BWIVince

Isn’t the Frank Sinatra one new though? On my past cruises it was Billy Joel or Elton John (for the men). Vince

Totally to each their own on this, as a solo... If I can't get a midships stateroom, I strongly prefer being forward to being aft. The stateroom size is perfect for me as well, especially relative to the price. Sure, when other lines have specials (or Crystal on other categories) and you can book suites on them for a great deal that's nice, but most of the time you're spending a lot more for that extra space, and it's wasted on me. Other lines have staterooms and suites just as forward (if not more so) as Crystal's solo staterooms, so it's not like booking another line guarantees a great cabin location anyway -- you may well end up in the same boat, just on another boat. Vince

I'm a solo traveler, and Crystal is doing more for solo travelers than their competitors, so I'm fine with it. Are there certain cruises that are more expensive than others for solos on Crystal? Sure. Are there certain cruises that are discounted more than others for solos as a limited offering promotion? Sure. Both are the case with Crystal's competitors as well, so anyone is welcome to chase that greener grass if they think it's out there. Spoiler alert though -- mostly what other lines are offering are just individual promo offers (like Crystal) which may individually be a good deal on a sailing, and not a more solo-friendly schema than other lines, IME. Vince

25 de Abril Bridge (Lisbon)?

October, November, December, January and February are generally considered off-peak for leisure travel for US consumers. October, November and parts of January are strong for business travel, and kind of buoy the industry, and the crazy peaks of leisure travel for the holiday periods save November and December from being a complete loss, but as Brian points out, the highest peaks of the year also create the biggest valleys of the year. The first two weeks of December are the US travel industry’s worst nightmare. It’s generally when the travel industry tries to hold its industry events because all of the suppliers can leave their quiet businesses/properties with confidence, and there is surplus space everywhere to host things. March and April as whole months start to turn positive again, and June, July and August are when the lions share of money is spent. This just speaks to when US consumers spend their travel money, obviously the game then becomes pairing the ships with a North American-accessible market where there is sufficient demand during the slow months, to attract enough customers. Ideally, as you point out, you can tap overseas markets when the US market is slow, and that’s probably one of the biggest advantage brought to us by the huge conglomerates. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen in the first year for a US cruise line though — it took old Crystal 4-5 years to get the resources to do that. Fortunately A&K has some of the infrastructure for that in place, but it still requires distraction of resources from the main launch to do the training and brand changes needed even if the sales infrastructure is in place in the alternate countries, so you normally can’t just enter multiple markets at once and have the same success as if you build the markets separately. That’s usually where the “expanded too quickly” pitfall of the travel industry comes into play (more often than just too much inventory, which is the conventional wisdom culprit). International markets for US cruise lines have to be done carefully for small lines like Crystal, too…. There are lots of dangers. You have to select culturally and linguistically similar markets where you don’t have to change the product too much, or you risk losing your primary market passengers that serve as your foundation. Small lines don’t have the resources to base ships in an international market full time and have entire regionally focused operations, like the big conglomerates. For decades before the consolidation, cruise lines tried basing a surplus ship during the slow months in other countries, but what they found is that while the local demand was there, you can’t just have a temporary operation there to harness it seasonally…. It takes a locally based staff to make it work, even for the next season, and having the local staff year round burns up more than the money than you make during the operating season. I expect within a few years, we’ll see a similar hybrid strategy with A&K to what Crystal used, where they have a couple of regional teams in compatible counties selling Crystal year-round globally. Vince

I don't honestly think we're going to have an accurate picture of "success" as it pertains to occupancy until we reach a peak month, which doesn't happen until early next summer. Trying to read success on low occupancy months is incredibly subjective and off-peak months in an inaugural year are pretty much ignored on sales tracking when there are months ahead that can be better benchmarked. I guarantee their sales team has their eyes glued to summer 2024 stats right now, though. IMHO the real barometer is the new ship order. If/when they sign the MOU(s) with the shipyard(s), that will show their confidence in the future and what kind of a plan they see moving forward. From everything I've read so far, they see the current fleet as a bridge to the future state, so the financial commitment of those new builds, how they spec out, and their timeline will tell the REAL story of Crystal's future. Vince

I'm going to offer up fellow member @rafinmd's blog as one of the most comprehensive and recent collections of Crystal menus I've seen... With the exception of the Italian venue, now Osteria d'Ovidio with a completely new tasing menu concept, and the return of Tastes which was previously only offered on one ship and has returned after a gap starting in the late 2010's, there hasn't been a radical change in any of the menus from Crystal's previous life. Here's the direct link to the most recent Crystal menu page of Roy's blog: https://morethangetaways.wordpress.com/crystalmenus2023/ Regarding late night snacks, besides room service, there's a snack service in several venues (usually the Avenue Saloon, Crystal Code, and night club, or similar), usually between 11:00pm and midnight or so, with items served from trays. Once upon a time Crystal did late night buffets, but it just seemed obsolete for the demand and the type of eating people were doing, and those were modernized almost 20 years ago. I used to go to those buffets, but I honestly don't miss them at all -- mostly because I'm often now asleep by then, which probably explains part of the shift. 🙂 Hope this helps! Vince

I'm so used to hospitality carpets that the color (in the context of the new furnishings) and pattern look really nice to me... It's only when I read everyone else's comments that I realize how warped my reality is by my experience. 😄 I will say though, if any of your/anyone's bodily fluids manage to stain a carpet that color, you need to proceed to a doctor immediately! Vince

I see the same in mine — it’s another value that’s pulling over through the API because of the way the field is used in the reservation system, it’s not a stateroom number. I agree with Keith, your agent may be able to get more info about what it means from their contacts at Crystal, but the stateroom number shouldn’t show until closer to sailing. Vince

You’re not alone…. I’m not attacking anyone else’s traditions — I’m glad that they offer it and that people enjoy it, but a Cobb Salad is always the dead last thing I personally would pick from that menu. 😊 More power to everyone that got exactly what they craved though! Vince

The story has always gone that the layout of the room was the least disruptive that Kirk Nix and Tillberg could come up with given where the columns needed to be, but I’ve always questioned how much weight having the circular bar had in the equation, and how much it became “where can we stick this circular bar that will make it less of a disaster.” As I’ve mentioned before, Serenity had a bunch of undo’s of Symphony “improvements” over Harmony, and a return to a hollow wraparound bar like Harmony had in her Avenue seemed to be one of those priorities — at the cost of the flow. Personally, I can set the flow problems aside, I just never liked the decor of Serenity’s Avenue as much as the other two…. And it never benefitted from a redesign, that helped both of the other two repeatedly. Vince

Regarding cabin size in the regular staterooms (window and verandah), there has only ever been a minor difference between Symphony and Serenity (like a linear foot)…. But is it weird that they now list the window and verandah staterooms on both ships as the same when the footprint hasn’t changed on either? Where Symphony’s were 202 sq ft and Serenity’s were 226 (both without verandas, which varied), they now list both as “up to 215 sq ft,” which would seem to be inaccurate in both cases. The “up to” also seems odd for these categories, because I don’t believe either ship (unlike Harmony) had any one-off standard staterooms that were exceptions to the standard modular units that were different in size, outside of the ADA rooms which aren’t 215 sq ft either. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’m totally confused on how they came up with those numbers…. Or that number. Or that number that shouldn’t be one number…. Or whatever? Vince

Those are also base salaries as well, and not total compensation. Work rules, amenities/inclusions, hours, and other forms of compensation (which a built-in gratuity component would usually fall into) are also examples of factors above bae pay. Vince

Unfortunately the wire transfers are a whole different type of process than an automated batch check run…. Both require the same proof work to set up the batch, but instead of everything being automatically processed, every transfer then requires 30x the work of the auto-run because each one needs to be touched and reviewed again manually. It’s not that each wire transfer takes a long time in itself as a single transaction, it’s that they have hundreds of them in a batch. I would just set expectations that this is probably weeks away, IME, but be pleasantly surprised if it comes quickly. Vince

Secret??? Oh geese, I didn’t realize I was supposed to hide my breakfast beverage of choice. 😁 Jon Ashton once served a cornflake cocktail on one of my cruises…. IIRC it wasn’t just infused, though. im not surprised about the salted caramel cocoa nib though…. Cocoa nibs are usually used more for texture than flavor, IME. Vince

I thought it was the other way around? “You know you can afford to sail on Crystal, if…”. LOL Vince

It’s not a universal push yet…. On the groups side, which usually goes in tandem with the guidance cruise lines like Crystal would get from local authorities, we’re getting a big “hold off for now, please, but keep in touch.” Hopefully it won’t be too much longer though, because the groups and events world is happy to start pumping money back into Maui when they don’t need so many of the resources (rooms/staff/vehicles/equipment/etc) for local efforts anymore. Vince

I've been wondering the same thing... I don't know if they bothered to install a room-specific mic/audio setup like they have in the Stardust given the temporary nature of the room update, but even if they had to use a portable setup that would seem to still make a little more sense in Serenity's case. Even that space is still not as ideal as Symphony's setup though. 😞 . Vince

Not knowing Vicki, that was my initial reaction. I couldn't think of a single female CD in all of Crystal's history, unless I'm missing someone (which is always possible)... But I was thinking all the way back to David De Havilland. The added diversity is always a nice bonus to her experience and reputation. I'm looking forward to hopefully sailing on a cruise she's on in the future. Vince

Was this for a theme cruise, maybe? I’ve been sailing Crystal since the beginning, and most of them on Symphony, and I’ve never seen them use the Galaxy for dancing on any regular cruises, on any ship, ever. I could maybe see them do it on a big band cruise, or something like that though? As Patty and Keith mentioned, on Symphony the Starlite is primarily the venue used for dancing-focused events (with the Plaza used for theme and special events now), but the dance floor was more than doubled in the Palm Court when they did the Kirk Nix refit in 2012 — I’m not sure I see them ever making it significantly larger than it is now, given the other dancing limitations of the venue. Vince

I’m a witness to the 2005 one! 😁

I wouldn’t assume that answer is incorrect — every email blast can have different target criteria. I was receiving emails painfully frequently, but the last email I received was on September 1st (about Symphony). Their answer was definitely 100% accurate for some of us, so I suspect subsequent emails were targeted differently. Vince

@TravellingW — Sorry this took so long, but as requested in the Symphony on Song thread, here were Harmony’s first and final deck plans in her service with Crystal, before she was transferred to Asuka. These seem ok to share under CC’s copyright policy, especially since the entity that published them is defunct. First, the pre-inaugural plans: …and then the final deck plans for her Crystal career. Please let me know if you have any questions. Vince

I listen to a local radio station in the shower each morning (since local TV hasn’t reached my backwater yet), and the Christmas music caught me off-guard for some reason this morning when I hit the button. Not sure why it did though — it’s been three full weeks since I heard Mariah belt out All I Want For Christmas Is You over the PA at Target…. I should be well adjusted by now. Vince

In cruising there are direct competitors and indirect competitors…. A direct competitor is someone in your market segment that offers a product similar in quality, price and features, whereas an indirect competitor is literally any different product that people are buying instead, including different forms of vacations. There is nothing wrong with preferring Oceania — I can make plenty of arguments on certain people sailing Oceania over Crystal, but Oceania is definitely not a direct competitor to Crystal. Oceania selling drink packages, like most lines, definitely doesn’t make them a direct competitor either, even though it may be the perfect blend to meet certain needs of some of Crystal’s target audience. I understood your reply to Patty’s a lot more than your original message since you had specific complaints that made a lot of sense…. But my reply was to your previous generalizations. Vince