Gourmet Gal

Keith, has the afternoon tea service been updated to the 21st century?

The photogs on my one Crystal Cruise were obnoxious as were the hoards of people milling around for photos on formal nights. It really left a bad taste for me especially after cruising SS so often without any of that. At the time, along with the tiny cabins I felt it really cheapened the line. I was only asking about it in the hopes that activity had been reconsidered. The line seems to be making some other nice improvements and I will be following this thread in hopes of learning more.

Hi Keith, just wondering if Crystal still has those annoying photographers and photo sales people. Hoping that program has been eliminated.

Keith, Thanks for sharing your return to Crystal with us with your generous posts. I can tell that you and and your wife are so happy to be back onboard! I’ll be very interested to follow along. Bon Voyage!

Well at least they were attempting to move on from the old school standard foie gras and soufflé.

The sous vide device is great for thawing anything frozen. Duck breast is awesome cooked in the sous vide with a quick sear after. We use it weekly for one thing or another.

I’ve been lucky enough to dine in all sorts of “fine dining” restaurants as well as Michelin starred and many do not fall into the broad brush category you’re applying here. There are some incredibly talented chefs out there and when they are able to surprise and delight the diner then they deserve the high pricing and if lucky, the Michelin star. There are certainly duds out there but I’m not ready to write off the upscale dining expereince. La Dame has never been in the surprising and delightful category, just nice and pleasant. Doesn’t seem worth this new price structure unless they dramatically change the experience. BTW, sous vide is nothing new and there is nothing wrong at all with the technique. At the very least it allows the timeline of the meal to flow and there are many foods, especially proteins that benefit from the technique. Try sous viide turkey and you’ll never roast it again!

I don’t remember from my last Moon cruise….are they not Zalto glasses? I’ve replaced all my Riedel with Zalto - much prefer them.

Prefer spending the OBC on the mediocre spa treatments rather than an ever more expensive dinner at La Dame.

There are so many wines better than those two…but then taste in wine is very subjective. Why limit oneself?

La Dame never seemed worth the slight upcharge previously but was okay for a way to spend OBC.

With Tauck there is very little downtime during the day unless the ship is sailing to the next port and quite often there will be a cooking demo (open to all), wine-tasting, other type demos (gllass-blowing) or special entertainment. All AM and PM excursions are included.

There is also coffee in the Observation lounge…my favorite place to be early mornings arriving in port.

Crowds have been a problem in Amsterdam for a long time and now it’s just not as fun as it used to be.

Perhaps it happens but it seems the old guard is quick to equate any relaxing of the suggested attire to a descent into the likes of a Carnival cruise.

Formal nights on SS aren’t really a special event. I’ve never noticed anything special on the menu nor any special entertainment.

You can wear a sport coat, slacks and tie in any venue on formal night and though the fashion police will be clutching their pearls you will not be ejected from any venue including La Dame.

So true.

Well, I suppose so if one makes a sport of being highly attuned to whether or not others are “in compliance” AKA “dress code police”.

Interesting but someone in the cruise booking process doesn’t see that or may not remember that specific detail from past cruises.

There are continued references to “dress code” but as others have also pointed out the lingo on the SS site refers to “suggested attire”. Seems to be plenty of leeway.

What were the other gentlemen wearing? Were most in suits or dark trousers, blazers, ties? I wouldn’t call that attire casual or country club casual at all.

Silver Sea. Salt Bar is great but usually packed. The Observation Bar is lovely as well and usually quiet but is also a place that groups tend to book for cocktail receptions so much of it might be cordoned off. Neither bar has music. I’m not a big Crystal fan but I really liked the Avenue Saloon before dinner and it was so fun after dinner as well.

I thought the white dinner jacket was also acceptable between Easter and end of summer in the Northern hemisphere…not sure of the rules in the Southern.

Forgot to mention that we ended up paying almost triple the SS fare to choose an optimum route, flt. times and airline. We prioritize minimal suffering when we travel.