BEAUTIFUL SILHOUETTE - East Caribbean - Photo Video Trip Report 3/1/15

[EvelynAlexa]

Thanks to everyone for posting and the photos.

Eve

[mpace58]

I am loving your review. From the aft outside ocean-view are you able to lean down and see in the aft balconies? We have an aft next year (2154) and were wondering how private that balcony is.

Thanks!

Yes - from the Ocean View you can look down and see about 1/2 of the veranda is exposed.

[Hshag]

You're report is fantastic..... Thank you so much

Harry/Patty Shaughnessy

[APDMOM]

I'm enjoying your review! We are contemplating a cruise on Celebrity during Thanksgiving 2016... Either Silhouette or Reflection. :)

[FRMPEI]

I am loving your review. From the aft outside ocean-view are you able to lean down and see in the aft balconies? We have an aft next year (2154) and were wondering how private that balcony is.

Thanks!

 

Yes - from the Ocean View you can look down and see about 1/2 of the veranda is exposed.

 

Just to confirm what my friend Mark posted here are a couple of photos from our 2012 Solstice cruise.

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Thanks to everyone for posting and the photos.

Eve

 

You are welcome.

[FRMPEI]

You're report is fantastic..... Thank you so much

Harry/Patty Shaughnessy

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

 

I'm enjoying your review! We are contemplating a cruise on Celebrity during Thanksgiving 2016... Either Silhouette or Reflection. :)

 

I don't think you could wrong on either one of those choices.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Day 2 - Sea Day #1 - Connection Party/Meet & Greet

 

 

Our roll call was not very active and no special gathering were organized other than the official Cruise Critic/Celebrity Connections meet and greet. I signed our group of six up for the gathering. When we finished breakfast we did not have much time to get up the Lawn Grill for the meeting at 9:30 AM.

 

 

I think we got there at 9:30 AM on the dot and if our group had not of shown up the seniors officers would have out numbered the Cruise Critic guests. I think every senior officer was there except for the captain. I recognized the HR rep from our 2013 behind the scene tour. It is so common for so many to sign up and so few attend. Unfortunate! We made the most of it and enjoyed the conversation we struck up with few that did attend.

 

We took a couple of pictures of Lawn Club while we were there.

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Day 2 - Sea Day #1 - Galley Tour

 

 

The heart of the Operation - Galley Tour was scheduled for 10:30 AM and most of our group wanted to check it out. We rushed down from the meet and greet and got there right at 10:30 and were assigned to group # 18. I would guess there was at least 400 people there and we walked to the back of the Grand Cuvee for a seat. I don't think Donna is really interested in this tour by the next pic? If fairness to Donna she had done this tour before. The boys wanted to do the tour so mom did what her boys wanted. Nolan missed out on the Carnival Valor galley tour back in 2011 because he had over indulged the day before in Cozumel.

 

 

Food and Beverage Director, Angel Dimitrov, was the MC while the Executive chef, Carlos Miguel Fernandes, entertained questions from the groups waiting for their number to be called. They were a very good combination and were able to insert some comedy into questions I am sure they hear every cruise. IMO most of question were either of the dumb variety or just plain boring roll your eyes questions. Example! "How do you handle Special Dietary Concerns?" Executive Chef, Carlos Miguel, with a straight poker face responds, "We Don't Care.". The people remaining got the joke and laughed.

 

 

Our group was lead by the head chef responsible for all specialty restraurants. He was quite enthusiastic about giving the tour and did a good job at it. During the tour Nolan realizes that he left his Rx sun glasses back on the table in the grand Cuvee. Nolan's mom save the day and went back and retrieved them for him. The galley is walls and rows of stainless steel that of course are very clean.

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Edited April 4, 2015 by FRMPEI

[FRMPEI]

Day 2 - Sea Day #1 - Galley Tour Exit

 

 

The Galley tour exits you in the Specialty Dining area and each dining venue has a display setup to entice you book a reservation. During our Lawn Grill meet and and greet we noticed that they were cooking some food up and it was for their Galley tour display. No enticing required for our group we already had all of our reservations made.

 

Qsine's Display

 

 

Lawn Grill's Display

 

 

A quick shot inside Blu

 

 

Murano Interior

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Michael's Club

 

 

We passed by Michael's Club numerous times during the week and what a super waste of space this is. Why? All the times we passed by saw NOBODY in there and on the rare time there was any activity maybe a couple of people. Even before Michael's was a Suites only venue it was under utilized. Now it looks like it is even more under utilized. Waste of space and resources IMO. Perhaps Celebrity should re-think the use of this space or at least allow the Sky/Aqua Suites entrances and maybe it would see a bit more utilization. Maybe Luminae should have been built/renovated here rather than changing the look and feel of the Main Dining Rooms. Just my thoughts.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[mpace58]

Michael's Club

 

 

We passed by Michael's Club numerous times during the week and what a super waste of space this is. Why? All the times we passed by saw NOBODY in there and on the rare time there was any activity maybe a couple of people. Even before Michael's was a Suites only venue it was under utilized. Now it looks like it is even more under utilized. Waste of space and resources IMO. Perhaps Celebrity should re-think the use of this space or at least allow the Sky/Aqua Suites entrances and maybe it would see a bit more utilization. Maybe Luminae should have been built/renovated here rather than changing the look and feel of the Main Dining Rooms. Just my thoughts.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Agree 100%. Last cruise our Muster Station was actually in Michael's club. When we got there we went to the bar and asked if we could get a bottle of water. We were told no. The water is only for Michael's Club members. Really? It's so elite that we couldn't even get a bottle of water while we waited through the Muster Drill. Craziness. The entire trip I saw 5 people in that club.

[FRMPEI]

Heartbeat of the Operation - Galley Tour Video

 

Attached below is quick 4 minute video of the galley tour hosted on my Vimeo channel. Give it a click. All clips, except the second one, were captured with a Go Pro mounted to my baseball cap via a Go Pro Hat Clip. Very useful mount that come with the Go Pro Helmet Strap.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Day 2 - Sea Day #1

 

I tend to use pictures with people in them to tell my story. I know there are some folks who like to see just pictures of the ship and I will try to include some of those pictures as well. The Galley Tour is very good for a first timer but I think next year if Donna and I are solo cruising on Eclipse we will pass on the galley tour.

 

My God! it must be near time to eat again? On our way out of the Specialty/Ensemble area of deck 5 we took some random/wandering photos.

 

Donna and Nolan picture by sister Michele. I like this picture. We actually took some nice pictures in this area during the week.

 

 

Adam looks guilty in next photo. Not sure what he did? Adam?

 

 

I just love this Gelato place.

 

 

I like to call these "depth charge" lifeboats.

 

 

A couple more pics outside on deck 5 starboard side.

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Texasopa]

Heartbeat of the Operation - Galley Tour Video

 

Attached below is quick 4 minute video of the galley tour hosted on my Vimeo channel. Give it a click. All clips, except the second one, were captured with a Go Pro mounted to my baseball cap via a Go Pro Hat Clip. Very useful mount that come with the Go Pro Helmet Strap.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Kevin, I just purchased a GoPro +3 Black for our upcoming Alaska trip. Do you mind telling me what resolution and speed that was done at. Also what was the battery life and were you using the Bluetooth.

Thanks

[FRMPEI]

Kevin, I just purchased a GoPro +3 Black for our upcoming Alaska trip. Do you mind telling me what resolution and speed that was done at. Also what was the battery life and were you using the Bluetooth.

Thanks

 

I shot my videos (I made sure I had all my camera set the same) at 1080p 60fps setting. The 60fps will give you that little extra if you want want to slo-mo your video when editing. Now the 3+ Black has one added resolution over the 3 Black in that it can shot in 1080P Superview which gives more of a wide angle fish eye view. I like the fisheye style. I also set both Go Pro to capture still images at 12MP. With the proper light the Go Pro can take a nice picture. I think for the price point right now the 3+ Black is a super deal (if you can still find) compared to the very expensive 4 Black. When you compare not too much difference. The Go Pro 4 had better 4K recording than the 3+ but, I don't want to shot in 4K because I have no device that can replay it. Besides you we require super fast large expensive SD cards.

 

Bluetooth/Wifi can suck the life out of your battery. Just use it wisely. I highly recommend besides extra batteries to also purchase a PacBac Battery which will easily 2x, 3x increase your shooting time. When we went zip lining both Go Pro were fitted with a BacPac battery and never even came close to running out. They were continuously on and off for 2-3 hours.

 

I use Final Cut Pro X for editing rather than the free Go Pro software. The free Go Pro Software is good if you captured thousand of photos and want to make a time lapse.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

DAY 2 - Sea Day # 1 - Lunch, Gelato, Trivia

 

Lunchtime so where should we eat? Main dining room or Oceanview? Donna likes to be able to eat outside of the Oceanview aft. I am okay with that as long as I am not in direct sun. We are able to wrangle up two table for the six of us to sit at. I volunteered to stay at the table while the others got their food. The Oceanview was quite busy for lunch today and still quite busy when we finished up around 1:30 PM.

 

 

AT 2:00 PM there was an iPad class going on in Celebrity Central so I asked the boys if they wanted to come while the women and Louis stayed up deck 14 to get some sun. In the past I have attended these "i' classes and they haven't been to bad. But, this one was BAD is was just to remedial and anybody who owns an iPad would already know the thing the instructor had covered. The teacher had no charisma at all. The boys demanded from me to have that hour back. in Fairness to the class the boys and I are pretty hardcore Apple fanboys. After this iPad fiasco I had to go with the boys to the 4:15 Trivia in the Ensemble Lounge. I offered Gelato to the boys as compensation for the hour lost but I ended going by myself.

 

 

 

This is Nolan take on rule breaking in Oceanview:

 

First the sign

 

 

Then Nolan bravely taking his flip flops off and steps foot into Oceanview. I raised a rebellious young man.

 

 

I am not a hardcore trivia person but I don't mind going especially with my boys. I am pretty good at 70's and 80's music trivia while Adam is really good at geography and American History ( Yes! he is Canadian). The trivia had 15 questions and we only got 10 of 15 for a distance second place. The activity person hosting the Trivia was from Mississauga, Ontario and handled himself like a real professional. We were surprised after talking to him he had just started with Celebrity and this was his first week.

 

Elevator selfie of the "Eh" team going off to play Trivia.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Texasopa]

I shot my videos (I made sure I had all my camera set the same) at 1080p 60fps setting. The 60fps will give you that little extra if you want want to slo-mo your video when editing. Now the 3+ Black has one added resolution over the 3 Black in that it can shot in 1080P Superview which gives more of a wide angle fish eye view. I like the fisheye style. I also set both Go Pro to capture still images at 12MP. With the proper light the Go Pro can take a nice picture. I think for the price point right now the 3+ Black is a super deal (if you can still find) compared to the very expensive 4 Black. When you compare not too much difference. The Go Pro 4 had better 4K recording than the 3+ but, I don't want to shot in 4K because I have no device that can replay it. Besides you we require super fast large expensive SD cards.

 

Bluetooth/Wifi can suck the life out of your battery. Just use it wisely. I highly recommend besides extra batteries to also purchase a PacBac Battery which will easily 2x, 3x increase your shooting time. When we went zip lining both Go Pro were fitted with a BacPac battery and never even came close to running out. They were continuously on and off for 2-3 hours.

 

I use Final Cut Pro X for editing rather than the free Go Pro software. The free Go Pro Software is good if you captured thousand of photos and want to make a time lapse.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Thanks for the info. I bought mine about a month ago at Costco. I had to hunt around to find one. It came with an extra battery, I bought 2 more Wasabi batteries. I'm going to try a suction cup mount on the inside of the window on our Floatplane excursion.

Thanks again.

[HappyCruiserWoody]

Kevin, enjoying your photo video trip report. Saw the back of our heads from your galley tour video. We enjoyed the Silhouette and still talk about our vacation. Anxious for warmer temperature in Ontario.

[CruiseVivaLady]

The Big Pour - Celebrity Silhouette March 2013

 

I captured this footage during the first week of our Silhouette back to back 2013. Clip is only 1:03 minutes long so please give it a click. This video is not on my Vimeo channel but rather on YouTube with annoying ads. I should put it up on my Vimeo Plus account.

 

[YOUTUBE]dha3C9lt-tU[/YOUTUBE]

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

I love this clip. I don't drink either but I may have to give this martini thing a try on my next cruise. Love your review. I devoured your first one last year and I've been looking forward to this one. Thanks for sharing.

 

Best,

LaDonna

[FRMPEI]

I love this clip. I don't drink either but I may have to give this martini thing a try on my next cruise. Love your review. I devoured your first one last year and I've been looking forward to this one. Thanks for sharing.

Best,

LaDonna

 

Hi LaDonna,

 

Yes! That is a pretty neat video. I was lucky that they turned on the lights so I could capture it.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Day 2 - Sea Day #1

 

The Good news is that last night my Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) have won their first playoff round since 2004. Excited? Yes! So I am going to get as much Photo Video Trip Report done before round 2 starts.

 

 

Reservation tonight at Qsine for 7 PM but first we made our first and only stop at the Solarium. Anytime after 4:00 PM it gets pretty quiet in the Solarium and a nice place to relax and take a quick dip before dinner. I am not much of swimmer but, solarium is perfect for me because it is shallow and I can do a few dog paddles then stand up.

 

Pics from Go Pro

 

 

 

Before the sun went down the moon was already out and i was able zoom right in on it and still have a blueish background.

 

 

Day 2 is also the first formal night us boys did not bring any suits with us just shirts and ties for formal nights. Nolan pauses to take a selfie of us walking down the hall form our rooms.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Day 2 - Sea Day #1 - Qsine

 

 

If you have willing subjects you can get this neat double exposure in a Panorama like the picture above. I learned how to do this last year on Equinox during an "i" class. Before Qsine we wandered around looking for ship photographers to get our picture taken. On previous cruises some the photographers didn't mind and some even encouraged to take personal shots. But the person in front of Cellar Master wasn't happy with us trying to sneak in on her action. Did I care? No! Donna and I have always enjoyed getting our pictures taken and would always purchase some type of package. We would go to the photo gallery gather up our pics and they would hold them for us without first purchasing a package. But Nope not this cruise. I don't know if it is a change fleet wide our just the decision of the group on this cruise? IMO not good change because I got right turned off by their attitude. Usually I found the photo people very helpful but not this group. So much so that Donna and I made no further attempts to even get any further pictures taken. (We did not find about this policy change until a couple days in when we went first looking for pictures). Gee! I am I also the guy who also buy the cruise DVD that they heavily push and not many buy. Last day of cruise I was ready to go home empty handed without any pictures but Donna's caved in and bought 2 pics she liked. But could of had more of my money if they were sensible with their policy. (sorry for rambling)

 

 

Our new Favourite photo spot.

 

 

Artwork in entry to Specialty

 

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[mpace58]

Can't wait for this part of the review. Beth and I are hoping to try Qsine on Eclipse in January.

[mskaufman]

Where is the spot to get the double exposure?