avalon244

On 6/10/2024 at 10:41 PM, May B said:

Great to read USCAdventurer’s beautiful review. Thx for posting it, TER!

Agree with everything in the review, especially the part about Osteria. 

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Ivi, speaking for myself I am not discounting anyone's views.

 

With that said what people say about food is subjective.

 

Obviously, if everyone hates a dining venue that says something.

 

But while some do not like Osteria and I have seen this on CC and on another forum, I have also seen that others do like it on CC and on another forum.  

 

While Crystal didn't bring back everything from Prego they did bring back some items to Osteria and others to Waterside.

 

But IMHO a lot of this becomes moot given they have said they are bringing in a new dining venue to replace the existing one.

 

With that said (I know second time on this post I am using these words) since in the Q&A when this was mentioned they said authentic Italian I am pretty sure it won't be like Prego.  

 

And just like NYK brought in what is now called Umi Uma which thankfully the new ownership did bring back, and the previous owner brought in Silk given the background of the senior executives in that they are from Italy in my eyes it is understandable that they would like to have something that is Authentic Italian versus Italian American.  

 

Now if I was the owner, you can bet we would have a Hamburger and French Fry specialty restaurant. Just kidding.  Actually It would be a specialty restaurant specializing in all types of salads including Cobb Salad.  😃

 

Keith

I'm only speaking for myself here, but I'm getting a little insulted by your continued Authentic Italian vs Italian American comparison. Not all Americans go to Olive Garden for their Italian food. I've been traveling the world for more than 50 years, including many trips to Italy, where I ate Authentic Italian food. I would venture to say the majority of Crystal cruisers fall into this same category. And at this point in my life, I know the difference between a good Authentic Italian menu and a bad one.

13 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

I agree that every body is different but I also think that if many people are giving some critical opinion, this can not be relativized as subjective. If many people are critical with the menu at a restaurant, any good management would listen and take corrective action. Not just think that those are subjective opinions.

 

Ivi

Perfectly stated!!!!

5 hours ago, Sdancer said:

Great thread, very informative!

Since my cruise is rather short to have time to experiment with dining, I will skip Osteria this time.

 

 

Wise decision. Have cruised on Crystal since the mid-1990s. Big fan. Was on Symphony last September. My wife and I tried Osteria for the first time. It was the worst dinner ever on land or sea. Horrible menu. We vowed never to return until the menu significantly changed. This past February we were on Symphony again. Checked the menu at Osteria and found that it was basically the same. So we ate our dinners at Waterside and Umi Uma. Both excellent. What we came to realize is that Osteria is named after the owner and is his passion project. He's not going to change anything no matter how many complaints are made. Imho, this stubbornness will come back to bite (no pun intended) the cruise line when competitors are offering more specialty dining options. But I guess it's his money to spend as he sees fit.

Prices also went up across the board.

Has the restaurant made any additions or subtractions from the menu over the past 2 months?

4 hours ago, BWIVince said:

I for one appreciate both of you posting about your experiences, multiple times, and hope both of you continue to do so, because the subsequent messages have given us more detail and context.  
 

that said, I don’t think spinning Keith’s posts as “super-promoting” it when you’re doing the exact same thing with the opposite message is doing you any favors though.  😞 

 

Vince

Point taken! Actually I had and have no problem with any of the verbiage in Keith's post. It was the 18 photos that followed which seemed like overkill to me.

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

One thing for sure is food is subjective.What one person loves another one would hate.  A food that comes to mind is liver.One of the few items I detest but some love it.

 

I know some people who never likes dining at the Crystal Dining Room later renamed Waterside. Food not hot enough for them. Too many people. Too noisy. On the other hand I know lots of people who enjoy Waterside.

 

Do you remember Silk and all the comments?  Some said it was frozen food. Some said it's not authentic.Some loved it.

 

How about Churrascaria. Some loved it. Some said too much food. Some said I am paying for a luxury cruise and I want full service and not such basic food.

 

Umi Uma. When it rolled out many guests were hesitant to go there.It was far different than many people had up until then. They want their food cooked. LOL.

 

Prego. Some said the food was so so. Other loved it. I have to say my first time on each ship it didn't work for me. Maybe I ordered the wrong items.  Who knows.  But I eventually figured it out and learned what I enjoyed.

 

Oseria d'Ovidio has had mixed reactions. Some love it. Others it's OK and some do not like it at all.

 

We ate there twice and had the food to our room one other time. Each time we tried new items we hadn't had so we could taste as many as we could.

 

I guess because Anne Marie is half Italian and learned to cook many dishes from her 100% Italian Grandmother who lived with her Anne Marie has made many of the dishes that I think of from Prego plus more.  So for me, Osteria d'Ovidio was the opportunity to sample a range of dishes that we normally didn't have and the portions were of a modest size that I could sample a variety of them including on the first visit two starters.  I enjoyed it and viewed it as more upscale than Prego. This is not a knock on Prego because I enjoyed it once I figured out what to order but just to say I found the new restaurant to serve more unique cuisine.  

 

My own view is to keep an open mind, try it alll, go back a few times and then see what you think. If I would have given up on Prego after the first time on each of the three ships then I would have said I didn't care for it and would not have learned what I was missing out on .  

 

And I do believe that as restaurants do both on land and at sea that they will make adjustments.

Buon appetito.

 

Keith 

 

 

 

Don't understand why you need to super- promote this restaurant. Sounds like the natives behind this enterprise are getting restless. Let people decide for themselves. My own single experience was extremely negative, but of course we didn't try everything on the menu. We would never return under any circumstances with the current menu intact. Just our opinion.

59 minutes ago, NWX said:

I'm not in love with the looks of the restaurant, I really don't like those couches - difficult for the middle person. However, I do think the menu is interesting and I would try any dish except the risotto (I'm not a risotto fan). I'd be interested in which dishes people were so turned off by. I haven't seen anyone say the food was bad, just that they didn't like the choices. Well there's lamb and fish and pasta and duck, all of which were available in Prego, just different versions. So what is so bad about this osteria?

See Post#36 on the Any news/comments from Symphony. 

1 hour ago, BWIVince said:

Point taken…. I haven’t experienced the new cuisine yet so I really appreciate your experience, but I have to say the new menu is a LOT more interesting to me than the old Prego menu was.  That said, being of Italian heritage, I totally appreciate American expectations, and am reminded of the original Kyoto and Prego menus when Crystal first launched, which were overly cliched stereotypes of what Americans were comfortable ordering from both cuisines, and the value of familiarity.  I just wish I didn’t always have to be along for that ride sometimes.

 

I appreciate you sharing your experience, and I definitely expect changes will be made.

 

Vince

Vince, I was never in love with the old Prego either. I liked it and did think it had a lot of options. I tend to be adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. My wife not so much. So when I first read the menu online a month or so ago, I too thought it looked interesting. Buy when your waiter has difficulty explaining what's in a particular dish, it's a sure sign of trouble ahead. To each his own, but if someone about to board the Symphony in the next month asked for my opinion, I would tell them to use all of their specialty restaurant comps at Umi Uma.

My wife and I are also on this cruise. Having a wonderful time, except for 1 issue (which I'll get to later). The service is excellent as always. Lots of familiar crew faces, many of whom recognized our faces. Food at Waterside is better than ever. Umi Uma is still spectacular. And I think the entertainment is a notch better than I remember. There are a few slightly annoying design flaws with closets and drawers, but these are minor. However (and, remember, I am one of Crystal’s biggest supporters), the menu at the new Italian restaurant is a COMPLETE DISASTER. We had a horrible meal there a couple of nights ago. My wife and I are not from Northern Italy nor are any of our families, so I can't judge whether the food is authentic Northern Italian cuisine, but the concept from start to finish is totally ill conceived. Americans, in particular, will never get onboard with it. I predict the entire menu will go down in flames within 3 to 6 months.

4 minutes ago, seasack said:

Common industry knowledge to whom? I’m guessing not the average person looking at the website to book this cruise. What about the people who don’t use a TA.
 

If I was someone looking at the website and was thinking about booking this cruise I would assume my pp price would be $9100.00. I had some friends that were interested before I decided to book and told them that would be the price based on all the other bookings I have that work that way, again all 4 other bookings I have match the website pricing this one does not so this is the first time I feel imho I was mislead. Again imho a Crystal problem. 

 

Not getting snippy you don’t know me! 
 

Enjoy your cruise. 

Now I'm confused. The price IS $9100 pp.

5 minutes ago, seasack said:

@avalon244Btw show me where on the wonderful Crystal website it tells you that’s the Btb price I would really appreciate you showing me that!

You just made my point. It's common industry knowledge, but a novice cruiser wouldn't know that. And that's why you need to rely on an experienced cruise TA who knows the ins and outs of the business. No need to get snippy. I will be sailing on the Symphony soon and can't wait. Have a nice day.

4 hours ago, seasack said:

My plan as in the past situations I have had is to write a email at this point with as much reference material so I can make my point and have it in writing. 
 

I still feel the situation is misleading from the Crystal website and that’s what I intend to present from my perspective. 

Of course you are free to do what you want and complain to Crystal, but imho most of the blame for this misunderstanding falls squarely on the shoulders of your cruise TA who should understand basic cruise pricing. This is a common practice to combine 2 segments into 1 longer cruise and frankly, it's ridiculous that a cruise TA doesn't know that.

Let me add a couple of points that may lessen your angst. I've been sailing on Crystal since 1998 and pricing can be very tricky. For example, various discounts only come off the cruise portion of the fare, not the port charges and fees. I don’t believe Crystal is charging you a fee for being on a waitlist or has raised the price for the 2 segments. They are simply presenting the cruise in 2 different ways ($9600 with discount and $9100 without discount). In the end, the final price is pretty much the same. Now a savvy TA should understand this. But in my experience, that is often not the case.

5 hours ago, seasack said:

In my case I did not pay anything to be on a waitlist. My TA knew I wanted this specific room and situation and it finally became available and I was presented with being able to book it. 
 

YMMV depending on who you deal with or talk to at this point.
 

Unfortunately for me up to this point Crystal has been all over the place with different explanations with certain issues depending on who you talk too that are important to me and I really do hope they become more cohesive in explaining there own rules going forward!

4 hours ago, seasack said:

Has anyone recently booked it as a 20 day by itself and got the 5% discount. In other words you booked it and it was priced out at $9600.00 pp vs the listed $9100.00 pp and then got the 5%.

 

Just trying to make sense of this situation which Crystal is not making crystal clear!

I agree that Crystal should be explaining the situation better, but I'm fairly certain that the $9100 price you're seeing includes the 5% discount from the actual $9600 price. Now if you have another cruise booked directly after the 20-day cruise, you should get a 5% discount on that segment. 

13 minutes ago, AtA said:

Except if they did it as a 20 day cruise the price is $9100. As a b2b, they're paying $9175?

It looks that way, but there's probably a few extra dollars gained on the society discount at the higher rate and perhaps port charges. Either way, the difference is pretty negligible. 

Here's what happened.  When you originally booked, it was booked as 2 btb segments.  Segment 1 is $5,300. Segment 2 is $4,300. That equals $9,600. So you received the 5% btb discount. However what you're looking at on the website is a 20- day cruise at $9,100. But there is no 5% btb discount. Crystal isn't trying to scam you. Glad to be of help.

14 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

Roland is correct. Keith is incorrect. 

Better start preparing that apology post you'll owe to Keith now.

16 hours ago, j_anandu said:

It’s on their website and also confirmed with my TA. I had 4 cruises pending to book and was told the prices went up today but they honored the old prices so deposited on them. Also confirmed the prices on the booking vs what’s now showing on the website. If you’ve already booked a cruise you can also confirm the prices

Don't believe this is true. NC raised 2023 prices a couple of weeks ago when they introduced the $1000 air credit. However,  all 2024 prices appear to be the same. 

2 hours ago, j_anandu said:

You’ll need to make a decision if to book or not, crystal just raised their prices on all their itineraries. 

Where did you hear that NC is raising its prices on all their itineraries?

2 hours ago, Leejnd4 said:

Hello Crystal cruisers (or former Crystal cruisers)! I'm getting very close to booking a cruise for late 2024. I have two Symphony itineraries I'm torn between:

 

Barcelona to Rome - Oct. 28-Nov 5

Rome to Venice - Nov 5-Nov. 14

 

Both itineraries include ports I've been to, and ports I've not been to. I know many of you have been to all or at least some of these ports, and I would love your input on which itinerary you'd choose and why. Here are the full itineraries (with the ports I haven't been to in bold):

 

Barcelona 

Palma de Mallorca

Port Vendres

Calvi, Corsica

Monte Carlo

Livorno

Rome

 

Rome

Naples

Giardini Naxos, Sicily

Corfu

Kotor

Dubrovnik

Split

Venice

 

I'm going to book a SGR. I have quotes from my TA already.

 

(Forgive me for getting a bit personal here, and I know it's not pertinent to my question, but please indulge me: the purpose of this cruise, and the reason I'm going alone, is to scatter a small amount of my mother's ashes in some of the magical places I visited with her back when we used to do cruises together. All of the ports that I've been to on these itineraries, I visited at some point with her. And it needs to start or end in Rome because there is a very special castle about 60 miles north of Rome where we spent a week once. She told me recently that was her favorite place we ever went together. She is still hanging in there, but not for much longer...the end will be coming soon, possibly any day now. We've talked at length about her wishes for her ashes, and I want to be able to tell her before she goes that I've got my travel lined up.)

 

Either itinerary will meet my objectives, as I have amazing memories of Mom in all of these ports (the ones I've been to, obviously). So the question really comes down to, which cruise has ports that I HAVEN'T been to, that I would enjoy the most? Since I'm going to be visiting new places, might as well pick the cruise with the most interesting new places.

 

Do you think I should pick the earlier cruise because of the weather/ temperatures? Do you have a preference for one region over the other? Any thoughts about a woman traveling alone in these ports? (I'm not particularly concerned about that - I'll be on a cruise!) Anything I haven't thought of? Any thoughts or feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

First of all, I think your travel plan is a wonderful way to honor your mother and keep those special memories you shared with her close to your heart.

Regarding the two itineraries you're considering, you can't go wrong with either one. The earlier cruise has overnights in Barcelona and Tuscany. The later one has overnights in Naples and Venice. For me, overnights in Barcelona and Tuscany are very appealing. Imo, you could avoid Naples and not miss much. I like Mallorca. Dubrovnik is a very interesting city. If pressed, I would probably choose the Oct 28 to Nov 5 cruise and spend an extra day or two in Rome at the end of the trip. You mentioned that special castle 60 miles north of Rome. There is also Tivoli Gardens, about 20 miles northeast of Rome, definitely worth a visit. 

           Hope this helps. Wishing you all the best.

14 hours ago, Cruise-y said:

I’m a Crystal fan but still on the fence about NC. I do lots of land vacays, usually historical or cultural or culinary in nature - but if I choose a cruise, it’s Crystal. I’ve done enough of the other lines to know - and I don’t have time to waste experimenting. I’m involved in too many other things in my life. 
 

With that said, I WANT to hear everyone’s opinions about why they might be hesitating and I WANT to hear comparisons to other cruises. Because I know those hesitations and comparisons are people who have also cruised Crystal. I can decide for myself what to value. 
 

What I don’t want is a lecture. 
 

Thanks
 

 

I had to chuckle when I read your request. Where have you been for the past 16 months? This forum has beat to death the good, bad and ugly aspects of OC and NC non-stop with no winner or loser emerging. Nearly everyone is dug into their positions on the topic and not about to change. So imho what you're asking will only lead to more confusion in your mind. My suggestion is simple. Book one short cruise on NC this fall that doesn't break the bank and see for yourself. If the cruise meets or exceeds your expectations, you can book more. If it doesn't, you'll  know to begin exploring other cruising options. 

2 hours ago, K. Sera said:

Facts:

 

• No one on Cruise Critic knows if the new Crystal is financially stable.
• The old Crystal wasn't. And they also had a large-scale refurbishment reducing capacity and increasing public space which didn't prevent them from becoming unstable.
• It would be better for new Crystal if you booked now. But it's your money. Why not wait and see if they even make it to the starting line. So you don't line up with future future cruise credits on some other company that thinks they can make a new new Crystal work with old old ships.
• Happy Mothers Day!

No one is telling you to book anything on the new Crystal. Please don't tell me or anyone else not to.