Live from Silhouette - Feb. 25, 2018

We don't sail on the Silhouette until this December, so thank you for posting so I can follow along and live vicariously through you in the meantime. :)

Muster drill is set for 3:15. Getting ready for the “Wash Your Hands” video ��

I was watching the FLL web cams and noticed very few people in the sail away, and the early departure almost 30 minute early.

CC is not decoding your emojis ��

Bon Voyage

Ms. Anne or Mr. Tom,

Would one of y'all mind posting the officers and/or Captain's Club and MC Concierge?

Thanks. :)

Ms. Anne or Mr. Tom,

 

Would one of y'all mind posting the officers and/or Captain's Club and MC Concierge?

Thanks. :)

The CCH is Rose. The MCC is Niko. The suite manager is Erick. I posted the officers sheet to the Celebrity in the Spotlight page on FB. Sorry it is too hard here requiring a third party host that photobucket no longer supports.

The CCH is Rose. The MCC is Niko. The suite manager is Erick.

Thank you sir. :)

Following!!!! We are sailing on the Silhouette this November, and eager to see your reports. Especially interested in the Anytime Dining, as I have also seen recent negative posts.

Hi Host Anne,

Looks like myself and a few of my fellow 3/11/2018 comrades are following this thread closely. I’d appreciate your comments on the following:

-Thoughts on CC Hostess Rose? I don’t recognize the name. A god CC host is important to me.

-Wine-O mentioned a discount to upgrade to the Premium drink package. Curious to know if that is being offered.

-Bands/Musicians onboard. Names and your views are appreciated.

-St Maarten. My favourite stop. How is it doing? Any good news on Orient Beach?

Looking forward to your review.

Following!!!! We are sailing on the Silhouette this November, and eager to see your reports. Especially interested in the Anytime Dining, as I have also seen recent negative posts.

Was on 11-18 Feb. Sailing and had no problem whatsoever at anytime dining. We showed up a 6PM on upper level of MDR and got assigned a table almost right away. The hostess (Paola) was great. We kept the same table for the rest of the cruise and are very happy.

Hi Host Anne,

 

Looks like myself and a few of my fellow 3/11/2018 comrades are following this thread closely. I’d appreciate your comments on the following:

-Thoughts on CC Hostess Rose? I don’t recognize the name. A god CC host is important to me.

-Wine-O mentioned a discount to upgrade to the Premium drink package. Curious to know if that is being offered.

-Bands/Musicians onboard. Names and your views are appreciated.

-St Maarten. My favourite stop. How is it doing? Any good news on Orient Beach?

 

Looking forward to your review.

I have seen better nightly production on other ship (all Celebrity) but the singers are very good and talented. Don't blame them. My video are posted on youtube. Just search for Pearl - Cosmopolitan or Life. There is a story line which you don't see in the videos. We had 2 heavy seas day and the dance routine is quite challenging for them. The story make senses. Shows last about 50 minutes.

We went to Mullet and Maho in St-Martin. Did not go to the French side. Very sad seeing the state of the island.

MUSTER DRILL

Before I go on, let me say that I like to write balanced, honest reviews. I’m going to give you the good, the bad, etc. As a long time cruiser, I probably look at things with more of a critical eye. But I’m always great for the chance to cruise and I appreciate the on board crew that work so hard to provide a great vacation for us.

 

Ut Oh….I knew the great things that happened thus far might come to an end…and I was right! Muster drill was set for 3:15. We headed down to our station in Tuscan Grille about 3:05. By the time they sounded the alarm at 3:15 nearly everyone had arrived. That was the good news. The not so good news is that the typically quick Celebrity muster drill drug on and on for some reason. First, they went through the emergency alarm (a good thing); then they showed the “Wash Your Hands” video (makes us laugh); then they show what I think is the worst emergency video ever, set to a spy theme. That’s my personal opinion and I won’t go into that now (although I think going over the important safety issues is FAR more important than trying to create some gimmicky spy video where most can tell you what the important safety facts were from this video); then there was a lull and the crew had to tell people they couldn’t leave.

 

After a few minutes, someone came on and gave the life jacket overview. All of a sudden, while this was happening (about 3:30ish), I noticed that the ship had pulled away from the dock. Then another lull and this one was long…7 – 10 minutes. Now people were getting antsy and got up to leave. The crew did the right thing and told “most” (not all) people that they had to wait for further instructions. Then they came on the loud speaker again and sounded the abandon ship signal. Then another lull (a few minutes). The crew kept saying….”just a few more minutes.”

 

I’ve been on 31 other Celebrity cruises. I’ve never experienced a muster drill like this. Finally, a minute or two later,they came on and said the drill had ended. The captain, who typically releases us from the drill, made no announcement. By the time we got up on deck, we were nearly out of the port and sailing by the Ft. Lauderdale beaches.

 

It wasn’t the end of the world by any means, but it didn’t give one a comfort level that this drill was organized and they knew what they were doing. Celebrity’s muster drills are typically organized and relatively quick without the long lulls we had today.

 

Your muster drill was similar to ours on the Reflection. We sat in Tuscan, the video ended and we sat some more. There was, however, no life jacket demo. I found the whole thing a joke.

We usually sail Princess and they take their drill seriously. They recently stopped requiring the life jackets and they changed the audio. Other than singing it's muster time to the love boat theme (something like that) the recording was very professional, informative and to the point.

-Thoughts on CC Hostess Rose? I don’t recognize the name. A god CC host is important to me.

Rose is Excellent. She has been a CCH for many years. Last contract was on Solstice (the other side of the world) for 4 years !!!

On the April 8 cruise, so will be following closely. I can’t believe the diminishing importance of the safety drill. At first, the passengers weren’t paying attention, then the station leaders weren’t doing their jobs and now the senior officers aren’t taking the drill seriously. :o

��

Host Anne

Can you ask about the dinning packages, no longer available online since Friday.

Not for sale anymore or Web site problem?

Ann, we were on the Jan. 26th sailing of the Silhouette, and we also received our baggage early. We didn’t get to the port until a little after Noon, but had our bags waiting for us when we got to our cabin, shortly after 1pm.

Two things that may have hurried things along.

1. We had Cruise Critic straps on our luggage.

2. We notice that our bags had Elite stickers on them.

I’m not sure that any of these helped, but the other couple traveling with us didn’t get their luggage until the muster drill. They are not elite, nor did they have Cruise Critic straps.

Rollie

On the April 8 cruise, so will be following closely. I can’t believe the diminishing importance of the safety drill. At first, the passengers weren’t paying attention, then the station leaders weren’t doing their jobs and now the senior officers aren’t taking the drill seriously. :o

I was at the lifeboat drill yesterday. I suspect that the captain was VERY busy sailing the ship out. There were MANY MANY small boats that he had to contend with. I also suspect that we sailed about 30 minutes early because the harbormaster told us to.

I always love reading your reviews. I really appreciate your attention to detail! Hope you have an amazing cruise!!!

Walter

I just got off Silhouette yesterday and couldn’t agree more with Ann’s comments about the muster drill. Our assembly station was Blu. I sat with two ladies who were first time cruisers. The “wash your hands” cartoon is/was clever and effective. When the idiotic spy safety video ended, one lady looked at me and said “What was that about? I thought we were supposed to learn what to do in an emergency.” I have already completed the online survey and mentioned that the safety video does not teach safety.

FIRST EVENING ENTERTAINMENT & MURANO

This was somewhat of a “last minute” cruise for us. We typically sail in the winter with family and friends but since we sailed on Celebrity Xpedition in November we were not going to take a winter cruise this year. But long days at work and great prices for Jan/Feb cruises prompted us to book this cruise. That means it is just my husband and me. We haven’t cruised just the two of us for sometime. With the $300 onboard credit between the two of us (we booked GO BEST for the first time), we decided to spend it on the 5-night specialty dining package. We were assigned to Murano for our first dinner and then selected the remaining nights when we boarded.

Before heading to Murano for our 8:00 PM reservation, we took in the Welcome Aboard show which was comedian Rich Aronovitch. I can’t recall an opening night with a headliner

comedian. We thought he was pretty funny,but several people walked out. Comedy is one of those subjective things that some may love while other hate. We enjoyed him. When he announced that he would have a late night show tomorrow night, he mentioned (as they often do) that it is “adult”comedy with some strong language, etc. He noted that if you are offended by that time of thing you should probably skip it so he doesn’t read about it on Cruise Critic. I found it funny that he mentioned Cruise Critic.

We made our way to Murano and were seated at 8:00 PM at a nice table for two. We received fantastic service from Roxanna throughout the evening and as usual here, our food was outstanding. I started with the lobster bisque and my husband enjoyed the baby spinach salad. The presentation for his salad was beautiful. They also brought us the pork belly to share. It was very good, too. We shared the Chateaubriand for our main course. It was cooked perfectly and served with a cognac sauce and a béarnaise sauce. I need to learn how to make a béarnaise sauce like this at home. We ended the dinner with the chocolate soufflé and the dessert I can’t recall the name(but it was chocolate mouse with coffee ice cream and salted caramel and chocolate sauce). Again, both were outstanding. We’ve always had great meals in Murano since they first debuted the restaurant on Century back in 2006. Between the food and the service tonight, we remember the best of Celebrity!

For those asking about Celebrity Select dining, since we have the dining package, we aren't doing Celebrity Select but I'll ask some of the other Cruise Critic members about it and report back.

By the way, the weather is absolutely perfect! Warm (but not too warm) and sunny! Love just watching the world go by from our aft balcony. I will post a link to photos after the cruise.

Texed ~ I'm happy to report that I went straight to the waffle station this morning and grabbed a "hot off griddle" waffle. Still really good and make me think of you! We'll leave some for your arrival....:D:D:D

Thank you, Anne! I’m happy to know Murano still shines, since we intend to celebrate our anniversary there:). - Michelle

MUSTER DRILL

Before I go on, let me say that I like to write balanced, honest reviews. I’m going to give you the good, the bad, etc. As a long time cruiser, I probably look at things with more of a critical eye. But I’m always great for the chance to cruise and I appreciate the on board crew that work so hard to provide a great vacation for us.

 

Ut Oh….I knew the great things that happened thus far might come to an end…and I was right! Muster drill was set for 3:15. We headed down to our station in Tuscan Grille about 3:05. By the time they sounded the alarm at 3:15 nearly everyone had arrived. That was the good news. The not so good news is that the typically quick Celebrity muster drill drug on and on for some reason. First, they went through the emergency alarm (a good thing); then they showed the “Wash Your Hands” video (makes us laugh); then they show what I think is the worst emergency video ever, set to a spy theme. That’s my personal opinion and I won’t go into that now (although I think going over the important safety issues is FAR more important than trying to create some gimmicky spy video where most can tell you what the important safety facts were from this video); then there was a lull and the crew had to tell people they couldn’t leave.

 

After a few minutes, someone came on and gave the life jacket overview. All of a sudden, while this was happening (about 3:30ish), I noticed that the ship had pulled away from the dock. Then another lull and this one was long…7 – 10 minutes. Now people were getting antsy and got up to leave. The crew did the right thing and told “most” (not all) people that they had to wait for further instructions. Then they came on the loud speaker again and sounded the abandon ship signal. Then another lull (a few minutes). The crew kept saying….”just a few more minutes.”

 

I’ve been on 31 other Celebrity cruises. I’ve never experienced a muster drill like this. ...

We were on RCI's Anthem of the Seas a couple of weeks ago, and that "spy" video sounds exactly like what was shown during our muster drill as well. We found it appalling. The purpose of muster drill is not to entertain people, it's to impart important, serious, potentially life-saving information. I have no idea what first-time cruisers would have taken away from that cutesy video. Certainly they'd have no idea how to put on a life jacket, or why there were no life jackets in our cabins, or, frankly, what to do in an actual emergency. And I think perhaps one of the biggest dangers during a real emergency would be chaos among the passengers. A cruise line needs to be sure passengers know to take muster seriously; a video like that sends the wrong message, imho.

I always love reading your reviews. I really appreciate your attention to detail! Hope you have an amazing cruise!!!

 

Walter

Thanks so much, Walter. I truly enjoy sharing!

We were on RCI's Anthem of the Seas a couple of weeks ago, and that "spy" video sounds exactly like what was shown during our muster drill as well. We found it appalling. The purpose of muster drill is not to entertain people, it's to impart important, serious, potentially life-saving information. I have no idea what first-time cruisers would have taken away from that cutesy video. Certainly they'd have no idea how to put on a life jacket, or why there were no life jackets in our cabins, or, frankly, what to do in an actual emergency. And I think perhaps one of the biggest dangers during a real emergency would be chaos among the passengers. A cruise line needs to be sure passengers know to take muster seriously; a video like that sends the wrong message, imho.

I agree with you, Turtles. I hope you noted this in your evaluation back to Royal Caribbean.

We are on this sailing in a royal suite. It's the first time we did not get our luggage before the muster drill. Got to the port early and think we were the first ones on board. The safety drill was beyond silly and what's with the gratious violence? IMO totally inappropriate. Enjoyed Dover sole at Muranos last night.