Silhouette to the Med from Southampton in Retreat. My experience.

[sollyman]

I wrote a long screed this morning giving feedback on our cruise that appears to have disappeared into the ether. We got back on Saturday. I will wait to see if this appears before i post more details.

[sollyman]

Well it worked this time so....

 

We left the midlands at 8:15 to drive to Southampton. A drive that normally takes just over 2 hours. We pulled into the ABP car park at 11:30. Traffic was extremely heavy especially nearing Southampton. Coincidently, 11:30 was our allocated boarding time,  although as retreat passengers we could board at any time.

 

Once inside the terminal masks were compulsory. There were no queues at all in the terminal, unless you count the 30 seconds we had to wait before putting our hand luggage through the scanner. Then through to check in area and again we were immediately directed to a very pleasant young man who checked our vaccination and test documention. He retook our photos....I knew the ones i had submitted through the app were no good. This only took a minute or two and we were on our way. There was no special check in area for Retreat guests, and no need for any. I guess upper suites may be dealt with differently, we were lowly S2.

 

Up the ramp and onto the ship to many "welcome backs". Once on board there wer no requirements for masks anywere for passengers. All crew were masked at all times.The welcome aboard drinks have been moved to the World Class bar area to avoid crowding near the entrance. Then straight to our aft suite on deck 12 to drop off our bags and pick up our sea passes. I managed to remember how to set up and login to the free wifi so we watched the very short compulsory safety video. It was still before 12:00 when we left the suite and went to the Retreat to have a quick drink and meet the concierges.. neither of which we had met before.

 

Luminae next. This is the first time for a long time that we did not recognise any of the staff or any of the other passengers. Given that this is the only non-fly cruise to the Med you usually see a lot of familiar faces. Maybe the have been put off by covid or that this years cruise is earlier than usual during the UK school holidays. It is usually in Sept. After lunch we stopped by our muster station to be ticked off the list. We were only people there and it took about 10 seconds.

 

The menus in Luminae have been updated, not always for the better. There is still often a massive difference between what is on the menu  and what appears on the plate. We asked for the MDR menu on the first night and therafter it was provided every night. It was not offered to everyone, you had to ask. I would say that despite what some claim on this board set your expectations before you board. Most meals fell into the pretty good category although there were a number of abject failures. All of the dining room staff were excellent and the MD, Lawrence from France, was the best we have experienced on any cruise. She told us she had worked on ships for many years, over twenty with Cunard and now 7 with Celebrity. When things went wrong with the kitchen she was quick to offer solutions and was always very interested in feedback.

 

One thing that has definitely improved is the standard of cheese available. Now virtually all cheeses offered were French and good quality. The menu still does not what cheese will be delivered every night but you can always ask and request an alternative if they have it.

 

Wines by the glass have been restricted. Less choice on the premium package. Unfortunately, my first choice was unavailable but a pretty good Chianti was offered instead. My choice was brought on board in Cadiz and it lasted until half way through our last meal when i had to switch back to the Chianti. Our Sommelier kept everyones glasses topped up but clearly had his hands tied by the lack of choice. One night I asked him if there was anything he could recommed as an alternative. He was honest and said "No. You are already drinking the best on the list". Another night my wife asked why the Louis Jadot Steel had dropped of the by the glass list but was still available by the bottle. He gave a very interesting and plausible answer. Nothing to do with cost more to with the number of passengers now with drinks packages and the availability of enough supply to meet by the glass demand.

 

More thoughts on other aspects to follow...

 

[RickT]

On the Silhouette in a few weeks and curious to know what bands (house and party) and musicians (guitarist, due, etc) are currently onboard. Love to listen to live music and like to check out the musicians beforehand.  

[hawkesbaynz]

Interesting about the wine. We are on the Beyond next month for my 60th and thinking about taking a few bottles of my favourite wine between us. I believe we can have them opened if we have a beverage pack. I have found the sommeliers a little overworked on the last couple of cruises and the glasses have gone dry.😬

 

Interesting how you found the cruise experience to the Med from S'oton in comparison with flying and boarding there. Getting a little sick of flying and that dock 15 minutes away is attractive.

[GRBlizz]

Please post more. We are on the Silhouette in a SS in October for the TA. Have never been in a suite since Retreat was introduced, so eager to hear your experience!

 

[sollyman]

Rick T...we didnt spend much time listening to the live music offerings but they were :

 

Houseband were The Kickstarters. Female vocalist and 3 band members. They played a wide range of music throughout the ship.

 

Two young guys playing violins called Mixture String Duo.

 

"Dance" band called Southern Groove.

 

Ballroom dancing everyday to recorded music.

 

Guitarist/Singer Thiago Balera.

 

The Silhouette Orchestra also played around the ship as well as backing performers in the theatre.

 

Although we did not listen to much there always seemed to be live music somewhere.

 

I believe the orchestra may have been leaving the ship in Southampton as a new orchestra was already on board. Overheard this in the Ocean View when set next to the guy who did the Elton John tribute show.

 

Hope that helps.

[sollyman]

Hawkesbaynz....our sommelier was Charles a mixed race South African. I dont think he has been on the ship long but he did a great job keeping glasses topped. He was by far the best we have experienced in that regard. I agree that on some cruises we sat with empty glasses for what seemed a long time!

 

As Luminae was as busy as ever I can only guess at why he was so efficient. Maybe because of the limited  choice on the premium package he spent less time making recommendations and spent more time pouring. I never heard a word of complaint from anyone about the wine despite the limited choice.

He told us most people were sticking to the same wine every evening...that must have made life easier for him too.

 

I tend to drink bold reds even with fish and my first choice Villa Antorini, a 13.5% Chianti you can buy in Waitrose, was not available until we left Cadiz. The replacement Chianti (14%) was perfectly fine. I did not look at the label to note the maker.

 

I believe you are correct about no corkage charge for those with a drinks package although I did not test it. Personally I dont think bringing bottles on board is worth the bother.

 

Incidently as you seem to have a NZ connection. The Loius Jadot Steel (Chardonay) that has gone from the premium glass list seemed to have been replaced with Villa Maria Reserve (Sauvignon Blanc).

 

Most other wines were from US or South America. There was a South African but Charles said it wasnt worth trying.

 

As supply issues ease I am sure things will improve. I really dont think it is a cost saving attempt.

[sollyman]

Hawksbaynz... sorry I forgot to reply to your question about cruising from Southampton.

 

My wife has never enjoyed flying..we even got as far as NZ, but now she has pretty much said no more.

 

We have never done a fly cruise from UK.

 

I think we have now done the Med cruise from Southampton 4 or 5 times, firstly on Ecilpse then on Silhouette. Always in suites.

 

Parking and boarding at Southampton has always been a breeze. We always drive down on the day.

 

The drawbacks are the two sea days at the beginning and end of the cruise. We actually enjoy them as a way of easing into cruise life and then recovering from the long hectic port days in the Med. If you dont enjoy sea days it clearly isnt for you. This year we had cloudy and coolish first sea day then 13 hot sunny days all the way back to Southampton...its not always like that.

[GRBlizz]

How was the noise from Oceanview Cafe above? Which cabin were you in?

[sollyman]

Right...now for  some random thoughts about the cruise in no paricular order.

 

The Suite

 

We were in an S2 on deck 12. One in from the corner. We have usually taken the corner suite but this year they wanted a premium of £800 for it. In previous years in was £400. Next year all rear facing suites will be in the same new category and hence the same price.I decided it wasnt worth it.

We have been in this cabin before. Many people say avoid deck 12 because of the scraping of chairs but it doesnt bother us at all. Also you have the benefit of an overhang that means you can usually find shade somewhere. Given the heat on this cruise, well into the 30's and virtually no cloud or breeze many balconies would be pretty much unusable in aft facing cabins.

 

We find the S2's have a better use of space and more storage than the S1's.

 

The suite looks good after the referbishment. We particularly liked the extra wide drawers thay have installed..made finding clothes very easy. Some people have complained about the new sofa beds being too firm but we found them perfectly comfortable. There is a totally useless low round table with a pouffe underneath, situated half way between the sofa bed and the TV, that is clearly not meant to be moved (far too heavy). If you are sitting on the sofa it is too far away to comfortably put your drink on it. Fortunately, there is a strange strange shaped small, light metal side table on the balcony that we brought into the cabin. It worked well for drinks. Trying to eat in the cabin off the low table would be very uncomfortable.

 

The bathroom was not touched during the upgrade.

 

On the balcony, apart from the little metal thing there was a round plastic table that would sit 4, two chairs that were much more comfortable than they looked, and a lounger with a footrest.

 

Once we got to the cabin we found the tv remote did not work and one of the new extra wide drawers fell to the ground when you tried to open it. We mentioned both to our Butler (Personal Retreat Host) when he came to meet us and both were fixed  while we were at dinner. I also aked him to empty the fridge. This promted him to asked what we wanted to put in there.We asked for fresh milk and limes and said i would pick up some beers from the bars to keep in there. He offered to fill the fridge with beers and came back later with a selection to choose from. He kept them replenished thoughout and once he noticed we used tonic water he had four in there all the time.

 

There was lots of water in the room. I think 5 large bottles of Evian water and lots of the new aluminium water containers. Celebrity used to charge for the large bottle water in Suites but we were told to use what we wanted.

 

Other than that we barely used the PRH apart from trying to have breakfast in our suite twice. More of that later.

 

Our Suite Attentdent kept it immaculate. He soon new our movements  and everything was done like magic. The only times we spoke to him was when we saw him in the corridors.

 

Still more to come...

 

[sollyman]

Just a quick note on Move-Up.

 

I said i would never get invloved with this....but I did.

 

Given the Covid situation i bid the maximum amount I could on both a Royal Suite and the Penthouse Suite. I was informed 48hrs before sailing both had been rejected.

In retropect I am glad there were. We were perfectly happy where we were and I an more than £2000 better off.

[sollyman]

Entertainment

 

I was suprised given the number of sea days that there were no Beyond the Podium speakers. I dont count Michelle Monro who has been doing the same talks out of Southampton for years.

 

The Cruise Director stepped in to fill the gaps, and whilst he is a good speaker i did miss imput from others. I quite like Eddy as CD....others may differ.

 

I have already mentioned the musicians onboard.

 

The theatre shows were what they are ....comedian/singer on the first night, tribute acts to the Beatles and Elton John, a magician illusionist, three or four singers and a couple of productions shows.

Strangely after the first couple of days when the shows were at 7:00 and 9:00 they were swtiched to 8:30 and 10:30.

 

We went some of the shows after dinner at 10:30. Id say the theatre was between 15% and 25% full each time. Hard for the performers.

 

I thought the singer/comedian on the first night we pretty good, we went before dinner to the 7:00 show. He had an audience of less than 10% and he had a hard time getting any response from the audience, even to relatively funny clean jokes. He gradually got more response and ten minutes from the end he said "I was only supposed to do 35 mins but you have hated me so much I am going to do another 10 mins to get my own back". That did get people behind him and he got warm applause at the end. It cant be easy playing to a virtually empty theatre with what audience there was tired after a days travel.

[sollyman]

The Retreat

 

The old Michaels Club has been given a facelift and is much better for it. Much brighter. Some have complained about uncomfortable seating, it was fine for us.

 

The only problem was it was hardly used. We went in after dinner a few times the first week. The last twice we were the only people in there.

 

Went in a few times during the day for coffee etc. never saw more than 10 people in there.

 

I do believe it was better attended for pre dinner drinks. We never tried it.

 

The day we went to try afternoon tea I think there were six other than us. The food is now laid out buffet style and you help yourself. One of the Butlers is there to make and deliver hot drinks. The food is pretty much identical to what is available in OVC.

 

We much preferred the old days of the Butler and cart delivery to the Suite.

 

We only received two invitations to events in the retreat, neither of which we attended. The Senior Officer's Soiree which was at a strange time and to a trivia quiz about the Silhouette on the last day. Again we did not bother.

 

The outdoor retreat decks have very little shade and very pretty much unusable. We were invited to a sailaway party up there, I think in Naples, it was 36C.

 

We were bombarded with messages from the two Retreat Concierges asking if there was anything they could do for us and asking us to call in at see them.

[sollyman]

The OVC

 

It seems to be much the same as it was. Did not notice any cut backs. In fact the cheese offering has been improved out of all recognition. The pizza was surprisingly good too. The bar up there is very handy to take a drink back to the suite.

[sollyman]

Room Service

 

We decided to have room service breakfast in Naples because we had an early start and hung our cards outside at around 11pm for delivery as near 7:30 as possible. At 7:40 my wife opened the door to find the card hanging there. Rather than causing a fuss we went up to OVC and grabbed pretty much what we had ordered and took it back to our room. Just as we were finishing the telephone rang. It was the Butler saying he was just bringing our breakfast. He had seen the card that we had left hanging on the door and rushed to correct things. I said thanks but no thanks we dont need two breakfasts. He reported the failure up the line and we later received a call from the suite manager, full of apologies. He eventually sent my wife a floral display. There are no longer any flowers or fruit in cabins.

 

On the first night we asked the butler if they still served canapes. He said yes he would deliver them. Next night they were there and were truly appauling. We cancelled them immediately.

 

 

Excursions

 

We normally do not take Celebrity excursions but this time we had so much creditwe booked three.

 

A full day to Pompeii and Sorrento

 

Half day to an Etruscan town from Civitavechia

 

Half day to Aix-en-Provence from Marseilles

 

We thought they were all good but a little expensive.

 

I think I have covered everything now but any quetions please ask.

 

 

[sollyman]

GRBliz....we were in 2155. We always book aft suites on deck 12 so the noise obviosly does not bother us. You do here some scraping of chairs but not a lot. You do not hear any voices, i think the overhang helps with that. It is very quiet at night night.

 

2153 and 2155 accessed from a little lobby behind a door from the main corridor. Probably one of the reasons our breakfast card was missed. We did notice that they had put a new sigh on this door saying "cabins 2153-2155". Previously you had to look hard to find a sign on the corridor wall that was easily missed. The new sign seems to have been in response to our breakfast mishap.

 

You have reminded me of one other thing i was going to mention....Covid.

 

There was no mention of Covid onboard and no masking required. However, i do know there was.

How do i know that?  Before halfway in the cruise i noticed that the people in the corner suite next to us were having all their meals deliver to their room. A little table was set up right outside their door which often had the deep sleep sign on it.

 

A few days later the same thing happened to the suite on the other side of us.

 

Nothing was said to us at all and they were allowed to stay in their suites til the end of the cruise. One afternoon I passed our butler in the corridor just outside and he gestured to the suites either side of us and said "they are positve". I replied "I already guessed that"

 

Later in the cruise if we heard them out on their balconies we moved our seats as far away as possible.

 

So far we are fine.

[Straughn]

@sollyman Enjoying your posts immensely as I am in an SS for the October TA. I love the aft cabins, but alas, all were taken by the time I booked the cruise. I keep watching to see if one surfaces, but not getting my hopes up. Also, put in a mid range Move Up offer on a CS. Don’t expect that to happen either.

 

Interesting about The Retreat Lounge. I so hope folks are there pre dinner as I enjoy the lounge then. I also go to the continental breakfast there most mornings. I have not done afternoon tea. 

[LuAnn]

3 hours ago, GRBlizz said:

Please post more. We are on the Silhouette in a SS in October for the TA. Have never been in a suite since Retreat was introduced, so eager to hear your experience!

 

GRBlizz...I'm on that sailing as well and my friend travelling along just upgraded to a suite so I'm interested as well. I've only booked AQ since it was introduced. 

[pennys mum]

We were also on this cruise in a R S. 

I agree with everything you have mentioned apart from check in.

we were seated in the retreat. area and went through a separate scanner with our carry on.

I too missed the podium speakers. Our sail away invite was Gibraltar.

according to our butler 4 suites had covid passengers.

[sollyman]

Hello pennys mum

 

I think you may have misunderstood my OP. the point iwas trying to make was there are no longer separate check in desks for Suites, Concierge, Aqua etc or for CC Levels and in my experience they were not necessary . There were no queues anywhere when we boarded. I did say that upper suites were probably handled differently, and you have confirmed this was the case. In any event our boarding could not have been quicker.

 

I have to say i am amazed that you agree with everything else i have said. Everybody has different experiences and expectations, and I am quite happy for others to disagree.

 

If there were only 4 positve cases in suites i wonder what the odds of being in a cabin directly between two of them.

 

Your post made me think of other things i should have mentioned. I will do that in a new post.

[sollyman]

An earler post about this cruise suggested that Silhouette sailed at 93% occupancy. In my opinion it was nowhere near that.

 

We heard numbers of 2400, i think from Eddy then 2600 from the Hotel Director during a Q&A session.

Our butler quoted 2540 later in the cruise and said the next cruise to the Baltic was about half of this, making a big difference to their tips.

 

At these numbers capacity was between 72& and 78%. I have certainly been on Silhouette when it has been much busier.

 

I repeat that having a number of youngsters onboard due to school holidays had no affect on our cruise whatsoever.

 

Dress codes have been a hot topic on these boards recently. I did see a number or men queuing for the main restaurants in shorts on the first night. I did not see any hats. First nights have always been more relaxed to allow for late delivered luggage. Some people seem to take advantage of that. There was nobody in Luminae in shorts or a hat throughout the cruise. After the first night i did not see anyone trying to enter any of the restaurants in shorts or wearing a hat, at night.

 

Many people have claimed that cruises from Southampton tend to be more "dressy". I have never agreed with this and have not even taken a jacket for a number of years. It occurred to me that very few people in Luminae had worn either DJ's, Tuxes or jackets on the first two Chic nights. We were always sitted in the front part of Luminae and I made a point of looking around on the 3rd Chic night. The restaurant was pretty full and i counted 2 men in DJ's, one in a white TUX and 2 wearing a jacket without tie. So much for european cruises being more dressy. Wear what you want to nobody else will care...within the dress code of course.

 

Finally, disembarkation was by far the easiest we have ever experienced. Bags had to be ouside rooms by 10:00pm. It used to be 11:00pm. We put ours out about 8:00 and went for a leasurely dinner in Luminae and then to the theatre for the final production show at 10:30. When we returned to room at about 11:30 the bags had been picked up.

 

We set our wake up call for 6:00 and went down to Luminae for an unrushed breakfast. Rooms were requested to be cleared by 8:00 and last departure from the ship was 8:30. Basically, everything has been brought forward by one hour from pre Covid times.

 

We got back to the room at 7:45, picked up our hand luggage and headed off the ship. The only delay was waiting for a lift. Many people seemed to be riding up from lower floors to go down so 3 or 4 arrived full even though we were on deck twelve. We then allowed someone in a wheelchair to go before us. I guess we waited between 5 and 10 mins. After that down to deck 5 and strolled off the ship with no queues at all. Plenty of trolleys and bags were waiting to be picked up in the dedicated Suite/Zenith area. We were back at the car ready to depart by before 8:15.

 

I apologise for the verbosity but i have read so much rubbish on these boards over the last couple of years I wanted to spell out what life is really like on board.

 

 

[LIMPIT]

Hi Sollyman

Reading your review with interest, we are staying in Cabin 2155 in April 2023 on the Silhouette for a 10 day Caribbean Cruise, we have previously sailed with Celebrity and enjoyed a AFT Balcony Cabin but as a special treat for my DW 60th Birthday we have splashed out on a Suite for the first time.

[hawkesbaynz]

Thanks @sollyman good review. We did an Aft SS on the Silhouette last year. Loved it😀. The Retreat was pretty quiet and gave up trying to use it.
 

I usually get all my wine from Laithwaites (rarely a bad bottle) but will try the Waitrose Chianti. Wife loves Villa Maria although says it has not been so good last couple of years. Hope we get good sommeliers on the Beyond next month.

[sollyman]

Hello Limpit

 

I am sure you will have a great time. The corner cabins are great and i am sure the overhang will be welcome in the Carribean.

Please set your expectations before boarding. Sometimes the the food is good somtimes it isnt. The wait staff are always exemplary.

 

Have a great time.

[sollyman]

Hello hawkesbaynz

 

We used to have a Laithwaites near us but it closed a few years ago. I have used Majestic quite a lot but recently have just used Waitrose during our weekly shop. I have just checked the the Waitrose website and they are selling Villa Antorini at £15.99 a bottle. i wish now I had taken more notice of the alternative Chianti at the start of the cruise. As I said it was perfectly fine for my taste.

 

I have never been a fan of Villa Maria, much better Sauvignon Blancs out there. I mentioned we had flown to New Zealand. It was in 2000 and we flew 1st Class with Malaysian with a stop over in Kuala Lumpur. Believe it or not Villa Maria reserve was their best white wine choice. seems a long time ago now.