Keith1010

This is terrific and so glad you confirmed this. This is far better than in recent years. Thanks for sharing this.

When I saw the brochure I thought more clarify is needed but this is not something new. Often I pick up presentations and brochures from a broad spectrum and think to myself it could be clearer. And I have seen this on brochures of prior Crystal Cruises from the very beginning as I do from other cruise lines. I think that most booked on the World Cruise will want their TA's to get clarity on the following items. Luggage Valet (how many bags), Private Transfers (which ones), As you wish Credit (per person or per room. I am pretty sure per person but don't like to be pretty sure), Complimentary initial on board medical visit (is this one time or multiple times?) and Business Class Airfare Allowance or Credit (choice of airline any limitation in terms of price). The challenge is getting it on one initial brochure but these are all items where people will have questions. I know I would. Keith

Great sail-away last evening from Bordeaux. Very special. Our other times we were docked at the Industrial port back in the days when Serenity didn't dock downtown. So much nicer to be downtown for both guests and crew. Keith

We enjoyed a wonderful touring day followed by evening on Crystal Serenity. Took a private tour I arranged with Crystal. Toured around the UNESCO Classified Village of St Emilion which we had visited one-time before but saw different parts of the village, lunch at a very special restaurant, followed by a visit by Land Rover through the vineyards of Chateau Tripling Mundot. Other than one other person we had the whole place to ourselves, great tour followed by tastings of five wines. Excellent driver, tour guide and the representative of Chateau Tripling Mundot. Fantastic dinner last evening. We ordered in and had some items from Osteria d"Ovidio as originally we were to dine there with one other person and an amazing sail-away. Cheers, Keith They presented us with this wine box with a nice bottle of wine inside. Offered for us to take the five other opened bottles with us but too much to carry with us. If you bring children or grandhilcen they can have their own vehicle to ride in.

I don't believe I had responded to your post but maybe I did. My response was to the OP but also to all of the other posts. In the end, I look at shore excursions through the cruise line as tools in ones tool chest. These days in most ports people have choices when it comes to tours. Book the cruise line. Go it alone (not for Luxor), rent a car, book a private tour, have your TA book a private tour for you, etc., etc. I don't believe one tool fits all ports nor do I think one tool fits all people. I have always heard that ship tours are more expensive than doing it on your own. Usually they are. And this to me is no revelation. I looked at the summary of all tours on this current voyage. I looked at the pricing. It looks very similar to what I would expect to shore excursions. It's not like I look at it and it is any different than before. Choice is good. People can decide whether doing a Crystal tour works for them and if not do it on their own IMHO. Keith

Thank you. I was informed wrong. Keith

Can you double check this. We were told differently from someone who would know keith.

Something I learned about the newest class of ships is guest count. Am I correct that it carries over 900 guests? If so the irony is the newest class of Crystal vessels will carry 650. Keith

Update on the Tablets. They will be deployed to all rooms on the next cruise. I did check and an app will be developed which I think is a great idea and I know many of you feel the same way. Keith

If this was me I would have my TA contact Crystal to be on the safe side. They should know. Keith

We coordinate this on the ship and it works out very well. Best to speak with the shore ex manager. Keith

Before I begin, I wanted to note how much we enjoy overnights as it provides more time to see more of an area, we visit by Cruise ship. On top of this, two overnights and almost two full days in port are wonderful for the crew. Most can get off the ship and smell the roses and get some fresh air. So happy for the crew when they can have time to relax off the ship. This has been the case the past two days. In fact, some crew were able to take bikes out and there are lots of bike lanes in Bordeaux. Yesterday, I went out in the afternoon by myself and visited other areas including the beautiful park. Last night dinner at Waterside where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Today we have a private tour arranged by Crystal so I am posting early and will post all about it tomorrow. Cheers, Keith IMG_3107.mov

I believe on this thread someone asked if there are any themed buffets at Marketplace as in the past and the answer is yes. On first cruise two; Mediterranean Specialties and an Asian Specialties and on this cruise one Asian Specialties. Keith

Just want to add the 5% past cruiser discount is for the present cruises of 2023 and 2024. Someone posted about a 2.5% past cruiser discount for the 2025 WC. Keith

Well go back to my first WC and you got Business Class for staterooms and first class for Suites. And one night at a hotel and a gala, and transfers from home (you could get limo) to home airport, airport to hotel, hotel to ship, ship to airport, airport to home. With that said when they eliminated the air the price of the next world cruise went down by about the same costs as the air. In the end you pay for this. Personally I would rather not have transfers included and make the arrangements myself other than say getting from the ship to the airport at the end of the cruise. It sounds great when they do all the transfers but I remember getting from hotel to ship when they had a pre-cruise hotel and the time of the first transfer versus the last one. We never had the complementary laundry nor the medical visits. OC evolved the WC. I could list a dozen changes from 2017 to 2019 and those before me will tell you about the 2006 Dubai shoreside event and it seemed nothing ever compared to that. In the end, one way or the other you pay for these amenities. Keith

At the present time we are getting a 5% past guest discount rather than 2.5%. All my on board bookings I've done are open bookings but since that is 2.5 percent total should be 7.5%. Back to back savings are and additional 5%. Final payment is now due 4 months prior to sailing rather than 6 months. There is no early payment discount. Like most things this is always subject to change but this is how it is presently working. Keith

Remember, people don't like change. Prego served Italian comfort food. And some wanted to go there several times. To me that is not special. Special to me is the occasional visit and having something you do not ordinarily have.

If you do a private vintage room it is the same minimum whether it is for one person or 14 on Serenity or or 1 person or 12 on Symphony. Serenity is slightly higher as it can sit 14 whereas Symphony is 12. I would verity the price with the sommelier ahead of time since the Points Guy didn't do a VR. On the private VR there are three food menus to choose from either selecting one full menu or a combination of items across all menus. There is also a vegetarian menu. While we could choose wines/champagne I let the Sommelier select the wine. They know us well so they know our preferences in terms of what I would prefer the pricey wines are but we talk about all of this ahead of time. For example, we've had themes and then the Sommelier finds wine that works for the theme. We thoroughly enjoyed the VR as did those we invited to attend. This is another thing which hasn't changed and to my knowledge no other cruise line (at least luxury) has a true equivalent to the Crystal VR. Keith

I went back to the post that started this thread and then most other posts. Then I thought of all of the cruises we took across all cruise lines back in the day when none of them included excursions. It is not a new revelation that cruise line tours are more expensive than you can usually do on your own. Does anyone actually think this is a new revelation? On a related note if you book a tour directly through the one giving a tour or book it through one of those tour companies that resell tours such as tours by locals is it a revelation that you pay more by booking it through them versus directly with the tour guide? Is it a revelation that most items cost a lot more than they did a few years ago before Covid? Flights? Hotels? Food? Gasoline? Is this a revelation? We stayed at an exceptional hotel in Paris in 2017. The cost for the room is now three times as much as it was. In other places such as Miami it is 30 to 40% higher. Personally I've looked at the pricing of the Crystal tours that are not overlands and they are overall what I would expect. Some seem in the same price as before and others up a little bit. I am talking about tours that range between $50.00 and $400.00. As to the overlands which started this discussion. They have always been expensive. Expensive when we did the overland Safaris in 2014 and 2015 and expensive today. Can you do it cheaper on your own? Yes. Is that a revelation? No. When we did Safari we realize that Crystal has to make money on the tour, and the tour operator they book with has to make money. So it is a no brainer that if you just book the tour on your own you cut out the tour operator and the cruise line. And keep in mind that Crystal has a rep on the tour. When we did the Safari there were say 10 of us and a Crystal rep. The Crystal rep had to fly, stay at the lodge in their own room, eat the food, go on the rides, etc,. etc., etc. So we were paying one tenth of their cost or with two of us 20%. So is it a revelation that this would also add to the cost. Is it a revelation that if you book a pre or post cruise hotel you pay more than if you book it on your own. And is it a revelation that there are other costs that you won't incur if you book a tour on your own? This includes the land based employees who plan the tours, inspect the sites to make sure they meet Crystal safety standards, negotiate contracts, have on board teams of six or so employees on the ships, hold insurance for the tours, sometimes eat costs , etc. etc. Is this really a revelation? As to A&K, those tours that they organize likely will be pricey. We've done some over the years and while they were pricey they were quite unique. They are high end tours for sure. Anyway, no one is forced to book a tour with Crystal. These days it is very easy to book a tour privately if you care to do so. Overlands have always been pricey and that includes Luxor, Safaris, and other overland trips. Keith

There are instances when some former crew members of Serenity are on or going to Symphony. This includes some who were on Crystal Endeavor having come from Serenity. The same is true where some former members of Symphony are on or coming to Serenity and some were on Endeavor. I think that is terrific as they bring a wealth of experience and even some new perspective. There are some positions which have one member who will swing between the ships. I think that is also great. Keith

I have continued to speak with guests about their on-board experience. This includes guests with over 100 Crystal cruises, guests with 50+ Crystal Cruise, guests between 1 and 50 Crystal Cruises and first time guests. The responses of those who have sailed Crystal before are very consistent. Glad to be here. The experience is as good as before or most say the experience is greater than before. So happy to be here. So glad to be with the crew again. Food better than ever. Great service, enrichment and entertainment. Some bring up the same items I've mentioned that need work. This is the telephones, television, tweaks to certain rooms (full length mirror which is being addressed), and closet space come to mind. And yes right now more miss their Prego. On the current cruise we have more first time cruisers and surprisingly some younger families. I've asked them what they think and they are very positive about the service, entertainment, enrichment and cuisine and they haven't mentioned the phones tv's and Italian Restaurant. I also have spoken with many guests (hundreds) who sailed on other lines and with very few exceptions they say the same thing. The lines don't compare to Crystal. And obviously the crew realizes that too. Many were on other lines and they are back or will be back. More are coming this voyage and over the coming weeks and months as I mentioned yesterday. I won't share what they said. You can ask them. But just as many of us see Crystal from a guest perspective as being different from other cruise lines they saw Crystal in a similar light from a crew perspective. My own view is very simple. If you liked Crystal before you will like Crystal now. For us at this stage in our lives we are happy to sail Crystal and have no desire to sail anyone else. There are enough itineraries for us to sail already and I look forward to seeing the rest of 2025. The good news is the present issues which revolve around IT can be corrected. And in the scheme of things they are not third world problems. They are inconveniences. The one that was not just an inconvenience were phones that we not working but I believe that is no longer the case. Keith

That's correct. You have to book on board to get the on board credit. Keith

As CruisePfan said when you book on board you get the 2.5% savings. If you do this it is for new bookings or new open bookings only. For new bookings you have to immediately put down a 25% deposit as you would at home and for open bookings you put down $500l.00 per person per open booking and the open booking is good for 90 days from the time of the open booking. If you don't use it within 90 days it is automatically cancelled and you get the refund. When you do this you bring a credit card with you and the Future Cruise Sales Consultant charges it directly to your credit card. Keith

More former crew from Symphony and Serenity returning on this voyage and the next few voyages. Keith