!!! SILHOUETTE !!! Western Caribbean- The Ultimate Review & Complete Pictorial Guide!

[gambee]

Back at the dock I got some great pictures of X Silhouette, I just wished the sky would of cooperated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Carnival Paradise had docked already

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Everytime you board the ship they have refreshments and sometimes cold towels, I am sure they come in very handy after a hot day. But not for this cruise, lol, I wanted some hot coco.

 

 

 

Back in the ship we went to the room to shower and change. The weather had slightly improved.

 

 

 

 

Then it was up to the buffet for lunch

 

 

A little action by the pool.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[voyager90265]

That is rather rude. Do not read the review if you are not finding the information you desire :(

 

Totally agree Librarylady19...I for one am a ship nut and am savoring every bit of Gambee's review. I am working my way through the Celebrity fleet and have yet to sail aboard "Shilo." There are plenty of port intensive reviews throughout CC. The only problem is I am now "jonesing" for my next cruise (next month)! Ahh...well..I have four booked so it won't be too long.

 

Tremendous work and thank you..... Mike

 

PS: Librarylady19...you are also a heroine of mine for your spreadsheet! I cannot tell you how helpful it has been in plotting my adventures at sea over the last couple of years. Thank you too!

[gambee]

Gambee almost always skips dessert at buffet, that's the only way I maintain my not so slender physique :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Back outside we found our favorite table available with a great view of two cruise ships

 

 

 

 

Mom's food

 

 

My salad

 

 

and my plate, everything very good. Please note the cheese in the pizza :D

 

[gambee]

But this time I came prepared :D

 

By the way, we left those pills in the table. Can you believe that mom would spend the entire day asking around for the pills. But no go, I had resigned myself to not eat any more cheese for the rest of cruise. :(

 

 

This are the only pics I took from the bar inside the Buffet, unfortunately they came out blurry. But I rather post them than not have the picture at all.

 

 

 

 

 

Ok folks that's it for this set, I will start working on the next set and post it when its ready. I think this is the longest set I have ever posted :)

 

 

[gambee]

Happy Birthday!!! :cool:

 

Happy Birthday Gambee!!! :D

 

Happy Birthday Gambee! Great review :)

 

Thank you everyone =)

 

 

Just came across this and am slowly catching up!!! Amazing so far, so helpful for my upcoming cruise on her in Jan!!!

 

Glad you found me, welcome aboard!

 

 

Hi Gambee,

 

Thank you for such a wonderful review. I am really enjoying following along.

I am looking at a new camera for our next cruise through the Panama Canal. I currently have an Olympus tough camera which is my first digital camera as I really found it hard to make the change over from film.

 

Whilst the camera I have is great for all things underwater and general shots the zoom is non existent. I have read up on the camera you have and really like what I have read but I was wondering if you can give a little bit of feedback on the zoom that comes with the camera. For someone that does want to be able to take long distance shots on vacation (once a year roughly) is the zoom enough or would you really recommend getting the other one you have?

 

Thank you

 

Carla :)

 

Hello Carla, well I just want you to note that this camera depends on interchangable lens, so how much zoom you have depends on what lens you get.

 

That said, the camera comes with a 3x zoom lens, which is an ok zoom, but you can buy the 70-210 lens and tht is about 10x I think. The picture quality of the camera is great and I enjoy using the camera very much. But you might want to consider something a little smaller like a super zoom point and shoot.

[garyinftl]

Gambee, my partner and I are going on the Celebrity Summit in November (first Celebrity cruise for us) and I am finding your info and pictures very helpful. We have been on Princess and Disney before.

 

Our cruise includes the free classic beverage package. I was a bit dismayed to see in your posted menus that a lot of the special drinks are priced at $8.50 when the classic package includes drinks up to $8.00. You would think they would get those things in sync. Or maybe it is intentional to push people to the premium package upgrade.

 

Again, thanks for all the stuff.

 

Gary, Fort Lauderdale

[gambee]

Happy 21st birthday Gambee! Enjoy your day!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

 

21? chuckles well that is great, I always thought I looked younger, but not that young ;)

 

Happy Birthday Gambee!! :D

 

Thank you :)

 

Really Gambee....wouldn't that be akin to "gilding the lily" after your superlative review. :rolleyes:

 

Happy Birthday!!!! Have a dirty martini,, or 2.

 

 

thank you, or maybe 3.

[gambee]

Best birthday wishes to you Gambee! Cheers.

 

Happy Birthday and thanks for your wonderful review.

 

Happy Birthday!!! Don't work too hard today! :D

 

 

Happy birthday...hope it is a good one! :)

 

Happy Birthday :) Loving your review...

 

Happy Birthday!:)

 

 

Happy Birthday Gambee!:D

 

 

 

Thank you folks, I appreciate it =)

[Eng23]

 

Gambee, I copy and pasted your photo for this post. I hope you don't mind. I saw this pool bar the last time I was in Cozumel. IIRC it is actually part of a hotel that is in that alley you were in with the shops. :)

Edited April 6, 2013 by Eng23

[gambee]

Started reading your review and have subscribed to it so I won't miss anything. Your photography is amazing! Also read your Allure and, thanks to you, Bugsey 4271's Oaisis review this week. Also following Chris on his "live" review. Thanks for sharing your cruise with us and all the hard work that goes into composing such a great review. Have a great Birthday!

 

Glad you are enjoying the review :), thank for your kind words.

[gambee]

 

Gambee, I copy and pasted your photo for this post. I hope you don't mind. I saw this pool bar the last time I was in Cozumel. IIRC it is actually part of a hotel that is in that alley you were in with the shops. :)

 

Not at all, oh ok that explains it. That was the first time that saw something like that.

[gambee]

Ok gambee, after catching up and reviewing a few early posts I have my first official questions. Specifically in post 178 and the Gorilla Pod, how much did the Gorilla Pod cost? Is it adaptable to different brands and types of cameras? It looks like a very durable accessory for stabilizing a camera. Thanks for the info when you get around to answering. :)

 

That gorillapod is actually made for the compact system,(heavier cameras like my NEX) but it serves perfectly for my point and shoot camera. That device is easily the best purchase that I have made for my camera. It simply rocks!!!! sturdy as hell and so easy to set up and wrap about just about anything you see. Now that I have it, I could not imagine traveling without it. As long as your camera has a tripod screw (universal) it will work, they only thing is that you have to buy the more sturdy one for heavier cameras. Mine is called the hybrid and cost $40, it is well worth the price. Incredible item, you wont regret buying it.

[gambee]

HAHA! I totally saw the spots on a few of his pictures only because of the beginning of this review!! :p Now I am always going to be looking for "the spots!" Yes...unfortunately I have mild OCD! ~Thank again Gambee.. :D

 

Yeah his camera was pretty dirty, but now it is squeaky clean :)

[gambee]

You might want to look at Sony dsc hx20v. Great for travel. How much do you want to carry?. Also 30v makes a great travel camera. I leave my dslr's at home. Gps is a bonus.

 

Bcook01atme.com

 

 

GAMBEE

 

I appreciate the amount of time and energy you have invested to create your reviews! Kudos. And thanks

 

Bob

 

You're welcome Bod, glad you like it.

[raerom]

Happy Birthday Gambee!!!! Today is my brother’s birthday too! I’ll have a piece of cake in your honour!

 

The “butt” scene of the guy at the dolphin swim reminds me of our Dolphin swim in Santa Maria, Cuba. This poor women’s bikini bottoms kept coming off. She was so embarrassed. I thinks this happens all the time.

[gambee]

Gambee thanks again for cleaning that sensor, much appreciated. When I arrive in Miami for Reflection definitely buying you a drink sir :)

 

No problem :), have a great cruise!

[gambee]

Happy birthday, Gambee. Although I think we're the ones who are getting the best present to tell you the truth! My husband and I sat down together last night and read all the updates on your review and laughed so hard. You're so comical. I hope one of these days we'll be lucky enough to have you on a future sailing!

 

Can you do us a favor, too? Could you post this review in the sticky at the top of the page, where it says "Back from your Celebrity sailing?" That way your story will be easy to find no matter how much time goes by. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=839874

 

I just did, thank you for telling me to do so. I was not aware of that section.

 

I will see you around.

[gambee]

I agree ;) I am debating about moving on up to a DSLR, your review might just have pushed me over the edge :D I am just worried about being paranoid the whole time of damaging/dropping it or someone stealing it :cool: p.s. Happy Birthday!

 

Yeah, I am over my equipment all the time. Not so much for damaging it, but more so from it getting stolen.

 

Thank you :)

[gambee]

I'm dropping in on this thread... ;) I ran into Gambee on our cruise at the MB and his camera size is so perfect that I am probably going to pick one up myself for our Mediterranean Cruise. I am a professional photographer and made the mistake of bringing my DSLR plus multiple lenses & gear on our Mexican cruise last summer. While the pictures turned out to be stunning, I had to lug them around with me EVERYWHERE because I was too paranoid about losing them or them getting stolen. As much as I would love to have the camera on my upcoming cruise to Europe, I just can't see myself bringing it with me everywhere and instead want to invest in a solid point and shoot. I didn't bring ANY camera with me except my iPhone for our Caribbean cruise last week, but the iPhone 5 seriously has an amazing camera on it that worked perfectly! (Minus no zoom.)

 

Anyway, all this to say that DSLRs aren't necessarily the way to go when traveling. I will definitely be following your recommendations to get a solid point and shoot for traveling. I'm on vacation, after all!

 

By the way I never asked you, what kind of photography do you do?

 

But yeah the NEX system is great for traveling, I absolutely love it.

 

 

The trick as we learnt on NCL Epic in 2010, is to get ask for small glass of SODA water and some napkin. Put napkin in soda water and dab on the spills on clothes. Most times the stains disappear when dry.

 

Enjoying your review and the martinis!!

 

Thank you for following =)

 

 

Totally agree Librarylady19...I for one am a ship nut and am savoring every bit of Gambee's review. I am working my way through the Celebrity fleet and have yet to sail aboard "Shilo." There are plenty of port intensive reviews throughout CC. The only problem is I am now "jonesing" for my next cruise (next month)! Ahh...well..I have four booked so it won't be too long.

 

Tremendous work and thank you..... Mike

 

PS: Librarylady19...you are also a heroine of mine for your spreadsheet! I cannot tell you how helpful it has been in plotting my adventures at sea over the last couple of years. Thank you too!

 

Glad you like Mike, thanks for following and stopping by.

[gambee]

Gambee, my partner and I are going on the Celebrity Summit in November (first Celebrity cruise for us) and I am finding your info and pictures very helpful. We have been on Princess and Disney before.

 

Our cruise includes the free classic beverage package. I was a bit dismayed to see in your posted menus that a lot of the special drinks are priced at $8.50 when the classic package includes drinks up to $8.00. You would think they would get those things in sync. Or maybe it is intentional to push people to the premium package upgrade.

 

Again, thanks for all the stuff.

 

Gary, Fort Lauderdale

 

Hey Gary, you probably live near me. Hit me up by email maybe we can sometime or something and chat about cruising :D.

 

 

Yeah most of the drinks I like are in the premium package, that is exactly why we decided to upgrade. Honestly for the cost of the upgrade I totally think it's worth it. If not you would have look around and sure you stay under 8 bucks, if you go over they charge you the cost of the full drink.

 

But yeah I would imagine that they want people to upgrade to the premium, they have to make money somehow.