Review of Silhouette Nov 2016 Transatlantic

[tweetylori]

It was an easy, short Uber ride to the airport. Note also, that the cost for both of us to ride the Carrie B, plus get there via cab, and get to the airport via Uber, was LESS than what it would have cost for one ship tour in Fort Lauderdale. Although we didn't get the bus tour part. ;)

 

So we get to the Southwest Terminal at this airport, check our bags (good riddance!) and get through security pretty quickly. But gee whiz, the other side of security was one crowded war zone! :eek: No where to get yourself together and get your shoes/belts, etc back on. :(

 

Finally figured that out. Oh well, time to go find a nice bar to park it in to kill some time, get a drink and have lunch/dinner.

 

Well, good luck with that here! There is ONE bar, and this is it:

 

 

It was PACKED. There was a long LINE for it. We gave up and went to find a place to land at the gate. Well, good luck with that too! This terminal just plain is way too small for the crowds going through it. One bathroom (each) for men and women, limited chairs at the gates, limited food and drink venues, and one phone charging round station with about six chairs.

 

Yep, the only thing to do was get back in line for that bar. :p

[tweetylori]

About half an hour later (told you we had time to kill), we got a table :cool:

 

We were so happy about that, we were trying hard to ignore how dirty it was under our high-top. :eek: Neither of us wanted to put our bags down on that dirty floor, so I held mine. Menus were dirty also. But we were so glad to have a place to sit that had alcohol and food that we were still quite hopeful. :p

 

Hoping our sea passes would work here (unlike the Carrie B;)) we ordered drinks...a bourbon sour for Husband, wine for me. Also a burger for Husband and BBQ wings for me:

 

 

No he hadn't sipped that drink yet, it was served that low. He said it was okay though, as was his burger:

 

[tweetylori]

It had been quite a while since I had had wings. These were okay, but the celery had obviously never seen water. I seriously wanted to find a sink to rinse them off ;)

 

We also learned why there was such a long line all the time. It took forever to get served and forever to get the check. And it was all airport-like expensive. :(

I wanted so badly to be back at the buffet on the ship with our premium drink package!

 

But we were super glad to have a place to sit and kill time, because when we went back out to our gate there was no place to land. We stood until our flight was called, along with the other hundreds of folks waiting for their flights.

 

I can only assume that this terminal at the Fort Lauderdale airport is there to make you WANT to fly home. If so, it is a highly functioning terminal. ;)

 

You can't tell me that all those rich people that have expensive homes and yachts here have ever had to deal with this terminal. They are obviously coming and going via yachts and private planes. ;)

[May B]

I was really afraid you weren't going to make it to the Carrie B! Nice job, truly (after an hour and a half of total stress).

 

Every time I disembark at Port Everglades, I remember how awful it can be. Before I disembark, it's totally blocked from my memory! Once we had a line like you did AND it was c-c-c-cold out. Not one person was dressed for the cold!

 

What a bummer about the airport, too. You could've stayed outside security at least long enough to had a bite to eat, had you realized.

 

Lori, thank you so very much for posting this wonderful trip report of a wonderful trip. I hope you have many more in your future!

[tweetylori]

Here are those wings with the dirty celery, by the way:

 

 

Edited December 14, 2016 by tweetylori

[tweetylori]

I was really afraid you weren't going to make it to the Carrie B! Nice job, truly (after an hour and a half of total stress).

 

Every time I disembark at Port Everglades, I remember how awful it can be. Before I disembark, it's totally blocked from my memory! Once we had a line like you did AND it was c-c-c-cold out. Not one person was dressed for the cold!

 

What a bummer about the airport, too. You could've stayed outside security at least long enough to had a bite to eat, had you realized.

 

Lori, thank you so very much for posting this wonderful trip report of a wonderful trip. I hope you have many more in your future!

 

We had never experienced this one before. Hopefully we will remember in the future and plan accordingly! Glad it wasn't cold too!

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, it really means a lot that you did so! I hope both of us have many more in our future! :D

[tweetylori]

Just like the journey had to end, so will this report soon. I would have wrapped it up earlier but it takes so long to deal with the site that hosts pics. It takes forever to upload them :(

 

I also have some cool videos that I would love to share but am not sure I can make it work. Tips appreciated!!! As are any and all comments and questions!

 

Before I finish up, I will come back to talk briefly about planning as well as share Rome. Plus, YES, I will CONFESS as to how much weight I gained on this 2 1/2 week food & alcohol adventure. :eek: But I don't think it's fair to do so until I include our two nights in Rome, which was a big part of it. :o

 

Also, I will say that our decision to not buy an internet package and to totally disconnect for the whole Atlantic crossing was indeed the right move for us. When we turned on our phones and checked messages, emails, facebook, work, etc...well, we found the whole world went on just fine without us. :cool: The dog was fine. So was the cat. Minor mishaps at work, but those could have happened had I been there. Kids, Parents...check! And we won't even talk about the election that happened while we were gone. :rolleyes:

But all in all, it didn't matter that we missed a Living Social deal or a new restaurant opened in town without us. We COULD be away for 2 1/2 weeks. It WAS possible. And it can be possible again. We hope. :p

 

Meanwhile, I'm not sure I'll ever catch up on all the tv shows I'm behind on on the DVR!

Edited December 14, 2016 by tweetylori

[eddiethekub]

Don't judge all of the FLL terminals based on your Southwest experience.

[tweetylori]

Don't judge all of the FLL terminals based on your Southwest experience.

 

That is really good to know, thank you! I do know that Southwest tends to be in older terminals. Is the rest of the airport better then?

[reecesavage]

You could always upload the videos to youtube for all to see. :) Many people do this and it is a great tool for cruise research.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[tweetylori]

You could always upload the videos to youtube for all to see. :) Many people do this and it is a great tool for cruise research.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

You know I have never uploaded anything to YouTube before. Thank you for the suggestion!

[kayehall]

That is really good to know, thank you! I do know that Southwest tends to be in older terminals. Is the rest of the airport better then?

 

Good to know. We are traveling in and out of the Southwest terminal in Feb. However, our flight out is 11:45am. Love this review. :D

[rogfam]

Just like the journey had to end, so will this report soon. I would have wrapped it up earlier but it takes so long to deal with the site that hosts pics. It takes forever to upload them :(

 

I also have some cool videos that I would love to share but am not sure I can make it work. Tips appreciated!!! As are any and all comments and questions!

 

Before I finish up, I will come back to talk briefly about planning as well as share Rome. Plus, YES, I will CONFESS as to how much weight I gained on this 2 1/2 week food & alcohol adventure. :eek: But I don't think it's fair to do so until I include our two nights in Rome, which was a big part of it. :o

 

Also, I will say that our decision to not buy an internet package and to totally disconnect for the whole Atlantic crossing was indeed the right move for us. When we turned on our phones and checked messages, emails, facebook, work, etc...well, we found the whole world went on just fine without us. :cool: The dog was fine. So was the cat. Minor mishaps at work, but those could have happened had I been there. Kids, Parents...check! And we won't even talk about the election that happened while we were gone. :rolleyes:

But all in all, it didn't matter that we missed a Living Social deal or a new restaurant opened in town without us. We COULD be away for 2 1/2 weeks. It WAS possible. And it can be possible again. We hope. :p

 

Meanwhile, I'm not sure I'll ever catch up on all the tv shows I'm behind on on the DVR!

 

Thanks again for allowing me to relive our Trans Atlantic crossing through your eyes, it truly was wonderful!

[tweetylori]

Good to know. We are traveling in and out of the Southwest terminal in Feb. However, our flight out is 11:45am. Love this review. :D

 

Thank you! And I'm happy for you that you don't have to hang out there long. :)

[tweetylori]

Thanks again for allowing me to relive our Trans Atlantic crossing through your eyes, it truly was wonderful!

 

So glad it has meaning for you! Thank you! It was indeed a wonderful wonderful cruise. Wish I could start it all over again right now.

[hcat]

Knowing we weren't too far from the Carrie B, we took our time to get off the ship, finally departing around 9:20 thinking we had plenty of time because everyone else had already gotten off, right? ;)

 

If we had disembarked when we were supposed to we would have been in group 4. As in, EARLY. So our luggage went off to group 4, which we had to find. No biggee, we assumed.

 

Well we were in for a rude awakening as we were obviously not the only ones with the late departure plan. :eek: Can you say LONG LINES? :eek:

 

 

Oh my...memories of our disembark....that is a photo of the horrible outdoor walkway we had to follow on our recent Infinity Cruise...with our walk off luggage. All walk off Pax waited on a huge line that eventually wrapped around the Rendezvous lounge. We arrived early..and were 4th on line..We had no flight to catch but always do walk off to avoid the mob scene, and stress of it all including searching out luggage in the terminal...Lucky for us we decided to stay over an extra night or it could have been very stressful!

 

Debarkation was late.... and they took us off via elevators in small groups (allowing suite guests to go ahead...). Not enough staff, chaos, line cutting (many did not plan well & would be missing flights) etc. Then the long walkway. In the terminal, X staff allowed the back of the line to start a second line...very poor organization by X, very unhappy folks. We did fine through customs, grabbed a cab and were at our hotel pool while folks were still on line at the port,

 

Glad you made it to the Carrie B...did it once with the cruise line...easier for getting off and luggage stays with the bus,,,Agree that SW terminal at FLL is awful...very expensive and nit very good choices available...but staying over brought us there in the mid morning on a much less crowded day..will do that on our Silhouette cruise b/c it will likely be the same ordeal when we sail..thanks fir the review. Cheers!

[tweetylori]

Oh my...memories of our disembark....that is a photo of the horrible outdoor walkway we had to follow on our recent Infinity Cruise...with our walk off luggage. All walk off Pax waited on a huge line that eventually wrapped around the Rendezvous lounge. We arrived early..and were 4th on line..We had no flight to catch but always do walk off to avoid the mob scene, and stress of it all including searching out luggage in the terminal...Lucky for us we decided to stay over an extra night or it could have been very stressful!

 

Debarkation was late.... and they took us off via elevators in small groups (allowing suite guests to go ahead...). Not enough staff, chaos, line cutting (many did not plan well & would be missing flights) etc. Then the long walkway. In the terminal, X staff allowed the back of the line to start a second line...very poor organization by X, very unhappy folks. We did fine through customs, grabbed a cab and were at our hotel pool while folks were still on line at the port,

 

Glad you made it to the Carrie B...did it once with the cruise line...easier for getting off and luggage stays with the bus,,,Agree that SW terminal at FLL is awful...very expensive and nit very good choices available...but staying over brought us there in the mid morning on a much less crowded day..will do that on our Silhouette cruise b/c it will likely be the same ordeal when we sail..thanks fir the review. Cheers!

 

Thank you so much for joining in the conversation...love to hear your comments...much appreciated!

[Bimmer09]

Lori, thanks for the excellent read and great photos of your TA and that beautiful ship!

 

Which camera(s) were you using?

 

Norris

[tweetylori]

Lori, thanks for the excellent read and great photos of your TA and that beautiful ship!

 

Which camera(s) were you using?

 

Norris

 

Thank you Norris! All of my pics simply taken on my cell phone. I have a Nexus LG phone. I kept my phone on airline mode when I was on the ship, so I could still take pics.

[kayehall]

Oh my...memories of our disembark....that is a photo of the horrible outdoor walkway we had to follow on our recent Infinity Cruise...with our walk off luggage. All walk off Pax waited on a huge line that eventually wrapped around the Rendezvous lounge. We arrived early..and were 4th on line..We had no flight to catch but always do walk off to avoid the mob scene, and stress of it all including searching out luggage in the terminal...Lucky for us we decided to stay over an extra night or it could have been very stressful!

 

Debarkation was late.... and they took us off via elevators in small groups (allowing suite guests to go ahead...). Not enough staff, chaos, line cutting (many did not plan well & would be missing flights) etc. Then the long walkway. In the terminal, X staff allowed the back of the line to start a second line...very poor organization by X, very unhappy folks. We did fine through customs, grabbed a cab and were at our hotel pool while folks were still on line at the port,

 

Glad you made it to the Carrie B...did it once with the cruise line...easier for getting off and luggage stays with the bus,,,Agree that SW terminal at FLL is awful...very expensive and nit very good choices available...but staying over brought us there in the mid morning on a much less crowded day..will do that on our Silhouette cruise b/c it will likely be the same ordeal when we sail..thanks fir the review. Cheers!

 

Coming off from a Transatlantic always seems to take much longer than normal. We were getting on the Reflection, her first sail from Miami after a TA. It was horrible. Standing in line for almost 3 hours to board. In the hot weather. No place to sit, no bathrooms, no water. Just not fun at all:eek:

[floridaag]

These disembarkation problems had more to do with this particular terminal than the transatlantic aspect of the cruise. This terminal stinks for disembarkation - we had the same issue on the sailing after this which was Eastern Caribbean

[tweetylori]

Coming off from a Transatlantic always seems to take much longer than normal. We were getting on the Reflection, her first sail from Miami after a TA. It was horrible. Standing in line for almost 3 hours to board. In the hot weather. No place to sit, no bathrooms, no water. Just not fun at all:eek:

 

Sounds like we didn't have it so bad after all!

[tweetylori]

These disembarkation problems had more to do with this particular terminal than the transatlantic aspect of the cruise. This terminal stinks for disembarkation - we had the same issue on the sailing after this which was Eastern Caribbean

 

The trick is to allow plenty of time! I would be curious though if it was easier for folks getting off earlier or for the ones who paid for Fort Lauderdale tours.

[Solution]

The trick is to allow plenty of time! I would be curious though if it was easier for folks getting off earlier or for the ones who paid for Fort Lauderdale tours.

 

We were on this cruise, and assigned a 7:20 a.m. time slot. Our rental car pickup was at 10:30 a.m. so we were in no rush. Nonetheless, we decided to leave the ship around 8'ish. There was no line up to the terminal. After retrieving our luggage, it was a short wait before we went through customs. It could have been faster if the couple in front of us did not take the food and fruits off the ship :eek:

 

This was not the case in 2013 after the Caribbean sailing. It was long and slow. I guess it is a hit and miss.

[tweetylori]

We were on this cruise, and assigned a 7:20 a.m. time slot. Our rental car pickup was at 10:30 a.m. so we were in no rush. Nonetheless, we decided to leave the ship around 8'ish. There was no line up to the terminal. After retrieving our luggage, it was a short wait before we went through customs. It could have been faster if the couple in front of us did not take the food and fruits off the ship :eek:

 

This was not the case in 2013 after the Caribbean sailing. It was long and slow. I guess it is a hit and miss.

 

Interesting, thank you! Sounds like too many of us waited to get off. And don't you love the ones that either ignore or defy what they're instructed? :confused: