We worried for nothing…

[Barwick Cruiser]

The following is just our experience but I wanted to reassure others who might be experiencing the same anxieties we did prior to our recent Silhouette sailing. We are a group of four, two couples, myself and DH as well as my sister and her DH who is also my husbands brother 🤣🤔. We booked this 10 night sailing in the early Fall as a mid winter getaway. This was our 13th X cruise, and second since the restart after our Eclipse sailing in Alaska Sept ‘22.
We saved money by flying into Ft. Lauderdale even tho the cruise sailed out of Miami. We stayed at a local Dania beach hotel one night precruise and used SAS transport to get from the hotel to the port the morning of embarkation and again when we disembarked in Miami to return to FLL for our return to Canada. Both of our SAS drivers were good and we were happy with their service. 
 

We had 10:30 checkin times and the process was easy. We had a short wait until boarding began and were onboard just after 11. Our Seapass cards were at our cabins on 8. We both booked adjoining regular veranda cabins on the starboard hump so our lunch option that day was limited to Oceanview or Mast Grill. The buffet had a good selection of items and we enjoyed our first meal onboard seated at the outdoor tables off the back. We had prebooked Tuscan Grille for our first dinner onboard and all agreed the service and food was wonderful. Was a lovely way to begin our holiday. Throughout the ten days we ate in the MDR for two of our sea day lunches and the options and service were good. We also ate at the Spa Cafe for a few lunches and enjoyed our food there as well. Sometimes a turkey club sandwich just hits the right spot. Several afternoons upon returning from a port visit (around 3ish) we stopped by the buffet for some nibbles and although the lunch options were limited, we found plenty to choose from including scones, sandwiches, cheese and deli meats, salads, a carving station, pasta and pizza.
 

Eight of our ten dinners were enjoyed at the MDR, and I say enjoyed because by night four we had found a table served by a team led by Christobal and his sense of humour and helpful tips made our dinners a pleasant experience and we looked forward to our meals in his section. Even tho we never saw Prime Rib on the menu we did enjoy many other great dishes. I personally enjoyed at least four different fish dishes, none tilapia btw, and the sides are interchangeable so if you don’t like what comes with yours you can ask for one of the other ones. On lobster night we each asked for our lobster along with another protein…I had the duck with my lobster. The lobster was tasty for what it was, prepared well and between the appetizer, main meal and a dessert I can’t imagine needing or wanting more.  We also had a dinner at Murano that was very good despite the table side lobster there being slightly overcooked. Service in all venues was excellent. We had intentions prior to the cruise to check out the dinner buffet options but between predinner drinks at either passport bar or ensemble, dinner in the MDR and then catching the entertainment in the theatre there was no time to run up to the buffet to check…sorry! 
Speaking of entertainment we all enjoyed the various shows and musicians onboard as well as the comedian, magician (a personal meh from me) and especially the foursome of Vox Fortura who’s singing talents amazed the crowds during their regular shows as well as an additional set in the grand foyer. 
I’ve only touched on a selection of our experiences but wanted to reassure any others, not booked in Suites, that all the talk on these boards that everything is horrible and you won’t find anything to eat isn’t necessarily what you’ll find when you’re actually onboard. We enjoyed lots of very good meals and the service was excellent from the all the crew we encountered. There are definite cutbacks but they didn’t affect our enjoyment of our cruise at all. In fact, we, along with many many others booked future cruises while onboard…that place was definitely not seeing disgruntled passengers lol. 
Any questions I’m happy to try to answer. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

What were you worried about pre cruise?  Flights?  Transfers?  Checkin?  Onboard experience?   Service?

 

 

[C-Dragons]

Thanks @Barwick Cruiser for sharing your experience.

We are really looking forward to our upcoming TA on Beyond and are expecting it to be just as enjoyable as our past X cruises. 🍷

[Bo1953]

26 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

…that place was definitely not seeing disgruntled passengers lol. 
Any questions I’m happy to try to answer. 

Thank you for your post... but the above caught my attention:

 

The disgruntled passengers cancelled the sailing and stayed around to post here as to why they did... LOL

 

Thank you again and bon voyage

[smtcan]

Thank you for a positive review.  We are on Silhouette B2B Eastern Caribbean and Transatlantic and are looking forward to it.

[Texed]

Barwick Cruiser,

Thanks for posting.  😊

[newfiegirl4]

Thank you fellow Canadian! So happy to read such a positive review. We sail on her Mar 13 th. Now I shall relax and expect what we’ve always had with X. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

What were you worried about pre cruise?  Flights?  Transfers?  Checkin?  Onboard experience?   Service?

 

 

Given all the threads about the cuts in the food department from menu items and the OVC dinner options, and given that the OP has tailored her remarks to the food...my hunch is that her anxiety was about the food.  I for one, am so happy to see yet another positive post about the current food situation as we board Solstice on Saturday.  Admittedly, I have no anxiety about food...I always manage to find something I like.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[tnm6217]

I was on her in January in The Retreat (my first X cruise) and will be back on her in March. Everything was perfect in January...so perfect that I came home and booked 5 more X cruises for 2023 😳 

 

I was on NCL Joy in The Haven last week and was rather miserable after my time on Silhouette. I could write a novel about it, but I'll just say that the service on X really can't be beat. I'm now counting down the days until I'm back on board!

[Barwick Cruiser]

5 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

What were you worried about pre cruise?  Flights?  Transfers?  Checkin?  Onboard experience?   Service?

 

 

Pretty much as others have said, reading the posts prior to our embarkation in relation to the food onboard and staffing shortages we were worried we’d spent good money and would be disappointed in our experience. Honestly, if we’d been before final payment we would’ve been very tempted to cancel but by Jan 1st, when the cutbacks seemed to take place we had no real choice other than to proceed and we were very glad we did. It really is what you make of it and we had a very good time. 

 

 

[BridgeMates]

So good to hear!  We have a couple in our group that have never cruised before and I am hoping that our April cruise on the Silhouette hooks them.  Thanks for the review.  

 

 

[retird]

Barwick Cruiser, my wife and I were on this cruise as well.  We 100% agree with everything you posted.   We are seasoned cruisers on multiple lines and several with Celebrity.   We had a fantastic cruise in all respects and only complaint is that we enjoyed the food too much and now our waistline is suffering.  Lol

[sheeng]

Thank you so much, Barwick Cruiser!  We’ll be on silhouette in two weeks and I have been so apprehensive. If it were just the two of us I know we’d make the most of the cruise and have a good time but we will be a family group of 9. Five of them have never cruises before but they’ve heard me singing Celebrity’s praises over the years.  I do so want them all to be happy and enjoy this holiday and not be disappointed.

 

sheila.

[mahdnc]

Nice review, Cathy. I'm glad your cruise went so well. Thanks for taking the time to post your experience. 

 

Any comments about the post Revolution aspects of the ship?

 

David

[RTR 21-0]

Thanks for your pleasant review.  We will be on Beyond in May for our 1st X cruise and we aren’t concerned at all about food choices/lack thereof or quality.  I’m not cooking or cleaning for 8 days and as someone else said, we can always find something to eat.  Bringing sound machine and ear plugs in case those reported creaks and noises are in our cabin plus I’m sure we’ll be so tired from full days at ports sleep won’t be a problem.  Excited to see what this new brand for us has to offer.  

[Cruise a holic]

We enjoy the silhouette.  The Lawn club grill is our favority restaurant.  We hope to be on it again at the end of the year.  Have multiple sailings booked on Celebrity and Royal until then.  We also love the new Edge class ships, especially the Apex sailing on her in a couple of weeks.  Heard the Beyond is even better.

[newtocruiseinblue]

So happy to hear of your experience! It confirms my belief that we should take the trip and decide for ourselves instead of canceling!! So excited for our upcoming trip! Thank you!

[sunandsnow]

Thanks for the positive review. We board the Silhouette this morning.  Looking forward to warm weather and not shoveling snow. 

[denby]

Thanks for your positive review. We will be sailing on Silhouette later this year.

[raudacruise]

I was on the same cruise as Barwick Cruiser, on a 24 night B3B.  Loved it.  Booked two more Silhouette cruises and a “book later” cruise while on board.

[TeeRick]

@Barwick Cruiser thanks for the review.  It goes to show that some posters here are causing pre-cruise "food anxiety" to the point where people are cancelling (or considering cancelling) their cruises.  Or they are then pre-disposed to be negative.  But you just need to try it for yourselves.  There are negative reviews to the changes since Jan 1 and Celebrity should have notified about the OVC dinner changes in particular.  But lots of positive to neutral reviews too.  And negative comments from a number here who have not even cruised yet in 2023.  Why get anxiety from their comments?  Just enjoy your cruise!  Thanks again!

[C4HCG]

18 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

@Barwick Cruiser thanks for the review.  It goes to show that some posters here are causing pre-cruise "food anxiety" to the point where people are cancelling (or considering cancelling) their cruises.  Or they are then pre-disposed to be negative.  But you just need to try it for yourselves.  There are negative reviews to the changes since Jan 1 and Celebrity should have notified about the OVC dinner changes in particular.  But lots of positive to neutral reviews too.  And negative comments from a number here who have not even cruised yet in 2023.  Why get anxiety from their comments?  Just enjoy your cruise!  Thanks again!

Yep - great to see so many positive reviews from people on, or just off, cruises. 

[rmalbers]

It sounds like the staffing issues are resolved, that will make a big difference in the experiences. 

[catgirl411]

Isn’t it unfortunate that some negative posters (and there are quite a few that are frequent posters so it may seem like there are more than there actually are), have dampened other cruisers’ anticipation of their upcoming cruises. Pre-cruise time shouldn’t be full of anxiety (we had enough of that as the pandemic progressed)…it should be full of excitement and joy! 
 

Thanks for sharing your experience.  And I highly recommend following some live cruise reports..they are pretty upbeat too.

[Barwick Cruiser]

12 hours ago, retird said:

Barwick Cruiser, my wife and I were on this cruise as well.  We 100% agree with everything you posted.   We are seasoned cruisers on multiple lines and several with Celebrity.   We had a fantastic cruise in all respects and only complaint is that we enjoyed the food too much and now our waistline is suffering.  Lol

Same situation here! We took the elevator twice in the ten days otherwise stairs every. single. time…can’t imagine how much we’d have gained if not but apparently eight flights of stairs won’t burn off a Mai Tai 😬🤣. And I have to place a big chunk of the blame on the wonderful staff at Al Bacio…ask for a cookie or tart and suddenly there’s two in the bag, of each! 🤷‍♀️I’m not one to waste food 😇 😉