Silhouette 3/16 - 3/23 a week in review

[Allhans Ondeck]

We drove over from Cape Coral and arrived at the port at 10:45. Dragged bags over to the handlers out front. Went through security with a breif delay to inspect my two bottles of wine. No wait to check in so processed quickly and straight up the gangway to our welcome glass of champagne. Couldn't have been any easier or faster. Up to the Oceanview Cafe and snagged a round sectional to camp out and order my first Amstel. My Mom,Dad,Aunt and Uncle met us there shortly and we enjoyed lunch at the buffet. Over the next week we would eat there a couple of times for a quick lunch or breakfast and it was always fresh with lots of choices. We also would grab a cheese plate and sushi before dinner a few times and snacked late on some pizza. Everytime it was great. At 1:30 they annouced the rooms were ready so off to drop off the carry ons.

I booked 9217, deck nine by the Cardroom on the hump for the location. It turned out to be all we expected. Being close to the elevators saved us lots of time on runs to and from the cabin. The room was for the most part quiet with a great view. Our room stewards Jose and Andrew made sure anything we needed was cared for, and they kept it clean without knowing they were even around. The overhead berth was put down every evening for my daughter to sleep on and it was nice because even with three in the room we didn't feel clutered.

At three it was up to the Sunset bar to meet some CC members for a few more drinks. After that to the muster drill, sitting in the main dining room and watching a short movie is much better than standing out on the deck with a life jacket on! Then up to the room with a drink and flag in hand for our sail away. Waving to folks on shore and friends back home on the Port Cam. We also caught some dancing and the band on the pool deck...and more drinks.

We had early seating in the main dining room so at 6 we found our table. It was aft port side and was nice for our party of seven. Here we met Lucia our assistant waiter. She was very pleasant and always on top of everything. She made my daughter the best hot coco on the whole ship. Louis was our waiter and he has a great personality. He's very funny and the service we received was fantastic. The pace of service was great as well as we were never rushed to make the shows. The food in the main dining room was top notch and I could eat there every night.

After dinner we headed to the theater with a stop in the casino. Speaking of the entertainment we found it to be awesome. We enjoyed all the shows and I thought the Dancers and Singers to be very talented. The Magician and his wife were very good. Saw a ventrilaquist and his wife, again very funny and good. The Sin City show was entertaining, and there was a female impersonator that was dead on and had a great voice of her own.

As our first night was winding down we hit the casino again, watched some dancing in the Grand Foyer and had a few more drinks at the Martini Bar.

The first morning I enjoyed breakfast in the main dinig room. This is one of my favorites, as its nice to relax and catch up with my folks. Again more of the same great food and service. From there we took it to the solarium for a bit in the hot tub. It was St Paddys Day, I'm on vacation and I've got a premium drink package, like I need any better excuse right! On the drink package, I don't think I would ever cruise without one again. Being able to order what you want when you want and not worry about your onboard account is just awesome. I used it for juices and coffees as well as wines and drinks I wouldn't try otherwise. Anyway we spent the day at sea sunning and drinking and ate the best hamburger on the high seas at the Mast Grill! It was formal night and another great dinner and show with the Captains toast in the theater. The Captain is very open and funny and we had front row seats for that and the show. The crew and staff were very visible and approachable the whole cruise and they really seemed to enjoy what they were doing. Again after the show some games in the casino. Now about the casino, they had a single deck Blackjack with $10 minimum. I did well at the blackjack table hitting it for short periods of time. The other table game I play is Craps and I LOVE THIS GAME. They had a $5 minimum which I thought odd, but I wasn't complaining! What I also found odd was there was no dice players on this ship. Most other cruises you would have to squeeze in but not this week. I had a few good runs at craps including a run that my Mom rolled (she knew nothing about the game), and I banged them for a couple hundred and fled as soon as she sevened out. During the afternoon the table wasn't open and there was hardly any energy (empty) so I lost interest in playing. Now we try to be good cruisers so everything I won on the tables my wife eventually gave back on the slots! It's all good, I was happy to break even for the cruise and knowing I could of walked away a winner.

Now more drinks and the St Paddys Day Party up in the Sky Lounge. They had some party games and then dancing. The house band had great energy and put they're twist on the songs they played. They always played songs that were well liked. Personally I missed the Phillipino girl band as she always put on a great show, but I'm not knocking them. It might have been just a time for a change. Now since I'm on the subject of change I will tell you it seemed to me to be a much younger crowd. I felt it was a great mix of all ages and everyone seemed to coexist nicely. I would say it might have to do with the time of the year (spring break), but not so much school or college kids as much as educators. So anyway it was a full day and I took it back to the cabin.

First port day Puerto Rico but not till 3pm, so again Breakfast in main and some sun and drinks. We had to find a prom dress for my daughter in P.R. and that sounded to dad like a nightmare. Off the pier got a taxi to Plaza de Americanos about a 15 minute ride. Now the ride was a adventure, and we were very happy to make it! Super huge mall, but not the way I would prefer to spend our time, but been to P.R. and it was something different. After a few shops and feeling like I was going to get soaked or not find anything to keep our teenager happy, we hit pay dirt. Back to the cab and another wild ride. This time with more traffic and two workers from HAL that had to be back by 5:30. By the time we got back to Old San Juan I needed a drink at Senor Frogs. Then to the square for a Horse and Buggy ride. It cost $100 for the three of us which I thought might be a bit much but hey thats what we wanted to do. It was a very nice ride and perfect for what we had time for. The driver dropped us back at the pier at the end of the ride and it was time to get ready for dinner. That night we had reservations at Tuscan Grill at 8 so we had more time in town. Wow what a sunset that night in the harbor. Dinner at Tuscan was awesome. Everyone had something different and it was all great. Service exceptional and as we pulled out of P.R. the view of it all with a full moon was unforgetable. I had the Tariamasu in a big martini glass and my mouth is watering thinking about it! After dinner more of the same...show,casino,drinks etc. Now let me talk about music and volume as there has been a ton on here about it. There were a few times the volume was to loud to my liking but nothing I could live with for a short period or find some place else to go. One night in the Martini bar they had the DJ set up and by them it was loud, but away in the nooks of the bar it was fine. One of the performances by the band poolside at one of our sail aways they had it cranking. Again I just put a little distance between me and them and it was fine. The Cuvee was hit or miss on the backround music. Some nights they played it some night they didn't but it was never overbearing. One night in the Ensemble Lounge they had a three girl band and it was very loud when they played, that same night we ate in Murano. In Murano we were in the wine cellar table and the music they were pumping in kept getting louder and louder to the point it was annoying.

Next up St Kitts, I woke up early and hit the gym and then walked the decks and saw some real neat looking islands. I love the ship in the morning. I grabbed a Chi tea and watched some birds drafting the ship. We ate breakfast that morning in Bistro on Five. We each got different types of crepes, they were very good. It was a nice change of pace. We got a taxi (avoiding the monkeys) the guys seemed like they had been told not to be too aggresive. They asked, I said no thank you and they said ok Daddy. Funny thing another guy hit us up for something else on the way back in and he called me Daddy too. So my Dad told me I could get a free taxi to the casino, but I couldn't find it so I paid to get there. Once there, we checked out the place and found the casino didn't open till noon and table games opened at 2. No big deal for me but wanted to let others know. As we were checking out the grounds, it looked real nice, they had a couple of security guards checking people out trying to get to the beach. Meanwhile we stopped at an outside bar and ordered a drink, thats when the bartender made me aware they only took credit cards. Well I had about $500 on me but not a card, so again take note if you decide to go to Royal St Kitts. Thirsty we headed for the cab stand and to Carabola Beach. We got there and we were happy we went. Very nice and not so stuffy atomosphere. We got three chairs and a couple of buckets of beers and really enjoyed the beach day. By the way our daughter was able to get her social media fix with the wifi there. On the way back we had the same taxi driver and he was great and told us all about the island. Back on the ship I enjoy the sail away at the Sunset Bar again with the favor of the hour, I think it was Margarita time. Beautiful sail away. Then it was time for a nap in the solarium. That night after dinner and show we sang karaoke and danced in Quazar as it was the begining our the wife's Bday.

St Martin was our last port day and it started off sunny then drizzly and back again. We had a sail and snorkel booked at 10:30. Once on the catarmeran it started raining again, but it was a short ride to the snorkeling grounds. The snorkeling was less than impressive so we did it for 40 minutes and started on the rum punch. After everyone was in we went for a little sail. Its was nice and the weather was perfect. Back to the ship for a quick bite and the daugther and myself went back to town to shop and the wife got a pedicure. We walked around and bought some trinkets, then found a little place on the boardwalk. I had a few Redstripes and my girl caught up on there wifi. That night we ate in Murano and it was Aces! My take on the specialty restaurants is that if you can spend the extra it is well worth it. The main dining room food is great, but you pay for the different venue and food that is a notch above. We liked eatting in them a few times as we were able to vary our dinner times from just eatting early and still have our dedicated wait staff in the dining room.

The next couple days at sea were just what the doctor ordered. We ate at The Porch for lunch one day, and guess what...GOOD. My daughter did the dancing with the officers contest and that was a riot! She also won the final bingo and pocketed $330 after splitting it three ways. There was always something going on or nothing going on if you wanted. The activities staff was great, and funny.

Getting off the ship was pretty non-hassle as well. We waited in the Tuscan grill and had coffee, then wait and walked the line to exit. It took about an hour to get through and back to reality.

The cruise for us was perfect, there's never enough time to do everything on the list but we got alot of it in, including doing nothing when we wanted.

[turning46]

Loved your review; thanks!

[jgperegrine]

Thanks for the review! We leave on the Silhouette this Sunday, can't wait.

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[Purplsmurf]

Nice review! We will be on the silhouette in 2 weeks. I do have a question tho.....why buy the prom dress in San Juan? Was it cheaper? My daughter is going to prom after we return from our vacay and although she has her dress....which is returnable.....I was wondering what it is about getting it in San Juan. We have nothing planned for that day in port so maybe we will have to go to that mall!

[Allhans Ondeck]

Funny thing is we wound up getting the dress at JCP! It was only $120 and she got it hemmed as soon as we got back. The date of prom got moved up and we couldn't order online. One thing I forgot to mention was on one of the last sea days we got to see some water spouts form right next to the ship. It was amazing, but it didn't seem like they were worried at all as I could see the guy up in the bridge looking at them too.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Allhans Ondeck