Roland4

2 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

New Crystal just moved a top category all the way forward where in addition to bring a long way from midship elevator will have some rocky seas. Both Silversea and Explora have some larger configurations adjacent to midships. As far as access from outside,  I don’t know where that comes from. Certainly don’t know what AtA could be referring to. 
 

We have been on Quest, Ovation and Silver Moon in the last year, in rooms forward on/or above the pool deck. In order to get to the rear of the ship, where all the amenities are, it was necessary to cross the pool deck, which is no big deal in wamer, dry weather. In cool/wet weather, it was necessary to drop down to a lower deck and walk down the hall to the aft. Not a big deal, but that is what AtA is referring to.

17 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

I don’t know how I missed it but I reread your post and now I have the name of the restaurant. That sounds wonderful Archibald’s for French onion soup. Thank you.

When looking from the ship to the left, the street between the pier and the Old Town does a sort of S-turn and it is just at the top of the S, where the tour buses unload.

4 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

did you have tradtional french onion soup?  was it great?  what was the name of the restaurant?  was it easy to get to from the ship?

If you are directing this to me, re-read my post above. It is about a ten minute walk from the pier that is directly in front of the Old Town. 

9 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

Hello Roy, thank you for the update and what it felt like getting back on serenity after such a long absence, your room looks terrific. The food looks fabulous and you sound very happy. Can you walk into town from where the serenity is docked or do you need to take a taxi or is there any transportation from the ship to the main part of Quebec, actually I am booked for the same cruise from Quebec to New York City next October so I got a year to wait but I’m looking forward to it very much. I would love to get out to an authentic French restaurant in Quebec and have some authentic. , actually I am booked for the same cruise from Quebec to New York City next October so I got a year to wait but I’m looking forward to it very much. I would love to get out to an authentic French restaurant in Quebec and have some authentic French onion soup I hope I can do that when I’m there , my cruise will be overnighting in Quebec. Just like your cruise is doing now. Cheers have a wonderful day. 

When we were in Quebec off of Serenity two weeks ago we did a foodie walking tour. A five course meal over four hours, at four different restaurants. The second stop was at a restaurant in the Old Town, near the port, called Archibalds, where we had the most increible french onion soup we have ever had! If you go nowhere else, go there!!!🥣🥣

48 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Bit of a sad story.  Just one Timbit (glazed) and I had to gobble it right up because it was attracting a swarm of bees.When the bit was gone, the bees left for greener pastures.

 

Roy

Probably Yellow Jacket Wasps. They are bad at this time of year up here anyway, but they are worse this year because it has been so unseasonably hot the last two weeks! The "good news" is it is supposed to get a lot cooler over the weekend, so that should be the end of them.

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Thanks May B. I am afraid you are right that my opinion will not change anything. I wanted to give it nevertheless. I am not very sure what Tastes serves. Which restaurant from the former Crystal is it replacing?

 

Ivi

It is on the starboard side of the pool deck, under what used to be the retractable roof. On the port side is The Grill, on the starboard side is Tastes. Under the previous regime, it was called Silk. It is open for Late Risers Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and has a wide selection of offerings at both lunch and dinner. We had both lunch and dinner on our sailing a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed them both.

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Breaking news.  47kt wind, we just aborted Sept Iles.

 

Roy

As I recall from our Quest cruise last year, you didn't miss much!!

Just now, Texas Tillie said:

 

So, as long as the money from the credit card came through AFTER the cruiser applied for the EI, they are in high cotton? I understood that any EI credits applied before any monies came through from the bankruptcy (or whatever it was called) didn't reduce those credits but did on any credits not used. Since none of this applied to me, I wasn't too informed  

That is correct. We have applied four of five credits to bookings. If we receive anything from the administator (Moecker) before that fifth credit is applied, the amount of that credit will be reduced by the amount we receive.

2 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

It was my understanding that if you were made whole by your credit card before the EI credits were issued, you were not eligible for the EI credits. What don't I understand? 

Under the terms of the EI, if the credits had already been applied to a booking, they would not be reduced by any subsequent recovery of funds.

7 hours ago, kool kruiser said:

My preference is not to get involved in threads with somewhat contentious debates. However, I will make an exception here as I wonder, having regard to some comments, will I need to pass an exam before boarding to see if I am suitable for the luxury experience offered by Crystal ? You see, I like the informal offerings at Marketplace, Tastes or Trident for breakfast and lunch ....does anyone have any past papers that I can swot up on to see If i can pass ?

Frankly, these postings are beyond belief... can't we respect each other, folks...

I tend to agree with you, but the poster who "started" this was so far "beyond the pale" as to be ridiculous! The surprise would have been if no one reacted to the post.

13 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Room Service….

 

Plus Crema and Afternoon Tea

 

I certainly didn’t spot anyone starving on our recent Explora cruise

 

Eat at 2pm and then again at 6.30pm if those options for in between times don’t appeal 

I had a chat with our Explora DSM at a trade show yesterday. They have heard the "complaints" about food not being available between 2:00 and 5:00, and plans are afoot to address that issue.

10 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Book a table on the beach - the views hard to beat

Then order the seafood tower 

 

 

March 2020 with Stickman!! And other than some of the fries, we finished it!!

8 hours ago, Midtowngal said:

We are booked for this same 30 night B2B cruise with 4 nights in Sydney ahead of embarkation.  Excited for NYE in Sydney.  First time for us in Australia and our port calls will all be first time for us except for Auckland.  Looking forward to meeting you if you decide to join.

Since you are going to be there four nights, I highly recommend a trip out to Doyle's at Watson's Bay for lunch. You can take the ferry from Circular Quay out to Watson's Bay, and the restaurant is right off the pier to the left! Some of the best seafood in the Sydney area, as Stickman, a good friend, will attest! Reservations recommended, and try the Seafood Tower!!! Just don't plan on a big dinner that evening!!!!

4 hours ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

If you need a white tablecloth experience at lunch, you can always get room service. That is the ultimate luxury. 

 

 

But apparently, room service is only for those who have not been "trained" to have lunch in Waterside! The arrogance in that post is almost breathtaking!

Waitlists are unpredictable. I have put clients on a waitlist that cleared the next day, and others that never cleared. As a minimum, you might not find out until after the final payment date when people decide to cancel rather than make the final. If you work with a TA, ask them to contact Crystal and see how large the waitlist is. Some lines will tell you, some won't, but it never hurts to ask.

13 minutes ago, Gregrat said:

Keith I think you nailed it.

From the pics of Osteria d’Ovidio that I’ve seen it looks like the lighting Is too bright.

I’m hoping they add dimmer switches to give it some warmth.

I suspect the mistake they made, and to some extent it is inexcusable, was to install non-dimable LED bulbs. We have this problem in our dining room fixture, if you dim them too far they begin to flash on and off, but it was installed seven years ago, and we know how to deal with it. To make that mistake in 2023............. 😮 😮 

Having just come off Serenity a week ago, you will feel like you are "coming home" when you board her. Looking forward to your thoughts on the entire trip! Great that you are able to travel again! 🙂

1 hour ago, Whipsnade said:

Do you mean to tell me that if someone had not “activated” (whatever that means) all five of their credits and gets a payment small or large from Moecker then their remaining  yet to be “activated” nncoupons will be voided?  
That would immediately totally alienate the very pax they are trying to woo back by the entire EI effort. 
It just ain’t going to happen. No marketing team in the world would permit this. 

Okay, let me break this down in terms even YOU can understand. 

Assuming we have two EI slices worth $2,500.00 each which have NOT been applied to a booking. We get back from Moecker $1,000.00 each. Crystal will reduce the EI for each of us to $1,500.00 each on the UNAPPLIED credits. On the other hand, if we have already applied the entire $2,500.00 each to a new booking, then there will be NO reduction of the EI credit. This really is not that complicated. The moral of the story is apply your EI credits ASAP!!

The simple fact is, the most any of us is going to get back is about $2,500.00/person and New Crystal had no obligation to do anything. Be thankful that they did and stop whining about it!

1 hour ago, bitob said:

Paul

jeddah is stop on my ss Mumbai to Athens cruise. I even found a fabulous private guide — wasn’t easy. I’m just happy to find a port I haven’t been to!!

I hope the government has relaxed the "dress code" for female tourists! In 2010, all the women had to wear an abaya (sp?) and there was much stressing over how much hair could be allowed to show! In the end, the immigration officers just stamped the passports and moved the line along almost without looking.

Best line of the port stop goes to the barkeep in The Cove; "All these people in dark robes going back and forth, I thought I was working in a monastery!" 

2 hours ago, DaisyUK said:

Just goes to show how subjective food is. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner in Osteria d'Ovidio a few nights ago, although we chose from the a la carte menu rather than going for the tasting menu so perhaps we chose differently. One problem I think they may have going forward is that the menu is a somewhat limited, so could become repetitive if they don't introduce a greater variety of dishes.

There seems to be no "middle ground" on the Osterria. People either love it or hate it. We did a Vintage Room on Serenity a week ago and the topic came up. Of the five couples, one loved it, we were "on the fence" (I guess we are the middle ground😄) and the other three were almost violently negative about it, saying they hated it and it was a deal-breaker for them. And these were all long-ttime Crystal guests.

As to the menu, we felt the same way about it. On a longer cruise, or the World Cruise, the menu is going to get "old" in a hurry.

6 hours ago, ivyleaguegent said:

"Clown" wearing a Stetson?  Only perhaps if he was wearing it while sitting down at dinner (The Rule: On at the bar, off at the dinner table).  Perhaps you call them clowns in the great white north, here in the USA we call them "men."

Well, for it is worth, he wore it in Waterside, in the Galaxy, for both shows and lectures, and in the Avenue. He looked rather out of place in Waterside, and no, he did not take it off. In the Great White North, we call men who remove their hats inside "gentlemen".

9 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

 

Hahaha....similar to this, we will be on a cruise (non-Crystal) in another month that crosses the International Dateline twice in three days. Actually, that won't be an issue at all because who cares what day it is in the South Pacific when you're cruising?  But moving one hour forward or backward does affect sleep and your daily schedule.  

On the 2020 World Cruise we crossed the Dateline Sunday night and the schedule for the Monday said "The day does not exist"! Talk about the perfect way to deal with the "Monday Blues"!!! 😄 😄 😄 

2 minutes ago, Gregrat said:

Didn’t think about the dress code at night. You’re probably right.

I have to say that on our just-completed (we got home today) Serenity cruise, adherence to the published dress guidelines, other than the clown wearing a stetson, was pretty much 100%.

2 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

 

We've also been going through this with Crystal for well over one month. 

 

The initial invoice said our Final Payment was due 6 months prior to the cruise. We eventually got that corrected to 4 months (120 days). 

 

But the revised invoice had the date for initial penalties (25%) still at 6 months (180 days) prior to the cruise. That was several weeks ago and we're still waiting for them to correct this. They say they'll respond, but they don't unless called several times, and even then they still haven't corrected this simple error. 

 

I remember with OC we would often say that the shoreside experience was not reflective of the onboard experience.  I sure hope that's still the case.

 

 

Actually the 180/120 thing may not be an error. Other cruiselines, Oceania and HAL come to mind, on longer voyages have cancellation penalties that kick in 30 to 60 days prior to the final payment date. We just booked 24 days on Serenity next year and the Admin Fee of $250.00 applies up to day 121!

It's a cocktail party idea that OC "stole" from Azamara, and that NC has continued. For the most part it is a non-event and is easily avoided as it only "applies" in the Cove. If you are not wearing "white" I don't think anyone would notice.