skybluewaters

It's good to hear that Crystal has decided not to keep the dining room open for lunch on port days. This is a wise choice in the allocation of resources, both regarding manpower and the wastage of food.

And don't forget to bring a dictionary (in several languages). The menu seems unnecessarily obtuse.

There are standard dishes and rotating specials. This menu is typical.

I hate to break it to you, but...😁

You might want to bring some shorts and tee shirts. Last time we were on Crystal in Alaska, the temperatures hit into the low 80s in two of the stops.

I'm wondering why you had an 8PM flight when there are several earlier ones. Was this your preference or did FlightEase schedule this despite an earlier preference on your part? I'm trying to get a handle on how flexible FE is. Thanks

If your next cruise is on Odyssey (or on a ship that doesn't have Solis yet), your app will still show TK Grill. Otherwise, if you open the app and then click on the "Experiences" tab at the bottom of the page, and then go to "Dining & Drinks," it should re-populate with Solis instead of TK Grill (key word here is "should").

Excellent point

Yes, there's of course sashimi, plus warm nuts and saketinis, as well as the usual full bar. The only issue I've had there is that the tables are tiny (they were meant for drinks and not for eating). I wonder if they'll get around to replacing them with larger ones.

Yes, 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Most people pop in for pre-dinner bites, although you certainly can make it a full meal. But you'll just be eating sushi (nigiri and maki) without any salads, side dishes, etc.

Sad? Are there lots of sober children in some third-world country who need alcohol? It may be a financial loss, but not sure it qualifies as a sad event. And this comes from someone who was near tears when they spilled a Negroni. 😢

That may be similar to waiting for Microsoft stock to return to 2010 values. If the current price is at all "reasonable" to you, you might be best off just booking it now and not getting aggravated as the price continues to increase. It might be hard to swallow at first, but at least you'll have more time to enjoy the anticipation phase of your trip.

Are you (or anyone else) saying that in addition to checking the airline's website for better independent prices, one can also check to see if Flight Ease has lowered its price on a specific flight that one has already booked (but not yet paid for)? When I go to the Flight Ease page to look for any changes in price, my current flight shows up with the original price and I don't know how to search for changes in price. Thanks

And while they're at it, they could make the Solis menu more comprehensible. The haughty descriptions of the food require multiple internet searches to figure out what the heck you're ordering. Apparently every vegetable needs to be annotated with the name of the farm that grew it, and you need to have a working knowledge of multiple languages to interpret the menu. But there do appear to be some intriguing items on the menu.

Under these conditions I doubt I'd be ordering the osso bucco. I'd probably go up to the restaurant entrance podium, grab a handful of candied ginger, and turn around without entering.

No, we're not going to the lavender farm or to the tea at Butchart Gardens. But an interesting note, two of the excursions I signed up for have dropped their prices since I booked. Dynamic pricing? I hadn't heard of that for excursions before. And you are entirely correct, avoiding hassles/worries is worth a million in prizes.

Thanks! Btw, all categories show as "Join the Waitlist" except for Sapphire Veranda Suite, which is "Request a Quote." So, I guess I can't nab the Crystal Penthouse at $471,100 for myself as a solo, or $550,000 if I bring the GF along.

Thank you @artbcpa But I can’t agree with you regarding the reasonableness of the pricing of their excursions. The price on quite a few of them on my upcoming June 24 - July 9 cruise on Serenity can best be described as outrageous or absurd (that varies by specific excursion). But Crystal must know what it’s doing, because we signed up for four excursions nonetheless.

This was also done on one of our cruises within the past year. I wasn't sold on the idea of it, but it worked out ok (at best). My preference would be for them not to make this a regular occurrence, although I applaud them for trying something new.

Thanks for your review! Could you explain what you mean by Crystal being more flexible with regard to pricing.

Apparently, that ~ $500/pp increase is just since yesterday. There was a much larger mark up which occurred prior (see @Sunprince's comment #19 above).

Regarding the 21-day Sojourn cruise, I just checked and a V1 (with a complimentary upgrade to a V3) is now $13,399. That's ~ $500 more since yesterday, assuming we both are correct. Are you sure about the $7500 price before the sale? That seems awfully low for a Med cruise, even in October/November.

I, too, love the old Crystal ships, but can Crystal survive without new ships? Given the extended time it takes from conception to delivery of a new ship, I think Crystal's best hope is to purchase existing luxury ships from another cruise line...or merge with Seabourn. Carnival, which owns Seabourn, has immense debt and has already sold off one of Seabourn's ships. Perhaps it would be in both Crystal's and Carnival's best interests for A&K to acquire Seabourn.

Many travel sites do. Here's one (I think I'm not supposed to say the name of the group here). And, yes, all of Seabourn's ships are 6* on this site.

Occassionally I’ll find a cruise that has few cabins available, with perhaps only one or two being desirable. I book online to secure the cabin and then transfer the booking to my TA. I’ve done this with other cruise lines and, if memory serves, this was possible on the old Crystal website.