2Fltravelers

SHIP: Silhouette

CABIN #: 1544

DECK #: 11

CLASS: Aqua (A2)

AREA: Forward directly off the Forward Elevators Starboard

BED NEAR: Balcony

QUIET?: Yes

BALCONY VIEW: Clear all the way forward

BALCONY SIZE: Normal

WIND A PROBLEM?: No

SOOT A PROBLEM?: No

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: There is no overhang for these cabins from 1546 forward so there is much more sun than the cabins starting with 1548 aft which have th beam supports from the solarium and pool on Deck 12 Lido Deck above. This cabin is under the hair salon and is very quiet except frim the very occasional sound of towel carts around 7:30am. That was not a problem at all. There was no noise from the elevators and the location was excellent for the spa, fitness, solarium, relaxation room, theater, Sky Lounge. My husband loved being more forward for the first time since we could really hear the ocean while on our balcony. We have booked the same cabin on the Solstice and would book again on other S-class ships.

When you enter the caves do you come out the same way. One of our party members has bad eyesight and would have to wait for us outside. Carnival ship tour

 

 

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No. You exit a different way.

Because we are fortunate to live in S. Florida we are not interested in basking in the sun, getting a tan, roasting on a spit. We understand the dangers of excessive sun exposure and do not cruise to spend time in the sun. So we won’t be the chair hogs vying for that coveted space. However, we do enjoy the Solarium loungers on occasion and would appreciate a little consideration once in awhile. Just a little, please.

Hoping someone can help with this question. On the Celebrity Summit in Jan. 2018, our ship docked at a very industrial area with only one hangar of shops. Vendors claimed Celebrity would be utilizing this one until at least 2020. Does anyone know if this is true and what the name of that dock is? I would rather not return there in the future if possible. All feedback greatly appreciated.

The dock is Crown Bay and Celebrity has been docking there for a couple of years. While it is not as popular or busy as Havensight, there are plenty of taxis, and it’s just a 5 minute drive from Havensight and is closer to Downtown Charlotte Amelie.

Hoping someone can help with this question. On the Celebrity Summit in Jan. 2018, our ship docked at a very industrial area with only one hangar of shops. Vendors claimed Celebrity would be utilizing this one until at least 2020. Does anyone know if this is true and what the name of that dock is? I would rather not return there in the future if possible. All feedback greatly appreciated.

The dock is Crown Bay. Celebrity has been docking there for a couple of years. We will be there on the Silhouette in April.

Take the funicular and walk through Anacapri for beautiful views, a lovely perfume shop and a great little restaurant off the beaten path, Scialapopolo Trattoria. Definitely worth scoping out for a wonderful authentic lunch.

Not just a dull cruise, but a dull cruise ship. We sailed on the Koningsdam as first time HAL cruisers in January on the same itinerary. We also found the daytime activities severely lacking, even on sea days. It was the first time ever that I finished 2 books on a cruise, even a TA with 8 sea days! I was told that it was because there were 8 ports but I doubt that was the case. We noted very few activities personnel and virtually no live music anywhere on the ship before 5 pm.

So did anyone gather from the reveal how it works if you select traditional assigned dining, say late seating. Of course you will be assigned the same table and waiter, but will it be in just one of those four MDR's the entire 7 nights or will you rotate between them, taking your waiter with you (Disney style)?

 

 

 

I currently have traditional late seating selected, but I don't want to be assigned to just one of those dining rooms the entire cruise. If that is the case, maybe I better switch to Select Plus?

Based on the focus group I participated in, you would be assigned to one for the entire cruise. Just one side of the menu would change. I don’t know if they actually stuck with this concept.

In October 2016 I was invited to a focus group to discuss this new concept. I was in one of 4 groups that day. Most of the people in my group though this concept might work but were skeptical. They were looking into significantly scaling back traditional dining since most passengers choose select. It will be interesting to see if they took any of our recommendations and how well this new concept will work.

One of the features-texting while on board to other passengers- is not very helpful unless you check your device continuously. You do not receive an alert, like a ping, when you receive a text. Many times we never got them until much later. It was frustrating. But we did enjoy setting up our daily schedule and reading the NYTimes for free.

Thanks for the nice write up.

 

What was the length of your cruise? Did you leave from Port Everglades?

 

Was there anything mentioned about excursions related to the BBC series Death in Paradise?

We were on an 11 day cruise out of Port Everglades. As for DIP, I did not check it out. You can always contact the cruise line or check the excursions page for the port.

After my pop-up hamper, I just remembered another that I never cruise without. It’s my 6” x4” aluminum clothes line that has 10 mini clothes pins attached around the perimeter with fishing wire with a large hook for hanging in the middle. It lays completely flat in the suitcase and weighs 4 ounces. I bought it 4 years ago from a Japanese store, Muji, in the Jet Blue Terminal at JFK. It has been a lifesaver for wet bathing suits, hand washables, etc., esp when there is no clothes line in the shower. Never cruise without it.

Over the past few weeks I've had wait times under 5 minutes and over 65 minutes, both call initiated mid-morning. I just put my phone on speaker mode and do other things while waiting.

I have also experienced long wait times. So I have chosen their option for a return call when an agent becomes available holding my place in line. And they do call back

A group of us used them for asmall group tour out of Lucca. One member of our group had used them several times and arranged the tour. Our first stop was Pisa, then through Greve en Chianti, visiting the town where Verrazano was born. Then we had a fabulous lunch prepared by a well-known chef in her historic home. It was a wonderful day. Unfortunately, the weather was miserable so we had to skip our last stop foraging for truffles (it was late November),

A flameless candle for a bathroom night light.

 

 

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This is a great one I never thought of. I get so frustrated not being able to plug in my own nightlight. On the Celebrity S-class ships there is low ambient lighting in the bathroom when the light is off. Not so on other ships.

Our pop-up mesh laundry hamper. It fits perfectly in a coroner and takes up no room or weight in our suitcase.

Haven't heard of him. Type of music I'm assuming is Frank Sinatra style? Older stuff but just guessing. How do we find his schedule of ships hes on and when?

Not sure hes our style till I know type of music..

He has a Facebook page. You can also Google him.

Can you envision cruisin' 'Groupies'????

 

:')

 

bon voyage

That’s exactly what they are!😜

thanks for this. We know people who just went to Sapphire last week and had a really good report as well. Was there any good snorkeling there? When I mean good, like good for a kid to get excited over seeing a few different fish kind of good. Thanks again for the help.

I don’t know about snorkeling but there were a few snorkelers in the water as well as a parasailer. The water temp was perfect and it was very clear and calm.

Yes, he is addictive and very unique and enjoyable. But to change cruise lines and sit in on every show every day is a little obsessive. I enjoyed him on Royal Princess seeing him for the first time a couple of years ago. But follow him like that? Different strokes for different folks. That’s the wonderful thing about cruising.

We had pre-purchased a specialty dining three night package. We were just offered a reasonable upgrade to a sky suite, had been concierge. If we did this I would want to cancel the specialty package since we'd have Luminae. Does anyone know if this is allowed?

 

 

 

Thanks!

I always pre-book and pay for specialty restaurants to ensure the days and times I want to dine. Many times I am offered a better price once onboard (20% discount for the first night). The only catch is if you cancel pre-cruise, the refund is put on your credit card. If you cancel onboard, the refund is applied to your onboard account.

Hi Evanator, we may be on the same sailing - Feb. 10-18 ??? WE are going to grab a cab to the caves: Cueva de las Maravillas (Caves of Wonder, National Park). Looks to be about 20 min. west of La Romana. the cave tour should be about an hour. There is a $10 pp entrance fee that includes your tour guide.

We were just at the Caves last week on a HAL excursion. We thought they were great and well worth visiting. The tour was about 45 minutes. We usually don’t do excursions from the ship but due to strong winds, we were unable to tender at Punta Cana. So, at the last minute, we decided to book a ship tour. The tour was $59 pp and included the caves, a shopping stop in the town of La Romana and a stop at Casa de Campo and the Altos du Chavon village. The whole tour was 4.5 hours, 1 hour longer than advertised. You will enjoy the caves.

good to know. Does anyone know how much a private taxi would be vs the shared taxi?

The shared taxi from Havensight to Sapphire Beach was $10 per person last week. On the return we had a private taxi which was $8 per person. I think it depends on the time of day and the direction. At the port there will always be more people wanting a taxi so they can charge more.

We had a port stop here on 1/31/18. I checked this port on CC to see what others had said about the beaches. Based on that we took a taxi van from Havensight Pier to Sapphire Beach which is 2 minutes past the stop for the Red Hook ferry to St. John. The fare per person was $10 one way. The roads were clear and we saw much reconstruction and many electrical trucks from BBC Electric of Missouri. It took about 25 minutes to get to the beach after a couple of drop-offs along the way.

We rented chaises for $9 per chaise at the kiosk and they were brought to the spot we chose. The beach is breathtakingly beautiful. We had never been there before so we can’t comment on before and after other than what the owner of the chaise concession told us. He said that they just had power restored 3.5 weeks before and still had no internet so credit cards could not be used for the rentals-cash only.

The weather that day was perfect and the sky and water so clear. The bathrooms were fully functioning and there were also changing rooms. The bar and grill restaurant (we did not use either) were open for business and there was someone down the beach renting umbrellas. It was a little windy so we decided not to rent one. We spent 2 peaceful hours there taking in the incredible scenery.

When we were ready to leave there were several taxis waiting at the entrance. We were approached by a lovely lady who offered us return service for $8 per person. She dropped me off at Havensight and took my husband and friends into downtown Charlotte Amalie.

We will be back in St. Thomas again in April and are planning to return to Sapphire Beach.

We arrived at 8am on a Tuesday and were scheduled to depart at 3pm. We decided to independently explore this port. There was not a lot of information available on CC or other sites but I did find some interesting things to do in the port.

First, let me say that this is not a port with much infrastructure. It does not seem that English speaking cruises stop here very often and most residents have limited if any English speaking ability so it can be a challenge. I do speak some French and had a translation app on my phone so I was able to communicate fairly well in most instances. We were on a HAL ship and the cruise director told us this was her first time in this port. We found that information for independent passengers about available transportation options, etc.was very limited.

We got off the ship at 8:15am and planned to start our day at the Memorial ACTe Museum not far from the port. It opened at 9am and I read that it was easy to walk or to take a taxi. Well, a taxi was easier said than done. The only taxis inside the small port area would only provide tours, not transportation. So we walked outside the gate expecting to see taxis. There were taxis but they only/wanted to provide tours. Finally, a drive said he would take the 4 of us for 10 euros each. Insane! We never saw an independent taxi anywhere while in port and we looked!

We walked back into the port and talked to someone at the information desk. She gave us a map and told us it was an easy 20 minutes walk. So, armed with the map, we exited the port and walked to the right with the water on our right side. We finally found some signs which directed us the rest of the way. We passed The Yacht Club where we had noon reservations for lunch. We also passed Marche de la Darse , the main fruit, vegetable and fish market on the seafront which was interesting, especially watching the gutting and cleaning of the freshly caught fish that morning. It is open 6am-2pm Monday-Saturday.

We arrived at the museum at 9:30am (opens at 9am Tuesday-Saturday and 10am Sunday/closed on Monday). It has a commanding presence on the seafront on the site of a former super factory. There were a few people ahead of us on line which took a long time as there was only one person selling tickets and one person giving out the audio headsets which are included in the price of admission. Admission is 15 euros per person with a senior discount if over 65 and they take credit cards. All bags (backpacks, purses, etc.) must be put in a locker available for no charge. The ticket counter will give you a “slug” for the locker and you take the key with you. A docent will explain how to see the museum before going inside. The museum follows the discovery of the Caribbean by Europeans, the rise of the slave trade and the history of slavery and its final abolishment in the Caribbean. The focus was not specifically on Guadeloupe though there was a great deal of information on the island. The English audio guide was quite good and seemless to use. It automatically starts when you enter an area and stops when you leave. There is no need to press any buttons. We spent about 90 minutes in the museum which was very interesting and worth the visit. We did not visit any other areas of the museum such as the research library, cafe, museum shop as we had a limited amount of time in the port. The exterior of the museum is exquisite. It reminded me of the Bird’s Nest from the Beijing Olympics of 2008. The view of it from from our cruise ship coming into Pointe-a-Pitre was breathtaking.

We left the museum at 11:30am, walking back toward the port in the same direction. When we were back at the Marche de la Darse we noted the main plaza across the street, Place de la Victoire. We retraced our steps past the market to The Yacht Club next door where we had a reservation at noon for lunch. What a disaster! The service, the food, the rudeness and the attempt to overcharge us just ruined what could have been a lovely lunch since there is a beautiful view of the seafront and the museum. Save your money and find somewhere else to eat.

When we finally (after a horrible hour and 45 minutes) left the restaurant, we walked across the street and down Rue St John Perse to the Marche Saint-Antoine. There is an open-air pavilion known as Central Market where vendors sell spices, produce and local arts and crafts. Most of the items were spices with uninspiring crafts and local items, many of which looked mass produced. I did find a man making baskets from palm fronds. I bought one for 5 euros which was a bargain and I saw him make it. That’s a local craft!

After 30 minutes, we walked back to our ship following Rue Peynter which leads directly to the port. Once at the port, there were a few stalls selling products but nothing we were interested in. We boarded the ship at 2:30pm.

There are a few other small museums in town as well as a cathedral. Most passengers walked to the market, looked around, had a drink and walked back to the ship. Others took ship tours about which I heard mixed reviews.

In sum, we enjoyed the museum and were happy that we took the time to walk there and see it. As for the rest, there is not much else to do or see without leaving the city. Considering the limited port time, I would only take a ship sponsored excursion to venture out of the city as I would be concerned about the reliability of the private tour vans offering tours.