Keith1010

And this is an example of how things evolved. A few years ago when old Crystal put in the interactive TV's they moved the TV which previously had been on the side of the bed where the built ins are and placed it above the couch so you can see it from the bed. This opened up some space in the wall until as well. Keith

The Classic Aquamarine suites have gone through several changes over the years but they are not the newest of the Aquarmarine Suites. Like everything, we all have our own opinion. Personally, I prefer the Aquamarine classic suites over the newer ones on Serenity and over all of the Aquarmarine suites on Symphony. Whereas I prefer Sapphire on Symphony, I prefer Classic Aquarmarine on Serenity. I like the two desks in the Classic providing a good amount of space and comfortable seating. I like all of the shelve and draw space provided in the living area. I like the effiiciency of the closet. While the Aquarmarine does not have a round table like the Sapphire and has less space in the living area I stil prefer it on Serenity. We don't use the bath tub so somewhat wasted space. However we make good use of it to hang clothes that don't go into the dryer after they are washed. The Classic Aquarmaring evolved over the years and IMHO all for the better. Keith

Sdancer, you are very welcome and great news about your booking. I hope you are pleased with your cruise and look forward to hearing what you think. I am not sure why they went with a two person band and have no inside information on it. I can speculate it comes down to budget but this is just my guess. I've seen some short videos on another social media site which we are not supposed to mention on CC. There are some on this board who dance so hopefully they can provide more details on their experiences. Keith

As Nancy mentioned one of the cruises is the Holiday Cruise. I have been looking at the categories for the two cruises (it's split this year) for several months now. The pattern is very similar to the 2023 Holiday Cruise. Only difference is the other day all categories were waitlisted and this is earlier than the 2023 Holiday Cruise was mostly waitlisted. Makes sense because by the time itinaries came out some had commitments for 2024 and this provides those who want a shorter cruise or to sail over a portion of the holiday to book one over Christmas or one over New Years or for those who want a longer cruise to book both. But this will go back and forth. For example, several hours ago all categroes were booked and now on one of those cruise the Sapphire category shows request a quote. With 10 months to go there will be people who cancel, people who are waitlisted who get cleared and people who will book new. I have learned over the years every year is different. Many years ago the Holiday Cruise sold like hotcakes and the premium was even greater compared to other cruises. Then it his a point where it sold well but not like it did and prices were adjusted to refelct less of a premum. And the 2023 and 2024 Holiday Cruises look to be in great demand again. Keith

Pretty easy if you were on their first Crystal Cruise. We were.

Julia, enjoy every minute of the adventure. Keith

Yes those green pastures that one thinks are there until things go wrong. One correction . Not a long term Crystal Cruiser.

Great review and it sounds like you have been Crystalized. I am not sure whether or not you have done this but it would be great if you could use what you wrote to do a review on the Cruise Critic Review section. You can easily copy and paste what you wrote and do the various ratings as part of the review. I think those who have never sailed with Crystal and check oiut your review as part of their research would benefit a great deal. I also enjoyed your posts on the other thread inclkuding first impressions. Keith

I hope the seas calm soon for all of you. Also, hoping that all of you who ive in California are safe and well. Keith

+1. My first reaction is a revised itinerary is coming soon and no point in selling more if you know it's subject to change. Keith

What I do remember about the 2020 World Cruise is: When we turned around. The fact that it was a guest we knew since 2007. Speaking with her husband the night we turned around. Going to Cabo where she was transferred to land. Going as fast as we could. And I believe getting back on schedule. What I wish I could forget is getting off the ship in Sydney. Arriving home to a nightmare. Food in the store. Almost nothing and we had nothing in the refrigerator other than the freezers. And the nightmare began. What I also remember is feeling very safe on the ship as event unfolded. I do remember about a year of all the discussion about when it would be safe to sail. Would we very get back to some sense of normalization? Would a vaccine be developed? Would it work? Not bad considering I don't remember what I ate for dinner last night. 🙃 Keith

No new updates. Keith

Agree. Like I said I've seen the best and the worst behavior when cruising. I'll just give one. Marketplace. Not open yet. So no serving pieces in place. More than once I've observed someone grabbing an item out of bowl or dish with hands. Another time a person taking it out and putting it back in. On the latter I told the Head Waiter and he removed the entire bowl for all that food to be discarded. Oh and I could list dozens and dozens of other examples. On a routine basis just not practical to police this IMHO. Keith

Ivi, While in the perfect world they would always have someone reminding guests it would require a lot of staffing to do this. My experience is if there is a health situation on the ship where they increase protocols they do exactly this. Norvirus comes to mind but they did it as well after the restarted cruises during Covid-19. I have seen the best of habits and the worst of habits when we sail. Keith

Oh that's too bad. As best I know most of the cruise lines do not require proof of vaccination but they'll note guests are required to have it if a locality requires it. But most places countries no longer require it. Keith

You are very welcome. Keith

No. Keith

I really don't like speculating which is why I've stayed out of the conversation, but with or without guests I don't see the ship sailing the Red Sea if guests were removed. What about the crew? Are they not people? And I suspect the insurance company will not allow this given the potential risk to the ship. Time will tell. My guess is it won't be too much more longer until we know something. No inside information. JMO because of the need to inform guest who have booked individual segments and those on board now who had planned to fly home from a location impacted plus the need to get everything finalized. Keith

Crystal's new brochure. The e-mail which provided the link to the on-line brochure said it is due to arrive to our mailbox this week highlighting 2024 and 2025 voyages with lots of additional information. https://e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=final_file_from_pci_314213_cc_cat_text_1_hr_&hideIssuuLogo=true&hideShareButton=true&u=crystal_cruises Some interesting write-ups in the brochure and for those booked for the full 2025 World Cruise they show the shoreside events (3 likes 2024) with some details. Keith

I found this Reflections from April 2019 which Rob was also referring to. This was our last time in Livorno. On this voyage this shows information about the shuttle. As I mentioned, I would check with on board guest services for your voyage. Keith

Bon Voyage. Karen, they will have luggage tags for you at the pier but good idea to use the plastic holder. Keith

Gary, I've experienced it both ways in Livorno. Sometimes as Rob said and other time just a shuttle to drop you off at the port gate. I would tell you more often port gate than to a central point. I would recommend checking with on board guest services to see if they know at this point in time and if not when they will know. On a related note give yourself plenty of time to return if you are using the train just in case there is a breakdown or some other delay. Lucca is a great place to visit. There are companies that will drop you off there, and meet you at a designated time to get you back to the port. You can get recommendation on the Italy Ports Board. Keith

Phyllis, I would feel comfortable with 2:15. As I mentioned on the other thread I would look for a flight 2:00 or after. On our August cruise there were group transfers from Southampton to Heathrow and Gatwick. While distances are longer I would expect the same. You could check with on board guest services Jeith

Mykonos. Keith

Roy that was a day I won''t forget as we knew the guest who was evacuated. Sadly she passed a few months later. That was also a World Cruise we won't forget because while on board Covid unfolded. We were scheduled to sail Miami to Sydney so we could visit our family and return home. If we were doing the full World Cruise we would have stayed but as it turned out it wouldn't have been for too much longer. Keith