Crystal ​😪​

[Coral]

21 hours ago, AttilaTheFun said:

Does anyone know if there's any chance of refund for future river cruises scheduled post-Apr/May? I'm reaching out to both Crystal directly and the agency we booked through but have not heard back yet. Very concerned that we've just lost a huge chunk of change on this.

Look on the Crystal board of CC. 

[Texas Tillie]

On 1/23/2022 at 4:39 PM, slidergirl said:

I just thought something about that Crystal Caribbean cruise: is it a closed-loop cruise?   That could make it interesting for passengers onboard who do not sail with a passport..

 

Crystal has never allowed anyone to sail on their ships, even closed loop, without a valid passport.

 

[slidergirl]

On 1/24/2022 at 7:51 AM, AttilaTheFun said:

Does anyone know if there's any chance of refund for future river cruises scheduled post-Apr/May? I'm reaching out to both Crystal directly and the agency we booked through but have not heard back yet. Very concerned that we've just lost a huge chunk of change on this.

I also heard on BBC Overnight that the parent company, Genting Hong Kong, is facing liquidation...

[slidergirl]

1 hour ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

Crystal has never allowed anyone to sail on their ships, even closed loop, without a valid passport.

 

Well, since I could never afford Crystal nor do I like their "atmosphere" to want to sail if I could, I did not know that.  It would have been like a bussman's holiday, since I worked at high-end, luxury resorts.  

[Stickman1990]

I saw a guy speculating, although he was adamant that it’s a done deal, on another forum that Ritz Carlton will be taking on the River cruise operation and the ex Crystal head of it, Walter Littlejohn, will head it up

I guess we wait and see if his sources are good - or not 

[slidergirl]

3 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

You never sailed on Crystal but you didn’t like their “atmosphere”

 

How strange - how do you even know what their “atmosphere” was?

I know some clients who have sailed on Crystal.  I see their ads.  The ads definitely suggest an atmosphere of well-do-do older folks who even dress up for cocktails.   I had enough of those types of people  when I worked for 4 and 5-star luxury resorts.  

Not strange at all.  I would find it strange if the actual atmosphere of something did not match the atmosphere portrayed in ads.   Why I did not like Ritz Carlton Kapalua - it was not island-like at all, but like they took the Ritz Carlton New York City and dropped it there.   

[Squawkman]

2 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Good luck with that - so you trust everything you read on the forums? Or you can somehow filter the inputs based on some kind of assessment on what others like/dislike about a line will fit with you

 

That’s impressive but I suspect you are doing yourself a disservice 

Features like butlers, dress up nights, etc. as well as itineraries are discussed in detail on CC to the point I have no interest in trying some lines as I’m happy with lines I’ve traveled. Then there’s cost which is not always easy to truly compare - but one can get a good idea without actually sailing the line in question.

[Thecat123]

2 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Maybe an informed opinion based on posts by Crystal cruisers here on Cruise Critic? Many of us make decisions on what lines and or itineraries to cruise make informed decisions based on posts of others.

I agree as we have sailed on 6 or 7 different cruise lines with different levels of "luxury", cheap to more expensive our TA booked us on a different cruise line, NOT Crystal, of which I didnt know much about so I looked through the posts of that cruise line to get the feel.

Once past that cruise lines "loyalists" where the cruise line can do no wrong, and then the passengers who compared that cruise lines which they were used to sailing on, once again different levels of "luxury expecting the same class of food, service, cabin size etc finding every thing "wrong" that they can find, one can get a reasonable expectation of what one can expect from the other posts I did wonder what we were getting into but went with an open mind

[Stickman1990]

1 minute ago, Squawkman said:

Features like butlers, dress up nights, etc. as well as itineraries are discussed in detail on CC to the point I have no interest in trying some lines as I’m happy with lines I’ve traveled.

Let’s unpack that….

 

Butlers - yes some categories have butlers - like many cruise lines - both luxury and 4 star. Having said that I’ve never had a butler in all the cruises I’ve done on Crystal 

 

Dress Up Nights - there aren’t any unless you mean an occasional optional formal night where a suit or even just a jacket will suffice - again not unheard of on many cruise lines 

 

Sure some lines won’t be for you - but don’t begrudge others to when you haven’t experienced them for yourself 

[Coral]

25 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

I know some clients who have sailed on Crystal.  I see their ads.  The ads definitely suggest an atmosphere of well-do-do older folks who even dress up for cocktails.   I had enough of those types of people  when I worked for 4 and 5-star luxury resorts.  

Not strange at all.  I would find it strange if the actual atmosphere of something did not match the atmosphere portrayed in ads.   Why I did not like Ritz Carlton Kapalua - it was not island-like at all, but like they took the Ritz Carlton New York City and dropped it there.   

I am a t-shirt and jeans type of a gal. On my Crystal river cruise which was in November - I wore khaki jeans and a sweater and I fit right in. I actually find people on main stream lines bragging more about how many cruises they have gone on, etc.... I never heard this on my Crystal cruises.

[Squawkman]

2 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Let’s unpack that….

 

Butlers - yes some categories have butlers - like many cruise lines - both luxury and 4 star. Having said that I’ve never had a butler in all the cruises I’ve done on Crystal 

 

Dress Up Nights - there aren’t any unless you mean an occasional optional formal night where a suit or even just a jacket will suffice - again not unheard of on many cruise lines 

 

Sure some lines won’t be for you - but don’t begrudge others to when you haven’t experienced them for yourself 

My intent was not to begrudge anyone - I was specifically reacting to your comment I quoted saying I believe there is value to CC posts, and they could contribute to a decision whether or not to consider cruising that line. More power to those who want butlers - maybe some day that could be me!

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Let’s unpack that….

 

Butlers - yes some categories have butlers - like many cruise lines - both luxury and 4 star. Having said that I’ve never had a butler in all the cruises I’ve done on Crystal 

 

Dress Up Nights - there aren’t any unless you mean an occasional optional formal night where a suit or even just a jacket will suffice - again not unheard of on many cruise lines 

 

Sure some lines won’t be for you - but don’t begrudge others to when you haven’t experienced them for yourself 

I think on the River Cruises - all the cabins did have butlers. I did not know what to do with mine. It wasn't until the last night I asked if he had any bubble wrap and he offered to wrap a gift I had purchased.

 

Dress - ours was country club casual every night. There was one night that they had arranged for everyone to go to a concert and people did dress up in cocktail attire for that. I stayed on the ship and didn't attend that concert.

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Coral

[slidergirl]

23 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Let’s unpack that….

 

Butlers - yes some categories have butlers - like many cruise lines - both luxury and 4 star. Having said that I’ve never had a butler in all the cruises I’ve done on Crystal 

 

Dress Up Nights - there aren’t any unless you mean an occasional optional formal night where a suit or even just a jacket will suffice - again not unheard of on many cruise lines 

 

Sure some lines won’t be for you - but don’t begrudge others to when you haven’t experienced them for yourself 

Nice pun 🙄

 

I was trained as a level 2 Butler for St. Regis.   I HATE butlers.  I don't need someone to unpack/repack for me.   I don't need shoes shined.  I don't need someone texting me every hour to see if I need anything.  Maybe deliver my morning coffee, but that's all.  Repacking was the worst - how would you like to handle everyone's dirty delicates and clothes???

 

Country Club Casual is too dressed up.  I look at those people in the ads and I say "ugh, not me".  

 

I'm not begrudging a cheerleader his cruise line.  Have to pick a line somehow and Crystal just isn't my style.  

Edited January 26, 2022 by slidergirl

[Coral]

Here are the reasons I was impressed with Crystal river:

 

1. They offered more tours than the competition 

2. More tours were included in the cost compared to the competition

3. Food was out of this world (ok - I am a foodie)

4. I found the fellow passengers very friendly. We all shared a love of travel and we enjoyed each other's stories.

5. Service was excellent. Not overbearing but very friendly and organized.

 

I found my Crystal trips to be less "snobby" than other trips. No one was trying to impress anyone by making themselves seem better than you. 

 

I am not an executive, I am not wealthy. I work in education. I do not like to dress up, especially on my vacation. I had no problems wearing khaki or black jeans and a sweater to dinner on Crystal. I found my fellow cruise passengers very down to earth. I did find several of them very well traveled. I was fascinated one day by a guy who had just been to Manitoba to see polar bears and on a bus ride we were on - I loved seeing his pictures. That had not been a trip I had thought of but after seeing his great pics - it is now on my list. 

 

Most of the people I spoke with did not use their butlers very much. Friends asked that they leave the night's dinner menu in their room daily. I asked for bubble wrap one day. I think if we ordered room service, the butler delivered it.

 

I met some friends on that trip that I still stay in touch with. Our common link is our love of travel. If I was to describe the most common characteristic of Crystal passengers is their wanderlust.

 

 

 

[Coral]

5 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

I saw a guy speculating, although he was adamant that it’s a done deal, on another forum that Ritz Carlton will be taking on the River cruise operation and the ex Crystal head of it, Walter Littlejohn, will head it up

I guess we wait and see if his sources are good - or not 

Interesting. I have to say I was impressed with Walter Littlejohn's implementation of Crystal's river cruises. I think most thought he was excellent. I hope he stays with the fleet, wherever they end up. I would love for this fleet to be available to North Americans as opposed to being taken over by a German company for German customers (or similar) as I would be lost on a line that catered to non-English speakers.

[Stickman1990]

It’s interesting, as you may remember last year there was a broker advertising for ROIs for the Crystal river fleet - of course Crystal came out and flat out denied that was an authorised action 

 

Seems that where there’s smoke….

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

It’s interesting, as you may remember last year there was a broker advertising for ROIs for the Crystal river fleet - of course Crystal came out and flat out denied that was an authorised action 

 

Seems that where there’s smoke….

People were also speculating that Azamara was going to enter the river cruise world. Apparently they sent a survey out around the same time asking their passengers if they also like river cruising.

 

Part of me wants to reserve some Crystal river cruises now as I don't think I will be able to afford them if the Ritz Carlton buys them.

 

What is interesting - last weekend, before this all came down, the Mozart was not bookable at all. The other 4 ships were. 

 

I do remember Crystal had a statement about the rumor but they did not actually deny it. Someone who was familiar with press releases in corporate world pointed that out. They stated their commitment to their river cruises and their new itineraries but did not deny the rumor. It was very carefully worded. I did cancel my river cruise then. It had more to do with trying to combine an ocean cruise with a river cruise and testing over Easter while going between 2 very Catholic countries and realizing how difficult this was going to be right when Delta had come out. I had friends who were fully vaccinated and got COVID and that was my first real awareness of severe breakthrough cases (first of July).

Edited January 26, 2022 by Coral

[Coral]

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

Nice pun 🙄

 

I was trained as a level 2 Butler for St. Regis.   I HATE butlers.  I don't need someone to unpack/repack for me.   I don't need shoes shined.  I don't need someone texting me every hour to see if I need anything.  Maybe deliver my morning coffee, but that's all.  Repacking was the worst - how would you like to handle everyone's dirty delicates and clothes???

 

Country Club Casual is too dressed up.  I look at those people in the ads and I say "ugh, not me".  

 

I'm not begrudging a cheerleader his cruise line.  Have to pick a line somehow and Crystal just isn't my style.  

I was wrong - it wasn't Country Club Casual - it was Crystal casual. @lorivaposted the following page from their cruise - it seems to me the recommendations are very similar to recommendations on most other river cruise lines:

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Coral

[gnome12]

Well that leaves me out. I don't own a blouse or a pair of dressy slacks, and I only wear a skirt or dress if it is warm enough for sandals. (I do have some nicer tops, but none I would consider a blouse.)

[Canal archive]

I know this is descending into an ‘upstairs, downstairs discussion’ but some years ago there was an in depth discussion on these boards about the meaning of ‘Country Club Casual’ and no definitive decision was ever reached. Personally I abhor the money side of the perceptions of do you have a butler or not! Your on holiday for ——- sake buy what you want to buy. Just because your cruising with a company ‘Crystal’ who it looks like are one of the first to fall foul of the covid fall out but are also one of the ‘perceived’ up market suppliers doesn’t mean that, ‘heaven forbid wearing shorts, however posh they may seem to be is a no no and in some circles the wearing of sandals at anytime is considered horrific!  Horses for course's one company bites the dust there are still at the moment, thank goodness, plenty more of perceived equality to choose from.

Edited January 26, 2022 by Canal archive
Incorrect expression used.

[notamermaid]

Crystal has never been a consideration for me as, reason one, the baseline of their product appeared to be above "I am on holiday, I like a bit of luxury for a change" and reason two, the included offers, like butlers etc., pushed it beyond any comparable river cruise offer I can get on the UK and continental Europe markets. The prices online compared to the same type of cruise on a German line nearly made me fall off my chair in front of the computer.

 

There is still plenty of momentum in the river cruising market, i.e. more interest generated in the last two years, etc. for an investor to want to pick up the pieces and save or take over the ships and the idea of the product. Not sure that the German language investors would find it interesting, though.

 

I just hope the MS Mozart will be taken good care of. Crystal did an excellent job with the refurbishment I find, I would really like to see it in person.

 

Much will depend on the liabilities, for example if the ships have been paid in full or if they are still in the banks' hands. A bit like a house that you pay mortgage on. How fast and who would seize the river cruise ships? Or indeed, which part of the company owns the ships in relation to the bigger company structure.

 

All is not lost yet. Several years ago, Nicko Cruises went into administration and made it through. The company has come out on the other side of it and is in better shape than ever.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Crystal has never been a consideration for me as, reason one, the baseline of their product appeared to be above "I am on holiday, I like a bit of luxury for a change" and reason two, the included offers, like butlers etc., pushed it beyond any comparable river cruise offer I can get on the UK and continental Europe markets. The prices online compared to the same type of cruise on a German line nearly made me fall off my chair in front of the computer.

 

There is still plenty of momentum in the river cruising market, i.e. more interest generated in the last two years, etc. for an investor to want to pick up the pieces and save or take over the ships and the idea of the product. Not sure that the German language investors would find it interesting, though.

 

I just hope the MS Mozart will be taken good care of. Crystal did an excellent job with the refurbishment I find, I would really like to see it in person.

 

Notamermaid - as a single, Crystal was around the same price as several other lines. I know it was cheaper to go Crystal than Viking who charges 200% single supplement. 

 

I also hope the best for the Mozart. She was a beauty.

[loriva]

We were first-time cruisers on both Crystal and a river in October 2021 when we took a Danube cruise with Crystal.  We looked at a variety of lines, using information in the CC.com stickies as guides.  At least for our cruise the price--when considering included excursions, drinks, gratuities (both for on board and excursion guides/drivers)--ended up in our estimation to be equal to other lines we looked at.

 

We did not find our fellow passengers stuffy, dressed to impress, or different in any apparent way from passengers on the mainstream lines (Princess, Celebrity, MSC) we've sailed with for decades.  DH took a sports jacket and I took a couple of nicer tops, but nothing I'd consider fancier than I'd wear to a nice restaurant or the theater at home.  (Even on our Galapagos expedition with National Geographic/Lindblad we found many people changed out of their shorts and tee-shirts for dinner--even though there was no dress code for dinner.)  People on Crystal seemed to be comfortable in their own skins and wore what made them feel good--whether that was khakis or a dress.  We'd looked forward to sailing with the line again, either ocean, river, or expedition as we found the ship very well designed and equipped and the staff wonderful.  Our hearts go out to all the officers, staff, and crew. 

[Coral]

21 minutes ago, loriva said:

We were first-time cruisers on both Crystal and a river in October 2021 when we took a Danube cruise with Crystal.  We looked at a variety of lines, using information in the CC.com stickies as guides.  At least for our cruise the price--when considering included excursions, drinks, gratuities (both for on board and excursion guides/drivers)--ended up in our estimation to be equal to other lines we looked at.

 

We did not find our fellow passengers stuffy, dressed to impress, or different in any apparent way from passengers on the mainstream lines (Princess, Celebrity, MSC) we've sailed with for decades.  DH took a sports jacket and I took a couple of nicer tops, but nothing I'd consider fancier than I'd wear to a nice restaurant or the theater at home.  (Even on our Galapagos expedition with National Geographic/Lindblad we found many people changed out of their shorts and tee-shirts for dinner--even though there was no dress code for dinner.)  People on Crystal seemed to be comfortable in their own skins and wore what made them feel good--whether that was khakis or a dress.  We'd looked forward to sailing with the line again, either ocean, river, or expedition as we found the ship very well designed and equipped and the staff wonderful.  Our hearts go out to all the officers, staff, and crew. 

I hoped it was ok I pulled one of your documents you scanned for this thread.

 

I agree with you 100%. By the time everything was included - Crystal didn't seem more expensive. I also agree with you about the people I met and what we wore to dinner. I hope you and I are on a future sailing together!

 

I have also been thinking of the officers, staff and crew who were exceptional.

[sharkster77]

If "Crystal casual" included a sports jacket for men, then I'm out---not my idea of a vacation.

Viking had it right for me----wear something comfortable and casual, or not, no one will care.