Keith1010

Ivi, the key is will power. I would take a taste of each item (the key word is taste) but have the fruit fruit and the caviar. This was for two also. Keith

Refurbishment has started for sure. This one is very extensive and until they are complete I am sure they don't want to show what it looks like. Think about gutting out a portion of your home. It wouldn't make a good sales brochure until complete. It is the finished product that will be appealing rather than what it looks like under construction. Keith

We will do what it takes for exercise. With that said prefer the promenade deck on Crystal vessels for several reasons including it's length, (it can get boring if you don't have much to walk seeing the same things over and over(, that you have one shady side and possibly two, and you can walk under the overhang and there are days where you can walk on the promenade when not conducive to walk on top of the ship. Like most things each of us has our preferences and that includes how/where we exercise. Keith

Difference on at least the two Silversea vessels we sailed is that there was limited walking space outdoors compared to on Crystal so often we found walking on SS meant going by the smokers whereas on Crystal there are places outside to avoid that. The other issue and this might only be on their older ships was location of their smoking areas indoors which at least on one of the ships was where the line queued up for their main restaurant. The policy you quoted was the same we had even five+ years ago on SS so I was surprised when it was mentioned smoking was taking place on the verandahs. Probably some people breaking the rules and/or rules not being enforced. Not saying Crystal didn't have their own issues as on Symphony there were issues with the smoke from the Conneseur room getting out to the main area. But I am saying on the SS ships we sailed with less outdoor areas to walk compared to Crystal Ocean vessels smoking was an issue and the configuration on those ships has not changed nor has the policy since we sailed them.

Julia, first off so sorry about the tree falling on your house. A few weeks ago we had a very bad ice storm and unlike two years earlier when we had the deep freeze with lower temperature and a mix of snow and ice this one had more ice and brought down trees on resident properties, in our common areas and lots of tree limbs. In some portions of the community it looked like a war zone. They removed all of this although a lot hasn't been picked up yet so it is on the sides of roads and on resident lawns. Anyway, in many parts of Texas we had the wind storm which you had an in our area with winds of 59 MPH it took down some additional trees and tree limbs which were weakened by the storm. I hope you didn't have damage to your home. OK now back to this. My apologies. Even though the writeup for the rooms that will remain on deck 8 and 9 as the standard room said no bathtub I thought it might not have been right for the ones that were in place before. I am wrong. I have confirmed this. So none of those standard rooms on decks 8 and 9 will have the combo bath. On decks 10 and 11 the former PH and PS rooms are not changing (CP is not either) so they will still have the bath tubs. Sorry for the confusion. I am learning at the same time others are. And yes, to anyone who thinks the deck plans should be color coded to show things like the traditional PH, PS rooms I have said this from the day that we realized that modifications weren't being made to some room categories not only here but to those who can make this change possible. It will cut down on confusion and reduce phone calls from TA's and customers to Customer Service. I am ready for Spring. We have one more cold front coming in about a week with cooler than normal temperature and wetter than normal. The rain is great as we need it but this constant change from cool to warm to hot back to cool and warm and hot is getting tiresome. Keith

always thought about the irony of this as a birthday breakfast. If one would eat this everyday of the year I would think how many more birthday's would you be celebrating. Then I realized, this is why it's only offered on the ship on your birthday. The best thing is to add some champagne because it will counteract the extra calories from what you eat. Keith I

Absolutely. I have said that ALL along. I have said each room should be color coded so that it is clear. But until they do this the best bet is to have the TA verify this. Keith

The best approach is to have your TA check with Crystal to see what the configuration is for each room. Keith

I learned about this from a fellow cruiser. In short, all of the former PH, PS and CP suites were not redone . Also as I posted earlier if you have visibility to the former deck plans and you overlay the newer ones you can tell which of the former rooms have not been redone and if they had tubs they still do. At the same time a TA can simply check with Crystal to verify this.

Yes for sure. I did not list the specific PH's on Deck 10. There are something like 45+ former PH's on deck 10 that all have tub. Keith

Julia, my guess and you can have your TA confirm is that the following rooms would have tubs as I think they are not being redone and they had tubs before. 8016 thru 8019 8032 to 8035 8046 - 8049 8064, 8065 10032 - 10035 10076 10077 10084, 10085 10092 - 10095 Those are the standard rooms. On top of it all of the former PH rooms and all of the former PS rooms would have tubs. Keith

Alrighty....Let's go with something healthier. Now which one is healthier? A or W Or is that A&W not the soft drink. Keith

Julia, there are old rooms left such as some on deck 8 which have the combo bathtub shower. On deck 10 all of the former PH suites have bathtubs and the same would be true of the former PH's on Deck 11. They remain the same as they were. So I think the question is what former staterooms rooms are open for your cruise.on other decks which are open. If none are open then the former PH would be the lowest price with the bathtub. P.S. It's pretty easy for me to pick out former rooms not changed by looking at a former deck plan with the new one on line. Keith

Julia, maybe that is all that was left as I don't know what cruises you booked but if you want the lowest price rooms I would ask your TA to take another look for you. It costs you nothing and that is why you have a TA. At the same time you did not mention what category you desire but on Serenity on Deck 11 it is all suites. If you desire a suite with a bathtub I get it. There would be alot on Deck 11 and several on Deck 10 but if you wanted a standard room with a bathtub decks 9, 8, and 7 should be what your TA is looking for. Again details as to the type of room you want would be helpful and I am just trying to help. Keith

Julia, forgive me but this just doesn't make sense to me. On Serenity it would be on decks 7, 8, 9 and not 10 or 11. In fact, I don't think 11 would have anything which would meet your criteria. On Symphony it should be lower decks versus Deck 10. I am thinking 7, 8 in particular. Keith

Inside joke. Keith

On Deck7 on Serenity it refers to rooms that look out to gangway where it is stored. Similarly there are rooms on deck 8 which have a partial obstruction when the look out/down to this. Keith

Sdancer, thank you for posting the video. I have seen his videos before and I have found him to be knowledgeable and gives a good talks which are easy to follow. I saw this one shortly after it was posted as a friend shared it with me. He was right about the previous owner and warning signs, particularly as we look back and see what unfolded. Many of us have learned a lot from the experience as we normally do in life from other experiences. Two key lessons are which credit card company we use, and knowing that travel insurance (and the right kind) is your friend. The devil is in the details. And one additional one is to be more knowledeable of the companies you purchase goods and services from. His video does not change my thinking on any of this and I have booked with Crystal and don't feel driven to book with the largest of companies many of whom have had to implement cutbacks over the years. What happened with the former parent company changed some of my approaches for certain purchases including our travel. Thanks again for sharing this. Keith

I would have no concerns about bridge noise. This will be one of the new suites. Your verandah will be deeper than most which is a plus and I would not be concerned about the view. I see two cons with the room: The first one you said you would be OK with and that is motion as In rough seas you will have a lot of motion being on a higher deck and all the way forward. The second is simply a greater distance to walk to get to areas such a Marketplace. Keith

Craig, you are correct. All you say makes perfect sense. Thank you. Keith

Bags are packed. Ready to got. Oops. Wrong thread. What we meant to say is we need two more of you for a foursome. Any takers? We don't have a casino but we love to bet. And we never lose.

As I said I have shared experiences from two sets of friends who sailed SS (two different sailings) the past two months. I then said some of what they experienced was the same I did 6 years ago and gave examples of that. On a related note, I don't see you raising the same concern when one poster provides comments from 10+ years ago about Crystal.

Yep, I am well aware of that. So when most of the crew returning to Serenity and Symphony that is a big plus IMHO. As to the days before Covid, I though on SS that the wait staff in their equivalent of the dining room lacked training and those little touches that you see on board Crystal. I can name many examples of that so to me pre-covid still needed a lot of work. Keith

I'm not sure how we got onto food since this thread is about Hotel Directors but so it goes. Yes sourcing can be a problem just as food preparation and other factors can be a problem. Not every Lobster we have had at the same restaurant on land or say at Crystal was the same. In general we had much better success with the quality of food in the dining venues than we did on other cruise lines including two cruises on SS and yes last one was six years ago. An observation. On Crystal if there was a problem in Waterside and you told the Senior Waiter in minutes or less a Head Waiter came over and made it right. An example would be food not hot enough or food incorrectly cooked in as quick as possible they would bring a new item out to you. My experience on SS and the experience of a good friend who was just on board one of the new ships less than two months ago is when problems occurred including one member of their party not served while the other three were not once but I believe three nights and on another occasion for breakfast when orders were wrong is there was no head waiter to rectify the problem and in the case of the three dinners it often took 20 minutes to get the meal out to him meaning the others had no choice but to eat. Another thing I was told was that there were a lot of new waiters and that just added to challenges. And there was never an apology given. Again, not every meal we had on Crystal was the best. The vast majority were but things happen but if we brought it to their attention it was rectified with an apology. I thought on our cruises with SS the dining venues were very pretty and the specialty restaurants were more intimate but the food was not close to Crystal. Again a subjective view as most are. As to Lobster the key is fresh not frozen and cooked to the correct temperature. Yes, the taste and look and texture does vary based on where it came from whether say Maine Lobster, South African Lobster or Australian Lobster which is the three we had with Crystal. What sets the dining venues apart in my view is when you have a "seasoned restaurant team". This includes waiters, head waiters, head waitress, maitre d' and having strong F&B managers and Hotel Directors who know what to look at when going through the galley or other areas such as the food stations. Keith

Thank you so much. Yes, when we return will blog and also post on this board. Keith