Leejnd4

It helps to know that you will be onboard the ship at Christmas. That does make a difference. Certainly there will be more children onboard, and the ship will likely do more than it normally does to accommodate families with children. You seem to be going into this with open eyes. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time. Those of us who prefer to avoid small children during our luxury vacations know to avoid cruising during Christmas. 🙂

Happy to help! I adore scuba diving...it's one of my passions. I even took classes to become an underwater photographer, and have sold some of my photos. The diving in FP is some of the best I've done, and I'm SO looking forward to getting back into those waters on my upcoming cruise! If you've been doing Pilates for a long time, and are comfortable in the ocean, you would have no trouble diving at all. I hope you give it a try! And yes, it is like skiing - the gear ain't cheap. And the photography gear is even MORE expensive! 😝

I wonder if that's due to the cruise lines having to let people go during the pandemic, and now many of the ground staff are new recruits? Doesn't make the situation any more acceptable, but I expect that's a big part of it. Maybe things will improve as the new people gain experience. (I'm an optimist!) 😉

Correct. 😉 It's a wine-pairing dinner in a special room used only for that. They only offer it on select nights (provided they have enough passengers who've signed up for it), or you can book the whole room if you have 12 people. Here's how Crystal describes it: A unique gourmet food and wine pairing restaurant that offers an educational dining experience while enjoying some of the best vintages at sea.

I agree with @FlightMedic555 - this would likely not be an enjoyable cruise for a couple with a 3-yr-old. There are a number of cruise lines that cater to young families, but this is not one of them. No activities for kids at all, no kids pool, no kids entertainment, no excursions that would be child-appropriate, no babysitting services so you wouldn't be able to go on excursions yourself either. You might also struggle to find food that your little one would like, as the dining is pretty gourmet and is not really designed to accommodate toddlers. I've never seen a child so young on my PG cruises, but @Tahitianbigkahuna has been on MANY more PG cruises than I have, and he could probably tell you what he's seen in terms of young kids on board. The PG is an expensive bucket-list cruise to take when you can't really fully experience it. My personal opinion is that you might consider either waiting until your child is older, leaving Jr. with a grandparent, or going on a cruise line that is designed for families.

I'll take a stab at answering. 🙂 I started diving when I was 45. I'm 63 now, and I'm approaching 800 dives. The hardest thing about diving will be different for each person, and is also very much dependent on where you dive. I took to diving right away (I must have been a fish in a former life!) But I know many people struggle with learning the gear, the skills, buoyancy control (the ability stay neutral in the water column without floating up or sinking down), and managing air consumption. New divers often struggle with anxiety, and with task-overloading. There's a lot to remember. Some people are just not comfortable under water. Others have issues with claustrophobia, or with panic, or with clearing their ears (my husband struggles with his ears). Where you dive is hugely impactful. Many popular dive destinations are in the tropics where you have warm water, so you don't need thick wetsuits or cumbersome dry suits, and all dives are done with Divemasters who take care of everything - setting up your gear, helping you into your gear, guiding the dive, monitoring your depth, air consumption, and decompression limits (DCL), and getting you back to the boat. You must learn how to do all of this on your own (that's what scuba training is all about, and what it takes to get certified), but in many tropical dive destinations, the DMs do most everything for you anyway. Whereas I learned to dive in Southern California, where divers are expected to be completely independent. Most of our dives are from the beach, just me and my husband or a few friends, no Divemasters to babysit us. On boat dives in SoCal, each diver is expected to set up and manage their own gear, dive with a buddy, plan their dive, monitor their own depth, air, and DCL, and be able to navigate well enough to get themselves back to the boat. Plus it's cold water so we're dealing with heavy wetsuits, and potentially entangling kelp forests. If you are doing tropical diving (such as that done on the PG) you won't have those issues. So as you can see, where you dive will have the greatest impact on what you might find difficult. You should definitely be in good physical condition to be a diver. Scuba gear is HEAVY, and you have to be able to stand up with it, walk around, get in and out of a boat or inflatable. If you have back issues you will have trouble. Plus, if you are out of shape you will breathe too heavily and blast through your tank quickly, and you'll also have a harder time controlling your buoyancy. I do see out-of-shape people diving sometimes, so it can be done but it's a lot harder and just won't be as fun. Also, I track dive accidents in SoCal, and a large percentage of diver injuries/deaths are due to out-of-shape divers suffering a health incident while diving. It's a strenuous activity, and if you are not in shape you are at much greater risk for something happening under water - not a good scenario. If you are interested in getting started, certainly the PG is a great way to do it! They are known to always have an outstanding dive team, and they make it very easy for you. Warm tropical water, excellent high-quality rental gear, fabulous sea life, and DMs who do all the work for you. The worst part would be taking time away from your cruise to take the necessary courses. 😉

THANK YOU! I'll be on this exact itinerary in November, and this is hugely helpful!

Oh, and I wanted to add one more thought to this thread (this time NOT about TAs, I promise!) 😉 I agree that what @j_anandu experienced was poor service. But in my many years of cruising, on various lines, my personal observation is that cruise lines' land-based service operations are not at all representative of the ship-based crew. I've had some HORRIBLE experiences with cruise lines' land-based services, and went on to have fabulous cruises once I got on the ship. This even happened with Crystal. Many years ago (and @Keith1010 I know you will remember this!) I called Crystal to address a visa issue prior to my Baltics cruise. I was treated rudely and given complete misinformation by the person who was supposed to be their documentation expert, which could have cost me quite a bit of money. Fortunately I dug deeper and learned the facts, and everything with my documentation worked out perfectly. But I was pretty upset at how I was treated. I then proceeded to have THE BEST CRUISE OF MY LIFE once I got onboard the ship! 😁 What happened with the land-based operation was completely separate with what happened onboard.

This brings to mind a story I just read about a woman who booked a cruise directly with NCL. She also had them book their flight to the embarkation port in Europe. Unfortunately their first flight leg was delayed and they missed the connection in Brussels, and there was no way to get to the port in time to make the cruise. So she called NCL, who told her that since it was not possible to get to the ship, it was best to just cancel the cruise and they'd give her a full refund. But when they did that, they also cancelled all her flights, leaving her stranded in Brussels! And they refused to book them a flight home to the US. So they had to book and pay for an expensive last-minute flight themselves. NCL has refused to reimburse them. Had she been working with a TA, the TA would certainly have ensured that they made it home at no cost to themselves. Or even better, if the TA knows cruising at all, they would have advised this couple NEVER to fly internationally to a cruise on the day of embarkation! I cannot fathom not working with a competent TA, especially on cruise itineraries, which can be complex. But at this point I think we're beating a dead horse. LOL!

Yes, it all made perfect sense. And I do have lots of compassion for those who got burned. I don't begrudge them their anger - they have a right to feel it. It's just nice to share the excitement for NC with others who are excited as well. 🙂

I just wanted to say that this was SUCH an uplifting post! It made me smile. 🙂 I know there are people who are still very angry and bitter about all that happened. I get it. I can understand how they feel, and I totally get that after being burned, they don't want to give Crystal another chance. But it irks me when I see them trying so hard to tamp down the excitement of those of us who DO want to jump back onboard. I try to just ignore them, and focus on my own excitement (and that of others willing to try NC). Our feelings matter too. Thanks again for reminding us that good things are ahead.

I'm reluctant to pile on because I see you've already been told this by several others, but I just couldn't help but to add to the cacophony: why not use a TA? There's literally no downside, and significant upsides! My TA not only got me exactly what I wanted (including the specific cabin), but I'm getting a pretty substantial on-board credit from this agency PLUS additional OBC from their travel consortium! And I didn't have to wait on hold one single minute. We did it all through email. I told him what I was interested in, he gave me several options, I chose, he took care of everything. I don't disagree that you had a horrible experience, but my thoughts are that few people actually book directly with the cruise line, so they are not as adept at this phase as our TAs are. Our TAs have relationships with the people at the cruise line, and THEY deal with them, insulating us from their less-than-perfect booking process and agents. Let THEM deal with waiting on hold. Let THEM work out the details. And - it costs us LESS in the long run (due to the OBC)! As I'm sure you know, we can't recommend TAs on Cruise Critic. But there are several who have long relationships with Old Crystal, and have now established new relationships with New Crystal. I hope you are able to find one so you don't have to deal with this again. 🙂

GREAT NEWS! I'm so relieved. Given that my next Crystal cruise is going to be me solo, I didn't want to have to wander around begging 11 other people to join me. LOL! (On the other hand, it could have been a great way to make new friends onboard.)😂 That you did! 🙂

I'm with you! I think they did quite well at both before...I see no reason for them to fall down on either now. 🙂 And I am soooo looking forward to reading the first reports. In the meantime, tho...I guess we gotta talk about something. Might as well be hopes, fears, and LOTSA speculation!

Great pics, thanks for posting! And it's making me crave some good sushi. Hard to find a decent sushi restaurant down here in Mexico. The only time I get sushi anymore is when I catch the fish myself! That's a Mahi Mahi in my profile photo - I caught that one off the coast near Puerto Vallarta. That sushi was as fresh as it gets! But nothing like the sushi from Nobu, which involves lots of prep and ingredients I can't get down here. 😉

Thanks Keith. I'm hoping by the time of my next Crystal cruise (more than a year away 😢) things with VR will be back to normal. And if not, I guess I'll wear one of @FlyerTalker's "I'm interested in the Vintage Room. Are you?" buttons! 😝

I don't disagree with any of this. 🙂 I am currently living in Mexico, and some of the best food here is street food. In fact we had street tacos followed by elote from a cart last night for dinner. DELICIOUS! We sat on benches at a park to eat. It was our first time eating off this particular taco cart...we will be going there again for sure. But that's a very different dining experience from gourmet cuisine in a beautifully decorated restaurant. I enjoy both types of dining. My only point is, I don't forget about the beautiful decor the moment I sit down. It all adds to the experience. And I very much enjoy Crystal's upscale ambiance. I would be disappointed if their restaurants were not beautiful to look at while dining on their exquisite cuisine. That's part of what makes Crystal, Crystal. (To me, anyway.) 🙂 All that being said: you are completely right in that it doesn't matter how lovely a dining venue is if the food sucks. 😉

I can't say I agree with this. YES of course the food and service are the key factors in any dining experience, but the decor definitely has a huge impact on my enjoyment as well. I personally don't "forget" how lovely a place looks once I sit down. I find that a beautifully designed and decorated restaurant adds enormously to the pleasure. Ambiance matters to me. I personally wouldn't want to dine on exquisite fine cuisine in a dull, boring room.

Yes, and the poster didn't even use the right term for it, so that tends to make me question their credibility. And you are correct, if my memory serves: I was unable to pre-book Vintage Room in advance. I recall I had to submit a request once onboard, and then they would get back to us to confirm if they got enough people, and what night it was going to be on. It's possible we may have had the option to indicate *interest* in doing a VR in advance, but not actually book it. I had that thought too...but Cruise Critic roll calls are simply not as active as they once were. I remember my first Paul Gauguin cruise many years ago we had DOZENS of people in our roll call! For my upcoming November PG cruise we have a grand total of - six (three couples). Granted, there are some other PG roll calls that appear more active, but there are others for cruises coming up soon that have virtually no activity. So we just can't trust that will work anymore. That being said...the Crystal forum is definitely one of the more active ones, for a cruise line with only two ships! 😉 Thanks Keith. I suspect @KenzSailing is probably right...that things may take some time to settle and initial cruises may not reflect the way things will be once NC finds its rhythm.

Oops, I guess that should have read 12 people. My memory is imperfect. 😉 I'm still hoping this is misinformation.........

I saw a post on Facebook saying that the Vintage Room will no longer be something passengers can book individually, but will instead require booking the full room with 14 attendees. Is this true? 😳 I'm hoping it's a misunderstanding. Vintage Room dinners have been some of the best nights I've ever had on a cruise anywhere. FAR superior to any of the other cruise lines' wine-tasting dinners (e.g. Oceania's La Reserve). I understand it's always been dependent on them being able to fill up the seats, but I never had to worry about filling them up MYSELF - I would simply submit a request to attend, and then wait to hear if they'd found enough attendees. And in my case, they did each time. Not too many people go on a Crystal cruise with 14 friends, so expecting the passengers to fill the room is rather unrealistic, IMO. I'm really hoping this was a misunderstanding of some sort.

WHOA! Now I'm REALLY glad I got the warning in advance! Sorry that happened to you. Given that we plan on driving completely around the island, and checking out Tahiti Iti as well, I suspect we'd have been gobsmacked by mileage charges if we hadn't heeded that warning. Thanks Nancy! That's a great deal. But yeah, that is a long time to wait. 😉 Watch the Paul Gauguin forum for my daily reports in November! I always enjoy doing a daily travelogue when I'm on a cruise. That will whet your appetite even more! I have a long wait for my next Crystal cruise myself: it's not until November 2024.

Wow, that's cool! Looks like they are working hard, and it's going to be beautiful!

I've got a car reserved with Europcar at the airport in Papeete, which has unlimited mileage. I reserved it through my Amex Travel, and was careful to pick a vehicle that clearly stated "unlimited miles". I learned from this forum that many of the cars rented in Papeete do NOT include mileage, or I wouldn't have known to look for that! And sure enough, the first ten or so cars that showed up in my search did not have mileage included. We're spending 4 days pre-cruise in Tahiti at an AirBnb, and plan on touring the island, so unlimited mileage was important. It's quite a bit more expensive per day than the ones without mileage included, but I suspect I'll come out ahead. Looking forward to hearing your reports from your cruise! Enjoy!

Yup! I've spent countless days hanging out right there. My favorite spot to stage my gear is to the left along that barrier, just outside the field of this photo. I look forward to going back there to dive once we move back to being dirt-dwellers. 🙂