Silhouette from Southampton

[Wendylvs2travel]

 

Hi, I just booked Celebrity Silhouette for the 5th June cruise to Scandinavia with my mum and aunt. 

 

Our last cruise was on Celebrity Solstice 5 years ago from Sydney to Auckland and the experience put us off cruising until now. I hope the more experienced cruisers among you will be able to offer advice.

 

We’ll be staying at the Hilton Southampton the day before sailing, but I still need to book a taxi from London. Any recommendations? 

 

We booked a Royal Suite, sofabed for me to look forward to, I hope it’s better than on Solstice ‘cos I cut my leg pretty bad on the iron sticking out. I read somewhere I can request an extra mattress topper, shall I do this before or when on board? 

I also need a kettle which I’m not allowed to bring, can the ship put one in our cabin? My mum needs to make her herbal tea for medicinal reasons. 

 

Can the bed be turned into a twin? Mum&aunt will be sharing the bedroom and are not terribly keen on sharing a bed. 

 

I’m pretty sure, but just to confirm, when staying in a RS are the specialty restaurants included, when can I start making reservations? 

Any tips on when to book Murano - first evening or not? Is lunch at Luminae a good idea or keep it casual on sail away day?

 

I look forward to hearing from you all. 

[jelayne]

Anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks before sailing you will be contacted by a shoreside concierge.  They take  care of all of your specialty dining reservations ( included ) arrange for a topper for the sofa bed and kettle.  They will also want to know you preference for the liquor included with the RS as well as pillow preferences, anticipated arrival time at the ship and any other requests.

 

If the bed can be split they will request that be done also.

 

Are you asking about Luminae for lunch or dinner the first day?

 

 

[the penguins]

26 minutes ago, Wendylvs2travel said:

 

Hi, I just booked Celebrity Silhouette for the 5th June cruise to Scandinavia with my mum and aunt. 

 

Our last cruise was on Celebrity Solstice 5 years ago from Sydney to Auckland and the experience put us off cruising until now. I hope the more experienced cruisers among you will be able to offer advice.

 

We’ll be staying at the Hilton Southampton the day before sailing, but I still need to book a taxi from London. Any recommendations? 

 

We booked a Royal Suite, sofabed for me to look forward to, I hope it’s better than on Solstice ‘cos I cut my leg pretty bad on the iron sticking out. I read somewhere I can request an extra mattress topper, shall I do this before or when on board? 

I also need a kettle which I’m not allowed to bring, can the ship put one in our cabin? My mum needs to make her herbal tea for medicinal reasons. 

 

Can the bed be turned into a twin? Mum&aunt will be sharing the bedroom and are not terribly keen on sharing a bed. 

 

I’m pretty sure, but just to confirm, when staying in a RS are the specialty restaurants included, when can I start making reservations? 

Any tips on when to book Murano - first evening or not? Is lunch at Luminae a good idea or keep it casual on sail away day?

 

I look forward to hearing from you all. 

Every cabin has a kettle on sailings from the UK

[hampshirelad]

 We live just outside Southampton and normally cruise with Celebrity.

 

May I suggest you look at the National Express Coach Service from Victoria Coach Station to Southampton Coach Station which is just a short Taxi trip to the Hilton. . There are coaches almost every hours with journey times around 2 1/2 hours. Its all motorway so I don't think a Taxi would be much quicker.

 Murano is normally discounted heavily on the first night and booked up online well before sailing, to take pressure off the restaurants. Its part of your package so I guess they will slot you in , but it will be busy. The speciality restaurants tend to be more busy on sea days

 

I have always found that all beds in cabins are in fact two singles joined together or separated as the guest wishes

 

Luminae serves lunch on sail away day and now I believe sea days only. I would use it when you can

 

If you embrace the Celebrity app on your phone you will find your booking and a lot of useful information about all aspects of your cruise.

[snowballs mom]

There is a sticky on the British Isles/Western Europe forum regarding transfers, and a number of individual threads on the subject as well. We used ECMinibus from our London hotel to Southampton. Here is a link to the forum:

 

 

[jwlane]

Here's another vote for National Express bus to Southampton. Cheap, comfortable, reliable. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by jwlane

[Wendylvs2travel]

Thanks very much for all the replies. Unfortunately, using National Express isn’t an option with my aunt’s mobility issues, but I will definitely look at the other thread with taxi recommendations. 
 

I have the Celebrity app on my phone, but it doesn’t seem to have much information (yet?). Even my on board credit doesn’t show but it does on the website. 

[chemmo]

When cruising from Southampton in June you will get evening views of the South Coast from Tuscan Grill at the rear of the ship. Strongly recommend just for the views first night. Also nice first evening to see the sea! First night we tend to book as the restaurant opens. Partly because we know we will be tired and partly because we want to be sipping our first cocktail as we peruse the menu and slip away from the port…Enjoy our entree as the coast passes by and see day change to night as we enjoy dessert and coffee…

 

I would add in terms of food and service we love Murano but for the first night we find the venue of Tuscan adds a bit of magic…

 

PS. I would ask for a topper for the sofa bed. We have booked the RS many times. The sofa bed is lower than a standard bed but comfortable and a good size.
 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited March 13, 2023 by chemmo

[perakcruiser]

13 hours ago, jwlane said:

Here's another vote for National Express bus to Southampton. Cheap, comfortable, reliable. 

National Express is absolutely brillant. I love it. If just all countries in the world could have a bus service like this. 

[cruisestitch]

See post #7

[chemmo]

There is a site called MiniCabRide which does private transports. It gives quotes and has a live chat function so you could explain your aunt’s physical limitations and ask advice on car type etc.
 

May be worth a browse. I have never used it myself but have friends who did find them reliable.

[TeeRick]

Dear @Wendylvs2travel there are a few other areas here on Cruise Critic where you can ask this type of question if you do not get the answers you need here.

1) Your Roll Call for your cruise

2) or this link

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

3) or this link

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/544-uk-cruisers/

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[wineoclock]

Addison Lee are a good call. 

[Crown Vic]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:44 AM, Wendylvs2travel said:

 

We’ll be staying at the Hilton Southampton the day before sailing, but I still need to book a taxi from London. Any recommendations? 

 

Give aquacars.co.uk a look. May just fit the bill. Cheers!

[CNSfromHI]

On 3/12/2023 at 10:44 AM, Wendylvs2travel said:

 

We’ll be staying at the Hilton Southampton the day before sailing, but I still need to book a taxi from London. Any recommendations?

 

I read somewhere I can request an extra mattress topper, shall I do this before or when on board? 

I also need a kettle which I’m not allowed to bring, can the ship put one in our cabin?

 

Can the bed be turned into a twin? Mum&aunt will be sharing the bedroom and are not terribly keen on sharing a bed.

 

Is lunch at Luminae a good idea or keep it casual on sail away day?

We used Heathrow Shuttle from London to Southampton, and then the reverse, for our cruise last autumn. It's a private service but offers several vehicle types; perhaps it will meet your needs? Great attentive service and communication, clean vehicles, professional drivers... very nice experience for us.

 

Otherwise, try to arrange/request everything you can before you board, including a mattress topper and twin beds. You'll find a kettle in your room.

 

As for boarding-day lunch, we kept it simple after a long travel stint (from the U.S.) that wiped us both out, so we hung out in the Retreat Sundeck until departure. Beautiful day in Southampton then, and just relaxing for a while provided the perfect start to our journey. Obviously, you should do whatever you feel like on your departure day, though!

 

Hope this helps,

 

cjr

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, Wendylvs2travel said:

Thanks very much for all the replies. Unfortunately, using National Express isn’t an option with my aunt’s mobility issues, but I will definitely look at the other thread with taxi recommendations. 
 

I have the Celebrity app on my phone, but it doesn’t seem to have much information (yet?). Even my on board credit doesn’t show but it does on the website. 

 

The Celebrity app will not have much information until about a week before your cruise.   Once on board you will have access to your room charges and will show you OBC.   Also once onboard you can  book and cancel restaurants, excursions etc.

[pennys mum]

We were in a Royal Suite in September on the Silhouette. The beds can be split but only a few inches as the side tables are fixed. This works fine.

There will be a kettle and tea tray in your room as standard. It will be replenished by the butler who will also supply clean cups,saucers etc.

[Wendylvs2travel]

Thanks again to all those who replied with minicab firm recommendations. Most are way too expensive, £350 seems normal. I will keep looking and asking quotes.

It’s not because I’m staying in a royal suite that I’m made of money, it’s because of our family circumstances that we need either 2 connecting cabins or a RS and the former weren’t available anymore when I booked. 

[gfkcruiser]

On 3/12/2023 at 12:11 PM, the penguins said:

Every cabin has a kettle on sailings from the UK

We sailed the Silhouette Southampton to Miami in October.  No kettle in my cabin - which I did not want.  Would that only be for European cruises?

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, gfkcruiser said:

We sailed the Silhouette Southampton to Miami in October.  No kettle in my cabin - which I did not want.  Would that only be for European cruises?

This is an annual dilemma. Out of UK kettles are permitted but not allowed in the US. X’s solution is usually to remove all kettles before the sailing otherwise they would have to collect them in the last day before arriving in the US and you can imagine the chaos that would cause.

The kettle saga resulted in one of the funniest situations that we have ever experienced. We have repeated to story to friends in the UK for many years and the American couple involved have continued to do the same with their friends.