The Points Guy review of Crystal Serenity

[FlyerTalker]

53 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

And of course the Points Guy -- influencer.  Do you really think that is an unbiased opinion.   Yeah sure put up in a brand new suite.  I would like to see their opinion in an old Veranda or unrenovated PH.

 

The Points Guy is no longer a guy.  Part of a media conglomerate called Red Ventures.

 

The Verge used this to describe Red Ventures' business plan:

 

Red Ventures’ business model is straightforward and explicit: it publishes content designed to rank highly in Google search for “high-intent” queries and then monetizes that traffic with lucrative affiliate links. Specifically, Red Ventures has found a major niche in credit cards and other finance products. In addition to CNET, Red Ventures owns The Points Guy, Bankrate, and CreditCards.com, all of which monetize through credit card affiliate fees.

 

13 minutes ago, Observer said:

Hold on! Do you think he was comped for that cruise? Really? I don't recall his saying so. 

 

From TPG (dateline July 31):

 

On Monday, the much-beloved, 35-year-old brand will operate its first voyage with paying passengers in 18 months as it restarts operations under new owners.

The 12-night Mediterranean sailing out of Marseille, France, will take place on the 740-passenger Crystal Serenity, which is the first Crystal vessel to return to service.

 

And since he wrote the following in the review article datelined Aug 3:

 

While I was only on Crystal Serenity for six nights

 

it doesn't take much to put two and two together to guess that he wasn't a "paying passenger".

 

And yes, I find the lack of disclaimer/disclosure to be a bit troubling.

 

 

[texanaust]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

For us the cabin size in on the bottom of our priorities list and 215 sqft is completely sufficient. But the 215 sqft on Crystal cost 10-20% more than entry level cabins on SS which are 305 sqft. And if you compare comparable cabins (AQUAMARINE), the difference becomes very significant. So I'm trying to understand what I'm paying for, not to mention a much older ship (even fully renovated). 

 

Your post pretty much sums it up.  The base cabins are not price competitive with SS or SB.  I look forward to Crystal filling these staterooms to capacity at the current prices, but I predict this will not happen. 

 

Aquamarine and above will probably do fine as there are plenty of loyal Crystal cruisers with plenty of dough.  

[RICHARD@SEA]

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

There was no doubt that the new Crystal will be good.

 

To me, the big question is - is it in a different league compared to Silversea (and other luxury lines)? Because based on prices, it should be. And if not, what's the reason to sail on Crystal and not SS (unless of course money is not an issue at all).

But will it be good enough???

I never booked CRYSTAL(old) because I felt the ships were old, cabins very small and there was no covered pool / magradome( for goodness's sake the OCEANIC had one back in the 1970's) that are basic on most ships.  Also they reminded me of the Country Clubs & "Communities" in Florida.

 

One point of interest is the new ownership w Manfredi involved.  I liked SS product pre RCCL Corp takeover - its akin to Carnivore taking over CUNARD, HAL etc & ruining the quality onboard & for employees.

 

As far as food, entertainment & enrichment - that is also personal taste - know your source... I've been fortunate enough to live in NYC w the best of the best & now buying a home in Italy - where the best of food is made by Grandma!!!

I've also travelled extensively & love to try new foods - at local establishments & 5 star restaurants in Paris...etc....if its not the complete package - great service, food, atmosphere / decor I usually do not return.

 

Also the patrons onboard set an atmosphere - some good some not so much

 

As far as dress code is concerned its easy today for both men & women...basic black covers all the bases.  From what I see in the US  - people are very careless about how they look - except when it comes to their baseball caps & dyed hair!!

The new decor looks attractive tho the ship still looks like a floating mall from the 1980'sin the atrium etc....& taking out the casino?????

 

I'm now retired & look to more days at sea

 

What I would like to see is Manfredi putting magic touches on the new ships......

[bayonejoe]

5 minutes ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

But will it be good enough???

I never booked CRYSTAL(old) because I felt the ships were old, cabins very small and there was no covered pool / magradome( for goodness's sake the OCEANIC had one back in the 1970's) that are basic on most ships.  Also they reminded me of the Country Clubs & "Communities" in Florida.

 

One point of interest is the new ownership w Manfredi involved.  I liked SS product pre RCCL Corp takeover - its akin to Carnivore taking over CUNARD, HAL etc & ruining the quality onboard & for employees.

 

As far as food, entertainment & enrichment - that is also personal taste - know your source... I've been fortunate enough to live in NYC w the best of the best & now buying a home in Italy - where the best of food is made by Grandma!!!

I've also travelled extensively & love to try new foods - at local establishments & 5 star restaurants in Paris...etc....if its not the complete package - great service, food, atmosphere / decor I usually do not return.

 

Also the patrons onboard set an atmosphere - some good some not so much

 

As far as dress code is concerned its easy today for both men & women...basic black covers all the bases.  From what I see in the US  - people are very careless about how they look - except when it comes to their baseball caps & dyed hair!!

The new decor looks attractive tho the ship still looks like a floating mall from the 1980'sin the atrium etc....& taking out the casino?????

 

I'm now retired & look to more days at sea

 

What I would like to see is Manfredi putting magic touches on the new ships......

Just curious, do you cruise and if so which cruise line

Or do you just criticize.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

But will it be good enough???

I never booked CRYSTAL(old) because I felt the ships were old, cabins very small and there was no covered pool / magradome( for goodness's sake the OCEANIC had one back in the 1970's) that are basic on most ships.

 

I liked SS product pre RCCL Corp takeover ships......

 

 

Guess the lack of covered pools wasn't important when choosing SS.

 

 

[ctjon]

There used to be covered pools on the ships but I don't remember anyone using them and they were converted to other uses

[FlyerTalker]

13 minutes ago, ctjon said:

There used to be covered pools on the ships but I don't remember anyone using them and they were converted to other uses

 

The area for Tastes and formerly Silk was the Trident pool on each Crystal ship. Next to the Trident Grill and near the former statues of Neptune with his trident.

 

 

[ak1004]

8 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

The Points Guy is no longer a guy.  Part of a media conglomerate called Red Ventures.

 

The Verge used this to describe Red Ventures' business plan:

 

Red Ventures’ business model is straightforward and explicit: it publishes content designed to rank highly in Google search for “high-intent” queries and then monetizes that traffic with lucrative affiliate links. Specifically, Red Ventures has found a major niche in credit cards and other finance products. In addition to CNET, Red Ventures owns The Points Guy, Bankrate, and CreditCards.com, all of which monetize through credit card affiliate fees.

 

 

From TPG (dateline July 31):

 

On Monday, the much-beloved, 35-year-old brand will operate its first voyage with paying passengers in 18 months as it restarts operations under new owners.

The 12-night Mediterranean sailing out of Marseille, France, will take place on the 740-passenger Crystal Serenity, which is the first Crystal vessel to return to service.

 

And since he wrote the following in the review article datelined Aug 3:

 

While I was only on Crystal Serenity for six nights

 

it doesn't take much to put two and two together to guess that he wasn't a "paying passenger".

 

And yes, I find the lack of disclaimer/disclosure to be a bit troubling.

 

 

 

Agree. I highly doubt he would pay close to $1,000 per day for the Sapphire suite.. And yes, I was surprised by the lack of disclaimer.

 

btw, here is a SS review by the same points guy - https://thepointsguy.com/guide/first-look-silver-dawn/

 

I didn't see anything in Crystal review that indicates that Crystal is in a different league compared to SS.

 

And  I get it, every line has its loyalists. But their opinion is kind of predictable. I'm looking more for opinions from people like us who select a cruise based on itinerary and price. Personally there are things I couldn't care less about (like the track - there is a similar one on SS, or covered pools etc). But I do care about good itinerary and competitive prices. Right now Crystal doesn't have a competitive pricing and no exciting itineraries.

 

An example: we book the following itinerary on SS for the next year:

 

 

Only one sea day, one overnight and 4 late night stays. This sailing was $550 CAD per day for OV 305 sqft

 

The closest I could find on Crystal is this one:

 

 

2 sea days, no overnights, and no late stays (only 2 stays till 8pm).

Same ports (Dubrovnik and Split) SS stays till 10-11pm and Crystal till 6pm.

 

The price starts at $690 CAD per night for a 215 sqft OV.

 

So the price on Crystal is 25% higher for a cabin which is 30% smaller, and SS price includes excursions, plus much better itinerary.

[Keith1010]

6 hours ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

But will it be good enough???

I never booked CRYSTAL(old) because I felt the ships were old, cabins very small and there was no covered pool / magradome( for goodness's sake the OCEANIC had one back in the 1970's) that are basic on most ships.  Also they reminded me of the Country Clubs & "Communities" in Florida.

 

One point of interest is the new ownership w Manfredi involved.  I liked SS product pre RCCL Corp takeover - its akin to Carnivore taking over CUNARD, HAL etc & ruining the quality onboard & for employees.

 

As far as food, entertainment & enrichment - that is also personal taste - know your source... I've been fortunate enough to live in NYC w the best of the best & now buying a home in Italy - where the best of food is made by Grandma!!!

I've also travelled extensively & love to try new foods - at local establishments & 5 star restaurants in Paris...etc....if its not the complete package - great service, food, atmosphere / decor I usually do not return.

 

Also the patrons onboard set an atmosphere - some good some not so much

 

As far as dress code is concerned its easy today for both men & women...basic black covers all the bases.  From what I see in the US  - people are very careless about how they look - except when it comes to their baseball caps & dyed hair!!

The new decor looks attractive tho the ship still looks like a floating mall from the 1980'sin the atrium etc....& taking out the casino?????

 

I'm now retired & look to more days at sea

 

What I would like to see is Manfredi putting magic touches on the new ships......

Interesting that the same person who immediately pushed back on me just because Ii've sailed SS twice but doesn't believe that counts in anyway for me to comment and his sidekick who immediately liked that post isn't chiming him here.  Am I correct that you have not sailed Crystal yet?

 

By the way I do agree those on board set the atmosphere both crew and guests.  This is one of several reasons I won't be sailing SS again.

 

I'll throw in one other tidbit. Our longest sailing on Crystal was five months.  In that five month we watched two movies in our room.  On our last SS cruise of less than two weeks we watched somewhere around 7 movies in our room. Why people ask?  Bored.  Very little to do.

 

I always say the only opinion that matters is our own.  

 

So it goes.

 

 

 

 

[ak1004]

22 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

 

I'll throw in one other tidbit. Our longest sailing on Crystal was five months.  In that five month we watched two movies in our room.  On our last SS cruise of less than two weeks we watched somewhere around 7 movies in our room. Why people ask?  Bored.  Very little to do.

 

I always say the only opinion that matters is our own.  

 

So it goes.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't agree with you more. Entertainment and enrichment is the only area where Crystal is in a different league. But then again, we cruise mostly to see the world, so longer port hours and less sea days are more important to us, and on European cruises we will be out of the ship most of the time anyway.

 

But if the ship is the destination, then of course it's a different story.

[Keith1010]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

I couldn't agree with you more. Entertainment and enrichment is the only area where Crystal is in a different league. But then again, we cruise mostly to see the world, so longer port hours and less sea days are more important to us, and on European cruises we will be out of the ship most of the time anyway.

 

But if the ship is the destination, then of course it's a different story.

One thing for sure, over the years Crystal has increased time in port including overnights and has less time at sea.  

 

A quick look at the new itineraries while both ships are in Europe shows some itineraries with no sea days and others with one day.  

 

I add two more items IMHO. Service and the experienced crew. I have never experienced anything like this on any line we have sailed.  From our first cruise with Crystal I have found that they see me as a person and that their actions and even response are not  what I call "robot" like. They are very human.  

 

This is one of the benefits of a line with few ships.  The other one is cuisine which I realize is subjective.  Well everything is I guess.

 

But in the end, the only opinion that counts is our own.

 

Keith

 

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, Keith1010 said:

One thing for sure, over the years Crystal has increased time in port including overnights and has less time at sea.  

 

A quick look at the new itineraries while both ships are in Europe shows some itineraries with no sea days and others with one day.  

 

I add two more items IMHO. Service and the experienced crew. I have never experienced anything like this on any line we have sailed.  From our first cruise with Crystal I have found that they see me as a person and that their actions and even response are not  what I call "robot" like. They are very human.  

 

This is one of the benefits of a line with few ships.  The other one is cuisine which I realize is subjective.  Well everything is I guess.

 

But in the end, the only opinion that counts is our own.

 

Keith

 

 

Thank you Keith. Always enjoying your balanced and objective views and comprehensive reporting.

 

We really want to come back and try Crystal, I just wish their pricing was more competitive. At this point we just feel that in the areas that are important to us, Crystal doesn't offer much more compared to SS and SB to justify 20-25% premium. But they do a unique and interesting itinerary.. who knows..

[kool kruiser]

For what it's worth, we sailed SS just before the pandemic and concur that, other than the staterooms, which were superb, we found it very inferior to Crystal in every other respect. We do agree that the pricing for NC is not particularly competitive. Whilst loyalists, including ourselves, will continue to cruise on NC, there will, IMHO, need to be a downwards adjustment to attract the numbers needed to reach suitable capacity levels. 

[History&Wine]

My take:  Crystal figured it needed to get both the crew and loyalists back at startup.  I suspect Crystal  got the crew back with higher salaries and/or bonuses.  Crystal is enticing loyalists (and those who lost money under OC) with the "exceptional initiative."  These expenditures necessitate a higher cruise fare. 

 

I agree with @kool kruiser who said "the pricing for NC is not particularly competitive. Whilst loyalists, including ourselves, will continue to cruise on NC, there will, IMHO, need to be a downwards adjustment to attract the numbers needed to reach suitable capacity levels."  

 

Well said.   

[ak1004]

2 hours ago, kool kruiser said:

For what it's worth, we sailed SS just before the pandemic and concur that, other than the staterooms, which were superb, we found it very inferior to Crystal in every other respect. 

 

And yet they were filling 5 ships (not even including the expedition ships) with prices 50-70% higher than the old Crystal.

[Keith1010]

1 hour ago, History&Wine said:

My take:  Crystal figured it needed to get both the crew and loyalists back at startup.  I suspect Crystal  got the crew back with higher salaries and/or bonuses.  Crystal is enticing loyalists (and those who lost money under OC) with the "exceptional initiative."  These expenditures necessitate a higher cruise fare. 

 

I agree with @kool kruiser who said "the pricing for NC is not particularly competitive. Whilst loyalists, including ourselves, will continue to cruise on NC, there will, IMHO, need to be a downwards adjustment to attract the numbers needed to reach suitable capacity levels."  

 

Well said.   

Dwight No higher salaries or bonuses. Some came back at less than they were making at other cruise lines. Also surprisingly a fair amount of first time Crystal Cruisers.

 

The key is for more people to hear about Crystal and what the experience is like IMHO. 

 

Keith. 

[Shorex]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Dwight No higher salaries or bonuses. Some came back at less than they were making at other cruise lines. Also surprisingly a fair amount of first time Crystal Cruisers.

 

The key is for more people to hear about Crystal and what the experience is like IMHO. 

 

Keith. 

Keith expresses very well what draws experienced Crystal cruisers to return. Everyone does their own cost/value analysis. The tangibles are simple: X number of dollars for a certain square footage of room, variety and number of restaurants, presence of dance hosts, bridge directors, speakers, et cetera. The intangibles are more intricate to express. Sometimes it takes more than one Crystal cruise to sense the intangibles: the welcoming and warmth of the crew, the camaraderie of the crew, the "personality" of the ship.

 

We've cruised on Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Viking, Azamara, Oceania, Paul Gauguin, Windstar, Explora (in several weeks) and a few others when the itinerary was right. Mostly very good experiences, but nothing matched the combination of tangibles and intangibles that Crystal provides.

 

If Crystal isn't for you, we get it. Go cruise happily elsewhere.

[History&Wine]

My post was simply a guess as to why pricing is what it is.

 

Crystal remains my line of choice. I am booked on the 2024 world cruise.

[Shorex]

23 minutes ago, History&Wine said:

My post was simply a guess as to why pricing is what it is.

 

Crystal remains my line of choice. I am booked on the 2024 world cruise.

Sorry, should have edited out your username from my post. I was speaking generally, not to a specific poster. I hope and expect you will have a WONDERFUL world cruise. 🙂

[925cruiser]

Shorex …..your post #42 above explains perfectly what is so special and unique about cruising on Crystal and what makes it unique among all the other luxury brands. It is very hard to explain to people but you have done so !
My husband and I have been fortunate to have cruised over the past 30 years on numerous luxury cruise lines all of which have been special in their own way but nothing matches our 52 cruises on the Serenity and Symphony . For us , it has been always about the Crystal crew and Crystal family of passengers we cruise with. 
We head to the Serenity in Miami on November 2 ………..so thrilled to be able to do so ! 

[Keith1010]

I expect pricing to stay the same.

 

I expect that the first few cruises being major successes will increase bookings.

 

I expect advertising will step up.

 

Please remember they need to make money.

 

And please remember the ship is mainly suites now.

Keith

[May B]

6 hours ago, 925cruiser said:

Shorex …..your post #42 above explains perfectly what is so special and unique about cruising on Crystal and what makes it unique among all the other luxury brands. It is very hard to explain to people but you have done so !
My husband and I have been fortunate to have cruised over the past 30 years on numerous luxury cruise lines all of which have been special in their own way but nothing matches our 52 cruises on the Serenity and Symphony . For us , it has been always about the Crystal crew and Crystal family of passengers we cruise with. 
We head to the Serenity in Miami on November 2 ………..so thrilled to be able to do so ! 

See you there!

[saminina]

Thanks to FlyerTalker for The Points Guy Story.  Smartest (non) move by Red Ventures was to not mess with the name.  Much like the current owners of Crystal.

 

Looking forward to boarding Serenity in February.   Very pleasant reading current comments.  Makes me wish I had not locked in Explora for much of fourth quarter.  Paying maybe 50% more for NC vs. OC for a dinky cabin, but going solo it's not a big deal.  Crew and cuisine + booze and I'm content.

[HappyInVan]

23 hours ago, ak1004 said:

So the price on Crystal is 25% higher for a cabin which is 30% smaller, and SS price includes excursions, plus much better itinerary.

 

That's a consideration!

 

BTW, I was looking at the September cruises to New England and Canada. Are there actually so few excursions on offer? In Sydney (NS), there's only a golf excursion. In Quebec City, there's only a gourmet excursion. In Halifax, there's only 2 food excursions. In Boston, there are actually zero excursions?

 

I cruise for the destination. Does not look good for me.

[ak1004]

25 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

 

That's a consideration!

 

BTW, I was looking at the September cruises to New England and Canada. Are there actually so few excursions on offer? In Sydney (NS), there's only a golf excursion. In Quebec City, there's only a gourmet excursion. In Halifax, there's only 2 food excursions. In Boston, there are actually zero excursions?

 

I cruise for the destination. Does not look good for me.

 

Which sailing are you referring to?