Stickman1990

Personally I think asking your TA will provide a better answer than asking another customer - is there a reason you ou wouldn’t get your TA onto this?

There are major differences in the way Amex handle chargebacks and the period they will go back versus Visa and Mastercard - Amex is far more generous and there is no 8 month rule with them Personally I’d use Amex whenever possible As for the discussion on financial stability of various companies - the simple answer is who really knows the funding and stability of private companies such as Heritage and A&K? The one thing I’d warn of with any company is understand what company you’re dealing with - that’s where the liability ends - not with the personal wealth of shareholders or parent companies or those with holdings in other companies - that’s exactly why companies are set up to protect investors and unless you hold a parental guarantee (which are not granted likely and likely will never be granted to consumer clients) then your relationship is wholly and solely with the legal entity you contract with

I think you'd be surprised how the cruise companies decide who is an influencer these days, it’s certainly not only based on number of followers Well they certainly did receive a free cruise from Crystal as confirmed by him on You Tube in the comments section - I found it a little amusing how he covered of the “not paid to produce the video” aspect but did admit the cruise itself was complimentary

I wouldn’t categorise Fil Rouge as a MDR type replacement - basically there is no MDR concept on Explora (and I have no issue with that given the variety of dining options on offer)

Four - very relaxing

They’re Crystal’s press releases which are published on Crystal's website @ https://www.crystalcruises.com/press I suspect you’ll receive a customer focussed email within the next day or two

These crew to guests ratios are usually stated based on max guest number and normal crew numbers when sailing a full ship - surely thats a known number? Ratios based on low guest numbers for particular sailings aren’t comparable with the ratios given by other lines

But the poster seemed to give it his seal of approval based on how it actually tasted Food is such a subjective subject

Your cruise is leaving from the Tokyo Cruise Terminal which is the one close to where you are staying I think a taxi is an excellent idea See you onbaord

Safe travels to you both and look forward to catching up with you in Tokyo after your first leg A little envious of your "northern" side of Japan cruise on Princess - lots of different posts from the usual ones in the south west Enjoy the complimentary inflight internet access on Singapore Airlines - rest assured you won't starve while in their care in the air or in their lovely Singapore flagship Silver Kris lounge

I’d feel like I feel every time I fly - knowing that the airlines are constantly repricing seats based on demand and time before the flight - the price of seats are very rarely the same uniformly across an aircraft As well as a basic reprice option cruise lines have the ability to bundle things to effectively reprice without having to refund dollars to those who booked earlier at the higher price (yes Crystal has been very good in the past at lowering prices for already booked guests when prices are reduced at the category level but will that continue?) - most cruise lines including new Crystal offer incentives, from time to time, like “free or subsidised air” “included OBC” etc etc and they typically don’t extend those things to current bookings - they do that in an effort to sell surplus capacity

No - they are an additional cost

Never leaves Australia - sorry it won’t qualify

USB - Yes Power - No only on one side (in our case it was on the left as you face the bed) - at least that’s the case in the OT suites - but the room attendant can organise an extension cord if you need power on the other side of the bed

Interested to hear how you feel about where Explora sits against these competitors now you’ve sailed on Explora 1 I’d certainly position Explora right up there with Crystal, Regent and Silversea and well ahead of Viking

Here’s the full list and pricing

My advice is just ask your suite attendant - the two bottles of liquor we requested and got were not on the list that’s posted above Our experience was if it’s on the included list in bars then subject to availability you can get it

I don’t think there’s a predetermined list - Rather than limiting yourself to a list you can order a bottle, or two, of any of the included alcohol - for example we ordered a Plymouth Sloe Gin which we took a liking to in the bars - I doubt any list would in close that as one of the options I have seen some complaining of small sized bottles being provided - that wasn’t the case for us with a litre of Hendricks and 700ml of the Plymouth being provided

A friend on our recent cruise had small bottles of San Pellegrino provided for her fridge. It’s not the standard approach, which is the sparkling water that they make and put into glass carafes, but it is possible on request - without additional cost I just opted for their standard carafes of sparking water and it was fine for my palate - I struggled to tell the difference No idea about bottled still water

Were you “misled” in writing by Explora? - or perhaps an over enthusiastic TA?

The senior crew/officers are very accessible in our experience. Like I say judge things for yourself now you have the opportunity to do so - I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised

Are influencers and Travel Agents counted as passengers? 😉😂😂😂 I’d love to be onboard for that cruise - the service level would led be great - they’ll be fighting over who is going to serve you

You’re certainly right about that - there’s a lot of us booked on Symphony’s Athens to Mumbai holiday cruise in December 2024 - hopefully things settle down by then

I don’t think any one was suggesting the armed guards would stop a missile The reality is that any thing or person can be attacked anywhere in the world (including from a great distance) - terrorists don’t play by the rule book

I don’t think we ever asked if they raised it with someone more senior i seriously doubt that issue couldn’t be resolved with a simple discussion with the right person