Propulsion issue on the Silhouette!

[AllisonJames]

We will be posting a review soon, but just got back last Sunday and wanted to alert everyone to serious propulsion issues on the Silhouette, as a result the ship is travelling slower than normal and we were late into ports. The cruise before us they completely missed the port of San Juan due to this issue, people were not happy. We were on a Western Caribbean itinerary so did not miss any ports but got there later than usual, as a result some people missed their independently booked shore excursions -- definitely think twice before booking non-Celebrity shore excursions -- even on one of theirs, my husband paid $165 for golf and only got 14 holes in before they had to leave. They ended up giving us a little bit of a credit but we wanted the time in port. And the tendering issue in Grand Cayman is a nightmare, people without Celebrity excursions had to wait almost three hours to get off the ship. More coming soon!

[Christine Frances]

We will be posting a review soon, but just got back last Sunday and wanted to alert everyone to serious propulsion issues on the Silhouette, as a result the ship is travelling slower than normal and we were late into ports. The cruise before us they completely missed the port of San Juan due to this issue, people were not happy. We were on a Western Caribbean itinerary so did not miss any ports but got there later than usual, as a result some people missed their independently booked shore excursions -- definitely think twice before booking non-Celebrity shore excursions -- even on one of theirs, my husband paid $165 for golf and only got 14 holes in before they had to leave. They ended up giving us a little bit of a credit but we wanted the time in port. And the tendering issue in Grand Cayman is a nightmare, people without Celebrity excursions had to wait almost three hours to get off the ship. More coming soon!

 

It's fixed:D

[mduffy1834]

Isn't it in dry dock this week to get fixed? Hope so - we are on her in March and would like these issues finally fixed

[A1A]

The Silhouette has been in dry dock in the Bahamas for the last week where these issues were addressed. Your alert may be great for informational purposes, however, it looks as though the issues should have been resolved. You may want to monitor these boards to see if we get a report for folks sailing on her this week to ensure all is now well.

[Christine Frances]

The Silhouette has been in dry dock in the Bahamas for the last week where these issues were addressed. Your alert may be great for informational purposes, however, it looks as though the issues should have been resolved. You may want to monitor these boards to see if we get a report for folks sailing on her this week to ensure all is now well.

 

People are on board now!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45217829#post45217829

Edited January 11, 2015 by Christine Frances

[Stevekiel]

At 4:30 eastern watching Sillouette leave port on Port everglades web cam.

[Christine Frances]

At 4:30 eastern watching Sillouette leave port on Port everglades web cam.

 

She's beautiful!!! Hope they get better weather!

[ghstudio]

we should know quite quickly if the problems have been resolved just by looking at the speed of the ship tonight depending on where the first stop is....

Edited January 11, 2015 by ghstudio

[TeaBag]

Wish I were on her. She's my favorite ship so far.

[hcat]

As to the tendering issues..late arrival seems to have affected the schedule

 

BUT on our recent Reflection cruise , ship arrived on time, no propulsion issue.,.We chose to stay on board for Gr Cayman (been there many times)

 

While we were enjoying lunch in Bistro (great chef and soups) they announced that non excursion guests could tender..,that was around 1 pm....hardly worth it...glad we stayed on board and avoided it altogether..

 

, they need to improve disembark time with larger tenders!

Edited January 11, 2015 by hcat

[cle-guy]

We were on a Western Caribbean itinerary so did not miss any ports but got there later than usual, as a result some people missed their independently booked shore excursions -- definitely think twice before booking non-Celebrity shore excursions -- even on one of theirs, my husband paid $165 for golf and only got 14 holes in before they had to leave. They ended up giving us a little bit of a credit but we wanted the time in port. And the tendering issue in Grand Cayman is a nightmare, people without Celebrity excursions had to wait almost three hours to get off the ship.

 

I sailed your same itinerary. I was on the Western itinerary Nov 30.

 

I booked last year and found my itinerary as booked then:

• COZ 7am to 4pm
  
• Grand Cayman 10 am to 6pm
  
• Falmouth 8am to 5pm
  
• Labadee 10am to 5pm
  

Actual was:

• COZ 7am to 3:30 pm (30 min early departure)
  
• Grand Cayman 11am to 6 pm (1 hour late arrival)
  
• Falmouth 8am to 4 pm (1 hour early departure)
  
• Labadee 11:30 to 6pm (1.5 hours late arrival, 1 added hour departure, net 30 minutes shortened)
  

 

So in summary:

• COZ 30 minutes lost
  
• Grand Cayman 1 hour lost
  
• Falmouth 1 hour lost
  
• Labadee 30 minutes lost
  

 

Total of 3 hours lost over 4 ports of call. If only airlines were so good at their timing!

 

I think in Grand Cayman, as with any tendered port, anyone doing self-excursioning needs to assume a several hour delay on arrival. I was in a suite, so we got a tender before they even announced tenders, were on the tender at 11:45 (also allow time to set anchor etc, 11 am arrival does not mean 11 am disembarkation).

[Vivere LaDolceVita]

I sailed your same itinerary. I was on the Western itinerary Nov 30.

 

I booked last year and found my itinerary as booked then:

• COZ 7am to 4pm
  
• Grand Cayman 10 am to 6pm
  
• Falmouth 8am to 5pm
  
• Labadee 10am to 5pm
  

Actual was:

• COZ 7am to 3:30 pm (30 min early departure)
  
• Grand Cayman 11am to 6 pm (1 hour late arrival)
  
• Falmouth 8am to 4 pm (1 hour early departure)
  
• Labadee 11:30 to 6pm (1.5 hours late arrival, 1 added hour departure, net 30 minutes shortened)
  

 

So in summary:

• COZ 30 minutes lost
  
• Grand Cayman 1 hour lost
  
• Falmouth 1 hour lost
  
• Labadee 30 minutes lost
  

 

Total of 3 hours lost over 4 ports of call. If only airlines were so good at their timing!

 

I think in Grand Cayman, as with any tendered port, anyone doing self-excursioning needs to assume a several hour delay on arrival. I was in a suite, so we got a tender before they even announced tenders, were on the tender at 11:45 (also allow time to set anchor etc, 11 am arrival does not mean 11 am disembarkation).

 

Grand Cayman was an absolute nightmare. We decided not to drive ourselves crazy by queuing up and trying to get off as early as possible, ended up getting a ticket for group #41 and after 2 hours of drinking by the pool (thank God we had the bev package) finally tendered at about 1:45 p.m. Took a taxi and got to the beach at about 2:30. Since all aboard was at 5:30 and it took 20 mins to get to the port, we had about 2 hours total at the beach. Kind of sucked because the following day in Jamaica was totally overcast. (In fact this was the 1st cruise where I didn't come back with a deep tan.) We made the best of it but what a waste of a port day!

[OuiOnboard]

We did the Nov. 30 cruise also. The limited cruising speed was not a problem for us as we didn't go in to Grand Cayman and went ashore at other ports for short visits.In fact, we thoroughly enjoyed the smooth, relaxed pace (~17knots) at which the ship was moving. There were some who felt they were less well served due to complication/cancellation of their excursion plans, etc.

[HappySailer88]

Wish I were on her. She's my favorite ship so far.

 

Hi Teabag : Have you sailed reflection? The only reason I am asking is I have sailed Reflection twice and looking to try something different. Would the Silhouette be my next logical choice? I know this can be subject. Just looking for feedback

 

 

Thanks Dennis

[vulcan1971]

If the comments of the OP are any indication to the review she stated she would be providing soon (mentioned in a different thread), I can only imagine how many dissenting comments it will receive. She was concerned of being "flamed" because her "high expectations" weren't met on a recent cruise. I only wonder if the expectations were indeed "too high" based on what Celebrity states are its offerings.

[prim8keeper]

If the comments of the OP are any indication to the review she stated she would be providing soon (mentioned in a different thread), I can only imagine how many dissenting comments it will receive. She was concerned of being "flamed" because her "high expectations" weren't met on a recent cruise. I only wonder if the expectations were indeed "too high" based on what Celebrity states are its offerings.

 

While I can not speak for the OP, I certainly feel for them. We were also on this sailing and its the first time I have ever felt that X failed to deliver in a lot of ways. It was our fifth cruise with them. I've done photo reviews in the past, etc. however this time I've not posted anything on the main X board for the same fears of being flamed. I will probably post eventually, however I'm waiting to see what response back I get from X about my complaints.

[vulcan1971]

While I can not speak for the OP, I certainly feel for them. We were also on this sailing and its the first time I have ever felt that X failed to deliver in a lot of ways. It was our fifth cruise with them. I've done photo reviews in the past, etc. however this time I've not posted anything on the main X board for the same fears of being flamed. I will probably post eventually, however I'm waiting to see what response back I get from X about my complaints.

 

 

Thanks. I've always enjoyed your past photo reviews. Will look forward to hearing about your trip and any associated issues when you have them sorted.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network using Tapatalk Pro

[bakcd]

Onboard now. First sailing after drydock and no changes in our schedule. All appears to be good so far.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Celebrity Cruises]

While I can not speak for the OP, I certainly feel for them. We were also on this sailing and its the first time I have ever felt that X failed to deliver in a lot of ways. It was our fifth cruise with them. I've done photo reviews in the past, etc. however this time I've not posted anything on the main X board for the same fears of being flamed. I will probably post eventually, however I'm waiting to see what response back I get from X about my complaints.

 

Hi there,

 

If you don't receive a response, please feel free to message us at concerns@celebrity.com.

 

Additionally, Celebrity Silhouette had a successful dry dock, and we don't expect any issues with our upcoming sailings.

[prim8keeper]

Hi there,

 

If you don't receive a response, please feel free to message us at concerns@celebrity.com.

 

Additionally, Celebrity Silhouette had a successful dry dock, and we don't expect any issues with our upcoming sailings.

 

Thank you! I talked with the someone from X executive offices yesterday and the situation was successfully resolved. :) Looking forward to Eclipse in a month.

[tapacuk]

Looks like she's back up to speed. Saw her leaving Cozumel traveling 21.7 kn. on marinetraffic dot com. That's as fast as I've seen her sail since I've started following this issue. Seemed like up until she dry docked, max was around 17 kn.

[Vivere LaDolceVita]

Hi Teabag : Have you sailed reflection? The only reason I am asking is I have sailed Reflection twice and looking to try something different. Would the Silhouette be my next logical choice? I know this can be subject. Just looking for feedback

 

 

Thanks Dennis

 

We sailed on Reflection in Nov 2013 and Silhouette in Nov 2014. They're sister ships and honestly, there is very little difference. Molecular bar is smaller on Silhouette. There are other minor differences, which, IMO, make Reflection a slight improvement over Silhouette. Bottom line, if you enjoyed Reflection, you should enjoy Silhouette.

[Lady Chew]

Since we are boarding the Silhouette in

 

E I G H T

 

days, we are delighted to hear that she's back up to speed!!

 

And no, I'm not excited at all!!! :D

[LabGuy64]

Jeeze Curt,

 

I like Celebrity too but my god...you defend and make excuses for every critizism of Celebrity...what are you ?...the love child a couple of RCI board members?

 

 

 

I sailed your same itinerary. I was on the Western itinerary Nov 30.

 

 

I booked last year and found my itinerary as booked then:

• COZ 7am to 4pm
  
• Grand Cayman 10 am to 6pm
  
• Falmouth 8am to 5pm
  
• Labadee 10am to 5pm
  

Actual was:

• COZ 7am to 3:30 pm (30 min early departure)
  
• Grand Cayman 11am to 6 pm (1 hour late arrival)
  
• Falmouth 8am to 4 pm (1 hour early departure)
  
• Labadee 11:30 to 6pm (1.5 hours late arrival, 1 added hour departure, net 30 minutes shortened)
  

 

So in summary:

• COZ 30 minutes lost
  
• Grand Cayman 1 hour lost
  
• Falmouth 1 hour lost
  
• Labadee 30 minutes lost
  

Total of 3 hours lost over 4 ports of call. If only airlines were so good at their timing!

 

I think in Grand Cayman, as with any tendered port, anyone doing self-excursioning needs to assume a several hour delay on arrival. I was in a suite, so we got a tender before they even announced tenders, were on the tender at 11:45 (also allow time to set anchor etc, 11 am arrival does not mean 11 am disembarkation).

[cle-guy]

I am the voice of reason, using and stating facts, using actual numbers and details, rather than using rhetoric and assumptions as a basis for coming to a conclusion. I often include links to my sources with many posts.

 

Even in the post of mine you have just quoted, I have posted nothing but verifiable facts to come to my conclusion.