Keith1010

I went to the web site and compared like categories and went with the lowest price category. However on the summary provided by another member that compares three different categories including the lower priced ones.

Yes I've looked at the screen shots. I looked at pricing yesterday and also what was posted earlier.

I know you were responding to Vince but I will chime in too. I have rarely seen people use the word superior but if they do that their view. Often I hear people say I like x cruise line better. Superior. I don't think so.

Yes I do believe they will increase load. The issue this year is most people had cruises booked already with other lines and didn't want to change plans and the focus was on Society members. Next year and the year after are key and that will include marketing to the general public.

What is clear is making blanket statements is not true of a 20% increase and your original post said prices went up 20%. I looked at some Mediterranean cruises yesterday and looked at the per diem and they didn't go up 20%. What I did is look at it one at a time trying to find very similar cruises in the same month. As shown above 20% doesn't apply to all sailings. And Crystal to be successful and to build new ships has to make money.

Larry, in the most recent dry dock two changes were made.This is the addition of the culinary service station. and having spotlights projected out of the culinary station as you noted. The tables and chairs were changed in the 2018 dry dock. The supper club seating is no greater now than it was post 2018 dry dock. In fact, on the first two voyages they reduced the maximum number of people attending each each Supper Club taking into account staffing for both the Supper Club and Waterside. Keith

Sail Away from Bordeaux - August , 2023. Very special.

Deck 11 All Sapphire Suites are Classic. Original Ones. 11000 has a slightly larger verandah. Deck 10 Only Two Sapphire Suites which were created in 2018 and are the former Sea Breeze Suites. Deck 9 and 8 All of the Sapphire Suites are newly created in 2023.Larger Verandahs ( you can tell like the other larger ones from the deck diagrams found on the Crystal website are 8007 thru 8015, 8066 thru 8079, 9019 - 9012 and 9072 thru 9081. A few are not as larger as the others but larger than most of the verandah decks for Sapphire. Again, look at the diagram. Personally I would avoid the two former Sea Breeze as they are not as large because of the common doors. Study the plan. Remember the classics have a tub and a separate shower and the newer ones have a rain shower. I think both are good options and each have pros and cons when comparing them with each other. Keith

Vince, they redid the area in the back of the Star Dust and eliminated the seats in the back (stools) and made it a staging area for the food. Keith

Absolutely. Kindness and treating someone the way we would like to be treated is a good way to live life. Keith

With all due respect you mentioned all these things but you really don't know if it is happening. So maybe it's not. Or maybe it does. Or maybe it doesn't on other lines. Or maybe it does. I just don't worry about other people. In my case I really don't care. Same goes for evening attire. Some get upset if someone is not in appropriate attire. Me I just focus on my wife and having the best time we can. I do care about having a great time though. Keith

Well you might not have but I saw it first hand on SS and SB. It was obvious. I didn't really care. Why should I? If people know one another because they sailed a lot I think that is very nice. And when we sailed Crystal and no one new us I didn't care either. I do believe it takes two to tango. We enjoy the crew so whether they know us or not (new crew aren't going to know us) we enjoy engaging in conversation with them. I am not sure what special treatment you think people get. I believe the crew goes out of their way with all guests. Sure if you have a lot of sailings you might get recognized for that at a reception and it is human nature to develop bonds with people the more you know them and that goes for fellow guests. As I've said I have met people who are very engaging with the crew or with fellow guests on their first cruise and some might thing they have sailed often but they hadn't. Keith

Mama Mia. I love it. But they can't make enough soup to fill that small roll of yours. Keith

But if you want to sail Crystal there is excitement. Some people don't have a preference by line and make their decisions on which line based on price. Oher prefer a line and may make decisions for that line based on a variety of factors one being price. Keith

Yes the reality is on any cruise line or at any restaurant on land if you frequent there a lot the staff does get to know you. I was on SS and there was a couple who had 100 or so sailings and the same happened there. Saw it on SB years ago. Some people are better than others in terms of engaging others. In other words, I have met first time Crystal Cruisers who are extroverted and very engaging and already known by senior staff and officers as if they have sailed for years. Keith

Oh I wish I was on board. As Nancy this was shared on another site. I did ask the person who posed the photo of the soup if I could share that and got permission. There was a video of the carpaccio. They served both items on the menu. They were responding to what some of the guests asked for since they miss that in Prego. Keith

Possibly. I would ask and see what they say. Keith

And I just looked at one July on Symphony and the per diem in 2024 was $642.00 and in 2025 is $633.00 I am not saying prices haven't gone up but like most things this will vary cruise by cruise, year by year and ship by ship. But in the end the market will determine some of this. Keith

Haven't analyzed it but just looked at one cruise which is 20% higher but that is with 2023 pricing not 2024. Like most things the market will dictate pricing and each person will make a decision which works for them.

I received permission from the person who shared the photo to post it.

Crystal responded to the Mushroom Soup and the Beef Carpaccio requests and have added it to the Waterside Menu on the current Serenity cruise. So when you are on board find out when it will be on the Waterside Menu so you could go that night for dinner if it's something you want to have. I am sure this applies to both ships. They prepared the Beef Carpaccio in Waterside at the tables as they did in Prego. Keith

Caryn, Crystal responded to the Mushroom Soup requests and have added it to the Waterside Menu on the current cruise. So when you are on board find out when it will be on the Waterside Menu so you could go that night for dinner if it's something you want to enjoy. Also I see that they also served the Beef Carpaccio in Waterside last night and prepared it at the tables as they did at Prego. Keith

I was just glad they didn't drop the gangway and kept my distance just in case. It was quite an incline or if you were getting off the ship quite a drop until the tides changed IMG_3113.mov

Kathie, I went back to my notes as someone else asked this question and what Ter777 has said is what I was told. And I remember reading that you have to go to this area first and cannot go directly to the ship. Keith

Greetings. Closing Waterside on port intensive cruises for lunch is not new to Crystal. They have done this for several years. Yes, they did close it more often since restart and this has nothing to do with what they did or didn't do with respect to the Pandemic. And yes this is driven by financial considerations and due to the reconfiguration of the ships. As to the reconfiguration they made some adjustments and that includes augmenting butlers since every room now has a butler but reducing some areas. Also this was done because you have less guests so the ship even if full will have less crew than before because overall occupancy has been reduced. With low counts for the next few months there is less crew on board now than even the first couple of sailings. Now add to this that most of the cruises are port intensive so they can adjust the wait staff counts recognizing this. So knowing that there is far less demand for Waterside due to people being on tours (on this current cruise they do have more sea days than most cruises), given that guest count is down thus crew count has been reduced and given that these days many dine in other places for lunch which are more casual and in some cases allow them to have a shorter lunch they have closed the Waterside more often for lunch than before the Pandemic. And yes this is a business decision. And yes since most of us want them to be around for the long haul it is away to manage costs. Like most things some are fine with this. Some are not. Everyone has their opinion and Crystal has made a decision. I do expect on some cruises it will be open for lunch on a more regular basis starting in a couple of months. as guest counts ramp up. Keith