Liveish trip report - Celebrity Silhouette - 11.10.23

[gold1953]

6 minutes ago, rwright261 said:

 

When we disembarked at Porto we came through a tunnel like the one you use when you embark the ship for the first time, I wonder why this could not be used when we got back on? 
 

I think then there should have been more staff on hand to help passengers with mobility issues. There were 2 one at each end, but this wasn’t enough for the age demographic and ability of some of the passengers on our cruise. 

It would be port staffing I assume if it involves opening a building, but yes they should have more help

[rwright261]

Hello and sorry for the delay in uploading day 4… we have just got back on the ship from a half day in Lanzarote (day 5) so I’m taking the time to update now before chilling out in the cabin for a few hours. 
 

We woke up to beautiful weather outside, you could certainly tell the temperatures were on the up! 
 

 

We actually didn’t wake up until 9am, which is unheard of for us! We are early risers at home, even on weekends, we’re usually up for 6am, so this was a real treat! 
 

We headed up to the buffet for breakfast and managed to snag a table outside just as another couple were leaving. 
 

The offerings were the same as usual so please refer back to my earlier photos. 
 

I decided against my usual pancakes and had ham, potatoes, beans and corned beef for breakfast. 
 

This made a nice change for me and I really enjoyed it. 
 

 

I also had some peaches, which were good too. 
 

 

DH wanted to listen to a lecture by Chris West on the Canary Islands in the theatre so after breakfast we headed there via Cafe Al Bacio where I picked up a hot chocolate and a peach danish.

 

 

 

The lecture was actually quite interesting, and a good way to spend 45 minutes of our time, it was also very busy in there. 
 

We spent the next few hours in one of those little cabanas for two on the pool deck. We did some trip planning for our September holiday next year, I read some of my magazine, and we people watched and chatted whilst enjoying numerous cocktails. It was here when I remembered about the Miami Vice so indulged in a couple of those. 
 

 

 

 

We ate at the buffet for lunch and after my groan yesterday about not being able to find a seat, for the second time of the day we walked straight in and bagged one just as someone was leaving. 
 

Here were the options - 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we first walked around, I saw they had little mini pies with mashed potato, veg and gravy and thought I might have that, but then I bumped into DH who was looking at the chicken tikka masala so I decided to have that too. 
 

It looked and smelt really appetising, so we had high hopes! 
 

 

I had rice, roti, and salad mix and sauces with it. 
 

The salad actually had a bit of a kick to it which I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I have no idea what cut of the meat it was, but it has large and small bones in it. Due to the thickness of the sauce covering the meat, it was very difficult to pick the meat off the bones so most of it got left. It was such a shame as the sauce was very flavourful and the rest of the meal was good. Next time, I’ll seek out a piece of chicken and pour some of the sauce over the top. 
 

Having been in Portugal the day before they were serving up sardines and Portuguese tarts - a nice touch but the pastry was a little soggy and not crisp like the real ones. 
 

 

After lunch we headed to the solarium where our morning activities continued, and so did the drinking! 
 

 

 

At tea time I decided I needed something to soak up the alcohol, so headed to the mast grill for a cheeseburger. This was not freshly cooked, however, it was nice and DH and I shared it so it was a nice snack. 
 

 

I also got some water, which is served in the aluminium bottles. 
 

 

We headed back to our cabin for our usual siesta and to get ready, and headed back to deck three just in time to hear this fabulous duo perform. 
 

 

I need to look back in the celebrity today to see what they were called, but the lady had the most amazing voice - they were very relaxing to listen to. 
 

We enjoyed some non-alcoholic drinks whilst listening to them - I can’t quite remember what mine was called, but it was on the zero proof menu however there was no issue in me getting it. DH had a ginger beer. 
 

 

8pm arrived and it was time for our dinner reservation. We were sat in the naughty corner again, but this time on a different table. 
 

The tables for two are so close together you may as well be on a table for 4 or 6. Mostly people tend to say hello or chat briefly, but the couple next to us (who arrived after us) did not speak a word, it made me feel a little uncomfortable as they didn’t really talk to one another, I felt like they were listening to every word we said.

 

Anyway, this was the menu - 

 

 

 

We found it unusual that the waiter said there was a starter and main special but neither of them were on the menu… not sure we have had this before? 
 

The starter special was pear wrapped in pastry and cheese and the main was lamb rogan Josh. 
 

DH chose the gumbo and salmon, and I had French onion soup again (nothing else I liked) and the Turkey although I asked to swap the sweet potato with mash and ordered a Yorkshire pudding. 
 

We were brought bread - French stick, breadsticks and olive bread I believe along with 3 butters- 

 

 

 

Our drinks and food seemed to take a long time to come out, but eventually we got them -

 

 

 

DH liked the gumbo and said it tasted like beef broth. My French onion soup was nice, but again it wasn’t piping hot like I’ve had in the past. 
 

Next up our mains, DH said his salmon was nice, he said the sauce was very Rich tomato sauce, which slightly overpowered the salmon. 
 

 

My Turkey was nice, but I wished I’d have asked for extra gravy as I found it quite dry. The stuffing in particular was very tasty. The scoop of mashed potato fell out of the little pot in one plop, and the Yorkshire pudding was that overdone I had to break it up with my hands for fear of it ending up on the next table if I used my knife and fork. Some of the Turkey wasn’t very good quality, but most of it was ok. Overall a nice meal. 
 

 

 

We didn’t indulge in too much bread tonight so left room for dessert. 
 

The app showed orange sorbet which I was excited about, but unfortunately it was mango flavour when the menu came. 
 

 

 

DH chose the peanut butter ice cream and I had the whipped passionfruit. 
 

 

DH enjoyed his ice cream and I really enjoyed my passionfruit whip, it was just the right portion size due to the sweetness. 
 

 

 

I don’t have the photos but we stopped for a hot drink after our meal on deck 5 and then headed back to our cabin where we watched some news before heading to bed. 
 

It was very warm in the room overnight and I changed from my long sleeve and full trouser pyjamas to my vest and short ones. We did sleep with the balcony door open as we like listening to the waves, but maybe we will have to forfeit this as we enter warmer climates. 
 

I will leave my report there, and update today either tonight or tomorrow. 
 

Thanks for reading 👋

[DaKahuna]

The spicy Louisiana Gumbo is one of my favorite dishes.  I order it every time it is offered.  I tried to place an oder for a 5-gallon bucket to go in Luminae once. Unfortunately I was not successful. 
 

[bluwes]

35 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

The spicy Louisiana Gumbo is one of my favorite dishes.  I order it every time it is offered.  I tried to place an oder for a 5-gallon bucket to go in Luminae once. Unfortunately I was not successful. 
 

Same here, had it last week. Well not ordering a 5 gallon bucket.  😂 

[rwright261]

 

Hello, here is the update from day 5 (Lanzarote). 
 

It was another warm night, and we woke up to lovely sunshine once again. 
 

We were not due to dock until midday, but we were up earlier than the last couple of days so decided to try the MDR for breakfast. 
 

We wanted a table for 2 so queued along the left hand side of the entrance, those wanting to share queued to the right. 
 

Id say we waited around 10 minutes for a table. 
 

When we were seated we were offered juice (just small glasses), and a pastry. 
 

I chose orange juice and a peach danish. 
 

 

 

This was the menu - 

 

 

 

We also had this on the table - I’m assuming because it was a cruise from Southampton? 
 

 

We both chose the English breakfast, I had mine with scrambled egg and white toast. When it came I gave DH my tomato and black pudding.

 

 

I ordered some corned beef hash on the side -

 

 

The breakfast was nice, it was nice not to have to wander around for a table, although DH wasn’t too pleased with the portion of bacon he was given saying he wouldn’t have chosen it himself - too stringy. 
 

As we were docking yet, we went up to deck 12 and enjoyed a mocktail whilst watching the ship pull into port. 
 

 

We had checked on google maps what was around the vicinity we were docking and found there was a mall around a 20 minute walk from where the shuttle dropped you off. 
 

People starting queuing from around 11.25am to get off the ship on deck 3. 
 

It’s bizzare how when we were on the Beyond last year we had to pay for the shuttles into town, but this cruise we haven’t had to pay for any. 
 

Anyway, you definitely needed the shuttle it was a good 5 minute ride from the ship to the marina where they dropped you off. 
 

We had intended to eat in one of the restaurants along the waterfront after going to the mall, but there were lots of pigeons around which is one of my fears. We decided to check what restaurants were in the mall. 
 

It was quite a straight forward walk, to the end of the marina and turn right up a fairly steep road to the mall. A few other passengers were headed that way. 
 

We did some shopping picking up a couple of bits of clothing, jewellery and gifts, and then checked out the menus for the restaurants. There wasn’t anything that took our fancy, but we were too late to eat back on the ship, so stopped at McDonalds for lunch. 
 

I ordered on the screen whilst DH found a seat. When I ordered his large Big Mac meal it automatically came with nuggets and a McFlurry! I ordered DH a beer to go with his meal which was novel and he enjoyed. 
 

This was the food - 

 

 

And the receipt -

 

 

It was pretty standard McDonalds which filled a gap. 
 

By the time we got back to the shop it was time to get ready for the evening, after which we headed down to deck 3 for drinks, where I had a Miami Vice and DH had a wine. 
 

 

There was nothing on the MDR menu which took our fancy, so we went to the buffet. 
 

This is what was on offer - 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seemed they had a French theme going on, so we both had beef burgignion, I had mine with mashed potato, carrots, braised cabbage and beans. 
 

 

In the main the meat was good quality, there were some fatty bits but not too bad. The mashed potato needed mashing considerably more with big chunks of potato in it. Overall though it was tasty and nice to have plenty of veg. 
 

For dessert I had a mix of 4 items to try - pineapple cake (nice), double chocolate cake (consistency was wet), lemon meringue pie (not so good, I just ate the meringue off the top), and chocolate mousse (my favourite- very light and delicious). 

 

DH had creme brûlée, but unfortunately didn’t enjoy this, it wasn’t firm enough and under the heated sugar was like gloopy custard. 

 

After dinner we headed up to the sky lounge where the duo from the night before were performing. This is them - 

 

They were excellent again, the lady has a wonderful voice which I could listen to for hours! Highly recommend catching them.

 

 

We enjoyed some drinks whilst listening to them, then headed back to our cabin for the evening. 
 

Another enjoyable day! 

 

Thanks for reading. 

[hcat]

glad you are enjoying your cruise and thanks for sharing all the highlights!

 

That breakfast corned beef could have made for a great dinner or lunch!

 

Do they have a sandwich and cold cuts area ..towards the back of the buffet, at lunch time..  Some ships used to feature that by day and even had no upcharge  Sushi in the late afternoon. 

 

Just curious...We may be switching off from E Class at least once next yr.. just for variety. Booked  a short cruise on Silhouette for Dec 2024....  Your review makes us glad we did!

Edited October 16, 2023 by hcat

[Schmoe38]

Would you have time to make a quick stop at the World Class Bar?
 

We are on Silhouette in November of this year and I am curious to know if Zacapa 23 rum is on board. If it’s on the ship, it might also be in the duty free liquor store on board. If that’s easier for you, the staff there could tell you if it is being served in the bars for fellow cruisers.
 

Thank you so much.

 

Randy

[amevola]

Great reviews.  Thank you!

 

Would you mind terribly taking pictures of the MDR menus even if you choose the OV for dinner?  

 

Enjoy!

[gold1953]

2 hours ago, amevola said:

Great reviews.  Thank you!

 

Would you mind terribly taking pictures of the MDR menus even if you choose the OV for dinner?  

 

Enjoy!

you can see those on the APP

[amevola]

40 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

you can see those on the APP

 

Unfortunately, the menus onboard can differ as things change each day.  That's why I was looking for the "real deal." 😉

Edited October 16, 2023 by amevola

[gold1953]

53 minutes ago, amevola said:

 

Unfortunately, the menus onboard can differ as things change each day.  That's why I was looking for the "real deal." 😉

you can still look at this cruise on the APP and it is the real deal

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, amevola said:

 

Unfortunately, the menus onboard can differ as things change each day.  That's why I was looking for the "real deal." 😉

 As @gold1953 said, if you set you app to the current sailing it will reflect the menu’s that are being used on the ship. 
 

[upwarduk]

On 10/12/2023 at 1:58 PM, Schmoe38 said:

I believe Heineken is the only beer option,

Budweiser was available on the previous cruise.

[upwarduk]

On 10/14/2023 at 10:42 AM, rwright261 said:

you reached the seaside town of Lexious,

That is the name of the port.

We had to take a bus to the port gates, where you then picked up the complimentary shuttles to Porto.

We looked at doing that, but the queues were so long we decided against it, as my husband had had a hip replacement 6 weeks beforehand and I didn’t want him to stand in a queue..

Hopefully you will post some pictures of Porto, which we missed ( previous cruise).

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Budweiser was available on the previous cruise.

 

So you are agreeing that Heineken was the only beer option.  🙂 

 

[onyourmark]

Much nicer weather here today. Only a few rain sprinkles and sun peeking out from time to time. Went for a long walk passing  the cruise terminals up to Ikea. 

The restaurant on level 4 has reasonably priced items.  Free coffee for Ikea Family  membership card holders.  

 

 

 

[bluwes]

just scrolling through your photos again and saw the cornbeef hash. What have they done to it. Had it on our sailing and couldn’t eat it, , it was really tomatoey couldn’t eat it. First world problem I know 😂😂😂

Edited October 19, 2023 by bluwes

[onyourmark]

48 minutes ago, onyourmark said:

Much nicer weather here today. Only a few rain sprinkles and sun peeking out from time to time. Went for a long walk passing  the cruise terminals up to Ikea. 

The restaurant on level 4 has reasonably priced items.  Free coffee for Ikea Family  membership card holders.  

 

 

 

My apologies for posting on the wrong thread.  Reference is for Southampton, intended for those on the TA sailing.

 

[PGI GUY]

We received an email yesterday that your arrival back in England will be delayed due to bad weather, can you comment on that situation?

[bluwes]

7 hours ago, PGI GUY said:

We received an email yesterday that your arrival back in England will be delayed due to bad weather, can you comment on that situation?

Our friends are on board and they are stuck in Lisbon as the port is now closed due to the weather conditions.They cannot leave until the winds drop. Vigo has obviously been cancelled tomorrow and the intention apparently was to sail slowly behind the storm, taking two days to reach Southampton. Could still be delayed reaching home.

[PGI GUY]

Thank you for the update.

[FuzzyDuckUK]

I was on this cruise but had to disembark (in an ambulance) whilst In Lanzarote due a medical emergency. I then spent 3 nights in a hospital before being discharged. I’m doing fine and are waiting for the insurance company to validate the claim and get us back to the UK. 
 

Was hoping to rejoin the cruise but once it was on the way to Lisbon that became near impossible. My wife and I had been enjoying our first cruise on Celebrity, hopefully we will able to do another one in the near future.

[chemmo]

2 minutes ago, FuzzyDuckUK said:

I was on this cruise but had to disembark (in an ambulance) whilst In Lanzarote due a medical emergency. I then spent 3 nights in a hospital before being discharged. I’m doing fine and are waiting for the insurance company to validate the claim and get us back to the UK. 
 

Was hoping to rejoin the cruise but once it was on the way to Lisbon that became near impossible. My wife and I had been enjoying our first cruise on Celebrity, hopefully we will able to do another one in the near future.

Sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery, so pleased you are at least out of hospital. Hope it isn’t too long until you can return to cruising!

[JDPCruisers]

20 minutes ago, FuzzyDuckUK said:

I was on this cruise but had to disembark (in an ambulance) whilst In Lanzarote due a medical emergency. I then spent 3 nights in a hospital before being discharged. I’m doing fine and are waiting for the insurance company to validate the claim and get us back to the UK. 
 

Was hoping to rejoin the cruise but once it was on the way to Lisbon that became near impossible. My wife and I had been enjoying our first cruise on Celebrity, hopefully we will able to do another one in the near future.

Curious, if you don't mind sharing, but how was the hospital and medical staff in Lanzarote? I have never been hospitalized or had medical attention in all the times outside of the US.

[FuzzyDuckUK]

3 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

Curious, if you don't mind sharing, but how was the hospital and medical staff in Lanzarote? I have never been hospitalized or had medical attention in all the times outside of the US.

Was fine, it was private hospital and was nice (for a hospital). Staff were very good and many had good English. Food was OK, not up to MDR standards but acceptable. 

My wife was able to stay in the same room as me for a fee. Hopefully I will be able to claim everything back off the insurance company, who are being a little slow in sorting out things. So far I’ve had to sort out and pay for my lodging in Lanzarote.