Just great!!
Celebrity Silhouette Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 43
14 Night Western Mediterranean (Southampton Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 08, 2019
Ship: Celebrity Silhouette
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
The Silhouette is a lovely ship and I hope the refurb keeps all its good features. We initially thought our tv in the room was faulty as we couldn't get the selection of free films to watch on demand. We were told they had been available the week before as we were chatting with someone who had done a B to b. However it turned out that Celebrity had stopped these fleet-wide. This caused some annoyance and consternation both online and on the ship and after a week this parsimonious decision was reversed. We really enjoyed our cruise, probably did not make full use of our lovely butler or of our suite passenger status but...all was well. I booked a suite as Celebrity inexplicably are not doing a western Med cruise next Sept, preferring to go several time to the Canaries - that was the only cruise/destinations I wasn't over-keen on and wouldn't wish to repeat really. It has left me struggling for another cruise to do..... I hope Celebrity change that decision.... I wish they would do a cruise with several French ports... Le Havre, Soulac sur Mer (for Bordeaux) and then Maybe Gib then Toulon and back via a couple of Spanish ports and Gib of course. I can dream ..... maybe :)Embarkation
We were on board before 11 as elite and suite passengers and into our room before 1pm also!! Really appreciate the pier side help which is available for people with disabilities.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We dined in Luminae and were very well looked after by our head waiter Karl. We never had to wait and the staff were very considerate as to where they seated me. The food was always very tasty and so well presented. We dined at the Tuscan grill on one sailaway with a wonderful table right at the stern with views over the harbour. My starter of glazed pork belly was simply delicious as were our steaks. The Oceanview's food was as good as always with a very wide choice. I even ate pizza which I normally hate but the freshly made ship's pizza is excellent. For breakfast I would order either a mushroom omelette or poached eggs cooked to order - always very good. WE had 3 room served breakfast brought to us by our lovely butler Naceer and they were delicious - as was the fruit platter he would bring for me.... we didn't bother with canapés. Naceer was an excellent butler... attentive and diligent and willing to let me practise my rusty French !
Onboard Activities
Silent disco was great fun.... a really good evening and not to be missed. We did many trivia competitions ably run by Chantal and Ryan. Chantal was very impressive and friendly, greeting us by name whenever she saw us around the ship - she would make an excellent CD!
Entertainment
We don't bother with the shows - I don't like musicals or musical theatre. We saw one show with the comedian Steve Womack who we had seen before. He didn't disappoint. Ryan ran the karaoke sessions very well and was willing to sing to jolly things along...he is a good performer.
Children's Programs
Don't have school aged children and chose Celebrity as not many children travel with them.
Service and Staff
All the staff work very hard indeed. Our room steward Freedo kept our suite immaculate and was unobtrusive. In fact all the stewards on our floor and along the long corridor from the very aft to mid-ship elevators would greet us with friendly smiles and cheery 'hellos'. A special mentor for Lin working in the Oceanview as whenever she saw me she would come over to help me with my plate and would collect my food for me and take it to my table; a lovely young woman and very thoughtful. A mention too for the young lady in the restroom close by who would aways rush to open doors for me, hold them and then close them to help me.
Ship Quality
The staff never stop cleaning !! The ship is very clean and as we had travelled mostly on the Eclipse we were easily and quickly at home.
Cabin / Stateroom
The Sky Suite was just fabulous. Yes it had 2 poles but they didn't matter at all. The huge porthole window was great and it meant that I had a great sea view from my side of the bed. The room was big.... plenty of storage half of which we didn't use and I take the kitchen sink with me when I travel ! The balcony was probably at least 3 times the size of a normal balcony room. The Celebrity beds are massive and very comfortable. The bathroom was good too. I had read some moans about the bathtub being difficult to climb into. I am 5' 10 and have severe osteoarthritis but I didn't have any problem at all. The rainfall shower was great and in addition the handheld shower made hairwashing great. The room was almost secluded having a kind of ante room for just our room and one other so ensuring a very quiet area.
Ship tip
Liked the drinks package as just didn't worry about speciality coffees at the lovely Cafe al Baccio plus the odd cocktail. I certainly didn't overdo it or probably get more than my moneys-worth if that, but it just meant I didn't have anything to think about.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
As a suite guest the Concierge at Michael's club saw that we were first off the ship. I took the hired invalid scooter as were were headed to the Ocean Marina to take a Dolphin Adventure trip. This was a great trip and we saw loads of dolphins in the bay. We then carried on to the main shopping area to buy requested perfume/beauty products, alcohol and cigarettes! I managed to get some duty free Pandora so I was happy :)
Marseille is a very busy city (France's 2nd city) and crossing it on the excursion to get to Cassis, a pretty seaside resort, took quite a while. Once arrived we took a tourist train to get closer from the out of town coach park, closer to the harbour. Once arrived we split from the group to go to the far side of the port to swim. The beach was not pebbly as I was expecting. Had a lovely swim in the Med which was the purpose of the trip. Too much time spent on the coach though for my liking. Afterwards we went back to the harbour and had a delicious lunch at the Marco Polo restaurant. I do however prefer Toulon to Marseille as a port of call and the lovely Villefranche is my favourite.
After Marseille I was too achy to do the ship's excursion to Pisa so sent my OH alone. We were advised that the road trip part would probably be longer due to traffic so I decided against going after the long coach rise the day before. Alas Celebrity did not manage to resell my excursion ticket so I made a loss on that !! My OH finally got to see the Tower as last time the rain was so heavy we had decided to remain in shelter!
We didn't leave the ship as was the case for quite a few of the pasengers...the ship wasn't 'quiet'/ It was Sunday which I think put people off going. I have done this itinerary 6 times now so knew how much Rome would take out of me.
Loved this port last year when we had to tender. This year we were docked so I could take the scooter off. We had a good look around the little local market with its fresh and speciality goods. We then walked on to a beach area and I would have swum but the OH wasn't feeling too well (too much sun I thought) so we just had beachside coffees and a crepe. Love Corsica !
Last year we were advised that the shuttle bus took 15 mins to reach close to las Ramblas so I took a wheelchair and not the scooter which turned out to be a mistake. This year I drove the scooter and managed just fine. We looked at Las Ramblas and then went to La Boqueria market which is brilliant. Bought a few speciality cheeses and meats for home. Highly recommend visiting this market. Sent OH back to the ship on the shuttle bus whilst I drove it. All fine.
Love the city but be warned if taking a wheelchair or scooter it can be a little hairy as kerbs can be quite uneven ...even if sloped to be "disabled friendly" one has to be very careful ! We had a leisurely look around and then called for lunch at a nice though not cheap restaurant as I wanted to try the sardines. Sardines and a jig of sangria went down very well.
Disembarkation
As a suite guest we could leave when suited us and we were helped from the ship by the excellent port staff for the disabled. Our luggage was sited right by the exit where one woman rammed my oH's ankles instead of moving slightly into the space all around him. As we went down the "green lane' for nothing to declare. karma was achieved as she and her companion were stopped by customs' personnel; the first time I have ever seen this. There were 3 tables waiting for passengers each manned by 2 officers. There were plenty of taxis and we were soon at the station though the driver dropped us on the wrong side for the north so we had to drag the luggage through the lifts.