Silhouette ABC Cruise, Feb 14-25th

[67skybear]

This review covers our impressions of the 11 night cruise to the ABCs on the Silhouette departed on Feb 14.  A bit of background: we are a couple in our mid 40s, with six cruises under our belt, 3 of them Celebrity.  We enjoy the product, and our main activities are meeting new people, trivia, and seeing entertainment while onboard - we don't party, but appreciate a good bar atmosphere and good table mates at dinner.  

 

A word of warning about this review:  it is meant to identify the differences between this and our pre Covid experience, and many come off as negative - that is not the intent, but most of the changes we noticed were of the negative variety.  (we, like most I believe, tend to ignore the good things we expect to see, and take note where stuff is not as we expect or want).  We had a great time, and would gladly go again.  Disclaimer done.

 

Embarkation 

We had the 1030-1100 boarding time, and were quickly through the security and sitting in the sitting room spread out.  We boarded, went to our room to grab our seapass card and explore the ship.  Nothing of note here.

 

Onboard

Sailed two days after the mask policy changed, for which we were grateful.  The only places they were required after boarding was the theater and casino, and when leaving and  getting back on the ship.  Some chose to wear them everywhere, and we did in some tight environments as well.  As the cruise went on, the number of full timers declined, but adherence to the actual policy was good.  Crew kept to 100 percent adherence with one odd exception noted below.

 

Crew was fantastic, happy to see us, and provided great service for the most part. 

 

Food

Oceanview cafe was one spot where we saw that the Covid changes degraded service in our eyes.  Because the crew had to serve everyone, some problems popped up, which we believe were primarily a staffing strategy issue.  It seemed that someone didn't understand which stations required extra staff, and which could be staffed by one or two people.  Sometimes you would have an assembly station (tacos, gyros, etc) covered by one person who was also responsible for dishing up other items, leaving people standing there waiting for service for several minutes.  It seemed obvious to us which stations required extra staff, but they never seemed to add extra staff to these stations.  Further, several stations only had one person serving and getting their attention was sometimes difficult.  This was at half capacity.  This system will never work once they get back to full ships, so i hope they abandon it once the Covid threat has subsided.  One other issue we had was breakfast.  It literally never changed.  In the past, there would be some variation of dishes, including some international (Indian, etc) dishes included.  This time there were none, and the salad bar was never open at breakfast.  Sometimes I enjoy a salad at breakfast for variety, so it became very monotonous over 11 days.  Lunches were fantastic, and we did not have any dinners there this time.

 

Main dining room service was good, and the food generally on par with pre-covid standards.  Only notable exception was the steak Dianne, did not impress, the steak was different than we remember.  Sommelier service was attentive and good.

 

We did the Taj on X event, as we love Indian food (one of the reasons we love the buffet on X), and it was fantastic.  it is family style where they bring ALL the dishes for you to try(4 apps, 6 mains, 4 desserts - menu has been posted elsewhere).  We left so full we had to penguin out of there.  Highly recommend to those who like Indian cuisine or want to experiment, as there are many dishes, one or more of which should suit each person.

 

Room steward

Our room steward was good, attended to our needs (CPAP, etc) whenever we asked.  We did have a couple experiences that were strange and we had not seen before.  Several times he knocked and entered without asking, and even grabbed the door one time when i tried to close it.  the most notable was when he entered while the wife was still in her bathrobe, and I was coming out of the bathroom naked.  NONE of these times did we have the "deep sleep" magnet up, but all of our previous stewards waited for an answer before coming in.  It was clear he knew we were in there, as he opened and immediately talked to the wife without surprise or pause.  Very strange.  We didn't report him as we believe his heart was in the right place, maybe just a bit clueless.

 

Ports

Not much to say here, Cruisestich covered the Bimini cancellation, and everyone has their own opinions on excursions, etc.  Our only comment is that the street vendors in Cartegena are insane.  Definitely a one and done experience for us.

 

Entertainment

With omicron subsiding, a lot of the entertainment was back on schedule.  The vocalist Stephen Barry was AMAZING.  Highly recommend if he is on board.  we didn't watch all the nightly shows, but we did see the naturalist (Celia) speak several times, and she was enjoyable.  Her "birds and bees" speech is quite humorous if you can catch it! She was also on a snorkeling excursion with us, and I chatted her up about her experience as a Celebrity employee.  Very interesting background if you get a chance to learn more about her.  We liked that on this ship trivia tended to be at the same time each day, where other ships moved it around so much we missed some of them.  I was a bit disappointed that the progressive origami classes were always at lunch time.  Since we eat earlier at home, we ended up missing these to feed our bellies...

 

COVID issues

as noted above, the mask policy changed on Feb 12, so we weren't subject to the "sip and cover" or other mask restrictions on previous cruises.  It seemed rather random though, as we had to wear them in the theater, but a crowded (3-4 deep) events at the main foyer did not.  The theater crowd was spaced due to low capacity (1279 onboard), but the foyer couldn't help but be crowded.  The wine tasting event we did was also a super spreader event if we ever saw one.  Just random and didn't always make sense.

 

We also saw the Med Assistant who was performing the COVID testing (she was on an excursion with us, and said as much) walking around the OV without a mask (no other crew did that) and was even eating as she was walking from station to station.  She was very young, so it may just be an immaturity thing, but it did stand out due to the compliance of the rest of the crew.  It was also notable as since she is doing testing, she is the ONE person who contacts EVERY person who might have COVID (and all the crew for their regular tests).  Very strange behavior to us. 

 

There were also a few self designated COVID police on the cruise, and we just tried to chuckle and take it in stride.  We have been careful with COVID, especially due to my work, but we are at the point where we try to be careful where necessary, and live life elsewhere, especially on a ship where everyone is vaccinated and tested.  Our biggest concern was getting contact traced and quarantined without symptoms.  By the end of the cruise, it seemed like a normal pre-COVID cruise with a few masked people here and there.

 

Overall great experience, and we regret that by the next time we are able to cruise the ships will be back at full capacity, and we won't have this type of experience again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for the review.  We sail in a week and are looking forward to it, especially the Taj Dinner. We don't eat in the buffet very often but I never remember seeing salad at breakfast and the offerings are usually the same each day.

[valleyduo]

Excellent review...ty!

[bunzini]

Thanks for your review!   We had Celia on our Millennium Panama Canal cruise in the fall and enjoyed her as well.  

I find Cartegena to be really beautiful in the historical center.  But I have to say that the vendors tend to ruin the experience.  It's no fun to walk around and constantly fend them off.  Sad, because it really is a beautiful area.  

Lastly, I have been on many Celebrity cruises and on the Silhouette twice before but have no clue about the Taj experience.  Where and when is it?

 

[judatt]

We did 2 Celebrity cruises in January including the Jan 24 on Silhouette. It was great. Between the 2 cruises we had 13 ports and Cartagena was to be our only port that we had not visited previously. It was cancelled and we went to DR instead. Overall, still very enjoyable. 
We would also say the Indian evening was a highlight. Definitely left with a full belly  of delicious food. 

[gfkcruiser]

We were on this sailing and had a great time.  
 

Regarding the no self-service in the ocean view -  I had no problem with this.  We have been on a full capacity sailings that required no self serve for 3 days due to large outbreak of noro-virus on previous cruise.  Was not too bad and we ate breakfast and lunch most days in Oceanview.  
 

We did this same cruise in December 2021.  Went to Nassau in lie of Grand Cayman.   For Cartegena we did a tour of old city and peddlers were unrelenting. Stayed at port this time. 
 

Found things about the same with the exception of masks now required in theatre and casino.  These areas are large and at 40% or so capacity spacing can be accomplished.  However, at the Abba singalong in the Sky lounge,  people were right next to each other expelling a lot of air and no masks required.  I did not wear one where I was not required. 

[stones902]

On 2/26/2022 at 10:41 PM, 67skybear said:

Room steward

Our room steward was good, attended to our needs (CPAP, etc) whenever we asked.  We did have a couple experiences that were strange and we had not seen before.  Several times he knocked and entered without asking, and even grabbed the door one time when i tried to close it.  the most notable was when he entered while the wife was still in her bathrobe, and I was coming out of the bathroom naked.  NONE of these times did we have the "deep sleep" magnet up, but all of our previous stewards waited for an answer before coming in.  It was clear he knew we were in there, as he opened and immediately talked to the wife without surprise or pause.  Very strange.  We didn't report him as we believe his heart was in the right place, maybe just a bit clueless.

 

 

Interesting that you mentioned this.  We were also on the Silhouette but the Jan 4 cruise.  Stayed in a Mini Suite.  Had that same experience twice with our Butler - knocked and when we didn't answer immediately he entered the cabin.  I don't recall the gentleman's name and I certainly don't want to imply that he was up to anything.

 

We just found it unusual and laughed it off.  Sometimes we had the TV on, other times one of us was in the bathroom.  Either way we've never had that happen in 60 prior sailings.