Disappointed with Celebrity Silhouette Jan 26/18 - Feb4/18

This was our 7th cruise with Celebrity. 9 nights Ultimate Caribbean cruise out of FLL. Even though we sailed on Silhouette last year I was quite surprised to see how thin and worn out the washcloths and towels were. In MDR the shrimp cocktail is down from 5 shrimp to 4. I noticed like mentioned here before that they don’t have enough waiters (especially around the pool area) and bartenders. On sea days there should be for sure at least 6 waiters at the pool and I would see maybe 3. MDR select dining table selection seemed worse than normal. The other area that is making me question about cruising any more is how the prices are continually rising. I went to Future Cruise to book a cruise for 2020 (have 1 for 2019). So now they are only giving 1 perk when booking balcony. The reason I just want balcony is that we like to book cabin on the hump and Concierge doesn’t give you cabins on the hump. They now have made cabins on hump Category 1A so now have to pay 1B to get cabin on hump. Before we paid 1C to get 1B (hump). Celebrity has also started with 2 different pricings. 1 for nonrefundable cruise and another for refundable cruise. I have no idea if I for sure I can go on 2019 cruise (anything can happen) so why book non refundable. I just realize now that maybe I could still cancel before final payment but not sure if you can get your $200 deposit back?? Does anyone know that? Maybe the prices seem really high since we have started to book 9 or 10 night cruises but I still see a big difference from last year’s 9 night and the costs of 2019 and 2020. I am really starting to question the value of a Celebrity cruise anymore. Is anyone else feeling the same way?

Things sure seem like they have changed. We will be on her in April so Inwill be observing. You can always watch the sales and I am sure they will have a 2 perks sale and get the other one added. We booked on ship last year and had OBC and 2 perks... there was a price drop in Oct so we were able to upgrade to concierge (from balcony) and still saved over 100$. Kept our OBC and perks.

This was our 7th cruise with Celebrity. 9 nights Ultimate Caribbean cruise out of FLL. Even though we sailed on Silhouette last year I was quite surprised to see how Is anyone else feeling the same way?

For the first time in a decade we have decided not to sail for the latter part of this year... that’s two fewer months than our average... all because we notice that the experience is no longer exceptional for the prices Celebrity is asking.

Occasionally there are great deals and we can wait or just look for alternatives. Last week green beans were the vegetable of the day every day for every entree. Man (or Woman) does not live on beans alone. This week there was a change to “vegetable of the day”.

We have just cruised too much and remember the past too well to accept the present offerings at inflated prices.

We also were on the Jan 26 cruise and were not impressed with the lack of organization and communication, particularly regarding the Select Dining fiasco. We put a refundable deposit on a 2019 cruise but are seriously considering cancelling it due to high prices and declining value.

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Things sure seem like they have changed. We will be on her in April so Inwill be observing. You can always watch the sales and I am sure they will have a 2 perks sale and get the other one added. We booked on ship last year and had OBC and 2 perks... there was a price drop in Oct so we were able to upgrade to concierge (from balcony) and still saved over 100$. Kept our OBC and perks.

My experience is that if they add a perk, at a later date, you would have to cancel and rebook at the prevailing rate to get it, unless the price went down. Believe it or not, the free perks aren't free.

We were on Silhouette the cruise before yours. It was a mixed bag. Some things were good (Luminae, our butler, great masseuses in spa, Oceanview Cafe, ship clean and in good shape, we got several invites to special events), but some were not so good (room attendant was not good, had multiple maintenance issues in our suite, Lawn Club Grill was terrible, bed was the worst we’ve had yet with Celebrity, unfriendly casino staff, drink service was inconsistent all over the ship; you could go to three different bars and they would all make the same drink differently) Yes, and we encountered the same flimsy towels on certain days and we were in a Royal Suite. Our companions booked onboard for a future cruise and encountered the single perk as well for a balcony cabin. They wound up upgrading to a concierge cabin (only $40 more pp) and then paid a bit more for the go best with all 4 perks.

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Two recommendations:

1 - if you want more than 4 shrimp, order another one. Then your have 8 instead of the previous 5.

2 - Use standard dining, main or late. Then you don’t have to worry about the fiasco of Selct Dining. Never tried it. I think the ‘fiasco’ has more to do with everyone wanting to dine close to the same time.

Den

It seems like January 2018 was NOT a good month for the Silhouette. We sailed on her for the sixth time in Aqua Class on the January 7 cruise and, with the exception of our excellent room steward and the wait staff who went "above & beyond" to try to compensate for the four of our seven mediocre dinners in BLU, this sailing was very disappointing. So much so, for the time in 10 years, we do not have a European sailing booked on Celebrity for this summer. When we compared the cost of a Suite on Celebrity and the great price we were able to get on a Concierge Class cabin on Oceania, we decided it was now time to move on.

We were on the same sailing and thought the crew was outstanding - by far the friendliest and most competent we've encountered on any ship. With the exception of disorganization in the MDR the one night we went (and slow waiters at lunch in Lawn Club), the service was excellent. I did feel that there were some corners cut in terms of the quality of towels, bedding, etc. - our bed was hard and lumpy (time for a replacement) and the pillows were so bad I plan to bring my own next time. We ate most of our meals in specialty restaurants and while I have noticed that they have rearranged their menus to encourage two courses instead of three in some places, etc., I never had any trouble ordering as many courses as I wanted. I actually prefer smaller portions in the MDR anyway, as I frequently encounter dishes that are poorly cooked - less waste that way if I don't eat it. You can always order another if you are still hungry.

What I didn't really love about this cruise was the itinerary (3 sea, 4 ports in a row, 2 sea), especially given that we missed the first port and ended up with 4 sea days in a row, but that isn't Celebrity's fault at all - it was ours for choosing an itinerary that was arranged that way. Lesson learned - we'll choose an itinerary that alternates sea days/port days next time. Anyway, I don't discount the OP's experience at all - everyone on a given cruise will have a different experience - but in our case I was largely satisfied with this particular sailing.

We were torn about cancelling this sailing as it had great ports nice excursion choices and a fun roll call. We eventually cancelled b/c of port uncertainty and possibility of too many sea days....and alot going on in our lives..,Seems it was a good decision as no one has raved about the trip...Sorry you missed Antigua, making 5 sea days total..( I think that was the missed port)

Hope to be on Silhouette again in the future but for now we have high hopes for EDGE being something new, different and an upgrade, Nothing booked after EDGE 2019

We were also on this cruise and would agree with you.

Room attendant - he did a good job, but he was very overworked (looked after both suites and aqua class). Most days we received the afternoon appetizers but not always. Some days our towels were quite tatty. He was very friendly though and we could see he was doing his best.

Bedding - time for an upgrade or replacement. Both my partner and I found the bed to be very uncomfortable. The pillows were terrible - I ended up using the square day pillows.

Speciality dining - was good, but not the best we've had. One dish in Qsine was so terrible we did not eat it (wrong sauces on meatballs, meatballs undercooked in center but tough and chewy on outside, over seasoned etc).

Drinks - couldn't agree more with the above poster about inconsistency. Every bar had a different way of making the same drink.

Oceanview Cafe - this is the best we have seen the buffet in a while. We liked that there were daily changing "specials/cuisines".

Persian gardens - we haven't used the Persian gardens before so this may we fleet wide. We didn't like that we had to check in and exchange our cards for cards that had access to Persian gardens. We have paid for aqua so our cards should automatically swipe us in. Flavoured water was often empty and "bed" hogs were in full force, certainly not adhering to the 20 minute rotation.

Entertainment- we felt this was the same as previous cruises. However, the activities team was the best we have had in 5 cruises. Very outgoing, friendly and good range of activities.

For the first time in 5 cruises we have not rebooked a future cruise onboard. We know we can get better incentives in future sales and the prices are very high.

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.......I was quite surprised to see how thin and worn out the washcloths and towels were.............I am really starting to question the value of a Celebrity cruise anymore. Is anyone else feeling the same way?

Certainly agree with you that the value proposition for Celebrity has shifted in a negative way over the past few years. We currently have 3 cruises booked; however, for the third one, June 2019, the price is totally out of line, on a cost per night basis (same category) it is 50% more than the average of the next two cruises. There has been a slow steady decline in the product that now brings the price point into question.

We have experienced some pretty questionable linens and towels; however, a short discussion with our stateroom attendant has the issue resolved.

We have started to look around at other options.

Also disappointed: Feeling the same after our Dec cruise. The quality of the cruise is no longer something to cheer about. Thinking our May cruise may be our last. Does LLP not see the situation. It seems many loyal cruisers are expressing their dissatisfaction.

Last week green beans were the vegetable of the day every day for every entree. Man (or Woman) does not live on beans alone. This week there was a change to “vegetable of the day”.

 

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Arno, thank you for the laugh. It brought back memories of our Feb '16 Sailing on Eclipse; we had green beans for the first 4 dinners. We were at a table of 8 and no one was very happy but wouldn't say anything. I mentioned it to our waiter who sent over the Maitre d'. We had a discussion and he said he would address it. The next night we were at a specialty restaurant but we agreed to come back for desert. When we arrived everyone was excited because the chef had come to the table to see how things were and if everything was to their liking.....no one mentioned the green beans to him; however, there were different vegetables that night. Regardless, the maitre d' stopped by to confirm that he had discussed it with the chef and that it would improve. and it did. No more green beans....until night 10 or 11 when my DW received her dinner with green beans and everyone else received something different. The whole table had a great laugh about it.

Like you said, we cannot live on beans alone.

Cheers, Claude.

My experience is that if they add a perk, at a later date, you would have to cancel and rebook at the prevailing rate to get it, unless the price went down. Believe it or not, the free perks aren't free.

We were able to keep all the perks for booking onboard and in fact we switched from a balcony on deck 7 to concierge C1 and because we had cruised before it would have been auto upgrade to C2 but one of the couples with us had never sailed so it would have cost them a lot to go to C2 so we stayed with them. Last year we booked the other two couples with us this year while we were onboard and they got the same benefits except not the category upgrade.

I agree with Denny01.

It's not rocket science RE the shrimp cocktail. Order 2 and you'll be in front. Just got off the solstice and had a 5 star experience with a wonderful captain and crew/staff.:):)

I was lucky, I guess. I booked a March 2019 cruise when they had the $50 pp deposit with two perks sale going - there was no mention of non-refundable deposits. I just did a dummy booking for the same cruise and cabin, March 2020 refundable deposit cost $260 more pp. Although the opening page of the website offers 2 'free' perks promotion, the payment page says 1 perk. Wow! I'm pretty sure that cruise isn't going to sell out at those prices.

As for non-refundable deposit - if I'm understanding the terms correctly, the deposit can be credited to another cruise if you change ships or dates, but Celebrity keeps $100 processing fee. I think that's fair. This discourages people from booking multiple cruises and cancelling them right before final payment. For us, we would definitely rebook if we had to cancel, so the non refundable may be worth it. Good thing to think about.

The other little details are easily resolved. If your towels are worn, ask your steward for new ones. My husband and son have ordered two shrimp cocktails or two lobster tails. The waiters have always been willing to give us whatever we want.

I notice that Silhouette is the ship that is getting lots of complaints about select dining. They were disorganized two or so years ago when we sailed on Silhouette. It was right after they created Luminae and I figured they hadn't adapted yet. I guess I was wrong. The select dining service on our recent Reflection cruise was flawless. I wonder what is going on with Silhouette.

Also disappointed: Feeling the same after our Dec cruise. The quality of the cruise is no longer something to cheer about. Thinking our May cruise may be our last. Does LLP not see the situation. It seems many loyal cruisers are expressing their dissatisfaction.[/quote

 

I dont think she cares that much about loyal cruisers...many others are coming over from cruise lines that sound much worse and they seem to like X very much.. As Arno has said...old timers know how it used to be and are not enchanted with paying more for so much less! Others have no clue!

I have yet to sail on the Silhouette, but do not plan to anytime soon. We have a cruise on Reflection in Europe for 2018 and one for the Edge TA in 2019. It is sad to hear others react to the Celebrity product in a negative way, but it is what it is. Yes, the prices are much higher now, but I was still able to get great deals on these two cruises by booking the first hour! Sure hope that things start to improve,,,change is inevitable!

This was our 7th cruise with Celebrity. 9 nights Ultimate Caribbean cruise out of FLL. Even though we sailed on Silhouette last year I was quite surprised to see how thin and worn out the washcloths and towels were. In MDR the shrimp cocktail is down from 5 shrimp to 4. I noticed like mentioned here before that they don’t have enough waiters (especially around the pool area) and bartenders. On sea days there should be for sure at least 6 waiters at the pool and I would see maybe 3. MDR select dining table selection seemed worse than normal. The other area that is making me question about cruising any more is how the prices are continually rising. I went to Future Cruise to book a cruise for 2020 (have 1 for 2019). So now they are only giving 1 perk when booking balcony. The reason I just want balcony is that we like to book cabin on the hump and Concierge doesn’t give you cabins on the hump. They now have made cabins on hump Category 1A so now have to pay 1B to get cabin on hump. Before we paid 1C to get 1B (hump). Celebrity has also started with 2 different pricings. 1 for nonrefundable cruise and another for refundable cruise. I have no idea if I for sure I can go on 2019 cruise (anything can happen) so why book non refundable. I just realize now that maybe I could still cancel before final payment but not sure if you can get your $200 deposit back?? Does anyone know that? Maybe the prices seem really high since we have started to book 9 or 10 night cruises but I still see a big difference from last year’s 9 night and the costs of 2019 and 2020. I am really starting to question the value of a Celebrity cruise anymore. Is anyone else feeling the same way?

Who counts the shrimp?

I honestly understand having a cruise thats not up to par. I also feel its like going to a restaurant that everyone is raving about and the time you go it isnt good.

We sailed on the Silhouette, in Nov for a trans Atlantic, first time on Silhouette and we both agreed that it was our favorite sailing. I remember sailing on RCCL the Oasis and my husband and I were so very disappointed in the food. I commented about it on CC and got sort of flamed for it. It happens sadly.

For us, its still allot of vacation for the money and so we are still cruising. Must say your experience with the dining room sounds awful. that they need to work on

Hope your next cruise is a good one

We were on Silhouette the cruise before yours. It was a mixed bag. Some things were good (Luminae, our butler, great masseuses in spa, Oceanview Cafe, ship clean and in good shape, we got several invites to special events), but some were not so good (room attendant was not good, had multiple maintenance issues in our suite, Lawn Club Grill was terrible, bed was the worst we’ve had yet with Celebrity, unfriendly casino staff, drink service was inconsistent all over the ship; you could go to three different bars and they would all make the same drink differently) Yes, and we encountered the same flimsy towels on certain days and we were in a Royal Suite. Our companions booked onboard for a future cruise and encountered the single perk as well for a balcony cabin. They wound up upgrading to a concierge cabin (only $40 more pp) and then paid a bit more for the go best with all 4 perks.

 

 

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We too were on the Jan 14th - 26th cruise and felt it was a mix of great, good and bad. Our worst was Lawn Grill for a $15 hamburger. We were trying to get rid of OBC and it was so bad, LCG manager did right thing and not charge us.

Would agree the casino staff could use some training. They did not make us want to even be there at the tables we played at, Blackjack. We did encounter the drinks on the pool deck being made differently by the different bartenders.

We did not experience any other issue relating to bad service/product other than I was disappointed in the beer selection and quality. We adjusted to Martini's and had a great time each afternoon there meeting many fellow cruisers each day for our daily drink. Our cabin stewardess, PAZ, was the best we have ever had on over 30 cruises. We were in AQ this cruise.

As an aside, from a previous post(s) you made, we met your sister and brother in law in line as we embarked. They were wearing their Mr and Mrs shirts. We spoke to them and hope they had a great trip!

 

The other little details are easily resolved. If your towels are worn, ask your steward for new ones.

The point is you shouldn’t even have to ask for towels to be replaced because worn out ones shouldn’t be placed in cabins in the first place. It’s like going to a restaurant and finding a dirty fork or dirty glass on your table; it doesn’t necessarily destroy the whole meal but it does make you question the training of the staff.

I can’t speak for the OP but for us it was a variety of issues with our room attendant. The worn out towels thing happened a couple times but was not a daily occurrence. But we also had to chase him on nearly everything: when we ran out of soap/shampoo/body wash it was not replaced automatically, bathrobes were not placed in the cabin when we boarded, when we used up the one laundry slip in the room new ones were not provided, when we used up the one room service menu in the room new ones were not provided, we only got beach towels in the cabin on the first day of the cruise; new ones were never provided again after those were used despite us bringing back used towels each day from the beach that we had grabbed from the pool deck, snack trays that were left in the cabin that we only had a brief look at before heading off to dinner were cleared away before we ever had a chance to try them, and on and on. We had never encountered this with a room attendant before so we kept hoping things would improve (these issues obviously did not all happen at once or all on the first day). Our bad for not raising the issue during the cruise but they were all minor by themselves but grew to be a big annoyance by the end of the cruise so we did lay it all out to our butler (who did a great job) on the last day as we felt he should pass on the feedback. Honestly though, at the suite level there’s really no excuse for these types of continual misses. The only other time we had a problem with a room attendant was our second Celebrity cruise back in 2014, but that was a cleaning issue (dust everywhere, mold on shower curtain, wine splatter on walls from prior guest, our balcony never being cleaned, etc.) rather than a missing/replacing items issue.

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Wonderman we also had only 1 room service menu that didn't appear until about day 4. We got so low on soap that we had almost used up all of the hand soap too before we were issued another bar. Sounds like you may have had the same attendant as us.

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Wow, Wonderman, you really got the short end of the stick when it comes to room attendants! That type of service is really unacceptable anywhere on the ship, but in a suite? No way. We were in a regular balcony and our attendant did a good job for the most part - the only complaint I had was that I asked for bathrobes as soon as we arrived and found we didn't have any, and when I hadn't received them by the evening of the following day I called guest services. I have a feeling this wasn't his fault though - I'm sure X is trying to save money by only giving those out upon request. We aren't especially demanding of our steward, though - DH is a neat freak so our cabin/bath are generally kept tidy, and we rarely order room service so we don't generate a lot of dishes or food messes to clean. I got a peek into a couple of neighboring rooms while people were going in and out and it really made me feel sorry for their stewards!