Silhouette around Britain staycruisecations

[BigAl94]

12 hours ago, Mim Lloyd said:

 

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.

Nothing will change in the near future.

[delondin]

12 hours ago, Mim Lloyd said:

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.

Following a vlog of someone currently on board they confirmed that masks and social distancing were not changing for the current cruise. 

[Bretty]

A question fir those who’ve sailed already re suite / retreat guests check in - is there a dedicated check in and luggage drop for suite guests at Southampton?

 

many thanks

[BestGuessed]

1 hour ago, Bretty said:

A question fir those who’ve sailed already re suite / retreat guests check in - is there a dedicated check in and luggage drop for suite guests at Southampton?

 

many thanks

Not on last weeks cruise but then there were less than 900 passengers and it wasn’t really required at our boarding time of 12 to 12.30.  
However once check in was complete we were waved straight through to board the ship which didn’t seem to be the case for everyone.
We had booked a Sky Suite and we sat down to dine in Luminae before 12.30 !! Our luggage had arrived by the time we had finished our lunch.  
A perk (we believe this was for suite passengers only 🤔) that we took advantage of, was that we had a dedicated luggage collection service which enabled us to put our luggage out for collection until 7am on the morning of departure. Luminae was open from 6.30am to 8am on the morning we disembarked.

[delondin]

3 hours ago, Bretty said:

A question fir those who’ve sailed already re suite / retreat guests check in - is there a dedicated check in and luggage drop for suite guests at Southampton?

 

many thanks

I saw a priority luggage drop on Kerbside but I’m not sure which suites qualify. There was also a suite line in the terminal but my check in was 12 and it was very quiet. 

[Bretty]

2 hours ago, BestGuessed said:

Not on last weeks cruise but then there were less than 900 passengers and it wasn’t really required at our boarding time of 12 to 12.30.  
However once check in was complete we were waved straight through to board the ship which didn’t seem to be the case for everyone.
We had booked a Sky Suite and we sat down to dine in Luminae before 12.30 !! Our luggage had arrived by the time we had finished our lunch.  
A perk (we believe this was for suite passengers only 🤔) that we took advantage of, was that we had a dedicated luggage collection service which enabled us to put our luggage out for collection until 7am on the morning of departure. Luminae was open from 6.30am to 8am on the morning we disembarked.

 

59 minutes ago, delondin said:

I saw a priority luggage drop on Kerbside but I’m not sure which suites qualify. There was also a suite line in the terminal but my check in was 12 and it was very quiet. 

@BestGuessed and @delondinthanks. We’re in a sky suite also with 12 -12:30 check in time.

[phoenix1975]

Question for those who are onboard now or have been on a staycation cruise so far, or in general:

 

What activities are available on board (I've never cruised with Celebrity before) particularly on days when the ship is in port?

 

I've never been on a shore excursion before and have no plans to start particularly as there is limited choice (i.e.. no excursions to Inverness or Glasgow, anything other than visiting castles/monuments/distilleries/long coach trips) and hope (although unlikely) that we might be able to explore independently when I sail on 21st August.

 

Thanks 🙂

 

 

 

 

[cublet]

Hello,

 

After reading all the tales of woe and despondency regarding Eurofins and Covid-19 testing earlier on, I was tested yesterday at 09:18 and received my (negative) Test Report at 15:14 today. If I try hard enough, I just might find something to complain about - apart from the weather.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Jimmark]

Hello everyone,

We’re sailing on Silhouette on 31st July and really looking forward to it. Just wondering if anyone has noticed if men’s Breitling watches are for sale? Dreaming that unused cruise credit might make this a worthy investment – although I suspect they will still be way out of our price range ☹️

And thanks to everyone who’s been posting reviews and pictures – we’ve really enjoyed seeing them!
 

[Tipsy252]

4 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

After reading all the tales of woe and despondency regarding Eurofins and Covid-19 testing earlier on, I was tested yesterday at 09:18 and received my (negative) Test Report at 15:14 today. If I try hard enough, I just might find something to complain about - apart from the weather.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

Hey Cublet, why not join us for a sailaway drink in Sunset bar. See you on board!

[isdoo]

34 minutes ago, Jimmark said:

Hello everyone,

We’re sailing on Silhouette on 31st July and really looking forward to it. Just wondering if anyone has noticed if men’s Breitling watches are for sale? Dreaming that unused cruise credit might make this a worthy investment – although I suspect they will still be way out of our price range ☹️

And thanks to everyone who’s been posting reviews and pictures – we’ve really enjoyed seeing them!
 

 

The Chronomat 44 is circa £9,000 apparently. 

[downsmead]

3 hours ago, isdoo said:

 

The Chronomat 44 is circa £9,000 apparently. 

Beware that any price has 20% VAT added so at present does not make the price on board better than that which can be got in the U.K. 😔

[isdoo]

3 hours ago, downsmead said:

Beware that any price has 20% VAT added so at present does not make the price on board better than that which can be got in the U.K. 😔

 

That was including the vat 

[Wichenford Wolf]

12 hours ago, Jimmark said:

Hello everyone,

We’re sailing on Silhouette on 31st July and really looking forward to it. Just wondering if anyone has noticed if men’s Breitling watches are for sale? Dreaming that unused cruise credit might make this a worthy investment – although I suspect they will still be way out of our price range ☹️

And thanks to everyone who’s been posting reviews and pictures – we’ve really enjoyed seeing them!
 

 

11 hours ago, isdoo said:

 

The Chronomat 44 is circa £9,000 apparently. 

Sounds like a lot of unused cruise credit 😳

[upwarduk]

To anyone on board at the moment:

Which currency are passengers using, if they tip extra?

There is a new thread here:

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by upwarduk

[isdoo]

5 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

To anyone on board at the moment:

Which currency are passengers using, if they tip extra?

You can use any currency - UKP is just fine. 

 

[the penguins]

10 hours ago, downsmead said:

Beware that any price has 20% VAT added so at present does not make the price on board better than that which can be got in the U.K. 😔

But do you know a local store that will accept my onboard credit? 🤣

[downsmead]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

But do you know a local store that will accept my onboard credit? 🤣

Quite, just bought myself a Citizen watch for $39. It was that or a handbag 😂

I needed to use my OBC! So nice of Celebrity to treat me to a new watch as part of my cruise 😊

Edited July 22, 2021 by downsmead

[delondin]

16 hours ago, Jimmark said:

Hello everyone,

We’re sailing on Silhouette on 31st July and really looking forward to it. Just wondering if anyone has noticed if men’s Breitling watches are for sale? Dreaming that unused cruise credit might make this a worthy investment – although I suspect they will still be way out of our price range ☹️

And thanks to everyone who’s been posting reviews and pictures – we’ve really enjoyed seeing them!
 

I read a review and the person bought a Breitling and said it was cheaper than Goldsmiths and he said don’t be afraid to haggle. 

[American_in_York]

9 minutes ago, downsmead said:

Quite, just bought myself a Citizen watch for $39. It was that or a handbag 😂

I needed to use my OBC!

Was there any fabulous designer bags in the shops? I have some OBC to use up as well. 😉

[downsmead]

19 minutes ago, American_in_York said:

Was there any fabulous designer bags in the shops? I have some OBC to use up as well. 😉

I was tempted by a Mary Frances bag - very different!

[madmedic]

Has anyone had problems claiming for the PCR tests post cruise? We sailed on the 9th July and used Boots test now finding it impossible to send both forms as requested by Celebrity. Only one gets through the other is returned! Impossible to get through on the phone to UK and given conflicting information by US office (who'd have thought it)! 

[isdoo]

On 7/19/2021 at 6:37 PM, Bretty said:

A question fir those who’ve sailed already re suite / retreat guests check in - is there a dedicated check in and luggage drop for suite guests at Southampton?

 

many thanks

There is supposed to be a dedicated bag drop for RS / PH - but whether it is easy to find is another matter.

Suites can check in at any time and yes there is a seperate line apparently. 

But Celebrity are not allowed to operate outside of the terminal - how true that is I don't know, but that is what they told me. 

[pennys mum]

How does the safety video presentation work. I have seen that their is no muster drill.

how do they know you watched it?

[isdoo]

1 minute ago, pennys mum said:

How does the safety video presentation work. I have seen that their is no muster drill.

how do they know you watched it?

You have to recite it word for word to a crew member 😂

I believe they know if you have watched it - you then have to go and get your sticker from the muster station .