Review of Silhouette Adriatic, Nov. 18 2013

[Iluvcruising2]

We were on the same cruise.

 

Wonderful photos!

 

Please keep going. Eagerly anticipating the rest of the review.

[librarylady19]

Thanks for posting more pictures - fantastic! We are staying 4 nights in Florence after our May cruise and are trying to decide where to visit outside the city. Do you think Siena is worth a day trip?

Edited December 31, 2013 by librarylady19

[cruise kitty]

Gorgeous library, I agree!

 

The library was a real surprise for us, we spent way more time in there than in the main church part of the Duomo

 

Wow - wonderful photos and review!

 

Thank you!

[cruise kitty]

We were on the same cruise.

 

Wonderful photos!

 

Please keep going. Eagerly anticipating the rest of the review.

 

Thank you! I really enjoyed your review too :)

[cruise kitty]

Thanks for posting more pictures - fantastic! We are staying 4 nights in Florence after our May cruise and are trying to decide where to visit outside the city. Do you think Siena is worth a day trip?

 

Hi, Sienna is big, so it definitely could take up not just a day but probably many days, lot of winding streets to explore... I preferred San Gimignano, it's a medieval walled city that was smaller & had spectacular views.

 

I hesitate to advise because I'm no expert... my husband also liked San Gimignano if that helps.

 

It seemed to me that once you're inside of Sienna, you're cut off from the gorgeous Tuscan countryside, while with some of the smaller towns, you can still see the amazing views, I hope that helps you.

 

PS: over on the ports board, there's a member called Hank Hiltner, I think he's literally spent years driving around Italy, & I bet he'd have great advice for you.

Edited December 31, 2013 by cruise kitty

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Loving your review and your pictures!

 

A small tip for you. I noticed that you had all your magnets on the cabin door. The cabin walls also work with magnets.

[Iamthesea]

Love the review and the photos. We did this cruise last May. :)

 

No bread and no sugar. :eek: That's pretty hard for me to do...especially on a cruise. Love Celebrity's dark breads.

 

Thank you for reminding me about the magnet tip. Is there a certain brand that works better?

[cruise kitty]

Loving your review and your pictures!

 

A small tip for you. I noticed that you had all your magnets on the cabin door. The cabin walls also work with magnets.

 

Hi, thank you! & Happy New Year!

Love the review and the photos. We did this cruise last May. :)

 

No bread and no sugar. :eek: That's pretty hard for me to do...especially on a cruise. Love Celebrity's dark breads.

 

Thank you for reminding me about the magnet tip. Is there a certain brand that works better?

 

Ours are Neodymium magnets, I don't think the brand matters as long as they are made with that element, ours were rated at 50lbs, but that rating is for a horizontal surface, when they were on the door they held about 10 lbs each, on the walls, maybe a pound, the more solid the metal, the better the hold.

 

Happy New Year All! Will post more photos tomorrow :)

[Iamthesea]

Good point about the magnetic hold on different surfaces. I am cruising (and staying in same cabin) next with my 3 daughters and thought some extra hanging options would be ideal. :)

[cruise kitty]

Day 3 at sea:

 

We decided to try breakfast in Blu today, we tried it on our last cruise & honestly we didn't enjoy it very much, I get a little antsy being inside if the sun's up, however, it was pretty cold outside so we gave it a try, & really, really enjoyed it!

 

We both had massages scheduled so we headed to the spa area, the staff was friendly & gracious, & Persian gardens wonderful! There are heated tile lounges & a lovely view of the sea, steam room, rain shower, what's not to like here?

 

Very good massage, & no hard sell of products... probably because I wrote "no products please" with a happy face on my questionnaire form.

 

Tried to sit in the outside pool area for a while, but it was pretty cold, & windy so I headed to the indoor area, pretty soon it was pouring rain, but the scenery was too beautiful so I headed to the upper decks for some photos:

 

 

 

 

I'm not very good at sitting still, so about every hour or so on sea days, I would climb the stairs, there's a set of stairs between the indoor pool area & the spa, climbing up & down those 10 times a day was easier than trying to use the jogging track, it's way too crowded.

 

It was formal night for the MDR, but since we were in Blu, we went smart casual, now we eat early... on sea days we were there at 5:45, there was a good mix of everything, tuxes, suits, & smart casual like us.

 

Entertainment that day was a Galley Tour, talks on the development of Greek Democracy, & at night the Captain's Gala Toast & a Broadway themed show.

 

We did our "bar tour" again, & hit the casino for a bit, tomorrow, Corfu!

[cruise kitty]

Day 4, Corfu, Greece

 

Most of our arrivals on this cruise are at 7am, but Corfu was much later, 10, so we were able to sleep in a bit. I had an amazing day planned, we were going to rent an ATV & explore the island, however, the weather really interfered, so we really scaled back our day.

 

sailing in:

 

Where are we again? Oh, Celebrity!

 

There are buses that will take you to town for $12 pp, but we really prefer walking, & it's a very easy walk, we had a couple of scary moments with lighting strikes in the street, but at least we were outside & not in a bus.

 

 

 

Holocaust Memorial:

 

[cruise kitty]

Corfu, day 4 continued:

 

We just spent hour wandering Corfu, visited St. Spyridon, watched the workers putting up the Christmas Decorations, had lunch at an outdoor cafe, it was a very nice, & relaxing day!

 

 

 

 

 

it cleared up later in the day & we had some sunshine:

[cruise kitty]

corfu continued,

 

 

Getting ready to sail away:

 

Activities & shows for those interested:

 

Ballroom dance class, ilearn classes, Sizzle latin dance party, & David Howes in the main theater.

 

We went to bed relatively early as I would be getting up at 5 so I could be ready for the amazing sail into Kotor, definitely a highlight of the cruise!

[LPCKG]

Fabulous review can't wait to read all about your arrival into Kotor.

[cruise kitty]

Fabulous review can't wait to read all about your arrival into Kotor.

 

Thank you! We have company coming, but I'll try & get in done as soon as possible.:)

[cruise kitty]

Kotor, Montenegro, Day 5

 

Ok, company gone, so here I go again!

 

A little background; my husband & both work full time, but we also have what we call our "hobby job" we buy, restore, & sell vintage homes, I guess you'd say we are flippers, but since the the work usually takes us a good six months or more of our nights & weekends I don't know if it fits in that category... so why am I boring you with this info? Well, shortly after we booked this cruise we were tearing layers of carpet out of a 105 year old closet & found this in between the layers:

 

Another early day, but last night we got to set clocks back an hour! Yea for extra sleep! I was up at 5:30 & out on deck shortly after 6:30, for the incredible sail into the bay of Kotor. The bay resembles a Fjord, but it's really not, it's an amazingly well protected harbor surrounded by mountains & charming villages, to me it seemed like something out of a fairytale.

 

 

 

 

[cruise kitty]

 

 

Kotor is a tender town, but there's none of the madness of tendering in Greece, you just walk up to the table, promise that you are ready to leave right now, at this very moment... & you get your tickets, & head to the tender area. I believe we were on the second tender, our plans were to hike St. John's Fortress, head back down, take the bus to Perast & visit Lady of the Rocks Church, & then head back to Kotor for lunch & sight seeing.

 

Entrance to the walled town of Kotor:

 

 

Clocktower in the center of town:

 

 

[IrishLassie]

Loving your review & your pics are GREAT! :D

I thought your idea about the magnet hooks was great so I'm going to try to find some. Where did you buy yours?

Looking forward to the rest of your review. :)

[cruise kitty]

Loving your review & your pics are GREAT! :D

I thought your idea about the magnet hooks was great so I'm going to try to find some. Where did you buy yours?

Looking forward to the rest of your review. :)

 

Hi, thank you, I bought my on Amazon

[cruise kitty]

Kotor, Day 4 continued

 

The path to St. Johns:

 

 

 

 

 

We're so happy & proud of ourselves here, but we're nowhere near the top yet!

[cruise kitty]

Kotor, Montenegro, Day 4, continued

The pathway up is a bit strenuous, mainly because it had rained in the night & there were slippery spots, & spots with missing steps as well as a few portions where you climb with a sheer drop on one side.

 

 

metal bridge which replace the old drawbridge:

 

 

It took us about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the top, we stopped for lots of photos & just to take in the scenery

 

 

 

This photo was taken just a few minutes after the previous one, clouds were rolling in over the mountains from all sides & it was getting darker & windier by the minute:

 

[LPCKG]

Wow!

 

Kotor is one of our ports of call in June and after seeing your fabulous pictures I'm so looking forward to a very unique early morning arrival!

[cruise kitty]

Kotor, Day 4 continued

 

We decided we should high tail it down, but it was too late, there was amazing booming thunder & it started pouring,

 

 

 

 

 

It let up to a steady light rain, but everything was so slippery now, & it's so steep going down, & I was drenched, we hadn't brought our umbrellas, plus they would have been no use as you definitely needed both hands to keep from falling. My husband stuffed my cashmere sweater vest under his water prof jacket along with the camera to protect them, so I don't have many photos till we got to the bottom. It took us two hours to get down, but by the time we made it to the bottom I was mostly dry.

 

 

Me, trying to keep my sweater & camera dry: (it didn't work, hubby to the rescue!

 

 

We headed into a wonderful little pub for some local beers & a rest:

 

 

At this point, we decided to save Perast for the next visit (I'd do this exact same itinerary again in a heartbeat)

[cruise kitty]

Wow!

 

Kotor is one of our ports of call in June and after seeing your fabulous pictures I'm so looking forward to a very unique early morning arrival!

 

Absolutely, be on the top deck early, once you are thru the main channel & close to the villages, breakfast on the outside deck on one of the tables against the rail is just wonderful, hope you have a lovely time! :)

[cruise kitty]

A few last shots of Kotor, btw, if you're a cat lover (we are... but hate to see them outside) there are dozens of adorable cats roaming Kotor

 

 

 

We spent a few hours just roaming Kotor, did some window shopping... I'm not much of a shopper, for a female, I think I'm missing the shopping gene, but in every port we did buy 3 things, DH would choose either a local oil or spice or sauce, & I would buy a bar of local soap & a Christmas ornament.

 

We also bought postcards to be mailed at the local post office...the ship will mail them for you, but you won't get the great stamps & postmark... before we go on a trip I print out a sheet of address labels (including our country) for us, our kids, & parents, I just stick the address label on, don't bother to write anything, but everyone, including us, gets a great souvenir from each port, & we have something to look forward to when we get home.

 

We ended the day at a little outdoor cafe on the main square, a couple of more beers, & Steve got in about an hour of work, almost all of the outdoor cafes in Europe offer free wifi, & it's fast & great, wifi on the ship was so mournfully slow that it would have taken hours for him to get anything done on the ship. I have one last shot of a huge & adorable dog to show you, but it's not loading, so I'll try to post it later.

 

Next day is Dubrovnik!