Silhouette around Britain staycruisecations

[isdoo]

13 minutes ago, rachiem said:

I have booked for the 18th Sept and have been told that you can get off and tour independently now..is that correct?

I'm not aware of that. But that is not to say a decision hasn't been made post July 19th. Where did you read this? 

[rachiem]

4 minutes ago, isdoo said:

I'm not aware of that. But that is not to say a decision hasn't been made post July 19th. Where did you read this? 

The booking agent today at Celebrity 

[isdoo]

9 minutes ago, rachiem said:

The booking agent today at Celebrity 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/healthy-at-sea/uk-travel-requirements

 

Nothing has changed yet. 

 

 

[rachiem]

4 minutes ago, isdoo said:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/healthy-at-sea/uk-travel-requirements

 

Nothing has changed yet. 

 

 

I did query it with her and she confirmed that these cruises were independent tours. 
we will probably book their tours anyway when available (at the moment it’s giving me the option of a tour in Bruges, Copenhagen and Oslo!!!!)

 

 

[pennys mum]

39 minutes ago, rachiem said:

I did query it with her and she confirmed that these cruises were independent tours. 
we will probably book their tours anyway when available (at the moment it’s giving me the option of a tour in Bruges, Copenhagen and Oslo!!!!)

 

 

Yes me too. It is the itinerary that we should have been doing

[govanguy]

5 hours ago, isdoo said:

I'm not aware of that. But that is not to say a decision hasn't been made post July 19th. Where did you read this? 

Intending to book Sept 2021 around Britain today I find the same issue. To get off the ship at my home port in Scotland I have to take a Celebrity excursion. Needless to say, I passed up on this cruise.  

I can travel by car to almost all the destinations of the cruise without issue and yet........I can't disembark? 

Vaccinated, 2 jabs.

I suspect this is a revenue issue.........

It has to be addressed

[swjumbo]

If you can access these places easily then why get off?

For a lot of us the ship is the destination and we’re not interested in getting off.

[isdoo]

6 hours ago, govanguy said:

Intending to book Sept 2021 around Britain today I find the same issue. To get off the ship at my home port in Scotland I have to take a Celebrity excursion. Needless to say, I passed up on this cruise.  

I can travel by car to almost all the destinations of the cruise without issue and yet........I can't disembark? 

Vaccinated, 2 jabs.

I suspect this is a revenue issue.........

It has to be addressed

 

You may well be right. 

 

It is daft that thousands can mix, shout, sing and have contact with each other at sporting events, yet 1,000 double vaccinated people who have tested negative can't get off the ship on their own. 

[upwarduk]

52 minutes ago, isdoo said:

 

You may well be right. 

 

It is daft that thousands can mix, shout, sing and have contact with each other at sporting events, yet 1,000 double vaccinated people who have tested negative can't get off the ship on their own. 

 the cruise lines are desperate to prove that they are safe and will do everything in their power to prevent COVID-19 being brought on to the ship.

[BigAl94]

11 hours ago, govanguy said:

Intending to book Sept 2021 around Britain today I find the same issue. To get off the ship at my home port in Scotland I have to take a Celebrity excursion. Needless to say, I passed up on this cruise.  

I can travel by car to almost all the destinations of the cruise without issue and yet........I can't disembark? 

Vaccinated, 2 jabs.

I suspect this is a revenue issue.........

It has to be addressed

It is perfectly sensible when you think about it - to minimise the risk of guests contracting the virus on a shore visit and bringing it on board, cruise lines will continue to control shore excursions as much as they can especially as the number of cases is rising so fast.

Edited July 17, 2021 by BigAl94

[lovetoholiday]

Just off the ship and now waiting for the train home.

Had a wonderful time, so good have booked again for September.

The ship is beautiful and very very clean. Felt safer on there than back home going around town. They are constantly sanitising including the pencils they use for the quizzes.

I did try to post earlier but the free wifi is not great. I wanted to let people know that if they had any problems with their PCR test results the system they have at the port is  very slick.

Eurofin had not properly labelled ours so could not give us the results. We left the Holiday Inn at 11.45am and walked to the port, the first person we met asked if we had PCR result and we said no so were shown into an area where we gave our details and got swabbed and were given a sticker to wear to show we were part of the 'untested" group. 

Through security and shown to a seperate area to await results. These came back about 20 minutes after the test. The lady who brough the results then processed us through check-in and then it was straight on to the ship. No need to go back and stand in the check-in queue.

We were on board ship at 12.20pm greeted by a welcoming party from all departments.

Loved the ship and all the space and ease of fifinding seats. This will change I suppose when more passengers are allowed back on board, but for now it's wonderful.

To all of you still to go, have a great time. It's so good to be sailing again!

[delondin]

On 7/15/2021 at 2:07 PM, PaulB123 said:

I request fevertree for our room and the Retreat Suite Concierge seem to think they did have fevertree.  It would just be strange if they didn't.

I couldn’t get any in the retreat lounge. Concierge checked other bars but no joy. Schweppes or Canada Dry were the choices. You could maybe get on special order for in suite. 

[Goaty]

We arrived today. Easy boarding if you have all the documentation. Requested fever tree in our suite and it’s there. Not sure about other bars on the ship but so far everything had been brilliant. 

[Tipsy252]

Can anyone tell me if Celebrity has alcohol free gin onboard in any of the bars?

[lovetoholiday]

32 minutes ago, Tipsy252 said:

Can anyone tell me if Celebrity has alcohol free gin onboard in any of the bars?

Not sure about alcohol free but certainly no pink gin sadly.

[TimWB]

3 hours ago, Tipsy252 said:

Can anyone tell me if Celebrity has alcohol free gin onboard in any of the bars?

 Having tried the NAGin , it is just as nice if you DON’T BOTHER , and just have some slightly crushed juniper berries (3) twist of lemon and ice. Can’t tell the difference honestly. Christine

 

We will be wanting to know the name of this new drink before you start the “Pointless Bar Run” not having you giving it some fancy name to get you out of trouble at a bar with a awkward letter 🤣 Tim

[ighten]

On 7/16/2021 at 10:42 PM, govanguy said:

Intending to book Sept 2021 around Britain today I find the same issue. To get off the ship at my home port in Scotland I have to take a Celebrity excursion. Needless to say, I passed up on this cruise.  

I can travel by car to almost all the destinations of the cruise without issue and yet........I can't disembark? 

Vaccinated, 2 jabs.

I suspect this is a revenue issue.........

It has to be addressed

 

I seriously doubt a few pounds here and there for trips is going to make much of a dent in the black hole of debt being carried at the moment. Especially with so few people on board 50% of whom probably wont be taking a trip.

 

Its the same reason you cant drive up to a cruise ship and just get on without a test.. Its pretty simple - the cruise line has to protect the staff - if it goes beyond a certain % of cases they have to pause ops..

 

Some lines seem to be starting to allow and I suspect it will soon be back to norm  but we have already seen Cunard have to pull one cruise.

 

TBF They have moved the price down so many times now I think my OBC from the best offer has actually paid for the trips 🙂

Edited July 18, 2021 by ighten

[TillyTheGreat]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:50 AM, lovetoholiday said:

I wanted to let people know that if they had any problems with their PCR test results the system they have at the port is  very slick.

Lovetoholiday - many thanks for your re-assuring post, about the cruise in general and about PCR re-testing in particular.  We're very glad that you had a thoroughally enjoyable experience.  This '72-hour' test, and it's implications, is what's causing us such worry that it is spoiling any sense of anticipation that we might have had.  Thanks again....  🚢⏳ (not long now!)

[upwarduk]

The 72 hours changed a while back to 3 days.

[BestGuessed]

We disembarked Celebrity Silhouette yesterday after the most wonderful 8 night cruise.
 

To everyone who is worried in any way about the PCR tests etc. your concerns are completely unfounded.  From our experience Celebrity do everything they can to help anyone who has had difficulties and they are incredibly reassuring and helpful at the port.  
They really do not want passengers to be stressed or worried about being left behind and they make it all as easy as possible.

Unless you are unfortunate enough to test positive you will get on board.  
Once on board it’s very reassuring to know that you are in the safest environment Celebrity have been able to create for everyone.

 

The ship is beautiful, the crew are fantastic and you will have the most amazing time.  Happy holidays everyone. Cruising is back !! 🥂

[isdoo]

5 minutes ago, BestGuessed said:

We disembarked Celebrity Silhouette yesterday after the most wonderful 8 night cruise.
 

To everyone who is worried in any way about the PCR tests etc. your concerns are completely unfounded.  From our experience Celebrity do everything they can to help anyone who has had difficulties and they are incredibly reassuring and helpful at the port.  
They really do not want passengers to be stressed or worried about being left behind and they make it all as easy as possible.

Unless you are unfortunate enough to test positive you will get on board.  
Once on board it’s very reassuring to know that you are in the safest environment Celebrity have been able to create for everyone.

 

The ship is beautiful, the crew are fantastic and you will have the most amazing time.  Happy holidays everyone. Cruising is back !! 🥂

 

I think the concern is more about being positive rather than the test itself. 

[Tipsy252]

Can someone tell me how many Chic Nights on the UK 8 day cruises? Is it 2?

[isdoo]

10 minutes ago, Tipsy252 said:

Can someone tell me how many Chic Nights on the UK 8 day cruises? Is it 2?

 

2

[Mim Lloyd]

I'm on the Silhouette at this moment and agree with others about how efficient the check in process is. One of my party didn't receive their Eurofins PCR result and we also have 3 children with us who needed testing at the port. It was all dealt with very swiftly. Despite there only being 1000 passengers aboard it doesn't feel empty, although the Silhouette is only a small ship.

What's nice is not having to hunt for a table in the Ocean view cafe and for sunbeds around the pool. It's very hot and although the beds in the sun right by the pool were all taken by 10am, there were still loads of others available on deck 14 where the Mast bar and grill is. The pool music and entertainment is surprisingly good during the day but the evening shows and entertainment is pretty meh. Out of all the cruise lines I've sailed on Celebrity is the worst for shows and evening singers. 

You can go to the bar for your own drink but the weird thing is that the seats at the Martini bar are facing away from the bar (your back will be to the bartenders) but the other bars are okay. It's nice though to always be able to get seats. As you all probably already know, the buffet have servers to plate your food but it work well and there are plenty of staff so you don't have to queue. We did a deal with a waitress at Le Petit Chef in Qsine to have a meal in there last night. Only paid $35 for each adult (4 of us) and all 3 children were free which was a decent deal.

There are 30 children on this sailing and the Camp at Sea club is staffed by lovely people. Only about 20 attended in total today, the others just wanted to play in the pools and jacuzzis with their parents. Our 2 eldest really enjoyed it and are looking forward to the sessions for the rest of the week. The staff said there's a lot more children on next week's cruise, many are young teens who they don't expect to see much of!

We're now waiting to hear if we can remove our masks at one minute past midnight tonight and be allowed to leave the ship on our own when in Belfast and Liverpool. Hope so, it's such a faff remembering to put a mask on when walking around the inside of the ship.

[TillyTheGreat]

Thank you Mim Lloyd, what a description of bliss, hope it continues well for you and the family.