Florida90210

Thanks BoilerBill for the information.  This gives some perspective as to what other cruise lines are charging compared to Crystal.

Thank you for your post.  This is the first that I have heard anyone discuss the pricing for any of the excursions.  I do agree that the prices seem high, especially for the overnight trips.

4 hours ago, NWX said:

Many people complained about the closets in these rooms, about the bypass doors etc. At least with the bypass doors, one could get to the clothes at both ends, plus there were shelves in addition to the drawers. The new double door that only opens partway doesn't allow easy access to either end. Why did they do that? It looks sleeker but not at all practical.

Thanks for pointing out about the closet doors.  I was so amazed by the lack of space in the closet (and the room in general) that it was only a couple of days ago that I realized they changed the doors.  However, I didn't realize the implications of what the new design might mean in terms of limiting access to the closet.  

So many of the changes (e.g. design of the closet doors, removing storage space from the desk area, taking closet space for the bar area) seem to me to be making the room to look slightly sleeker at the expense of making the room much less practical.

5 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

You are not going to see Lasagne, Beef Carpaccio, or the Mushroom Soup on this menu. You cannot special order it. It is a completely new concept.  The mushroom soup from time to time will be on the Waterside menu.

 

Again this is new and personally I am glad they have rolled out a new menu.

 

Keith

Thank you Keith for posting the menu to Osteria D'Ovidio.

I'm disappointed because I thought Crystal was had agreed to carry over the favorites from Prego (Lasagna, Beef Carpaccio and Mushroom Soup) into the new restaurant.   

Also, I don't understand all the pictures that Crystal put up on their website under Osteria D'Ovidio since the items pictured do not appear on this menu.  Why put up pictures of random Italian food? 

Thanks for all of the updates Keith.  Hope you have a great trip.

Thanks to Keith and Seasack for clarifying Crystal Cruises dress code.   At least now I have a better understanding of what Crystal actually meant to say when they talked about the formal dress code being optional.

As I previously stated in another thread, I don't own a suit.  I have always worn a sport jacket, dress shirt, dress pants and dress shoes on formal nights on old Crystal since I first sailed on them in 2017.  I plan on wearing the same on my next Crystal cruise and it sounds like I won't be the only one wearing a sport coat.  If they really want to enforce this rule against sport coats, they better be prepared for a lot of complaints.

This sounds like a great idea.  The sales consultant is often busy but I rarely saw anyone at the Crystal Society desk.  Combining the two positions makes sense to me.

7 hours ago, ctjon said:

If I remember correctly - sports jacket was OK for formal night at the end of the old Crystal - hopefully it will still be OK

Yes.  A sports jacket was definitely OK on old Crystal on formal nights.  That's what I wore on all four of my cruises.  Hopefully, it will be OK on the new CrystaI since I don't own a tuxedo nor do I own a suit.  

On the Crystal Cruise website they do show a picture of the Osso Bucco on the page for the Osteria D'Ovidio restaurant.

I can only speak to my own experience with Crystal Cruises.  I had made two $500.00 open deposits earlier this year.   I only used one of them.  I sent an e-mail on May 2nd asking Crystal to refund the $500.00 unused deposit.  I sent the e-mail late in the evening  Crystal sent me an e-mail the next afternoon (May 3) acknowledging my request and informing me that my refund had been processed that day,  The refund showed up on my credit card shortly after that 

My wife and I are booked on back to back cruises on the Crystal Symphony this December and January.  We are doing the December 2023 Auckland to Sydney cruise followed by the Sydney to Sydney cruise.  There is a lot of overlap between the two cruises but we feel that will enable us to explore more of the ports that we visit.

This will be our fifth Crystal Cruise.  All of our previous cruises were on the Crystal Serenity so I'm very familiar with that layout.  I'm sure I'll wind up getting lost at least a couple of times since the layout is slightly different.

1 hour ago, sullaRaffaello said:

I got the Crystal Society discount, the back-to-back discount, and the on board credit for having made a deposit when the bookings opened up last February.

Thanks for the information.  I have not made my final payment yet.  However, those were the same discounts I received when I booked my reservation.  I guess that means I may not be eligible for this promotion.

3 hours ago, sullaRaffaello said:

I figured I'd check with my agent, even though I've already paid in full. Her response puzzled me. I thought she'd say because I've already paid in full, I wasn't eligible. Instead she said, "Because of the other promotions that have been applied to your booking.  The air credit does not applicable to this sailing." This seems to imply that even if it were a new booking, I still wouldn't get the air credit. So, apparently, other promotions can invalidate the credit. Maybe I missed fine print somewhere. 

The fine print appears below:

*Offer valid on new bookings made between May 31, 2023 and July 31, 2023 on select 2023 departures. Guests will receive a $500 USD per person air credit (up to $1,000 USD per suite) for air reservations booked through Crystal. For air reservations booked outside of Crystal, guests will receive a $500 USD per person credit on their cruise fare. Offer not valid on the December 23, 2023 departure on Crystal Serenity, is subject to availability, can be withdrawn at any time, and may not be combined with specific promotions. Call for details.

The fine prints does state "may not be combined with specific discounts".  However, it does not list what those discounts are.  It just says to call for details.  

Just out of curiosity... what discounts did you get.?