Just returned from Baltic Cruise on Silhouette

[rahrah50]

Our group of 8 widows just returned from our cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. This was my first Celebrity cruise but not my first cruise. We were very pleased with the ship and fabulous crew. We had breakfasts in the buffet and dinners in the Main Dining Room. I have issues with buffets so I didn't care for it all. My issue, not Celebrity.... The Main Dining Room food was good - not fabulous but nothing I would complain about. The staff there was just wonderful! Negatives on the MDR are the chairs. No back support and very uncomfortable. Also, it was so cold in the dining room it really took away from the dinner. The only other negative I have is the bedding. Worn, lumpy, and flat pillows as well as torn sheet and blanket with holes. My cabin attendant was wonderful and was able to find better pillows for me very promptly when asked.

We booked only one Celebrity tour which was in Copenhagen. We had a wonderful guide and it was a well done tour. For Berlin, St Petersburg, and Helsinki we booked through SPB Tours. One of our group had her wallet and passport pickpocketed in St Petersburg. Viktoria from SPB stepped up and helped through the whole process, from finding a safe hotel room, (could not go through Russian Immigration so could not return to the ship) taking her the US Consulate, and returning her to the ship. (And Monday was Memorial Day) If I am traveling anywhere that SPB has tours, I will be booking through them. They really went out of their way to help. The tours were also excellent!! Great vehicles and knowledgeable tour guides.

I would book Celebrity again.....

[Azulann]

What an experience your friend had in St. Petersburg.:eek: I am glad the tour guide stepped up to help and it ended well for all of you.

 

Thanks for your review of your experience on board.

[Iamthesea]

Glad you had a good cruise. Sorry about your friends. When we cruised the Baltic's last year, one thing that the Cruise Director kept saying was "Russia is the one place that you do not want to be without a passport and you never want to miss the ship!" Sounds like your friend was robbed on the first day and able to return to the ship on the 2nd day. She was lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful guide.

 

We did not use SPB Tours on our cruise, but the guide we did use warned us a pick pockets many times. She even pointed some pp's out in the dining room where we were eating. While there, another tourist was robbed of his belongings. :eek: What happened with your friend?

[Phxazzcruisers]

Glad you had an overall good cruise. We will be on the Silhouette in July going to the Baltic. We have been to St Petersburg several times in the past, and while we love that City, at this point in time we are not too happy with the Russians and may not even get off the ship and give them any more of our US$$$$$. Not trying to start a political discussion, just our opinions.

[rahrah50]

We think it happened at the St Peter and Paul Cathedral. We had lots of warnings about pick pockets. It was pretty scary to have her taken off our tour bus and not know what was happening. The seven of us were thinking we will be leaving our friend in Russia if she didn't get a new passport. On Monday we were able to have some updates so we were hopeful she would make the ship. As our tour was going back to the ship we received a call that she had a new temporary passport and was on the way to the ship. Lots of cheers!!!!

[Iamthesea]

I agree with you! ;)

 

OP. I forgot to comment on the following.

 

Negatives on the MDR are the chairs. No back support and very uncomfortable. Also, it was so cold in the dining room it really took away from the dinner. The only other negative I have is the bedding. Worn, lumpy, and flat pillows as well as torn sheet and blanket with holes.

 

My mothers solution to the dining room chairs was to take a small pillow or roll up a hand towel to put behind her back when dining. She would stick them in a cloth bag.

 

I am really surprised that you found the bedding so uncomfortable. We will be on the Silhouette in another year, so hopefully, the bedding will be replaced by then. It's been a couple of years since we previously sailed her and had no problems. Never had torn sheets, and never had a blanket on a cruise. :eek: Have always been able to ask for upgraded pillows.

[ian09]

We were on the cruise prior to yours and my wife and I caught someone trying to pickpocket someone in our group. He gave us a smirk as if to say you got me and he went on his way. This was outside the Hermitage. It was also really crowded that day as it was during Russia's Victory Day celebrations.

[crusingnut]

We toured with SPB tours for 2 days in St. Petersburg, our guide and tour were one of the best we have ever taken. Viktoria & her company is a first class organization and can't say enough good about her. You were very fortunate to have her working behind the scenes.

[Grizelda]

We will be on the Silhouette June21...I am so nervous about the pick pockets in St. Petersburg.. Any advice you can give us ? Would be so appreciated !!

Edited May 31, 2015 by Grizelda

[shoreham01]

Buy a pacsafe fanny bag (bum bag if in UK) They are slash proof and you can hide it underneath your clothes.

[cynbar]

We will be on the Silhouette June21...I am so nervous about the pick pockets in St. Petersburg.. Any advice you can give us ? Would be so appreciated !!

 

We swear by PacSafe, I have one of the purses and I wear it over my neck and right arm, keeping my hand on it in the most unsafe areas. DH has a zipped pocket with a neck strap that he wears under his shirt. With these things, you should be fine. Here is the PacSafe website but you can also find them other places like Amazon:

 

 

http://www.pacsafe.com

 

Here is an example of a neck pocket, there are others of course --- good for a man or a woman:

 

http://www.magellans.com/itemdy00.aspx?ID=112,3728&T1=MSV012

Edited May 31, 2015 by cynbar

[Grizelda]

Thank you so much .. Really appreciate it . Will purchase one right away !!

[rahrah50]

I agree about Pacsafe bags!

[celebritydave]

Wearing a money belt is a good idea too. They are very reasonable.

 

I also have travel pants that have hidden zip pockets.

 

Be aware of your surroundings, and listen to your tour guide and you should be fine. The Baltic cruise that we took in 2004 remains one of our favorite cruises ever!!

 

Dave

[nojoke]

We were on the Silhouette for the TA in April/May of this year. Poor bedding in the OP’s room must have just been a fluke--our bed was very comfortable and the pillows were better than we have at home. Guess you never know, but I hope nobody is discouraged from sailing on this ship--we thought it was the best ever. The Cruise Director was a hoot.

[rahrah50]

The bedding issues were resolved very quickly. I was just surprised by the torn sheet and lumpy pillows. I would Have no reservations about booking Celebrity again.

[rahrah50]

The bedding issues were resolved quickly. I would have no reservations about booking Celebrity again.

[upwarduk]

Did you dock in Tallinn or Mugga?

Our Baltic cruise on 25 th July has Mugga listed, as there are 4 ships in Tallin that day, the previous cruise has 7 ships listed.

Mugga is a commercial port and 17 km from Tallinn.

Looks as though we are going to have to take a Celebrity tour, I was hoping to just walk into Tallinn.

[rahrah50]

We docked in Tallinn. We took a cab to the top of Old Town and walked down. Took a cab back to the ship. Loved our visit to Tallinn!

[Knolmom]

We were fine with SPB in Russia, but my husband was approached by a " petition girl" while our SPB group in Berlin was walking to the bridge over the Spree River Bridge near Museum Island. She was a young girl and was showing him a petition about disabled people. When he went into his pocket to get our his glasses I saw it from about 10 feet away. I screamed to him..NOOO! And just then a plain clothiers policeman ran over, took her " petition", ripped it up and she ran away. I am sure someone in the crowd was her boyfriend but he never had a chance.

I though my husband would remember the caution about the " petition girls" from France and Italy last year but apparently he forgot.

He was lucky, but I always carry both of our passports and most of the $$ in a neck wallet tucked into my bra!

[StudentoftheWorld]

rahrah50 - sorry to hear about your friend who had her passport & wallet stolen. My Guy and I used SPB on our 2013 cruise. Our guide was wonderful, and we would highly recommend them, too. I'm so glad to hear how helpful Viktoria was in assisting your friend! That was going above and beyond.

 

My one question for you is regarding the ship. We will be on the Silhouette in July. I was curious if the Molecular Bar was still there or if it had already been replaced with the World Class Bar.

 

Lastly, I have to agree about the bedding. On our last cruise (on the Eclipse) I thought our bed was lumpy, and there was a tear in the sheet. I didn't bother to ask for a replacement; I just tried to avoid poking my toes in it.

[workstocruise]

We did the Baltics 2 years ago on the Constellation and it was a great trip. We used SPB tours in Berlin and St. Petersburg but fortunately we had no problems with pick pockets or petition girls. They did take really good care of us. We just got off the Equinox from Rome to Barcelona and the beds could not have been more comfortable. I felt like I was sleeping in my own bed. It's amazing how ship comparisons are so different. We love Celebrity though and it is now our cruise line of choice.

[redjetz]

It's not just pickpockets to be alert for in St.Petersburg. We used our credit card just once there a couple years ago - at the gift shop our tour guide took us to, and our card was used fraudulently. Fortunately, we had alerted Amex as to our expected spending patterns prior to the trip and the $3k in attempted charges were disallowed, and Amex canceled the card immediately, sent a new one to our home, and emailed and called us.

 

a few others on our Eclipse sailing had the same issue.

 

It was a great cruise nevertheless!

[rahrah50]

Studentoftheworld-I am not sure about the bars as I don't drink. The only one I know for sure that was there was the Martini Bar. Sorry......Loved Silhouette..

[Chazteach1]

I agree with you! ;)

 

 

 

OP. I forgot to comment on the following.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mothers solution to the dining room chairs was to take a small pillow or roll up a hand towel to put behind her back when dining. She would stick them in a cloth bag.

 

 

 

I am really surprised that you found the bedding so uncomfortable. We will be on the Silhouette in another year, so hopefully, the bedding will be replaced by then. It's been a couple of years since we previously sailed her and had no problems. Never had torn sheets, and never had a blanket on a cruise. :eek: Have always been able to ask for upgraded pillows.

 

 

Next time: Ask the wait staff for a pillow for your chair. It should be there each night after that. My mom and I are short and always ask for pillows the first night.