Review/Observations of Celebrity Silhouette 12-Night Baltic Capitals Cruise 6/7/16

[sooper]

Still processing thousands of photos from this amazing and port-intensive cruise. But thought I'd get started with what's fresh in my head.

 

***BOOKING

Having cruised a few times before, I wasn't going to book until after final payment. But I was given a quote for a good group fare and I jumped the gun. I was too eager. So I watched the fare drop and drop that I had to upgrade from a balcony to Aqua. Then saw the same category on the Tuesday Specials for a few weeks. I will definitely not book until after final payment in the future! :o:rolleyes:

 

Received from X free gratuties and the drink package, and from the TA an OBC of $150. But the OBC didn't show up and the TA promised to send me a check, which I'm still waiting for now that I'm home. We drank lots of lattes, teas, prosecco, and wine on this trip. Usually I like having sparkling water, which is not in the Classic Package, but club sodas were fine. I'd looked up the various ratings for the wines and found most to be in the mid-to-upper 80 points. Mr. S and I are not big drinkers, what we've had were adequate and we didn't feel the need to upgrade.

 

***CABIN

My first X cruise was in Aqua (similar booking scenario as above - I don't learn easily!), and it was great to be back in the same setup. I really liked the multi-stream shower panel. The location was under the Spa, which I thought would be quiet. It was except for one night...(more on this later).

 

Didn't miss the flower. Didn't drink the X sparkling wine. Didn't eat the nightly chocolates.

 

I'd read that previous Aqua cruisers got a half-off offer for specialty restaurants on the first night, but the letter in our cabin was for only 30% off. We didn't use it.

 

***FOOD

1) Blu

The food was still as excellent as I'd remembered. The scallops, pork, steak, and duck choices were really good. The service as well. In fact, we got the same fantastic J. Contreras from our first cruise! Fernando the Sommelier was always fast and gave us good wine pairings. Marie was such a lovely hostess, and Umesh the manager couldn't be more accommodating to our requests. A really fabulous team here. The only flaws were the two fish choices I've had, and that soups were a little salty at times. I'd given my comments to the Guest Relations about this. I'll attempt to post some mouth-watering photos later.

 

2) Aqua Spa Cafe - Tender chicken breasts, some good smoothies.

 

3) Oceanview Cafe - Good quick food before hitting the ports. I liked having oatmeal with eggs and turkey sausages as my power breakfast; soymilk on request.

 

4) Grand Cuvee - Had lunch here once, the service was a little slow, and the food was OK. We tried having lunch here another time, and the hostess said that it was full (on one side) and turned us away at 15 minutes before closing time. We went to Oceanview - not a big loss.

 

5) Murano - We wanted to try Murano on the last night, but it was full except for the special Nordic Dinner, so we did that. Fantastic food with great wine pairings - which I drank them all and got drunk. Didn't pack until the next morning!

 

***ENTERTAINMENT

1) Jazz - Ray Brown Jr. was fantastic.

 

2) Shows - We saw only the Best of St. Petersburg and that was good.

 

3) Casino - This was our entertainment. Had much much better service/staff and experience this time around, compared to our first X cruise. Loved the non-smoking policy, which NCL (our other casino cruise line) does not have. We got acquainted with some people as we saw them regularly (ha!) throughout the cruise and had a fun time playing with them.

 

There was a very good promotion with getting 15% bonus when you buy $500 credits for slots or tables, with 3 packages max for each per person! Needless to say, we got them all. I was playing two hands of blackjack at a time and ran through the chips quickly in a night. The slot credits were good for video poker and we did that. We were down and ended up a little. Unlike NCL, which gave out comps on the same cruise, got nothing for my play but was invited to join their club, which may give me something (comps or discounts) on future cruises. We shall see.

[sooper]

***PORTS

With the exception of St. Petersburg, we did our own tours of the cities. We started our vacation 9 days before the cruise. What we did/saw:

Berlin - Warm weather with some quick rain showers. The cheapest city of all the ones we visited this trip. Started our first day with a free New Berlin walking tour, Brandenburg Gate and Holocaust Memorial, Pergamon Museum, e-music club, Reichstag Dome, rented a bike, Berlin Wall, Eastside Gallery, trained to Potsdam. Delicious dinner at Katz Orange. Not so delicious at Nobelhart & Schmutzig. Good Mustafa doner. Of course, the Berlin Casino: again, so great that it was non-smoking, and better that they paid for some of my dinners. Bought lots of Haribo gummy bears - they just taste so much better when they're made in Germany.

 

Amsterdam - Were told that we were lucky with sunny weather. Took the train to Zaanse Schans for the windmills, bought a few Henri Willig smoked gouda cheese. So yummy. Walked everywhere. The RLD was interesting. Streets were sweet smelling. Had some cake/smokes at the Bulldog but didn't feel much. Had and thought the rijsttafel was overrated. Loved the Rijks Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. Got passes from our hotel concierge to the Holland Casino. Made some donation. We stayed right by the train station, and took a taxi to the cruise terminal. It was a quick short line to check in at around noon.

 

I dragged Mr. S to the Spa giveaway and he had one foot out the door to leave when they called his name! He got a nice facial (to be used while in port). He had been quite lucky and went on to win a free slot tournament prize, a casino raffle, and a free painting (but paid for the frame) from an art auction. He's a believer in free drawings now! ;)

 

Copenhagen - We took the X shuttle to the city and walked around. Went to the Tourist Info Center by the Tivoli, and got a 24-hour card. It was a good deal as it covered all transport and what we wanted to see - Amalienborg, Rosenborg, Round Tower, Tivoli (meh), Copenhagen Casino (worst ever with dealers demanding tips!), and a Canal Tour (for which we didn't take since we slept in and didn't get up early enough).

 

The highlight of our first day was our dinner at Noma - which I thank this forum for making it possible. I wasn't able to get a reservation for 2, but after checking daily had finally snagged one for 8. Was able to find three other nice couples to join us and we had an interesting and fun time. The food was delicious and it was an unique experience.

 

Rostock - Before we sailed, our port was Warnemunde. Being the overplanner that I am, I'd booked with a well-reviewed tour with Friends of Dave. I didn't hear back or get a confirmation from Dave, only mass marketing emails every so often. I'd given up on this tour and decided to rent a car from Sixt to visit Schwarin (really nice castle!) and Wismar. About two months before the cruise I got a Paypal invoice to pay for this tour - whaaat? I replied that I didn't see a confirmation and had made other plans. Then I got a few replies back arguing with me that it wasn't true, and funnily (or not) a screenshot of all the marketing emails that he had sent but he insisted there was a confirmation, and now he's deleted me from his system! Gasp. WOW. It was not FRIENDLY at all. It goes to show, take online reviews with a grain of salt.

 

The port changed, so we got up extra early to take the free shuttle to Warnemunde to pick up our car, which was a little confusing. There was no office. Finally we saw a van with the Sixt logo and we processed the rental in the van. We were given a Benz with GPS in German (or I didn't find the English setting). Despite years of visiting Europe, it was our first time driving there, and where best than on the Autobahn? It was such a freeing experience, just use your own good judgment and go fast when you can! There was a crash on our return and we got delayed and missed the X shuttle (which was really too early at 6:30p for a 9pm boarding time). We took the train and connected to a bus. When we looked at the timetable posted at the bus station, it was THE last bus running to the port! We felt pretty lucky.

 

Tallinn - Easily walkable and quaint little town. We climbed up the tower at St. Olaf's Church, great view and visit. Surprised that there was wifi everywhere - very high tech. There were quite a few nice shops, and we did some shopping at this port: sheep stools, gloves, a hat, leather notebook, leather keychain, earrings, a pendant, and some marzipan and roasted almonds. The price was very reasonable too.

[sooper]

St. Petersburg - We took the 3-day SPB tour and were very happy that we did. Our guide, Sveta, and driver, Anatole, were both knowledgeable and efficient. Sveta got us early tours which successfully avoided some crowds, and really kept us on schedule. The driver took short cuts and scenic routes when he could. The restaurants we went to had OK food, then good, and then really good on the last day.

 

Many palaces, churches/fortress, museums. So much history learned. We were most impressed with the Church of the Spilled Blood - especially since we grew up playing Tetris! :D The all mosaic architecture was unforgettable. The Hermitage Museum was huge and amazing - I loved and my favorite artists were in the Post-Impressionism building, could have spent more time there.

 

The line was long for Customs on the first day - plan at least 40 minutes before your meeting time. The was little to no line on the second and third days.

 

For the complimentary President's Cruise excursion on the first night, we attended the Bronze Horseman ballet at the new Mariinsky Theatre building. X did a good job of providing us transportation and a fancy hors d'oeuvres reception. The costumes were colorful and I enjoyed the seemingly effortless graceful dancing. Everything was really great - until we were trying to get back on the ship. Still had to go through Customs and then wait in a second line for X. It wasn't very organized - there were a few line cutters and people were rushing to get ahead of others. There was only also one entrance to the ship and the other wasn't open due to low tide or something. At least they were passing out chicken broth in the chilly weather.

 

During the second night we tried to sleep early at 10:30pm and were kept up by loud music and heavy bass. I'd read the dailies and didn't see any event scheduled at the Sky Lounge. We contacted and encountered a very nonchalant security officer who dismissed our complaint of noises. Mr. S went up to see what it was all about and was told that it was a private event until 3am. Who schedules a late and loud private event during three early and long days of tours?! (This was my sleep-deprived cranky voice.) The unhelpful officer didn't do anything, and we had to ask for ear plugs ourselves, which didn't do much. After 1am I couldn't take it any longer and asked to sleep elsewhere, and we were assisted by a very helpful and warm Guest Relations officer named Hester. We went to an inside for the night and had a few hours of sleep between the moves. It was very unpleasant night and tiring next day, and we voiced our unhappiness to the Asst. Manager. The management team was very proactive and apologized for our inconvenience, and we were satisfied with the resolution.

 

Before we got on the ship we browsed the shops and bought a pretty paper mache box with a ballerina handpainted on. They accepted USD and EUR.

 

Helsinki - Didn't have much on our agenda and we slept in after three long days. It was raining in the morning anyway. We walked to the nearby tram stop and bought an all day pass from the driver, and went to a nice (but slow) lunch at Juuri. It was incredibly sunny after our dessert, and we walked to the lively Market Square by a scenic port, where the Navy band was performing, and there were many stalls selling food and crafts. We looked but didn't find anything to bring home. Then we went to the Church of the Rock, which was really special and modern. It was a short visit and we took a tram back to the ship just 5 minutes before the boarding time.

 

Stockholm - Had planned to sleep in while Mr. S got his facial. When I woke up I thought that the city was surrounded by water. Well, we were nowhere near Stockholm. It was pouring down and windy, and we didn't dock as scheduled at 9am. At first the Captain hoped to get there at noon, then I heard 5pm, finally we arrived at 7pm. It was a zoo at the buffet around 1pm and we had to circle a few times for a table. It was actually a relaxing sea day for us - we went for a last steam at the Persian Garden, had some afternoon tea, watched a movie, and took a nap. Didn't do packing - always waited until the last minute. Had a wonderful special event dinner at Murano sharing a table with 6 other couples. Drank more than I could've managed and fell asleep. Got to packing only an hour before getting off the ship at 9am. Still had our last quick breakfast at the buffet.

 

This was the most expensive port of our trip. We got the transport pass from the Visitor's Center right at the terminal. It's quite worth it as it covered all the buses, the trams, and the ferries (good for going to and from the Vasa Museum). Then we took a taxi to our hotel for the night. The taxi meter kept increasing with each second! It was almost as much as the ride to the airport.

 

We waited at the hotel lounge and were able to get into our room early at 11am. Took a quick nap and then went to lunch. Then took the ferry to see Vasa.

 

The Vasa was huge and fascinating. The movie was a must do. After our visit we walked the old town, and went to a flea market near our hotel. We had not exchanged any local currency, but needed some boxes and tape to bring our sheep stools home. Luckily they welcomed Euros and we wrapped up our stools safely. We took the bus north and found a nice authentic Chinese restaurant. My credit card worked everywhere, which was very helpful.

 

And then...we had to visit Casino Cosmopol. We had a terrible exchange rate (of course) with our Euros, had a staff reprimand us and told us weird rules about not sharing/passing money and chips with each other, even if we were married! My thought was that they didn't want us to pool our chips to buy back our Euros. Whatever. I lost quickly and had to exchange more Euros. Luckily I got my money back and some extras to cover the taxi fares. We had a couple hours of sleep and at 4:30am took Taxi Stockholm to ARN for a fixed price of 520SEK.

 

It was so early that the shops at ARN had not even opened. At 6am we browsed the shops but didn't get anything. So our souvenir was some Kronas from the casino. :)

Edited June 25, 2016 by sooper

[Tommy3putts]

Thank you for this review. We are doing this cruise in July 2017.

[thepoint]

We are planning on doing this cruise. What is an SPB tour? Thank you for your review.

[RickT]

Nice review, we are on the Silhouette for a UK cruise in August. Hopefully you have time to answer a few questions.

 

- Do you happen to have the sheet listing who is on board? Specifically curious about the cruise director and captain's club host

- Any thoughts comments on the various bands/musicians that performed around the ship

- Were there any "parties" in the Atrium area? Any late night pool party?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[cruisestitch]

SBP is one of the private tour companies, like Red October and Alla, which you can use in place of the ship's tours in St. Petersburg and elsewhere.

[2552phxcrzr]

The Celebrity shuttle you mention in Copenhagen ... was it a free shuttle (one can hope :rolleyes:).

[sooper]

Thank you for this review. We are doing this cruise in July 2017.

Thank you for reading. You'll have warm weather and a lot of fun!

 

We are planning on doing this cruise. What is an SPB tour? Thank you for your review.

 

Thank you. SPB is one of the larger private tour company - there were so many vans and groups! They provided early access to places (and even private access to restrooms). Very well run.

[loeb]

We used SPB in both St. Petersburg and Berlin a number of years ago, they were great.

 

In St. Petersburg when it was crowded at a couple of places, the guide took us through side entrances or we went against the flow so we didn't have to stand in long lines. It also helped that the group was small rather than the buses with 30 to 40 people on them.

[sooper]

Nice review, we are on the Silhouette for a UK cruise in August. Hopefully you have time to answer a few questions.

 

- Do you happen to have the sheet listing who is on board? Specifically curious about the cruise director and captain's club host

- Any thoughts comments on the various bands/musicians that performed around the ship

- Were there any "parties" in the Atrium area? Any late night pool party?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

I have a photo but need to upload and process...am traveling more these weeks.

 

Captain - Athanasios Peppas

Cruise Director - Rich Clesen

Captain's Club Host - not listed

 

There was a band - Funky T, the female singer was pretty good. The music was great and often saw people dancing in the Atrium.

 

Another singer with guitar was Terry Dobson. He was OK and covered some pop / well known songs.

 

Didn't see the pool much or at night.

[sooper]

The Celebrity shuttle you mention in Copenhagen ... was it a free shuttle (one can hope :rolleyes:).

It was $6pp each way. If you don't mind walking, go towards the Little Marmaid, then to Amalienborg, and catch a bus or tram around there.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[2552phxcrzr]

It was $6pp each way. If you don't mind walking, go towards the Little Marmaid, then to Amalienborg, and catch a bus or tram around there.

 

We don't mind the walk ... so that is probably what we will do.

[CCruiser1234]

Nice review, we are on the Silhouette for a UK cruise in August. Hopefully you have time to answer a few questions.

 

 

 

- Do you happen to have the sheet listing who is on board? Specifically curious about the cruise director and captain's club host

 

- Any thoughts comments on the various bands/musicians that performed around the ship

 

- Were there any "parties" in the Atrium area? Any late night pool party?

 

 

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

 

Are you on Silhouette specifically 8/6?

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited June 25, 2016 by bob221b1

[RickT]

Are you on Silhouette specifically 8/6?

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yes sir. I'm thrilled about the band. I looked them up and many of the members are the same as we're on our Connie cruise two years ago. Should be some great music at night.

 

Thanks again to the OP! BTW, any chance you know if the female singer was Emily?

Edited June 26, 2016 by RickT

[CCruiser1234]

Yes sir. I'm thrilled about the band. I looked them up and many of the members are the same as we're on our Connie cruise two years ago. Should be some great music at night.

 

Thanks again to the OP! BTW, any chance you know if the female singer was Emily?

 

 

 

Rick.. Looks like about a year gap from mid 2015 to this month for your posts on this sailing's page.. Come back over and join in on that board!

 

To answer the CD question, beginning in late July it will be Paul Baya. He is awesome.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Keith1010]

Excellent review.

 

Keith