Roland4

6 hours ago, ctjon said:

Anyone sailing on Serenity?  Haven't see a post about it trips in long time?

I suspect it is because most of the people who are posting are doing so on one or the other of the FB Crystal Family groups. Lots of activity over there

13 hours ago, vistaman said:

 my cruise is only 7 days ... last time before covid on OC it was cancelled - only 3 pax were willing to assist 

I suspect it depends on the number of sea days and where they fall. We just got off 12 days on Symphony and our two sea days were within the first six days of the cruise. They did do a dinner, but no lunches.

13 hours ago, oakridger said:

That's a lot of sand!  I would guess that anyone outdoors would soon also have sand in their hair and eyes!!  🫣

 

I just was reading an article online about a cruise ship that ran into the pier in Kusadasi last week and came across the picture of the Celestyal Journey with its bow bulb crunched. Notice its neighbor??!!

 

 

 

 

 

We were out on tour when it happened, but a couple of the staff said it came in far too fast, and it sounded like a bomb went off when it hit!!

The sand-fall continues today in Mykonos, but not nearly as badly. It looks like a light fog in the air and everything feels gritty. The Lido guys were washing down all the deck furniture and the pool deck itself this morning. We didn't want to get in the way, so I couldn't check the sand level in the pool!🙂

On 4/22/2024 at 2:16 PM, Noggins said:

Santorini has been ruined by the hordes (although I have not checked how many ships were due tomorrow). The only good way to spend the day on a Santorini stop is making it a sea day and enjoy an empty-ish ship. IMHO, of course, Nafplion is a much better stop (and is not naff). Enjoy!

At the end of the day we turned Nafplion into an "in-port sea day"!! We needed the time off after five days of all-day tours, plus it was a grey, showery and dreary day! Then to top it off the Namseem winds arrived, filled the air with sand, and a weird orange colour! When we walked across the pool deck, there was sand in the bottom of the pool, and I would not be surprised if the pool has a beach tomorrow! 😮😮

It turned into an interesting afternoon. About 4:00 we started seeing smoke in the air just above the town. By 5:00 there was a raging inferno burning up into the hills above the town!! Thankfully, the howling winds pushed the flames up into the hills above the town, but it looked pretty scary from the ship!

Finally it came time to depart, and nothing happened. And nothing happened. And nothing happened! Apparently the winds and waves were so intense, they could not capture the final tender! It took almost two hours, and multiple attempts. I watched the second last one from Deck 7, and as the tender came alongside, a gust of wind pitched the bow of the tender into the hull and forced it to back off. Finally, it came in. They were able to latch onto the bow davit, and then two crew manhandled the davit into the stern. The moment they got contact, the cables tightened and they pulled it out of the water!

The seas are fairly intense, but fortunately are running mostly from behind us as we head west toward Nafplion!

Our first, and hopefully last, itinerary disruption was just announced by the Captain. The forecast for Santorini tomorrow is for 50 knot winds in the anchorage, so our stop has been cancelled. We are instead going to Nafplion, which is certainly not Santorini, but we were there on Esprit in 2017 and quite enjoyed it! And the side benefit is we don't have to get up at 00:Dark-Hundred as we would have had to do for our very early tour departure!!!!! 😁

Sliding back on topic! We were in the Osterria two nights ago and are now firmly on the side of liking it better than Prego. They have made a few changes to the menu since we dined there on Serenity last September, adding a Caprese Salad option and a Filet Steak option that I don't recall being there. We enjoyed it so much, we are going again the last night of the cruise!

We did the Vintage Room last night and it was amazing as usual! The room is a little smaller than on Serenity, but we had a full table of 12, with lots of wine and lots of conversation!! A good time was had by all!!

7 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

Aren't there still larger round tables in the center section of Waterside? I am aware of an oval table for 12 that was set up for the first night of your current cruise.

There is a larger table in the centre section that I always thought was the Captain's Table, We had dinner with the Captain after the Society party, but there were only six of us, so we were at the next table. Only time this cruise we have been in the centre section, but then we have only been in Waterside three nights of the first eight! Had a great time tonight in the Vintage Room!!!

2 hours ago, vino100 said:

Thanks for all the info and pix. Did you notice if there are any tables for 8 in the dining rooms? 

Can't say that I did, but pushing 4 two-tops together to create one would not be a problem.

17 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

The Terms and Conditions state that the Crystal Society Program applies to voyages beginning January 1, 2023.  Does that mean our previous credits from OC no longer will be honored?  I believe it was reported here on CC that previous cruises would still count towards the various rewards.

The previous cruise count is honored. We were "recognized" for our 45th cruise on our current cruise. It is these new milestone "benefits" that are effective Jan 1/23.

On 4/16/2024 at 3:31 PM, travelberlin said:

For my cruise, I am happy that all nights with exception of the formal nights, the suggested attire is “casual”. For the formal nights it says “black tie (optional”. This is a trend in almost all cruiselines we are using now. Since we always have to fly to the port, it makes it easier for us not to take too many clothes. It is somehow modern this way. We like this trend. 
 

There might be others who would like to dress up more on the so called “casual” nights. I think that would not be a problem either. 😉

On the one Formal Optional night on this cruise, the dress ran the gamut from Tuxes and Ball Gowns, through dark suits and dresses all the way down to "Did you look in the mirror before left your suite???" So yes, people are dressing as they wish.

14 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Would you recommend those excursions? 

We thought the all day tour was about an hour too long and we personally could have done without the Grand Bazaar as we are not shoppers. Beyond that, we enjoyed both tours, and we certainly learned a lot about the history of Istanbul! 

35 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

Thanks...  The bridge has been gone since the late 90's though, so at least that's not recent.  🙂 

 

Vince

But the fountain in the Cove/Atrium is running again! It seems to me you once commented on that!

5 hours ago, cruise_loverinlaval said:

Hello, let me help you post your pictures.  I was able to load them on my iPad.

Thank you from the bottom of my Digital Klutz heart!!!😁

34 minutes ago, KbFebruary said:

Thanks Roland4.  How is Istanbul?  What excursion(s) did you book?  

We did the V-E-R-Y L-O-N-G all day Legacy of The Ottomans yesterday that went to the Sulieman Mosque (Blue Mosque was closed), Top Kapi Palace, lunch at a Michelin Star restaurant, and the  Grand Bazaar. Today was Asian Istanbul and Bosphorous Cruise, which had us back on board by 1:30.

There is new cruise port facility in Istanbul that makes getting in and out for tours very easy! We depart Istanbul at 8:00 this evening.

12 minutes ago, USCAdventurer said:

i wasn't able to open any of your pictures.  but thats ok since i will on symphony in three weeks.

It's me Patty!!!!!😮

I am still learning how to use my iPhone and the pictures saved in an HEIC format. Had to figure out how to change them to jpeg. I tried replacing them, but now I am getting download errors. Turkey is partially blocking Starlink, they are still "evaluating it", and I think that may be the problem. Since I have passed the allowed time to edit, I will try reposting the pictures either later this evening or tomorrow.

I did discover that if you download the individual HEIC files, you can then open the pictures, or at least I could on my Surface tablet.

Well, after a very busy first six days, I finally have a chance to post a few pictures of the changes to Symphony. Keep in mind that the last time we onboard was September of 2012, so while some things, Starlite, have not changed, others have to us, so if I post something "old" as something "new".........🙂

I stared at front of Deck 6 and worked my way back.

The Lounge

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I have to admit this space does seem to be any better used than Serenity, and it is also very cool, verging on cold! One advantage it has on Serenity is the windows down both side.

The Bistro

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We have not had a chance to visit The Bistro as yet, but it always seems as busy as we remember it being on Serenity. It does a lot brighter than I remember it, and the tables against the outside railing give the space a bit of "sidewalk cafe" feel!

The Shops

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My wife made a purchase in Apropos the first night, but other than that, we have walked by every evening.

Umi Uma and Osterria

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We had dinner The Sushi Bar on night one, and again at a table last night, and both meals were great as usual. We are at the Osterria tomorrow night and will report back. After our one experience with it on Serenity last September, we remain firmly "on the fence" about the change.

We unfortunately missed the Suite Open House on Tuesday, so I have no pictures. If they offer another one I will make a point of getting some.

I know some asked about staff onboard. Remi id the Maitre D', and while we had not met him previously, he has taken good care of us so far. Bruno is The Specialty Maitre D' and we had a nice "catch up" chat with him last night after many years. Society Hosts/Future Cruise are Beate Zaderer and Andrew Triplow, who we have known since Harmony in 2005!

While Serenity is usually "home" for us, we have been having a great time on Symphony. We have been welcomed home/welcomed back numerous times by staff we have never met before, and everyone seems to "know our names"!!

Any questions, I will try to get answers, but after tomorrow's sea day, it is a post stop a day until next Thursday!!

On 4/14/2024 at 8:06 AM, Texas Tillie said:

 

I heard from someone on board now that the guest count is 380. I've often wondered when we hear different numbers if the guest entertainers and enrichment are included in the larger number and the revenue passengers only are included in the smaller number. The larger number is important for the ambiance around the ship.

 

Patty

The person who told me 400 later revised that number down to 380. The ship feels comfortably occupied, and with the reduced number they can accommodate a single show at 9:15. We had forgotten how much "smaller" Symphony is compared to Serenity!

We are just finishing up our first (of only two) sea days and will be in Istanbul for the next two days, with a L-O-N-G tour booked for tomorrow. I will try and post some pictures and observations sometime in the next few days.

On 4/12/2024 at 11:58 AM, TRIPACIAN said:

How many passengers on your cruise?

We have been told something just over 400 guests this cruise, after having only 60 guests for the previous 7 nighter after the Red Sea. The next several cruises after this one are in the 500+ range apparently. 

We spoke to one of the crew who was onboard for the Red Sea crossing who said it was "interesting". They were part of a convoy escorted by three US Navy ships, and there were armed guards onboard. They were not allowed on any outside deck until they were well out on the Red Sea.

11 hours ago, fisherboe said:

Thanks so much @Roland4 really looking forward to seeing more from Symphony. Our first sailing on Crystal was on Symphony, and we can’t wait to be back onboard this summer in the Baltic. She holds a very special place for us.  

 

We weren’t sailing Crystal in 2012 - so curious as to happened on that transatlantic? Assuming a hurricane?
 

Bon voyage - Erik   
 

 

We got caught coming out of Reykjavik in the tail end of three dead/dying hurricanes. All you need to know is we were in a PH on Deck 10 and had solid water hit our balcony door, twice!!😁

We will be boarding Symphony in Athens on April 13/24 for a 12 night Greek Isles/Turkey voyage. When we originally booked this one, it was going to Israel and, of course, we all know how that turned out, but the addition of Kusadasi (and the concert at Ephesus), plus Istanbul, which we have never been to, turned this into a great itinerary. We are doing this B2B with a Tauck Tours Rhone River package and over four weeks we will only have two ports we have visited previously!

Our last time on Symphony was the famous (or maybe infamous) Trans-Atlantic From Hell in September 2012, and we are not hoping for a repeat. Given that there has been very little posted on CC about Symphony of late, I thought I would post our thoughts as we go along. This is a VERY port-intensive itinerary, so this will not be a "Live From", nor will I be posting daily menus/programs, (mostly because I don't have the patience), but if someone has questions, I will try to get answers. No promises, but I will try. 🙂

The bags are almost packed, and the limo arrives at 11:15 Thursday morning! See you onboard Symphony on Saturday!

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

interesting to note that the terms and conditions are clear on some referrals that are ineligible 

 

Soliciting bookings on social media websites or otherwise making general solicitations to strangers such as to a wide, unknown audience, is prohibited. Any Crystal Society Members or travel advisors found to be engaging in such conduct will not be permitted to participate in the Crystal Referral Program and all Credits will be forfeited; furthermore, they may see some of the benefits from the Crystal Society program revoked

Personally I am pleased to see them take a hard line on this as I am sure there would be "individuals" already thinking along those lines!

The E-Tickets for our April 13 cruise on Symphony were sent to my office e-mail as the booking TA.

55 minutes ago, May B said:

My cruise was 2016 or ‘17. I didn’t hear any rude words from the captain!

"Rudeness" is in the ear of the beholder if one is easily offended! 😁

1 hour ago, nancygp said:

No

 

Nancy

There were reports earlier that Mesrs D'Ovidio and Kent planned to be onboard.