Cruise Noobs: First-timer Just Finished 12-day Silhouette Cruise Yesterday -- Questions?

[CNSfromHI]

Disembarked the Silhouette in Southampton, England, yesterday morning after spending 12+ idyllic days aboard, visiting England, Ireland, Iceland and Scotland.

 

I'm a first-time cruiser who learned plenty so I hope I can help other cruise noobs with the honest insights I gained.

 

cjr

[Smmessineo]

3 hours ago, CNSfromHI said:

Disembarked the Silhouette in Southampton, England, yesterday morning after spending 12+ idyllic days aboard, visiting England, Ireland, Iceland and Scotland.

 

I'm a first-time cruiser who learned plenty so I hope I can help other cruise noobs with the honest insights I gained.

 

cjr

What did you think of the itinerary ? Was there good sightseeing? Was the weather cool?

[CNSfromHI]

18 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

What did you think of the itinerary ? Was there good sightseeing? Was the weather cool?

The primary attraction for me on this cruise was Iceland, which I've wanted to visit since the early '90s. There, we docked at Akureyri and then Reykjavik and enjoyed one and three excursions, respectively. These provided a great sense of not only the country's incredible environment/terrains, but also a nice sense of its history, as well as its modern sensibilities politically, environmentally, socially, etc.

 

We totally hit the weather jackpot in Iceland, as every day reached ~60 degrees with plentiful sunshine 😎 This was not what we anticipated based on everything we'd read beforehand, and I traveled in shorts and short-sleeve polo shirts the entire time.

 

Ireland involved two ports, Cobh/Cork and Waterford. With only 8 and 10 hours available, respectively, we nevertheless experienced the flavor of these areas. The Jamison whiskey tour, particularly, was fun -- especially the tasting at the end. While we departed knowing there was so much more to see, this "primer" offered enough enticement to make us want to return for greater exploration some day. Also, the weather both days was again idyllic -- sunny and relatively warm.

 

The only clinker in the itinerary proved to be Scotland. With less than 7 hours in port (Greenock), we spent about 90 minutes round trip traveling inland to Glasgow. That excursion basically comprised a bus ride, a very minimal B/W photocopied map of the city center, and a "guide" who apparently didn't know how to use the bus microphone because he said nothing about the sights we passed en route. Beware the "on your own" excursion.

 

That said, Glasgow is a cool city; very cosmopolitan/diverse and filled with interesting architecture, both old and new. Weather-wise, it proved warm (mid-70s F) and humid, and it rained lightly at times, but not enough to spoil our journey. The city is crazy-hilly, similar to San Francisco, so wear the proper footwear if you visit.

 

Thanks for asking,

 

cjr

[Casualcruisers]

I was on the cruise too, and agree with everything you mentioned.

At Glasgow, once we got to town, our tour guide recommended the double decker bus tour. It cost about $16 a person but was well worth it.

you get a map and headphones so you get to hear about everything you are seeing. 
It’s also a hop on hop off bus so you get jump off and explore points of interest. Busses come every 15 min so you won’t get stuck anywhere. 
2/3 of the top is open air, which we used with the great weather we had. Luckily rain held out until it was about time to head back to the ship

 

you also didn’t mention the northern lights 🙂. You just had to stay up until 1am and freeze your … off to see them.  They look 1000% better in your pictures for some reason.

[CNSfromHI]

1 minute ago, Casualcruisers said:

I was on the cruise too, and agree with everything you mentioned.

At Glasgow, once we got to town, our tour guide recommended the double decker bus tour. It cost about $16 a person but was well worth it.

you get a map and headphones so you get to hear about everything you are seeing. 
It’s also a hop on hop off bus so you get jump off and explore points of interest. Busses come every 15 min so you won’t get stuck anywhere. 
2/3 of the top is open air, which we used with the great weather we had. Luckily rain held out until it was about time to head back to the ship

 

you also didn’t mention the northern lights 🙂. You just had to stay up until 1am and freeze your … off to see them.  They look 1000% better in your pictures for some reason.

I totally forgot about the Northern Lights; thanks for reminding me!

 

I'd seen them once before about a thousand years ago, but my wife had not, so we set an alarm for midnight, threw on some warm clothes and sat on our veranda watching the amazing display in the sky. The Silhouette crew did a great job informing passengers about the chance to watch this display!

 

cjr

[TeaBag]

This is a cruise we would love to do.  We had it booked on Silhouette in 2021 but it got cancelled.  Glad you got great weather.  i enjoyed your review.

[Smmessineo]

 

1 hour ago, CNSfromHI said:

I totally forgot about the Northern Lights; thanks for reminding me!

 

I'd seen them once before about a thousand years ago, but my wife had not, so we set an alarm for midnight, threw on some warm clothes and sat on our veranda watching the amazing display in the sky. The Silhouette crew did a great job informing passengers about the chance to watch this display!

 

cjr

Thanks for your response to my questions! We are looking at 2024, waiting for schedule to come out hopefully November.

This itinerary looks great, as does the Summit's trips from NY to Iceland. 

I can't wait to see what Celebrity offers for 2024, but im guessing they're all good!

The Northern lights must be incredible. Great luck getting to see it.

[CNSfromHI]

20 hours ago, TeaBag said:

This is a cruise we would love to do.  We had it booked on Silhouette in 2021 but it got cancelled.  Glad you got great weather.  i enjoyed your review.

Thank you. I'm glad you found it useful!

 

cjr

[CNSfromHI]

19 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

I can't wait to see what Celebrity offers for 2024, but im guessing they're all good!

We wanted to take advantage of the book-onboard benefits during our trip but just couldn't decide so we used the "book later" option on our last day -- a $100 per person down payment locks in the on-board credit benefits but we have 365 days to actually book something.

 

We'll probably take the plunge again in 2023, but I too am waiting for Celebrity's list into 2024.

 

Hope you get to Iceland soon!

 

cjr

[McGarrett5oh]

On 9/11/2022 at 3:42 PM, CNSfromHI said:

Disembarked the Silhouette in Southampton, England, yesterday morning after spending 12+ idyllic days aboard, visiting England, Ireland, Iceland and Scotland.

 

I'm a first-time cruiser who learned plenty so I hope I can help other cruise noobs with the honest insights I gained.

 

cjr

If you’re still watching this thread, can you share more about your experiences in Iceland?   Which ports?  Which excursions?  Booked thru ship or 3rd party?

 

Glad you had great weather!

 

Thanks in advance!

[Moonarino]

On 9/12/2022 at 2:57 PM, CNSfromHI said:

I totally forgot about the Northern Lights; thanks for reminding me!

 

I'd seen them once before about a thousand years ago, but my wife had not, so we set an alarm for midnight, threw on some warm clothes and sat on our veranda watching the amazing display in the sky. The Silhouette crew did a great job informing passengers about the chance to watch this display!

 

cjr

Likewise if you're still following here . . .

 

First, I'm envious of your experience and happy to hear the crew kept you informed on "sightings". I spent 3 years in Alaska eons ago and a couple of times saw Northern Lights displays that made my knees a little weak.

 

I'm scouring the boards for info on the best sports bar (TV) on Silhouette. Football and basketball freak here, trying to make sure I don't miss anything "important". You got word on that kind of venue?

 

[the penguins]

56 minutes ago, Moonarino said:

Likewise if you're still following here . . .

 

First, I'm envious of your experience and happy to hear the crew kept you informed on "sightings". I spent 3 years in Alaska eons ago and a couple of times saw Northern Lights displays that made my knees a little weak.

 

I'm scouring the boards for info on the best sports bar (TV) on Silhouette. Football and basketball freak here, trying to make sure I don't miss anything "important". You got word on that kind of venue?

 

What used to be Cellar Masters has been changed to Craft Social and now has numerous sports screens.

[Moonarino]

26 minutes ago, the penguins said:

What used to be Cellar Masters has been changed to Craft Social and now has numerous sports screens.

 

Thanks. It might've taken me a while to find that out, considering the name (old and new) and also that the Celebrity website's "bar" photos don't represent very well beyond drinks, and (for Craft Social) a close-up of people sitting around a table enjoying convo and drinks. I know what "bar" means (lol) but would be nice if I could find pics that show more features and ambience, and especially the differences from one to the next.

 

Edit to add: I did find some decent pics of "Craft Social" via duckduckgo image search. The Celebrity pics barely show a tenth of what's actually there.

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Moonarino

[CNSfromHI]

On 10/22/2022 at 3:32 PM, Moonarino said:

I'm scouring the boards for info on the best sports bar (TV) on Silhouette. Football and basketball freak here, trying to make sure I don't miss anything "important". You got word on that kind of venue?

 

As mentioned, Craft Social is the onboard sports bar on Silhouette. I'm an English football (soccer) nut so I scouted this place a.s.a.p. so I could keep up on the Premier League action.

 

The place has a nice pub-feel and numerous flat-screen TVs on the walls, but I found the seating at the high-top tables uncomfortable. There's no foot rest on the central table spindle, so I had to keep my feet tucked under my seat along the chair rails and often found my leg snoozing on me.

 

Also, the tabletop is small and between pint glasses, app-plates and then meal stuff, it's a wonder we didn't drop something to the floor. (Our waiter was somewhat inattentive and didn't clear stuff much, but to be fair, it was busy.) Anyway, if you get there early enough (before a big game), I recommend sitting at the bar or in one of the niche areas along the wall (a small table with seats around it and a TV on the wall).

 

The food was very good; the beer selection fairly mundane -- at least on draft.

 

Eventually, we found that the casino bar offers more comfortable seating, plenty of TVs, attentive service, etc., and watched a number of matches there.

 

Finally, the TV channel selection on board is fairly limited, but Sports 24 offers Premier League, Aussie Rules FB, rugby and other sports. I can't speak for NFL games since I didn't try, and the NBA season had not started yet.

 

Hope this helps and sorry for the tardy reply.

 

cjr

[CNSfromHI]

On 10/19/2022 at 8:47 PM, McGarrett5oh said:

If you’re still watching this thread, can you share more about your experiences in Iceland?   Which ports?  Which excursions?  Booked thru ship or 3rd party?

 

Glad you had great weather!

 

Thanks in advance!

Apologies for the tardy reply!

 

We booked all of our excursions through Celebrity. Our ports in Iceland comprised Akureyri (7.5 hours) and Reykjavik (24 hours).

 

We booked the "Nature, Folk & Flora" excursion for Akureyri and loved it. It's a tour-bus based excursion that stops at a number of spots around northern Iceland, including a botanic garden/public park; a cafe/outdoor museum sort-of place where you can explore an old church/graveyard and step inside preserved homes with their grass roofs; and, the showstopper, the incredible Godafoss waterfall.

 

Of course, along the way between stops, we saw incredible vistas and scenic landscapes that make Iceland unique. Also, our guide was a lovely woman from the area who recounted its highlights and history with a dry wit that kept everyone chuckling throughout the excursion.

 

In Reykjavik, we took the "Golden Circle with Lunch" excursion. This, too, is tour-bus based and offered our only opportunity to visit the country's interior. There we visited an energy plant and learned about this Iceland's zero-emission, clean-power; enjoyed a private lunch at a quaint guesthouse; and witnessed the raw power of Earth's interior courtesy of a spot housing numerous geysers, fissures, fumaroles, etc.

 

The excursion concluded as the sun sank on the horizon at Thingvellir National Park, which is an ecologic wonder and situated on two of the three tectonic plates running through the island. Sounds geeky; trust me, this is something not to miss if you enjoy incredible scenery.

 

The next day, we took the "Discover Reykjavik" sightseeing tour, which visits the iconic Hallgrímskirkja church; the Perlan observation deck, which offers 360-degree views of the city; an outdoor museum preserving numerous Icelandic homes, service buildings, a church, etc., that demonstrate both the ingenuity and resilience of early settlers; and the National Museum of Iceland.

 

This final excursion visited a lot but felt a bit rushed, given its time limitation. The previous day's Golden Circle tour proved the opposite; it's a lot of bus time but, again, given the parameters of the cruise, it was our best option to visit the interior of this amazing country.

 

Hope this helps!

 

cjr

 

 

[McGarrett5oh]

5 hours ago, CNSfromHI said:

Apologies for the tardy reply!

 

We booked all of our excursions through Celebrity. Our ports in Iceland comprised Akureyri (7.5 hours) and Reykjavik (24 hours).

 

We booked the "Nature, Folk & Flora" excursion for Akureyri and loved it. It's a tour-bus based excursion that stops at a number of spots around northern Iceland, including a botanic garden/public park; a cafe/outdoor museum sort-of place where you can explore an old church/graveyard and step inside preserved homes with their grass roofs; and, the showstopper, the incredible Godafoss waterfall.

 

Of course, along the way between stops, we saw incredible vistas and scenic landscapes that make Iceland unique. Also, our guide was a lovely woman from the area who recounted its highlights and history with a dry wit that kept everyone chuckling throughout the excursion.

 

In Reykjavik, we took the "Golden Circle with Lunch" excursion. This, too, is tour-bus based and offered our only opportunity to visit the country's interior. There we visited an energy plant and learned about this Iceland's zero-emission, clean-power; enjoyed a private lunch at a quaint guesthouse; and witnessed the raw power of Earth's interior courtesy of a spot housing numerous geysers, fissures, fumaroles, etc.

 

The excursion concluded as the sun sank on the horizon at Thingvellir National Park, which is an ecologic wonder and situated on two of the three tectonic plates running through the island. Sounds geeky; trust me, this is something not to miss if you enjoy incredible scenery.

 

The next day, we took the "Discover Reykjavik" sightseeing tour, which visits the iconic Hallgrímskirkja church; the Perlan observation deck, which offers 360-degree views of the city; an outdoor museum preserving numerous Icelandic homes, service buildings, a church, etc., that demonstrate both the ingenuity and resilience of early settlers; and the National Museum of Iceland.

 

This final excursion visited a lot but felt a bit rushed, given its time limitation. The previous day's Golden Circle tour proved the opposite; it's a lot of bus time but, again, given the parameters of the cruise, it was our best option to visit the interior of this amazing country.

 

Hope this helps!

 

cjr

 

 

A lot!  Thanks!!

[Moonarino]

8 hours ago, CNSfromHI said:

As mentioned, Craft Social is the onboard sports bar on Silhouette. I'm an English football (soccer) nut so I scouted this place a.s.a.p. so I could keep up on the Premier League action.

 

The place has a nice pub-feel and numerous flat-screen TVs on the walls, but I found the seating at the high-top tables uncomfortable. There's no foot rest on the central table spindle, so I had to keep my feet tucked under my seat along the chair rails and often found my leg snoozing on me.

 

Also, the tabletop is small and between pint glasses, app-plates and then meal stuff, it's a wonder we didn't drop something to the floor. (Our waiter was somewhat inattentive and didn't clear stuff much, but to be fair, it was busy.) Anyway, if you get there early enough (before a big game), I recommend sitting at the bar or in one of the niche areas along the wall (a small table with seats around it and a TV on the wall).

 

The food was very good; the beer selection fairly mundane -- at least on draft.

 

Eventually, we found that the casino bar offers more comfortable seating, plenty of TVs, attentive service, etc., and watched a number of matches there.

 

Finally, the TV channel selection on board is fairly limited, but Sports 24 offers Premier League, Aussie Rules FB, rugby and other sports. I can't speak for NFL games since I didn't try, and the NBA season had not started yet.

 

Hope this helps and sorry for the tardy reply.

 

cjr

 

Excellent tips, thanks! Draft I'm sure will be fine, as any draft is likely much better than can (which I refuse to let touch my lips) or even bottle. Likewise, pub feel sounds great. It's been a while.

 

Aussie rules FB, how long has it been since I've seen one of those games. Futbol is always on somewhere isn't it? NFL is restricted (usually) to Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays so it's a little harder to notice unless the radar is up for it. But this time of year I'm looking as much for college football (and basketball) as anything else.

 

Yes it helps a great deal, especially that you also mentioned comfortable seating in the Casino bar. I hadn't actually seen any seating there in the pics I've found. Bad angles probably.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Moonarino

[CNSfromHI]

12 hours ago, Moonarino said:

Aussie rules FB, how long has it been since I've seen one of those games. Futbol is always on somewhere isn't it? NFL is restricted (usually) to Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays so it's a little harder to notice unless the radar is up for it. But this time of year I'm looking as much for college football (and basketball) as anything else.

Same here about Aussie FB; I'd forgotten how fun it is to watch because of its non-stop action and (seemingly) ruleless play. 😃 We watched one match in the casino bar with a mother/father and son from Australia -- the latter was REALLY into the match because the sport was somewhere in its playoff system at that point, i.e., win or go home.

 

Until you mentioned it, I'd forgotten that college football was also available during our cruise on a channel or two. I don't recall which ones, though, but hopefully you'll find enough offerings during your cruise!

 

cjr

[mdsteele8]

We are going on this cruise in July.  Is there a bus to take you from Cobh to Cork or do you have to arrange your own transportation?

[CNSfromHI]

On 4/25/2023 at 8:41 PM, mdsteele8 said:

We are going on this cruise in July.  Is there a bus to take you from Cobh to Cork or do you have to arrange your own transportation?

Apologies for the late reply, @mdsteele8! For our cruise, we'd booked the Jameson distillery tour so a tour bus whisked us from Cobh to Cork and back.

 

If you don't have an excursion booked that day, it's likely you can find a bus that will take you to Cork and back once you dock/disembark. If you do so, though, then you are responsible for getting back to the ship before it departs. Hopefully someone else on the CC site can offer more insight than I can.

 

Also, I highly recommend the Jameson tour, if you're contemplating excursions. Neither my wife nor I are whiskey drinkers, but this excursion proved one of our favorites. Very interesting and cool to visit a place so synonymous with Ireland.

 

Hope this helps,

 

cjr

[mdsteele8]

That does help!  Thanks so much!

[ela123]

If you want to go to Cork without a booked excursion you can get the train from Cobh to Cork takes about 25 mins. You can buy the tickets online and collect them from the station machine. The station is right by where you dock. We were going to get the train to Cork but decided to stay in Cobh it’s a pretty place we also went to the Titanic museum and bought the tickets online a day or so before.