BWIVince

Well said... Fortunately some of us had claims for a random amount under $2225 so it happened to make us whole, but this is just a first phase payment that gave people a set chunk back while the process slowly winds through its natural course for the next year or two. Vince

This is where I was going with my comment... Usually smaller influencers get the shakedown and preview cruises for free, or get a free mid-grade cabin on a full sailing... But not typically a high grade suite on a full sailing, that's very rare and generous. Vince

I appreciate the correction! I was definitely wrong. I know Crystal had a lot of inventory to give away the past couple of months, but that level of a free cruise was more than they were giving the first couple of months (I know a couple of larger influencers who got far less), and is very generous by industry standards. Vince

With under 15k subscribers, it's HIGHLY doubtful they got a free, full length cruise in a Sapphire Suite, unless there was some kind of extenuating circumstance that none of us are aware of. That's a tiny following in the context of compensation. Vince

On a different but related note, I’m kind of relieved that they made slightly less drastic changes to Symphony’s Umi Uma than were originally depicted in the renderings. I’ve always preferred Symphony’s decor of that space to Serenity’s (after the switchover in 2008), but that’s fair in a 2.0, second generation kind of way. I have no doubt that once they resolve the lighting issue, Serenity’s will feel a lot more cozy, and the decor will come together a little better. Thanks for sharing your experiences! Vince

I’m sure you’ll receive somewhere between “more” and “the rest”, but where it is on that vast spectrum, it’s way, way, way too early to know. There are still a lot of factors in play, like unclaimed money from the priority distribution, the amount of money that comes back into MM&A’s control from accounts under other party control (like merchant accounts), any remaining random assets to be dissolved, the whole FMC surety bond process for US departures, etc…. We shall see, but patience is key. I would definitely prepare for a partial payment though, statistically there are hardly ever final distributions that make all general claims whole — if that ever even happens at all. Vince

The FMC is engaged from the start, but IIRC the surety bonds are a final step payout (or they wouldn’t be viable) that makes up the gap left by the other sources…. Assuming that’s the case, they wouldn’t come into play until late 2024 or 2025. I’m saying that from memory though, and would happy to be corrected by anyone with expertise on the subject. Vince

😄 It's definitely not a USPS thing, my check was dated October 24th, so adding batching, collation and mailing, that's pretty typical. The letters are pre-printed based on the timeline they have at the time, because they want the checks to go out quickly once they finally get approval on the distribution, so I'm guessing they were expecting the checks to go out the first week of October when they first drafted the letters... Of course the whole process is more complex than that, so that was a safe bet (which more or less paid off, minus one odd date.)

Ditto! This is the first time I've ever received any kind of payment from a priority distribution, so I'm actually shocked by how quickly I received anything. I'm used to having to wait 3+ years to get the first penny. I know a lot of people have claims that will take that long to get the next bit, but "finally" was the last thing in the world I thought when I cashed my check today... Not that others aren't entitled to that feeling -- they absolutely are. Vince

There's an image of an MM&A envelope in my USPS Informed Delivery email this morning. Something is definitely happening on a broad scale. 🙂 Vince

IME, the Sunday Jazz Brunch was the rarest of the theme buffets, at least for old Crystal…. Not only did the cruise have to have a lot of sea days (they had to run through the more popular concepts first), but one of the later sea days had to fall on a Sunday (at least IME). In about 200 days of sailing Crystal over 30 years, it was only offered twice on my cruises. Vince

This is just my personal opinion, but I wouldn't wait to book once onboard. I would book my reservations as a contingency on the nights and times I'd think I wanted to dine, just to hold a backup plan, and then cancel or change them when you find out the solo group plans work for you after you get onboard. That way you have a backup at times you like, just in case the solo group plans don't suit or work out. You can always release your current reservation and switch to the group table, but there might not be space to book your own new table on the dates and times you like once onboard. Vince

Kind of a local note, but a Crystal-adjacent one…. I was saddened to learn of the passing of local DC-area artist Avis Collins Robinson, wife of Crystal speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson. Avis passed away over the weekend after a battle with cancer, at the age of 70 — her and Gene were married 45 years. I’ve always been a huge fan of Avis’s paintings and quilts…. I believe her and Gene lived across the river more recently, but Avis was born in a historic African American settlement very near where I grew up outside Sandy Spring, Maryland, and I loved her representation of that perspective through her work. She will be very missed. Vince

With Windjammer out of the picture for so long, it opens the door for Crystal to grab the branding, Crystal Barefoot Cruises. 😄

It’s definitely in-fashion right now, but in fairness, people aren't wearing sneakers with the kind of old-school dark business suits that most Crystal passengers (including myself) are wearing…. They’re typically more modern, more stylized suits that lend themselves to more fashionable footwear. Vince

The original plans from when each ship was launched, or the current plans from each (or Harmony’s last season with Crystal in her case)? Vince

Dollars to donuts, you're looking at this completely differently than anyone on Crystal's sales team. I'm willing to bet no one at Crystal is/was even paying serious attention to September or October 2023 load factors. I'm sure they see them, but probably just say "yep" and keep scrolling. I'm also willing to bet every single morning, every set of eyes on Crystal's sales team are looking closely at every single sailing of both ships next summer. Vince

I agree overall, but this goes back to my earlier comment about these strategies being effective in certain situations, but can equally be disastrous in others... And why the same execs who have done these things previously aren't doing the same thing here. Adding inclusions is perfect when you have "shoulder" inventory to sell, but potentially could be a disaster when you try to apply it as a primary strategy for a couple of months of low occupancy (depending on the inclusions you need to move the needle). If you have certain dates where sales are soft in between well booked sailings, then you already have the crew and the variable costs for those cabins to be occupied, and it makes more sense to toss in an incentive. Also, while the incentives need to be impactful, to just sell shoulder dates the incentives don't typically need to be doorbusters. In a case like the September and October sailings though, if they had piled on something like free air or a large "as you wish" credit, they're increasing their variable costs by having to bring in full-price crew for lower margin guests, plus they're adding costs that either have a direct or partial cash outlay for the cruise line (depending on the inclusion -- air more so, onboard credit a little less so/guest-dependent). Moreover, you need more than the inclusions you'd need for shoulder inventory, to move the needle on a whole season you need doorbusters, which have a higher cost. This is why we have a whole toolbox of tools to drive sales, and why sometimes suppliers just leave well enough alone instead of trying to incentivize sales at a lower margin. Vince

Pricing integrity and variable costs. Crystal is doing it on certain sailings too, but you can only do this to a certain degree and only in certain cases, before it quickly becomes counterproductive unless you're trying to recalibrate where the fares should be longer-term. Heavy discounting on sailings already open for booking cannibalizes existing revenue, and cruise lines adjust capacity and staffing around seasonal demand -- so Crystal has only been staffing their ships to a certain level based on average demand. You can't adjust crew week-to-week, but if you only have 100 or so cabins occupied for several months, you don't staff a full compliment of stewardesses (for example) during that time. So there is a balancing act in there... Getting a body in a berth isn't a guarantee you'll make more money, it's entirely possible to add paying customers and lose more money than you would if the berths sailed empty (in this segment), because of the factors above. Vince

I love it when I get flack for giving industry insights (not from you), only for my insights to turn out to be correct and relevant to the situation. 😄 Vince

There are a variety of reasons for this typical curve, but as Keith noted, not everyone can back out of their existing commitments even if the penalty on the cruise itself is minimal or free... (Other arrangements might be nonrefundable, existing trips may have other commitments, may have trouble using miles on shorter notice, etc.) ...But even more people just aren't interested in backing out of existing arrangements -- that's the bucket I fall into. I love Crystal, but I can't imagine a scenario where I would cancel an existing planned trip just to book a Crystal cruise on months notice. I just booked my next cruise with Crystal when I planned my next vacation, after my other travel plans. ...Of course others feel and book differently, but the curve shows tells the story. Vince

Keith, was that taken in May? Vince

This isn’t specifically directed at Terry’s comment, but I’ve read several comments on the board about influencers lately that really make me think people are stuck on some kind of stereotype and really don’t understand their bigger role in the travel industry. First, unless you catch one of them recording an editorial segment (which is rare because that is hard to do with people around), it’s not obvious who is an influencer and who isn’t. Many of us regular passengers take the same photos and videos that influencers do, Similarly they don’t fit into an age demographic or visual stereotype — I follow roughly 90-100 different influencers across the spectrum of the travel industry, and many of them are senior citizens. Second, I’m sure there are teenagers out there who go out and buy a product at Target because they saw an influencer that they want to be just like rave about something on TikTok, but that’s not generally the role of influencers in the travel industry. Most travelers use influencers coverage of a hotel, airline or cruise as a deep dive into the product, not as a critically balanced review. Sure, influencers give opinions, but most of us that follow particular influencers either learn quickly how to align our preferences with theirs, or completely ignore that part. Many of the influencers I follow have completely opposite tastes and preferences from mine v= I don’t follow them because I need someone to tell me what to buy, I follow them because they can document every aspect of a product and I can then process that for what I need. Vince

I don’t think it has anything to do with labor, as much as waste…. It’s just as much trouble to print 20 as 200. I’m a paper person, and a thousand times over prefer to flip through a paper publication, but we’re a dying breed. My entire company is completely paperless, and the employees under 40 can’t even imagine why we used to print things off. I can honestly see that a lot of people think it’s archaic to clutter your stateroom with paper schedules, or have to carry them around through the day, even though that suits me 100%. Someday, like everything else, this will go all digital. 😞 Vince

Well, none of us do! 🙂 We’ll keep you in the loop!