Celebrity Cruises Ship to Be Delayed Returning to Homeport

Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette has been delayed due to rough weather and will not return to her homeport of Southampton as scheduled.

As a result, the next sailing will have a slightly delayed embarkation, and guests are awaiting word about how to adjust their arrival at the cruise port.

Celebrity Silhouette Delayed by Weather

Celebrity Silhouette is currently sailing an 11-night Canary Islands and Portugal itinerary roundtrip from Southampton, but has encountered rough weather on her return to the UK. Because of this, guests on the next sailing have been notified that the ship will be delayed for her Sunday, October 22 return, and the subsequent embarkation of the next cruise will also be delayed.

“Today and tomorrow, Celebrity Silhouette will navigate around inclement weather on her return to Southampton,” the notification explains. “We anticipate this will delay her arrival time in port on your embarkation day, October 22, 2023.”

The exact amount of the delay has not yet been confirmed, but Celebrity Cruises will notify guests with updated embarkation times on Saturday, October 21.

“As always, the safety of our guests and crew is always our number one priority. Thank you for your patience and understanding,” the notification concludes.

While it is not unusual for weather to cause delays for cruise ships, it is somewhat unusual for a cruise line to acknowledge such delays several days before they cause an impact on guests. This will be welcome for travelers, however, as they do not need to wonder and worry about embarkation but instead have early warning for the anticipated adjustments.

Celebrity Silhouette‘s next sailing is her 11-night transatlantic repositioning cruise from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale, calling on the Azores, Bermuda, and Nassau along the way.

Transatlantic cruises are always popular sailings for experienced travelers, and it is likely that many travelers have made plans to arrive in Southampton early to enjoy the city prior to setting sail. Knowing the ship will be delayed can help guests make arrangements for a later embarkation than previously planned.

Of special note is the fact that this particular transatlantic cruise will be Celebrity Silhouette‘s final departure from Southampton, where she has homeported seasonally since 2018.

The ship is to be replaced with Celebrity Apex for the 2024 season, while in summer 2024, Celebrity Silhouette will offer European sailings departing from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Barcelona, and Athens.

Will the Next Itinerary Be Impacted?

Because the next sailing is a transatlantic crossing, it is unlikely that there will be any significant changes to the overall itinerary other than the adjusted embarkation.

During the 11-night cruise, Celebrity Silhouette will enjoy seven full days at sea – ideal opportunities for a slight increase in speed that will keep the ship on schedule for her planned ports of call.

In fact, the first two days are intended as sea days, so even the first port visit – Ponta Delgada in the Azores on Wednesday, October 25 – is unlikely to be delayed.

Of course, if the weather worsens and the embarkation delay is made more significant, it might have a knock-on effect on the rest of the ship’s itinerary. Celebrity Cruises will keep travelers updated should such changes become necessary.

Adjustments to Current Sailing

Because Celebrity Silhouette must wait out some rough weather returning to Southampton, it has been decided that the ship will not visit Vigo, Spain, as scheduled for Friday, October 20. Instead, the ship will remain in Lisbon, Portugal for a longer visit before returning directly to Southampton.

Current satellite tracking data confirms that the ship remains docked in Lisbon well past her 4 p.m. scheduled departure time on Thursday, October 19.

Guests onboard have also reported the itinerary change, but are in generally good spirits aboard the 122,210-gross-ton, Solstice-class cruise ship.

Celebrity Silhouette can welcome 2,886 guests aboard each sailing, and is home to a crew of approximately 1,500 international team members.