Crystal Unveils 2025 Itineraries

[bayonejoe]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

My numbers referred to specific region, category and duration that are of interest to me. I provided specific parameters that are easy to calculate and verify. 

 

I already considered 2023-2024 fares too high. 2025 fares are a fantasy fares. And based on the current loads, looks like most people don't really buy the hype..

 

Thank you for your feedback.

Basta, Bona Note

[BWIVince]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

My numbers referred to specific region, category and duration that are of interest to me. I provided specific parameters that are easy to calculate and verify. 

 

I already considered 2023-2024 fares too high. 2025 fares are a fantasy fares. And based on the current loads, looks like most people don't really buy the hype..

 

Thank you for your feedback.

I don’t understand why this has been such a big deal.

 

Anyone that doesn’t think the fares are worth it doesn’t have to pay them. A Crystal cruise isn’t a life sustaining need, nor a regulated utility.  There are plenty of other excellent vacation options in travel.

 

Similarly, if the fares don’t sell, Crystal will lower the fares, just like old Crystal did.  🤷🏻‍♂️ Yield Management is a thing.

 

Along those lines, no one forecasts a cruise operator is going to have the same loads in its third year of operation as its second month of business.  If their current loads were that off from their forecast, they would have changed the fares or run promotions,  Again, yield management is a thing.

 

Vince 

 

 

[Roland4]

10 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 Again, yield management is a thing.

 

Vince 

 

Indeed it is, but apparently some prefer to continue to beat the poor dead horse! 😵😵

[Keith1010]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Not at those fares obviously. Just don't like overpriced products when I can buy a comparable product for significantly less..

I've never been able to compare fares across products and make sense of it.  This is because the products vary. Even comparing fares on the same ship is not always straight forward depending on itineraries and time of year.

 

For some price is the driver. For others it is not.  

 

For me what the product offers is what drove me to book most sailings with Crystal after sailing other lines and after a few sailings with Crystal including the vessels.  

 

By the way a cruise on another line that is priced lower than Crystal in my mind might be an overpriced cruise because what the product offers for me is well below what Crystal offers. Someone else might not see it that way which is why choice is good.

 

 

 

[vistaman]

On 9/16/2023 at 3:43 PM, Keith1010 said:

Yes I do believe they will increase load. The issue this year is most people had cruises booked already with other lines and didn't want to change plans and the focus was on Society members.  Next year and the year after are key and that will include marketing to the general public.

that is true and i wished I never booked that Explora disaster 

[Shorex]

3 hours ago, vistaman said:

that is true and i wished I never booked that Explora disaster 

Being on Explora now I wish for a time machine. Had we assurance of a renewed Crystal by this time period, we'd be on Serenity now. I don't like to nitpick a business, it's enough to say they won't have our patronage again.

[vistaman]

53 minutes ago, Shorex said:

Being on Explora now I wish for a time machine. Had we assurance of a renewed Crystal by this time period, we'd be on Serenity now. I don't like to nitpick a business, it's enough to say they won't have our patronage again.

same for me  -  and that representative ( see my review of Explora ) here in the lower countries   did promise possible clients a super luxurious experience 

i am not going on a cruise to eat pastries and soft ice  

yes then i had been  on the second cruise  of the Serenity  and able to find a Caribbean cruise on her 

are there still so many journalists and TA on board ?  during my cruise it really was disgusting

[May B]

On 9/15/2023 at 6:31 PM, crickette said:

Thanks Cheeseball.  I knew you would have these numbers for us to compare, without me doing the legwork.  Now I will try to find one or more comparable trips in 2023, 2024, and 2025 and continue the comparisons.

Why?

[KenzSailing]

2 hours ago, Shorex said:

Being on Explora now I wish for a time machine. Had we assurance of a renewed Crystal by this time period, we'd be on Serenity now. I don't like to nitpick a business, it's enough to say they won't have our patronage again.

 

Interesting.  I remember when, during the hiatus, Explora was being talked up on this board.

[crickette]

1 hour ago, May B said:

Why?

That is an interesting question.

[May B]

35 minutes ago, crickette said:

That is an interesting question.

More interesting than the usual interesting question?

 

That’s actually a paraphrase of an amusing occurrence from around 50 years ago. Thank you for reminding me!

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Interesting.  I remember when, during the hiatus, Explora was being talked up on this board.

Yes. But Explora has made a couple of mistakes. One of them was canceling itineraries. Another one, was advertising a fantastic luxury experience. Unfortunately it seems that it is not delivering what it has promised.

I wish cruise lines were more careful about what they promise and would limit their use of superlatives. Their marketing specialists imagine and advertise as if the experience were unique, fantastic, etc.etc. And then it turns out to be that this can only be repeated by travel agents, influencers and cheerleaders.

Ivi

[Stickman1990]

6 hours ago, Shorex said:

Being on Explora now I wish for a time machine. Had we assurance of a renewed Crystal by this time period, we'd be on Serenity now. I don't like to nitpick a business, it's enough to say they won't have our patronage again.

Interesting - I’m on Explora now also along with several regular other Crystal cruisers and were all very impressed and will return to Explora Journeys 

 

The only wish I would have for a time machine would be to prolong our time on board Explora so we could enjoy the experience longer

 

The food, service and ships facilities are excellent and definitely a luxury experience. Imagine when they have 6 ships in their fleet 

 

 

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Another one, was advertising a fantastic luxury experience. Unfortunately it seems that it is not delivering what it has promised.

So what aren’t they delivering?
 

It sure feels like a luxurious cruise experience to me and my friends - the things that are important to us including food, service and the physical attributes of the ship such as cabins and public areas are certainly luxury line level 

 

Happy to answer questions but it’s difficult to respond without knowing what you’ve experienced that you don’t feel is up to luxury standards 

 

Will everyone like everything about the line? - of course not but that’s true of each and every line sailing today 

[travelberlin]

9 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

So what aren’t they delivering?
 

It sure feels like a luxurious cruise experience to me and my friends - the things that are important to us including food, service and the physical attributes of the ship such as cabins and public areas are certainly luxury line level 

 

Happy to answer questions but it’s difficult to respond without knowing what you’ve experienced that you don’t feel is up to luxury standards 

 

Will everyone like everything about the line? - of course not but that’s true of each and every line sailing today 

Terry, 

I am glad that you like Explora. 
What have I experienced with them? Onboard nothing!

 

I had a B2B cruise for a total of about 21 days for February 2024 leaving from Brasil to Miami. It was cancelled. I rebooked for another cruise from Miami to Lisboa for May 2024. And this was again cancelled! They have cancelled all their cruises from middle of May 2024 and before that they have cancelled several cruises.
 

I did not rebook again because they are offering shorter itineraries now. 7 days cruises on average. Not for me. And because I do not trust that Explora will not cancel those itineraries again. 
 

Why do I think that they are not delivering what they have promised? Fist they are not delivering the booked itineraries because they have cancelled them just like that. Not even a reason was given. Second other paying passengers have already written their reviews and some others have described the experience on board. Food, drinks, beautiful ships, on shore experiences and short itineraries sound very similar to MSC. For me, if I am going to get the service and experience from MSC, I prefer to book MSC and not Explora at higher prices. I am MSC Diamond Member and I like MSC. I would say it is a a 4 stars experience and in MSC Yacht Club a 5 Star Experience. 

 

But Explora was supposed to be better than MSC taking luxury to different levels, unrestricted access to all restaurants, except one, and making cruises a “journey “. More a six stars experience from the beginning to the end. Most of the reviews I have read, show this is not happening.

 

So I have lost my trust on Explora, and I have booked 3 cruises with Crystal instead. I will also not hesitate to book MSC again for the MSC Grand Voyages from South America to Europe and Viceversa (beautiful ships, good food and drinks and a great alternative to flying). But for at least until 2025, I do not plan to book Explora again.

 

Once more, I am glad you and Kerry and other Crystal clients who are onboard with you are enjoying the cruise. Your itinerary is certainly wonderful. You are privileged that your cruise was not cancelled.

 

Ivi

Edited September 18, 2023 by travelberlin

[Stickman1990]

20 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Terry, 

I am glad that you like Explora. 
What have I experienced with them? Onboard nothing!

Thanks for clarifying Ivi

 

Yes I agree the changes made to the second half of 2024 onwards is not good - it’s very unfortunate that some great itinerary in listing a repeat of our itinerary have been removed. I’m hanging out for the mid 2025 itineraries from them now as we want to book more with them but we need interesting itineraries and longer cruises (happy to take B2B to make them longer but not shuttling between the same ports 

 

Re onboard experience - hard to fault it - food, service and the ships facilities are great. Things that could be improved include aspects of entertainment (but suggestions that it isn’t there are simply not fair or correct) similarly with enrichment lecturers - they have some excellent subject matter experts but they could do with more. The included alcohol isn’t as broad as on other luxury lines but with Moet and Hendricks and Four Pillars gin available along with the included wines I’m easily satisfied 

 

There are many aspects of the ship I don’t use so haven’t tried but they have a big emphasis on fitness centre and equipment as well as the spa and several swimming pools and jacuzzi’s 

 

Whilst not a complaint and it hasn’t bothered me but I think they may have too many areas allocated to smokers - but as I say to date it hasn’t impacted me at all 

 

We’ve sailed Regent and Silversea (and Viking) in the last 12 months and before Covid many times - by comparison Explora is very much a luxury line equal or better than these lines. The thing we’ve learnt is that every line has things we like and things we dislike and sometimes there are inconsistencies in delivery of some things across a voyage. For us the choice is good and we have future cruises booked on all the luxury lines we’ve sailed plus of course Crystal (we don’t include Viking in our definition of luxury)

 

[ak1004]

42 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

 

 

We’ve sailed Regent and Silversea (and Viking) in the last 12 months and before Covid many times - by comparison Explora is very much a luxury line equal or better than these lines. The thing we’ve learnt is that every line has things we like and things we dislike and sometimes there are inconsistencies in delivery of some things across a voyage. For us the choice is good and we have future cruises booked on all the luxury lines we’ve sailed plus of course Crystal (we don’t include Viking in our definition of luxury)

 

 

Thank you for providing the feedback!

 

I just checked Explora website, prices start at $900/night. At those prices, they have to be not just better, they have to be in a different league. 

 

Are they?

[ak1004]

53 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Thank you for providing the feedback!

 

I just checked Explora website, prices start at $900/night. At those prices, they have to be not just better, they have to be in a different league. 

 

Are they?

 

Okay, I just double checked, those are Canadian dollars (nowhere on the website it is mentioned), and they are using very unfavorable exchange rate of 1.40. In USD it is $650-700, which is still higher than comparable sailings on SB or SS, but not by much.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Can we take this thread back to Crystal 2025 Itineraries?  I am not interested in the other lines or I'd be looking on those forums.

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

Can we take this thread back to Crystal 2025 Itineraries?  I am not interested in the other lines or I'd be looking on those forums.

Back to topic…I like it. Post 127 gave us the introduction to this out of topic subject.

 

[FlyerTalker]

On 9/14/2023 at 12:32 PM, tnm6217 said:

 and not have to worry about planning or arranging anything justified the extra cost for me.

 

 

This is something that is so overlooked in travel today.

 

There is a huge market of people who just want to turn in a credit card number and have everything done for them in a turn-key fashion.  And the price is of little concern.

 

This used to most manifest itself in cruiseline provided air, but has gone to the full extent of door-to-door, as evidenced by Silversea moving to that pricing model.

 

I enjoy working out the details to optimize my travel experiences.  Other people just want someone else to do it for them.  As someone mentioned, choice is good.

 

OTOH, when someone else does all the planning, don't complain if it's not what you really want.  Because you could have had that, if you'd made that choice.

 

 

[Keith1010]

4 hours ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

Can we take this thread back to Crystal 2025 Itineraries?  I am not interested in the other lines or I'd be looking on those forums.

Thank you.

 

Really folks.

 

I know this is CC and we get off topic but we really can keep it Crystal.

 

I can read about other lines on other boards.

 

Keith

[travelberlin]

We get off topic even in the Bistro-off topic and fun posts 😂 take it easy…

Ivi

[wearesiamese]

How hard is to just start a new thread  ,, 

 

 

 When I visit forums like cruise critic I expect the posts to be related to the original  topic.It wastes my and other  cc members time,plus isn't relevant to the topic at hand.That is what the Bistro is. for. The place to go off  toprc. .If I am not interested in a posting  is irrelevant, I might not visit that thread again due to the "misnomer" I , for one, am here to  learn something or to make social contacts  when I board rhe ship of the off topic threads are not only off topic but also. as the saying goes,"kicking a dead horse!

.

 

 

 

 

 

as more and more people add to a conversation..

Edited September 18, 2023 by wearesiamese

[May B]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

We get off topic even in the Bistro-off topic and fun posts 😂 take it easy…

Ivi

The Bistro HAS no topic. Every post can be its own fun topic.