Live (sort of as usual) from the Celebrity Silhouette 10/20/22

[abbydancer2003]

Hello.

 

I'm going to do another one of my live threads, so here goes.

 

This cruise starts on 10/20, but we leave for London on the 16th.  Tomorrow, now today here as of 4 minutes ago, is pack day.

 

It's been quite a lead up week  for us.  As most US residents know, Election Day is 11/8.  We're on this cruise until the 3rd, then we fly to Los Angeles, stay two days, and get on the Discovery Princess for 5 days, until the 10th.  So voting could be a problem.  But wait, we live in California, so our ballots were mailed out on the 10th.  Would we get them in time?   Glen's (DH) showed up Tuesday, but mine didn't.  It also didn't on Wednesday.  Finally did yesterday, so we filled them out and took our ballots to one of two nearby drop boxes that were set up on the 10th.  Otherwise, it would have been an hour or so round trip to the County Registrar office to vote in person.

 

That was item 1.  Item  2 - both Glen and I had jury duty this week.  (It was a coincidence - mine was a reschedule, his was not).  We we continually checking the website until we were dismissed at 11:30 this morning.

 

And then, the icing on the cake?  My 90 year old mother ignored a cold for a week and ended up in intensive care for 2 weeks.  Fortunately, she is on the mend, but very weak, so she transferred to a rehab facility tonight.  Seems nicer than the hospital - I hope the food is better, because my sister is here from New York and has been bringing her lunch from Panera and KFC every day.  (Cracked us up - they put her on a bland diet and it's so bad tasting that she gets the worst possible food for it brought in every day).

 

So it will be a relief to finally head out on this trip that we booked back in early 2021.  We booked our air when it first came out, and a few months ago United changed our flight from 4pm on Monday the 17th to noon, and told us we could go to any other flight within 24 hours.  I found a 8pm flight the night before on a 787 and that solved another problem (more on that later), so we're leaving on Sunday night, arriving at 2pm on Monday.  We'll spend 2 nights in London and one in Southampton.

 

So now, having my prescription medication refilled, and my mail hold set up, I'm off to bed.  Tomorrow is pack, do some labs for a class I'm taking, visit mom, and have dinner with my sister and a cousin.    We have lots of sea days, so maybe I'll keep up better with this one.

Edited October 15, 2022 by abbydancer

[Smmessineo]

@abbydancerLooking forward to your live thread! I hope everything goes smoothly from here on. You've had one heck of a week !

[asnaleah]

Looking forward to following along. Thanks!

[BridgeMates]

AbbyDancer.....Looking forward to your review as you sail.

We are a group of six on the Silhouette Nov 7th from Miami.

Who is the Captain and the CD now?  Do you know if they'll still be on board for our cruise?

Let us know if there's problems getting nice wines, even if upgraded to Premium as others have been complaining about.

Same with the MDR food....lots of complaints.

We have been on many Celebrity cruises but since we've got two other couples joining us, I'm hoping a lot of the shortages and complaints have been resolved.

Thanks.  Have a great time!

 

[Barwick Cruiser]

I am also looking forward to following along. What are you ports? Any excursions planned? DH and I love the Silhouette…great choices for speciality dining without all the extra cabins of Reflection. 
Have fun and smooth flights and sailing! 🛳 

[krb1000]

Bon Voyage! Looking forward to following along♥️

[neverlaysup]

Looking forward to joining this cruise in a few days. We leave on Tuesday and will spend the night at the Southampton Harbour Hotel. 

[Jim_Iain]

Have a good cruise.    Just fill in your mail in ballot and drop off at the drop box at City Hall.   I dropped mine off yesterday.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.    Isn't this the  Westbound TA that we were talking about?

 

 

[Azulann]

Look forward to your trip report. Hope once you are on the plane you can relax, you had a very full week! 

Have friends on the Eclipse right now. They voted by mail in AZ before they left. Other friends will be on   Viking  doing a Panama cruise on election day . They also voted by mail already in MN. 

[abbydancer2003]

20 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Have a good cruise.    Just fill in your mail in ballot and drop off at the drop box at City Hall.   I dropped mine off yesterday.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.    Isn't this the  Westbound TA that we were talking about?

 

 

Yup,  That western cruise.  We did, by the way, get a travel router.  No idea what brand since Glen did his research and bought it.  Works at home.

 

And we dropped our ballots Thursday night in the Palo Alto box, since it was on our way to bring my sister ice cream.

 

[Norwaylady]

Bon Voyage⚓️
Have a great cruise🥰

[lola2013]

We have a B2B girls reunion cruise planned for 2024.  First time on Silhouette after sailing on both S and E class  multiple times.  Looking forward to your review.

Have a great trip and hope Mom is doing well.

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by lola2013

[theopup]

Hope all goes smoothly for you, from here on

[abbydancer2003]

It's very late, but I'm happy to say that I'm packed, more or less.  We did spend much of the afternoon staging everything on the bed, and I think I'm going to be able to get everything into one suitcase and one backpack.  "Everything" includes 4 boxes of Covid tests - 3 proctored (one for each of us plus an extra - last of the 6 I got when I thought testing would last for longer than it has - in case one of us messes it up, or someone on my roll call needs it).  And one home Just In case.

 

Busy day - in addition to packing, we went to Target for some last minute stuff, had to go to my mom's to pick up her laptop and a medical device set - that was nowhere to be found, very odd - but we searche for about an hour.  Gave up, and went to visit her.  She's doing well at the rehab facility she's at.  

 

After that we went home and prepared some things to take over to mom's for dinner with my sister and cousin.  After dinner, we played 221. Baker Street - a game my sister bought for us.  It's sort of Clue but more difficult.

 

Then home to put everything in the suitcase - it should close, but the new backpack is pretty close to full without the laptop.

 

So off to bed I go.  Tomorrow - do a lab for a class I'm in in the morning, visit mom in the afternoon and then have my sister take us to the airport.  

 

The adventure is about to begin.

[chemmo]

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

[sophiesnan]

We’re on this cruise too, although we’re UK based so still have a few days to get organised! Look forward to seeing you on board. 😊
It’s been about 10 years since we last cruised with Celebrity so I feel very much like a newbie…can anyone please tell me if there are toiletries in an Oceanview cabin? 

[parrothead33]

Looking forward to following along.  Safe travels.

[jimbri]

Have a wonderful cruise.

[StartrainDD]

2 hours ago, sophiesnan said:

We’re on this cruise too, although we’re UK based so still have a few days to get organised! Look forward to seeing you on board. 😊
It’s been about 10 years since we last cruised with Celebrity so I feel very much like a newbie…can anyone please tell me if there are toiletries in an Oceanview cabin? 

We are also on this cruise and the roll call.  Everything you need related to 'toiletries' are provided.  Not sure if the Silhouette has the dispensers on the shower wall or if they are still the small bottles.  DW brings her own, but I find the provided ones to be fine.  Hair dryer is there waiting for you too!

[vickykay]

We had to cancel two cruises this month ( husband needed back) so looking forward to all the live threads.  Always enjoy yours!

Edited October 16, 2022 by vickykay
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[Orator]

Leaving today for London. I expect that the Covid protocols will be changed after the TAs. Look forward to seeing all on the ship.Looking forward to the live reports which will bring a different perspective. 

[NBliving]

Thank you for doing another Live review!  Always like to have one to read until our next cruise.

[Cheshire Blue]

Look forward to hearing your blog of the journey.  

 

We have just (one week ago) completed a nine day cruise on Silhouette - so if you (or anyone else) have any pre cruise queries - please feel free to ask.  I'll try to assist (whilst the memories are still good !).

 

Enjoy the TA - we did that on Silhouette three years ago (2019).  

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, sophiesnan said:

We’re on this cruise too, although we’re UK based so still have a few days to get organised! Look forward to seeing you on board. 😊
It’s been about 10 years since we last cruised with Celebrity so I feel very much like a newbie…can anyone please tell me if there are toiletries in an Oceanview cabin? 

 

The are now using large dispenser bottles which have Body Soap, Shampoo and Conditioner.  They usually also usually have shower caps.    I'm not a big fan of body wash and ask for bar soap which is not a problem. 

[MikeMary4449]

2 hours ago, Orator said:

Leaving today for London. I expect that the Covid protocols will be changed after the TAs. Look forward to seeing all on the ship.Looking forward to the live reports which will bring a different perspective. 

Hope you and DW have a fantastic cruise.  Wish we were going with you!