Roland4

Don't hold your breath!! On our foodie tour yesterday we were accompanied by a very nice young lady from A&K in the LA office who designs the shore excursions for the two ships. We had a far ranging chat during the tour and she confirmed there are no plans to bring Symphony back to North America.

Have a great trip!!!

Home again! Left the ship just before 8:00 AM in pouring rain, and arrived home to brilliant sunshine and 20 C/70 F warmth! This was a great trip, as I am sure you have figured out by now. I can best describe it as the exception to that old saying "You can never go home again." Yes you can! 😃😃😃

And now we are in our room, the suitcases have been picked up, and we prepare to leave the ship tomorrow! We did a great "foodie tour" this afternoon in Old Quebec. Four different restaurants over four hours! Started with Heirloom Tomatoe salad in one, followed by French Onion Soup in another, followed by table-side sauteed jumbo shrimp in a third, and wild boar ribs and dessert in a fourth!!! Back on the ship, we still had room for dinner with Jim and Steve!!!! We are now packed up, the big suitcases are gone, and we are ABSOLUTELY NOT ready to leave Serenity tomorrow!! You know you are a "regular" when all of the bar staff give you a hug and ask when you are coming back!

And in other news, that same poor, dead horse continues to receive a beating!!! Give it a rest! 😵😵

Had a chat with Leo, the Matre'd, during dinner this evening. He said they have removed tables from the centre area of Stardust for the Supper Club, and have reduced the maximum capacity to 80 guests to make the experience more comfortable for everyone. He also confirmed that the tables on the upper level on the port and starboard side, other than two two-tops, were not there before.

We left Havre St, Pierre at 6:00 last night and it looked like it might be rough, but the winds, running counter-clock-wise around the centre of the low, meant they were dead astern, so it was a quiet night. We ran out from under the cloud shield about 1:00 PM and sailed in cloudless blue skies the rest of the day. We are getting a bit more movement now as we are running into the current, and the river is beginning to narrow, but it is very comfortable. We are running at 10 knots, as per Canadian regulations in the St. Lawrence, and will arrive in Quebec City early tomorrow morning.

I looked when we were leaving Waterside last night, and other than folded napkins, I guess so it is not obvious, the upper ring tables were not set. Waterside seemed busier last night, but the simple fact is, unless you slow them down, you are literally in and out in about an hour. We didn't mind as we were later eating and we wanted to make sure we got to the 9:00 show. Speaking of which, the show was a new one to us, The Crystal Showband and Friends with Karen Kochakova and Bruce Hammond, the guest entertainer. It featured the brass section of the band and was quite well done! Interesting announcement in today's Reflections. A small "sidebar" article announcing that the mushroom soup would be on the Waterside menu for this evening's second Formal night dinner. There is also a Supper Club tonight, we are not attending, and it will be interesting to see if mushroom soup is on that menu too! Another interesting sidenote, is that even though it is a Formal night/Supper Club, it is the Osterria that will be closed.

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

FWIW, three different staff members, all in a position to know, and whose opinions I trust, have said that guest numbers will increase substantially ("are looking very good") starting in November and leading up to the Holiday Season and the World Cruise.

We had a great time at The Vintage Room last night, A great meal, interesting wines and an informative presentation from Jiri! There were five couples, all longtime guests and some who have been on a World Cruise. At one point I asked how they liked the Osterria, and of the ten people present, six disliked it, two liked it and we are "on the fence". What surprised me was the intensity of the reaction of those who did not like it, saying they "hated it", was a "deal breaker" and that they would never go back. If that negativity is a common response to the Osterria, Crystal may have to give this a more serious re-think than adding the mushroom soup and the carpaccio to the Waterside menu! We have now passed by it three evenings when both it and Umi Uma were open, and while UU was very busy, the Osterria had maybe half a dozen tables occupied.

Not sure you are entirely correct on that. I do not recall that the tables were on the upper-most level on the port and starboard sides when we were on for the 2020 WC. I also think they may have reduced the number of tables in the centre area. One of the things we did not like about the Supper Club the few times we went was that it felt very cramped and crowded. That is not the case know, at least when in use as a show room.

Today's interesting observation. The last three nights the show has been in Stardust. They made significant changes to this lounge. With the exception of the banquettes against the windows on both sides, and the seats inside the ring, all of the existing seating has been removed and replaced with square tables for four. This will allow for a lot more seating capacity for the Supper Club I think. The new configuration seems to be working fairly well, and I think it has somewhat improved the sightlines. The other major change is they have blocked off the raised seating at the back of the room (where the spotlights are) by putting up a "portholed" wall on it. We are not totally happy with that change as we liked to sit there! 🙂 We are going to The Vintage Room tonight! The price has increased and it will be interesting to see if the wine quality has been upgraded as well.

We have now heard from three different sources, who we trust, that guest numbers on Serenity will increase significantly starting in early November and leading up to the Holiday cruises and the WC. The numbers for the next segment, Quebec to NYC, will be similar to what we currently have.

Thanks, Caryn. No word on if Andres will return, but the new guys are doing a pretty good job. They are not as fast as Andres was, but we have noticed an improvement over the last week we have been onboard. A few staff we know well have told us people are still drifting back after they finish contracts elsewhere.

With all respect to everyone, this discussion is sterile when there are only 150 guests onboard, especially when you have only morning tours that don't get back until 1:30-ish! Marketplace, Trident and Tastes are more than sufficient to serve the lunch needs of those of us onboard. If you REALLY need table service to enjoy your lunch (!!), then Tastes is open from 1:00 to 3:00.

I remember it took two big tugs in "line-astern" to finally get us off the dock about 10:00 PM!! And THEN the "fun" started!!!!

Meanwhile, back at the thread topic............😁😁 Looks like I need to "walk back" my earlier post about Osterria. We dined there last night and almost every table was in use. Part of this, I think, is they are closing one restaurant every night on a rotating basis. Last night Umi was closed, and tonight Tastes is closed. Not surprising, really, with such a low guest count. Overall we were very impressed with the food and the service. Our server recommended a la carte, rather than the tasting menus, so as to be able to get a better feel for what they offer. They started with a three-item appetizer, followed by a bread plate. We ordered the lobster and beef carpaccio appetizers, followed by Gnocchi and Minestrone soup for the pasta course, and mains of lamb and duck, and everything was delicious. We skipped dessert as none of the three appealed to us, plus we were stuffed!!! My only comment would be that they are going to have to change the menu more frequently than perhaps they have in the past. On a longer cruise, or a World Cruise I could see us tiring of the menu fairly quickly. On a more general note, I have to say that despite the low guest count, there seems to be a real spirit on the ship. The Avenue has been rocking pretty much every night, Joel Spires, a Good Canadian Boy we found out, has been great! The Cove has been a bit quieter, but still steadily busy during the cocktail hour, and apparently there was a good turnout for the White Party. The Palm Court has been a little quieter than we remember, and the Dance Hosts don't appear to be overworked. The Keys and Melody duo are a nice addition up there as well. They did a 30 minute presentation of recent Broadway songs last night before dinner and can that young lady sing!!! I told Rick Spath that she should be a keeper!!

For those who may be interested, I asked and the Nobu Chardonnay will return when the ship gets to New York after the next sailing.

Yesterday's interesting observation. People seem to be voting on Osterria with their feet, so to speak. When we left Umi Uma at 8:30 last night, every table was full, the sushi bar was empty, but not the tables! We walked by Osterria and there were maybe six tables in use. We are dining there tomorrow night and will make our own judgement.

It has never happened to us in 23 years with Crystal, and I have never heard of it happening to anyone else. Which does, of course, not mean it has not happened, but given that they still require payment of the full fare differential to upgrade onboard, even when the ship is half empty, I think it is safe to say they do not do complementary upgrades.

Jim Brochu mentioned it was not new, but as far as I remember, they did still have bar service during the 2020 World Cruise.

First of two Formal nights last night. Saw a few tuxes, but the rest of the gentlemen were about evenly split between suits and sport jackets, most with ties. One interesting "exception" was the gentleman in jacket and tie, blue denim jeans, cowboy boots and a large stetson-type hat that he never seems to take off, including in the Galaxy during shows and lectures. Fortunately he sits on the other side of the Galaxy from us. A couple of observations from yesterday. As I posted on another thread, there is no self-service in the Bistro, apparently having to do with Canada and US Public Health rules. This is to remain in place, I am told, for the next several cruises. Also new to us, there is no longer bar service in the Galaxy before the shows. If you wish to have something, you have to get "take out" at one of the bars. Not really an issue with only 150 guests, but a full ship might cause problems at The Cove, which is really the best option. I also asked one of the barkeeps in The Cove if they also service The Lounge and was told they do not.

One noticable change on the current cruise is no self-serve in the Bistro. This is apparently due to Canadian and US Public Health rules and the lack of a hand washing facility close by. Self-Serve is still permitted in Marketplace, and also at The Grill. Does not make a whole lot of sense to me, but there it is.

Although it is becoming a more popular port with more ships visiting this year than ever before, Reyjavik is still not the easiest place to get to, and the port is fairly small. Serenity arrived Thursday morning for an overnight before turnover and had to tender in. The main pier can only accommodate two ships depending on size. Yesterday we shared the pier with MSC Presziosa, and the day before it was NCL Prima and another smaller ship.