travelberlin

Adrian, I am sorry to hear you lost your cat. The poor Tonto is resting now. Why did you call him Tonto? Tonto means in Spanish dumb/stupid… Thanks very much for taking us along during your cruise. Well done Adrian 👍 Ivi

Excuse me, could you please explain what you mean? Unable to open and download the files you posted.

Not only that, this poster makes generalizations about things that he doesn’t even know. For example „every body at Crystal have got their money back”. He discusses and discusses and wants to have the final word and the absolute truth. Tiring really.

I do not think they have expired. This was at the time when those certificates did not have a requirement of booking within 6 months. They did not have an expiration date.

Do you get the double solo points if your booking is for 2 people but for any reason about 40 days from your cruise you have to cancel one passenger? A friend and I are looking at a cruise for next year but she can’t commit that far in advance. We could book the cruise now, but if she can’t come, it will be just me. We don’t intend to make it a no show. We would cancel just one passenger in case she cannot come.

I have a couple of next cruise certificates for Celebrity, which were made on board before the pandemic. Each of the certificates is a deposit of US 100. I don’t remember the benefits attached to those certificates. Am I entitled to reduced deposit when doing the actual booking? To OBC?

The people I mentioned are not swimming. They are just standing around chatting not allowing others to swim.

We do not use hot tubs. However we use the swimming pool to do our routine swimming. It is annoying to have in the pools groups of usually big people just standing there talking for hours. We heard one passenger calling the pools in ships “hippo pools”. Those of us who just want to swim are not able to do it. Some of those standing passengers just won’t move and look to swimmers as if they are invading their own pool. I guess the swimming pools are also not free of germs because of these practice of standing for hours on the pools, using them as if it were another hot tub.

It looks very nice as an entry level cabin. Much better than the balcony cabins at Azamara or the solo cabins at Crystal. If this is an important criteria, I guess Explora wins. What I like is that all cabins at entry level at Explora, are balcony cabins. I am finding very difficult now to cruise without a balcony. Not because I need the balcony to spend time there, but I need the fresh air in the bedroom. Specially after the pandemic this has become very important to me. Ivi

Some Europeans seem to have received their US 2225 pp already. Others have not. We are still waiting.

Thanks we are still waiting.

Thanks for letting us know. One question, you got US 4450 for one claim? This will be US 2225 per person. Are others also getting this amount? How much shall we expect from Moecker? US 2225 per person? Ivi

I don’t receive any emails. It doesn’t matter how many times I register.

Life is beautiful. Just add some champagne and I am absolutely happy 😉

Have you already cruised with the New Crystal? Since this a new company it will be interesting to see how you compare the two new companies (Explora and New Crystal). Ivi

It looks unusual to me also. I remeber the ones that Azamara makes and those are cleary different.

If you have the Key and at check in were not able to get an early check in time, do you have to wait for your assigned check in time or how does it work?

I enjoy Moet but my favorite is Veuve Clicquot, which is more expensive than Moet. Which champagnes do you find better and cheaper than Moet?

I suggest you contact your hotel Sheraton with this question. You could also look at the following webpage for porters and contact them to ask if they would provide the service you need. https://schipholmeetandassist.com/services/porter/

Thank you moto Italia. Your explanation is very helpful. I certainly hope that Crystal will do whatever is necessary to provide a better internet connection to all guests as part of the included luxury services. Specially for cruisers who are younger than the usual Crystal regulars, a functioning and fast Internet connection is very important. Crystal wants to attract younger guests. Ivi

Apparently water is oft a problem on the cruises in Africa and India. Someone mentioned that the bottled water on those areas is not always purified but just plain tap water. The recommendation was to drink sparkling water instead.

But apparently there are not there anymore… the ones that seem to be there from Noggins picture, do not look like new books that have been put there from the management. I would prefer to have a central place where books are kept for everyone. I am not asking for the Queen Marys library but something like you find at the MSC Yacht Club.

I agree with you. The internet speed during my last cruise with the Serenity was quite low, specially for uploading. It was impossible to do any security update during the time of my cruise. Fortunately it was just 13 nights. The times in which, we would follow the crew members to find a land internet service or internet cafe are gone. It used to be like that about 10 years ago. Nowadays, we do not spend our port days in very unsecured internet connections on the ports of call. We pay for a good functioning internet with high speeds in cruise lines like Royal Caribbean. But at the lower perdiems of the so called mass cruise lines, it is not expected to receive luxury perks included in the cruise fare. Crystal however has the ambition of remaining a luxury cruise line with exceptional service. Crystals perdiems promise that. Now, it is not important if US 20 per day is a lot or not (for long journeys like a world cruise it will be a considerable amount). It is the principle. We do not agree with differentiation to sell services onboard. For sure some people need a better internet connection than others. But this applies to every thing offered on board. For example we do not need butlers or do not drink much alcohol, however we pay for those services like everyone else. I think Crystal shall rethink in which direction wants to go. Ivi

And do they disinfect them for each cruise?

Yes. Cruises are for me a wonderful opportunity to read as much as I can. Does Explora have a library? Ivi