Celebrity Silhouette New Years Eve Cruise Review

[jrtaylor]

We recently returned from the New Years’ Eve cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. We had a great time on the cruise. We had previously been on the Summit so there will be a few comparisons.

 

Embarkation: The check-in process was very quick. We arrived at the terminal around 10:30 and were on the boat by 11.

 

Dining:

 

MDR: We were on Select Dining and ate in the MDR all 7 nights. We had about a 5 minute wait on the first night and a 15 minute wait on New Years’ Eve (they gave us a pager so we went to the bar). Every other night, there was no wait at all. The service was excellent. Overall the food was good and they were very accommodating to requests for small modifications. I hope they change the menus soon as they were virtually identical to last years’ cruise on the Summit. We also had breakfast in the MDR on 3 mornings and lunch there 1 day. Breakfast was very good. The lunch menu was less to my liking but still good overall.

Sommeliers were very attentive and were always at our table within a few minutes and returned before glasses were empty to see if anyone wanted a refill.

 

Oceanview: We had breakfast and lunch in the Oceanview the rest of the time. The choices during meal-times were very good. Omelet stations were efficient during the breakfast rush. We also sometimes went to the Oceanview upon returning to the ship in the afternoon. It would be nice if they had a little more selection than pizza and pasta at that time, particularly healthy and lighter options. Nevertheless, the buffet was very good and during mealtimes had a large variety of options. On a side-note, I preferred the layout of the buffet on the Silhouette to that of the Summit.

 

Drinks/Bars: We had the classic package from a promotion. Two of us upgraded to the premium package while the other two stayed on the classic package. No one seemed to have a problem finding something to drink that satisfied them. Cellar Masters was a great location (preferred that it was in a separate room to the setup that was on Summit). Molecular Bar and Martini Bar were also great.

 

Rooms: We were in concierge cabins which were perfectly fine. In comparison to the Summit, these rooms felt bigger, though I don’t think they really were much bigger. Part of this was likely just that we had a room where the location of the bed (by the balcony) vs middle of the room was different. One noticeable difference from the Summit: On the Summit, the closets were on the wall right when you entered (across from the bathroom), and were 3 doors where one of the doors mostly had drawers/shelves. On Silhouette, the closet was around the corner (facing into the room). It was also only 2 doors wide and no drawers/shelves. As a result, there was significantly less drawer/shelf space on Silhouette. Silhouette does have some hidden shelf space above the bed which we could use. However, anyone who isn’t tall may find that inconvenient. Overall we were very happy with the room.

 

New Year’s Eve & Holiday: Christmas decorations were still up when we boarded. The gingerbread display on the staircase came down mid-way through the cruise as did some other decorations. However, a few were still up when we were leaving the boat.

On New Year’s Eve there were parties and countdowns and sparkling wine at different points throughout the boat. There was a balloon drop by the Elevators. Hats, beads and noisemakers were handed out at dinner in the MDR and waiters were happy to get more if needed.

 

Excursions:

 

Cozumel: This was the one part of the trip where Celebrity did not meet expectations. There were problems with the tour we were originally booked which were made worse by Celebrity’s lack of communication and/or miscommunications. I did follow-up with the person in charge of shore excursions at the end of the day. As a result of the problems, ended up doing the tour to Coba ruins which was fine.

 

Grand Cayman: We had booked an outside tour of the island and thoroughly enjoyed it despite some rain late in the day.

 

Jamaica: We also had booked an outside tour that took us to Blue Hole, Dunns River Falls, sightseeing, and Scotches for lunch. Blue Hole was amazing and the jerk chicken at Scotches was very good.

 

Haiti: We did the boat tour up the coast which was a very nice. The peninsula is fairly nice. The vendors in the bigger building at the start of the vendor area were fine. Be aware that the vendors who had booths as you go up the hill are very pushy.

 

Shows: We went to a few of the shows which were generally good. It was the last show for the circus style show. And it sounds like some of the other shows/performances are ending in the coming weeks.

 

Debarkation: Unfortunately, this was very slow, though we did get off at the end of the process. There was a long line to get off the boat and another long line to get in to pick up baggage. Global Entry did allow for a very quick processing through customs once we picked up luggage. The taxi line was very long and the shuttles to the airport were somewhat disorganized.

 

A couple of final notes: (i) I did miss the movies under the stars that they had on Summit. Not sure where they could show them on this ship (they did have movies in a theater though); (ii) internet was much slower and more problematic than I remember on Summit.

 

Overall we had a very good trip. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

[POA1]

Thanks for your review!

[dodger1964]

Thanks for review.

 

We were on same ship week earlier. They did a great job for the Christmas celebration.

 

 

I know it isn't for everyone, but your disembarkation experience is exactly why we always do self disembarkation even when have a later flight. We were off the ship and through customs and in a taxi within 10 minutes of scanning out of the ship. And about 5 minutes of that was the walk down the long building to get to customs.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Dave & Julie]

Nice review. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We are cruising the Silhouette Jan 10th to celebrate a 60th birthday. Do you recall how many formal dining nights they had... 1 or 2? Also, what nights?

[cgags47]

Nice review. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We are cruising the Silhouette Jan 10th to celebrate a 60th birthday. Do you recall how many formal dining nights they had... 1 or 2? Also, what nights?

 

If it's a 7-Night cruise, there are probably 2 formal/"evening chic" nights. And they are usually on the 2nd and 6th nights.

[jrtaylor]

Nice review. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We are cruising the Silhouette Jan 10th to celebrate a 60th birthday. Do you recall how many formal dining nights they had... 1 or 2? Also, what nights?

 

There were 2 on our cruise. The second night (first sea day) and New Years' Eve (Jamaica). I suspect the first won't change. Not sure if the second one will, but every cruise we have been on that overlaps New Years Eve has had formal night on that day regardless of when it falls.

Edited January 9, 2016 by jrtaylor

[jrtaylor]

T

I know it isn't for everyone, but your disembarkation experience is exactly why we always do self disembarkation even when have a later flight. We were off the ship and through customs and in a taxi within 10 minutes of scanning out of the ship. And about 5 minutes of that was the walk down the long building to get to customs.

 

We had a late flight so we weren't concerned about missing our flight. This was much longer than any of our other cruises. Typically, we haven't faced any signficant lines to get off the ship or get luggage. The only lines we usually face is waiting in line for customs (after getting our luggage). With Global Entry, the last part was avoided this trip as we had no line. But the line to get off the ship and then to get luggage was very long. Didn't stop us from enjoying our trip, but something to be aware.

[Chazteach1]

We were also on thus cruise! Had a fantastic time. Excellent service & food. Disembarkation was a mess. Booked next New Years too!

[Algebralovr]

We had six on the same cruise. I've got a review about half done, and hope to finish it this evening.

 

We all had a blast, although we all gave up before the ball drop on NYE.

 

We looked at the calendar and prices and booked the week before Christmas in 2017, when the K-12s are still in session but the college is out. I know there will be a lot of older adults on board, but we make our own fun!

[Hooked!]

Thank you for the review! We were on this cruise as well and had a great time.

 

We were at the pool party on NYE, but never saw the sparkling wine. I thought it was one of the latest cutbacks that I'd been reading about...glad to hear there was some, somewhere (though we hardly missed it, thanks to our beverage package)!

 

Loved the beauty of this ship - wow! Although do agree that the closet storage is lacking.

 

Glad you had as great a time as we did; can't beat New Year's on a cruise!

[riclop]

Thanks for your review.