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BWIVince

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Everything posted by BWIVince

  1. Most of my message was speaking to the pattern you see of the scores than Serenity's specific history, BUT I will say this is one area where I think it doesn't matter as much that the ownership changed. (...as much as you know I do call out where the ownership changes things! 🙂 ) Specifically, almost all of the hotel department officers and management that are responsible for nearly all of the compliance that the CDC is inspecting, were carryovers from old Crystal. They were also the ones responsible for updating the written procedures that the CDC inspects when the ships reentered service, and most of them either wrote the initial procedures for Old Crystal or maintained the procedures for years. That does count for a lot intros discussion. FWIW though, the pattern works the same even if you just use NC scores. Serenity's prior inspection post-relaunch under A&K was 97. Vince
  2. I did. 😄 I explained the mitigation plan upthread (or maybe in a parallel thread?)... I think. 😄 This is my first booking outside the chargeback window since January of 2020! Vince
  3. I agree it would have been nice to get a 100, and Serenity HAS -- six times before. But like all of these ships that have been inspected more than a few times, they have varying scores inspection-to-inspection. Serenity's last 10 scores were 89, 97, 93, 95, 100, 99, 100, 87, 100, 88. And that's typical... Regatta is on the 100 list currently, and her last 10 scores were 100, 100, 94, 89, 99, 84, 100, 95, 99, 97. Great, it got a 100 two inspections in a row, but it also failed one. Other ships that are most recently down have done well before too... Norwegian Pearl got a 90 on its last inspection, but got a 100 on the inspection before. Some ships generally score fine, but never get 100 -- Silver Cloud has never gotten 100 before on any inspections since 1994, and Silver Whisper only got a hundred once in all of her 32 inspections. I get it -- at the moment there are more hundreds on the board than usual, and it makes the lower passing average scores look worse... But context, history, and trends are important. Vince
  4. I went ahead and booked Symphony's May 9, 2026, as I'd hinted about upthread. It was calling to me. Vince
  5. As long as you start drinking earlier, you won’t notice that the music stops…. Or that the piano turned into a violin. 😁 Vince
  6. Both pianists have shifts from around 5:30 until at least midnight, and the lounges usually hit their biggest lull of the early evening as everyone pours into the four dinner venues at 6:30…. After that things stay at a steadier pace in each venue. So Crystal uses that lull to give breaks, since the next measurable lull is when the show(s) loads in. They do bring in the violinist to backfill the pianist in the Cove while they’re on their break, but you’re right, it’s a pretty quiet time around the ship. Unfortunately that’s the least disruptive time to give the two pianists and the duo their breaks. Vince
  7. Cruise Critic added a banner today explaining there's an issue with adding photos and videos... However blaming shipboard wifi is always a safe scapegoat anyway, since we all know that pain well. 😄 Vince
  8. I think some context on the score is missing here. You always want your score to be as high as possible, but perfect scores are extremely rare most years and you hope the violations are the minor type (like all of these) that are of the oversight or maintenance adjustment nature, and not process issues or gross negligence. 89 is an average, passing score. Some seasons 89 will stand out as low, and other seasons you could have a whole quadrant in the passing 80's. It's not something you brag about, but it's not something that needs an apology either. Honestly, that part of her message was perfect -- acknowledge the score isn't where they aim, and explain it's being addressed. Nothing in that report stood out to me as unusual or alarming, and I've literally been reading them since 1987. They can still do better, and will... Until the week that they don't again. Vince
  9. I absolutely agree about how freely she shares her take on things and how actively involved she is in operations — I often wish she participated here as well. I’m not sure I love her point trying to parse cleanliness from sanitation, though. Both are critically important and go hand in hand. You can sometimes make a whole lot of people seriously ill (or kill them) with a seemingly minor process or design problem — not just with something being “dirty”. The takeaway should be that the CDC criteria is diverse and represents a comprehensive approach to sanitation across a spectrum of risks. Vince
  10. That’s been a big change in the arc of my career…. When I first started reading the CDC reports (which you used to have to write to get the paper detailed reports mailed to you) when I was a kid in the 80’s, the older converted liners from the 40’s and 50’s really struggled to be modernized enough to keep up with the 80’s health codes. While the rules do continue to evolve, most ships in service now have been built since the vast majority of the standards have been in place, and have been renovated to meet MOST of the changes. There are still cases where older ships can’t feasibly be retrofitted (as determined by their owners), but they’re rare…. The Bistro on both ships not meeting the handwashing regulations for self-service are a perfect example. If I had to guess though, lighting levels for work surfaces in bars probably hasn’t changed measurably since almost every ship currently in service was launched (though I haven’t researched that yet and might be wrong), but in the 80’s this appeared monthly in violations for most major lines. Id also point out Crystal Harmony got a failing score when she’d only been in service for a few years, but Symphony got a perfect score when she’d been in service for decades. My main point though, is watch the trends…. One month an Azamara ship can get a 97 and a Crystal ship can get an 89, and the next month they can (and usually do) flip. When a ship always tracks in the 80s, year after year, or fails twice in a row with a score in the low 80’s, that’s what you focus on. That’s the meaningful data. Vince
  11. CC had a big maintenance outage this morning (in/around their regular maintenance window), so there may be something they didn’t get completed in time and might be having some knock-on effects. I wouldn’t be surprised if these start working again in the coming days, hopefully. Vince
  12. They have, many times over the years. Crystal’s ships have also failed before... As have most ships, if they e been in service long enough. No one always gets a perfect score. People mess up eventually no matter how careful they are, machines break at inopportune times, etc.. It’s more important to pay attention to averages and trends. Vince
  13. They will happen again…. They always do. There are binders and binders (GBs of pdfs?) of procedures that are carefully followed in meticulous detail, but humans being humans, we know how that goes. Most common violations are minor, and only ding a few points at a time, so that’s the reason you only have to score an 86 to pass. The serious violations carry a hefty penalty, and when I started cruising in the 80’s they were a lot more common, but nowadays most ships pass in the high 80’s to mid 90’s. Vince
  14. I treasure familial food memories — your post has made my week! Vince
  15. It’s certainly an option…. At some points in Crystal’s history (and other lines) it has been operated by the cruise staff using the casino’s license, so there are lots of options to execute it. We shall see! Vince
  16. One doesn’t think of it as much when the ship is out of service for a refit and they have more options, but they need a nearby area for staging and prepping the materials being installed (besides storage/refuse areas that can be further away)…. In Serenity’s case we see this both with Beefbar using the Trident and Scoops areas and the Casino using the CU@Sea for staging. I fully expect they’re being honest when they say they’re temporary closures, based on logistic needs for the refits. Vince
  17. Happy Anniversary to you and OLoPP!! minibar has to be my favorite of Jose Andres’s concepts here, and I’m really glad it’s endured. He’s also one of my favorite people in food, and I ❤️ and support WCK. What an amazing dinner! I can’t wait to hear the Chicago trip report…. I used to go every couple of months for work and I haven’t been back downtown since the pandemic. 😢 I learned to cook from my mother first, and spherification didn’t exist in her world. 😆 My only knowledge of it comes from Top Chef I think, and at the rate I cook it will probably stay that way. Haha Vince
  18. That was closer than my brain gets most days! The only reason I remember it so well was because of Harmony’s cheeky L.A. theming on deck 6…. The Avenue of the Stars shopping corridor feeding the 2100 Club was a play on Crystal’s original headquarters at the time in Fox Plaza, at 2121 Avenue of the Stars. The adjacent Century Lounge was of course named for the neighborhood, Century City…. And so on. 🙂 Vince
  19. Club 2100 on Harmony? It wasn’t my favorite Crystal lounge, but I could probably make a case of it being my favorite of the three, as built. Vince
  20. IME, the dates/times are not usually confirmed in advance because they depend on a lot of variables that are in flux up until right before sailing. That said, it doesn't hurt to book a reservation at each at the time/date you'd most prefer to eat at the venue, just so you have a reservation at each that works on your schedule. Then, once you board, talk with the specialty dining maitre d'/manager and explain you are holding a reservation but are interested in joining the table for 8 for each venue instead. They will either change your reservation to the table for 8 (if they have it arranged by then), collect your info to contact you once it's been finalized, or if for some reason the table for 8 date/time doesn't work for you, they will discuss options to possibly add people/someone to your existing reservation if they have any. Just my two cents. Vince
  21. Yeah, don't get me started on Serenity's Stardust -- that was my previous least favorite Crystal public space* (overall)... To me, the former Casino space still wins the prize though, since even though it's not to my personal taste, at least the Stardust has proper and updated cohesive decor, function-designed lighting, and Serenity (unlike Symphony or Harmony) was purpose designed with two "cabaret venues" (secondary staged showrooms) -- one with panoramic windows and one interior-facing... It's sort of come off the rails in more recent times as the Palm Court's function has morphed to work more like Symphony's (though not completely) and the Stardust has been used for more/other daytime activities not originally intended. So yeah, I definitely agree. * - I say "public space (overall)" here because most people know my single least favorite Crystal design element is Symphony's leftover Starlite saucer. lol Vince
  22. In the case of Serenity, I would sure hope so. That windowless cave/corridor combo is truly one of the least pleasant daytime hangouts I've ever experienced in my ~38 years of cruising -- let alone up to the level of any other Crystal facility. If I had to play bridge there, I'm pretty sure I'd take up a new hobby instead. Vince
  23. So if I read all that correctly, to make up for the Tastes/Beefbar closure, they're making the following adjustments: No Fees on additional alternative dining reservations Churrascaria returning to Marketplace for dinner Hot soup option being added to the Bistro during the day "Waterside Grill" downstairs emulating the Trident and Scoops for lunch daily Hopefully if I missed something someone can point it out, I was struggling a little with the format so I thought I'd try to summarize. Overall, I think that's a good plan... Given what they had to work with they're at least trying to backfill some of what's missing. I had a feeling they were going to pull Marketplace back into the dinner business temporarily to offset the lost capacity. Vince
  24. I thought that was his clever ode to Cunard. 😊 It takes Americans a lot to use whilst in a sentence, so I applaud the effort! Vince
  25. +1… I wasn’t sure the policy was even meant to be permanent anyway, and I thought it might just to be to help with the “launch rush”, but either way, as they’ve done several times recently, they quickly listened to feedback and adjusted their plans accordingly. This is definitely trend at this point, and one that continues to give me a good feeling. IME they’d used the broiler on the Benedicts for as long as I can remember — at least since the early 90’s. 😡 I have no idea what what that was about, but it was plain and simple culinary malpractice. @KenzSailing recently tasked me with trying to find out if they continued to broil them, but I failed in that mission. On my cruise this summer, I ordered a smoked salmon Benedict the first morning (with the sauce on the side to avoid the broiler problem) and the hollandaise was so out of whack, and the cruise was so short, that I didn’t order it again the rest of the cruise to limit my frustration. There have been reports (especially from Symphony, of course) recently that the broiling may have stopped. 🤞 Hope springs eternal. Vince
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