moto_italia

Clearly I'm not part of Crystal's demographic LOL

I booked two excursions a couple of weeks ago (on the 120th day) for a Serenity July cruise. It showed me a button "Join the Waitlist". Once I clicked on it, it processed it all the way through to "Booked", and thus the excursions show up on my calendar as "Booked" items along with my dinner reservations. I agree that the 'Join the Waitlist' is confusing, but it appears their app is set up to process your excursion request through a waitlist, yet fully book you immediately if the excursion is not sold out.

Did you confirm that this is correct? I just did the same but it seems a bit odd to offer only “Join the Waitlist” and then it goes to “Booked” and displays on the calendar

Blughph. Sorry, reading a bio that describes someone as a 'thought leader' makes me throw up in my mouth a little

So, some IT info and speculation. Firstly, Starlink (Maritime division) is an Internet service provider for ocean vessels. They provide Internet access via a setup of one more satellite 'dishes' mounted on a cruise ship. The contracted service is provided by an apparent three-option service plan with varying performance at each of the three levels (see image below). Once the Internet connection is made by the ship's Starlink equipment, the Internet connection is shared throughout the ship using either a purchased/leased Starlink supplied wifi router, or a 3rd party wifi router provided by the cruise line, if the cruise line prefers to use their own router. The specifications and performance of a 3rd party wifi router are up to each ship/cruise line and could vary considerably. The chosen router then will distribute internet access to wireless access points throughout the ship. The specifications and performance of the wireless access points are up to each ship/cruise line and could vary considerably. For example, wireless access points/routers that are 5 years old could be 1/10th the throughput as leading current ones. Thus, just because a cruise ship has a faster Internet connection provided by a new service provider, it does not mean that they upgraded their router(s)/wireless access points in order to provide better throughput to end users, or have chosen a Starlink Plan Tier that provides as much throughput as another ship's chosen plan. Beyond this, there are considerations for wireless signals that vary based on construction materials of a ship's ceilings, floors and walls, with metallic ones providing greater wireless interference than non-metallic, usually. If you care to learn more about Starlink Maritime: https://www.starlink.com/business/maritime

I created my Crystal account online (USA) at the first of the year and have been getting emails since

FIFY Depends on your car and its value. Collectable and exotic car owners typically carry stated or agreed value insurance coverage, regardless of age. Even non-collectable 10 year old cars could have enough value to carry full coverage.

Yep, they hooked me on the upgrade deal. Booked our first Crystal cruise for this summer in Alaska!

We'll be cheating on NCL this summer on a Crystal Alaska 7-day cruise from Seward to Vancouver. When we total up all of the NCL add-on line items (Govt Tax/Port Fees, Bev Svc Charge, Din Svc Charge, Prepaid Svc Charge) and the items we choose to upgrade (NCL Premium Plus Beverage Package), the cost came out to be about $1K more per person for the week on Crystal. Being a 740-passenger ship and offering a reputed higher level of service and dining, we're gonna try it out. Crystal is now owned by Abercrombie & Kent. In looking at Crystal's South Caribbean cruise, it's about $750 more for a 7-day cruise in Dec '24 when you toss in that we normally add-on Vibe Beach Club to NCL.

Softserve: Frozen diabetes in a cup

My wife and I did the Amazing Cozumel Race last month from our 7-day NCL Viva cruise. Had a great time! Totally felt safe the entire time. The 'race' takes place in touristy Old Cozumel. There were 16 teams from 3 cruise ships competing, and the organizing company (Amazing Race Cozumel) had 5-6 staff members assigned to the race, moving from and to the checkpoints. Let me know if you have any questions.

Baby boomers are aging and thus cruisers' average age is increasing accordingly. Most cruise lines seem to be walking a thin line between offering music that their older loyal customers enjoy, and newer music that may interest younger cruisers. Virgin Voyages seemingly make little effort to offer music for an aging population, preferring to address the interests of a younger crowd. As someone who is looking for a new cruise line to move toward, and someone who is not particularly interested in decades old music, it seems that Crystal may not be a place that meets my music interests. That said, it doesn't mean that we wouldn't consider Crystal, it's just that it seems to be firmly walking on the side of the line that addresses its older customers' musical interests. Please correct me if I'm off on this, as there seems to be so much else to like about Crystal.

It's a minor thing, but having the safe three feet or more above the floor is a nice touch. My last cruise (non-Crystal) had the safe about 18" off the floor in the dark closet / bathroom door corridor, which makes one have to bend over considerably, or sit on the floor to enter combination to lock or retrieve items.

The only answer I've been able to devise is they don't want those with beverage packages bringing liquor onboard for (friends) other passengers who opted out of the beverage packages, as those who opt out would be spending onboard dollars for drinks

The deck 10 midship balcony we had on the Viva definitely had an unrestricted ocean view. But if you stand at the rail of the balcony and look two decks down, you see the Deck 8 boardwalk (Infinity Beach) and infinity pool, rather than just looking straight down at the sea as you would on most ships. You can see in the pic below that the Deck 8 boardwalk sticks out 20+ feet from the edge of the balconies. But, if you are standing naked in the middle of your room with the balcony door open, no one at the infinity pool or accompanying loungers on Deck 8 can see you. LOL As far as the Vibe, it cost $259 per person for our 7 days cruise. You'll want to book it online or call NCL or your TA as soon as it becomes available, as it sells out. I think it sold out more than 90 days prior to embarkation for our cruise.