Amber14

On 4/24/2024 at 11:24 AM, cAPS lOCK oN said:

I take it back... One port (Curacao), has accurate times for tours, and we're now able to book a morning and an evening tour. The other 8 ports are still messed up.

We are on that cruise and if Curacao times are correct then we will have to cancel our excursion. They have the wine & cheese tasting at 7:30AM. I thought for sure that would be in the evening. We have a private excursion booked for the day.

We are also doing the sunset cruise at 8:30AM and can't book another excursion for the day. It is frustrating for someone like me who likes to do the research and get everything booked as soon as I can.

2 hours ago, mrstanley said:

We are currently on the Grandeur.

Have not noticed anywhere onboard being loud.Lively perhaps which is a good thing! 

I hope so! We especially love lively music by the pool.

21 hours ago, AshD said:

You are quite welcome! I usually research the excursions as best asI can using YouTube, but thought it would be nice to share our experiences here for people who don’t have time for that.

 

I believe there were 18-20 people on the hike. We arrived in comfortable passenger vans and the drivers assisted the on-site guide during the climb. It was only about .77 miles, according to the trail map, but the incline made it challenging. I have no estimate on the time up or down, but up felt like forever lol. We would do this again because a new, higher viewing platform that will offer 360 degree views of the island is being constructed to replaced the old one which was damaged during a storm.

 

Regarding the beach, we sat out on our towels from the ship, but could have rented one of the many stacked beach loungers from an attendant for $5 usd each. Beverages could also be purchased from these guys from the local bar. Not much to see in the water. It was deep enough to play and bounce in the waves though.

Thanks again for writing such details. It really makes it easier to decide. I have been on hikes where .7 can seem like 5 miles!!! Anyway we are waitlisted for the Discover Grenada tour (hopefully it's not a lot of bus riding) but think we are going to book the Mt. Gazo one as backup. It's too bad Regent doesn't have a place for reviews on their excursion lists like other cruiselines. It would make it a lot easier. Keep enjoying your cruise!

13 hours ago, AshD said:

 

 

Grenada: Mt. Gazo Hike and Swim, 3.5 hours, 3 walking men.

Before beginning our hike, one of the excellent guides gave a hands-on lesson about many of the spices on the island. He had brought a few things from his backyard which he “processed” as we gathered around the van. Nutmeg, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, a cacao pod, and a cocoa seed he’d previously dried and roasted. Really fascinating to watch and listen. Nothing can compare to the smells as he grated or crushed items for us to taste and smell. Unexpected and welcome extra on this excursion!

 

Let me say, we are nature enthusiasts and have participated in many a hiking excursion before. This one should have been more like 5 walking men because we literally followed an incredibly steep (in many places) rustic path to the summit about 850 ft up, I believe. Not much of a leisurely stroll through the dry forest (as opposed to rain forest) as we were all occupied watching where we were putting our feet. Finally making it to the top lookout point made the effort SO worth it (but damn! I am Really out of shape lol). Gorgeous vistas in all directions! The walk back down was steep also, but there were handrails on that path. We ended up at a beautiful cabin/bar and enjoyed a complimentary drink - adult and not. Then a short drive down to Grand Anse beach. An hour there was slightly too long, but we did enjoy watching the families and locals gathered to celebrate the Easter weekend. We witnessed the start of a lovely sunset, and we’re back on board by 6:20pm.

 

 

Thanks so much for these excursion reviews. You don't see too many posted here. We are thinking about booking the Mt. Gazo hike. It sounds fun. Do you know either by distance or time how long the hike was? About how many people were on it? Also, at the beach, did you have lounge chairs or was there a bar to hang out at or did you just towel sit? Would you do this excursion again?

And I agree with you about the ziplining in St. Lucia. It was definitely in our top 3 zipline excursions too!

Thanks!

1 hour ago, artbcpa said:

Amber, Thank you so much for your review. Keith is absolutely right. You need to post your review on Cruise Critic's reviews. But it is not just for newbies. It is also for those of us who have not experienced New Crystal. It brought tears to our eyes to hear that Crystal is fully back. We will be on the Symphony at the end of this month and now we are extra excited.

 

We are long time Crystal devotees going all the way back to the Harmony. It is has been several years since we have sailed Crystal due to the pandemic and our experiences with Edie. (Someone might have explained that period.) We did sail on several other luxury lines including Regent and Seabourn. We were on both of their other two new ships and, you may be right, they are extraordinarily beautiful. We loved them. Yet they still didn't have that extra special "family" feeling that Crystal used to give us.

 

Your review brought that back to us. Thank you.

 

Art & Ellie

Thanks so much! I don't write many reviews so I was nervous about it. I am glad you enjoyed it. Hope you have an amazing time on Symphony. We don't hope we can find a Crystal cruise that works for us in 2026.

10 hours ago, barcrab said:

For many years we were very happy to sail on deck 7 non verandah cabins as a couple. We also sailed in verandah cabins, but never suites. Just to be on a Crystal ship was wonderful. Our second favorite of the so called luxury lines is Seabourn. We have recently sailed a couple of times on Silversea and tried Viking. In our opinion, the Crystal total experience far surpasses any  of those as well as Oceania. Looking forward to our April cruise on the Symphony in an Aquamarine stateroom, taking advantage of the upgrade promotion. I once hung a 14 slot shoe hanger on the wall in one of the window staterooms much to my husband’s chagrin. If needed, in order to sail Crystal, will do it again! 

You will love the Aquamarine Suite! It truly spoiled us so much that I'm not sure we can ever go back to a veranda cabin again.

38 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Amber 14, thank you for your nice review. I am glad you had such a beautiful time and nice experiences that made you feel like a VIP (the invitations from the Hotel Director and the Captain). I am sure your suite was beautiful appointed. 
 

I was on the same cruise with you and I agree with several of your observations. But as a solo passenger I did not have the suite experience you are describing. I just had the solo cabin and it did not include any VIP treatment. I had a very nice cruise also and this was not my first time with Crystal, so I knew more or less what to expect.

 

I have enjoyed very much the itinerary. Some ports of call were new for me and I have liked specially the French ports of call very much. 
 

Crystal has very nice itineraries, so maybe your time will allow for you to book again with Crystal. 

Have a wonderful time with Regent. I have cruised with several cruise lines but never tried Regent because I am very independent and I like to explore the ports on my own. The concept of Regent of having the included excursions does not appeal to me. But I am sure you will also have a wonderful cruise.

 

Ivi

 

 

We also loved the itinerary. We enjoy the smaller, quainter islands and wasn't it nice that we were the only ship in port on many of the islands? We also enjoy exploring on our own or going with smaller excursions we book ourselves so taking more ship excursions will be new to us also. 

Thanks for the well wishes and happy sailing to you also.  I am sorry you didn't have the same VIP experience. I think it may have been because we were first timers and not because of the suite we were in but who knows? We never could figure out why we were invited.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we had dinner one night at the Supper Club in the Stardust Lounge. We asked our butler to make us a reservation the day we boarded and he was able to get us one on the last formal night. If you have never experienced it, you should. It was so fun. We sat with another couple we met and were entertained and served in a way that felt so intimate and unique. The food was fabulous and we had Alaskan King Crab Legs which we have never had on any cruise!

7 hours ago, cruise_loverinlaval said:

Hello Amber14, I am glad you enjoyed Crystal.  Hopefully, you are not scheduled to cruise on Regent Mariner.  We were on this ship last December and we were very disappointed.  The Mariner requires an important re-work or fix of the toilet system.  The Mariner is scheduled to go in a dry dock in 2025.  Try to book a more recent Regent ship.

Thank you! We are booking the Grandeur, their newest ship. It looks beautiful but maybe a bit over the top for us. We will see! It has a wonderful Southern Caribbean itinerary which is similar to the one we just did on Serenity. Most ports are smaller, less frequented islands, some that are new to us. This is another thing we enjoyed about Crystal. The itinerary was so different from the big cruise lines and most of the days we were the only ship in port. It will be the same on Grandeur.

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

How does it compare to O?

Even though we really enjoyed our experience on Oceania Riviera, I believe Crystal topped it in every way. As many have said, it is hard to really describe what it is but everything just seemed to be a notch above Oceania and many notches above other cruiselines. Oceania's specialty restaurants were equal to Crystal's food but their main dining room didn't come close to Crystal nor did the buffet.  We liked the shows on Oceania also even though others do not. We don't need crazy acrobats, complicated stories or magicians, just some good musical and dance shows and Oceania had that. Crystal, however, had the same type of shows but were so much better. The quality of the singers and dancers really impressed me on such a small ship. We thought we would never find a ship as beautiful as Oceania but again Crystal took it one step further and we were wowed. Our room was decorated beautifully with colors of the sea. I love that the artwork was all ocean-related instead of gaudy, modern, abstract, etc. Our room on Oceania was beautiful also with light colors but without the turquoise & blue, it lacked that special feeling of the sea.

As I said before the only thing that was lacking was the variety of music played in the evening. We felt it was geared to a much older crowd and we are 64. I don't want Crystal to stop playing this kind of music but they need to add some variety. We enjoyed the piano bar on Oceania more than on Crystal. He would play requests and most of his songs were 60's,70's, 80's rock ballads/songs. The piano player on Crystal was very personable and extremely talented but it was more of a show and he spent a lot of time talking to guests that he apparently knew from other cruises. (Not a criticism, just our take...he was very popular and everyone loved him!)

4 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Great review and it sounds like you have been Crystalized.  

 

I am not sure whether or not you have done this but it would be great if you could use what you wrote to do a review on the Cruise Critic Review section.  You can easily copy and paste what you wrote and do the various ratings as part of the review.

 

I think those who have never sailed with Crystal and check oiut your review as part of their research would benefit a great deal.

 

I also enjoyed your posts on the other thread inclkuding first impressions.

 

Keith

Thanks Keith! I will try to post a review soon. All of your info and others on this board really helped us decided to try Crystal and I am so glad we did.

8 hours ago, Cruise-y said:

Thanks for your thoughtful review. I appreciate your comments. In a future Crystal cruise, I hope you will try again the cuisine that you thought was too fancy for you. The Waterside chef creates dishes with subtle nuances, a small swish of sauce and tiny garnishes that blend together in perfect harmony. These are some of the best dishes I've ever encountered. And there are multiple options every night, so it is easy to find something that seems familiar. 

Thank you!

We are definitely branching out and trying more things. I had many amazing fish dishes and delicious pastas which are my favorite things for dinner and my husband had lots of beef which he loved. I do love the different sauces also and the flavors they create and I like when they come on the side or plate as opposed to on the meat. I guess fancy is probably not the right word. We just aren't adventurous eaters and stay away from dishes like octopus, sushi, liver, lamb, caviar, snails, etc. Many nights I had to use Google to figure out what items were on the menu. Believe me, it was never hard to find something we wanted on the menu and most of the time it was hard to choose! We were so glad they had such a variety. We are getting more adventurous on every cruise though so maybe one day...

11 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

I am delighted you had a great time!  I'm also glad to hear that a Crystal team member accompanied you on excursions, and refunded money where the excursion was not good.

 

Have you ever sailed on any other luxury line before this, for an equivalent comparison?  If so, which one?

 

Or, if not, when you were on X and HAL, were you in a "suite", or just in regular cabins?  The " suite" service  experience on premium or high mainstream lines (depending on how you classify X and HAL), would be closer to a luxury line experience than just a regular cabin on those lines, especially on X where suites have their own dining room access and where you can mostly avoid the rude  "people who pile food" problem.  But of course when you leave your suite area, you still have to mingle with the masses. 

 

I see you have another luxury line, Regent, scheduled next year, so you are branching out.

Generally (though not always), the more you pay per square foot of public space, and private space, the better your experience.  The thing I like most about luxury lines is that there are, with rare exceptions, almost never lines (for dining, for tenders, and for entertainment venues),  and generally fellow pax  are more polite (again, with exceptions).

 

I wish you further happy sailing.

 

 

 

We sailed with Oceania on Riviera in 2022 but I guess many don't consider that a luxury line but we loved the ship although Crystal was way above in terms of service and entertainment and food. We have always been in a regular cabin, never a suite, so Crystal was our first suite. I'm not sure we can ever go back to a non-suite now. The extra space and the big closet were so nice especially since we are now traveling more nights. This Crystal cruise was 13 nights, the most for us. We could never have fit our clothes in the tiny closet in the regular veranda room.

We did look at getting a suite on Celebrity but since the cost was so similar to Crystal and Regent, we decided to stick with the luxury lines. I just love the smaller ship and less passengers and you are so right...everyone is so polite and kind. It felt like an experience I have seen on movies from the 50's like "Affair to Remember" and the way cruising was when we started in 1990. We have also gotten a little old for the extremely loud pop music everywhere and from what I've read that is the norm on Celebrity now.

Thanks for the well wishes and happy sailing to you, too!

We have been back for couple of weeks now from our first Crystal cruise on the gorgeous Serenity for 13 days. Since I learned so much from all of you I thought I would share some of our experience with you. 

The ship & our cabin - Loved everything...the light colors, the lighting, the artwork, and the shiny surfaces. Never seen a ship so clean & bright! We had an Aquamarine 2018 cabin and it was by far the best cabin we have ever had. I think I could have lived there. The bathroom was so beautiful and roomy with the double sinks and the shower was amazing and so easy to use. The only thing we missed was lounge chairs on the deck overlooking the pool but on the last day we discovered a nook on the upper deck which was pretty private and breezy so we were happy.

The food - We are pretty simple eaters and were always able to find something we liked. There were many things that were way too fancy and out there for us but glad they had them for all of you. We enjoyed all of the restaurants but I was most impressed with the Marketplace for breakfast. We are used to buffets on the bigger cruise lines and this one was just so nice. The food was fresh and delicious and the staff that prepared it were the best. Just loved interacting with the "toast guy" every morning. We also really enjoyed the Grill for lunch...much better than others we have been to. What really impressed me was that everyone was so polite and relaxed. Noone was piling up the food, being rude to the staff or pushing to get ahead of you. It is because of this I have never liked the buffet on a ship. I do on Crystal!

The shows & music - We loved the Crystal singers and dancers! Their shows were so fun especially the Broadway tunes and Icons of Rock (probably not what they were actually called, sorry). I love that the lounge and theater were small and you could always see and hear them. The Stardust Lounge was really great as you felt like you were right there on the stage with them. After one of their shows, they opened it up for dancing and we actually danced with some of the dancers. That was one of our favorite nights. The other was the White Night. They played more upbeat music and again we enjoyed dancing. The comedians and the Frank Sinatra singer were good also but the best show by far was the Billy Joel one...wow, incredible! The only downside for us was the lack of variety in the music. We felt that most of it was geared to the ballroom dancers. We loved watching them and occasionally joined them doing our own thing but we would have loved to have had some more classic oldies rock to listen and dance to. The night of the NCAA College Football Championship was really special. We were rooting for Michigan and hoping we could watch it. Crystal had it in the Stardust Lounge on 3 big screen TV's and served us Pigs in a Blanket, popcorn, pizza and beer...it was perfect!

The crew - Yes, they were as amazing as all of you said they were. Not a frown or unkind word from anyone. I don't know how some of them knew our names but they did and remembered them everyday. This was in the Marketplace, by the pool, in the bars and in the main restaurant. An example for you...on the day we found the out of the way spot on the upper deck to lounge, our favorite server, Bryan, found us somehow and brought us ice water and beer the entire time we were there.

Shore excursions - We don't usually do many ship excursions but we did a few on this cruise. It was cool that a member of the ship went with you and actually interacted with everyone. We did a beautiful hike in Les Saintes and a relaxing sail in St. Barts. The catamaran trip in St. Thomas we did was so much like all the trips we have done on other ships (which we thought was fine) but Crystal thought it was not up to their standards and refunded everyone's money. Now, that is pretty amazing!

Overall impressions - We just felt special and happy the entire time. That is the way the ship and the crew made us feel. We were invited to dine with the Hotel Director and three others. He entertained us with his ship stories throughout dinner. We were also invited to the Captain's Quarters for before dinner cocktails. I will never forget these two experiences that make us feel like celebrities. We will definitely be sailing with Crystal again. As I am looking at another cruise for next winter to the Caribbean I can no longer imagine going on Celebrity, Holland America, Carnival or Princess. We couldn't find a Crystal cruise that worked with our schedules so we will be sailing with Regent for the first time. I know it can't live up to Crystal but hoping it will come close.

We will be new to Regent and Grandeur in March 2025 so looking forward to reading all about your experience. I hope you have an amazing journey and enjoy "hydrating" on the beautiful ship!

Our first stop is also Aruba! Hope you post what you do in each port.

Bon voyage and thanks so much for taking us along!

6 minutes ago, seasickgirl said:

Anybody know if they have Guinness on board?

 

They have it in the Avenue Saloon.

As first time Crystal cruisers we are in heaven! We have the most beautiful cabin with colors of the ocean and more storage than we have ever had on a ship. Love the "Bubbles up" wall hanging! (Jimmy Buffet reference😊)

The ship is sparkling clean and gorgeous. And the crew...wow is all I can say! All that I have read about them is accurate.

We love the food...so many choices and all good. We ate at Umi Uma last night and it has been our least favorite meal but still good but we aren't adventurous eaters.

Last night's Billy Joel show was simply amazing. Best show we have ever seen on a ship. People were really getting into it which makes me wonder why they don't have more music like this in the bars and venues.

This brings me to our only complaint... the lack of fun music to listen to and dance to especially before and after dinner. Today was our best day by the pool because the duo actually sang upbeat music from 50's - more recent. We so enjoyed it. I am all for having music for the wonderful ball dancers but if Crystal wants to attract a different group they need to offer more of a variety of music.

We were invited to dinner with Hubert the hotel director on our last formal night. He was such a fascinating man. We really enjoyed it and were honored to eat with him.

We are also so happy they are showing the national championship game in Palm Court tonight. It's going to be a fun night.

I think we are starting to feel like Crystal family.💜

7 hours ago, gmarsh said:

Oh, now you’ve done it…Jean will be happy to talk about the ‘pacas AND grandkids🤪🍷.

Look for my yellow Doc Ford’s cap, Lido…

 

ALLL ABOARD!

Sounds great!

Geo, we will be on board with you and are headed to Miami on the train. Hope we meet as we would love to hear about your alpacas. Hope your flight is smooth.

Thanks Keith for taking us along on your cruise. It really sounds like you both are having a fabulous time as you always seem to do. I love your positivity and outlook on life. 

I noticed the Promenade walking deck is often wet in your pictures. Does it stay wet all day or is it mostly morning that it is wet?

Also, surprised that you are having 3 formal nights. We will be on for 13 days also when you get off and were thinking there would just be 1 formal night. My husband was only taking 1 sports jacket. 

Thanks and continue to enjoy!

11 hours ago, ryndam said:

For a quick history of this property...it opened in 1937 as the Park Central Hotel. My grandparents used to spend their winters at the Park Central in the 1960's. They would take the Florida Special from Penn Station in NYC to Miami while either my dad or my uncle would drive their car from NYC down to Miami Beach. (Grandma didn't like the 2-3 day car trip, but the overnight train trip was okay!) Sometime in the Spring they'd all do the trip in reverse back up to NYC. While rummaging through some old boxes of pics, I found some old B&W pics of that hotel from the 1960's. It was a pretty basic property by then, certainly not the luxury of the Fontainebleau or Eden Roc.

 

The hotel went through several renovations and subsequent owners during past 50+ years. I hope you enjoy the history of the property and your stay next month!

 

Rob

When I was booking the hotel and looked at pictures I was wondering why the lettering on the front of the hotel said Park Central Hotel. What great memories of your family & this hotel. I can't believe your grandparents spent the winter in the hotel. I would have loved to have seen what this part of Miami looked like back then. Just like your grandparents, we are taking the train from VA to Miami for our cruise in Jan. Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me about this hotel. It will definitely make it more special.

On 12/10/2023 at 6:43 PM, ryndam said:

We've stayed at the Hilton Bentley South Beach. We've been very pleased with the property, the accommodations and it's location at the extreme southern end of South Beach, away from the Ocean Drive crowds. Enjoy!

 

Rob

Thanks! Last year was our first time in Miami and this is where we stayed. Thought we would try a different Hilton this year but in a similar location...Gabriel South Beach. We loved the Bentley but the Gabriel looks a little smaller. It was so fun to walk down to the Park and see the cruise ships come in. We will be doing that again this year.

Bon voyage! Can't wait to read all about your cruise. We will be getting onboard when you get off. Enjoy every minute! I would be most interested in the types of music being played around the ship and if you see dancing (not the ballroom kind).

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

I thought this would help.  You don't have to go all the way to Key Biscayne but as far as you think you can do and make it back.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Four+Seasons+Hotel+Miami,+1435+Brickell+Ave,+Miami,+FL+33131/Key+Biscayne,+Florida+33149/@25.7267635,-80.2223109,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x88d9b680c8ba8b07:0x494fd6ac4a57e74a!2m2!1d-80.1922639!2d25.7588046!1m5!1m1!1s0x88d9b5f6594fa365:0xecf8e502280e8ed3!2m2!1d-80.1628248!2d25.693713!3e2?entry=ttu

 

I've never run from downtown to South Beach and then to Miami Beach because of my concern getting to that Bridge that takes you over there. Too much traffic and not a sidewalk.   What we would do is walk over to the Intercontinental and get a taxi or Uber and drop us off at the beginning of Ocean Drive in South Beach. From there you could run on the side walk up Ocean Drive past those iconic hotels on the left and beach on the right and eventually it turns from side walk to boardwalk and just keep going as far as you want.  Often a goal would be to get to the Fontainebleau Hotel.  We used to go there on family vacations to Florida so it brings back fond memories for me.

 

Yes I've always wondered why they check cars coming into Port Everglades and not Miami. You would think if there is a security concern at Port Everglades there would be one at the Port Of Miami as well.

 

Keith

Haha, I'm glad I asked as I totally had the wrong location for Key Biscayne. It looks like a nice run across the bridge. We will probably just keep our hotel in South Beach since I can run on the boardwalk. We only stay in Hiltons as we have points so can't do the Four Seasons. Thanks for all your help!

Thanks Keith and Emdee. We will probably just sit wherever they seat us and experience as many of the wonderful staff as we can.