Keith1010

Should I or should I not? That is the question. Keith Step by Step and hold on Tight. Keith

This came up on another board where someone said there won’t be a Crystal Society Host/Hostess on each ship. I wanted to pass along what I posted since I am sure some of you are wondering. It is my understanding that there will be two sales consultants on-board each ship; Serenity and Symphony. They will share the duties of the Crystal loyalty program (eg. Crystal Society). One of them is Paula Jean on Serenity and Daniele on Symphony. Keith

All You Need Is.................................... Keith

You send it to On Board Guest Services at: OBGS AT @crystalcruises DOT com AT ='s @ And DOT ='s . I would ask on board guest services about afternoon tea and Marketplace just to be 100% sure. I would get them know which cruise you are inquiring about. Keith

This is a new company and is in a catch up mode. My suggestion is see what things are like a year from now. There are quite a few new people; not all new in all of the land based departments but many new ones. One observation. Over the years Crystal had to make cuts. First they tried to do this in ways that would be transparent to the guest. However, eventually they had to make more cuts. On a ship if you need 500 crew you can't go with 300. But on land you can make cuts knowing that not everything will get done or it will get done but not as quickly. The same is true for other cruise lines. When Seabourn land based departments were combined under HAL certain things went away or certainly were not done as they were. Here's an example. People criticized marketing. Look at what marketing (which includes social media) is doing today versus a couple of months ago. On Board Guest Services IMHO is doing a terrific job. And while this reservation agent was a disaster that doesn't mean they all are. I have heard very good things about a number of them from several TA's and I had two very good experiences with them as well. Will the experience be as good as it is at sea. No. Not a chance. But let's see how things are when the folks get up to speed and when they are not in the catch up mode. Keith

Agreed and great that you remember it. given all that Penfold Grange. 🤣 We did one with a "Guest Chef" one time and I remember we had a chef on from Iceland. The food was terrific as he incorporated local cuisine. Keith

That's correct. We've booked it for less people and that allows you to have better wines. Also in the past there were three different menus where you could select everything from one menu or select items from each of the three menus. Also as a reminder, in addition to the VR dinners, depending on itinerary and interest they offer a VR lunch which was offered at a low cost as it has fewer courses and less pairings. This might be one involving champagne or wine pairings. Keith

No worries. Makes sense about Nobu Beer I used to only have wine at Umi Uma but a few years ago I changed it up starting with wine for a toast and then moving to beer. As to the wine I hope they go with the Matsuhisa Chardonnay they served before. On Endeavor Umi Uma was done on their own and while they had a Matsuhisa Chardonnay it wasn't the same one served on the Ocean Vessels and at least speaking for myself much preferred the one we had on Symphony and Serenity over Endeavor. Keith

Ahahi is a Japanese beer. I believe you but I don't remember a Nobu beer. Do you know when that ws available. There was the Nobu Chardonnay. The canadian beer I am familiar with which was served on board which I enjoy and also would have from time-to-time at Umi Uma and also Tastes is La Fin Du Mond. Keith

Thinking more of Umi Uma. Keith

In part of the USA it is "Hot", "Hot", "Hot". This includes where I live. Some of our wildlife needs to rest more. This critter was alive and I saw him while returning from a run on the entrance of our neighborhood street. Giving the weather where we live is a piece of cake. Highs over the next seven day as they have been recently 100 to 105 with lows in the mid to upper 70's yet the weather folks end up speaking for a few minutes telling you basically nothing. While we won't be eating snake on the Serenity inaugural voyage, we do plan on enjoying Umi Uma AKA Nobu. Keith

I realize the roll calls are not very active. If you have a roll call established you could ask those on it if they would like to get together in one of the lounges and agree on a time/date/location. If you don't have a roll call you can start one. This is what we used to do prior to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingles. All it take is one person to get things started. Keith

To me working with a TA is not that all different than in the USA having a specialist help one through the signup for the Medicare supplemental plans and to have a lawyer draw up a will for you. Can you do each of these on your own? Yes. Could you make mistakes? Yes. Would some be costly? Could be. But like any profession not all TA's, Insurance Professionals or Lawyers are equal in terms of knowledge, commitment and overall capabilities/competency. Keith

Thanks for sharing this. I remember looking at the itinerary and didn't understand such a short time in place such as Melbourne, Singapore and Istanbul and glad to see more time there plus more time in Aqaba. This will open up more time for people to see each of these places. We visited Goa one time and thought it was a good stop and much different than our other stops in India. Keith

Roy, you are correct. At our Meet & Mingle I read something I had read a prayer to Judith I had written ahead of time. I had gotten input from Rabbi Morrie. May Judith's memory be a blessing. Keith

You are most welcome. Keith

This is ironic coming from me but in case you all have forgotten guess what day it is? Yes, today is National French Fry Day. It used to be celebrated on July 13 but a proposal was made and approved to move it to the second Friday of each month. The idea is Fry (for french fries) and Fri (having it on a Friday). This is from our 2010 Crystal Symphony cruise from New York City to Los Angeles (San Pedro). We had a wager on that cruise that if some of our members came to the Fitness Center early one morning to workout with me I would have a french fry. We all got together for a french fry party. I have a photo of all of us and it includes 45 people from Cruise Critic. Keith

I also recommend using a TA. I consider myself very savvy and many who have posted also know how to book a cruise and navigate through challenges. With that said,a good TA can save you a lot of time, cut through red tape, and sometimes save you money or provide additional amenities. A good TA (and not all TA's are good) will ensure that something like that if they happened to them is addressed to the right people so it doesn't happen again one way or the other. In spite of some initial hiccups when reservations first opened, I have heard from people who I respect that overall the reservation team is doing very well and I do not believe the issue you went through is representative of the reservation team and also has no bearing on what the on-board experience will be like. Sorry you went through this. Keith

LeeAnne, I am reminded about how we became Crystalized on our very first voyage on Crystal Harmony. It started early in the cruise when I needed help with an item and saw the concierge. First words out of his mouth after I explained the situation was Mr. S....... You are on vacation. Allow me to take care of this for you. And he did. You will be on vacation on-board the Symphony. It is the Head Sommelier who promotes the Vintage Room. It is your time to enjoy and relax. This is why when I first saw the post on FB and then yours my response was simply "My guess it's wrong". And I had already asked about it after seeing the other post. P.S. KenzSailng.....Logic told me that they would do one or more even on the first cruise. Most of the people I know don't do exclusive VR's where it would be booked up. But as they time will tell. Keith

I have confirmed Vintage Room dinners will continue to be offered as they were in the past. Guests will have the opportunity to sign up for them once on board. They expect to offer this starting with the first voyage. They expect to offer lunches as well but just like in the past length of itinerary and the number of port versus sea days often determines whether or not luncheons are offered. And in both cases it comes down to interest in them by the guests. Keith

Thank you for your post and starting this thread. I still hope that one day Anne Marie and I will sail with you both. Keith

We'll know more when we get our cruise documents as the A&A says this will be defined more in information provided to us. They use the word "optional" but only list formal items so that is what is a bit confusing. Does that mean what they show is optional and if you don't go with this you can go with resort casual. I am not clear on this. Keith

My understanding is under the new program they receive the commission for the full fare. That was not my understanding for the original program but Larry believes it was. Keith.

Pat, the service they will use will get there in two days for domestic addresses and five days for international. One way or the other as Patty notes the cruise ticket can be sent electronically which is the fall back plan. They do have a plan to provide future cruises much earlier. Keith

When we were on the 2019 World Cruise when we arrived to Auckland we took a flight over to Sydney to visit our daughter and family for a few days until Serenity arrived to Sydney and we would return. On the day Sydney arrived we could see her from our hotel club lounge as we waited to head over the St. Ive Steps Wharf to take a tender over to the ship. Our family joined us for dinner at Prego. Timing was perfect as we celebrated our daughter's birthday with the delightful dinner. Only one year earlier they were on board Serenity with us and our other family for a family cruise. Keith