Stickman1990

White Bay can handle two berths and today Symphony is docked at the secondary berth which is to the south of the main one which adjoins the terminal - it’s a very short walk between the two berths Today is not a full changeover day with only some passengers joining mid voyage for 4 day cruise to Auckland

My advice is talk to your TA and have them raise your particular circumstances with Crystal - that’s going to get you a definitive answer rather than speculation on social media

For me the relaunch of Crystal just got real with the arrival of Crystal Symphony in Sydney harbour - she just went under the harbour bridge before docking overnight at White Bay cruise terminal It’s a lovely summer day (28c/83f) in Sydney so great for all those onboard visiting our wonderful city - welcome Great to see Crystal back in Sydney And around to White Bay

Crystal has just released a nice offer for those considering a 2024 cruise - very tempting… SUITE DREAMS UPGRADE OFFER We are delighted to announce our latest offer. For a limited time only, based on availability, you’ll receive an exclusive complimentary suite upgrade on new reservations for 2024 Crystal voyages booked before January 31, 2024. Additionally, guests who take advantage of this offer will benefit from included garment care and dry-cleaning services in all categories.* By confirming a new reservation, you will be upgraded, free of charge, up to three suite categories. Guests booking an Aquamarine Veranda Suite will be upgraded to a Sapphire Veranda Suite, while those booking a Double Guest Room with Veranda will receive a complimentary upgrade to an Aquamarine Veranda Suite. Book your voyage by January 31, 2024, to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity. Terms and Conditions: Suite Upgrade Offer is valid for new bookings made between December 14, 2023, and January 31, 2024, on select 2024 departures; excludes World Cruise, Grand Journeys, and combination sailings. Upgrades are subject to availability at the time of booking. Guests booked will receive up to a 3-suite category upgrade. Complimentary laundry includes second-day dry cleaning for five pieces plus one bag of free laundry every ten (10) cruise days and free pressing (5pcs/day). All offers are capacity-controlled and may be modified or withdrawn at any time without prior notice. Cancel rebooks are not permitted. Other restrictions may apply. Crystal reserves the right to correct errors. https://crystalcruises.com/offer/us-offer-upgrade-2023-12-31

Interesting - have you had any update on their position as we have friends on board who have told us that Scenic has offered a refund for half the trip plus any added expenses

Good to hear - was there an additional charge for this special request?

Talking about passenger demographics depends on the region where the cruise is taking place and the cruise itinerary and your comment is a sweeping generalisation - which I don’t think is accurate On a very recent Regent cruise in Asia we had 200 US guests and 200 Australian guests plus an assortment of other nationalities including a good number from the UK - so how does that equate to Regent being North American? I don’t think Crystal is anymore (or less) international in terms of guest makeup than Regent and Silversea

I think we have friends on your cruise - they’ve advised the cruise has ended a week early and they’re flying home A very unfortunate end to a long awaited holiday for everyone

The Explora website is now showing the Total Luxury Sale pricing on selected cruises On one of the cruises I’m tracking the discount has gone from 40% in the Black Friday sale is down to 30% and on another the cruise wasn’t on sale before and isn’t now So you need to check the impact on any cruisers you’re considering I have no idea how long this new sale will run for

They’re also advertising online as well - I am getting Crystal ads appearing on various sites I visit Nice to see

The itineraries for the rest of 2025 and early 2026 are now up on the Explora Journeys website No big surprises with lots of repeat itineraries and no longer ocean journeys to other regions like Alaska or Asia but the good news is that many are included in the current sale which supposedly ends on 11 December 2023 You need to go into the Booking option to see them as once again the standard Explora website manages to hide them https://booking.explorajourneys.com/touchb2c/?searchVoyages={"dateFromVal"%3A{"local"%3A"2025-04-01T00%3A00%3A00.000"}%2C"dateToVal"%3A{"local"%3A"2026-03-31T00%3A00%3A00.000"}%2C"minAvlResultVal"%3A"OK"%2C"minAvlResultCtgVal"%3A"OK"%2C"shipsVal"%3A["EP"%2C"EX"]%2C"residency"%3A"US"%2C"resParams"%3A{"agencyIdVal"%3A202%2C"customerCounts"%3A{"adults"%3A2%2C"seniors"%3A0%2C"children"%3A0%2C"infants"%3A0%2C"juniors"%3A0%2C"youths"%3A0}}}#/

Was that for the latest round of cancellations ie this week? Or for some that were cancelled a couple of months back? We haven’t seen any FCC offer for a cancellation by Explora made this week so I’m interested in what others have received

Has anyone successfully moved their booking from one of the cruises cancelled this week to a new cruise? We’re trying to but it’s a very painful process just getting Explora to tell our TA what’s possible and the terms of the change We have 6 cabins involved with our group - I had hoped that size of booking would be of sufficient interest to Explora to get them to be responsive, but it seems not. So I hope others are having more luck than we are

I typically have fish or shell fish these days with the occasional chicken or pork I’ve just found as I got older red meat just fills me up and takes too long to digest Heres the Marble menu from September (when they have European standards steaks before changing to USDA certified beef) My go to’s were Tuna steak and Iberico pork but equally the lobster and veal options would be fine for non beef eaters. My wife had the lamb chops and wasn’t so happy about them versus the offerings in Sakura and the other restaurants (maybe if was with them being French versus New Zealand lamb)

Definitely - I’ll find a menu from our time on board and post it later on I don’t eat steak and there were plenty of other great choices available

The only upside is the OBC (or whatever it is in Explora speak) that comes with the status match But once again any booking made during the Black Friday sale will not allow for Status Match OBC to be added

Thanks - I can see out to a cruising ending 10 April 2026 from here in Australia The listings right now ( I think they've just been loaded) are a bit of a dogs breakfast with many having the same route map (of a Med tour) as opposed to the correct one I'm afraid the Explora website is vying for the title of one of the worst to navigate and find information out from - fingers crossed it improves as I have to ask my TA for a lot of the basic info to try and make comparisons and understand just what is on offer

No - same here - I couldn’t reconcile the headline of the article with reality (now there’s something new - not!) Hopefully the 2025/2026 itineraries are put soon - now just how solid they are is another matter altogether

Are you booked on Explora? I know you love pools and pool bars - I think you’ll be impressed with what Explora have to offer in that regard Remember those Crystal ships are quite old now - I suspect technology has moved on. Having said that it doesn’t take long to drain or refill the pool on Crystal and better to have a safe environment that letting guests put themselves at risk through a misjudgement

I’d say it was a very typical mix you’d find on any of the luxury lines; Regent, Silversea and Crystal - age is just a number and I’ve met many people much older than me who I would aspire to be as active and having as much fun at their ages. Similarly we also have younger friends who cruise I didn’t find many walkers and I can’t recall 1 mobility scooter on our cruise So I’d describe the guest mix more by saying while most are retired many are very physically active and also very socially engaged - I love chatting with fellow cruisers and I certainly met many interesting fellow guests on Explora (and on the other lines mentioned above) Re the use of models in photo shots - all lines do that and imho create an unrealistic expectation - we tend to dress down but also respect dress codes (not that Explora has one) - but some of those model shots just look ridiculous and so out of place I should add my voice to others in requesting higher chairs and lounges to aid getting up and down - fingers crossed they listen to that and make adjustments on Explora II

I know nothing about Rolexes but maybe this will help When we were onboard in September these ones were available for immediate sale and delivery (hopefully you can tell models from the photos) They had others on display in the window but they were not available for immediate delivery

Are there any cruise lines that let you use OBC in the casino? I haven’t come across any in recent years (Crystal used to do so for a short while several years ago) I was pleasantly surprised that Regent let us use OBC to buy bingo cards with any prizes being paid out in refundable OBC - so that was great

Not really - you can’t even book air or hotels that far out so it’s very low risk in terms of only 10% deposit with (for us) a 40% discount - for me that’s a good deal worth doing

Interesting how things are positioned in this Seatrade article To me it’s all a bit of a mess and there is a distinct lack of clarity on their mid to later 2025, let alone 2026 plans https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/explora-i-and-ii-sailings-through-april-2026-announced?

Ha - they’ve had plenty of them onboard over the last 3 months haven’t they - how many more are going to be coming onboard and providing feedback It sounds like it’s gone backwards on the entertainment front since we were onboard - 3 guest entertainers in 19 days is simply not acceptable if they want to be considered a luxury brand