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barcrab

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Everything posted by barcrab

  1. Do not miss Herculaneum!
  2. barcrab

    Food

    We were very disappointed with the food on Viking Jupiter on our circumvention of South America. Lovely ships, and although we are not foodies, we do consider good food an important part of cruising. We just finished a 2 week cruise on new Crystal and the food was excellent.
  3. We agree with Ms Crystalina on Uniworld. We prefer all inclusive and rotated between Uniworld and Crystal River before bankruptcy. Another great option is Tauck although, we have only done land tours with them, their reviews are great.
  4. We are currently on the Crystal Symphony with Vicki Van Tassel as cruise director. In all our years of cruising, she is the best we have encountered. The Symphony is a beautiful ship with wonderful food and service. Looking forward to trying Serenity soon!
  5. We had no issue booking excursions once final payment was made at 120 days.They were confirmed online. Of course, as all cruise lines today, that does not mean they will not be modified or cancelled. Seems odd they are listed as waitlist. I would call Crystal and make sure not some kind of computer glitch. They will check it out.
  6. barcrab

    New Ships

    Last time we were on Symphony was January 22 in Carribean and departed from Miami. Great trip just before bankruptcy. During Covid time, we have sailed Silversea,Silver Moon, Viking and Seabourn. We are looking so forward to April sailing on Symphony again. New staterooms are nice, but in the end, it is nearly impossible to beat the total Crystal experience. Our opinion of course.
  7. What about aquamarine classic and redesigned suites on Symphony?
  8. For many years we were very happy to sail on deck 7 non verandah cabins as a couple. We also sailed in verandah cabins, but never suites. Just to be on a Crystal ship was wonderful. Our second favorite of the so called luxury lines is Seabourn. We have recently sailed a couple of times on Silversea and tried Viking. In our opinion, the Crystal total experience far surpasses any of those as well as Oceania. Looking forward to our April cruise on the Symphony in an Aquamarine stateroom, taking advantage of the upgrade promotion. I once hung a 14 slot shoe hanger on the wall in one of the window staterooms much to my husband’s chagrin. If needed, in order to sail Crystal, will do it again!
  9. Glacier Bay is quite amazing. We were on a Crystal ship a few years ago and saw Glacier Bay but their itineraries do not include it this year. It is difficult for cruise lines to get permission to go there. Looks like Seabourn goes to Glacier Bay in May which is not a bad time for Alaska. You can go on Silver Nova another time.
  10. Assuming I understand correctly, if you book a guarantee in a certain category, you will receive that category or better. Have your travel agent confirm with Crystal.
  11. Our travel agent was able to modify our booking with Crystal today to take advantage of suite dreams upgrade offer. We paid the new price, received 2.5% Crystal Society discount instead of 5% and did not pay cancellation fee. We had not made final payment. We are happy, although the savings on the upgrade were not huge and it is a guarantee.
  12. We are two couples who booked in September for 4/25 Symphony sailing. Final payment is due 12/26. I have been wondering why Crystal has stayed above the fray in refusing to promote as all the so called luxury cruise lines have been pushing hard for bookings. Makes one wonder, how they can do this to current booked passengers just as they are attempting to build rapport with past passengers, some who were burned by OC. I hope to hear from our travel agent tomorrow with a response to our query concerning upgrades. Of course prices are now increased for new bookings. Crystal would still be better off if they offer same deal at the new prices to currently booked passengers. It would stave off a lot of ill will and perhaps cancellations.
  13. We are staying at the Lancelot in early May. I wanted to try Senato, but they required 4 nights.
  14. Pre Covid, we sailed Seabourn and Crystal, with more sailings on Crystal. We took a spontaneous trip on Silver Moon in July as we had wanted to try Silversea. We had a lovely stateroom, very much in line with Seabourn staterooms. Crystal cannot compare for opening price staterooms. We had good food for the most part on Silversea, but, the food did not compare to Crystal in our opinion. The service was very good, but was missing the level of warmth we found on Crystal. The included and one paid excursion were good. Enrichment and entertainment were far superior on Crystal. Other than the small Salt cocktail lounge, the others seemed empty on Silversea. We never found a good pre dinner cocktail routine. If itinerary and relative pricing were the same, we would choose Crystal (have not sailed new Crystal), then Seabourn and third Silversea. It is certainly nice to have a larger stateroom and newer ship, but Crystal has been a wonderful total experience for us.
  15. Tried Viking January around the horn this year. Attractive ship, mediocre food, good but not special service. One and done. Just off Silver Moon Iceland, beautiful ship, staterooms lovely, excellent service, pretty good excursions, food good. Looking so forward to being back on Crystal next year, with Silversea as a backup!
  16. Currently on a Silversea cruise which has been very good,,,,but so looking forward to booking Crystal soon!
  17. Beware Viking. Food and service not in league with Silversea, Seabourn or Regent.
  18. What about the mattresses? We were on the Symphony January 2022 and felt the mattress was in desperate need of replacement!
  19. We were in the Venice Lagoon and Po river last July on Uniworld Venezia. It was a wonderful trip with terrific excursions. We did the 9 night including Milan, but it is offered as a 7 night also.
  20. We are trying to figure out if we can make an 11:15 am flight after Silver Moon docks at 7:15 am at port in Reykjavik. Any insight would be appreciated!
  21. We are trying to figure out if we can make an 11:15 am flight after getting off a cruise ship at port. Ship docks at 7 am. How difficult is it getting through security at Keflavik airport? Can you make a flight if you get to airport 2.5 hours ahead?
  22. We have sailed Seabourn, four times and recently completed our first Viking cruise around the horn in South America. We have sailed many lines with Crystal being our favorite and Alaska was on Crystal. The Viking Jupiter was a well thought out and beautiful ship. The staff was excellent. The penthouse verandah was a nice stateroom, but after seeing the deluxe veranda staterooms, they would have been much too cramped. In our opinion the food in every venue was very mediocre and sometimes poor which came as a surprise. Perhaps it was sourcing from South America?The included excursions were fair. The paid excursions ranged from pretty good to dreadful and poorly planned. if I were choosing between Seabourn and Viking, I would definitely choose Seabourn. Of course we have not sailed Seabourn since before Covid and they probably have some of the same issues all lines are facing.
  23. We just did a similar, but spent one night. My suggestion would be to tip as you go. Those operations are very efficient, but each person plays a different roll and should be tipped accordingly. Since tipping is not customary, all tips are very appreciated.
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