Has anyone on this forum taken any A&K trips or cruises?

[ctjon]

Might be a good reflection of what the new Crystal will be because I'm sure it will somewhat reflect the A&K philosophy and what they consider important to passengers.

[Roland4]

We did an Antarctica expedition cruise with them about ten years ago. They use Ponant ships and they provided the expedition crew and staff. A very professional operation in a very harsh environment. 

[goldengatecruisers]

Traveling with A&K is outstanding.  Absolutely one of the most professional and experienced operators out there.  I also traveled with them to Antarctica in Jan 2020 on a Ponant vessel with A&K expedition crew and staff.  Our trip was a unique one-off itinerary (about 16 nights on board, if I recall) and we went far south.  The quality, knowledge and experience of their expedition team blew us away.

[bitob]

Went to Cuba with them. Sensational

[ctjon]

So far the comments gives me great hope for Crystal.  Seems as if a company that cares about quality and passenger experience.

[bayonejoe]

My feelings exactly. Looking forward to boarding Serenity in Marseille the end of July.

we were one of the last groups to disembark Serenity in January 2022. And will be on the first Crystal Serenity cruise in 2023. 
Happy days
 

[ryndam]

We’ve done private and group escorted land tours with A&K in Japan, Southeast Asia, African safaris and India/Nepal. Absolute luxury class. Seamless arrangements. This type of service does come with a price tag, but with A&K, the value (for us) has consistently exceeded expectations.

 

Rob

[Boatdrill]

Years ago I was group escort on a cruise that stopped in Alexandria, Egypt. We had a private tour pre-arranged through A&K. There was an A&K representative (dressed in a jacket and tie), a local guide, and bus driver  (also in jacket and tie) who looked like a young Omar Sharif.

The rep sat in the back, the guide in front. The bus driver had an ear piece and was in constant communication with someone. Finally I realized he was talking to the driver of the military jeep in front of our bus, which was carrying a few security men with rifles. When we got out of the bus at the first stop, we saw there was a second jeep behind the bus, also with armed security. Both jeeps stayed with us the entire time, even during lunch. 

A&K was amazing, to put it mildly.  

  

[Embowaf]

I have not, though I've spoken to some people who have. Generally the feedback has been excellent. Quality, attention to detail etc.

The only negative I've heard, and I don't know how much this will play out on New Crystal, is that someone I trust, making a direct comparison to Crystal in terms of the style of how things are done, painted a picture of A&K being very planned out and not particularly flexible, whereas Crystal was, as we all know, exceptional at responding to any sort of special request you made. They'd do whatever they could to say yes to anything you asked for, and that is very much not the A&K style. Or so I was told.

But, this is a large expansion for A&K, with a lot of Crystal's people coming back and the culture mixing in.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Embowaf

[Keith1010]

We have utilized A&K for several Private Tours. While Individual tours were pricey we found them to be some of the best tours we have taken with highly knowledgeable tour guides and professional drivers. 

 

Keith

[PaulMCO]

Why is everyone comparing A&K to the new Crystal.  The Heritage Group owns Crystal and A&K.

Presume that most have taken A&K in pre COVID times.  Heritage aka  Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio bought out the company owning 85% of the shares in late 2019 (Mr. Kent owns 15%)

 

Most of the executive staff are in Monaco home of the majority owner  

 

So if any comparison it should be against the old Silversea before RCL's bailout of SS.

Which for me is not bad.  Manfredi of course will put his mark on every thing he owns (including the name of the restaurant) - and hopefully on the food there..

[hypercafe]

Much talk about A&K trips. Check out their web site, how many here would pay their price for a shore trip? Manfredi Lefebvre seems to be put on a pedestal here, I took a trip on the Silver Muse when it first came out before RCCL got involved. His new plan was no main dinning room, just specialty restaurants that changed their menu every five days or so. It was terrible. He doesn't walk on water.

[Stickman1990]

14 minutes ago, hypercafe said:

His new plan was no main dinning room, just specialty restaurants that changed their menu every five days or so. It was terrible. He doesn't walk on water.

We were just on Silversea and really enjoyed that dining style - who needs a “MDR” when you have several excellent choices? In our case on Silver Muse we could opt for either Atlantide or Indochine and we found the regular menu changes really good as there were so many different dishes we wanted to try 

 

So for us it was far from “terrible” - in fact it was “excellent”

 

I can’t comment on whether he walks on water or not but I’m definitely waiting to see further announcements that stamp his and Kent’s signature on their new acquisition- I don’t believe for one minute that won’t be the case and that “new Crystal” is simply a clone of “old Crystal”. If it is then I would think that would be a huge lost opportunity 

 

Time will tell 🥱

 

Bags are packed 🧳🛳️🥂

[hypercafe]

19 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

We were just on Silversea and really enjoyed that dining style - who needs a “MDR” when you have several excellent choices? In our case on Silver Muse we could opt for either Atlantide or Indochine and we found the regular menu changes really good as there were so many different dishes we wanted to try 

 

So for us it was far from “terrible” - in fact it was “excellent”

 

I can’t comment on whether he walks on water or not but I’m definitely waiting to see further announcements that stamp his and Kent’s signature on their new acquisition- I don’t believe for one minute that won’t be the case and that “new Crystal” is simply a clone of “old Crystal”. If it is then I would think that would be a huge lost opportunity 

 

Time will tell 🥱

 

Bags are packed 🧳🛳️🥂

The trip I took was six years ago. My SS rep told me they changed the deal so I am glad it's better. Six years ago when the ship and Manfredi Lefebvre plan was new it was  terrible IMO.

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, hypercafe said:

The trip I took was six years ago. My SS rep told me they changed the deal so I am glad it's better. Six years ago when the ship and Manfredi Lefebvre plan was new it was  terrible IMO.

 

I was on the Silver Muse in December. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't worth the price they charge - food varied from bad to fine, but generally about 60% of the way to the food on old Crystal. Service in total wasn't up to the old Crystal's standards. Entertainment and enrichment was lacking. I think some of it is a result of the squeeze from the Royal Caribbean bean counters. IF (that's a big if) the new Crystal is as good as the old Crystal, even if some things are different, I can't see ever going back to Silversea.

 

Patty

[PaulMCO]

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

I can’t comment on whether he walks on water or not but I’m definitely waiting to see further announcements that stamp his and Kent’s signature on their new acquisition- I don’t believe for one minute that won’t be the case and that “new Crystal” is simply a clone of “old Crystal”. If it is then I would think that would be a huge lost opportunity 

 

Time will tell 🥱

 

Bags are packed 🧳🛳️🥂

I think Mr. Kent's influence will be muted by the larger than life Manfredi. 

 

Agree about the lost opportunity to create something better.  Some are looking for a clone, but there is real op to provide for a newer and fresher Crystal.  If they do not, IMO they will not succeed in the long term. There is too much real competition in the luxury space and more coming.

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

I was on the Silver Muse in December. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't worth the price they charge - food varied from bad to fine, but generally about 60% of the way to the food on old Crystal. Service in total wasn't up to the old Crystal's standards. Entertainment and enrichment was lacking. I think some of it is a result of the squeeze from the Royal Caribbean bean counters. IF (that's a big if) the new Crystal is as good as the old Crystal, even if some things are different, I can't see ever going back to Silversea.

 

Patty

We just got back from 32 nights on Silver Moon. The ship is great, and the service staff were friendly and attentive across the board, very much like old Crystal. In fact, there were a number of OC staff onboard, including Rafaelle, the CD.

 

For the most part, we enjoyed the food, but over a long cruise the sameness became an issue. La Terazza at dinner served heavy Italian, and Atlantide served heavy Continental. In both the soups were mostly cream-based and the mains fairly large. Kaiseki, fairly similar to Umi Uma, where they offered a variety of sashimi/sushi at lunch, did not offer it at dinner, and their fixed menu, while very good, was also fairly heavy. Unlike old Crystal, there were no lighter alternatives at dinner, like Umi Uma or Silk/Tastes. The last ten days of the cruise we were "fooded out", something that didn't happen over the 70 days of the 2020 World Cruise.

 

The deal breaker for us, as I posted on another thread, is the archaic Formal/Informal/Casual dress code. We had 15 sea days out of 32 days, and every one of them, except the last night, were Informal, including the last nights of the first two segments. No other line does that! The last night was to be Informal, but it was also the last night of the 69 night Grand Voyage and they received a big pushback from those guests. As a result "common sense" broke out in the front office, and it was changed to Casual. Much as we enjoyed the overall experience, our days of "playing dress up" are over, so unless they change the dress code, we won't be back. There are too many other options that better suit our tastes.

[bitob]

I keep read about explora. Ultra luxury. Suites and restaurants sound amazing. They may turn out to be the new gold standard. Of course we won’t know until they sail and we get reliable reports 

 

i don’t think they’ve won any awards yet though

 

we love silversea in every respect. Works for us 

Edited March 18, 2023 by bitob

[PaulMCO]

11 hours ago, bitob said:

 Of course we won’t know until they sail and we get reliable reports 

 

i don’t think they’ve won any awards yet though

 

The same can be said about Crystal...

 

My bags are unpacked after a week on Lake Geneva.... 

[AtA]

17 hours ago, bitob said:

I keep read about explora. Ultra luxury. Suites and restaurants sound amazing. They may turn out to be the new gold standard. Of course we won’t know until they sail and we get reliable reports 

 

i don’t think they’ve won any awards yet though

 

we love silversea in every respect. Works for us 

I think we have less of an idea about Explora than even NC. I say that because they have nothing about their lecturers or entertainment, or any classes on sea days, etc. Yes they have multiple restaurants and several pools. (I have no interest in the pools as I have one with a hot tub right in my backyard which is usable for 9 months of the year.

 

And yes, I realize we don't have a good idea yet about NC either, but I'll take my chances on NC first and wait for reports on Explora. We are booked on Explora in early 2025.

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, AtA said:

I think we have less of an idea about Explora than even NC. I say that because they have nothing about their lecturers or entertainment, or any classes on sea days, etc. Yes they have multiple restaurants and several pools. (I have no interest in the pools as I have one with a hot tub right in my backyard which is usable for 9 months of the year.

 

And yes, I realize we don't have a good idea yet about NC either, but I'll take my chances on NC first and wait for reports on Explora. We are booked on Explora in early 2025.

You're booked on Explora that's a start and speaks volumes.

 

[AtA]

23 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

You're booked on Explora that's a start and speaks volumes.

 

We are also booked next March on Regent Tokyo RT. What does that say to you?

[travelberlin]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:47 PM, bitob said:

I keep read about explora. Ultra luxury. Suites and restaurants sound amazing. They may turn out to be the new gold standard. Of course we won’t know until they sail and we get reliable reports 

 

i don’t think they’ve won any awards yet though

 

we love silversea in every respect. Works for us 

I will try to post about Explora in the Explora forum. I have booked for the first quarter of 2024. 

Ivi

[Mr Luxury]

3 hours ago, AtA said:

We are also booked next March on Regent Tokyo RT. What does that say to you?

It says that you're not just sailing on one line like some here.

That's a good thing.

Happy sailing 

[Stickman1990]

3 hours ago, AtA said:

We are also booked next March on Regent Tokyo RT. What does that say to you?

It says that next March is a long way away and anything could (and likely will) happen in that time….