BWIVince

I completely agree with your point, but market demographics also play a huge role into this, and temper that point a good bit. First, singles are a huge segment of this demographic — for better or worse thats just an inevitable reality, especially on the wealthier end where people can afford not to couple or recouple in order to make ends meet. Crystal obviously sees this or they wouldn’t have set aside such a large percent of cabins as singles. Second, making more money selling both berths assumes full occupancy — a fantasy that has eluded Crystal for 30+ years. Previous Crystal’s single occupancy strategy was to sell cabins projected to go unsold at their low supplements (they were capacity controlled around the projections), but because occupancy was low enough, they were readily available. In fairness, Regent and other lines are doing the EXACT same thing by sailing, only offering low/no supplements on the sailings where they project having inventory spoiling. Now that Crystal has lowered inventory to historical occupancy levels, we’ll see if the new mix sells at the price points offered. If it does, great, then the point about selling two berths vs. one will be valid, but until they get a full year of occupancy data, this isn’t a foregone conclusion. Lastly to others in the thread, mocking people for not wanting to waste thousands extra on inclusions they don’t personally need (like air and excursions) is childish and only makes you look like fools. This was as true back when people debated when Crystal went AI as it is with comparing other lines inclusions that are of wildly varying value to different people. You all are better than that. Vince

They were indeed! (Neptune theme) Urban legend has it those things were all sold off for whatever they could get, but I have no way to verify that. That could in theory still be Gregg Michel for $1. 😁 The bridge over the “stream” in Jade Garden is another one of those retired features people talk about being in someone’s collection somewhere as well. Vince

For fun yesterday I was trying to think of what I would do with the space on Symphony, and for some reason I didn’t come up with a new concept or service, as much as a reshuffling of spaces to enhance existing services. To be clear this is fan-fiction, not in any way a serious suggestion or prediction. Just having some fun for discussion sake. The on-the-cheap thought was to move the library into that space and expand it, making it a kind of interactive destination center in addition, as some other lines have done. It could also have comfortable seating for people to sit and read. (I would love for it to have the bookstore component like Cunard with maritime books and such, but alas that’s not consistent with Crystal’s brand.). The destination component could be a cross-brand opportunity with A&K, to help showcase their expertise globally. Moving a library next to a night club seems a little problematic, but I think the staggered hours would mitigate most of that issue. Most importantly, this would help free up some space to return to retail, where the second-generation library currently is. The elaborate and crazy-expensive thought was to move the Bridge Lounge into the casino space, and completely expand and reallocate the specialty dining spaces aft on Deck 6. Essentially the space currently occupied by the Asian venue, the Italian venue, the galley and the Bridge Lounge would be completely reapportioned, allowing for an expanded galley and two slightly larger venues with a bit more seating. Both would remain connected directly with the galley, but each would retain their own entrances port and starboard like they have now. In theory this isn’t as needed because of the lowered occupancy, but the concept changes proposed so far are reducing the dinner venue capacity more than the occupancy, so it remains to be seen how this impacts demand on those two specialty venues. Just having some fun… Vince

Speaking for myself and not Ken, this is one of the reasons I didn't do an open booking in the first place... I wouldn't have been able to book a sailing before Q3 2024 most likely, which would have been outside the chargeback window for the initial deposit. If I had booked I might have kept the risk though -- I think odds of needing to get it back at all plus the odds of not filing the claim before the cutoff are especially low compared to the odds of actually using the discount... But just throwing that out there because that's another scenario besides needing the cash. 🙂 Vince

I know you mean that as a joke, but I feel like this is something that a lot of people don't understand so I'll kind of piggyback a comment on that for people that don't think there's a real answer to. 🙂 In concept, the money went to pay refunds on people that had non-refundable cancellations, since that money isn't accounted for in US accounting standards for travel suppliers. In practice, your money may still be sitting there in that reserve account. When the chargeback period times out, control reverts back to the merchant, in this case the assignee, and to gets added to the pool for reimbursement as prescribed. This is why I encouraged everyone to file a claim, no matter how useless they thought it was. Again, I'm not trying make something serious out of the joke, but I keep seeing themes come up that people need to know there are real answers to. 🙂 Vince

Anne, I'd add on to your point that for better or worse, Crystal sailing seldom sailed anywhere near capacity, so it's not like the singles were taking berths away from other paying customers. (The number of single cabins offered per sailing was controlled to prevent that from happening, but in practice I was never declined a stateroom at the reduces supplement, so it never seemed to be an issue.) I agree with others that Crystal's former inventory situation isn't something to aspire too, and I don't blame Crystal for trying to take another approach (especially with how much enthusiasm there was on the board for dedicated single cabins (ugh!)), but I suspect the new sales leadership is going to learn some lessons and make some tweaks to this plan once they get some sales history in their hands, and some market feedback from agents and customers. Just a guess though... Singles are a pretty lucrative market in this segment -- you just have to balance a few factors to ensure profitability. Vince

😄 I can think of few industries on our planet that have perfected the art of investing variable amounts in specific customer relationships and refined personas than the travel industry. Vince

One thing I wanted to add, was that Crystal’s relationship was Nobu was neither unique in the industry (dozens of chefs from David Burke and Thomas Keller to Curtis Stone have done the exact same thing) nor unique to Crystal…. Wolfgang Puck, Piero Selvaggio and Azmin Ghahreman, at a minimum, had the exact same relationship with Crystal as Nobu, and Crystal had slightly different consultancy with other chefs like Andre Soltner and Jon Ashton where they consulted on specific projects and not concepts. I think that list of chefs, and similar projects from other lines shows how transient these projects can be, and may reflect on the future of Nobu’s relationship with Crystal. That said though, I can’t think of a celebrity chef licensing deal off the top of my head that’s lasted anywhere near 19-20 years, so the notion that somehow Nobu was in any way reluctant or disinterested all this time is nuts to me — especially when few of these contracts last half that time — if that. Vince

I’ve never heard that rumor before, but Nobu signed and renewed that contract for almost 20 years. I imagine if he wasn’t interested in continuing the relationship, he had ample opportunity not to renew it each time. Seems to me he found it pretty valuable, based on that track record. That’s obviously not to say the relationship is worth the price to either the new company or Nobu at this point, but that’s a completely different point than whether he thought it was worth it for the 19 years and whatever months they worked together. Vince

I wouldn't be surprised if they just tied into A&K's existing vendor to keep things consistent and tap their pricing volume. Contracted call centers are pretty standard among travel suppliers, especially for lower priority call queues, like general inquiries and direct sales. Vince

Port calls are normally locked in 3 or more years in advance, at least for the popular ones... Even if the cruise line doesn't market them at that point. Trying to start from scratch even a year out puts them behind the 8 ball -- they can only pick from what's left at that point. Vince

Both things are actually by design... When you license a chef collaboration, the licensee is paying for the services they require. In this case, Crystal was paying Nobu for the menu design, recipes, training, and operational support, along with use of his name and likeness in connection with the concept. The chef can also be hired to do marketing, but that's IN ADDITION to what they've contracted, not normally inclusive of it. That's why you sometimes saw Nobu on Crystal -- he would either be there in a support role (without any scheduled appearances) or as a presenter (with agreed compensation). If he talked about Crystal in media or press, it would need to be arranged by Crystal's PR team, since they would be the ones compensating him for it. People sometimes mix up these type of licensing deals with partnerships where the chef has a stake in the venture and it's in their interest to talk it up -- this was NOT that. Similarly, the licensee owns the space and the concept, so it's in their best interest to hold the trademark... That way when the collaboration dissolves, as it has to at some point, the licensee doesn't lose all their brand recognition and have to spend a fortune rebranding EVERYTHING... They just need to take the collaborating chef's name off the menus and ads, and be done. Unfortunately Crystal couldn't get a trademark for the Silk Road name, so they picked Umi Uma, but also unfortunately it took them a three year legal battle to secure it. So yeah, it had to change, but it didn't have to change to Umi Uma. Vince

THAT'S THE ONE! To answer @KenzSailing's original question, THAT'S the carpet on deck 8 at the time of the photo @BEAV posted! (And total credit to Rob for having the photo, and being able to find it on demand!). 😄 Vince

It's the carpeting before that, the blue carpet with the "waves". 🙂 Keith -- I take photos of just about everything, randomly. 😄 Vince

It's this generation of carpet that ties to the age of the photo Brian posted, but I'm having trouble finding one for Deck 8 from that generation. I know I have one somewhere. So far I've only found Deck 9, like shown here. I'll look more in my collection tonight -- I love a photo challenge. Vince

LOL... I love that carpet (for hospitality applications)... But I spend my life working in hotels and convention centers where crazy carpet patterns are a requirement, so I gave up doing the Rorschach test on them years ago. 🙂 I admit I've totally gone numb to them. Vince

That was November of 2009...Though similar carpets remained until the Seabreeze refit when the penthouse corridors got an update similar to what Serenity got in 2011, with the new wall coverings, artwork and lighting. Vince

Totally agree we need more details…. I’m sure we’ll hear more shortly. On a normal timeline, the cabin components would normally be entering fabrication roughly between now and the next month or so, for installation late spring or early summer for Serenity, and mid-to-late summer for Symphony. If this plays out on a typical timeline, it will be months before we have actual photos, so updated descriptions will be important before then. In the case of Symphony, I wouldn’t be bothered by unconverted penthouses at all. They’ve only seen a handful of months of service since their last softgoods renovation (furniture and carpets), and I prefer their old bathrooms with whirlpool tubs and separate shower to the shower-only layout, personally. I’d take a classic in a heartbeat. Vince

I have Deck 10’s carpet from that time period at my fingertips, but I’ll have to dig a little for Deck 8’s. 😁 I bet Larry is right though, I’m pretty sure I have a pic of that generation of carpet somewhere. Vince

Totally agree…. The location complicates the options. Clearly Crystal doesn’t see a clear path through that yet either, or something would have been marked on the deck plans. Vince

Keith probably answered what you were looking for, but in case you want all the deets, the full docs are up on the website too... Terms & Conditions: https://www.crystalcruises.com/legal/booking-terms-conditions Cruise Contract: https://www.crystalcruises.com/legal/contract Vince

I'm with you on that... The designated single cabins really don't interest me at this time. I don't think that says anything about the future though... Old Crystal's single supplement policy was an iterative creation based on historic sales data -- something new Crystal has none of yet, from all these new variables. I'm sure their approach to singles will change significantly over the next couple of years, and possibly a bit even before they start sailing), so I don't blame anyone that waits to see before entertaining Crystal as an option. (And for other factors too.) Vince

Your instinct is right (as usual)... It's Symphony. 🙂 Vince

Agreed, but just to be clear I wasn't referring to the CS milestones, I was talking about the actual money A&K paid that goes through the assignment process to the creditors and passengers owed money. But I get it... Vince

This was a popular repositioning itinerary in the past -- Crystal did it in some form almost every year with similar ports. Norfolk, Jacksonville, Charleston, Savannah, Hamilton, Nassau and Baltimore all rotated though in some combination on those itineraries. I did that cruise a couple of times I think, and would happily do it again. It's not exotic, but not everyone is looking for exotic every cruise. (And some, ever.) Vince