Does Crystal Engage in False Advertising?

Rhonda stated that the charge would be made for a late cancellation or a no show and that the menu would be available when you boarded the cruise. If you asked when you boarded and pigeon ;p was listed as the main course and you canceled then, there would be no charge. I believe you are taking your example to an absurd point.

It's not absurd if it's a real case scenario. This gentleman claims to have gotten the fixed menu, with pigeon ( frankly I love squab/pigeon) the day of the dinner. Wouldn't it be smarter to give each passenger an allowance, of say 100 €, (which won't get you very far), make a reservation, and the allow customers to order off the menu, making up the difference in price? Then, one might say they had a one star Michelin experience.

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It's not absurd if it's a real case scenario. This gentleman claims to have gotten the fixed menu, with pigeon ( frankly I love squab/pigeon) the day of the dinner. Wouldn't it be smarter to give each passenger an allowance, of say 100 €, (which won't get you very far), make a reservation, and the allow customers to order off the menu, making up the difference in price? Then, one might say they had a one star Michelin experience.

 

For large groups, it would be somewhat impractical to have everyone order off the menu. The kitchen would be overwhelmed. It makes sense to have a set menu for a large group of people with the same start time.

If one researches the restaurants in advance to ensure it would be a good fit for them, there should not be very many issues.

I am sure Crystal is learning from their experience and the feedback from guests. If a significant number of guests are not pleased with some of the menu selections, contract adjustments would be made at the next opportunity.

Crystal is now providing the menus soon after one boards, so there is time to make adjustments for allergies or cancel if there are greater concerns.

The Michelin restaurant experience can be delightful if the venue is a good fit for the individual. (We LOVED Costes. Le Ciel was also fine, but not quite as memorable.) I applaud Crystal for making the effort to provide a high end experience off the ship. It is nice to have variety during the voyage, and I think the Michelin experience can be a discriminator among the various river cruise lines.

We very much enjoyed our two Crystal voyages though Eastern Europe and Central Europe. I have no hesitation to recommend Crystal to others. Crystal has done well with their expansion to the rivers.

I think this happens to all lines. On my AMA brochure for Russia - it indicated that we would have a private event (or maybe just an event) at the Bolshi Theatre. It turned out it was closed for 6 years for renovations.

For large groups, it would be somewhat impractical to have everyone order off the menu. The kitchen would be overwhelmed. It makes sense to have a set menu for a large group of people with the same start time.

 

 

 

If one researches the restaurants in advance to ensure it would be a good fit for them, there should not be very many issues.

 

 

 

I am sure Crystal is learning from their experience and the feedback from guests. If a significant number of guests are not pleased with some of the menu selections, contract adjustments would be made at the next opportunity.

 

 

 

Crystal is now providing the menus soon after one boards, so there is time to make adjustments for allergies or cancel if there are greater concerns.

 

 

 

The Michelin restaurant experience can be delightful if the venue is a good fit for the individual. (We LOVED Costes. Le Ciel was also fine, but not quite as memorable.) I applaud Crystal for making the effort to provide a high end experience off the ship. It is nice to have variety during the voyage, and I think the Michelin experience can be a discriminator among the various river cruise lines.

 

 

 

We very much enjoyed our two Crystal voyages though Eastern Europe and Central Europe. I have no hesitation to recommend Crystal to others. Crystal has done well with their expansion to the rivers.

Crystal river cruises, until August 13th with the inaugural Bach, has had ONE ship, the Crystal Mozart, cruising in all of Europe, doing the Danube with a limited itinerary. I'm sure it's a lovely Vienna to Vienna sailing, but can we all just wait until they have a proven track record on ALL European rivers? Travel and Leisure, as well as "riverboatratings" rated them number one above all other established lines, like Scenic, Viking, and AMA for 2017 in Europe. I'd love to be exposed to a "six star" experience on a Crystal river boat, whether it be the Bach, the Mahler, or the Debussy, or even the illusive "Tchaikovsky", but I will definitely wait, as should you, to book until reviews are posted on Cruise Critic.

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Crystal river cruises, until August 13th with the inaugural Bach, has had ONE ship, the Crystal Mozart, cruising in all of Europe, doing the Danube with a limited itinerary. I'm sure it's a lovely Vienna to Vienna sailing, but can we all just wait until they have a proven track record on ALL European rivers? Travel and Leisure, as well as "riverboatratings" rated them number one above all other established lines, like Scenic, Viking, and AMA for 2017 in Europe. I'd love to be exposed to a "six star" experience on a Crystal river boat, whether it be the Bach, the Mahler, or the Debussy, or even the illusive "Tchaikovsky", but I will definitely wait, as should you, to book until reviews are posted on Cruise Critic.

Agreed. Even with their new-build boats, they will still have the most limited itineraries of any major river cruise line [no France, no Holland, no Portugal -- much less Italy or Spain]. Tauck has always been the most limited river cruise line, but Crystal will make them seem like a Big Player until at least their next expansion.

For an "all-inclusive" experience this Crystal policy of charging your onboard account if you cancel is really quite insulting. First off, one star Michelin restaurants are not catering halls. If you expect a one star experience, it's not happening. But to charge if you cancel, for any reason, (one man didn't care for pigeon as his main course) is absurd.

 

IMO, charging for a no show is completely appropriate. Kudos to Crystal on that policy.

IMO, charging for a no show is completely appropriate. Kudos to Crystal on that policy.

Yeah, and they should also charge passengers a hefty fine if they don't make it to the dining room by 7pm. Or, God forbid, one decides to stay onboard and cancel the excursion for the day. This Crystal policy, IMO, is juvenile and insulting. Perhaps, it's just an idle threat. Let's wait and see if Crystal actually charges anyone.

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This Crystal policy, IMO, is juvenile and insulting.

They are responding to an actual problem, not a hypothetical. Would you prefer they discontinue the meals completely? Because if a company is losing money on something, the odds are pretty darn good they're not going to continue to offer it.....I think they're handling the issue in an appropriate way.

Good to hear that Texas Tillie,

 

as regards the office and website: http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/crystal-river-cruises-adds-crystal-bach-to-fleet

 

It is a good job the captains know their way around European rivers, if Crystal's marketing people did the Crystal Bach might get lost. ;)

 

The itinerary to Frankfurt does not take them on the Moselle as that city is on the Main!

 

I hope all goes well for the Bach and her sister ships.

 

notamermaid

Perhaps they dock on the Mosel side in Koblenz. :) ;)

Yeah, and they should also charge passengers a hefty fine if they don't make it to the dining room by 7pm. Or, God forbid, one decides to stay onboard and cancel the excursion for the day. This Crystal policy, IMO, is juvenile and insulting. Perhaps, it's just an idle threat. Let's wait and see if Crystal actually charges anyone.

If you make a reservation, keep to it. All the very top restaurants (yes Michelin stared) in New York take your credit card details for no shows. In fact, they also specify the charges for no show. This is no different.

In January on the Crystal Mozart, we went on an excursion that included dinner. 16 people were booked on the excursion and only two of us turned up. We had a lot of wine and food to get through that evening! I certainly under the arrangement that Crystal instituted. If you make a reservation, keep to it.

By the way, one reason I choose Crystal is because passengers know how to space out their entry into the dinning room each evening. I would never go on many other river cruise lines where there is a mad dash for dinner at 7pm.

By the way, one reason I choose Crystal is because passengers know how to space out their entry into the dinning room each evening. I would never go on many other river cruise lines where there is a mad dash for dinner at 7pm.

With respect, that has zero to do with the knowledge of the passengers, and everything to do with the fact that Crystal operate an open seating approach.

If the other lines did the same you'd witness the same miracle of passengers managing to space out their arrival in the dining room... :)

This is going completely on a tangent but one reason there may be no-shows to the Michelin star dining event is because the food on Crystal Mozart is just so darn spectacular.

I know I felt that as lovely as our dining adventure at the Winekitchen in Budapest was, the food on Waterside (Mozart's main dining room) was outanding night in and night out.

I finally found the Michelin booking info on the new website, not the legacy site. The email address is now RiverButler@crustalcruises.com.

I finally found the Michelin booking info on the new website, not the legacy site. The email address is now RiverButler@crustalcruises.com.

Not sure what cabin you are in, but you may want to check out this post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2534508

With respect, that has zero to do with the knowledge of the passengers, and everything to do with the fact that Crystal operate an open seating approach.

 

If the other lines did the same you'd witness the same miracle of passengers managing to space out their arrival in the dining room... :)

I believe both Tauck and Uniworld have open seating thus no mad rush at dinner.

I believe both Tauck and Uniworld have open seating thus no mad rush at dinner.

I can confirm that Uniworld has open seating.

Maybe it was just the Uniworld cruise I was on. So the comment below is based on a sample of one cruise.

It maybe open seating on Uniworld but on my one Uniworld cruise on the Rhine, queues formed at 6:50pm in the corridor leading to the restaurant. Anyone in the rooms along the corridor had trouble getting in or out of their room. About 90% of the passengers were seated by 7:10pm. Waiters struggled and did an admirable job coping with the on-slaught. It did not leave me with a good impression but it was a passenger issue, not a cruise line issue.

This did not occur on my one Crystal River cruise. About half were seated by 7:30pm but many passengers were still entering at 8 pm or later. So much more pleasant a dinning experience.

Maybe it was just the Uniworld cruise I was on. So the comment below is based on a sample of one cruise.

 

It maybe open seating on Uniworld but on my one Uniworld cruise on the Rhine, queues formed at 6:50pm in the corridor leading to the restaurant. Anyone in the rooms along the corridor had trouble getting in or out of their room. About 90% of the passengers were seated by 7:10pm. Waiters struggled and did an admirable job coping with the on-slaught. It did not leave me with a good impression but it was a passenger issue, not a cruise line issue.

Yes, I noticed the queue too but no one has to make a mad dash or line up. You can enjoy your cocktail hour amd then go to dinner. Dinner service begins at 7:00, doesn't mean you have to be there. Perhaps some pax line up after being conditioned by othere cruise lines to do so.

Could be. I am aware that a large proportion of passengers on my holiday cruise were first time river cruises who were experienced cruisers on Crystal, Silversea and Seabourn willing to try a river cruise purely because it was operated by luxury ocean cruise line.

So no one was conditioned to appear at the restaurant at the dot of 7pm.

The pre-dinner entertainment with drink on Crystal did encourage passengers to linger at the bar even though the restaurant was open. There was no pre-dinner entertainment on Uniworld but there was a talk about the next day sights and excursions in the pre-dinner slot. Queue started after that talk finished.

Herd mentality perhaps!

I believe both Tauck and Uniworld have open seating thus no mad rush at dinner.

Tauck doesn't state that their is open seating. They do have designated times that the dining room dinner hours. While some passengers arrive near the opening time, others continue their cocktail time a bit longer. No rush to the dining room, and plenty of tables for groups of different sizes. There is also an alternate casual dining restaurant that some go to.

Herd mentality perhaps!

I "Herd" it through the grape vine. (holding glass of bubbly)

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"Open seating" to me means no assigned tables, not open as to when you arrive to dine.

"Open seating" to me means no assigned tables, not open as to when you arrive to dine.

From my experience "open seating" is used to mean no assigned dining time with no reservations required, which then results in no assigned table.