Amber14

Thank you! We love both of those restaurants. The seabass at Miso glazed Red Ginger was the best thing I have ever had on a cruise ship and I just love plain old spaghetti which was amazing in Toscano.

Thanks Keith! The vocalist and pianist sound perfect! Can't wait to hear them both. We do sometimes use the TV so that is good to know.

Hi everyone. I have been happily reading all the posts about the recent Crystal voyages. In some of them I have read about Crystal attracting new cruisers and since that is us I thought I would share. We are 64 and have been cruising for almost 40 years on just about every major cruiseline and have only recently been able to cruise once a year. Just this past year we went on our first small ship and what we considered a step up with Oceania. We really enjoyed the smaller ship. We do not want a lot of children, water slides, crazy entertainment, thousands of people, and lines everywhere. When looking for a cruise for this winter I stumbled upon the Crystal Serenity to Caribbean which went to smaller islands that we have never visited. After contacting our TA we booked it. I had no idea at the time what Crystal was really like. Since then I have been reading everything I could find to figure out if we would fit in. I am still not sure about that but we are going ahead and making our final payment. I know we will love the ship, the islands, and the crew. Some of the negatives we have read do not concern us like phones and TVs. We have never had a butler, never used a ship phone, rarely use the TV, don't like super fancy food, don't drink champagne, and never ballroom dance but love dancing to oldies. What we do love is a variety of music especially music from the 60's & 70's (and if I'm dreaming more country & island music), a nice running track, a beautiful ship & cabin, welcoming passengers and crew, a basic adult beverage package, and beautiful relaxing places to visit. I truly hope Crystal will be this for us. We are really easy going and have enjoyed every cruise but one (this being an older ship with children running around everywhere including the dance floor). Thanks to all of you who have shared your experience so that we can start to imagine ourselves being on this beautiful ship.

Thanks for this! It sounds like Crystal is trying to appeal to as many people as they can with the multiple smaller performers. As long as there is variety and not just one kind of music, we will be fine. We do enjoy watching the ballroom dancing occasionally but would not want it to be the only dancing offered each night.

Thanks so much for the extra information and for the reassurance. We are really excited. I did not ask about the Sofitel Liberdade but maybe the person who did will read this.

Could you please expand on the music and dancing disappointments? We have our first Crystal cruise booked and are wondering about the type of music and dancing. Specifically would like to know whether there is any old 60's, 70's music to listen to or for dancing. Not really into ball dancing. Thanks!

I agree and just let my TA know also.

We booked it because of the smaller island ports that we haven't been to...Les Saintes, Jost Van Dyke, St. Barts, St. Johns. I certainly hope none of the other ports are substituted.

Same with us...Jan. 5 Serenity, no notification from anyone and discovered by looking at their website. It does make me worried that other ports may be substituted. On another note, we have several anchored ports. Did Crystal have problems making these ports? I assume they use lifeboats to tender in.

Sounds perfect, thank you!

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess it was ballroom dancing that you were talking about. Although I would love to say we could dance like that, sadly we don't. We love to just do our own thing to all kinds of music especially old 60's & 70's. Did you see any of this while you were onboard?

Wow, I am impressed that Crystal was able to recover your luggage so quickly and happy for you that they did! Just wondering if you could expand upon your dancing disappointment. Was it because of a particular type of music or dancing you were looking for or because there wasn't enough of it? Thanks!

Hi Keith, I have really enjoyed reading your thoughts about each day of your cruise and I thank you and your wife for taking time to post them for us. I see that you and especially your wife walk the deck a lot. I am interested in how crowded it is and if there are times that it is more crowded than others. I will be on in January and will have to do 5-15 mile runs onboard and would like to use this deck. Do you ever see runners using the deck? I do not like the treadmill and can only do a few miles on one. Thanks!

Any idea whether Crystal plans on making excursions available more than 60 days out? I am used to booking our excursions 6 or more months in advance. If the excursions we want with Crystal become full or they don't offer what we want it could be too late for private excursions. We sail on our first Crystal cruise in Jan. and wish we could book them now.

Wow, I did not realize Serenity was bigger than Riviera! I can't imagine a ship that big with almost half the passengers. We were thrilled with how uncrowded Riviera seemed after crusing on ships with over 3000. You must sometimes feel as if you have the ship to yourself on Serenity or Symphony. I just can't wait to experience it.

Hi Keith, I have been reading this board since we booked our first ever Crystal cruise. At the time we booked for the itinerary and smaller ship and didn't know much about old Crystal and the bankruptcy. I have really enjoyed reading your posts (and others) and am super excited to hear your thoughts of the first two cruises. I love your positive attitude. We have been on most every big cruiseline and although there were things we didn't like about each, we have always had a great time. We cruised on our first smaller cruiseline (Oceania Riviera) last Jan. This January will be our second of this category and smallest ship yet with Crystal Serenity. It will also be our first time in a suite (Aquamarine) as all the regular balcony cabins were waitlisted at the time we booked. Thanks for taking us along and sharing your cruise with us!

We just booked this same cruise. It will be our first Crystal (old or new). Our TA found us insurance which would cover ship cancellation/bankruptcy. We loved the relaxing itinerary and can't wait to try Crystal!

So it's okay to dance your own thing in the center of the floor?

I think it is great that you pooled together your groups' thoughts and experiences. It makes it even more helpful. Many people do not like to share and the fact that you took the time to share their thoughts with us is much appreciated. Since I will be going on our first Oceania cruise on Riviera in 3 weeks, I loved every word. I think it is great that you had such a close group before & during the cruise to hang with. So thanks!

I apologize to everyone. This is my first Oceania cruise and my first time with a TA. I was just passing on info which I guess I shouldn't have and in turn was just part of the problem. I have been on all of the major cruise lines and have never seen this kind of confusion before especially from the cruise line itself.

New info: you can not upgrade to Prestige from the Olife House package before you board, only once you are onboard and the cost is $40. Oceania is working on getting the correct info out there.

After receiving different answers from Oceania reps, my TA contacted her Oceania Business Development Manager and they confirmed what you were told - $30 pp pd before you board to upgrade and $40 if you do it on the ship. Here's their reply: Here is the accurate information reflecting the price changes with the drinks package Advance Purchase (Prior to Sailing) $29.95 per guest, per day – House Select $59.95 per guest, per day – Prestige Select Onboard Purchase $39.95 per guest, per day – House Select $69.95 per guest, per day – Prestige Select For those guests who have selected the beverage package (House Select) as their OLife Choice amenity and wish to upgrade once they are on board, the upgrade will be based on the onboard purchase price of $69.95 per guest, per day. If your guest has selected the Drinks Package as part of OLife, and do wish to upgrade the guest would be responsible for the new cost of $30 per day per person. If they were to do this onboard it would be the $40 difference

Just curious...how did you resolve the situation satisfactorily? We are in the same boat (Olife beverage package and want to upgrade onboard) for our Jan. 31 cruise and wondering what to do.

Thank you, thank you for your posts! We will be on Riviera Jan. 31. Eagerly awaiting more info and pics! Hope you have an amazing cruise.

I am on Sirena Jan. 28 due to stop in Grand Cayman and it is the same for us. I actually booked an excursion there a month ago. Now when I look, the port is grayed out (can't book excursions) and the one I booked is no longer showing. When I emailed about it they said nothing about the port being cancelled. They said there might be a problem with site. Sounds fishy to me though. Hope it's not cancelled.