Tuggers goes Live From The Decks Of The Silhouette Pre Inaugural 11/4 to 11/6/11

[tuggers]

Sorry for the delay. For some reason I could not access CC message boards from either my computer or the Macs the iphone Lounge has. Am in Newark Airport and this is the first time I've had access (free 20 minutes). I know some of you wanted to read this before you boarded today and for that I apoligize. It wasn't from lack of trying, believe me!

[tuggers]

Silhouette Day 1 November 4, 2011

The day started early with a 5:15 AM shuttle to the Jacksonville airport. Unfortunately it was raining. Not a hard rain, just enough to be messy. Check in was strange because I almost always fly SouthWest out of Jax. I’m glad the shuttle driver knew where US Air was located because I sure didn’t. But thankfully everything else was the same and my flight was on time.

Someone on these boards said that they had a very bad experience with US Air recently and asked me to comment on the service and attitudes of the flight crew. While there was no one juggling rolls of toilet paper (as I’ve seen on SW) or having sing a longs with silly songs (as I’ve also seen on SW) but everyone was very kind and very friendly. I have no complaints about the flights or crew.

The airports however did have some problems. Not Jax but the Philadelphia airport. I haven’t been there in years so it was interesting which may be an understatement. After arrival I was directed to a motorized cart driven by a speed demon in braids. We came very close to losing some of the passengers on a couple of turns, then down an elevator to wait for a bus. The arrival area was at a comfortable temperature of 68 to 70, the waiting area for the bus was about 75 and F terminal where we were taken had to be 80. Which wouldn’t be so bad if we were in shorts. In semi winter clothing it was like an oven,

One comment on the bus. Few seats, mostly standing room which was okay but the step down getting off the bus was pretty. If I hadn’t seen the lady in front of me almost fall I would not have realized how far down that first step was and may have ended up on my derrière in the parking area.

Plane from Philly was a regional, very small with no first class. Thankfully it was a 30 minute flight I arrived at 10:30 and set off in search of coffee; First shuttles weren’t to leave until noon. I found a Dunkin Donut and went back down to the luggage area. In a few minutes a lady carrying a Celebrity sign came by and directed me to door 6 where there was a good sized crowd waiting already. Sat and talked to a couple while we were given instructions: don’t leave your seat until told to do so, don’t go outside until told to do so, etc. Little woman who MUST have been in the military. She was doing a great job of getting things organized. Then we got on the bus.

Here’s where things started getting funny. We were on a full bus, absolutely every seat filled. I was chatting with the lady next to me when we realized we were in a VERY bad neighborhood. I mean the businesses had razor wire around their parking lots. That’s when we got our first clue that the bus driver was lost. Yes, lost! With no cell phone. No GPS. We turned and back tracked, turned around some more until finally someone with a phone that had GPS started giving the driver directions. I was towards the back of the bus so I don’t exactly know what happened except the directions he was being given were not quite right because WE WERE LOST AGAIN! Anyway, the normal driving time from EWR is 20 minutes. We made it an hour later. People were really getting annoyed but I just refused to buy into that. Heck, I figured it meant we would all have a better story to tell.

As it turned out we didn’t miss anything. Everyone was asked to try to just bring a carry on because there would be no porters available. That was nice except it meant LOTS more luggage going through the scanners. I didn’t see anyone stopped and since my artificial knee didn’t set off the bells it appeared they were not worrying about this group of people. .Makes you feel very safe???

Our group was ushered onto the ship at 1:15 and told to take our bags to the door of our cabins and the staff would put them in our cabins. From there I went up to lunch in the Oceanview Café. On the way I passed the AquaSpa Café. They were serving but there were only a few people there and I was looking for a little more activity so I went on to the Oceanview.

Oceanview Café reminded me of RCI buffets with the different areas for salad, hot entrees, pizza, Asian, fruit, desserts, etc. I had a spring roll, what looked like a spinach filled empanada, half a slice of pork picata and some shrimp salad. It was all pretty good except I didn’t think the shrimp salad had much flavor. BTW, there are no trays and the plates are large, heavy square plates. I think this might be difficult for some passengers.

I sat at a table for two in a banquet area with a terrific view of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. I wished I had gone back up on deck when we sailed at 7 to see the SOL with all her new lighting that was installed for her 125 year birthday.

First I talked to a couple sitting beside me who were very nice (they are Giants fans and don’t like the Eagles so they were my kind of people) and very techy with iphones. Ipads, etc. They talked and texted at the same time which always impresses me. I was praying that no one would call me because my Evo4G phone had an unfortunate experience the day before I left home and time had made it necessary for me to activate the only other phone I had which was my old Motorola Razr. How embarrassing is that??? I felt 100 years old!

After they left I was still eating and drinking a glass of white wine when another lady sat down and we started to talk about cruising (she was a travel agent on her first ever X cruise), our mutual love of animals, etc. We sat there and talked till 4. The free flowing wine helped I’m sure. So it was a very pleasant afternoon.

From the café I went to my cabin (6104), made some phone calls, picked up a magazine and sat down on the bed, That’s all I know until 8:10. At first I wasn’t sure if it was AM or PM but finally figured that out and hurried to get ready for 8:45 dinner.

I really didn’t need to hurry because there was a huge line waiting to get in. I sat at the bar outside the deck 3 entrance to the MDR (Grand Cuvee). Talked to several groups of people, mostly travel agents, drank some more wine and hooked up with a group of four from California. The line was moving so we got in line for the restaurant only to be told they were full unless we were joining a group already seated. Then we were sent to deck 4 and finally seated a few minutes after 9. Service started off slow (it took maybe 10 minutes to get menus and water but after that things were as usual.

The menu was the typical first night. I had the goat cheese tart, mushroom soup, prime rib and Crème Brule. I thought I had heard/read somewhere that the menus were going to be special for this cruise but I guess not. The food was good and served on all white plates without the traditional X. The shapes of the plates were the same as usual except for the dinner plate which was a large oval. I sort of missed the ‘X’. The red wine they were pouring for dinner was Greg Norman Shirah. I had started with a glass of white which was just the house wine. It’s also what I had at lunch. Pretty good, certainly not bad and well chilled it hit the spot.

The casino seemed to be calling my name so I walked through admiring all the new slots. Even found a quarter Top Dollar machine. Judy and Terri will know I love that machine. Of course this was the new and updated version with two games and six reels. I watched a lady lose $10 or $20 pretty quickly so I was thankful that I had forgotten to bring cash.

One end of the casino was near the Silhouette Theater and I could see the some was still going on (this was about 11:20) so I walked in. The theater was not full but it seemed that everyone had taken an aisle seat. In order to get a seat without asking anyone to move I had to go down to the second row. This show was sort of a high energy circus type show with lots of things going on high above the stage. With my cervical fusion that’s kind of tough for me so I’m sure I missed some things. Terri, they even had someone doing a couple of the ladder guy things. Don’t worry, I didn’t applaud for him. He’s no Michael James that’s for sure! J

They announced at the end of the show that Kenny G will be performing on Saturday night at 8 PM in the Grand Foyer. I don’t want to miss that.

It’s after 2 AM so I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day and even with the nap I’m pooped!

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

Silhouette Day 2 November 5, 2011

After going to bed about 3AM I must have pretty much died in the comfortable bed. The bed is firm so if you like a softer mattress this may not be your favorite. I woke up, briefly, at 7AM, went back to sleep and finally came up for air at 10AM. Missed breakfast but went to the Silhouette Theater for Building Bridges, a talk followed by a q and a with Dan Hanrahan and the VP of sales (Dondra). Thank goodness they supplied coffee! They had Danish so of course I had some of those, too. I mean I hadn’t had any food since last night! Picked up a bottle of water and settled into a good seat in the second row, facing the middle of the stage. Turned out to be a wonderful seat because when they started the question and answer portion both of them came and sat on the edge of the stage, about 4 feet from me.

Lots of questions, most related to travel agents, about deployments, lack of ships going out of California, IT improvements and the new ‘Modern Luxury’ concept X is now using. They were careful to say it was not a category, not a tagline but a definition of what X is all about through the new ships (and the updates of Millennium class ships).

It was also mentioned about the ‘lost’ driver on our transfer yesterday. I think that was new information for Dan. Also some mundane questions about the lack of alcohol free beer in the bars for this cruise. That one deserves an eye roll!

Afterwards I went to the MDR to see what the offerings were for lunch. Even though I asked to be seated with others I was given a table for two and they promptly took the other chair away. I questioned that because I had hoped to have someone else seated there but the waiter just made a joke about having one of the waiters sit with me and still took the chair. Because the two tops are lined up with three side by side and only about 10 inches between it was almost like sitting with the couple next to me! They were tour organizers who work through an agency but let me know right away that they were not agents themselves. I tasted the Potato and Leek Soup (good) and the Shrimp Scampi over pasta. Pasta was overcooked, shrimp scarce (3), and I found a shrimp shell in the pasta. Yuck! Had a glass of house white wine.

Left the MDR and went to the buffet. Tried the egg salad (good), a pizza crust filled turnover (sort of like yesterdays only today the crust was VERY thick and difficult to cut so never tasted it), Pineapple (sweet), blueberry cheesecake (slices about 1” x 3” which was just the right size for a taste) and, of course, a glass of white wine. Actually, to tell the truth, I had two glasses.

From there (now remember, I was only tasting because I wanted to try different things) I went to the Gelateria (that’s a Celebrity word!) for gelato. Had a small cup of two flavors, raspberry and coconut. It was excellent! Had a cappuccino because the wine was taking effect! J

Visited The Lawn Club. It was very nice and the alcoves furnished with tables and upholstered sofas and chairs and a sail cloth type roof were well used even in the cold. They were just wrapped in blankets! The hammocks and extremely oversized Adirondack chairs (like 7’ tall) that you’ve seen in pictures were all there. No one was braving the Bocce Ball or Croquet (sp) court areas and I met a couple of women who were trying to walk through but had to stop and wrap towels around their shoulders. It was frigid! The restaurant was available by invitation only and I think someone else must have gotten mine! J I’ll have to try that next time.

I made a supposedly short stop at the iphone Lounge to print my boarding pass for tomorrow. That turned out to take quite a while. The signal kept being lost and I would have to start all over. Also tried to hook up to CC in there (I have not been able to access the message boards since I’ve been onboard) but only got an error message when going to boards. Could access every other CC page but as soon as you clicked on ‘message

boards’ up popped the error message. I could, however, send emails. And read the news on my Yahoo page. But no CC message boards.

All of the above took up a good part of my day so I returned to my cabin to shower and get ready for the evening.

I had no ice. Haven’t had any in the cabin since I got here nor have I met

my cabin attendant. Called room service for two cans of diet coke and some ice. Darn it the diet Coke was Coke Light and I hate that stuff! Must be some leftovers from their European cruises. I hope I can find some ‘real’ diet coke at one of the bars tonight. Needing my Coke fix!

Decided to go to one of the bars for a glass or wine but everything was packed. Ended up at the bar outside the deck 3 MDR. Plenty of room at the bar because everyone was carrying chairs from I know not where and lining the area around the Grand Foyer stage in anticipation of the Kenny G concert at 8. I waited and got a couple of pictures. Not sure if you can tell its Kenny G although the hair kind of gives it away!

I went up to the casino to play the quarter, 3 coin Top Dollar machine. This one was actually two games in one where you could play two sets of 3 reels for $1.50. I played back and forth between two machines until I had reduced my $50 to $19. I played the penny slots after that until I only had $11 to cash out. So I made my donation. Not many people in there, everyone was watching Kenny G!

Walked into some of the shops that were near the casino. Looked for an inaugural season tee shirt but they weren’t very interesting. Plain navy with white writing. Maybe they were supposed to be the less is more tee shirts. Didn’t really float my boat so I saved my money.

Went in to Micheal’s Club which was supposed to be playing a couple of college football games. Melanie, the TA I met from California the first night, had gone there to watch the game. Met up with her and a TA couple from NJ. Not really a raucous place for football watching. By this time it was 8:50 and we decided to go into dinner.

Sat at a table for four with a TA from Canada and her cousin. Melanie had met them the night before. Our table was about 10 inches from a table for two which was about 10 inches from a table for four! I just don’t get the thinking on this. It’s almost impossible to not be aware of what the next table is talking about. It’s really like a table for ten with a couple of cut thru areas for service. On this cruise every one was pretty much on the same page so it wasn’t a problem. However, on a normal cruise what happens to the couple who want a two top for a little private time? Or the foursome who don’t really want their conversations over heard? Seems like it could be annoying.

Dinner was the same menu I had on the formal night while on Millie. Beef Carpaccio, French Onion Soup (from the Classic Menu) and Rack of Lamb. The waiter was sure to tell us that it would be two pieces of lamb. As long as I can remember it has been 3 good sized pieces. The portion they served tonight was laughable. Two thin, thin pieces. The meat could not have weighed more than 2 to 3 ounces. I was really shocked! I mean I know they’ve cut down on the portion sizes but this was ridiculous! I felt fortunate to have not been very hungry because it truly was a very, very small portion. Beautifully presented. On the new heavy, white, oval platters. But tiny. Hope this is not what we have to look forward to. Not sure what size the servings of pasta were but now that I think of it both of the ladies at the table who did not have the lamb finished every morsel of pasta. I’ll try to speak to one of them in the morning and ask if it was a small serving. For dessert I had one of my favorites, After Eight Ice Cream.

Tonight it had kind of a funny after taste that wasn’t pleasant. Kept me from eating the whole scoop which is good but I sure had my mouth all set for it!

Service tonight at our table (near the kitchen door) was not nearly as good as it was the previous night

To say the serving size of the lamb was the talk of the ship after dinner would not be an understatement. In the Molecular Bar I heard it talked about. Even while walking thru the shops I missed before dinner: ‘My husband is still hungry even though he’s not a big eater’ is what one woman was telling another. ‘And we never saw the waiter until it was too late to order something else’.

Didn’t make it to the show as it was 11:15 when we got out of dinner.

Tonight was to be another primarily acrobatic show with a ‘solo’ dance on the bungee cord. Not sure what that meant but it sounded interesting.

We did go by Qsine where a lot of the X reps were having dinner. They had only been able to get a 9:45 reservation and when we went in I don’t think anyone had received their entrees. Looked like they were still having appetizers. Met reps for the California area plus the rep for Denver. All were very gracious about us crashing their party. BTW, Kenny G was at a nearby table having dinner. J

I made it back to my cabin a little after midnight. It’s now 1:45 and even though I will gain an hour at 2 I guess I better get some sleep. Breakfast is from 6:30 until 8. Shuttles to Newark start at 7:15 with the last one leaving at 9:15. It should only be a 20 minute drive unless we get the same driver we had on the trip in! J

Doesn’t seem like it will be much trouble to disembark. We didn’t go anywhere so no ICE people to deal with. No one has any luggage other than a carry on and there will be no porters. Supposedly we can just walk off starting at 7:15. Everyone must clear the ship by 9:15.

This has been a very exciting experience. I’ve loved seeing the ship and meeting lots of people. Not sure if I want to go on one of these big ships.

Although really, at 2850 passengers this ship is not that huge. That being said I can see that some of the friends I’ve made cruising would have a problem with the amount of walking there is to do unless they were careful to book a cabin in the mid section of the ship. My cabin is forward on deck 6 and it’s a hike to the elevators. One good thing is that you could work off some of the food you eat just by going from you cabin to dinner or the pool.

Once I’m home I’ll give it some more thought. I may decide to roll the dice and take a chance on a trip on a big ship. You never can tell where you’ll find me!

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

Will try to look back and read some of your questions. I'll answer what I can but this thing may boot me off after 20 minutes. And I'm too cheap to buy more since I'll be in Charlotte for my next layover and I think their Internet is free. I'm frugal!:D

[2SeaWithMe]

Wasn't this the AQ cabins for the cancer benefit through Gilt? Or was I mistaken?

 

Was there a reason they made you eat in the MDR? I was hoping for details on the Alex Guarnaschelli dinner.

 

Were you kidding about the chinese restaurant in one of your first posts? I had to ask, I was so confused by that. :o:D

[mcnyc]

Wasn't this the AQ cabins for the cancer benefit through Gilt? Or was I mistaken?

 

I just got off this ship and wish I had known that Tuggers was going to be there! Would have definitely wanted to meet up with you! Next time.

 

I'll post my review later, so as not to hijack Tuggers' post.

[tuggers]

mcnyc, I wish i would have known you were onboard!:) Two nights is just so quick! Hardly time to do anything!

2seaw/me, no I wasn't on the gilt deal. Never even met anyone who was. And if I mentioned a chinese restaurant I don't know what I had to say because I was never there! :rolleyes: Almost all of the specialty restaurants were invitation only. You have to remember that they had RCL officers, board members, department heads, etc onboard and they were using a lot of the venues. As I said, my invitation must have gotten routed to someone else by mistake!:eek:

Here are some answers to other questions and comments:

Michael, jury is still out for me on these big ships. I know they are not THAT big but it is an adjustment. Will post more once I get home and digest all of it.

Yes, the lawn club was nice and certainly a novelty but I think after I tried it initially I might not do it any more. Of course remember that when I was out there yesterday the wind was whipping and it was absolutely FRIGID. In a better climate I might change my mind!

Texed, thanks!

Ocean Dancer, some of its finally posted!

Derf, have fun. Sorry I didn’t get this in time to say your hellos. You’ll just have to do it yourself! J

Linda, must say I had better luck than you with the US Air FC. Everyone was very accommodating and they were Johnny on the spot with drinks and snacks. Even suggesting you take a few more of the crackers and cookies because my next flight would have nothing.

You’ll see where I said it’s a beautiful ship but the jury is still out as to whether I’ll make a habit of the S Class ships.

Joanie, No, it is not enough time. I saw as much as I could but I also wanted to have some fun so I didn’t spend every minute ‘viewing’ the ship. I had to leave time to sit in the bars and drink my wine! J

Judy, I had a LOT of fun but we probably could have had more if we were together! J At least gotten into a little trouble! The casino was never very full when I was there and I didn’t hear a lot of bells and whistles as if people were winning! The casino is a very nice size with lots of penny and quarter machines, many of them new (well, it is a new ship after all but I was referring to the type of games and not the machines themselves).

I made my donation and moved on!

Danna, of course I remember you! I try very hard to remember everything about Horizon and Zenith because there will be no more ships like them. Try the Equinox! You might be surprised. I’ll write more of my thoughts once I’m home.

Diana, HI! We may have a WINNER for you! Of course, that would be PLUS the patch and wrist bands!!! J

Thursdayschild, Gosh I wish I had gotten this earlier! I would have loved to meet up with you! I know you had a good time as I did but it would have been fun to have discussed some of the things I was thinking with you. Email me at tuggers1 at att dot net.

Donna, I miss you guys more every cruise. A reunion is what we need!!

Jim, thanks for the nice compliment!

Kathy, not really a lot of people I knew. Of course Capt. Pagonis is Master of this ship.

Dkj, this was the second cruise. They had a 2 night prior to this one where they had a North American naming ceremony.

Lucy, it is a beautiful ship!

Susie, thanks. I did have a great time!

Riredsox, wish I had seen some! I was looking!

Mary Ann and Joe, I could sure use another Baby Beach excursion! Followed by Tortola! Think of you guys often!

Host Andy, I’ll have a little more detail about those when I get home!

Beth, yes, the Millie update will be nice. So good to hear from you! It is a beautiful ship!

Walter and Albert, you will be hearing more! The silence was not of my doing! Darn those internet connections on the sea!!

Liz, you know it’ll be honest!!! If I don’t like something I’m pretty vocal about it!! J

[allentownahoy]

At the Q&A was there any discussion of whether there would be any Celebrity ships, other than the Summit part of the year, porting in Bayonne or Baltimore in late 2012/ 2013?

[tuggers]

US Air flights coming out of EWR were horribly over booked. Thought at one time I might take the incentive and catch a later flight but they didn't want to give me anymore for my FC seats than they were giving people in coach. In the end I stayed on the flight was booked on.

In CLT now and flight will not leave before 6 PM. That puts me into Jax later than I like. And I'm really tired. If I don't think I can safely drive I will stay over and come home on Monday. IF my neighbors can let Elliott out. My house sitter has already gone home. She lives a ways away so hate to have her come back. And I may get my second wind and drive home. Although, it really is my back and sciatica more than my exhaustion. Took some pills so maybe that will help!

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

allentownahoy, yes there was and we were told that those decisions had not been made yet and would be based on where they felt they could count on full ships without discounting. They told the travel agents to sell cruises out of NJ if they wanted ships to be based there after this season.

Company line really, nothing new. Bottom line is what moves the ships!!:)

[ThursdaysChild]

Thursdayschild, Gosh I wish I gotten this! I would have loved to meet up with you! I know you had a good time as I did but it would have been fun to have discussed some of the things I was thinking with you. Email me at tuggers1 at att dot net.

 

 

Gail, I would have loved to share some time aboard and thoughts with you as well. I actually asked two women if they were "Gail, aka Tuggers from Cruise Critic". Both were travel agents and looked at me as if I'd escaped an insane asylum. Anyway...I was on the GiltCity Groupe package. I love Celebrity, thought the ship was beautiful, and had a great time with some fun people I met, but experienced some lapses in service that seemed so out of place for Celebrity that I was thrown. The last, at breakfast this AM, upset me so much that I actually left the ship thinking perhaps I wanted to re-consider the solo TA I have booked on Silly for next April. Calmed down on the 40 minute drive home, however, and chalked the issues up to 1)the particular nature of this 2-day all-inclusive and 2)some issues of training/orienting staff.

 

I don't want to further hijack your thread, but will post a review here later in the week.

[ThursdaysChild]

The sciatica and back pain really can't have been helped by schlepping even the carryon luggage. I'm sitting at home with a heating pad wrapped around my lower back...lifting my two carryon bags on and off the bus, plus the loooong walk to my car in the parking lot were a bit more than I expected.

[designbymarcia]

Looking forward to your SCOOP as I am with you on the Mammoth ship deal.

X'd for you and having a great time.

Marcia

[tuggers]

Marcia! Long time since I heard from you! Are you still doing all the trips to Bali??

Liesa, I was blaming most of mine on the 7 hours I spent in hard, plastic chairs today while waiting in EWR and CLT! That was brutal!

Linda, did run into a gate agent in CLT who seemed to dislike me right away and was never much help. From what I gathered of her podium conversations with other gate agents what she resented was 'me' taking up one of her small number of priority boarding seats for hours. Huh????????

[Rancher Dave]

Marcia! Long time since I heard from you! Are you still doing all the trips to Bali??

 

Liesa, I was blaming most of mine on the 7 hours I spent in hard, plastic chairs today while waiting in EWR and CLT! That was brutal!

 

Linda, did run into a gate agent in CLT who seemed to dislike me right away and was never much help. From what I gathered of her podium conversations with other gate agents what she resented was 'me' taking up one of her small number of priority boarding seats for hours. Huh????????

 

Nice review of your experience!!!

 

Sorry to hear a petty airport agent had a problem with you...makes no sense, but then again a lot of folks who work with the public are thatway.

[TommyD3]

Great review, thank you :)

 

I was wondering if there was any discussion with Dan Hanrahan about the smoking in the Sky lounge or implementing a higher Captains Club level?

 

It bothers me that many times I can smell smoke in the Sky lounge during the Elite cocktail hour even on the far right side (smoking is on the left).

 

Celebrity had promised a higher Captains Club level when they implemented the changes to Elite (several years ago now). We were on the Silhouette TA just before you and they had 600+ Elites. The Sky lounge was packed most nights during the Elite cocktail hour. The numbers keep growing and very soon the Sky lounge will not be big enough.

 

Hope that you have recoved from your trip.

Tom

[hancock]

Gail, Have enjoyed your report. Looking forward to your feelings about the ship once you have settled back at home. Know the ship wasn't the Mercury! Know that KYCatCruiser/Michelle will also be interested.

 

Nancy

[Smartcookie]

Some photos of this cruise here

 

Pre-Inaugural Silhouette

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Linda, did run into a gate agent in CLT who seemed to dislike me right away and was never much help. From what I gathered of her podium conversations with other gate agents what she resented was 'me' taking up one of her small number of priority boarding seats for hours. Huh????????

 

Life is so much nicer when customer service people enjoy their jobs and are nice to people they serve! Sorry you had a grumpy one. Can't say that US Airways is my favorite airline. They seem to have a larger proportion of grumps.

 

P.S. Do you still have that Mercury magnet you got for me?

[tuggers]

Linda,

Not my favorite either but it's where I have a couple hundred thousand miles! Mostly from credit cards.

Of course I still have it and you WILL get it. I'm just terrible about mailing things!:rolleyes:

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Linda,

Not my favorite either but it's where I have a couple hundred thousand miles! Mostly from credit cards.

Of course I still have it and you WILL get it. I'm just terrible about mailing things!:rolleyes:

 

Yeah, I have quite a few miles with them as well--can't seem to talk myself into using them! Book a first class ticket to Europe--that will chew some of those miles up. :D If they have flat bed seats it's SO worth it.

 

Thanks for getting the magnet!

[tuggers]

Use them on Lufthansa. Their planes with the upstairs FC areas are awesome! 22 passengers and 3 flight attendants.

[tuggers]

Random thoughts on Silhouette:

Beautiful ship! Art is outstanding. And you can get an iPad with a program for a walking tour of the art. Don’t miss the series of fancy bird cages holding tiny screens showing video of birds in cages,

X is now going to be doing their own art auctions. No more ‘Park West’ type shysters.

Or the one that went belly up after selling on X ships several months ago. Soon if you buy art and have a problem you go right back to Celebrity.

Chairs in MDR are very heavy and difficult to move. Also did not care for the arrangement of tables in some parts of MDR. The lines of two and four top rectangular tables, just one after the other, with maybe 10” between was very odd to me. You never had a feeling that you could talk without people on both sides of you joining in. I thought this might be off putting to people who would like to be more private with their conversations. Or looking for a little romance!

Service in MDR was not up to X standards, from what I experienced. First night waiter was much better than the one I had the second night. Also had more personality!

My cabin steward (6104) seemed to miss a lot of things. It took until the last afternoon to get him to fill ice bucket! He appeared at 6:15 to clean my cabin when I had told him the day before that I had late seating and would be getting ready from 6 to 7. The first night (after coming at 6:30 while I was showering) he never came back to turn down the bed, replace towels, etc. Had to go to GR to get a complete daily. He left out the page with the officer listing and anything extra that was supposed to be included. I was told by GR that we should have access to the mini bar (I wanted to put milk in there) but he never unlocked it for me.

The service issues bothered me because I would have thought, on these two pre-inaugural cruises especially, service would have been TOP notch.

MDR food was good. Menus much like on Millie. Not the best of the X 14. The portion size of the lamb I have already mentioned although it was shocking enough to mention twice!

The buffet was well laid out with lots of seating.Various stations helped keep people

moving. You hardly ever saw ‘lines’. Outside seating was plentiful with some covered

and some open to the sun.

Liked the main pool area and also the way the lounge chairs were laid out. Made it feel

more intimate than having rows of chairs ringing the pool as it usually is.

Aqua Spa Café was open while I was on. The few things I sampled were very, very

good. Very pleasant seating area. On a longer cruise I think I would have breakfast

there regularly.

iLounge was nice with lots of laptops to use but it was small. With a lot of people in

there I found it a little claustrophobic. On this cruise there always seemed to be 3 guys

on duty so you could get help. You can also purchase iPads and iPods.

Of all the things that were free on this cruise the one I liked the best was the free Internet. Now if it had worked that would have been excellent! No idea why the Internet was off and on so much when we were so close to shore. The techs blamed it on ‘weather conditions’ and our ‘location’. Huh?? The other issue was that I could not bring up the CC message boards on either my computer or theirs. Kept getting an ‘error’ message. Host Anne emailed me today that she thought she had figured out the problem so hopefully passengers onboard now won’t have the same problem.

I LOVED The Hideaway on deck 7 with all the very unusual chairs plus coffee machines. There were cut outs in the walls with pillows that you could sit ‘in’, two cool chairs that are inside 9 foot tall enclosures referred to as ‘nests’egg shaped chairs and plush comfy chairs. It is forward of the glass elevators and can be seen when riding. I heard people talk about the ‘monkey chairs’ in the Hideaway but I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about. Let me in on that if anyone knows what they were talking about.

LOVED the gelato!

The art studio looked interesting but when I went up to look there was a line of about 15 people waiting their turn to get in. And it did not seem to be moving!

MDR issue for singles. Twice I went in alone and asked to be seated with other people. Both times I was seated at a table for two. Once they even took the other chair away! Spoke to another lady and she had the same problem. If this had been more than a 2day cruise I would have addressed this issue. As it was I let it slide. I know, I can’t believe I did that either!

Lawn Club would be nice if the weather had cooperated. On a warm day I think it would

be a very pleasant experience. Menu in the restaurant looked good. It was also invitation only for this cruise so no chance to try it out. I believe the charge for this restaurant is

$30.

Didn’t get to eat in Qsine but did visit a group while they were eating. For menus they use iPads and the presentation of the food is quite interesting. Every time a course was served out came the cameras! There are no categories such as appetizers, salads, etc. Everything is offered tapas like with many items meant to be shared. From my short time there it looked like fun food that definitely got everyone at the table involved and talking. This restaurant is the brainchild of JVS and if the ‘Q’ is supposed to stand for ‘quirky’, he got it right! I think the charge for this venue is either $30 or $35.

The Porch, I am told, is a great place for breakfast or a sandwich with a $5 per person charge. Truly I did not even get to look at this one but I’m told its very nice and worth the charge.

TV in cabin. Mine was a flat screen, large and on a hinge so you could pull one side out to make it viewable from the bed. When you did this it wasn’t seen as well from the couch. Since its just me in a cabin it wasn’t a problem.

For those who are HLN fans, it wasn’t on the satellite being used as we sailed our rectangular pattern close to shore. However, every other news program seemed to be available: CNBC, Fox, BBC, CNN, MSNBC and CNN World.

Celebrity Central is a smaller theater that I believe is designed for late night comedy shows. I may have missed it but I did not see any shows scheduled while I was onboard. I do like the late night comedy so hope that is what they are going to use it for.

[FortyNinerLiz]

Thanks so much for the great info!!! We are doing the BtoB TA in April and I will use all of your info!!!!

[tuggers]

I kept forgetting to post this. Sorry for the delay!

Captain: Nicholas Pagonis (aka 'The Rock Star')

Chief Engineer: Manolis Voulgaris

Staff Captain: Theodoros Zakkas

Guest Relations Manager: Alex Stylianou

Hotel Director: Sue Richardson

Cruise Director: Paul Baya

F & B Manager: Carlos Echaiz

Executive Chef: Thomas Stellbrink

The Captain and Chief Engineer were both on Horizon. The Captain was also Master of Century and Zenith. I have fond memories of his tenure on all three.

That's about it unless there are some questions.

Be glad to answer anything I can!

As always, thanks for reading!

Gail