New Crystal - the Good, the Bad and the Indifferent

[wearesiamese]

13 minutes ago, bitob said:

Many are not selling.  They lost a huge number of Crystal loyalists who lost money.

not to mention significant fare increases and stateroom changes for some

[bitob]

1 hour ago, wearesiamese said:

not to mention significant fare increases and stateroom changes for some

That is why they are calling people to encourage them to book.

That is why they suddenly made the offer to help those who lost money recoup it over 5 cruises -- significantly, they waited to make the offer when they were obligated to do nothing.  I and others in the industry believe it was made in response to less than expected bookings.  No one I know who lost money is jumping on the offer.

 

Personally, I do not think they are off to a good start.  Maybe the product will be so good that reports (from objective cruisers) will induce people to book.

[Keith1010]

All cruise lines send out e-mails to promote not only cruises but itineraries not selling well.  I am reminded that old Crystal sent out e-mails almost daily but the same is true for some of the other luxury lines.  New Crystal has been very selective with e-mails.

 

But there is no question that some cruises have less demand than others for a range of reasons.

 

New Crystal certainly has the challenge that when they released itineraries many people were already booked with other lines and what the bookings are like for each voyage is anyone's guess.  

 

No one knows for sure the reason(s) for the new program.If people want to speculate that's fine and I'll give mine. No fact.  Just speculation. I believe the major driver was to do something for the customers recognizing that some are out money with the old Crystal.  Yes, it could drive some additional bookings but giving a credit is a lot of money off the bottom line.

 

Restarting a cruise line is not easy and it is not easy to start a new line.  If they wanted easy they could have called it an entirely different brand and made it a lot different from old Crystal.  I am glad they chose the path they did.  Already it looks a lot like old Crystal which is what I believe people will find as they add enhancements to make it even better.  Many of the answers in the Q&A's is similar to old Crystal.  While some questioned their quality I have not seen anything leading me to believe quality will suffer. Reducing overall guest capacity certainly can enhance quality.  I think brining back Nobu shows a high emphasis on quality.  The former line was moving away from Nobu.  Bringing back so many of the former crew shows another commitment to high quality.  

 

Anyway, time will tell.  New Crystal does have challenges given that the former parent wrecked the stature and image of the former company. They have to overcome that while getting their new ships ready which shows yet another commitment to quality and play a lot of catch up and that includes catch up in the marketplace by being late to the game for 2023 and 2024 while getting all of the things in place including new guest checkin system and other things such as all the shore excursions in place and continuing to hire people. Not easy. A big challenge.  Let's see what happens.

 

With each passing day New Crystal is inching closer to the start up of Serenity followed by Symphony.

 

Very exciting IMHO.

 

Keith

[Texas Tillie]

On the topic of cruise lines and advertising emails, don't forget that emails are the cheapest advertising that can be done by any business. In the past month I remember getting email advertisements from Holland America (last sailed in 2010), Princess (last sailed in 2013), Disney, Silversea, and Crystal. Also from lines I've never sailed including Seabourn, Explora, Ritz Carlton, Ponant, Scenic and Viking. What does this tell me about what's selling on the various lines - not much I'd say.

 

Patty

[bitob]

I was not referring to emails

"That is why they are calling people to encourage them to book."

 

I was referring to personal phone calls

That is not common in the industry and would not be done if bookings were robust.

Edited March 31, 2023 by bitob

[ctjon]

I've gotten personal phone calls from a couple of cruise lines after I requested a brochure.

 

 

[bitob]

11 minutes ago, ctjon said:

I've gotten personal phone calls from a couple of cruise lines after I requested a brochure.

 

 

You showed interest. The call makes sense as a follow up. standard practice 
 

What nc is doing is different

 

[Keith1010]

30 minutes ago, ctjon said:

I've gotten personal phone calls from a couple of cruise lines after I requested a brochure.

 

 

Jonathan same experience here over the years and some don't give up with one call. I can name several lines that do this including mass market, premium, and luxury.

 

In fact, SS called me many times.  It started years ago when I spoke with one of their reservation agents and more recently sometime last year when I signed up for a brochure.  

 

I did get a call from Crystal but since it didn't say Crystal on called ID I didn't answer it. I later checked and verified it was from Crystal and haven't gotten once since.

 

It's another form of marketing and at least it's a legitimate company versus  the inane amount of calls one gets and some related to scamming for sure.

 

Keith

 

 

 

[Cruiselover51]

Hello, after a phone call by a NC travel consultant,  I did an exercise to try if I should book a NC cruise to take advantage of their Exceptional Initiative.  Here is the result.

On a 16 days cruise, I compare NC and Silversea Nova (new ship compare to NC Serenity). Both cruises were in same part of the world, same time of the year (first 3 months of 2024]. I will have to spend an additional $4192 Canadian dollar on that cruise to get back $740 Canadian dollar.
I will go with Silversea.

 

I am still looking for a good deal with NC!

 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by Cruiselover51

[bitob]

44 minutes ago, Cruiselover51 said:

Hello, after a phone call by a NC travel consultant,  I did an exercise to try if I should book a NC cruise to take advantage of their Exceptional Initiative.  Here is the result.

On a 16 days cruise, I compare NC and Silversea Nova (new ship compare to NC Serenity). Both cruises were in same part of the world, same time of the year (first 3 months of 2024]. I will have to spend an additional $4192 Canadian dollar on that cruise to get back $740 Canadian dollar.
I will go with Silversea.

 

I am still looking for a good deal with NC!

 

 

Calculation:  how much money do I have to lose to get my money back?  Insane

[Keith1010]

And that's the major benefit of the program is to those who already had bookings and were owed money.  Also if you were on the fence about booking a cruise this is some incentive to do so.  You don't lose money when you book a cruise. Rather you spend money.

 

They really didn't have to do this.  And no one is forced to utilize it.  But as someone who is owed money  and who had already booked cruises I am certainly appreciative of it and I know others who are too.

 

Keith

 

[bitob]

You lose money when a cruise is overpriced and the itinerary is utterly unappealing, particularly when there are other cruises available that really interest you

 

you also lose time. More valuable than money now

Edited March 31, 2023 by bitob

[Keith1010]

Nope. I haven't lost money by booking cruises and I don't see the cruises I booked as overpriced. As I have said pricing depends on various factors including itinerary, accommodation and single or double occupancy .

 

I certainly have not lost time nor have many people I know.

 

For some this incentive is great, for others it't not relevant as they are not owed money and for some owed money it doesn't work.

Like most tings in live "One size does not fill all".

 

Keith

[ctjon]

Here is an "important" question - what brand of artificial coffee/tea sweetener will they have.   I remember when Crystal dropped sweet and low (pink envelop) and only had Equal (blue package).

There were many, many unhappy people on this board and many promises never to sail Crystal again.

 

[Keith1010]

Same with Heinz Ketchup. Dropped and then returned.  
 

Such problems.

 

Then there is the ice cream.

 

 

[Gregrat]

Ok, I’ll bite.

What brand is the ice cream?

[2bobs]

In the past, it has been primarily Ben & Jerry's at Scoops (the ice cream bar, for the unititiated).

The specialty restaurants had their own made-on-board flavors, which we thought were excellent.

The strange-to-some aftertastes of some B&J are best relieved  with a good Highland single malt.  Bob & Bob

[ryndam]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Like most tings in live "One size does not fill all".

 

Keith

 

I couldn't resist. Sorry...

 

Rob

 

 

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, ctjon said:

Here is an "important" question - what brand of artificial coffee/tea sweetener will they have.   I remember when Crystal dropped sweet and low (pink envelop) and only had Equal (blue package).

There were many, many unhappy people on this board and many promises never to sail Crystal again.

 

 

They always had the yellow - Splenda. 

 

Patty

[Keith1010]

46 minutes ago, Gregrat said:

Ok, I’ll bite.

What brand is the ice cream?

Used to be Dryers. Then switched to Ben and Jerry’s.  
 

Keith. 

[Roland4]

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Used to be Dryers. Then switched to Ben and Jerry’s.  
 

Keith. 

Much to the dismay of those of us who appreciate good quality ice cream!!😁😁 (He says, ducking for cover under his desk!!)

 

What I find most disconcerting in all of this is no one has mentioned NC's most important food question. Will the oatmeal-raisin cookies still be available??? There are those in my office who firmly believe they were the only reason we cruised Crystal. And they were not far from the truth!!!😁😁

Edited April 1, 2023 by Roland4

[History&Wine]

13 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

Much to the dismay of those of us who appreciate good quality ice cream!!😁😁 (He says, ducking for cover under his desk!!)

 

What I find most disconcerting in all of this is no one has mentioned NC's most important food question. Will the oatmeal-raisin cookies still be available??? There are those in my office who firmly believe they were the only reason we cruised Crystal. And they were not far from the truth!!!😁😁

I don't know what made those cookies special, but they ARE really good! 

[cruisun]

The last few cruises before bankruptcy the Ben and Jerry’s was gone, not sure what brand replaced it but it was very good 

[AtA]

3 hours ago, Roland4 said:

Much to the dismay of those of us who appreciate good quality ice cream!!😁😁 (He says, ducking for cover under his desk!!)

 

What I find most disconcerting in all of this is no one has mentioned NC's most important food question. Will the oatmeal-raisin cookies still be available??? There are those in my office who firmly believe they were the only reason we cruised Crystal. And they were not far from the truth!!!😁😁

They were good, but one chocolate chip cookie was my lunch dessert every day.

[KenzSailing]

3 hours ago, cruisun said:

The last few cruises before bankruptcy the Ben and Jerry’s was gone, not sure what brand replaced it but it was very good 

 

As long as it wasn't that brand from Texas that, ahem, resulted in a few fatalities on land.