Jayayeff

I can’t help with any Spa information as spas are not my thing however, I’m pleased to see there will be others joining a friend and myself on the Mumbai to Seychelles cruise in March. I started a roll call a couple of months ago but until now nobody else had joined the listing so it’s good to see we will have company onboard the Symphony… Look forward to seeing you onboard.. Anne

Personally, I'd say favourably. NZ Sauvignon Blancs are my usual 'go to' wines but the Pouilly Fume is very much on a par with them (but usually way more expensive here!!!)... Anne...

Or, here… the NZ Sauvignon Blancs (The Ned and similar) are my go to wines at home and the average price is the equivalent of $15 - $20… Anne

Thank goodness I have a very un-British intolerance of gin as I’m not sure I’d want a chunk of Feta cheese on top of my drink!!!😀😀 Anne

I guess to each their own….However, we will be sailing nowhere near Gibraltar, or indeed any other landmarks or anything noteworthy likely to be seen from the ship. The reason was way more practical than whimsical…😀 Anne…

No, you've been awake, this will be my first return to NC. It's a third attempt at a big birthday present to myself after travel restrictions post Covid put pay to the first, OC bankruptcy the second and cancellations caused by the Red Sea security issues last year the third. At this rate if there are anymore 'cancellations' I'll be at the next milestone before I've even celebrated the current one!!!!😀 Anne...

I have - we have two of them here, a Beef Bar restaurant in one of the Jumeirah Hotels beside the Burj al Arab and a Petit Beef Bar in the Dubai Financial District. Personally I prefer the smaller one of the two in DIFC but there are more interesting items you could pick off the menu that that selection!!!🙂 Anne..

I seem to get a mailbox full of them on a regular basis however, they are usually of no value or interest so end up in the bin!!! I have a Symphony cruise booked in March 2025 (not included in this offer) that I'm led to believe is currently not heavily booked however, for my friend and I to get rooms reasonably close together on the same side of the ship would have meant booking one designated solo guest room and one designated a double guest room. Absolute madness that for identical rooms just two doors apart there's a fare difference of $2100!!!! Guess what - we confirmed rooms on opposite sides of the ship in order to avoid an additional and hefty supplement!!! Sensational Solo Savings - not in my case!!!! Anne..

I looked at a cruise I have booked and it lists 2 enrichment lecturers and 5 entertainers however, when I clicked on the participating voyages tab for each of them only 2 out of the 7 have that cruise listed!!!!!! Anne

Many thanks for your informative and entertaining posts throughout the cruise. I have friends who have been on the Serenity since Vancouver, and will be remaining onboard through to Quebec, so it’s been fun to keep abreast of life onboard since you boarded back in LA… Have a safe journey home, I’ll be looking forward to following your next Crystal adventure…😀 Anne..

I’ll take beetroot over corriander (cilantro) any day of the week!!?? However, I have noticed the menus being posted seem to feature beetroot quite heavily… Anne

Somehow I didn't see that being very you, but I'll be looking out for photo evidence when you're next away!!! 🍸🍟😀

if memory serves me correctly there aren’t many hotels in or close to Victoria but when I was there is 2020 for a Crystal cruise on the former Esprit we stayed at the Eden Bleu hotel however, we sailed out of the marina there not the main port of Victoria… I do remember it not being far from Victoria or from the airport…

Roy I think it may be the UKMTO as have also had an office here for many years now…I know when I did the Dubai to Athens cruise back in 2010 that was the office that monitored vessels as they transited the waters along the route… https://www.ukmto.org/ Anne.

Hi Adrian, I have just spent an hour or so of my Sunday morning reading this ‘live’ review of your current ‘journey’ whilst enjoying a nice hot cup of tea (made with boiling water and almost the last of the tea I brought back from my trip to Kenya last summer - the lengths we Brits will go to for our tea!!!). As always, your posts are honest, informative and entertaining - so much so that Boris, who I am currently dog-sitting, must be wondering why I keep laughing out loud as I read. I hope you both enjoy the remainder of your cruise and have a safe and uneventful journey (that word seems to have taken on a life of it’s own since EJ came to be) back to the UK. Although I still haven’t returned to cruising post pandemic I look forward to our travel paths crossing again someday. Enjoy the Big Birthday celebrations - I’m a wee bit ahead of you and it’ll be the same dreaded big ‘number’, but plus a smaller one for me next week!!!! 🥳🥳 Anne…

Somehow I doubt that - more likely to be having channeled bookings through all of the above at some time during the 18 years since my first Crystal cruise back in 2006, and never having changed contact details during that time!!!! 😀😀

Received the above email twice in the space of 30 minutes, both times with the UK contact telephone number on it. There seems to be no telling with them - sometimes I get emails with the US contact number, sometimes the UK contact number (yours above seems to show an Australia contact number?) and a couple of weeks ago I received an email promoting Crystal summer voyages from an email address representing Crystal Cruises GCC & Cyprus with a Cyprus contact number shown on it....Take your pick whose mailing list I must be on!!!!

I agree, and as if to prove a point. After the US & UK launched more air-strikes overnight, the Houthis have already retaliated by firing missiles at a ship off the coast of Yemen earlier today.. I’m not sure what reassurance having a US navy escort is when the US and the UK are the Houthis prime targets….

I was just chatting online to a friend onboard Serenity - still no word there either…

Meanwhile, back to April, the Mumbai to Athens cruise and the now Waitlisted Chairmen's Cruises - just my luck as these were the first itineraries of real interest to me since the Symphony returned to service. However, I think it's highly unlikely they were ever going to happen considering they weren't even announced until the region, and now the Red Sea in particular, was already a hotbed of activity!!!

Much as I would love to have my friends who are currently onboard Serenity for the World Cruise stay over in Dubai for a week or more while the ship transits the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea without them, I think there is zero chance of that happening!! I suspect they are more likely to get an unplanned visit to Cape Town than to Dubai...🙂

Also, subsequent to those most recent strikes, the Houthis have given the UN and other aid agencies notice that all UK and US nationals (or dual nationals of either country) are to leave Yemen within the next 30 days.. I really can't see any passenger ship affiliated with either country heading into the Red Sea anytime soon...

I don't believe that was ever likely to happen as they have time to re-route with passengers on their side. The voyages that really need addressing now are those of the Symphony that don't have time to re-route around Africa with passengers...

Me too….

Not for you, but perfect for me!!!! However, I suspect current affairs will intervene and it will be a non-starter anyway!!! Anne..