.

Hello Chicago Paul -

 

When you were on the beach in Labadee, did you have to purchase drinks or were they included with your drink package?

 

I loved your reviews - thank you for taking the time! Pictures and videos are awesome, too.

Excellent question! They were included in the drink package. They had tons of bartenders behind the bar so getting a drink only took seconds. They had several bars throughout Labadee as well.

This afternoon as my mind is wandering away from work, I thought of a few FAQ pertaining to our Silhouette cruise that I thought I would post and answer (some were even asked above).

Celebrity Silhouette Cruise FAQ

How was Embarkation? It was quite easy. When we arrived there was a decent sized line but it was moving pretty quickly. Once we checked in we had no wait to get on the ship.

Drink Package? We booked late hence the great rate we received, but we did not get the drink package included. We did opt to purchase the Premium Drink package however once we got on board. We always find value in it. Even if it is just for the peace of mind knowing that we will not spend more than X amount of drinks, it is great to have.

Does the drink package work on Labadee? Yes! It definitely works on Labadee. They had a lot of bartenders out in Labadee so the line to get a drink was virtually non-existent and trust me, the entire ship was out on the beach.

How were people dressed on Formal Nights? We found people to be dressed quite well on formal nights. On the first formal night Edward and I both wore suits. On the second formal night Edward wore a suit and I wore my tux.

Rooms Ready? Rooms were ready early if my memory recalls properly, around 1pm, but the standard is typically 1:30pm.

Did you have to wait for Select Dining? Only on the first night did we really have to wait. We were given a pager and told it would buzz when our table was ready. After about 15 minutes the table was ready. The pager will work on the entire 4th floor, so you can visit the Martini Bar, Casino Bar or the Casino while waiting. After that night Denisa always had our table ready for us. One night we came in at an odd time and had to wait a few minutes but nothing longer.

Were the bars crowded? The bars were crowded, but not terribly so. You get to recognize the times the bars typically get crowded and can get a seat. We heard the occasional complaint of people having to wait too long for drinks, but I think these are people who are not used to crowded bars or restaurants. For the most part we found the service prompt and the bartenders did their best to find out who was at the bar first.

Was it crowded by the pool? It was crowded by the pool. We typically had to go on the 14th deck or Solstice deck to find loungers, though we typically sleep in. We would get to the pool area around 10:30am. It was no where near as crowded by the pool as our Eclipse cruise. Just wait for that review ;)

Debarkation? Debarkation was quite easy. We put our luggage out the night before and we hung out on the ship until around 9:30am and then we got off. We needed to take a cab to Walgreens to pick up some medication which was not ready, so we had to unload our luggage, wait for it, then call a cab (Thank you UBER!) to get to the Miami port. More about this in the next review.

THANK YOU FOR POSTING LUCIA'S NAME! I could not think of it for the life of me and wanted to include her in my review as well as the survey for Celebrity! She was excellent and yes, after one night she knew what we liked to drink as well.

 

She really was fabulous, and a hard worker. I would see her at all hours of the day, sometimes squirting hand sanitizer in the wee hours of the morning outside the buffet, sometimes clearing tables outside the Mast Grill in the afternoon, etc.

One early morning when I ran into her and wasn't interrupting her Purell duties (as no one was around), I told her how impressed we were with her, and asked about what it takes to move up from ass't waiter to waiter, as it seemed to us she already had the necessary skills. She told me that this was her first contract, she was from Peru, and the main thing she needed to do was learn the menus, with so many foods that are unfamiliar to her, so that she can answer guests' questions about the food. And so, in her spare time (which can't be much!), she studies the menus. I think she will be running the MDR one day. :)

Thanks for sharing all your videos and pictures. Loved that zip line video.

You are my new favorite person! We leave on Silhouette in 4 days and this is beyond incredibly amazing!! Thank you for taking the time for the wonderful review and all the great information! :-)

Thank you for your review and pics. We will be on Silhouette in March for our first Celebrity cruise. I enjoy the sun (yes, yes I know!) but prefer not to be close to the pool area due to the noise/activity factor. But... I also need to cool off in water frequently. Is there an outdoor shower on any of the decks where I can cool off rather than make a trek to the pool?

Thank you for your review and pics. We will be on Silhouette in March for our first Celebrity cruise. I enjoy the sun (yes, yes I know!) but prefer not to be close to the pool area due to the noise/activity factor. But... I also need to cool off in water frequently. Is there an outdoor shower on any of the decks where I can cool off rather than make a trek to the pool?

There's an outdoor shower near the pool. It's in that location so folks can rinse off before and after swimming.

If you don't want to be near the pool but still out in the sun, you'll probably find yourself on a lounger on a different deck, so if you want to cool off, you'll need the pool or the nearby shower. The pool is not a big trek if you are on the deck right above it; there's an external stairway right down to the pool deck.

You are my new favorite person! We leave on Silhouette in 4 days and this is beyond incredibly amazing!! Thank you for taking the time for the wonderful review and all the great information! :-)

Very Jealous! Wish we could go back. The good thing for you is the azipod will be fixed so you should arrive on time for all your ports. Be sure to say hi to Caglar at the martini bar for me and ask him how his new son is doing. His wife was due right around Christmas. If you think of any questions at all feel free to ask. It is 0 f degrees right now in Chicago, around 25/30 below with the windchill so I need to live through my recent memories and vicariously through others right now!

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There's an outdoor shower near the pool. It's in that location so folks can rinse off before and after swimming.

 

 

 

If you don't want to be near the pool but still out in the sun, you'll probably find yourself on a lounger on a different deck, so if you want to cool off, you'll need the pool or the nearby shower. The pool is not a big trek if you are on the deck right above it; there's an external stairway right down to the pool deck.

Turtles is exactly right. Personally, we prefer deck 14 (pool is deck 12, but there is no 13). Grab a seat near the stairs and you can easily run down to the pool or the showers. Plus, you tend to get a little more breeze on 14 which helps keep you cooler too. My favorite spot was near the mast bar so I could gauge the crowd by the bar and run up and get a drink when the crowd died down. However, if you're smoke sensitive know that the smoking section tends to be near the mast bar though this sometimes does change depending on the heading of the ship (they try to make it so the smoke blows out and away from the ship as opposed down to the pool deck, etc).

Specifically regarding the shower, you will find it near the pool bar to the right as you are facing the bar.

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Did you get a chance to see the glass blowing? If so what did you think?

Gordon hit it spot on. Eclipse has the glass blowing show but the silhouette has lawn club and the porch. The outdoor seating for the ocean view cafe is a little different. On the eclipse you have more couches outside and lower tables at most of the tables near the railing overlooking the aft balconies. On the silhouette you have higher tables which make it a bit easier to eat. You also have more two person tables which makes it easier to find a seat outside. You'll also notice some minor differences in the set up of the sky lounge but they're minor differences. Besides that, like Gordon said, you won't know which ship you're on once you're inside.

 

When I write my review on the eclipse, hopefully later today if work schedule allows, I will cover Blu. We absolutely loved Blu on the eclipse and we will only book Aqua or above now after our experience. We are officially spoiled lol

 

 

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Thanks for your review and photo's.