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We liked our classic Aquamarine so much that we booked the same cabin for our 2025, 22 day cruise. It is always our go to choice.

Hopefully on the new builds they'll keep the Crystal Plaza and the promenade.

I believe it's 48 hours before

Isn't it great we have so many choices? We almost always try to find cruises where there is a good mix of port days and sea days. We just finished the first cruise on Serenity and the Venice to Rome cruise on Symphony. Both very port intensive and we both agreed we needed a vacation after our vacation. 😄

I hope they NEVER include shore excursions. Regent used to have great shore excursions with busses only half full. The minute they went to all included the busses filled up and the shore excursions were more basic unless you paid the upcharge for the better ones. And the upcharges were sometimes the same as it cost to do similar shore excursions on Crystal!

I found the food good on our first cruise in 2016 and awful on my second in 2020 right before the world shut down. Since you prefer port intensive cruises I can see why you like Oceania. We personally love sea days and on Oceania they are a bore. Very limited activities which was fine with our first Oceania cruise which was to Cuba but not my son's and my second one which was the Caribbean with unexpected sea days where the only activity the ship planned was Texas Hold Em contests. And of course you had to PAY to join.

As Terr implies if it's for the holiday cruises, people do tend to glitz it up a bit but normally a nice skirt, summer dress or pair of pants and a nice top suffice in the Caribbean.

Did we have glitches on our Symphony cruise? Yes we did. However Crystal more than made up for it with their service.

Yes they have an umbrella in each suite and on rainy days, they have additional ones available

We too will be on the Athens to Rome cruise so hope to see you then. You picked a great itinerary. I will tell you we did 21 days on Whisper last September with 3 friends and none of us will do SS and Whisper again based on that cruise. There was a huge lack of service, etc. I have heard that the newer SS ships are better For example, I mentioned to our butler one day that there was no place to get a chocolate chip cookie after 2 PM. His response? On the other ships you can get it at the cafe. (There is no cafe on Whisper) He didn't offer to go find one for me and just walked out of the room. Note that if I had mentioned about not being able to get something on Crystal, they would have gone out of their way to get it for me, even if they had to bake it for me! Another example is another time at lunch time, I went upstairs to get a cookie. They had none out so I asked if they had any. The waiter outside found the platter, opened it and reached in with his bare hand to hand me a cookie. Obviously I refused. Additionally now SS is all-inclusive and their tours, unless you pay for the upgraded ones, are no better than mass market tours. The upgraded ones are very good. I have not been on Viking but hear wonderful things about them. We used to be Regent cruisers until they went all inclusive. Then their tours went downhill, so in 2014 we decided to try Crystal. We never looked back. The difference was obvious from day one. And as good as Crystal was back in 2014, the NC is even better with better food. See you in

Actually it very much is luxury right now.

There is no Arts Cafe on Whisper. Hence our butlers comment

No I judged it being on the ship for 21 days and having overall lousy service, from the butler to staff to in the restaurants. We were with 3 friends and NONE of us would ever choose SS again based on the service etc. Another example? One in our group needed some help getting down the VERY steep gangway at most of the ports. He had booked a bus tour (no walking) and was told that no one could help him down the gangway, so sorry he has to stay aboard.

Of the "top" lines we've sailed, Seabourn came closest to service like Crystal, although our cabin stewardesses couldn't seem to get certain things right. Silly things which kept us laughing. The issue with Seabourn was the food was nowhere near the quality of Crystal. Actually none of the other 3 were. Hoping if we eventually do try Explora, we'll be wowed by the food and service.

Roy, I'm enjoying your descriptions of both ships. Thank you.

On Seabourn and on SS. BTW: You wouldn't get me on SS again. We were on Whisper and I mentioned to my butler in the afternoon how there was no place to get a cookie. His response? "The other SS ships have a place to get a cookie." Not, "let me go find you one. What kind would you like?" And that was just one example of day after day of what really was sub par service on SS.

We've been on SS, Seabourn and Regent and the one HUGE thing that sets Crystal apart is the crew and how they anticipate. The other three are good, IF you ask but they lack that something extra that the Crystal crew and staff have. The other thing that sets Crystal apart is the ships. Yes they're old but the new, blingy ships feel more compartmentalized without a "central core" and without the promenade deck. Plus rooms on these new ships tend to be forward or aft on each floor versus having several floors just for rooms. To access the very top deck rooms, one is limited to one elevator or walking outdoors to access the rooms. Just one example. And those most expensive rooms are forward of the pool. My feeling is if Crystal can somehow keep the feel of the ships they have while updating them, they will be far ahead of any of the other cruise lines.

I don't remember if there was clotted cream on the inaugural Serenity sailing. I'm not sure we even made it to tea, but on Symphony last month, they definitely had clotted cream,

Yes it was there on that trip. Honestly I find it wasteful as much of it doesn't get eaten. I go to tea for 1-2 sandwiches and 1-2 scones plus tea. I don't need or want all the other stuff and from what I can see, most other people don't either. Personally I wish they'd come back with the old way of bringing just what we wish to partake of. 😞

You wouldn't catch me on Whisper again if it was free.

On which of their ships?

Ivi it's one thing to give an opinion especially since you prefer your main meal to be lunch. And of course I respect that. However it's rude and might I say uncouth for anyone (not you) to imply that the rest of us need to be taught what luxury is just because we do not find the need to eat lunch in Waterside. (Note you of course did not imply that!)

No he didn't.

The concierge on Crystal has always worn a "uniform". Not one like the officers but suit type with tie, etc.

Does that mean I now have to eat lunch and breakfast only in Waterside?