BWIVince

A lot of the rooms that needed to be combined were in locations where they couldn’t do 1.5 bay rooms (where 3 rooms become 2) on Symphony without significant and time consuming (months) mechanical system reengineering…. That’s one of the biggest reasons for the number is Sapphire vs. Aquamarine conversions this go-round. Symphony isn’t a long term investment — given the options, it’s more serviceable for they to get the capacity number they need and get a more expensive inventory mix doing it, than get the exact ratio of inventory that matches demand in this situation. They would never recoup the wasted investment in creating the Aquamarines when they could quickly create the right number of Sapphires and just sell the Aquamarine inventory as guarantees to meet the demand, and house the oversell in Sapphires. (Same with window doubles up to window Sapphires.) Symphony simply doesn’t have enough years left in her to really fine-tune the inventory mix at any outrageous investment. Vince

I echo Paul’s comments…. Cruise lines generally hire a company called a DMC (Destination Management Company) to act as a broker to contract most things ashore…. You can hire different DMCs to manage different services based on your needs, but overall your DMC would negotiate hotel contracts for pre-post cruise transfers, negotiate transportation services for transfers, broker excursion offerings, and in the case in Intercruises, even contract temps and manage hospitality desks and terminal check-in. I mention all that because A&K isn’t just a retail tour company, they’re better known in the industry as a DMC to other companies. For many of my past cruises, especially in the Pacific, Crystal used A&K as the DMC for the tours and land packages. In a couple of cases A&K had to step in and resolve routine challenges that came up with the tour operator (or other situations out of anyone’s control), and I felt like their support was as good as anyone’s. Generally speaking though, I think the average customer would have a hard time discerning a tour brokered by A&K from a tour brokered by Intercruises or another DMC. (I mention Intercruises because they served most of my Crystal cruises over the years). As claimed, they DO bring a lot of expertise and a high level of quality and service, but at the price point that Crystal has always contracted, so did the other DMC’s Crystal has used (and I assume continues to in many/most cases). I expect pretty much status quo here. Vince

There is a reflective coating on the windows, so as long as it’s lighter outside the room than inside, it’s hard to see in. Generally, the sheers are enough to provide privacy during the day — I can’t remember ever having to close the curtains in daylight. That said, I personally find Serenity’s setup where the promenade is at eye level with the rooms a little unnerving, but that’s just me. Symphony’s setup where the promenade is recessed doesn’t bother me much at all. Vince

This is a small detail, but this is a big win for customers from a risk perspective. It's one of many reasons for the amount of the deposit changed, but I'd gladly make a larger commitment and have it processed this way than the way it used to work with a shipboard account charge. Vince

I'd also add there is no shame in preferring Symphony's classic Aquamarines to the 2017 (former Seabreeze) ones. I'd take a classic over a 2017 any day. (I haven't seen the new Sapphires yet in-person though so I can't comment on which I'd prefer there.) Vince

100% -- check with your credit card company -- there are some subtle variances by issuer and market or product. As a general rule of thumb though, the 540 days that Patty quoted is a great guideline. As to the general topic -- I don't think A&K is any less financially stable than any other travel supplier, but you just never know what is going to happen. I mean, Genting is hardly a poor company (yesterday, today or tomorrow), and look where we're at. Since the pandemic started, I haven't booked any travel with ANY supplier -- regardless of how strong people perceive them to be -- outside of my chargeback protections from my credit card company. I also generally use my AmEx because they uniquely have control over both ends of the chargeback process (unlike Visa and Mastercard), making it cleaner and generally easier to dispute a charge. That way, I don't really have to worry about what happens to any cruise line or hotel, from a deposit security perspective. Now if A&K was some fly-by-night upstart, I'd probably put them in a different risk profile, but they're pretty well established. But again, so is Genting, which goes to my point about anything can happen. Vince

Are there any instructions for submitting the bank information in an encrypted or secure manner? I hope they're not asking people to just email a regular doc as an attachment? Vince

I think that’s how you separate the amateurs from the pros. The influencers who provide more value and expertise are the ones with a better balanced approach, and they tend to be the ones with more followers. (Drama sells clicks, to a point.) The ones that think the key to success is to create a fluff piece are generally and ultimately limited in their audience, which means lower platform revenue… So they’re shooting themselves in the foot. The real pros know that. Vince

I agree 100 percent on both points. In reality MM&A has little control of the timeline and has to trudge through open-ended processes like disputes and court approvals. They’ve done a good job of organizing things and trying to reign in potential fraud in things like chargebacks and claims, within reason. I’ve been impressed — it’s a tough job. Vince

Yes, for a free engagement instead of a discount, that is definitely the norm. The meeting should be more than a requirement, it should be something a legit influencer covets. That’s their chance to ask questions, do interviews, and get answers that the crew at large aren’t usually privy to go on the record about. A lot of times you’ll see them secure more than one such meeting, with different officers, if they’re able. Vince

Well said... Fortunately some of us had claims for a random amount under $2225 so it happened to make us whole, but this is just a first phase payment that gave people a set chunk back while the process slowly winds through its natural course for the next year or two. Vince

This is where I was going with my comment... Usually smaller influencers get the shakedown and preview cruises for free, or get a free mid-grade cabin on a full sailing... But not typically a high grade suite on a full sailing, that's very rare and generous. Vince

I appreciate the correction! I was definitely wrong. I know Crystal had a lot of inventory to give away the past couple of months, but that level of a free cruise was more than they were giving the first couple of months (I know a couple of larger influencers who got far less), and is very generous by industry standards. Vince

With under 15k subscribers, it's HIGHLY doubtful they got a free, full length cruise in a Sapphire Suite, unless there was some kind of extenuating circumstance that none of us are aware of. That's a tiny following in the context of compensation. Vince

On a different but related note, I’m kind of relieved that they made slightly less drastic changes to Symphony’s Umi Uma than were originally depicted in the renderings. I’ve always preferred Symphony’s decor of that space to Serenity’s (after the switchover in 2008), but that’s fair in a 2.0, second generation kind of way. I have no doubt that once they resolve the lighting issue, Serenity’s will feel a lot more cozy, and the decor will come together a little better. Thanks for sharing your experiences! Vince

I’m sure you’ll receive somewhere between “more” and “the rest”, but where it is on that vast spectrum, it’s way, way, way too early to know. There are still a lot of factors in play, like unclaimed money from the priority distribution, the amount of money that comes back into MM&A’s control from accounts under other party control (like merchant accounts), any remaining random assets to be dissolved, the whole FMC surety bond process for US departures, etc…. We shall see, but patience is key. I would definitely prepare for a partial payment though, statistically there are hardly ever final distributions that make all general claims whole — if that ever even happens at all. Vince

The FMC is engaged from the start, but IIRC the surety bonds are a final step payout (or they wouldn’t be viable) that makes up the gap left by the other sources…. Assuming that’s the case, they wouldn’t come into play until late 2024 or 2025. I’m saying that from memory though, and would happy to be corrected by anyone with expertise on the subject. Vince

😄 It's definitely not a USPS thing, my check was dated October 24th, so adding batching, collation and mailing, that's pretty typical. The letters are pre-printed based on the timeline they have at the time, because they want the checks to go out quickly once they finally get approval on the distribution, so I'm guessing they were expecting the checks to go out the first week of October when they first drafted the letters... Of course the whole process is more complex than that, so that was a safe bet (which more or less paid off, minus one odd date.)

Ditto! This is the first time I've ever received any kind of payment from a priority distribution, so I'm actually shocked by how quickly I received anything. I'm used to having to wait 3+ years to get the first penny. I know a lot of people have claims that will take that long to get the next bit, but "finally" was the last thing in the world I thought when I cashed my check today... Not that others aren't entitled to that feeling -- they absolutely are. Vince

There's an image of an MM&A envelope in my USPS Informed Delivery email this morning. Something is definitely happening on a broad scale. 🙂 Vince

IME, the Sunday Jazz Brunch was the rarest of the theme buffets, at least for old Crystal…. Not only did the cruise have to have a lot of sea days (they had to run through the more popular concepts first), but one of the later sea days had to fall on a Sunday (at least IME). In about 200 days of sailing Crystal over 30 years, it was only offered twice on my cruises. Vince

This is just my personal opinion, but I wouldn't wait to book once onboard. I would book my reservations as a contingency on the nights and times I'd think I wanted to dine, just to hold a backup plan, and then cancel or change them when you find out the solo group plans work for you after you get onboard. That way you have a backup at times you like, just in case the solo group plans don't suit or work out. You can always release your current reservation and switch to the group table, but there might not be space to book your own new table on the dates and times you like once onboard. Vince

Kind of a local note, but a Crystal-adjacent one…. I was saddened to learn of the passing of local DC-area artist Avis Collins Robinson, wife of Crystal speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson. Avis passed away over the weekend after a battle with cancer, at the age of 70 — her and Gene were married 45 years. I’ve always been a huge fan of Avis’s paintings and quilts…. I believe her and Gene lived across the river more recently, but Avis was born in a historic African American settlement very near where I grew up outside Sandy Spring, Maryland, and I loved her representation of that perspective through her work. She will be very missed. Vince

With Windjammer out of the picture for so long, it opens the door for Crystal to grab the branding, Crystal Barefoot Cruises. 😄

It’s definitely in-fashion right now, but in fairness, people aren't wearing sneakers with the kind of old-school dark business suits that most Crystal passengers (including myself) are wearing…. They’re typically more modern, more stylized suits that lend themselves to more fashionable footwear. Vince