11/15 Silhouette Western Itinerary - Quick thoughts and comments

[Queen of Oakville]

Celebrity Silhouette – A few comments on our sailing

 

About us:

• Hubby and I are in our mid-40s. We have two kids who are 8 and 9. We are avid cruisers and are new to Celebrity. We booked this trip as part of the 123Go! promo while sailing on Reflection last November.
  

 

Pre-Trip

• This was our first trip on Jet Blue. We flew out of Buffalo to FLL. The entire trip was a breeze including check-in and expedited security (thank you Nexus!).
  
• We stayed at the Residence Inn in Dania Beach which was an excellent choice. The free airport pickup was a bit chaotic, especially since I did not know I had to call the hotel for a pickup. They arrived within about 10 minutes of our call. The room (a King Studio) was very nice and the décor was not too far off a W hotel. The hotel also offered free shuttle to various restaurants. We tried out the Rendezvous. It was okay – nothing to rave about. The next morning we took the hotel shuttle for $8 each to the cruise port.
  

 

Embarkation

• Embarkation was a breeze! We had concierge class and walked right through an empty line to the next available agent. I have to say that Port Everglades is way better managed than Port of Miami. The ship had just arrived from a TA and we followed the rules and showed up around 12:30. Getting on board was a breeze. They do this odd “queue up” at Port of Miami which I was pleased to see that they did not do at Everglades.
  

 

Cabin

• Our cabin was WARM. I was schvitzing in the cabin while unpacking. I thought it was just me (or “the change”). That night was awfully warm (yeah, so I do the night sweats thing). But that morning, everyone complained about how warm it was (we had the A/C on max). I complained to the Cabin steward who immediately offered to call someone but it didn’t’ seem to help much. The maintenance guy reported that the A/C was working and that we were leaving the balcony door open. We were not. That night while dressing for dinner, I literally had makeup dripping down my face. I was half-dressed and ran out to look for the cabin steward and told him he had to call maintenance again. The lady beside me left her cabin also complaining about the heat. Fortunately, on the second go round they fixed whatever was wrong, and we had no problems for the rest of the cruise.
  

 

MDR

• We had a pretty good wait team – no complaints. I found the food on Reflection to be slightly better. Nothing was stellar, nothing was bad. The desserts were just so-so.
  
• I really don’t get why Celebrity puts raisins in EVERYTHING from the Apple Pie to the Carrot Cake to a few other things. If they want some cost-cutting measures, skip the raisins!!!
  
• We had select dining with reservations every night for 7PM.
  

 

Lawn Club Grille and QSINE

• This was our first time EVER in a specialty restaurant on any ship. While on our way to the embarkation lunch, they were trying to get us to take a first night discount of 20% off. We wanted to be in the dining room on the first night. Knowing that we had a lot of onboard credit to use, I knew we wanted to make at least two reservations for during the week. I asked about a “deal” for kids and was offered $10 per child. I reserved Lawn Club for lunch on the Sea Day and asked for QSINE on the night we were in Falmouth Jamaica.
  
• Just an FYI, the invitation arrived in the cabin the first night reminding us of our Lawn Club Grille lunch. It also advised a penalty for cancelling with less than 24 hour’s notice. I found this a bit odd, since we made the reservation at 1PM for 23 hours later, so technically my only option to cancel was “with penalty” from the moment I made my reservation. At the end of our first Sea Day, I received the invitation for our dinner in QSINE the next night at 6PM. They made the ressie for the WRONG night, as I had asked for Day 4. Once again, we were already within the “penalty” window. I’m sure I could have argued it, but we decided to just follow-through thinking that if we liked it, we could dine there a second time to use our OBC.
  
• Lawn Club Grille was a big disappointment. Our steaks were all over-cooked. We skipped the flatbreads, because we were not that hungry. The kids both thought (and we agreed) that the steaks are better at a local chain restaurant that we frequent (Canyon Creek). We expected a lot more. We sampled all the sides, and didn’t find anything to be great. The chicken tandoori skewer just bordered on being cooked enough. The fish skewer had no seasoning or flavour. I think my son had the best selection of the Tenderloin skewer. My hubby had the NY Strip. My daughter and I had the rib eye. Rib eye varies greatly in taste/flavour by the amount of marbling, and neither of us had a tasty steak.
  
• QSINE was also a disappointment. The service was awesome. The presentation was awesome. But I found nothing tasted exceptionally great. We eat out at tapas/sushi restaurants quite often and we did not feel that QSINE offered anything of great taste/quality. For the $110.00 + additional tip that we paid, we were disappointed with the quality of the food.
  

 

Formal Nights

• I have to say that formal nights were well participated in. “dressing up” was the norm and I saw very few people who did not participate. I wasn’t counting, but I saw lots of men in tuxedos. The participation level made it clear to me that the most X patrons don’t have an issue with the dress code. I was curious at the casino that night if there would be any talk of the change to Evening Chic, but I didn’t hear it any discussion of it.
  

 

Allergies

• My son has peanut and tree nut allergies. Dining at the Oceanview Café was another amazing experience. We lucked out with our MDR Assistant Maitre D’ always being present in the Oceanview for breakfast/lunch to look after us. My son’s favourite Chocolate Croissant were always waiting for him (specially wrapped to prevent cross-contamination).
  
• I was a little concerned on the first night if our waiter understood how to look after someone with allergies, but I think it was just a bit of language barrier/first night getting to know you but after that everything went smoothly. I continue to highly recommend Celebrity as a cruise line for anyone with allergies or special diets.
  

 

Entertainment

• Production Shows are just not Celebrity’s strong suit. We went to the first night’s show. It was okay. The headliner (?????) lost me with his rendition of MacArthur Park (has to be the worst song ever recorded!!) and we walked out. We skipped his next performance all together. I found he was just okay and nothing great.
  
• The Comedian (Fred Klett) was hilarious. I wish he had done two shows. For anyone else who was at the late show, I was the mom that got chased out of the theatre. I saw the lights go on, but had no idea until the very end that he was right behind me. When my son and I got into the elevator we both laughed so hard we had tears streaming down our faces. The funny thing is that my son was starting to get tired and I told him to rest his head on me. He said, “If I fall asleep, he’ll make fun of me”, so we left the theatre in an effort to AVOID being made fun of!! My daughter was the “princess” in the front row that always got the “you have no idea who that is, do you?” question. It made for a good laugh afterwards as we continued to get recognized throughout the ship.
  
• The last show was magician Justino Volpe (?). I thought he was just okay as a magician, and certainly did not find it to be Vegas quality, but he was entertaining.
  
• My thought is that Celebrity should just give up on the production shows and spend more money bringing on headliners for each night. Personally, I’d love the option to see a new comedian each night.
  

 

Bar Service and Drink Packages

• My husband and I had the Classic Alcohol Packages and the children had the Classic Non-Alcohol packages. During the embarkation lunch, we received some pressure to upgrade. Having had the classic packages before, I knew we did not need to upgrade. I told the server that my only complaint about the classic was not having a Cabernet selection on the last cruise. He assured me that there was definitely a cab selection on this cruise. On Silhouette, the classic package contained a Wente Cabernet that was not bad at all. I’m sure it’s a pretty cheap wine in the US, but it sells here in our LCBO stores for $18. I was more than happy to have this as an included wine in our package. DH was happy with the drink selection in the classic package, so need to upgrade for us.
  
• I told the server that I would probably upgrade my son to the premium so he could have fresh-squeezed OJ and he told me that it was already included for him. The only other reason for upgrading my kids was so they could have an IGLU from Bacio, and it too was included!!! So despite, what you’ve read here (and despite what all the printed marketing materials say) the Classic Non-Alcohol does include fresh-squeezed orange juice and blended drinks.
  
• My kids enjoyed their daily iglu (and yes you can order these decaf!). My daughter also became a big fan of the Virgin Strawberry Margarita. My kids were on chocolate milk withdrawal. Most often they received a glass of cold milk (sometimes it was warm) in a glass decorated with chocolate syrup. Sometimes, this was “on the rocks” which my son was not a fan of. On more than a few occasions, he received a packet of hot chocolate powder dumped on cold milk, and sometimes in a mug of hot milk. Towards the end of the week, they discovered that a Virgin Mudslide was a good substitute for a Chocolate Milkshake :)
  
• A note on the fresh-squeezed orange juice …. When we sailed Reflection last year, it was in fact the fresh-squeezed OJ. Juice-gate happened shortly after we returned. The fresh-squeezed but now frozen juice does not taste anywhere near as good as it used to. I had a glass the first day and that was my last.
  
• There continues to be a lot of confusion on board because the marketing materials do not match the actual package. For example, the materials show that blender drinks are only included in the Premium Package but I was assured that they are in fact included in the classic (and I had no issue with getting blender drinks). But it raises the question if you can’t rely on the marketing materials, how do you know what you should/should not be getting?
  
• The only issue I had with my drink package was getting an Arizona Iced Tea from the pool bar. He said it was not included in my package. I told him I’d been drinking them all week and also on a prior cruise. He said that it was not included. He said he would “give” it to me anyway. I offered to change my order to a coke Zero, but he gave me the iced tea.
  
• I have seen many requests here about coke options, and you can have Coke, Coke Zero, Caffeine Free Coke and Diet coke (and possibly a few others). The cans were quite interesting, and I think I saw every language under the sun at some point in the cruise.
  
• Bar Service was never an issue. There was always someone to take my drink order. As always, service in the casino was slower, but a request to the pit boss, usually brought a server around quickly.
  

 

Casino

• I found the dealers to not be as friendly as they have been on other cruises. One or two good ones though. They now ask for your room card and are tracking bets. I’m not sure what the point was as this was never communicated. I mean, I get why casinos track this, but I wasn’t sure what “perks” if any would be offered by X. None were, in our case. I’m a $10 a hand gambler, but Hubby would often have $100 or more on any given hand, with $25 being his min. bet; and he didn’t get any perks either.
  
• They were giving out “yellow” tickets for a raffle on the last day. You got a ticket by getting a suited blackjack. On one day, they were hiding tickets in the shoe too. Between hubby and I, we had close to 100 tix. We didn’t win. It was probably just as well. The prize won on the last day was offered in Casino credit. You could not cash in the chips, but you could keep your winnings.
  

 

Music

• Lots of comments here lately on music by the pool. I’ve read comments about “Miami club music”. Well it’s been a few years since I’ve been to a Miami Club and I was not sure what to expect!! I am happy to report that the pool music was mostly R&B or Top 40. Most of it was recognizable to me. I did not find it too loud. Some afternoons, they had a “DJ” spinning beats. I found his sets were all over the map, but mostly all enjoyable.
  
• In the casino, I found the same music track played over and over. I lost count of how many times I heard “bulletproof” play.
  
• The house band as always was excellent. I heard a mix of music play from 70s through to current day.
  
• We went to QUASAR one night to dance. The music good but few were dancing, so we left and gambled at the casino 
  

 

Fun Factory

• This cruise did not have a lot of children on board. My daughter was in the 9-11 group. My son was in the 3-8 group. I asked to have him bumped up and boy was it a struggle. I had to speak with everyone only to be told he had to “try” it before he could be bumped up. Both kids opted for the show that first night and decided to skip the fun factory. On the first sea day, the 3-8 group was doing “pirates and fairies” of which my son wanted no part of! Again, he was told he had to try out the group. He asked if he could play XBOX and they agreed. On the next visit, he was finally bumped up to 9-11. There were only 3 kids in the 9-11 group (mine were two of them!). But my children had a blast and loved all their time at the Fun Factory. The especially liked the Treasure Hunts which rewarded them with Fun Factory dollars that they got to spend on the last night. My kids were not allowed to sign themselves in/out (my request) but they were allowed to leave the club for treasure hunts, if they were in a group of 3. I know not what they did while they were out and about on a treasure hunt, but if they caused any annoyance to anyone … I apologize!!
  
• I will note that there were more kids on board than those in attendance at the club. I felt bad for my son because I saw several boys his age about the ship, but none of them made it to the Fun Factory.
  

 

Disembarkation

• WOO HOO!!!! Global Entry has arrived at Port Everglades. This may have already been shared here at Cruise Critic, but I missed it. Disembarkation was quick. We self-disembarked. Got into the terminal through a very short line and when I saw the global entry sign, I pounced! However, personnel did not really know what they were doing. I showed my Nexus cards. I was let into a roped off area that went nowhere. I could see a Global Entry agent, but did not have access to him. I asked a guard in that area, and she told me I need to leave that area and go stand in line. I went back to the agent who let me in. He escorted me back in; opened the ropes and called the agent at the front of the line, who escorted us to the next available agent. I’m sure all those people in line were not happy:(
  
• We got out to a very long cab line. A police offer asked if we were a party of four; and then told us to go to the very front of the line and he called a minivan for us. The cab fare to the airport was $15.00.
  

 

 

 

Overall, another great cruise! Feel free to ask any questions! It was a port-intensive sailing, which I am not a fan of. I prefer more sea days. Because of this, the week felt rushed. But we needed to travel this week, so itinerary was not really an option.

 

I did not look at future cruises as I already have one booked for next year. Also not a fan of the current promotion, so I will wait to see what X does with the next promo.

[Macdl]

Celebrity Silhouette – A few comments on our sailing

 

 

 

About us:

 

• 
   
  
• Hubby and I are in our mid-40s. We have two kids who are 8 and 9. We are avid cruisers and are new to Celebrity. We booked this trip as part of the 123Go! promo while sailing on Reflection last November.
   
  

 

 

 

Pre-Trip

 

• 
   
  
• This was our first trip on Jet Blue. We flew out of Buffalo to FLL. The entire trip was a breeze including check-in and expedited security (thank you Nexus!).
   
  
• We stayed at the Residence Inn in Dania Beach which was an excellent choice. The free airport pickup was a bit chaotic, especially since I did not know I had to call the hotel for a pickup. They arrived within about 10 minutes of our call. The room (a King Studio) was very nice and the décor was not too far off a W hotel. The hotel also offered free shuttle to various restaurants. We tried out the Rendezvous. It was okay – nothing to rave about. The next morning we took the hotel shuttle for $8 each to the cruise port.
   
  

 

 

 

Embarkation

 

• 
   
  
• Embarkation was a breeze! We had concierge class and walked right through an empty line to the next available agent. I have to say that Port Everglades is way better managed than Port of Miami. The ship had just arrived from a TA and we followed the rules and showed up around 12:30. Getting on board was a breeze. They do this odd “queue up” at Port of Miami which I was pleased to see that they did not do at Everglades.
   
  

 

 

 

Cabin

 

• 
   
  
• Our cabin was WARM. I was schvitzing in the cabin while unpacking. I thought it was just me (or “the change”). That night was awfully warm (yeah, so I do the night sweats thing). But that morning, everyone complained about how warm it was (we had the A/C on max). I complained to the Cabin steward who immediately offered to call someone but it didn’t’ seem to help much. The maintenance guy reported that the A/C was working and that we were leaving the balcony door open. We were not. That night while dressing for dinner, I literally had makeup dripping down my face. I was half-dressed and ran out to look for the cabin steward and told him he had to call maintenance again. The lady beside me left her cabin also complaining about the heat. Fortunately, on the second go round they fixed whatever was wrong, and we had no problems for the rest of the cruise.
   
  

 

 

 

MDR

 

• 
   
  
• We had a pretty good wait team – no complaints. I found the food on Reflection to be slightly better. Nothing was stellar, nothing was bad. The desserts were just so-so.
   
  
• I really don’t get why Celebrity puts raisins in EVERYTHING from the Apple Pie to the Carrot Cake to a few other things. If they want some cost-cutting measures, skip the raisins!!!
   
  
• We had select dining with reservations every night for 7PM.
   
  

 

 

 

Lawn Club Grille and QSINE

 

• 
   
  
• This was our first time EVER in a specialty restaurant on any ship. While on our way to the embarkation lunch, they were trying to get us to take a first night discount of 20% off. We wanted to be in the dining room on the first night. Knowing that we had a lot of onboard credit to use, I knew we wanted to make at least two reservations for during the week. I asked about a “deal” for kids and was offered $10 per child. I reserved Lawn Club for lunch on the Sea Day and asked for QSINE on the night we were in Falmouth Jamaica.
   
  
• Just an FYI, the invitation arrived in the cabin the first night reminding us of our Lawn Club Grille lunch. It also advised a penalty for cancelling with less than 24 hour’s notice. I found this a bit odd, since we made the reservation at 1PM for 23 hours later, so technically my only option to cancel was “with penalty” from the moment I made my reservation. At the end of our first Sea Day, I received the invitation for our dinner in QSINE the next night at 6PM. They made the ressie for the WRONG night, as I had asked for Day 4. Once again, we were already within the “penalty” window. I’m sure I could have argued it, but we decided to just follow-through thinking that if we liked it, we could dine there a second time to use our OBC.
   
  
• Lawn Club Grille was a big disappointment. Our steaks were all over-cooked. We skipped the flatbreads, because we were not that hungry. The kids both thought (and we agreed) that the steaks are better at a local chain restaurant that we frequent (Canyon Creek). We expected a lot more. We sampled all the sides, and didn’t find anything to be great. The chicken tandoori skewer just bordered on being cooked enough. The fish skewer had no seasoning or flavour. I think my son had the best selection of the Tenderloin skewer. My hubby had the NY Strip. My daughter and I had the rib eye. Rib eye varies greatly in taste/flavour by the amount of marbling, and neither of us had a tasty steak.
   
  
• QSINE was also a disappointment. The service was awesome. The presentation was awesome. But I found nothing tasted exceptionally great. We eat out at tapas/sushi restaurants quite often and we did not feel that QSINE offered anything of great taste/quality. For the $110.00 + additional tip that we paid, we were disappointed with the quality of the food.
   
  

 

 

 

Formal Nights

 

• 
   
  
• I have to say that formal nights were well participated in. “dressing up” was the norm and I saw very few people who did not participate. I wasn’t counting, but I saw lots of men in tuxedos. The participation level made it clear to me that the most X patrons don’t have an issue with the dress code. I was curious at the casino that night if there would be any talk of the change to Evening Chic, but I didn’t hear it any discussion of it.
   
  

 

 

 

Allergies

 

• 
   
  
• My son has peanut and tree nut allergies. Dining at the Oceanview Café was another amazing experience. We lucked out with our MDR Assistant Maitre D’ always being present in the Oceanview for breakfast/lunch to look after us. My son’s favourite Chocolate Croissant were always waiting for him (specially wrapped to prevent cross-contamination).
   
  
• I was a little concerned on the first night if our waiter understood how to look after someone with allergies, but I think it was just a bit of language barrier/first night getting to know you but after that everything went smoothly. I continue to highly recommend Celebrity as a cruise line for anyone with allergies or special diets.
   
  

 

 

 

Entertainment

 

• 
   
  
• Production Shows are just not Celebrity’s strong suit. We went to the first night’s show. It was okay. The headliner (?????) lost me with his rendition of MacArthur Park (has to be the worst song ever recorded!!) and we walked out. We skipped his next performance all together. I found he was just okay and nothing great.
   
  
• The Comedian (Fred Klett) was hilarious. I wish he had done two shows. For anyone else who was at the late show, I was the mom that got chased out of the theatre. I saw the lights go on, but had no idea until the very end that he was right behind me. When my son and I got into the elevator we both laughed so hard we had tears streaming down our faces. The funny thing is that my son was starting to get tired and I told him to rest his head on me. He said, “If I fall asleep, he’ll make fun of me”, so we left the theatre in an effort to AVOID being made fun of!! My daughter was the “princess” in the front row that always got the “you have no idea who that is, do you?” question. It made for a good laugh afterwards as we continued to get recognized throughout the ship.
   
  
• The last show was magician Justino Volpe (?). I thought he was just okay as a magician, and certainly did not find it to be Vegas quality, but he was entertaining.
   
  
• My thought is that Celebrity should just give up on the production shows and spend more money bringing on headliners for each night. Personally, I’d love the option to see a new comedian each night.
   
  

 

 

 

Bar Service and Drink Packages

 

• 
   
  
• My husband and I had the Classic Alcohol Packages and the children had the Classic Non-Alcohol packages. During the embarkation lunch, we received some pressure to upgrade. Having had the classic packages before, I knew we did not need to upgrade. I told the server that my only complaint about the classic was not having a Cabernet selection on the last cruise. He assured me that there was definitely a cab selection on this cruise. On Silhouette, the classic package contained a Wente Cabernet that was not bad at all. I’m sure it’s a pretty cheap wine in the US, but it sells here in our LCBO stores for $18. I was more than happy to have this as an included wine in our package. DH was happy with the drink selection in the classic package, so need to upgrade for us.
   
  
• I told the server that I would probably upgrade my son to the premium so he could have fresh-squeezed OJ and he told me that it was already included for him. The only other reason for upgrading my kids was so they could have an IGLU from Bacio, and it too was included!!! So despite, what you’ve read here (and despite what all the printed marketing materials say) the Classic Non-Alcohol does include fresh-squeezed orange juice and blended drinks.
   
  
• My kids enjoyed their daily iglu (and yes you can order these decaf!). My daughter also became a big fan of the Virgin Strawberry Margarita. My kids were on chocolate milk withdrawal. Most often they received a glass of cold milk (sometimes it was warm) in a glass decorated with chocolate syrup. Sometimes, this was “on the rocks” which my son was not a fan of. On more than a few occasions, he received a packet of hot chocolate powder dumped on cold milk, and sometimes in a mug of hot milk. Towards the end of the week, they discovered that a Virgin Mudslide was a good substitute for a Chocolate Milkshake :)
   
  
• A note on the fresh-squeezed orange juice …. When we sailed Reflection last year, it was in fact the fresh-squeezed OJ. Juice-gate happened shortly after we returned. The fresh-squeezed but now frozen juice does not taste anywhere near as good as it used to. I had a glass the first day and that was my last.
   
  
• There continues to be a lot of confusion on board because the marketing materials do not match the actual package. For example, the materials show that blender drinks are only included in the Premium Package but I was assured that they are in fact included in the classic (and I had no issue with getting blender drinks). But it raises the question if you can’t rely on the marketing materials, how do you know what you should/should not be getting?
   
  
• The only issue I had with my drink package was getting an Arizona Iced Tea from the pool bar. He said it was not included in my package. I told him I’d been drinking them all week and also on a prior cruise. He said that it was not included. He said he would “give” it to me anyway. I offered to change my order to a coke Zero, but he gave me the iced tea.
   
  
• I have seen many requests here about coke options, and you can have Coke, Coke Zero, Caffeine Free Coke and Diet coke (and possibly a few others). The cans were quite interesting, and I think I saw every language under the sun at some point in the cruise.
   
  
• Bar Service was never an issue. There was always someone to take my drink order. As always, service in the casino was slower, but a request to the pit boss, usually brought a server around quickly.
   
  

 

 

 

Casino

 

• 
   
  
• I found the dealers to not be as friendly as they have been on other cruises. One or two good ones though. They now ask for your room card and are tracking bets. I’m not sure what the point was as this was never communicated. I mean, I get why casinos track this, but I wasn’t sure what “perks” if any would be offered by X. None were, in our case. I’m a $10 a hand gambler, but Hubby would often have $100 or more on any given hand, with $25 being his min. bet; and he didn’t get any perks either.
   
  
• They were giving out “yellow” tickets for a raffle on the last day. You got a ticket by getting a suited blackjack. On one day, they were hiding tickets in the shoe too. Between hubby and I, we had close to 100 tix. We didn’t win. It was probably just as well. The prize won on the last day was offered in Casino credit. You could not cash in the chips, but you could keep your winnings.
   
  

 

 

 

Music

 

• 
   
  
• Lots of comments here lately on music by the pool. I’ve read comments about “Miami club music”. Well it’s been a few years since I’ve been to a Miami Club and I was not sure what to expect!! I am happy to report that the pool music was mostly R&B or Top 40. Most of it was recognizable to me. I did not find it too loud. Some afternoons, they had a “DJ” spinning beats. I found his sets were all over the map, but mostly all enjoyable.
   
  
• In the casino, I found the same music track played over and over. I lost count of how many times I heard “bulletproof” play.
   
  
• The house band as always was excellent. I heard a mix of music play from 70s through to current day.
   
  
• We went to QUASAR one night to dance. The music good but few were dancing, so we left and gambled at the casino 
   
  

 

 

 

Fun Factory

 

• 
   
  
• This cruise did not have a lot of children on board. My daughter was in the 9-11 group. My son was in the 3-8 group. I asked to have him bumped up and boy was it a struggle. I had to speak with everyone only to be told he had to “try” it before he could be bumped up. Both kids opted for the show that first night and decided to skip the fun factory. On the first sea day, the 3-8 group was doing “pirates and fairies” of which my son wanted no part of! Again, he was told he had to try out the group. He asked if he could play XBOX and they agreed. On the next visit, he was finally bumped up to 9-11. There were only 3 kids in the 9-11 group (mine were two of them!). But my children had a blast and loved all their time at the Fun Factory. The especially liked the Treasure Hunts which rewarded them with Fun Factory dollars that they got to spend on the last night. My kids were not allowed to sign themselves in/out (my request) but they were allowed to leave the club for treasure hunts, if they were in a group of 3. I know not what they did while they were out and about on a treasure hunt, but if they caused any annoyance to anyone … I apologize!!
   
  
• I will note that there were more kids on board than those in attendance at the club. I felt bad for my son because I saw several boys his age about the ship, but none of them made it to the Fun Factory.
   
  

 

 

 

Disembarkation

 

• 
   
  
• WOO HOO!!!! Global Entry has arrived at Port Everglades. This may have already been shared here at Cruise Critic, but I missed it. Disembarkation was quick. We self-disembarked. Got into the terminal through a very short line and when I saw the global entry sign, I pounced! However, personnel did not really know what they were doing. I showed my Nexus cards. I was let into a roped off area that went nowhere. I could see a Global Entry agent, but did not have access to him. I asked a guard in that area, and she told me I need to leave that area and go stand in line. I went back to the agent who let me in. He escorted me back in; opened the ropes and called the agent at the front of the line, who escorted us to the next available agent. I’m sure all those people in line were not happy:(
   
  
• We got out to a very long cab line. A police offer asked if we were a party of four; and then told us to go to the very front of the line and he called a minivan for us. The cab fare to the airport was $15.00.
   
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, another great cruise! Feel free to ask any questions! It was a port-intensive sailing, which I am not a fan of. I prefer more sea days. Because of this, the week felt rushed. But we needed to travel this week, so itinerary was not really an option.

 

 

 

I did not look at future cruises as I already have one booked for next year. Also not a fan of the current promotion, so I will wait to see what X does with the next promo.

 

 

Are you saying global entry at cruise port or airport or both.??

[Queen of Oakville]

The Cruise Port. They had a Global Entry sign with an arrow as soon as you entered the Cruise Port. This was new to me and I've never seen it before.

 

As far as I am aware - FLL does not have Global Entry, but if your boarding pass has TSA pre-check on it, you get the expedited security.

[wieslaw]

Celebrity Silhouette – A few comments on our sailing

 

[*]Embarkation was a breeze! We had concierge class and walked right through an empty line to the next available agent. I have to say that Port Everglades is way better managed than Port of Miami. The ship had just arrived from a TA and we followed the rules and showed up around 12:30. Getting on board was a breeze. They do this odd “queue up” at Port of Miami which I was pleased to see that they did not do at Everglades.

 

 

Hi,

 

thank you for the review.

We are sailing in two weeks, so I was reading your report with a lot of interest.

 

Seems that you boarded the ship very quickly - did the ship get the coast guard and cdc inspection after coming back from europe ...... or is it going happen later ...... that usually delays the boarding.

[Queen of Oakville]

Hi,

 

thank you for the review.

We are sailing in two weeks, so I was reading your report with a lot of interest.

 

Seems that you boarded the ship very quickly - did the ship get the coast guard and cdc inspection after coming back from europe ...... or is it going happen later ...... that usually delays the boarding.

 

Yes they did, and they passed with flying colours! I'm not sure how often this inspection repeats itself, but you should be fine for your sailing.

[wieslaw]

Yes they did, and they passed with flying colours! I'm not sure how often this inspection repeats itself, but you should be fine for your sailing.

 

Thank you for the info.

I looked at the CDC web site and it did show the inspection date as march 2015, so I was not sure if it took place when the ship got back from europe.

[dodger1964]

WOO HOO!!!! Global Entry has arrived at Port Everglades.

 

 

Are all 4 of you "global entry"?

 

I am, but my daughter who is sailing with me next month isn't.

 

I'm assuming just me is good enough to get us through the cruise tsa agents?

 

thanks for review and your insights.

[pugdad1]

WOO HOO!!!! Global Entry has arrived at Port Everglades.

 

 

Are all 4 of you "global entry"?

 

I am, but my daughter who is sailing with me next month isn't.

 

I'm assuming just me is good enough to get us through the cruise tsa agents?

 

thanks for review and your insights.

 

I think your daughter would have to go through the regular TSA agent. I imagine (could be wrong) it would be like crossing the boarder in a vehicle, everyone in the vehicle has to have a NEXUS card. Good question though.

[pugdad1]

My travel companions (children, spouse or co-travelers) are not Global Entry members; can they come through the Global Entry kiosk with me?

 

No, only Global Entry members can use the Global Entry kiosk.

[dodger1964]

My travel companions (children, spouse or co-travelers) are not Global Entry members; can they come through the Global Entry kiosk with me?

 

No, only Global Entry members can use the Global Entry kiosk.

 

I know they can't at airports, but didn't know if the cruise port was different. I assume it isn't the same as the airport (not a kiosk at the port)

Edited November 25, 2015 by dodger1964

[Queen of Oakville]

WOO HOO!!!! Global Entry has arrived at Port Everglades.

 

 

Are all 4 of you "global entry"?

 

I am, but my daughter who is sailing with me next month isn't.

 

I'm assuming just me is good enough to get us through the cruise tsa agents?

 

thanks for review and your insights.

 

Yes, all 4 of us. We actually have NEXUS which is the Canadian version but it partners with Global Entry. We have to get interviewed by the US authorities before getting our cards.

 

Canadian rules are that all passengers must have pre-clearance in order to use Global Entry/Nexus. I would guess the US rules are the same. Kids are free though. I know the application process is cumbersome, but at least for children, there is no charge for their application.

[Projunior]

They were giving out “yellow” tickets for a raffle on the last day. You got a ticket by getting a suited blackjack. On one day, they were hiding tickets in the shoe too. Between hubby and I, we had close to 100 tix. We didn’t win. It was probably just as well. The prize won on the last day was offered in Casino credit. You could not cash in the chips, but you could keep your winnings.

 

On our recent cruise on the Reflection we won top prize in the casino raffle: $250 in promotional chips. We received eight $25 chips and ten $5 chips. We were similiarly told that we could not cash them out; we could only play with them and keep the winnings. I went to the cage and asked to exchange some of the greens (the $25 chips) for reds (the $5 chips) as I didn't want to be playing $75/hand at the Ultimate Hold'em table (ante/blind/trips). The woman at the cage told me I could exchange them at the table which I knew instantly was a crock since I have never seen promotional chips at a table, ever. And sure enough, when I asked the dealer if he could give me red promotional chips for green, he said, "No". I told him that I wasn't about to bet that big just to use the promotional chips and that it didn't seem fair that if I lost the reds I would then be forced to make minimum $25 table bets. He called the pit boss over, she was confused and had no ideas. She called over the big honcho and he told the dealer to give me real green chips for all the promo green chips. I did play for a while with the real chips, made $150 and cashed out.

 

Weirdly enough, we won second prize in this same last day casino raffle on our Millennium cruise this past June. Back then we got real cash for the prize ($125) and a nice Fortunes Casino polo shirt. This time, in addition to now giving promotional chips instead of cash, the polo shirt has been downgraded to a T-shirt, one size only, medium. The cheaping out continues.

[Queen of Oakville]

They were giving out “yellow” tickets for a raffle on the last day. You got a ticket by getting a suited blackjack. On one day, they were hiding tickets in the shoe too. Between hubby and I, we had close to 100 tix. We didn’t win. It was probably just as well. The prize won on the last day was offered in Casino credit. You could not cash in the chips, but you could keep your winnings.

 

On our recent cruise on the Reflection we won top prize in the casino raffle: $250 in promotional chips. We received eight $25 chips and ten $5 chips. We were similiarly told that we could not cash them out; we could only play with them and keep the winnings. I went to the cage and asked to exchange some of the greens (the $25 chips) for reds (the $5 chips) as I didn't want to be playing $75/hand at the Ultimate Hold'em table (ante/blind/trips). The woman at the cage told me I could exchange them at the table which I knew instantly was a crock since I have never seen promotional chips at a table, ever. And sure enough, when I asked the dealer if he could give me red promotional chips for green, he said, "No". I told him that I wasn't about to bet that big just to use the promotional chips and that it didn't seem fair that if I lost the reds I would then be forced to make minimum $25 table bets. He called the pit boss over, she was confused and had no ideas. She called over the big honcho and he told the dealer to give me real green chips for all the promo green chips. I did play for a while with the real chips, made $150 and cashed out.

 

Weirdly enough, we won second prize in this same last day casino raffle on our Millennium cruise this past June. Back then we got real cash for the prize ($125) and a nice Fortunes Casino polo shirt. This time, in addition to now giving promotional chips instead of cash, the polo shirt has been downgraded to a T-shirt, one size only, medium. The cheaping out continues.

 

If I'm not mistaken, our draw was on the Saturday - the last day/sea day. Friday we were in Labadee, so the casinos opened at 2:30. All week long we had been told the tickets were for a "cash prize". On the Friday, the dealers were telling everyone that the draw was at 3PM. When I checked the daily, I noted that the draw was at 2PM and not 3PM. The daily also explained that the draw was for casino credit/promotional chips. My point is that the dealers knew very little/gave out wrong information as to what the draw was all about and were going out wrong times regarding the draw.

 

My hubby had all his tix laid out along the edge of a slot bank. One gentleman said, "wow, you have a lot - I don't stand a chance, I only have 3 tickets". Said gentleman went on to win the $500 prize!!! Luck of the draw!

 

Congrats on your double win!!

Edited November 25, 2015 by Queen of Oakville

[sunsetme]

what did you guys do in the ports?

[Queen of Oakville]

what did you guys do in the ports?

 

Not much.

 

We've been to Cozumel so many times, Hubby and the kids just stayed on the ship. I got off and just walked through the stands.

 

In Grand Cayman, we took the tender and walked around. My daughter and I shopped for a Pandora charm each. Hubby wanted to look at Rolex watches but did not end up buying. We were back on the ship for lunch. It was a very hot day in Grand Cayman!

 

In Falmouth, we had every intention of visiting Dunn's falls. It was my intention to use OBC for the falls excursion. When I got on board to purchase, I realized that all of the tours were bus tours. I really didn't want to spend 2 hours of our day on a bus (1 hour each way). I was sure in the past that there were boat tours available where you could take a boat ride to Ochos Rios. We ended up passing on the falls and just shopped in port. The kids each bought some wood-carvings for souvenirs.

 

In Labadee, we spent the day at the beach. The beach was VERY rocky and full of seaweed. I highly recommend that you take water socks. I packed these with the intention of using them at the Dunn's falls. After we were settled on the beach, i walked back to the ship, and got our water socks. We lucked out with a beautiful day.