History&Wine

One thing that comes to mind: Those white containers at the bars used to be filled with assorted nuts: Brazil, filberts, cashews, pecans, etc, Then Crystal evidently decided to go cheap and they were filled with some twig-like snack or plain peanuts. Please bring back the mixed nuts.

I too am glad the library will stay as is. i enjoy the library with natural light. If the casino is going to be in what is now the bridge lounge having higher limits makes sense. Smaller venue casinos are not geared for the casual players. In my opinion...good moves all around.

I found many of the desserts at Waterside looked great but tasted ordinary. The desserts at Tastes were few but very good.

I think Vince has nailed it.

"Library stays" While I'm sure serenity will have a library...the question is where??

My answers apply to the Serenity, but are probably true for both ships. The pool is of decent size, enough to swim. The depth is only 4 feet however. Live music; The cove has a solo piano player or violinist from about 5:00 to around midnight. The violinist also plays there in the day for a few hours on sea days. The Avenue Saloon has a piano player from about 6:00 until 8:00 or so and then returning at 9:00 as a singer/pianist until "late". Dancing is most every night in the Palm Court from 5:30 to 6:15 accompanied by ambassador hosts. Dancing returns there after 8 pr so...not sure how long. There is often dancing in the Cove with the hosts on special occasions such as white night. As far as guests dancing, many do dance on special occasions such as white night. The dancing in Palm Court generally had less than a dozen guests dancing..sometimes far less such as two or three. But then the ship was usually sailing at half capacity or less on my just completed world cruise. Entertainment is generally quite good but I must say I miss the quartets Crystal had in the Cove years ago.

Changes were announced today. See attached pdf. Should be live on the website within 72 hours.2025-WC_Itinerary.pdf

Changes announced today. World Cruise itinerary after Rio: 2025-WC_Itinerary.pdf

Yes, I heard by the end of June. At the world cruise Q & A it was presented that "option 4" would almost certainly be the change, although there are bound to be some fine tuning. This option sailed across the Atlantic from Rio to Dakar and then spent the rest of the cruise in the Mediterranean. See my posts here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3006334-itinerary-changes-coming-to-crystal-2025-world-cruise/

402 passengers currently on board. 550 scheduled out of Miami. Nearly full ship to Alaska.

@TRIPACIAN. @Ibis Welcome aboard!

Yes, Mike is leaving tomorrow. Captain is leaving and will be replaced by Captain of early world cruise segments. Number I hear is a little over 200 passengers will be added for the transatlantic crossing. Thinking very few will be disembarking.

Mike Reiss, writer for TV show The Simpsons and Ice Age movies just finished his last presentation in the Galaxy. Truly hilarious, funnier than most comedians. A must see if he is on your voyage!

At the Cove there are Bacardi coconut and Bacardi raspberry. The Avenue has Bacardi Gold. Ask and they can get the gold at other bars.

Draft at the bar at Tastes is currently choice of Heineken or Newcastle. Since Mr. And Mrs. Molson are on board, Molson Ice is also available. Also available are a couple of non alcoholic beers. I find Heineken Zero surprisingly decent ..

In my opinion your 2025 cruise will be cancelled. Please post what alternatives Crystal offers you.

There are three posted pages of revisions which cover all the dates.

March 6 is another day in Rio. March 7 and 8 are both sea days. These three days are the same on the original itinerary and all four of the proposed changes. Dwight

Here are the proposed changes…

Hi Rob! I will post the survey options on a new thread I have started. Cheers, Dwight

The 2025 World Cruise will almost certainly have many itinerary changes due to the continued unrest in the Middle East. It looks like the plan is to stick with the initial schedule through Carnival in Rio. After that…Crystal has presented four options to those booked on the 2025 WC. All options are heavy in Europe, with two options emphasizing Northern Europe and two options emphasizing the Mediterranean. Deadline on return of the surveys is May 5. It looks like results will not be published. In my opinion all four options are better than the original itinerary. In any case, I give Crystal credit for asking for feedback…something that was not done for those of us on the 2024 World Cruise.

I realize this thread is about Symphony. I wonder where the Australian reviews of Serenity are. We picked up a bunch…I counted 25…TAs in Sydney for a multi day stay, a similar number in Melbourne and a lesser number in Adelaide.

I’m well. Not a lot to report as I have spent time in ports walking. The fruits at the market in Adelaide are huge as the Australian harvest has just come in. Calm and sunny today, our last sea day as we cross the Great Australian Bight. Seasack is doing a great job posting Reflections and menus!

Why not compare more similar rooms? The ocean terrace suite is much nicer than the solo outside cabin on Crystal.

Scenes from Hobbiton. Note the scale of the furnishings