Keith1010

They were there in the closet on the shelf where it remained for 22 days. 😀 Keith

Thank you so much David for following along. It truly was a wonderful cruise. A true Crystal family reunion between the crew and sailing with so many Crystal Society Members. It was great to finally meet some of the regulars from this board who we hadn't met before and to once again to sail with those who we knew from before. The crew is truly amazing. And in the end it is indeed the people who make the difference. Keith

Leaving Bordeaux. Keith

You should receive them to your home and hopefully this coming week. Worse case you can fill them out at the pier. Keith

Many thanks for following along and for your kind words throughout. It is very sad with the situation in Maui and it is kind what you are doing and we are helping too. Getting back to sea and sailing Crystal is great in so many ways. Best to you. Keith

Dwight, Waterside was open for lunch 7 of the 22 days. Two were on embarkation, two on full sea days, three were when ship arrived to port 11:30 AM, 12 Noon and 10:00 at night (like a sea day). Other days closed which were typically port days. I know in the past when in the Med often Waterside was closed because you have lots of people off the ship and many when return prefer Marketplace, Tastes and The Trident Grill. I also believe it gives waitstaff on a rotational basis time to go off the ship. Keith

I know this is upsetting for some people but others I've heard from are fine with this change. As one said she went from a 11 day to 14 day cruise. I believe price the same and got a refund on port fees and more on board credit. in her case when she changed the flight she got a credit from the airline. As she said it was not ideally what she wanted but the Crystal reps was very helpful and she is fine with all of this and now happy. Just saying that some are fine with the changes. Keith

Review OVERVIEW This review covers our time on Crystal Serenity from July 31 thru August 22. This includes the twelve-day inaugural sailing of Crystal Serenity from Marseille, France to Lisbon, Portugal, and the ten-day voyage from Lisbon to Southampton, United Kingdom. SUMMARY We enjoyed twenty-two wonderful days sailing Crystal. For those who enjoyed Crystal Cruises in the past, the Crystal of today is a very similar same product, with enhancements. Overall, passenger capacity has been reduced by 30%+ from the initial deployment of Serenity with more suites and less double occupancy rooms. This translates to a far greater ratio of public room space per guest. With 82%+ of the crew returning, service and the feeling of family with the crew is as it was, if not better. The experienced crew members have trained the new to Crystal crew on the ways of Crystal and it shows. We knew many of the guests on both sailings including most of you. Cuisine throughout the ship is better than ever. The cuisine at dinner at Waterside is consistently superb and we have not had any food item which didn’t meet this threshold. The presentations are terrific, food flavorful, and it arrives to the table at the proper temperature. The menu continues to be subdivided and one menu is Crystal Classics, but the other side is now called Contemporary Cuisine rather than Modern. We find more entrees than in recent memory. You can also see other menus such as for Gluten-Free, and Vegetarian. The opening time for dinner is presently 6:15 PM and it is open daily for breakfast and dinner and on most days on these sailings closed for lunch. On each cruise there was a Supper Club which coincided with one of the two formal son the first cruise and the one formal on the second cruise. TheSupper Club was similar to before other than guest capacity was reduced from 100+ to 78 guests. It offers the same concept as before with music, dance, song and a menu with a smaller list of items that are on the Waterside menu. It is not offered on Symphony as there is not a similar room where it can be held. Umi Uma serving Nobu style cuisine is as good if not better than ever. All wait-staff returned except for one member. Tastes now serves similar food at night as it did right after the late 2018 Serenity dry dock and before it began serving Chinese cuisine when it became Silk. Some of the items are the same as before and others are new. In the past the Tastes dinner menu changed every few months. There were a few items we didn’t find as good as before but in the scheme of things this is minor. The Trident Grill continues to serve similar food as before as the other venues do for breakfast and lunch. The same goes for The Bistro. The Vintage Room is the same as before where guests can sign-up for a group Vintage Room lunch or dinner or host a private room dinner. There is a cost for this. We hosted a private Vintage Room as we’ve done in the past. It was absolutely a perfect evening. There is no other cruise line we are aware of that has something like a Vintage Room as Crystal does. The newest Specialty restaurant addition is Osteria D’Ovidio featuring cuisine inspired by various regions of Italy and replaced Prego. We enjoyed the food served there because it is food we would not make or experience when dining out or at home. It is presented as one would see at a Michelin Restaurant. We recognize that several guests miss Prego. I think change is good and to me it is an enhancement. I would suggest people keep an open mind and each time they visit try new menu items as we did. SERVICE Overall service continues to be the best we have ever experienced at sea. The service level is what you would find on a luxury yacht or ship of less than 100 guests. No other line we have sailed has this level of service and the feeling of family. Some lines are very robotic in the way they treat you and IMHO don’t see you as an individual but as a number. I know someone who the day she boarded ran into one of the lido deck stewards who she hadn’t seen in over 4 years, and he asked her if she would like blueberries which she loves. If you sit out on the back of one of the guest decks that has tables, chairs and lounge chairs I would say every 15 minutes or so one of the Lido Deck Stewards will swing by to see if you need anything including wine, beer, spirits or soft drinks. This is a very nice and sitting out there is like being on a private yacht. Crystal benefits from two ships. Some say that limits itineraries. It does. The benefit is that you have teams on each ship that have worked together for years. When you have cruise lines adding lots of ships it is next to impossible to have teamwork the levels Crystal has. In fact, some had never seen the sister ship until dry-dock. I remember when Serenity was launched it took a few years to create one cohesive team. Having added so many suites the butler team is one of the few departments which has grown, and the new hires overall are terrific. We met many of them. Some came within as they have in the past but given the number of butlers needed some came directly from outside the company to these roles. I know some guests who never had a butler before and they told me they wouldn’t have the butler do anything before we boarded, only to learn from them that they did utilize the butler. This included having some meals in the room and having them assist with reservations and even to unpack or pack or simply to enjoy the daily canapes and beverages. INTERNET The internet was the best we have experienced with Crystal and at sea. It was not available for a few minutes and there were times where it intermittently goes off-line but comes right back up. From what I’ve learned it will be improved and they will be offering one or two premium services for a fee which are more oriented to those who are working from the ship and/or have large amount of data to download. I want to note that I also confirmed they have a couple of additional enhancements to the internet. One will be available on Symphony from the start and will be deployed to Serenity and another one is in the works. TELEPHONES & TELEVISION Normally, I would not comment on this, but both components have been replaced. There were a couple of issues. If you called another number with a wired phone such as reception your call would disconnect shortly after the conversation began. This issue seemed to be resolved. In some rooms if someone calls you and you have both a living room and bedroom phone both phones were not ringing. The ship was working to correct this, and our room was corrected a few days before the cruise ended. Some rooms had phones not working but believe all those have been corrected. The televisions froze more often than they should and sometimes the volume goes out and to correct this you must change the station or turn off and turn on the TV. In most ports we could not get television reception. I did confirm that the problem was the antennas and that technicians would arrive to adjust the antennas which will correct the problem. ENRICHMENT Enrichment has been terrific and continues to be a staple of Crystal. These are port intensive cruises but on sea days there have been three lectures like the past and on port days they have offered lectures late in the afternoon. We also had a couple of days when we arrived in the evening so that was like having additional sea days. The rest of the enrichment is as it was with lots of programs offered and much more so than the other luxury lines. Sea days included about 50 different activities. ENTERTAINMENT We did not go to much of the entertainment but what we have seen has been great and the entertainment at the Crystal Cove has been terrific. We heard of one evening act featuring a comedian on the second cruise was a bomb and those who like to dance prefer a larger band over the duo. At the same time, we were told by fellow guests that at the end of several shows everyone stood to applaud. The on- board entertainment team is outstanding and IMHO the best at sea. This applies to both ships. As was done the last couple of years, most evenings they have rotating performers in the Crystal Cove (pianist, violinist, guitarist). Entertainment start times was an issue for those who want very early shows and I suspect will continue to evolve. On most cruises you will not have enough people to perform a single act multiple times so for the major show a start time of around 9:45 or 10:00 pm is what they went with recognizing on those sailings that the vast majority of people arrived to the dining venue sometime between 7:00 to 7:30 pm. ACCOMODATIONS We were in the CP which is one of four on the ship and the largest of the suites. It is like being in an apartment/condominium. Changes resulting from the dry dock included all walls painted, detailing of the cabinetry and all other furniture, new carpet, new bedspread, sheets and pillowcases, new telephones and television and a couple of other items. I visited all other room categories including Classic, Seabreeze and the new suites and guest rooms. The new rooms look very nice. One category needs floor length mirror which they will be adding, and the guest rooms have lost some closet space. The rooms which were not touched had detailing and other work done. Due to time and I assume the cost the classic rooms mainly have the new bed linens. All suites have butler service. While one cannot order canapes unless in a Junior Suite or CP late afternoon/early evening the butlers deliver a nice set of canapes to all suites which is enhanced from before and if you have guests to the room, they can place additional ones in the room. They change daily and are very tasty. One can have a full course dinner from Waterside at all categories as before and breakfast and lunch from Waterside or from the room service menu. The difference is everyone has the butler service both the suites and the solo and double occupancy rooms. The change for the suites is you cannot order from the Osteria D’Ovidio or from Umi Uma. The main reason is the specialty restaurants cannot keep up with the demand for this with so many more suites on-board so this is limited to the CP’s and Junior CP’s. Also, the contract with Nobu doesn’t allow for this as he wants the vast majority of guests to experience Nobu in the dining venue. Shops The shops are like before with a few changes. I noticed the watch shop had pre-owned Rolexes. The high rollers room was converted to a logo shop. I do believe they need a lot more logo merchandise and of higher quality. Yes, that means higher prices but I think they will sell a lot more of this merchandise. Hubert Jewelers continues to sell exquisite jewelry and for those who are familiar with their products Hubert and Karen were on the inaugural cruise of Serenity and I am sure will be on Symphony for her inaugural cruise. SPA & SALON They look exquisite and we have been very impressed with the service and what is offered. We each had our hair done twice, three massages for me and two manicures/pedicures for Anne Marie and my first ever manicure/pedicure. I enjoyed it all. FITNESS CENTER The Fitness Center looks and has the same equipment as before with a couple of additional items. It continues to be open 7x24 and the Fitness Director is the same director as we had on World Cruise 2020. As was the case with the Bahama Cruises, there is one rather than two Fitness Directors, but I believe this will change as overall occupancy ramps up later this year. I made use of the Fitness Center until hurting my ankle and on the last full day took a treatment designed for sports injuries. PADDLE TENNIS/PICKLE BALL COURTS Both courts were resurfaced, and the product is far better resulting in more padding and no slipping. The courts have the markings for Pickle Ball and Paddle Tennis and paddles and balls are available for the respective games. The paddle tennis racquets are of similar quality to the ones that guests like myself own. Very few people were playing Pickle Ball partly because some of them know how to play Paddle Tennis. I believe Pickle Ball works best when the ship is in port given the lightness of the ball and that it is a whiffle ball with holes. OTHER OUTSIDE AREAS The Promenade Deck is now no smoking on both sides. It was never much crowded. The swimming pool was resurfaced and the exterior redone as were the spas. In various locations there are new recliners such as on the back decks and some areas have new towels. SHORE EXCURSIONS We only took one and that was a private excursion arranged by Crystal in Bordeaux. It was superb. I looked over the group ones offered and to me they offered plenty of them at prices I would expect to see. I realize some of you don’t agree but that is my take on the costs as long as I have been cruising. BOTTOM LINE The Crystal of today is what Crystal Cruises was like before, and better. I am very impressed with the Owner and the Senior Executives and Executives who lead the company. I interacted with some of them before and after we cruises and met some for the very first time on the Inaugural Cruise. I truly believe they have put in place a solid foundation in which to continue to build the Crystal of tomorrow. They didn’t try to make Crystal something it was not. They recognized what made Crystal Cruises unique and an extraordinary luxury cruise line and enhanced it, making it better than before IMHO. I applaud each of them and feel very confident in the future of Crystal. Will they make mistakes? Of course, they will. Everyone does. I do want to highlight that they bought assets and not a company and there is a big deal. They got two ships, a name and customer lists. They began with no employees. They began without systems. They have had to hire an entire shoreside team, along with officers and crew for both ships including many who returned and some new personnel. They had an aggressive rollout schedule which they met. There were a few things that were not ready, but most of the product was ready. With that said you will continue to see enhancements over the coming months both on the ship and with the systems used for booking and by guests as they get ready for their voyage. The sales focus has been on Crystal Society guests but I expect to see this expanded in the coming months. I spoke with hundreds of guests including some of you on each sailing. I asked each one are you having a good time and the answer was overwhelming that they weren’t just having a good time but a great time. They were thrilled to be back and said similar things to what I said about how the product is Crystal as they remember but better. Having the experienced crew was important and as I said for months with some pushback most of the crew would be returning crew. Their experience showed as they had issues learning the new systems and figuring out how to work around some system problems. It wasn’t easy but they seemed to navigate this very well. I do want to mention that there are some new Senior Officers including Captain Vincent. I had the chance to speak with him multiple times in several completely different settings and I am very impressed with him. I am so pleased that Crystal is back and the overall experience of returning to Crystal was superb. I look forward to the future cruises we have planned on both Serenity and Symphony and hopefully our health will allow us to sail on the new expedition and ocean vessels too. I do believe that being able to sail on a luxury line is a blessing that most people on this planet will never have. In our early years of marriage when we started with almost nothing I would never have believed we would have the opportunity to cruise as much as we have and to do so on a cruise line as special to us as Crystal. I realize that nothing is perfect. I do focus on what is good. I do recognize if there is a problem, but my mind works to figure out what the solution is to the problem and/or who needs to know about it. I don't use social forums to bring it to someone's attention. I do believe in what Captain Glenn said which is if you want to have a good time you will. If you don’t you won’t. And as many of you know I have no patience for complainers. I am a fan of Crystal. Always have and I hope always will. I do believe in doing things that I enjoy. I never felt I worked, as the company I was associated with for most of my career was a passion and not a job. When I retired, I told myself I would not do things I do not like. If I don’t like another cruise line I put it out of my mind and move on recognizing there are many people who like the line. In the end, I am happy when people are happy. Some of you like cruise lines that I don't but if that makes you happy that is what counts. Same goes for any product. It was a pleasure sailing with several of you on each sailing some of whom I sailed with before and others we had not. There were several lurkers who were on this sailing who read but don’t post and I get that. Crystal is back as I hoped it would be. We lived through some interesting months on this board with some people telling us the ships would be scrapped, the product would totally change and the crew would not return. They also told us how silly it was to book the inaugural and the date would be pushed out by months. Thankfully, they were wrong. I was hopeful in the early months as many of you know. In fact, many people came up to me on the two sailings to discuss this and their comments touched my heart. My hope turned to confidence as I had the opportunity to speak with both returning and new to Crystal senior executives and mid-level management over the past 13+ months. And this was reaffirmed on our sailings. If you have questions, please let me know. In the end, be happy with your choices. I know I am. Keith

A very nice time to sail the Caribbean plus a birthday cruise; that is nice. Pricing on cruises continues to be tremendous value IMHO. I know some complain about the price but I look at what you get for the cost and compare it to other ways to travel and I believe cruising is more of a bargain today than even five to ten years ago. I looked at what we paid for our hotel in Paris in 2017 and the price has tripled. I look at what we paid in Miami a few years ago and the price has gone up tremendously. Airfare varies for sure. When I booked our flight to Marseille on BA (business class) I had a voucher from a cancelled R/T flight of London that I had purchased (First Class) for a 2020 British Isles cruise which was cancelled and had tried to reuse for a 2021 British Isles cruise which was cancelled) and the voucher just about paid for the one way Business Class ticket and I realize that one way with BA is quite high relative to R/T and factored that in. It's not for everyone but cruising for Anne Marie and myself is the way to go for us. Always has been for a completely different set of reasons but is still our preferred way to travel today for another set of reasons. Keith

The default is Smart Casual as that is how it is on most nights. They do not show the formal nights at the present time. Keith

Not a good one for the canapés when you are making them for a large number of suites. But you can get ham at Waterside bring it to your room and cover it with your blanket.

It is for the reasons that are being posted that I recommended to Crystal yesterday before reading most of them that they provide more information on why the itineraries changed. I have no idea why but realize that the fewer the details the more speculation there is (right or wrong). As I mentioned earlier, I suggested that they get something out to those on WC 2024 that the Miami to San Diego cruise will go as planned. My view is transparency is good on some things and this is one of them. With that said over the years I have seen changes to itineraries by a range of cruise lines sometimes with an explanation and other times without one. In terms of what they will do for those impacted let's see what happens.I have also leaned that sometimes these things change. Keith

Muriel no worries. Honestly there are just a handful of people who make it personal at any time and some have gone away to be replaced by a few. Otherwise the comment about cheerleaders is actually directed at many of us. Childish? Absolutely. Third grade? Absolutely. It's sort of similar to when someone can't make a logical point on an item go low use name calling in place of logic. Keith

HI Everyone. I feel like we are going around in circles. The key is flexibility as I noted in post 16. And the other key is book early. And yes capacity has been reduced in both specialty restaurants based on the layout and how they set up the stations such as in Umi Uma. But ask this question five years ago with the capacity the way it was and the answer does not change. If it's a cruise of 12 days as the OP mentioned then the odds are great to get a second reservation but the key is always to be flexible and to make a second request sooner rather than later. If it is a seven day cruise the odds are not so good. But that is not the case here. Keith

Yes. Keith

Thank you so much LeeAnne. You are very kind. The good news is most of the people on CC are great. But some are........You know what I mean. Thank you again. Keith

This was so good. Keith

See if your TA can find the answer from Crystal but even if they do it can change. The information is not part of what you see in My Account. I have suggested they incorporate it into my account but I know they have a lot of things in progress. I expect you will have two formals on the first cruise. Likely September 9 and September 17. Second cruise one formal and logic tells me September 21. Again, see if your TA can contact Crystal for you. Keith

Have a great time.It was wonderful seeing you on the Serenity inaugural cruise. It was a true Crystal family reunion. Better than ever and Symphony will be the same for sure. Keith

I've suggested just that. I've gotten notes from several people asking me about this so between those notes and other postings here and on another site I reached out to them. Keith

I am confused. I was sent an e-mail that a friend of mine received from their TA saying the December 2 cruise went from 11 days to 14 days. Do you have something in writing that says it is 7 days. If what was sent to me is right it would be the next cruise which is less days.

Once again name calling is childish. By the way those of us who do enjoy sailing Crystal do not think the line is perfect. And as one who loves sailing Crystal read my observations. I called them as I saw them. Just wish people would grow up. I will comment on what I do know. And that is I have confirmed with an executive at Crystal that there will not be an impact on the 2024 World Cruise so if you are sailing from Miami to San Diego or starting in San Diego you will be fine. Keith

I received the guest survey from the Serenity cruise which ended on 8/22 a little over an hour ago. Keith

There is not one answer that fits all on this. If Cruise is full and that was the question then the answer is it will depend on the length of the cruise (seven day being more challenging than a 12 day cruise), whether or not someone is flexible or not and how far in advance they request a reservation. On a 12 day cruise I don't see it being a problem. Do remember that overall capacity is a little bit lower in both specialty restaurants on Serenity. Keith

See the Specialty Maitre d' early on in the cruise and if you are flexible on a sold out cruise with 12 days you should be able to secure one or more additional reservations. Keith