great itinerary, poor health
Celebrity Silhouette Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe
12 Night Scandinavia & Russia (Stockholm To Amsterdam)
Sail date: May 28, 2015
Ship: Celebrity Silhouette
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9265
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
The cruise had a wonderful itinerary. Other than the 1 day in Fredericia Denmark which was not quite ready for cruise ship traffic, there was an appropriate amount of time in each port. The Waramunde Germany port as a gateway to Berlin is a bit too far - spending 12 hours in a bus to get to see Berlin really doesn't make sense.
The major issue we had on the trip was the sanitation aspect. About 30% of the people were from China. Most of them do not have the proper habits for being in a confined area. People sneezed and coughed without covering their mouths - sometimes right over the food. Most did not wash properly after using the toilets. 3 of the 4 people in our group came back sick and are on anti-biotics. If a lot of the people are from around the world, I would suggest that a drill on hygiene is more important than one on life-saving.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Be sure that the "drink package" you get is aligned with your drink habits. it appears there are 3 levels of drink packages and many people were upset that certain drinks were not included in their package. We had the medium package and it didn't cover something as simple as "Vitamin Water".
Ports of call
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
5 Comments
Bubba54 9 years ago
Bubba54 9 years ago
noname111 9 years ago
Thank you for posting your review. You have an excellent point regarding varying hygiene standards around the world. Personally, I feel the education process needs to begin before the cruise so that people understand what the minimum expectation is... it should be part of the booking process, reinforced through out the pre-cruise period, and finally clearly stated upon boarding the ship. Also, this is another place where travel professionals could really make a difference in terms of preparing people for their trip... but I am realistic enough to know that this has a snowballs chance of actually coming to fruition. Best I do is wash my hands constantly and avoid the buffet-style venues. BY THE WAY, poor hygiene habits are not confined to any particular population... the things I've seen Americans do make me physically sick just thinking about.
glomarrone 9 years ago
I agree that although passengers got sick on board, a safety drill is still more important. Most cruise lines emphasize the importance of washing hands often. When I was on a recent long cruise traveling to different countries during the Ebola crisis, Japan was the only country to make all of us appear in person and have our temperature taken before we could disembark the ship. We also saw many people in both China and Japan using wearing masks when they had colds. Hopefully the people on the cruise reviewed were exceptions to the rule.