RLK33853

We were also wondering about the dress code for our upcoming Symphony cruise. I followed Keith's advice and emailed obgs@crystalcruises.com. Received a very nice email the next day, apologizing/outlining when the cruise formal evenings would be ,and that this information would be reflected on our booking information in due time (which it now has been). This will be our first cruise with Crystal and we are certainly impressed with the pre-cruise attention Crystal has provided. We will be onboard in 10 days, and hopefully this attention to the passengers continues (as we are looking for a new "home"). The only drawback we anticipate is the small number of ships, thus, limited itineraries.

Next month we will be on our first Viking cruise, While we were on the fence about the drink package and wine, we took it for no reason other than convienance. As CDNPolar and others have mentioned, we are going in with an open mind. My wife and some of our friends (while not exactly oenophiles or winesnobs), do enjoy some of the more expensive or finer wines, That being said, their "drink now" favorites run anywhere between $20 and $40 a bottle. Most people we know (can't speak for ones we don't) get used to a profile or grape and then judge other wines in comparison. A lot forget that when you go to Italy, wines are different than France, those are different from Chile, and those are different from Australia (let alone the sub-regions). We try to keep an open mind. Worst possible scenario while aboard Viking is that we don't like their wines and we buy some on port days. Last thought - every year as a birthday present for my wife I purchase five or six bottles of the same varietal, all different price points, and do a blind tasting for her and friends. I really try to find a cheaper $10-$15 dollar bottle, a couple in the $20-$25 range, one in the $30's, one in the $40-$50 or higher. In every case, with only one exception (and we have been doing this for at least 20 years), my wife and DIL will always identify the cheapest and the most expensive wines. Not that the most expensive is the one they like, but they can identify it. As for the others doing the taste test, it has always been a mixed bag of which wines people like - other than most won't like the cheapest (although once a friend really liked the $12 bottle and we don't let him forget it). At the same time, the majority also don't like the most expensive one, likely since they are not used to the complexity. Of course as CDNPolar said, add in food - bland, spicy, sweet, etc and everything changes again. I can't stand icewine until you have some sort of sweet first. I'll provide our thoughts on the Viking wines once we get home. In the meantime, enjoy whatever makes YOU happy.

Just a quick question about whether you can book an airport transfer once on board. Our situaiton - we are getting off a Crystal cruise and right on board Silversea. Thus we had no use for Silversea's Door to Door. We asked our travel agent if we could just get the transfer from our Silversea cruise to the airport, and she was told no - it's Door to Door or you are on your own. This seems to be ridiculous and am wondering if anyone has booked the transfer once on board. If it matters, this cruise ends in Civitavecchia and we need to transfer to Fiumicino Airport (Rome). Right now we have a private transer as our backup but can always cancel if the Silversea transfer is easier. thank you Ray and Ann

We will be in a Reserve Cabana Mini on deck 9 with the public cabana area beyond our balcony. Please let us know how intrusive the outside area is to your private balcony. Also how do they keep non cabana passengers from using this area? thanks

I'm assuming that you have submitted your Military documentation to Princess and that this is reflected on your account. Our military credit shows up immediately upon booking and we never pay in full until the final payment is due. But we use a "Future Cruise Deposit" to book, so this changes some of the rules (cancellation, amount of deposit, etc). This may be the difference. An easy way to check if you should be getting this credit is to: - Sign in to the Princess site - Go to "My Account" on the top Banner - Then hit "OnBoard Credits" - This should bring up your "Circle Savings Account" - When it comes up, hit "View Details" - You will see "Military Benefits" on one of the lines of Credits, and whether it is "active" Hope this helps. If not you should speak with your travel agent or Princess.

Good Morning. As we get closer to our April 25th Athens to Rome cruise on the Symphony, we have some specific questions, especially regarding Crystal and the ports they use. We are doing 3 cruises btbtb - this Crystal one, then one on Silversea, then one on Viking. Our idea is to compare these 3, as well as other lines so that we can find a new "home" for cruising. That said, some of the ports overlap, and with Silversea including excursions, we are looking at just wandering for most of the Crystal ports (which is what we normally do anyways - go for a long walk, find a cafe, have a glass of wine/beer, and people watch). Walking distances is not an issue for us as we are both runners). We are familiar with a number of the ports on this cruise, but the following are new to us. 1. What is Crystal's normal embarkation time in Athens? 2. We've never been to Izmir - is it walkable from the port? 3. We've never been to Bodrum - is it walkable from the port? 4. We've never been to Rhodes - is it walkable from the port? 5. We've never been to Chania - is it walkable from the port? 6. We've never been to Valetta - is it walkable from the port? Any other suggestions or hints would be appreciated. We usually don't do museums or art galleries - more into the local culture, old architecture, and scenery. Thank you in advance. Ray and Ann

Thanks for the suggestion. We have utilized the train quite a bit in Europe and it was actually our first thought - lots of times, ease of getting to the train station compared to transferring from Civitavecchia to FCO, etc. We were surprised though by the pricing - both the train (quite high), and the airline (quite low). Ended up we could fly for the same price (including a private car to FCO) as taking the train, and we wouldn't have to try to get our luggage from train to train at the transfer in Rome. Strange but maybe next time. It is possible that using the train would have been a better option if we had purchased the lowest economy fare, but we like the business class. thanks Ray

Thanks Everyone. Totally agree with the comments about the chaos at FCO. Even though we are only flying to Venice, we are going to ensure 3 to 3.5 hours to get checked in, bags dropped, and through security. Looking forward to meeting you onboard Nancy. Ray and Ann

Morning Everyone Specific questions about disembarkation and private transport at the Port of Civitavecchia. According to our itinerary, we dock on May 18th at 0700. We have a 1:20 pm flight out of Fiumincino (FCO) and would like to stay on the ship until about 9:00 am. That way we won't have to sit at the airport for longer than need be. A 9:00 am departure would get us checking in at FCO around 10:00 am. 1. What time do passengers have to be out of their cabin on disembarkation days 2. What time do you have to leave the ship 3. Anyone used a Private Car transfer recently (last year or so) from the Port of Civitavecchia to FCO? We have used Italy Limousine in the past but this was pre-Covid and not sure if they are the same now. Thank you Ray and Ann

Hit and miss these days. We have just under 500 days and sometimes we get invited and sometimes not. In the past 3 years we have been on 12 cruises with Princess and have been invited 3 times. Just off 3 btbtb Mexican 7 day cruises out of San Pedro and the cutoff numbers were around 560 the first week, 780 the second, and 600 the third. There are tons of Elites on these sailings. As others have noted, Alaska is a good bet for a lower cutoff number, but so are cruises in the Mediterranean. Good luck!

The one difference from before, is that the Military credit is now Non-Refundable and must be spent.

Morning Everyone Specific questions about disembarkation and private transport at the Port of Civitavecchia. According to our itinerary, we dock on May 9th at 0600. We have a 1:20 pm flight out of Fiumincino (FCO) and would like to stay on the ship until about 9:00 am. That way we won't have to sit at the airport for longer than need be. A 9:00 am departure would get us checking in at FCO around 10:00 am. 1. What time do passengers have to be out of their cabin on disembarkation days 2. What time do you have to leave the ship 3. Anyone used a Private Car transfer recently (last year or so) from the Port of Civitavecchia to FCO? We have used Italy Limousine in the past but this was pre-Covid and not sure if they are the same now. Thank you Ray and Ann

What are the Magic Show tickets??? Didn't realize that shows required tickets. thanks Ray

No problem at all. With this piece of crap it wouldn't surprise me that I can use that functionality and you can't.......

Actually this DOES work with the old app. I just did it to ensure that it hasn't changed.