Silhouette Review with Pictures - Dec 23 - 30, 2012 E Caribbean

[cpgrneyes]

The chair hogs were outrageous on this cruise, but I think I would habe been compelled to complain or take the wicker off! Glad you got a picture of it. I was disappointed that the staff did nothing about the chair hogs. On one day, we did see them putting cards on the chairs, but no action was taken even after an hour and a half.

 

We ate at the Porch when we embarked as well, about 12:30, so we apparently dined together. Just walked by Oceanview (I THINK that's where she was), and there was a large pop up display for Alcoves. I asked if there were available alcoves and she said there were. Since we'd pre booked for the last sea day and I had no idea how insane it would be to get chairs, I wish I would have reserved for another day. However, I don't know if they were just available on port days or not.

[travelingirl70]

 

We ate at the Porch when we embarked as well, about 12:30, so we apparently dined together.

 

Too funny! Were you, by chance, a party of 2? Both using iPads?

[star453]

Fantastic review. Love the pics.

[peggydee]

Question, is there a 24 cafe on Deck 5, where you can get food.

thanks Peggy dee.

[travelingirl70]

The only 24 hour food was Ocean View Cafe, I believe. That is on Deck 14, aft.

 

Here's a sample of the various dining venues and their hours.

 

 

All of the Celebrity Today papers from our cruise can be found here.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1759034

[travelingirl70]

Desserts at Qsine:

 

Every chocolate lover has to try the Chocolate Tombstone!!!! It was a chocolate rice krispie crust, with chocolate mousse and a chocolate ganache topping. This should probably feed 5, but 2 of us polished it off ourselves!!!!

 

 

The decorate your own cupcake concept was fun - but probably basically just your standard cupcake. Fun for those who like to have an interactive meal, though.

 

The cupcakes are delivered in this case.

 

 

It opens up to 2 separate trays, one for the cupcakes, one with tubes of frosting and one with toppings.

 

 

 

The cheesecake is made with yogurt and looked beautiful, but was probably a little too healthy for DD's taste. (She devoured the Chocolate Tombstone with me instead.)

 

[travelingirl70]

The dessert menu lists Qsine surprise -- we ordered it both nights.

 

The first night, it was a chocolate molten lava cake. (Sorry, I only got a picture of it covered! DS devoured it as soon as he took the lid off, LOL)

 

 

The second night it was a warm apple pie.

 

[travelingirl70]

Tuscan Grill

 

 

The restaurant boasts one of the most beautiful locations on the ship with a gorgeous view of the ship's wake. We loved the decor, the wine barrels in the entry way. Everything looked amazing.

 

 

We also loved the menu options and felt it appealed universally to the 4 of us more than Murano. Unfortunately, the meal was just okay and not really worthy of a specialty up charge (although the view, in and of itself, was spectacular).

 

 

 

The service was just okay. We had our salads delivered and still hadn't seen the Sommolier to order wine. So we asked the Asst Waiter to get us a bottle. That was a little disappointing.

 

The food was good, but nothing special. We may have just caught it on a bad night or ordered the wrong things. Would I try it again? Maybe. It was a beautiful restaurant and we loved the menu, it just need a little something more.

 

My filet (good)

 

 

DH's fish (Good - it tasted better than it looked)

 

 

Lobster fetuccini (very good)

 

 

Shrimp and scallop scamp (good)

 

[travelingirl70]

Our desserts at Tuscan Grill were awful. Maybe my scale should be thankful, but we honestly left the desserts all barely touched. The tiramisu looked amazing but had no taste. And my chocolate fondue was cold. Not warmed at all. No, I didn't send it back. We were pretty full anyway.

 

Tiramisu - DH said it looked better than it tasted (pretty much tasteless)

 

 

Cold chocolate fondue

 

[travelingirl70]

The Lawn Club Grill

 

 

I made reservations here mostly for the novelty. I liked the idea of the lawn view and the interactive restaurant sounded like fun. Never did I expect to have one of the best meals of the entire cruise (and one of the best steaks of all time!) We were greeted by name (very impressed) and seated immediately. Our waiter was attentive and made some great recommendations. Both of our kids participated volunteered to cook and were brought to a hand washing station and given aprons followed by a quick course in preparing the flatbread. The Maitre'd announced them over the sound system and there were 2 large screen TVs up over the grill showcasing the guest chefs.

 

 

 

 

The service was attentive and the meal was delivered at a perfect pace. Not too rushed, not too slow.I had the filet, my husband had the rib eye and the kids had something else - NY Strip maybe? We had dirty rice, mac n cheese and corn for sides. The waiter also recommended we get the grilled shrimp and scallops with our steaks which were amazing.

 

The flatbread the kids made:

 

 

For dessert, we tried a little of everything - apple cobbler, cheesecake and their signature chocolate chip cookie. This isn't just any chocolate chip cookie, though. It is more like a chocolate chip cookie cake served hot right from the oven! A hands down winner!

 

 

 

 

We loved it so much we tried to get reservations again for the last night, but they only had 5pm (too early) and 9pm (too late) available. This may be the most underrated restaurant at sea. Perhaps because it is new - I think this is only on a couple of S class ships. I highly, highly recommend it!

[librarylady19]

thanks for the food porn!!

Chocolate Tombstone is DHs favorite dessert ever - we were talking last night about how we can't wait to have it at Qsine next Saturday!!!

 

We have LCG prebooked for our last night on Reflection - sounds awesome too.

 

If you do go to Tuscan grille again, try the pistachio creme brûlée - it's my favorite dessert:

 

Edited January 6, 2013 by librarylady19

[HopefulCruiser123]

Great pictures. I had been contemplating a romantic dinner at both Murano and Tuscan Grill while on our cruise in February, but after your review am thinking of the Lawn Grill instead of Tuscan (then I saw Libraryladies pic of the pistachio crime brûlée and knew I was hopelessly lost). My question is whether the seating at the lawn club grill is indoor or outdoor?

[Lois R]

Great pictures. I had been contemplating a romantic dinner at both Murano and Tuscan Grill while on our cruise in February, but after your review am thinking of the Lawn Grill instead of Tuscan (then I saw Libraryladies pic of the pistachio crime brûlée and knew I was hopelessly lost). My question is whether the seating at the lawn club grill is indoor or outdoor?

 

It is outside but does have roof:)....it is really good too. I was there

on Reflection last month and will be going again on Silhouette in

April.

[travelingirl70]

Great pictures. I had been contemplating a romantic dinner at both Murano and Tuscan Grill while on our cruise in February, but after your review am thinking of the Lawn Grill instead of Tuscan (then I saw Libraryladies pic of the pistachio crime brûlée and knew I was hopelessly lost). My question is whether the seating at the lawn club grill is indoor or outdoor?

 

This is a tough one for me --- I can honestly say we all thought the Lawn Club was hands down the best meal of the cruise. That being said, it isn't really romantic. You could definitely enjoy a more romantic setting at Tuscan Grill. Most reviews of TG have been positive which is why I think we caught it on an off night. I'm always leery of one negative review among many good ones. And our experience should probably be viewed the same way. If it's in your budget, I would do both (and Qsine, too!).

 

And, yes, that pistachio creme brûlée looks amazing!!!!!

[travelingirl70]

Cellar Masters

 

 

This turned out to be a huge disappointment. Granted, I recognize I never gave it a second try, but my Irish temper got the best of me. Here's my story. Cellar Masters is open from 11 am until midnight. I had grabbed the schedule for the wine events but never actually made it. One evening, around 5pm, I decided I would get a glass to take back to the room with me while I got dressed. We walked in and it was empty except for one other couple. I browsed a bit and the gentleman working never offered to help us. So I approached him and asked if I could use my SeaPass card or did I need to buy a wine card (I had read conflicting reports on CC.) He said I needed to buy a Wine Card and they came in set denominations. (I later heard I could have bought one in any amount, but he apparently didn't know that and, at the time, neither did I.) I asked to buy a $25 card and he said all he had was $100 cards. I didn't want a $100 card - no way was I going to sample $100 worth of wine in just a few days! He said to come back later when someone else was working who could help me. I stood there in disbelief. "Is there someone you can call?" I asked. He replied "The other person is on his break. I don't usually work here. Please come back in a half an hour."

 

 

Now, I don't blame someone for taking a break - of course not. But, how is it conceivable to place someone in the Wine Cellar who doesn't know how to serve a customer? Is 5pm such an odd time? So, I left. I didn't go back. Stubborn to a fault? Perhaps. But it aggravated me every time I walked past it. So I opted to go elsewhere instead.

 

 

I will say it is a fascinating concept. Several of the bottles were empty when we toured through, but they did have a nice selection and there were 3 sample sizes available, at 3 price points. Would have loved to try it.

 

Here are the Wine Events:

 

Edited January 6, 2013 by travelingirl70

[travelingirl70]

Cafe al bacio

 

We had the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package so we were regulars at the Cafe. We noticed lots of Ships Officers here as well, often using this as a meeting point. It seems they much prefer the coffee and lattes here than in the buffet! I am a tea drinker and found the tea to be excellent. My husband and coffee and cappuccinos and my kids frequently had hot chocolate. All were included in our beverage package. And, the pastries were great as well.

 

They had a cute seating area. Lots of people frequented Cafe al Bacio but we never had trouble finding a seat.

 

 

When you ordered your tea and coffee to take at the Cafe, they were served in beautiful cups. I loved the tea presentation.

 

 

Cappuccino was one of DH's favorites:

 

[travelingirl70]

We ate at Bistro on Five twice, once for breakfast and once for lunch. It was never crowded and the crepes were delicious. We particularly loved the dessert crepes.

 

 

 

[travelingirl70]

And one more!

 

[travelingirl70]

The "floating" tree was quite a sight. It's base was on deck 7, where our cabins were, so I marveled at it every time. All week long, we asked ourselves, how do they water it? One morning we saw it had been freshly pruned and couldn't figure out how. Alas, we discovered their secret. Here are my pictures of the tree, including watching them brush off the dead leaves and check it for water.

 

 

 

Note the bridge over to the tree base from The Hideaway.

 

 

 

And here he is, with triple safety harnesses, cleaning the base of the tree.

 

 

Another view from The Hideaway.

 

[travelingirl70]

To all those following along -- sorry for stopping my review so suddenly, but I came down with a monster head cold. Work and sleep has been about all I can handle. Slowly starting to feel better so I plan to resume my review this weekend. Plenty more to add!

[BugsyCruiser]

To all those following along -- sorry for stopping my review so suddenly, but I came down with a monster head cold. Work and sleep has been about all I can handle. Slowly starting to feel better so I plan to resume my review this weekend. Plenty more to add!

 

Hope you get better soon. That's all that is important right now... the review can definitely wait :)

[nothriver]

I'm enjoying your photos and review, and look forward to reading more when you are feeling better!

[midwestchick]

Wonderful pictures and report....thank you so much for sharing.

[Texed]

Thanks for posting. :)

[signman]

Great job. But I wish you had photos of your Lawn Club Grill meal, not just the desserts.

 

Get well and keep posting.