Keith1010

That was Saudi Arabi. Iran was terrific. I have several former work colleagues and friends who came to the States when the Shah fell and most of the people reminded me of them. As our tour guide said about 80% are more are like them. It is the small number who are fanatical and have the military behind them. In Iran we could go on tours or on our own. Keith

Vince as usual all excellent points. I wanted to add Nobu would come on for at least one sailing each year up until the Pandemic and was very engaged. Someone disinterested would not do this even for compensation or a free cruise. There was no need for him to promote Crystal in his restaurants. In fact , no upside IMHO. Keith

Today in history. Well I should say in Beatle history. 59 years ago The Beatles performed live for the first time in America on The Ed Sullivan show where it is estimated that 79 million people turn into CBS to watch. I was one of them along with my family. I remember the evening as if it was "Yesterday". Ummm. That would make a great name for a song. As they say, the rest is history. Keith

Anne you are right. I remember that night very well dining with you in Silk Road along with the time Anne Marie and I spend in Dubai on our second visit in three years at the time. 😃 Keith

I just want to add we learned so much from each place we visited and that is part of travel. In fact, I learned on this adventure the key is to take the time and small the roses. In other words, don't rush around to say you saw 10 things. Sometimes better to see less but to truly absorb what you are seeing. On top of this we had an extraordinary team of enrichment people. Overall, collectively the best combined team of speakers who did a fantastic job of covering each place before and after our visit. For us the other parts of the itinerary were superb as well. First time on a World Cruise they visited the Black Sea as this was early in the season and we visited Ukraine. We were supposed to visit another time but that didn't happen. The overall occupancy on many of the segments was not very high for two reasons. It was 2010 and the economy was still recovering from the great recession because in 2009 people would have to be putting down final payments for the full World Cruise. In addition, some people refused to book the entire World Cruise due to some of the countries being visited in the Middle East. I think some segments might have been as low as 350 people. As Larry mentioned a few times no wine or spirits were served and I remember the butlers had to remove all of this in the rooms (this was back in the day were you got a certain number of bottles of wine in the suites as it was way before inclusive) and stewardesses had to do the same in the staterooms. We had extra security come on board for part of the world cruise to be on the lookout for pirates. Crystal stopped sailing some of this afterwards and revised itineraries due to security concern. This was likely driven by NYK. I believe on CC some said what kind of World Cruise is this as we didn't go to Australia, New Zealand and Asia and we had two stops in South America. For us it was extraordinary. With that said, the first time we looked at the Itinerary a few of us said "Crystal what are you smoking". Whatever they were smoking turned out for us to be amazing. So glad we got to see some of these places with our own eyes as opposed through the lens of someone else. So one of my takeaways is on things like itineraries sometime look at what is offered, put them away and look at them again. It reaffirmed two other items. Some places you think will be great but turn out so so and other places you think will be so so and turn out great. The other is returning to places you have been to several times can be good so you have time to see portions you didn't see before while revisiting those places you enjoyed but want to see more of. Keith

The men were allowed to just walk through. The women were patted down from head to toe. I think that says it all. Keith

Roy takes photos of the sun rising. I take photos of salad. And Rob and Vince take photos of carpeting. Who would have guessed. Keith

Choice is good. Glad we saw it. I would never go back. But I learned a lot. A couple of things about our visit. Unlike even Iran we could not go out on our own. We had to go on a shore excursion and were pretty much isolated from speaking with the locals. On the way back to the ship, the local authorities performed security checks on all returning guests. Men in one line and women in another. Men went through easily. Women were patted down and I won't say more. WIth that said it did confirm some of my thinking and I am glad we saw it though our own eyes. Some people didn't book the WC because of the ports. Others did. Some wouldn't get off in some of the ports. We got off in all of them. For us it was extraordinary but for us the deciosn to go had nothing to d with thinking it was impossible to visit. Keith

I didn't want to waste this clip art since I used it on another thread. Sometimes when someone asks you a question it is polite to say you go first. \\\\\\\\\\ Speaking of first one of my all-time favorites since it involves Baseball is: And while they don't ask you to go first they do know who is one first. And that's all folks. Keith

The itineraries IMHO reflect the evolution we have seen over the last many years. When we sailed Crystal early on there was usually one or two seven day cruises and the rest were longer. Heck before we took World Cruises there was the World Cruise and the segments were something like 25 to 35+ days. Even the seven days cruises often had three sea days. Back then crossings varied and I remember our first crossing had a good amount of port stops. I remember meeting some guests who said they actually selected the crossing that Crystal had because they wanted port stops. We were on our fourth or so Crystal Cruise and felt the same way. At the same time there were some crossing with plenty of sea days and we've done both types with Crystal as many of you have over the years. Then it evolved to starting with an overnight which some here liked and some detested. I remember those discussions several years ago. Also, some overnights in the middle of the cruise and some at the end. Some liked that and some didn't. Today you have several itineraries of shorter length but many that are very easily combinable which we did and this was a great attraction for us either because we wanted a longer cruise, didn't want to get off from the first cruise or get on just from the second cruise as getting to the port via air was more difficult. The combination worked out well. We are very happy with our selections visiting familiar ports, some we've only been to one or two times and some for the first time. The overnights are in places we like and would prefer the extra time so we don't have to rush back to the ship. But in the end what one person thinks is a good itinerary another person doesn't care for. This is a constant which has not changed in all my years sailing Crystal. I am reminded of World Cruise 2010 which included two segments of the Middle East including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait along with Israel, Egypt and several other countries. Some were very critical of some of these ports and other aspects of the itinerary. For us this was the most extraordinary world cruise we have ever sailed and I am so glad we had the opportunity to visit some of these places and see them through our own eyes because today it would not be safe nor practical to visit some of them. Bottom line for myself, Anne Marie and I have selected itineraries which we are very happy with and if we don't like a place we can make it a sea day. We sailed three seven day Mediterranean back to back cruises right before Serenity went into dry dock in late 2018 and even all those Bahama voyages and had a great time. Keith

Agreed. While some changes were made the other day more are needed for the rooms. In short, the deck plan should have a way of showing which are the classic and which are new and for rooms with two types of categories they need renderings for each specific style. Not everyone is going to know what rooms used to be on the deck and which ones are new when choosing a room and same goes for agents who might not be familiar with ships or product. This way it will confirm for the Crystal Society folks who are familiar with the rooms what they are getting when they choose a room (eg., bathtub or no bathtub) and when booking open to the general pubic who never sailed Crystal this is also important. For some people a bathtub is a requirement so knowing which ones have or do not have these is important and prevent disappointment or even anger down the road. It's good the photos have been updated but many people will not understand which go with which or many might not even click on the photos but simply the rendering. Keith

The invoices provided that information. Full deposit due less $500.00 within 7 days of booking. Final payment 120 days prior to sailing. UNTIL121 DAYS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE FIXED RATE $250.00FROM 120 TO 91 DAYS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE 25% FROM 90 TO 76 DAYS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE 50%FROM 75 TO 51 DAYS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE 75% FROM 50 TO 0 DAYS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE 100% It lists the amounts in real dollars on the invoice as well. Keith

I suspect the Casino is gone. The good news is for many people they will save some money. Regardless of what anyone thinks pro or con the new owner made the decision and people either agree or disagree, keep their business with Crystal or leave. It's no different than any other change past, present or future. Keith

15% deposit less the $500.00 is due 7 days after the booking was made. We made them today for all voyages booked. Final payment due 120 days prior to the sailing. Yes all the revised invoices should show $250.00 per person up to $500.00 per suite. Keith

Thank you Vince for your logical posts. As you correctly note, the new company bought the name rights and other customer information. They did not for the reason you mentioned get information on those owed money. For anyone tired of reading certain -posts, don't read them. No one forces anyone to read posts they don't want to read. Vince welcome to the world of being accused of being a cheerleader just because you express a view that someone disagrees with. Keith

Lots of cruises have been added including Miami. Check out the website. Keith

59 years ago four lads arrived to JFK and two days later would be on The Ed Sullivan Show. So wish I was alive to have watched them on Ed Sullivan. Well, I guess I was. I just can't remember. LOL. I do and to think they were performing only 27 miles from my home. And when they had their final performance at the former Shea Stadium only 18 miles from home. Now if I was older at the time, who knows. Maybe it would have been Meet The Beatles or With The Beatles. Keith

I’ve used many words over the past month about former crew returning. While I never said all because all are not returning, I know for sure whether we say, a lot, many, majority, lots that each of these descriptions applies. I expect it will be like it was in the past where if you didn’t sail for a year or two you would still know most of the crew. This makes me happy because one of the major reasons we cruised with Crystal all these years is the crew. I know many feel the same way. I think crew returning say a lot about their view of the new Crystal. As to time will tell. Of course, time will tell who returns because none of us know precisely who every person is who will return, but I don’t need time to tell me that we will know so many of the crew when Crystal restarts. As to the new Crystal, time will tell what that is like. Those of us returning will decide for ourselves. What I do know is every year I sailed Crystal it always evolved and there were many changes over those years. In fact, literally 100’s. I expect that there will be many things I like about the new Crystal and some things I may not. That's not different than the old Crystal. I also expect there will be some things I like even more. One of them seems to have gotten lost. With less guests and the same amount of space inside and outside the ship, there will be more space per guest than ever before. I am reminded capacity on both ships has declined in the past and this is another decline in overall guest capacity. One thing I am certain of, the new Crystal won't be perfect. They never were. They will make mistakes as they did last week. The old Crystal was not perfect either having made a number of mistakes. And of course, none of us is perfect either. What didn’t change IMHO was the uniqueness of the crew from all the other lines we ever sailed. Sure, the actual members changed with some being there from the first time we sailed while many newcomers over the years. Even with the changes in people the attributes of the crew and the things that made them so special to many of us never changed. For me, like a fine wine it got better over time. For those who are skeptical I would only hope you would be happy for those who are excited to return as I am for whatever choices you make with Crystal. In the end, choice is great and each person can make their own choices without being told that they are right or wrong. I am very happy with the choices we make and hope you are too. Bags are packed. Ready to go. Can’t wait. And life is good as for me there are many other things, I am spending my time doing which also makes me very happy. I am not missing out on one thing. Cheers, Keith

There will be an excellent ratio of crew to guests but there will be less crew.

Great news Muriel. Keith

In the end the only opinion that matters is our own. If we all thought the same way it would be boring. The key is find what you like and go with it and that applies to pretty much everything.

Looking forward to dining at Tastes again. I can just "taste" the cuisine as I think about it. Oh and before I forget. Bags are packet. Ready to go. Can't wait. Keith

Got it, and I knew that. When you said security I didn't realize you were speaking about security near the ship. I thought you were talking about security being an issue in Bordeaux which I thought was surprising. Thanks, Keith

We know and the same is true for places such as Italy. However, at the end of the day we are very happy and that is what is most important. We are pretty seasoned travelers and I had the opportunity when I worked to travel very extensively both inside and outside the USA. Happiness is number 1 in my book. Keith

I have wonderful memories of our time in Bordeaux and also visiting chateau's on another visit. There is so much to enjoy in this region. Question. Are you saying there is a security issue or that they have addressed it? Keith