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Good evening TeeRick. I believe they will show it in Celebrity Central if they can get it on satellite. Watched portions of the 2015 National Football Championship on the in room television as well. Happy Cruising! Bob Aulgur

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Good afternoon everyone.

Cynbar: The Celebrity Today says that all guests should be out of the room by 7:00 a.m. Debarkation was to begin at 7:30 a.m. for self-assist passengers. We had room completely empty, except for carry-on bag and wife's purse which were on couch by 7:00 a.m. Went to breakfast in Ocean View, returned to room about 7:40 a.m. picked up our stuff, and went to the Elite Lounge to wait for our number to be called. Our cabin steward was in the hall, so he knew of our timetable and said it was fine. We have done this same routine on numerous cruises. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

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My wife and I also will add the "Silver Bullet" as a must have dessert. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda.

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Good evening Buckeyeman. We just returned from the Top Chef Silhouette cruise this week. The 4 Top Chef Contestants were visible at various locations throughout the cruise. They each also led a shore excursion based on a cooking theme. I did not get the impression they were going to stay on the cruise after us. The Top Chef inspired Menu Night in the MDR has been around for awhile and I assume that menu will continue. The C.D. on our cruise was named Luigi de la Cruz. If you look for my recent review on this board you will see a discussion of all the guest entertainers on our recent cruise. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

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Good evening everyone from a cold, rainy Missouri. Missing the warm Caribbean sunshine already.

Sraliz - We tended to listen to most of the musical acts in the Ensemble Lounge which is in the aft portion of the ship near the specialty restaurants. We also enjoyed Casablanca before dinner from the chairs on deck 3. Our favorites of this cruise were Blue River Duo, the Casablanca Show Band, and the ship's orchestra. I do not drink and Linda likes a cocktail or two at the pool and/or the main theatre show, so no favorite bartender. She said the White Russian and Pina Coladas were good.

Copi2boys: I did see bagels and cream cheese in the Oceanview Cafe daily. Not sure about the lox. I know they offered Salmon on the breakfast buffet at least once during the cruise as a cold selection, just do not remember how often it was there. This is such a nice large buffet I bet it is available on a regular basis given the popularity of that breakfast dish.

Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

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Good evening Steve and Gayle. The show times were 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. for the production shows. Sizzle was in connection with a Latin night pool party so it began at 10:30 p.m. and Masque was at 10:45 p.m. In the Grand Foyer. This one requires you to arrive early if you want a seat, otherwise just stand near a spot with a view of the grand staircase and dance floor on deck 3. Masque lasted about 20-25 minutes, so standing is not a big hardship for most of us. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda.

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Good evening. Thanks for the kind comments!

Sandc4e - We hope that you will enjoy your cruise on Celebrity as we have enjoyed ours over the years. We wish you smooth sailing and sunny skies!

Signora - You can find out more about the Embassy Suites on TripAdvisor and on the Florida Departures board on Cruise Critic. We found the hotel as pictured and discussed.

Imapost2003 - I do not have any pictures of the food or menus. They are available on the Celebrity board. Just search for them using the search feature at the top of the threads. The most recent ones I saw posted were still the same as Celebrity used on our cruise.

Happy Cruising Everyone! Bob and Linda

Captain: Athanasios Peppas

Chief Engineer: Yannis Chazandroulis

Staff Captain: Christos Galanis

Guest Relations: Cameron Robertson

Hotel Director: Raffaele Bernardini

Cruise Director: Luige De la Cruz

Food and Beverage: Srdjan Prastalo

Executive Chef: Victor Mancilla

Captains Club: Maria

Bands and Shows: As recently posted See Post: 4554 by Arno

My wife and I just used Global Entry at Port Everglades on Sunday, January 8, 2017. We both showed our cards to an officer at the clearly marked Global Entry line and then she sent us directly to a Customs officer for processing. Total time from getting luggage to being on the street was approximately 5 minutes. Could not have been easier. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

We just returned from a 9 day cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. We embarked and debarked from Ft. Lauderdale cruise port. We took Yellow Cabs on all legs of our journey. All cabs were clean, professional, and Toyota Prius vehicles. At our hotels the cabs were summoned by the hotel door staff using a dedicated line. At the airport we went to the taxi stand outside baggage claim in terminal one and I guess were just lucky to get a Yellow Cab. None of our fares including tip exceeded $25.00. We are sorry your experience was different than ours. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

Just back this week from a 9 day cruise on Celebrity Silhouette in the Caribbean. We had a Beyond the Podium Speaker named Roy Prevost who presented on at least 3 topics; Pirates, Bermuda Triangle, and British Secret Service. All of the presentations were on sea days. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

SHIP: Silhouette

CABIN #: 8253

DECK #: 8

CLASS: Veranda 1A

AREA: Midship Portside

BED NEAR: Balcony

QUIET?: Yes, very

BALCONY VIEW: clear, tops of tenders 2 decks below

BALCONY SIZE: large veranda due to it's position on the forward facing aft "hump" on deck 8

WIND A PROBLEM?:no

SOOT A PROBLEM?:no

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Perfect location - little or no movement felt as it is in the middle of the ship, no vibration or noise. Close to the elevator lobby and the Hideaway was one floor down.

__________________

Linda and I just returned from a nine day cruise on Celebrity Silhouette between December 30, 2016 - January 8, 2017. We have the dailies and will be happy to try to answer any questions. We also posted the following review.

My wife and I recently completed our 16th cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette. We had a wonderful experience. My wife and I are in our sixties and just recently retired. We will not be giving a day by day rendition of what we did, but we will emphasize those things future Silhouette sailors might find useful.

HOTELS: Pre-Cruise: 2 nights at the Embassy Suites on 17th Street (E.S.). We were in room 826. This room is on the back wall opposite the front desk area and near an elevator bank. It had a small balcony which overlooked the rear of the hotel and allowed a view of the commercial shopping area directly behind the hotel and the port. The room was clean and comfortable and we had no complaints about it. Tips for this hotel are that it is very popular so it is best to go to the complimentary cocktail hour and breakfast buffets as early as possible to avoid long lines. In order to reach the Harbor Shops which include a Publix, Total Wine, and a T.J.Max directly behind the hotel, you can go out of the rear of the hotel into the parking lot. Directly across from the door you will see a small grassy area with some bushes and a well worn path. Take the path a few feet and you will come out into the parking lot area of the shops. You can also walk to the end of the parking lot, go through the vehicle entry and turn right and walk on the sidewalk. Also make sure you spend some time at the hotel's peaceful and pretty outdoor pool area. It had a nice outdoor hot tub, pool area, and many seating areas with comfortable loungers.

Post-Cruise: We stayed one night at the beautiful and historic Riverside Hotel on Los Olas Blvd. This hotel was started in 1936 and has an old and new section. Spend the money to get a room in the new executive section. The rooms and the decor in that area of the hotel are first class. Our room on the 8th floor gave us great views of the canals and the cruise port in the distance. Los Olas Blvd is right out the front door with a great collection of small shops and boutiques and several nice restaurants.

FOOD PRIOR TO THE CRUISE: We ate at Duffy's Sports Grill and 17th Street Grill in the Harbor Shops and Outback Steakhouse which is next door to the Embassy Suites. We recommend all of them highly. We ate at the Embassy Suites complimentary breakfast buffet both mornings.

TRANSPORTATION: We took cabs. The fare + tip from the airport to the E.S. was approximately $20.00 and the ride took about 20 minutes around noon on a weekday. The cab from the E.S. to the ship was approximately $15.00 including tip and took about 15 minutes. The best way to get a cab is to approach the doorman or bell hops and they have a direct line to yellow cab.

The trip from the Riverside to the airport took approximately 20 minutes and also ran around $20.00 + tip. At this hotel you will find a bell station just inside the rear door of the hotel. They will take reservations for cab service at a particular time. Best to do that when you arrive and check in. All cabs we took were Yellow Cabs and Toyota Prius vehicles. We had 2 adults and 3 normal size suitcases so no problem, but if you need something larger you need to make sure this is known to the person requesting the cabs. Also we had to show our passports to a checkpoint on the way to the pier in order to proceed, so be sure and have your identification easily available in the cab.

EMBARKATION AND DEBARKATION: Both went very smoothly. We arrived at the pier at 10:30 a.m. Porters were plentiful and security was quick. We are Elite and our online check-in documents and passports were in order so we were on board by 11:00 a.m.

Debarkation was also smooth. We were in the Elite waiting area located in Qsine by 8:00 a.m. with a number of 21. Were off the ship before 9:00 a.m. After locating our luggage the Customs area is very close. While porters were in the area and we usually use them we did not in this instance because we were very close to the customs area and we have Global Entry. The Global Entry line is on the far left as you face the customs area. You need to show your Global Entry I.D. cards to a person to enter that line. Once in it we were processed in approximately 5-8 minutes. Out the door to the street and the taxi stand was all the way to the right at this particular terminal. I am sorry to say I did not write down which terminal we were in but my wife says to tell everyone it was the one with the long outside walk from the ship to the luggage holding area. Yes, I mean outside and it was unseasonably cold that morning on January 8, 2017.

CABIN 8253: This is a standard balcony cabin on deck 8. It was one of the forward facing cabins on the rear port-side hump of the ship, so the balcony was larger than some other ones on the "flat" side of the ship. It was near the main elevator bank. The cabin was in good shape and quiet. Our cabin steward Joseph was personable and very efficient. He handled our request for a second robe and a few more hangers immediately, and when our television quit working on day 6 of the cruise he worked with us to keep the attention of the IT department on the problem. More on this later.

TELEVISION PROBLEM: It is ironic that this became such a problem because we really don't watch television that much on a cruise. A check of the news, our accounts, and ship position information is about all we use it for during the day. However, our television quit working on day 6. Joseph and I both reported it promptly. IT tried to fix it remotely, worked briefly, stopped again. IT then came in and replaced the cables and said it was fixed. Worked a few hours and quit. I got Guest Services involved and a very efficient and helpful Guest Relations Officer named Lauren made it her issue and pressed forward with it. They came that night and replaced the"control box" with a new one. Worked the rest of the night, but I am sad to say on debarkation morning I turned it on and it would not work again. No happy ending. Joseph just sighed, confirmed it was not working and it is now another person's problem. Great job to Joseph and Lauren!! Not so much to IT.

DINING: Ate all of our meals in the main dining room with a congenial group of two other couples. We found the food to be of good quality and we enjoyed our meals. We ate our New Year's Eve dinner in Tuscan Grill at 6;00 P.M. We enjoyed it, but both agreed that we could have eaten just as well at several of our local steak houses. The next night we joined a group of cruise critic members for dinner in Qsine. A special thank-you to Qsine manager Igusti for working with me both pre-cruise and on-board to make this happen. Our party of 12 enjoyed excellent service from Perica who orchestrated a wonderful sampling of the many culinary delights that this restaurant has to offer. If you have not done Qsine, try it; particularly with a group,you will have a great time! I also enjoyed one lunch from the Mast Grill. The cheeseburgers and fries were delicious and prepared on-site. Our other meals were taken in the OceanView Cafe. Linda and I found the food in this ship's OceanView Cafe to be outstanding and as good as that found in the Main Dining Room. The tips we have for this venue are at breakfast be sure and find the eggs benedict maker in the central portion of the buffet. Each day you had a choice of traditional, mexican, vegetarian, etc eggs benedict dishes. At lunch we recommend the grilled fish dishes and the cold sandwich bar with choices such as tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, on a choice of fresh breads and rolls. Then the desserts oh the desserts. Every day a large selection of cakes, pies, cookies, and pastries. Did I mention the ice cream bar with 6-8 flavors a day just for the asking! I also want to mention the Cafe au Bacio. This is located on deck 5 (which my wife and I call the cookie deck). All of our specialty coffees and cakes, pies, cookies etc. were well prepared and professionally served to us by a wonderful servers. We particularly wanted to single out Elena who waited on us several times both here and in the theater. That is all I am going to say about the food because food is such a subjective area, but we thought the over-all food operation was very professional.

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES: I only went to 2 of the Beyond the Podium presentations by Roy Prevost. He presented one on Pirates of the Caribbean and another on The British Secret Service. They were interesting, but very general in scope. The ship also had the usual poolside and Celebrity Theatre and Celebrity Central games and game shows that we have seen on all of our Celebrity cruises. All seemed well attended and fun. Linda and I did attend a program put on by Michael, the Apple Certified Support Person on board on tips for I-Pad and I-Phone which we found informative.

ENTERTANMENT: The production shows on board were excellent and well attended. The Celebrity singers and dancers provided us with the following productions; Cosmopolitan, Pearl, Life, Latin Sizzle at the Pool, and Masquerade in the Grand Foyer. The main theater also hosted: Juggler - Steven Ragatz who was original and funny, Broadway Singer- Jeri Sager who has appeared on Broadway in several major roles and provided both commentary about her career and great songs from some of her roles. A must see if you can. Singer: Jesse Hamilton, Jr. Also a person with several Broadway shows to his credit. He did more of an audience participation type show using some members of the audience in his presentations so beware if late or in front rows. His songs ranged from Michael Jackson to standards from the Rat Pack days. Also a must see if you can. Magician Eric Buss - Did not see. On St. Thomas Day we got to see TENORS OF ROCK!!!! As you can tell they were outstanding in every way. One of the best shows we have ever seen on land or sea. They are opening in Las Vegas in their own theater this week, so you may not see them on Celebrity, but you can see them in Vegas. Comedian: Carl Banks - Nice comedic show, we saw the PG rated one, did not attend the late-night adult comedy show.

The ship also had some terrific on-board entertainers in the lounges and grand foyer. They included: One of our favorites: The Blue River Duo, House Band Casablanca, and Meeting Jazz. All are worth the time to listen to for a set or two. Also on-board were Victor Cruz and the Decameron Duo. The DJ was Constantine.

THE FITNESS CENTER AND CANYON RANCH SPA: I used the Fitness Center most mornings between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. The gym was nicely equipped and had the same basic layout as the other S-Class ships. Usually had 20 or so persons there during those times. I would also walk on the jogging track on deck 14 after my exercises and it was not crowded during those times. My wife got a manicure/pedicure and I got a pedicure during this trip. We were excited to re-establish our relationship with Vero Lee

from Jamaica. We have been on 2 prior cruises with her and really enjoy her great personality and friendliness along with her professional skills. She is a credit to this cruise line. We will see her again on Equinox this May.

I also bought a Persian Garden pass for the cruise. Make sure that you visit the spa immediately upon boarding if you wish to purchase access to the Persian Gardens during any days of the cruise as they only sell a limited number of passes. I enjoyed using the heated loungers, aromatic steam room, steam room, and dry sauna each day of the cruise. The P.G. is well maintained on this ship and the towels and facilities are kept up during the day. I also enjoyed the nice size showers in the men's locker facility. If you use these showers here is a tip, hot water is all the way down on the lever, not up! You may also want to bring some shampoo and conditioner from your cabin in case the dispensers in the showers are not working or are empty.

THE SHIP: This ship is well maintained and is beautiful both inside and outside. Captain Peppas, Staff Captain Galanis, Hotel Director Raffaele Bernardini, and Cruise Director Luigi De la Cruz are to be commended on the appearance of the ship and the enthusiastic and friendly crew of the ship. All crew interactions were polite and friendly.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We believe that Celebrity continues to offer a wonderful vacation experience. We have two more Celebrity cruises booked and we are looking forward to them. Thanks so much to all of the people from the engine room to the Captain who made our trip so wonderful. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

At E.S. 17TH St. right now at the beautiful pool. Got here yesterday afternoon. Cruise tomorrow. Great stay so far. No problems with hotel. Everything as advertised. Would recommend it for short pre or post cruise stays. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

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Good Evening. My wife and I are mid-western middle class people with a diet to match. We have eaten in Blu several times on several different M and S class ships. We enjoyed our meals very much. It was fun to try new menu choices that are not part of our normal meal routine at home. We agree with the earlier comments on the service and seating arrangements. We also agree that breakfast is a must do in Blu! Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

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Thanks for taking the time to do this. As you can see from my signature we are going to be on this lovely ship for New Year's Eve! We are really looking forward to getting out of the Missouri cold and into the Caribbean warmth to start our first year of retirement. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

My wife and I had a wonderful time in 1140 on our June, 2016 cruise to Bermuda. What a great time you will have! Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

Thanks for your very informative and thought provoking post. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

My wife and I have stayed in Miami several times pre-cruise. I second the advice that others are giving you for staying in the Bayside Marketplace or Mary Bickell areas of Miami. We have also stayed in the Intercontinental Hotel on several occasions and strongly recommend it if you can afford the rates.

The hotels given to you by Keith1010 and JohninDc ar all mentioned on this board as good places to stay. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

I will be retiring on December 23, 2016, at the age of 62. My wife will be retiring a few days before me, but she is already signed up for Medicare. I am fortunate enough to have worked for a city government which provides retiree access to health care coverage as part of the over-all employee health benefit pool. Of course, I have to pay the necessary premiums, but at least it is a system I am used to using and I benefit from the city's professional HR department negotiating the package on behalf of several thousand employees each year. However, this will still cost my wife and I almost $1,000.00 per month for comprehensive medical, dental, and pharmacy coverage. Oh well, it beats not having any insurance at all. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

If you like Italian food my wife and I can recommend Perricone's restaurant from personal experience. We have eaten in this restaurant twice in the last 4 years while in Miami pre-cruise and have enjoyed the experience both times. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

My wife and I are sailing on Silhouette on December 30, 2106 for 9 glorious days in the sunshine. Your pictures are making it harder for us to wait!! Hope you have a Merry Christmas season and thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and lovely photographs. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

Good Afternoon Xpressers Boss. My wife and I spent an outstanding week in Cabin 1140 on Summit in June, 2016. It was a nice cabin with the best balcony we have ever had on a ship. You will really enjoy it. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

Just wanted to say that we agree with many of the things that SuzeCruz1 said about Bermuda. We were there on Celebrity Summit in June of this year and had a great time. It was a real plus having almost 3 full days at the Naval Dockyard. We have been to Bermuda on several land based tours over the years, but this was our first cruise to Bermuda. I would consider this for you and your family. Small island with lots of entertainment, shopping, and dining opportunities at the dockyard itself or within 30 to 60 minutes by ferry, taxi, shared tour bus or public bus.

I am not aware of any horse racing, but Bermuda is hosting a major sailing race event in 2017 and Summit will be docked there during that time. The cruise may be sold out due to that event, but worth looking into. I don't recall seeing any casinos in Hamilton during my visits to this interesting city, but I was not looking for them either. Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda

My wife and I vote for the Intercontinental Hotel. We have stayed in it several times over the years and have never been disappointed. It is a 10 minute walk over to Bayside Marketplace's restaurants, bars, shops etc. We have done the walk both day and night. The hotel itself has several dining choices and the lobby bar area is a great people watching area. The pool area is also very nice at this hotel. The hotel also gives you a nice view of the cruise ship port and the marina at Bayside Marketplace if you get a room with that view. They cost extra. The other view is downtown Miami lit up at night which is also nice.

We have also stayed in the Mary Brickell area on one of our cruises. We ate in a very nice Italian restaurant named Perricones, I believe. We also ate breakfast in a nice french bakery across from our hotel. We walked to both of them. I believe we were staying at some type of Marriott property if memory serves.

Transport from either hotel is easy on cruise day. My memory is about 20 minutes for the Brickell area and 10 minutes for the Intercontinental by cab on embarkation day.

If you want to sightsee in South Beach area, the Intercontinental Hotel is closer to that area than the hotel in Brickell area. I am sure that you don't have any bad choices at either location! Happy Cruising! Bob and Linda