Silhouette Review - 18 Nov out of Rome - Med and Adriatic Seas (13 Nights)

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The mountains were pretty near.

 

A view of the bay front property nearby.

 

We were still in the Kotor Bay.

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We decided to take a short walk around and went to the Lawn Grill area again.

 

Lawn Grill. Not opened in port.

 

View of the big chairs from the Lawn Grill.

 

Grill Master wanted! We didn't try the Lawn Grill during this cruise, so I have no idea what the experience is like.

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I took a 2 min video of the iLounge on the Silhouette with my iPhone.

 

Here is the clip.

 

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Edited December 14, 2013 by Iluvcruising2

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The sun was setting soon. Still, it was nice to be outdoors.

 

I noticed the torchlight. Interesting. I hope these floats never have to be used.

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Day 6 morning. We were scheduled to be docked this morning in Dubrovnik, Croatia. However, the weather didn't look good.

 

What was this ship doing so near us? In this picture, you can also see the azipods in action. What was happening? I was on the balcony watching all this and it certainly looked like the ship was making a starboard turn and we were not entering the port! Not a good sign.

[Iluvcruising2]

Check out this video and you get a very good sense of the weather, which didn't look good at all. Look at all the sea sprays! Gosh, the ship was close.

 

Fortunately, the weather calmed down enough for the ship to enter the harbour safely. But the skies were certainly overcast!

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Thankfully, we managed to dock, about half hour behind schedule. It was raining.

 

The plan was to get a taxi into the walled city of Dubrovnik. Originally, we wanted to do the city walls and the cable car. However, the weather didn't look great and we figured that if we could do the city walls, that would be good enough. Not sure if the cable car was even opened.

 

I have put many more pictures in my blog here:

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/12/dubrovnik-croatia.html

 

Meanwhile, here is a glimpse of what we did. The taxis were plentiful and waiting near the ship. Each taxi could carry 4 pax and the cost was 10 Euros or 75 Kuna to the city. On the maps, it looked walkable but I don't recommend it. It is about 2 miles and it is undulating. With a good pair of legs at a brisk walking speed, it would take at least 30-40 minutes. Not sure why you would want to waste this time when the taxi ride wasn't prohibitively expensive.

 

Here we are, entering the walled city.

 

Skies were overcast and it drizzled, on and off. Still, since the wall was so famous, we had to give it a go. Hope the skies didn't open up too soon! The cost was 90 Kuna per adult and 30 per child. Notice how the sign screamed 'NO EUROS!' Oh well.

 

Note that it was a one-way street. During summer, the wall is really packed. On our trip, it felt like we were the only ones walking the wall.

 

This video gives you a good idea of the views from the cliff on an overcast day. Watch the waves.

 

A picture of the 'main street' in Dubrovnik, Stradun.

 

Our excursion didn't take too long and we were back on the ship within 3 hours or so. Kids were happy to get back on board because of the rain and wind!

[Iluvcruising2]

Missed out this picture earlier. View of the sea cliffs from the wall.

 

The scenery was quite breathtaking, with the waves crashing on the cliff.

[cruise kitty]

Hi, loving your review & photos! I was on the same cruise with you, we might have walked the walls of Dubrovnik around the same time... I plan on posting a little review as soon as I sort thru my photos... we were in Paris for a week after, so haven't had enough time to sort thru yet with the work week.

 

The cable car started running around mid day, however, we, like you, had experienced enough wind, wet, & cold, & headed back to the ship after walking the walls in the wind & rain, & then spending a couple of dryish hours in the lovely town

[Iluvcruising2]

Hi, loving your review & photos! I was on the same cruise with you, we might have walked the walls of Dubrovnik around the same time... I plan on posting a little review as soon as I sort thru my photos... we were in Paris for a week after, so haven't had enough time to sort thru yet with the work week.

 

The cable car started running around mid day, however, we, like you, had experienced enough wind, wet, & cold, & headed back to the ship after walking the walls in the wind & rain, & then spending a couple of dryish hours in the lovely town

 

Looking forward to your review and pictures!!

[Iluvcruising2]

We got back to the ship in time for lunch in the MDR. This was the lunch menu.

 

These were the crisp fried mushrooms.

 

Nakasaki Sara Udon.

 

This was evidently a dessert, but which one? It has to be the brownie sundae.

 

As we lunched, the weather cleared up a lot! Oh well, it was a bit too troublesome to get off the ship and go to town again.

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So we didn't get off. Instead, we went wandering around the ship again.

 

The grass looked so much greener because there was more light!

 

Luke Skywalker come out for some sun, as well as to recharge his lightsaber.

 

Looking down at the Port entrance.

 

I think this was the Sunset bar, aft of the ship.

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A Costa ship was in port. I think this Costa ship arrived later, but left earlier than the Silhouette.

 

Before dinner, as usual, my wife and I attended the Elite social hour. On this cruise, they didn't give out vouchers. The nightly event started at 5pm at the Sky Lounge. As our dinner was early seating, we would drop in for about 30 minutes, consume a couple of drinks, and then go to dinner.

 

This is typical of what I asked for. Usually a beer, sometimes a beer and wine. This evening, Darth Vader joined me.

 

Servers would go around offering canapes.

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Main Dining Room menu that evening. The ship had sailed and we were leaving Dubrovnik.

 

Seasonal Fruit medley, available every evening. My kids loved this.

 

Seafood Crepe.

 

Soup.

 

Chicken Kiev. The kids loved this.

 

Seared cod.

[Iluvcruising2]

Later that evening, I went to get supper at the Oceanview Cafe. Very good food, as usual. I really like the a la minute steaks.

 

The sushi island presentation is very pretty too. Real grass! You can't take the grass.

 

A closer look at the sushi.

 

Here is a link to my blog page that contains a video of the food offerings at the Oceanview Cafe.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/12/celebrity-silhouette-oceanview-cafe.html

[Iluvcruising2]

The next day would be a Sea Day. Time to relax!

 

Here is the picture of the gorgeous library. It is very beautiful and peaceful in there.

 

The elevators at the Centrum area. There are four on the left and four on the right. Eight in all, mid-ships.

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Next morning. We are at sea.

 

I know, I am a kid at heart. Rest assured that after taking this photo, I finished ALL the food here.

 

And I finished ALL the fruits on this plate either. Not a bad breakfast at all! Yumz!

[Iluvcruising2]

Inside the Sky Lounge in the morning. I can't remember why we were here, must be stretching those legs after a heavy breakfast. There were no activities in the Sky Lounge this morning. Some mornings, they have Zumba. Most of the time, this place is very quiet and peaceful.

 

They were playing table-tennis (ping pong) in Celebrity Central. I am not really sure when they bring the table-tennis tables out. Probably it was indicated in Celebrity Today but I did not notice it as I wasn't paying attention. There was also a Officer vs Guest table tennis tournament.

 

We went for the shore excursions lecture to listen more about what the ship-based shore excursion offered and where they would bring the passengers. This gave us more ideas for our own DIY excursion.

 

This is a very neat map overview of Venice and where the ship would dock. It also shows the location of Piazalle Roma and St Mark's Sq. Look at the inverted 'S' in the middle of Venice - that is the Grand Canal. Our plan was to get ourselves from the ship to Piazalle Roma and then get on a water bus (Vaporetta) to St. Marco. Line 1 of the Vaporetta would travel along the Grand Canal.

 

Not many people attended this excursion talk.

 

There was a cooking competition after this. However, we didn't stay. Had something else to do.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Time for lunch! This was the MDR lunch menu on this sea day.

 

Balinese Satay Beef and Chicken Skewers. Why Balinese? Anyway Singapore and Malaysia have plenty of good satay too.

 

Small sidetrack - this is what satay in Singapore looks like, served with peanut sauce, cucumbers and onions. It goes very well with beer.

 

Back to the ship's lunch. This was the creamy mushroom soup.

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What's this? Seafood Brochette with saffron rice

 

BBQ chicken.

 

Pear Tart with vanilla ice cream.

 

We saw quite a number of these, out in the open sea. Some rig.

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Location of ship at 4:21pm. Time flies when you are having fun.

 

Check out this lifeboat, which also doubles up as a tender boat. Rather sophisticated. Capacity of 150.

 

Propellors behind. (No azipods haha)

 

Now, this is really cool. Bow thrusters! The blades look rather small though. But I'm sure they work well.

[Iluvcruising2]

More pictures of the ship here - http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/12/celebrity-silhouette-more-ship-pictures.html

 

Including this shot of the pool area at night.

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Formal Dinner on a Sea Day. View of the main dining room, Deck 3 Grand Cuvee.

 

The menu.

 

Cajun Shrimp

 

Lobster Bisque.

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Roasted Chicken Breast. When my kids couldn't find anything to eat on the main menu, they would opt for the roasted chicken breast which was available every evening.

 

Slow herb roasted leg of lamb

 

The dessert menu.

 

A dessert.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Venice! An overnight port of call here. This is going to be very interesting.

 

As usual, I have put up many pictures on my blog. This time, it has been divided into 4 blog posts, with the first one starting from here.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/12/venice-overnight-call-part-1-sailing-in.html

 

We would be docking overnight in Venice. This is a summary of what we did. On the first day, we got off the ship, took the people mover to Piazalle Roma, bought a 36 Hr Vaporetta ticket and then hopped on Line Number 1 and took the river bus all the way till S.Marco, passing Rialto along the way.

 

We got off at S.Marco and visited the Doge Palace as well as the Basilica (Church of Gold). There was bright sunshine, though it was rather cold. St Mark's square wasn't flooded and that was a relief. Thereafter, we walked from St Mark's square northwards, to a Vaporetta stop called F.Nove. After a quick lunch in a pizzeria near the Vaporetta stop, we hopped on a river bus that would take us to Murano. We got off and visited a glass factory. We watched the complimentary glass making for a while, browsed the shops (didn't buy anything) and then walked along the central canal of Murano. Not many shops were opened. We then took a Vaporetta back. We found a river bus that took us all the way back to P.Roma. From there, we headed back to the ship. That was Day 1.

 

On Day 2, we left our kids onboard (Fun Factory!). This time, the adults went out on their own. My wife and I took Line NUmber 1 again from P.Roma, this time we stopped at Rialto bridge. Took photos and then walked to St Mark's square again. After loitering around a bit, we decided to roam the streets of Venice and gradually make our way back to P.Roma, on foot. Along the way, we had lunch at McDonalds! Hah. The walk was easy and the sights were interesting. We finally made it back to P.Roma and made our way back to the ship. That was what we did in Venice.

 

Note the reminder on the Celebrity Today - Venetian authorities required us to bring our original passports along.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Iluvcruising2