Keith1010

I have confirmed there will be a bridge instructor on all Crystal Voyages. Keith

I have confirmed there will be a bridge instructor on all Crystal Voyages. Keith

I know Patty. I went with them for quite a few games but regrettably picked them to lose later on when they won. I try to keep my emotions away from decisions unless it comes to baseball. LOL. We do like UT and TTU. They both had something in common this year losing both coaches. Keith

Ivi you are very welcome. Let me add I wouldn't count on what an amount would be from the Assignee until their work is complete and we are notified. Keith

Ivi, Yes, we will receive the credit on cruises already booked so all good news there. You can book anytime before the deadline to get credit and not wait to hear from the assignee. Mocker does plan to wrap this up sometime this Summer. Keith

Speaking of Crew I remember all of the pushback about saying that the majority of the crew would be back or saying a lot of crew or a large number of crew. Well, in my book 80% is a lot, a majority and represents a large number. It also says a lot about old Crystal and new Crystal. We also know that even if Crystal remained in business there is always attribution making this 80% number remarkable. Looking forward to being reunited with the best crew at sea. Keith

You are right. I should have gone with UCONN and I always go with NY pizza. Keith

Yes, Happy Days for sure. Yes we will see a lot of crew returning many who have worked or are working on other lines. Right now it is estimated that 80% of the crew is returning. That is an amazing number recognizing that there was always turnover in crew between retirements and crew wanting to do other things including land based jobs. And we have known crew who left for a few years only to return another time so even those who are not returning could change their mind at a later time. Keith

Some people seem to be hung up on the five cruises. If you only do one you get 20% of what you were owed for one cruise. Before this program was rolled out you got 0%. In my book 20% is better than 0. Book two and you get 40%. I know some people book far out but many don't for a range of reasons from health to the experience of the Pandemic. Anyway, if it doesn't work for you it doesn't. The nice thing is that for some who are already booked who are owned money they now qualify for something totally unexpected and for others who are owed money who can book prior to the cutoff date it provides an opportunity to get some of their money back in the form of a discount. Keith

Yes. I figured it out when I went to the website. Before that I assumed Oman.

I am so glad it worked out for you and you were able to get the PH. Congratulations on that. Hopefully we will meet on a future cruise. You do have a lot to look forward to with several special ports. I was thinking about Salalah. The key for that one is to consider the overnight of Luxur. That is much more special than say time in Jeddah IMHO. Now if you ask people about Luxury you should get very positive comments. However, if you ask about the local town the last time we were there it had nothing of interest. This was several years ago. One thing I have learned about a World Cruise is the need to pace one-self so once in awhile if the port turns out not to be one of a lot of interest sometime making it a day to relax is good because you will be likely doing lots of excursions and mid-way through the World Cruise sometimes a little break from them is needed. Best to you. Keith

I was just speaking to a friend about pricing this morning and previously started a thread on this very subject a few weeks ago. If you are solo prices are higher. How much depends on what room you select and like most things is voyage specific. For two people in the party then the answer varies. I have found cruises that the per diem is less for 2023 and 2024 then I paid a few years ago or at or very little higher than what it was. Like most things the devil is in the details and generalities are just wrong. I don't think what they did was a sign of strength nor weakness but an attempt to do something positive. Even if someone has one cruise booked they will get 20% towards that one and that certainly was unexpected at this stage. Keith

I hear you but I still say unless there is a necessity the cruise line won't change the itinerary. Anytime they change they get criticized for this. At the same time there are sometimes logistical reasons they select what they do. I don't see them changing it. As an FYI this is not the first time Jeddah has opened their doors to a cruise ship. I know this as this was part of WC 2010 and we visited there on March 22, 2010. I believe we were the first cruise ship to visit but I could be wrong. I am certainly not a fan of Salalah and if someone asked me my option as input to the development of an itinerary I would say skip it. I would also say the same for Jeddah. Unless anything has changed those visiting this port had to take shore excursions, and what we saw was far from impressive and they made the women guests go through separate security to get back on the ship as if they were terrorists and that included a body check which they didn't do to the men. Keith

How things can change in less than 24 hours. Going into yesterday I was poised to have a good chance winning the NCAA Bracket for Men's Basketball based on my selections until Houston & Alabama lost. Almost everyone in my bracket is done. None of our teams that we thought would get to the final four and to the championship are in it now. As they say there is always next year. Keith

I have to admit I have been focuses on comments to the incentive program as well as all of the questions. Hopefully, I have gotten answers to most of them. A couple of them I did note I didn't address. So I have not read all of the posts and in some cases portions but did want to comment on one of the items. I am sure there are some TA's booking far less or even no Crystal Cruises per date for a range of reasons. I am also aware of other TA's who have been busy booking a significant number of Crystal Cruises and I suspect there are some falling somewhere in the middle of this. As noted, some people, including some on this board, already had cruising plans in place when Crystal announced their inaugural cruises. Others want to wait and see what the reviews are after the first few questions. There are some booked who still want to wait on reviews before making a final decisions. There are others who have good a good number of cruises and there are some who have booked lots of the Crystal Cruises including the Full World Cruise. Launching a new company is not easy. In this case, while it is a new company, separate from the former owners, it has retained the Crystal name (well Crystal and not Crystal Cruises) and some of its land based team has returned along with many new people and a large portion of the crew is returning. The brand will carry over many items from the original brand while changing things up to create the new brand. What this mean is that unlike a new company, it is being viewed to some extent as its former company and that comes with the good but also the bad. And when it comes to some things the good and the bad overlap when it comes to who is booking and who is not booking including TA's and Consortiums. For example, some TA's are personally excited that Crystal is back and happy to book their clients. And as we've heard here and in some other forums and in the media or maybe from acquaintances and friends, some TA's/Consortiums/Former Guests are not booking with Crystal for ether the near term or possibly the longer term. At the same time, most of the focus has been on Crystal Society members through e-mails and through the TA's, with some advertising via social media. So not as many people who are not familiar with former Crystal are even aware that the new line is launching. All of this takes time. A key will certainly be the experience and then the stories shared by those who are on the first set of Serenity and then Symphony voyages. As to this exceptional incentive program like most things people will react differently for a range of reasons including whether or not you are owed money, if you planned to sail or for that matter if you already had booking in place, along with how you view things like this. No right or wrong. For me, it was unexpected and for me it was a positive. I know others who feel the same way including people who have posted, while I know some including some who have posted who don't see this as either positive or they might see it as positive but just not for them as they don't have bookings or are not owed money or don't have plans to book anything by the end of July. For me I also come at it that over the years there have been programs offered by a range of companies whether that is buy one and get the second at no cost or at half price or refer a friend and get x benefit or whatever that I see positively and others that I either don't care one way or the other or have no use for. Others might see the one I see as positive as no big deal as they have no interest and others might think something is terrific because they are interested in the incentive while for me I have no interest in it. In any event, even if a program has not attraction for me, if I know some are happy with it I am happy for them because in the end it always comes down to each person. JMO. Keith

Back to the original post. Unless there was a necessity they won’t change the port nor should they. Keith.

Ivi, In terms of your question the answer I come to was in Crystal's Press release. In short: “This Initiative is a plan we have been working on since we acquired Crystal as it will benefit our most loyal customers. This is not something we were legally obliged to do,” said Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, Co-Chairman of A&K Travel Group and of Crystal. “However, we believe that being Exceptional means doing what is unexpected, unusual, and unprecedented. We are choosing to help former guests and travel agents recover their money and hope we will be able to focus on returning to service, the exceptional crew and onboard service that has made Crystal an award-winning cruise line for three decades.” In terms of timing,I have been told that it is expected that Moecker will close out the claims sometime this summer. I know this doesn't answer all the questions but thought it would be helpful. Keith

Reminds me of Home Alone but I took this one in Rome rather than Manhattan. Happy Friday. Keith

Speaking for myself, what is being done by new Crystal IMHO was certainly unexpected. And yes it will benefit those who book or have already booked a cruise. Keith

Absolutely. I remember for years wondering if we would ever have a Dick Tracy wrist radio and Apple came through. Keith

If you filed the form and they verify that with Moceker you will get the credit so no worries about the Crystal Society Number. Keith

They way it was explained to me is if your submission is approved you would get the credit based on what you are owed. If Moecker refunds you some money then the credit would be reduced by that amount. Keith

They will release sometime before July 1. Keith

Ivi, all I said was I just asked. Wouldn't it be best to see what they say?

I have just asked. Keith