May B

I think it’s the Restaurant menu that changes daily. From the post to which you are responding, I now have high hopes for all the Restaurant menus to show up for me on the app, on embarkation day. At Shawshank, hope is a dangerous thing, but here, hopefully not!

That happens on other cruise lines (mass market, even what used to be the “best” one). On my Viking Octantis, the only challenge was finding it. Which pretty soon we did. It never dawned on us to ask for it!

Symphony was my first Crystal. I remember that, just to the left of our embarkation entryway was the library … with the librarian standing right at her desk! Great memory. We were especially in awe of the library when Mr. B found two books he thought he’d be waiting a long time to get from the library at home. You know how you only get one chance to make a first impression. It doesn’t get much more favorable than that! Then at dinner, he couldn’t decide between the snapper and the halibut, so he asked the waiter’s opinion. Have the halibut, the waiter said. Bingo. Ah, so nice to look back at our first day on Symphony. June 2015, NYC to Reykjavik, nine days of pure pleasure. Now we can hope that NC can match that experience.

Perhaps too many cruisers have experienced a brand new ship’s first voyage and been less than enamored. I once booked one, full well knowing it might not be 100% ready. Instead, it got done quicker and they added a sailing before ours!

I know b/c I was looking at cruises to see if I could find a satisfactory substitute, in case I get offered a MoveOver. 😁 Months ago, you had announced that both of our cruises were sold out. Mine kept opening up again. Finally it stayed sold out. I was surprised when yours showed availability. I was certainly surprised when yours showed up at all. I was looking at it probably when you had already had your dinner! I hope you’ll be able to fall back to sleep! And, bon voyage.

Ah, now I remember it better! B2Bs were the ones that wouldn’t work. And of course guests are always flummoxed when they’re trying to spend gaboodles of mine but there’s no way to do it legally.

Patti, I just saw that two staterooms just opened up on your cruise! Must’ve been no-shows. Talk about last minute! 😳

I believe they made the same error when initialing offering Octantis itineraries, in 2022, first year in the St Lawrence and Great Lakes, going Canadian port to a different Canadian port.

This must’ve felt so frustrating for you. Of course we’re glad it’s not across all the ships, but none of us wants to find ourselves on the one ship that’s undergoing a kitchen/serving problem!

Thank you, all, for the rest of your stories! I find the whole thing fascinating. Those dedicated agents have been busy lately. Once I read about a cruiser who flew half way around the world to board a mass market line in Sydney, Australia, only to be told there was no room on the ship for them. This would’ve been SO much better for them. 😳

@stlrod @zalusky If I might ask yet another question, did you have to select your new cruise, at the very same phone call when you accepted the offer?

Wow! That’s doubly great, that both couples could take advantage of the same offer. So, now when are you booked for?

Sometimes the best travel experiences are the unique people you meet. So far, you’ve met two!

Cute! I think whoever was typing in the itinerary ended up being a victim of a funny spellcheck, or had a brain glitch. Have a great trip.

It’s for new bookings only. You can cancel and rebook, but I don’t know if there would be an admin. fee. Plus, if your category is on a wait-list basis only, I suppose there are ways it could get messed up and you wouldn’t be able to get the same category.

Good points. Thank you!

Thank you for your full explanation, and I agree you would have had friends who were very disappointed if you had opted out. I understand your sentiment, too, about wishing you had never gotten the offer! And Zalusky, thank you for your explanation as well. I looked at some cruises to see how many are sold out, and they ALL are! Just a small sample, but every single one! I actually never noticed a guarantee category offered, so mine may not fall into the oversold category, but now we are full of info, thanks to you both. And perhaps I wouldn’t get the offer anyway, since I’ve had my stateroom assigned from the beginning. My cruise is June 22nd (our 55th anniversary). How far in advance did you get your offers? Bon voyage to you, and all!

The part that I don’t understand is that I was totally unaware of you, here on CC, at the time. I thought I would remember a CC poster with such obvious charm, to use your own term. I certainly remember meeting Terry and Kerry, and actually everybody in the photo. Philip I knew from a previous cruise, and Carol, I think this was the cruise where we volunteered at Ronald MacDonald House in Charleston! Editing to say that Terry and Kerry won most of the trivias!

Do you have any idea what complimentary cruise fare on your new sailing means? I are there parameters for the new sailing? Have a blast next week!

So my memory was partially right! Terry is in the shadows. Drib captured it and posted! Thank you, Drib, wherever you are! Good question about the numbering, Roy. Except I think 8218 was SFO to NYC. And GREAT job, posting the photo AND knowing to whom we could attribute it, Roy. I actually suspected you’d be able to find it. Thank you for meeting my expectations. 😁

Sheesh, I was on 8218 but I don’t remember any air problem. Sadly, we did not meet Texas Tillie or KenzSailing! Luckily, we DID enjoy Patty’s company on a future cruise, and we did trivia together. i think that was the sailing where quite a nice group of us went into the computer room to show up on the web cam. Which cruise was that? That was a wonderful group photo.

I thought I might learn something I didn’t know. Perhaps not.

Keith also posts on Facebook, where there are more participants. If you don’t like the way Crystal runs its business, by all means support a cruise line that is more closely alligned to your expectations.

I have not done it yet, but … soon! Very soon! To begin to answer your question, the included tour is just the round trip train. Somebody else told you the timing. There are quite a few optional tours you can purchase that include sightseeing while you’re in Berlin. I think you’ll find a nice variety from which to choose. Have fun deciding!

Why would they not be “agreeable” to that?