LIVE from Silhouette 1/14/18 12 night Ultimate Caribbean

[WonderMan3]

After sailaway we headed down to meet John and Cindy at the Martini Bar for some drinks just after 6pm. The bar gets very busy from 5-6pm but then empties out as people head to dinner. We had dinner at Tuscan again. We had planned to go to Luminae but weren’t thrilled with the menu selections. Our server again at Tuscan was Olena who is so warm and friendly. She actually remembered our special drink requests from the week before and also remembered the slip up with the Antipasti board so she made sure that came out first. We were surprised at how small it was and asked her to bring out more of the meats. I won’t post the menu again as you can find it further up the thread. Photos show Crab Cake, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Meatballs appetizer, Bruschetta, Caesar Salad, Chicken Parmesan without the pasta, Gnocchi, Filet Mignon, Cacio e Pepe side, Polenta cakes and Zabaglione dessert. Food was a bit better than our previous visit; the filets were awesome and a must try here. The pasta dishes were fine but could still use some improvement.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Here is today’s Daily

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Today began very lazily for Mike and I. We slept in until almost 11 which we had not planned to do so we missed breakfast. Mike ran out for some coffee shortly after getting up and noticed the room attendant was lingering around outside the room. We noticed he was still there when we finally left the room at noon. It was a bit odd. Normally in the past when we have not appeared before 11 the butler gives a call to find out when we might be leaving. This room attendant has been a bit odd overall though and I’m not clear on the dynamic between him and the butler. I’ll talk about that more in my end of cruise review though. We decided to have lunch at The Porch with John and Cindy as we had not visited that venue yet. The meal was paced very slow and we were concerned at first when we had been there almost 10 minutes with no drink orders taken and other patrons getting their orders in before us. But the food was actually quite good and the atmosphere is wonderful up there on a sunny sea day like today. Photos show garlic cheese bread, Maui Mahi tacos, BBQ chicken wings, Lobster Bisque, Chicken Chorizo Paella, Lobster Roll, Seafood Tower and their dessert which Cindy took to go as we were all too full from the apps and entrees. $30 might seem high for lunch but you get a lot of choices.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[hcat]

Tuscan and Porch look much more appealing than pics and review of LCG.. Is there an extra charge for the Seafood Tower? Can you order multiples?

 

The spa specials for $ 108 also look good!

[tink218]

Now, being from Cape Cod could you please give me your opinion on the Lobster Roll at the Porch? It looks kind of chopped up, not like a true lobster roll. My husband would be so disappointed if I made reservations there and he didn’t get a real New England style roll!

[WonderMan3]

Tuscan and Porch look much more appealing than pics and review of LCG.. Is there an extra charge for the Seafood Tower? Can you order multiples?

 

 

 

The spa specials for $ 108 also look good!

 

 

 

The seafood tower is included in the cover charge. They will arrange the tower based on the number of people eating. So if there are two of you but you want to eat a lot, I’m sure they can set it up to serve 3-4 people.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Now, being from Cape Cod could you please give me your opinion on the Lobster Roll at the Porch? It looks kind of chopped up, not like a true lobster roll. My husband would be so disappointed if I made reservations there and he didn’t get a real New England style roll!

 

 

 

I didn’t order it myself but John and Cindy did. They said it was fine but did not compare to the lobster rolls we’re used to in New England. If you are a real Lobster Roll fan then I would suggest ordering something else to avoid disappointment.

 

 

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[Gordoncruickshank]

Now, being from Cape Cod could you please give me your opinion on the Lobster Roll at the Porch? It looks kind of chopped up, not like a true lobster roll. My husband would be so disappointed if I made reservations there and he didn’t get a real New England style roll!

It is chopped up and not what I thought I was getting although I did have it a number of times on the cruise when it was free (we were in a RS)

[hcat]

The seafood tower is included in the cover charge. They will arrange the tower based on the number of people eating. So if there are two of you but you want to eat a lot, I’m sure they can set it up to serve 3-4 people.

 

 

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Thanks...we enjoyed the Porch previously with old menus...sometimes a bit sunny. We have not gone due to dh seafood allergies...mostly lobster but seems there'd be enough on the menu for him to enjoy it..

 

Thanks for giving us great info and photos..we appreciate it,

[WonderMan3]

For dinner last night we went to Luminae once again. John and Cindy didn’t join us this time and just went to Oceanview. We arrived a bit later, around 7:45, as it has been so busy in the 6-7:30 period at Luminae on this cruise; the staff has been run ragged as they are not used to handling so many early diners at once. Dinner was excellent again. The only miss was the Wedge salad which did not have enough blue cheese and on my entree (a mix of the gnocchi and scallops), the gnocchi were only lukewarm. Photos show shrimp Chef’s treat, Risotto, Wedge Salad, Lobster, Gnocchi & Scallops and Baked Alaska.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

This sweet little package was left in our cabin at turndown last night. The staff has been very pleasant on this sailing.

 

 

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[SEA DOGY]

It is chopped up and not what I thought I was getting although I did have it a number of times on the cruise when it was free (we were in a RS)

 

 

Son when. You travel in the RS you have all the speciality restaurants for free. ? It’s everything included with out any restrictions can you order anything-from the menu with out any surcharge?

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Our final Daily [emoji22]

 

 

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[Gordoncruickshank]

Son when. You travel in the RS you have all the speciality restaurants for free. ? It’s everything included with out any restrictions can you order anything-from the menu with out any surcharge?

 

 

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It is one of the benefits when in a RS, PH, Signature or Reflection Suites. It covers all Speciality fees but I do not think it covers any menu additional cost items like certain steaks in Tuscan

[WonderMan3]

It is one of the benefits when in a RS, PH, Signature or Reflection Suites. It covers all Speciality fees but I do not think it covers any menu additional cost items like certain steaks in Tuscan

 

 

 

That’s correct. There is no charge for the specialty items on the room service menu though.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

So today has been a pretty mundane day at sea. We finally made it up to Oceanview for breakfast for the first time this cruise. Food was good. I like the array of choices. After that we hung out at the casino a bit but machines were tight. So we picked up photos at the photography station; we only had two from the whole cruise. Then we went back to the cabin where I packed up my suitcase. Once that was done we popped back to the casino to see the host Angel as he had told me yesterday to come see him in the afternoon to make adjustments to our account based on our play. But when we got there we found he was off until around 7pm. Since the future cruise bookings office was right around the corner I suggested to Mike that we go in and make a reservation. We had earned future cruise credit from our casino play this cruise but we could only use it on a new booking that departs within a year. We already have a cruise booked on Reflection in April and on Summit next January, so to try and add another cruise to the mix was a dilemma. I had noticed that there were some Sky Suites on the new “inaugural” cruise for Edge that had been added on Dec 9th. So we wound up booking that. We got the Go Best package plus an additional $250 in onboard credit and deposit was only $200 and fully refundable. We will have to follow up with Blue Chip Club later to apply our future cruise credits. Very excited to be going on Edge. We had already decided we probably wouldn’t wind up booking on Edge for the first couple years so this was a nice surprise.

 

 

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[CHEZMARYLOU]

Our final Daily [emoji22]

 

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Interested in hearing how the disembarkation goes and your overall impressions of the cruise. Safe travels home.

[Beachlover1989]

So today has been a pretty mundane day at sea. We finally made it up to Oceanview for breakfast for the first time this cruise. Food was good. I like the array of choices. After that we hung out at the casino a bit but machines were tight. So we picked up photos at the photography station; we only had two from the whole cruise. Then we went back to the cabin where I packed up my suitcase. Once that was done we popped back to the casino to see the host Angel as he had told me yesterday to come see him in the afternoon to make adjustments to our account based on our play. But when we got there we found he was off until around 7pm. Since the future cruise bookings office was right around the corner I suggested to Mike that we go in and make a reservation. We had earned future cruise credit from our casino play this cruise but we could only use it on a new booking that departs within a year. We already have a cruise booked on Reflection in April and on Summit next January, so to try and add another cruise to the mix was a dilemma. I had noticed that there were some Sky Suites on the new “inaugural” cruise for Edge that had been added on Dec 9th. So we wound up booking that. We got the Go Best package plus an additional $250 in onboard credit and deposit was only $200 and fully refundable. We will have to follow up with Blue Chip Club later to apply our future cruise credits. Very excited to be going on Edge. We had already decided we probably wouldn’t wind up booking on Edge for the first couple years so this was a nice surprise.

 

 

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That's exciting! Sounds wonderful!

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

After booking our Edge cruise we headed back to the cabin to relax for a few hours. I grabbed some snacks at Cafe Al Bacio while Mike packed. Dharma our butler came by to drop of some afternoon snacks and we said our goodbyes and Thank you’s and gave him an extra tip as he gave solid service. We did have to give him feedback about the room attendant though as we were disappointed with his service (I’ll discuss in a post-trip review).We met up with Cindy and John at the Martini Bar at 7 and had some drinks while we waited to meet up with the casino host Angel. When we finally connected with him he gave us great news. He was able to wipe out all the charges from our account save for a casino cash draw that Mike had made. That was a total of $1200 removed from our bill which was great. Now much of those charges were spa charges and we already automatically got $200 in spa credit for our Sapphire Blue Chip level, and then another $60 was a Luminae charge which would’ve been credited automatically as we get two free specialty restaurant credits with Sapphire. But that was still over $900 that he was able to deduct on top of that. After that transaction we went to Luminae for our final dinner. We arrived around 7:45pm. We wanted to go after 7:30 as they get so crowded early. Unfortunately while it got quieter in the dining room later the service also got much slower. We didn’t get out of the dining room until 10pm and we didn’t even have dessert. The manager apologized because there was a delay on the preparation of our roast chicken entree which three of us ordered. He waived the dining fee for Cindy and John without us even asking because of the delay which was very nice. We presented a tip to our server Rozi who was wonderful. If you go on Silhouette in the next few months and eat in Luminae make sure to ask for his station. Photos show codfish chef’s treat, pizzette, fennel soup, roast chicken and grilled sirloin. I included the dessert menu although none of us had any. After dinner it was back to the room to put our bags out and then down to the casino to play off our accumulated points. No last minute wins though unfortunately. Strangely enough they closed the casino down early at 11:45 even though there were a number of people still playing. I’ve never seen a casino close so early on a final night. This was a trend though for this casino which I’ll discuss later in my review.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Up at 6am this morning and off to Luminae for breakfast shortly before 7. John and Cindy joined us and surprisingly the restaurant was pretty quiet.

 

 

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[WonderMan3]

Disembarkation was a breeze. After finishing breakfast we arrived at Michael’s Club a little before 8. It was packed to overflowing! Thankfully within just a couple minutes of arriving Niko led most of the group out the back entrance into our own exit line off the ship. Then it was down the gangway with everyone else. Once inside the terminal they allowed Suites/Zenith to proceed to the baggage area but all others had to take a seat and wait. We proceeded down the escalator to find our bags waiting. They allowed John and a Cindy to tag their bags as priority like ours since we were all traveling together. We grabbed our bags and had no wait in Customs. Overall it was less than 10 minutes to get off the ship. Our driver was supposed to pick us up at 8:15 but he hit traffic. Just getting picked up now and on our way to the airport!

Hope everyone enjoyed following along with my cruise. We’ll be cruising again in April on Reflection to Italy and Greece. Until then, happy cruising to all!!

 

 

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