Celebrity Silhouette March 28 - April 8

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

She is slender but I would not call her tall.  I did not catch what country she is from. I’ll try and get a better look at her name tag tomorrow.

 

 

LOL... totally different person.   The Lawrence we know is a male.   I missed your first remark of "She".   Thanks for checking.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

The Captain just came on and announced that due to a passenger with a medical emergency that requires facilities beyond the ships medical capabilities so we are changing course towards Jamacia.  As a result this means we will not be going to Bimini. 
 

He emphasized that this was not COVID related. 
 

Wow... adventures at sea.   Hope all goes well for the passenger but I'm sure many will miss Bimini.

[stones902]

I’m sorry if this was asked but I am curious as to the number of passengers on this sailing?  Our January cruise on the Silhouette was around 1/3 capacity. Thx. 

[Schmoe38]

59 minutes ago, stones902 said:

I’m sorry if this was asked but I am curious as to the number of passengers on this sailing?  Our January cruise on the Silhouette was around 1/3 capacity. Thx. 

Hi Kurt

 

We’re running around 50% capacity.

 

Randy

[Schmoe38]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

LOL... totally different person.   The Lawrence we know is a male.   I missed your first remark of "She".   Thanks for checking.

Jim

 

We have sailed with Laurence before. She is from France.

 

Randy

[Londoncruising1971]

1 hour ago, Schmoe38 said:

Jim

 

We have sailed with Laurence before. She is from France.

 

Randy

Laurence was our Maitre D' on our cruise around the UK last summer on Silhouette. She's very good

She also looked after us in Blu on Connie a few years ago

[stones902]

3 hours ago, Schmoe38 said:

Hi Kurt

 

We’re running around 50% capacity.

 

Randy

Thanks Randy. I was figuring 50-60% myself. Don’t know if you caught this on the news but last week Carnival reported the most bookings in one week in the company’s 50 year history. Not that I care about Carnival but I think it speaks to the cruise industry bouncing back. 
 

Regards to you and Connie - Kurt 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Schmoe38 said:

Jim

 

We have sailed with Laurence before. She is from France.

 

Randy

Thanks.... Really look forward to meeting her.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Laurence is from France.

[DaKahuna]

7 hours ago, stones902 said:

I’m sorry if this was asked but I am curious as to the number of passengers on this sailing?  Our January cruise on the Silhouette was around 1/3 capacity. Thx. 

 

 The number given was 1456 so as Randy said - about 50%. 

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow... adventures at sea.   Hope all goes well for the passenger but I'm sure many will miss Bimini.

 

 At the end of the morning update at 0945 this morning the Captain said that they had been in touch with the hospital and the passenger is doing well thanks to them getting him there expeditiously.  A nurse from the ship is still there with the passenger.  

[stones902]

45 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 The number given was 1456 so as Randy said - about 50%. 

Thanks so much for that info!

[DaKahuna]

Received a surprise at dinner in Luminae, our waiter, assistant waiter, and one other waiter are all absent this evening.  Not sure if it was a close contact situation or if they tested positive but we have all new waitstaff in our dining area in Luminae. 

[DaKahuna]

An update.  Apparently, they were identified as ‘close contact’ and now will be isolated for five days with, I believe, daily testing which must be negative, before they can return to work. 
 

I am happy to report that in our opinion, service has not deteriorated but we do miss their smiling faces.  Especially Nolan, our assistant waiter, who made sure we received our Almond croissants every morning. 
 

[DaKahuna]

I did not mean to ghost everyone but we have been doing absolutely nothing these past couple of days. 
 

The weather has been wonderful and we have been taking full advantage of the larger overhang and the wonderful view and sound of the wake in our aft corner S1 on deck 12.  Not even the occasional sound of a deck chair being moved on the OVC outdoor seating/dining area has broken the mood. 
 

Breakfast, a visit to the Retreat lounge for tea or coffee with Bailey’s before heading to the sanctuary of our room.  Lunch, followed by a drink in the lounge, maybe a visit to the casino, or just wandering around before an afternoon nap.  Dinner, post dinner drinks, listening to the soft music of the duets or solo performers in the Ensemble Lounge, while enjoying an Brugla 1888 Old Fashioned, or some other adult beverage before calling it a night. 
 

Maybe we are showing our age but I have never understood why the volume of the entertainment in the Grand Foyer on Deck 3 needs to be loud enough to be heard on Deck 15.  A number of times we heard music that we enjoy being played but it was too loud to be enjoyable, and I am hard of hearing. 
 

All in all this has been a wonderful and relaxing cruise for us and we certainly look forward to our next one. 
 

@Schmoe38 It was wonderful meeting you and your lovely wife.  I wish we had found more opportunities to talk.  I have a few golf stories of my own.  Safe travels on your journey homeward. 

Edited April 8, 2022 by DaKahuna

[PinkSandGirl]

Hi!  Thank you for taking time and sharing your cruise with all of us.  😃

 

🍹

[chemmo]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I did not mean to ghost everyone but we have been doing absolutely nothing these past couple of days. 
 

The weather has been wonderful and we have been taking full advantage of the larger overhang and the wonderful view and sound of the wake in our aft corner S1 on deck 12.  Not even the occasional sound of a deck chair being moved on the OVC outdoor seating/dining area has broken the mood. 
 

Breakfast, a visit to the Retreat lounge for tea or coffee with Bailey’s before heading to the sanctuary of our room.  Lunch, followed by a drink in the lounge, maybe a visit to the casino, or just wandering around before an afternoon nap.  Dinner, post dinner drinks, listening to the soft music of the duets or solo performers in the Ensemble Lounge, while enjoying an Brugla 1888 Old Fashioned, or some other adult beverage before calling it a night. 
 

 

Sounds like heaven! Can’t wait until our next cruise. Sincere thanks for a wonderful interactive review!

[raudacruise]

John, your “doing absolutely nothing” days sound like perfection to me.

 

Thank you so much for your review!

[Schmoe38]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I did not mean to ghost everyone but we have been doing absolutely nothing these past couple of days. 
 

The weather has been wonderful and we have been taking full advantage of the larger overhang and the wonderful view and sound of the wake in our aft corner S1 on deck 12.  Not even the occasional sound of a deck chair being moved on the OVC outdoor seating/dining area has broken the mood. 
 

Breakfast, a visit to the Retreat lounge for tea or coffee with Bailey’s before heading to the sanctuary of our room.  Lunch, followed by a drink in the lounge, maybe a visit to the casino, or just wandering around before an afternoon nap.  Dinner, post dinner drinks, listening to the soft music of the duets or solo performers in the Ensemble Lounge, while enjoying an Brugla 1888 Old Fashioned, or some other adult beverage before calling it a night. 
 

Maybe we are showing our age but I have never understood why the volume of the entertainment in the Grand Foyer on Deck 3 needs to be loud enough to be heard on Deck 15.  A number of times we heard music that we enjoy being played but it was too loud to be enjoyable, and I am hard of hearing. 
 

All in all this has been a wonderful and relaxing cruise for us and we certainly look forward to our next one. 
 

@Schmoe38 It was wonderful meeting you and your lovely wife.  I wish we had found more opportunities to talk.  I have a few golf stories of my own.  Safe travels on your journey homeward. 

John

 

The pleasure was all ours.

 

Till we meet again.

 

Randy and Connie

[Jim_Iain]

John,

 

I want to again thank you for all the information you have passed on.   You must be off the ship by now and on your way home.   Safe travels and look forward to your next live post.   You got a beautiful morning for your departure so hope you have no delays.    I was reading today that some of Delta pilots were picketing today for being overworked.

 

It's 10:15 and we are just sitting around wasting time until we head to the port.  

[DaKahuna]

5 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

John,

 

I want to again thank you for all the information you have passed on.   You must be off the ship by now and on your way home.   Safe travels and look forward to your next live post.   You got a beautiful morning for your departure so hope you have no delays.    I was reading today that some of Delta pilots were picketing today for being overworked.

 

It's 10:15 and we are just sitting around wasting time until we head to the port.  

Jim,

 

 Yes, we left when they announced all baggage tags had been cleared and that all guest were to leave the ship.  I think there was only one or two couples behind us leaving the Retreat Lounge.  We are safely seated in the very crowded United Lounge waiting for our flight to board in two and a half hours. 

 

 I tried to take a picture of the entrance you will be using shortly when we drove past on the way to the airport but failed to get anything good.  Was strange to see the doors closed and no people waiting in line. 

 

Fair warning -- the last three days our beloved almond croissants were not topped with almond shavings.  I guess they ran out.  Hopefully that is one of the supply items they will loading today when they re-provision. 

 

Have a safe journey -- looking forward to following your B2B2B online. 

 

 

[tcmagnum]

14 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I did not mean to ghost everyone but we have been doing absolutely nothing these past couple of days. 
 

The weather has been wonderful and we have been taking full advantage of the larger overhang and the wonderful view and sound of the wake in our aft corner S1 on deck 12.  Not even the occasional sound of a deck chair being moved on the OVC outdoor seating/dining area has broken the mood. 

Your days on board the ship sound AMAZING!!

We will be on the Connie in Feb 2023 for 11 days with 5 in ports.  And to be honest, I only plan on doing excursions on 3 of those days.  The other days will be soaking in the warm weather and sea breezes with a cold drink.

Thank you for taking us along with you!!

[DaKahuna]

Thanks everyone for following along.   To put a bow on this thread I'll summarize our final day. 

 

We made a decision Thursday night that we would forgo having breakfast in Luminae and instead just grab something in the Retreat Lounge while waiting to leave the ship.  So after making ourselves as presentable as possible we proceeded down to the Retreat Lounge to wait until we were 'kicked off the ship'.

 

I think we managed to find the last two empty seats in the lounge we settled in just short of 0800.  Had some pastries, including an almond croissant, and hot tea.  I also managed to consume a diet Coke, a Vitamin Zero water, and some English Breakfast tea.  And waited patiently while the Lounge slowly emptied.  There were two guest who were on a B2B seated next to us so we were filled with jealously.

 

Around 0900 they made the call for all guest and all luggage tags to depart the ship so we reluctantly left the ship and headed to baggage claim.  Our bags were very easy to find as there were only about 10 bags in the Suite / Zenith bag area. 

 

We grabbed out bags and proceeded outside where I ordered a Lyft XL.  This became an experience we never expected.  The first driver show up and disappears to be replaced by another.  The second one showed as "finishing up" and located at the airport.  I followed along and watched the driver proceed from the airport to the pier were Wonder of the Seas was located before coming to pick us up.  All in all it took 44 minutes from the time we first requested a ride until we arrived at the airport.   Good news is that as a result we were able to proceed directly to the United Premier Access counter and drop off our bags. 

 

Being Clear and TSA Pre we had not wait at all getting through security and proceeded to a very crowded United Club at the C Gates.  We made ourselves comfortable and I broke out my laptop and did a little work and some posting here.  The wait was uneventful.  A couple of snacks before we proceeded to the gate for boarding.   

 

The flight home was uneventful and smooth except when we got close to Dulles and encountered a little turbulence.  I manage to watch a whole movie, despite the crew deciding that in-flight WiFi needed to be rebooted about an hour into the flight.  Landed safely on schedule and went to our pre-cruise local hotel where we had left the car, loaded our bags up, and drove home.   All in all a very nice end to a wonder cruise experience. 

 

Not sure when I will be trying to live blog again.  Our next cruise is an Alaskan B2B on Quantum of the Seas in  August/September.   We are scheduled to sail on Solstice of the Seas for a Best of Japan cruise in November but have been considering cancelling that cruise.   After that we are scheduled for a 15-day East to West Panama Canal transit in April of 2023 on Millennium. 

 

Thank you everyone for following along.

 

[chemmo]

Again sincere thanks for a wonderful live report….I have enjoyed catching up with your post daily.

 

Wishing health and happiness to you and your family until your next cruise adventure.

[Jim_Iain]

On 4/8/2022 at 6:29 AM, DaKahuna said:

Jim,

 

 Yes, we left when they announced all baggage tags had been cleared and that all guest were to leave the ship.  I think there was only one or two couples behind us leaving the Retreat Lounge.  We are safely seated in the very crowded United Lounge waiting for our flight to board in two and a half hours. 

 

 I tried to take a picture of the entrance you will be using shortly when we drove past on the way to the airport but failed to get anything good.  Was strange to see the doors closed and no people waiting in line. 

 

Fair warning -- the last three days our beloved almond croissants were not topped with almond shavings.  I guess they ran out.  Hopefully that is one of the supply items they will loading today when they re-provision. 

 

Have a safe journey -- looking forward to following your B2B2B online. 

 

 

Iain's going to ask for the Almond Croissants for tomorrow morning

 

By the way John Flynn is back on the ship.   He had to go home last cruise and they brought on a temporary replacement.   He dropped by today to welcome us.   Really nice guy.