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artbcpa

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    Photography, bridge, Yamaha Clavinova, gardening, blogging, saltwater aquarium and mahj jongg
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Anywhere, we just love cruising

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  1. artbcpa

    Casino?

    This thread is so interesting because we were just on Symphony and were told that the decision had already been made; that it would only be on Serenity and would be ready in time for next year's world cruise. Since we were told by a Crystal official, we thought it was approved. Maybe not?
  2. Perhaps your cruise has a higher occupancy or alternative excursions are more limited. Whatever the reason, why don’t you investigate private tours from companies like Tours by Locals and Viator. There are others if you browse online for the location. The quality will be better, you can decide how long to stay at each place you visit and the price may not be much higher. You should be able to cancel your Crystal excursion if you find something better. One more suggestion. You can hire a guide at most ports yourself, BUT it is critical that you do some vetting first. This is how I do it; others may have additional suggestions. Ask the guide what they would suggest seeing. Based on his/her answer, you can decide: 1). if you can understand their accent and 2). if they know their city. I NEVER hire someone who says I can take you wherever you want or asks what you want to see. To me that indicates that they don’t really know their city. Enjoy.
  3. Crystal offers many more specials then they did in the past. Their excursions are also much more reasonably priced. The only negative change I have noticed is on their single supplements. Old Crystal used to have the best single supplement on the seas. Other lines now offer equal or better choices.
  4. We agree that Waterside's food and service are excellent. On many ships, we prefer their speciality restaurants, but we felt Waterside was the best on this cruise. We particularly loved their menus, not only for dinner, but for lunch as well. We only ate breakfast there one day, but it too was outstanding. My only complaint would be that sometimes the food did not have as much flavor/spices as I would like, but that is a personal preference. My favorite surprise was when Waterside served the famous "Prego" mushroom soup. I have the original Crystal recipe book as well as the later one from Nobu. I have made the Prego soup myself, but it was not as good as having it on Crystal. We understand that Crystal may be considering replacing Tastes. We love Tastes both for lunch and dinner. If they do decide to that, my choice would to return the Brazilian Churrascaría. I know the trend is to reduce the amount of meats being served, but I am still a carnivore. Speaking to that Eleanor is much more into vegetables, but she simply loved the filets at Waterside and even ordered them two nights in a row.
  5. Their speakers are the best on the seas. They also have so many that they are available on your in cabin TVs in case you missed one. The shore excursions are of mixed quality, but WAY cheaper than old Crystal. We still prefer booking private, but in some locations, that may not be practical.
  6. Just completed our New Crystal cruise Hong Kong to Singapore. Overall Crystal is FAR superior to Explora Journeys. Comparing it to old Crystal, I believe there is not much difference with these exceptions: Bad: The ship is much too old. Even with the renovation, the internet does not compare with other newer ships. Good: They are much more flexible with regard to pricing. That may be due to their eagerness to have previous passengers return. Their staff, service, welcoming feeling, speakers, and entertainment are all equal to or better than old Crystal. Mixed: Food - some better, some worse but overall equal. New Italian restaurant not anywhere near as good as Prego. Waterside main dining room better. Avenue Saloon is still the hit of the late evening. We did miss the casino. We understand they are bringing it back. If you have any specific questions, please ask.
  7. As I have recently done both Explora and New Crystal, my comparison would be quite simple. MSC should sell their ships to A&K, Explora has by far the more beautiful newer ships. Unfortunately they have No Idea how to run a luxury cruise line, something that Crystal and A&K are masters of. Crystal badly needs newer ships. Explora badly needs better service, training and systems. When you board Crystal it is like a family welcoming you aboard. Plus their entertainment is better; their activities are better. Food on both is inconsistent; some outstanding; some good and some not up the standards of a luxury line. At the moment I would still choose Crystal, but hoping they somehow find a way to merge the two.
  8. PLEASE NOTE: We have done a lot of cruising including on the former Crystal ships, but our first cruise on New Crystal will not be until later this month. Excursions: We have not found there to be much difference between the ships. We much prefer private excursions from outside companies. Having said that we have scheduled several excursions with Crystal on our upcoming voyage. Part of the reason is that we are interested in experiencing whether the influence of A&K will make a difference. We were also pleasantly surprised at the reasonable prices Crystal is charging for their excursions. The prices on old Crystal were exorbitant and the quality was hit or miss. We are hopeful that things will be different. Size of the ship - We have traveled on everything from the mega ships (over 6,000) to the fairly small ones (250-300). We have enjoyed the most those between 700-1,000 passengers. We love the entertainment and variety of activities that ships of that size can offer. When he have traveled on smaller ships, there were just too many things we missed. The large ships are just not our cup of tea. They often do have great entertainment, but the long lines and the pettiness of charging for every little thing is a real turnoff. Service - For the most part, service on the luxury cruise lines is outstanding. We don't tend to use the butlers as much as those who are constantly entertaining in their cabins. From top to bottom, Crystal's service was the best. Onboard lectures.- Of all the luxury cruise lines we sailed, Crystal lecturers and daytime activities were the best - until Edie (former President). We are hoping that things will return to the pre Edie period. Crystal always had excellent port lecturers, but they also had the most interesting lecturers in unique topics. Some of things that sets Crystal apart, that we hope A&K retains. Every couple of years when the Olympics were going on, Crystal hosted its own shipboard games and had former Olympians as speakers who also gave out the medals. Formal nights (now fully optional). We love to dress up, especially in Asia. Some of the gowns the women wore were out of this world. Unlike other ships, Crystal always made sure a staff person was present to supervise the activities. We were surprised when some other luxury ships did not.
  9. Amber, Thank you so much for your review. Keith is absolutely right. You need to post your review on Cruise Critic's reviews. But it is not just for newbies. It is also for those of us who have not experienced New Crystal. It brought tears to our eyes to hear that Crystal is fully back. We will be on the Symphony at the end of this month and now we are extra excited. We are long time Crystal devotees going all the way back to the Harmony. It is has been several years since we have sailed Crystal due to the pandemic and our experiences with Edie. (Someone might have explained that period.) We did sail on several other luxury lines including Regent and Seabourn. We were on both of their other two new ships and, you may be right, they are extraordinarily beautiful. We loved them. Yet they still didn't have that extra special "family" feeling that Crystal used to give us. Your review brought that back to us. Thank you. Art & Ellie
  10. We had similar problems linking our account and making reservations.. So sorry they are still having them. We were able to make the dinner reservations by calling them. However that was not possible for the excursions. They promised several times to get it fixed, but never did. Considering that their parent MSC has been in business for such a long time, I don't understand why their systems are so screwed up. Their onboard billing was no better. When we asked about all these problems, we received their standard answer, "We WANT to be different".
  11. Your comments about guest speakers reminded me of why we cruised on Crystal so many times. Crystal was best known for their sea days and guest speakers. I do remember many of their speakers including a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, famous actors from Hollywood and Broadway and even political experts which would probably be impossible in today's world. However, even Crystal's speakers declined after Eddie came on board. I haven't yet sailed with the new Crystal, but I believe Abercrombie and Kent, the new owner of Crystal, is trying to maintain their specialties. They were the very best for sea days.
  12. One note: Unlike most cruises the gratuity is included. That does bring the prices down since some of the cruises we have taken automatically add on a 15-20% gratuity.
  13. Sad to hear that the IT problems continue. Explora Journeys was NEVER able to resolve our problem before we boarded. As for those who continue to defend EJ against EVERY negative comment, remember that in today's world they are probably getting paid either through free cruises or directly. I ignore their comments. A true critic reviewer will acknowledge the good and the bad. A good company will pay attention and learn from their customers and make appropriate changes where possible. We will see how EJ responds.
  14. In honor of Explora's desire to create a different type of cruise experience, we did something very different for our first night. We have sailed on most of the luxury lines, several of the mid-line ships and even a couple of the mega ships. The first night we go to the opening show and then spend time at the casino and one of the lounges. We ditched it all last night and went swimming in the indoor pool and spa - The Conservatory. That was extremely interesting. The spa is very unique. A very long rectangle that could accommodate more than 20 persons comfortably. We really enjoyed it. The pool is a lap pool. It is heated which I love and salt water, not my favorite. Overall it was a very different first night. No show, no casino and no lounge.
  15. Excellent question. I am not sure if you have worked in a commercial kitchen or where you are working with sous chefs. My problem was two fold. Since Explora has decided to make things fresh - a noble effort (to put ingredients together for each order) it is important that the people doing this have a good knowledge of how to do that. In more than one station, the person behind the counter had to ask their supervisor how to do that. (Ex. My Udon soup and my caesar salad). In effect Explora is asking each server to be a mini chef and they were obviously not trained to the extent they needed to be. Secondly, in cases where the amounts could vary by taste, we encountered a language problem which made it more difficult to get the dish served how we would like it. While neither is a major issue, they did impact our enjoyment of the experience. I am sure with time they will be resolved.
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