Final days on the Celebrity Silhouette

The last two days were our final at sea days on the Celebrity Silhouette and very much reflected the routine described in our previous blog. We continued scheduling our evenings around the shows – a PG rated comedian who was hit or miss, and the finale “Life”, a music and dance mashup performed by the Celebrity cast and special performers. The aerial acrobatics and dancers once again stole the show, earning a standing ovation. Our days consisted of reading, laying out by the pool, and going to the gym.

Book nook on the Celebrity Silhouette
Book nook on the Celebrity Silhouette

Our last two dinners were memorable, however – the penultimate night we tried Tuscan Grill, one of the specialty restaurants. At $45 per person, it was one of more expensive dining options on the ship, but it didn’t disappoint. For starters we had salads and a white flatbread (plus delicious regular bread). For mains, Brendan ordered a filet mignon and lobster linguine alfredo, and I ordered vegetarian gnocchi and a side of eggplant parmigiana. I again broke the waiter with a menu substitution – chicken parmigiana was one of the entrees, and I really just wanted eggplant ptarmigan, which was unfortunately listed as a “side” on the menu. This of course caused a ton of confusion – I explain that I wanted everything in the chicken ptarmigan, except where it said “chicken”, substitute eggplant. The point did not get across. After explaining what felt like three times, the waiter we think captured it. Five minutes later, I called the waiter back over to change the order because I didn’t trust it. What came was perfect in the end. We finished with vanilla gelato, strawberry shortcake, and spumoni donuts.

The final perfect thing about our Celebrity Silhouette Tuscan Grill experience was the Kenyan hostess Prudence. I was wearing my elephant scarf, which she commented on as she seated us. After we finished, and said good night, she pulled out her phone and wowed us with pictures of her baby elephant back in Kenya. It was literally HER elephant, that she had rescued, and was able to re-instate in to a herd. She named the elephant “troublemaker” in Swahili. She explained that there were many ways we could get involved in elephant rescue if we were interested and wished us well – no ulterior motive at all! The inner cynic can often be inhibiting.

The second night we dined at The Grand Cuvee for one last hurrah and experienced the best service hands down on the ship. We had the Philippino crew and had a lovely corner, window table. The drink orders were perfectly understood and interpreted, with no trouble making heads or tails of our lack of drink package. The Singapore Sling on the menu was the best cocktail I was yet to have, and I was able to discover yet another gin drink that doesn’t taste like gin (my recent discovery of the Gimlet through my friend Eric was also a hit). Although they were out of Caesar salads (potentially a side effect of the romaine lettuce recall) the waiter handled it expertly and suggest some alternatives – we ultimately landed on the Greek salad, which came sans lettuce, but was unexpectedly good. Something about clean, raw vegetables with a good tangy dressing just does the trick. We also both ordered the vegetarian biryani, which we couldn’t resist after our previous successes with Indian food – it did not disappoint. Everything was perfect, and it was a great final night.

We even were able to fit in crepe night at the buffet afterwards for dessert, which was something Brendan was looking forward to for about a week. I enjoyed some gelato and cookies to memorialize the dessert that did it for me the most on the ship (although they looked amazing, the cakes always disappointed us).

And that was a wrap on the Celebrity Silhouette. We had packed earlier that day, ready for our exit the next morning any time before 940AM. 
On the penultimate day, we spent some time writing a thank you note to St. Elmore, our awesome room attendant, and included it in an envelope with an extra tip.

With all the commotion we ended up waking up around 7AM, leaving enough time for my morning yoga. We didn’t linger, and even skipped breakfast.

By 8AM we strolled off the ship with our own bags, having opted out of using the luggage porter service, completely bypassing a long line at the cruise port. This was a very good move. Customs was super easy, everyone was friendly (thanks Florida!), and we grabbed a Lyft in no time to FLL. Making up for the terrible outbound experience on American Airlines, our flights from FLL to CLT, and CLT to DEN were on time, and we made it back to Denver around 6PM on Friday night. Our final pro move was of course coming back just in time for a weekend, giving us a few extra days to settle back in to reality.

This was a vacation that felt like a vacation, and we enjoyed it for what it was.

CJ

About therestlessroad

The tar in the street starts to melt from the heat And the sweats runnin’ down from my hair I walked 20 miles and I’m dragging my feet And I’ll walk 20 more I don’t care And I’ll wander this world, wander this world Wander this world, wander this world all alone I’m like a ghost some people can’t see Others drive by and stare A shadow that drifts by the side of the road It’s like I’m not even there And I’ll wander this world, wander this world Wander this world, wander this world all alone Well I’ve never been part of the game The life that I live is my own All that I know is that I was born To wander this world all alone, all alone Some people are born with their lives all laid out And all their success is assured Some people work hard all their lives for nothin’ They take it and don’t say a word They don’t say a word Sometimes it’s like I don’t even exist Even God has lost track of my soul Why else would he leave me out here like this To wander this world all alone And I’ll wander this world, wander this world Wander this world, wander this world all alone –Jonny Lang, “Wander This World”

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