Celebrity Silhouette Review

5.0 / 5.0
2,100 reviews

Celebrity--lovely ship but service no longer excellent

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Silhouette
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PrincessBobbi
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2014
Cabin: Deluxe Veranda 1C

A little background: Our first Celebrity cruise was some years back on the Constellation, and everything about that trip, and I do mean everything, was amazing! In particular, the service overall set the bar very high for all our future cruises. When we had the opportunity to take a cruise in December on the Silhouette, we were excited about living on another Celebrity ship for a week. There were a number of pluses: the ship in general is lovely; room stewards are gracious although somewhat impersonal, the care of our room was always good. The ship entertainers were excellent! We enjoyed all the special entertainers as well, and felt very welcomed at the icy Martini and Vodka bars. Our bedding was very comfortable, although the reading light could have been better. The scrapbook classes were very enjoyable and the mini scrapbook supplies being supplied was very nice. Oh, we LOVED our watercolor art class and the teacher!

Now for the minus points: The selling of everything saleable was continuous and annoying. Beginning with the spa desk outside of the café, to the specialty restaurant desk, to the constant sales people from the very expensive designer shops standing in the hall to get you in, it never stopped. Bingo, which we usually play once or twice, was incredibly expensive. As far as shops went, your choice is either low end (but not cheap) souvenir merchandise or overpriced "designer" merchandise. Where are the choices if you just want a simple bracelet or to take t-shirts home for your grandchildren?

Our dining room waiter and ast. waiter were friendly but seemed to have too many tables; service was slow and inefficient. Our table gave us a good view of several other sections, everyone seemed to have the same problem with their staff. The wine steward came by the first night, but after we only ordered a glass of wine, he never came back all week. The food started out well made and attractively plated; but by the 4th day the presentations were not as nice. The grilled salmon the first night was delicious! Unfortunately on night 4 it came out half raw and I had to send it back to be cooked more. This took 40 minutes! In addition, the dress code specifically stated on the website and the paperwork for the maid dining room is being ignored. Every night, including formal night, there were people in shorts, a couple in ball caps along with their shorts. No one stopped them from entering. The Lawn Club Cabanas never had anyone using them any time we were in the area, no surprise due to the price. Even when we stayed on the ship during port stops, waiters never stopped to see if we wanted drinks, nor were we ever offered help in any way in the buffet area at any time. In general, the service level was not what we expected, and certainly not up to Celebrity standards of the past. One note on the Labadee port stop: We were late arriving, and it took 2 hours to begin letting people off. Although the excursion information said the buffet would be available in at least two areas, it was only in one place, causing my husband a 20 minute walk to get our plates. The food was adequate, but plentiful. We did not know that lounge chairs would be available at no cost, so we paid for lounge/float mats as a shore excursion. It was a nice, although short, beach afternoon.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Veranda 1C

Cabin 1C

Our cabin was nicely decorated, bedding very nice, amenities and shower were lovely. We disliked the Apple interactive tv as the remote was difficult to use and the interactive set up only worked some of the time. The reading light by the bed could have been better. Our room steward did a good job, although several times used glasses were not taken away all day.

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