A Leap from HAL to Crystal

[hiccups]

Using an online cruise search engine I came up with the following entry prices for a 7 day Caribbean cruise - RT from a Florida port:

 

Crystal Serenity; $11,780

HAL: $549

Oceania: $2,149

Regent: $4,049

 

We took a seven night Caribbean cruise on Oceania in March, in a balcony cabin. We returned today from a seven night Caribbean cruise on HAL; we booked a verandah guarantee. Adding in what we received on Oceania (specialty restaurants, gratuities, unlimited internet, non-alcoholic beverages) to the HAL price ($140 restaurants, $200 internet (guessing on that one), $120 drinks), HAL was cheaper by about $700. But had we booked a similar verandah cabin on HAL rather than taking the guarantee, that difference would drop to about $100. And we received $200 OBC from Oceania, and nothing from HAL (also $150 for the Oceania cruise from our TA, and $50 for HAL). Oceania also hosted a captain's reception with an open bar for two hours one evening, so that was a nice freebie.

 

With a similar pricing differential on future cruises, hands down we'd choose Oceania. Would we pay thousands more? No, but for a couple hundred, the food, drinks, atmosphere , ship size and cabin size (on Riviera, anyway) make it a no brainer for Oceania. We're sailing on Azamara next year, so I'm looking forward to adding another data point to our cruising experience. Right now, we rank our cruise preferences as Oceania, Royal Caribbean, HAL and Carnival. I'd like to get X and maybe Princess in the mix, too, and see which mainstream line is the best fit for us.

[rafinmd]

marycruz, Seabourn is now 7PM (still too early for me), and nothing but pastries or room service before 8AM.

 

Roy

[whogo]

The description of the Prinsendam was either hopelessly out of date, or incorrect in the first place. If the descriptions of the other ships have similar errors, they can't be counted on for basing a decision on whether or not to cruise.

"The narrative mentioned a two class system between the Neptune Suites and the rest of the ship." This is the only Berlitz description of HAL ships that I found on this thread and I agree that there is a two class system to some extent.

 

I last looked at a new Berlitz cruise book in 2006. At that time descriptions were way out of date: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=455794 I would think that constantly cruising Berlitz staff would have time to update descriptions.

 

As for the points, it's their book, Berlitz can assign points any way that they choose. Perhaps -10 points for every year in age. -10 points for every year since major refurbishment. -30 for every minute waiting to be served at a bar. +20 for every cubic foot of bathroom space. +10 for every piece of flatware at a dinner setting. +15 for every 1/16" of cabin carpet thickness. +40 for being referred to as sir or madam. +40 for every 10 degrees in the staffs' bows, etc, etc.

 

I don't cruise enough to be able to critique the Berlitz ratings. I know that I would jump at the chance to cruise Crystal. I have not found an interesting Crystal itinerary at a price I can afford.

[RuthC]

"The narrative mentioned a two class system between the Neptune Suites and the rest of the ship." This is the only Berlitz description of HAL ships that I found on this thread and I agree that there is a two class system to some extent.

The Berlitz description of the Prinsendam also referred to the golf simulator (which has been gone for several years), and the Oak Room as a smoking room. It is not (and if it ever was, that was even longer ago than the golf simulator was removed). The Oak Room as a smoking room is on the Noordam.

As I said, hopelessly out of date for a 2016 description.

[iancal]

We do not pay much attention to the so called evaluations. There are so many of them. Most driven by advertising revenues.

 

We pay attention to our likes, dislikes, the ship outline on the web, and cruiser reviews. Good and bad, we sift through them and often find a common thread, albeit expressed in different ways and to different degrees.

 

We find that the ship itself is becoming the differentiator, not the cruise line, when it comes to the mass market offerings. Service, food with the exception of pay venues, entertainment etc all seems to be so very similar. We also find that variations have more to do with crew, voyage, etc than it does with cruise line. So we cherry pick, try as many as possible and long as we find one cruising to where we want to go.

 

The premium lines are becoming more attractive to us as we find ourselves spending more on board the mass market lines for dining. They appear to offer some of the standards that the mass market lines used to provide before the latter's pricing models fell so far behind inflation.

[kira5]

One question that arises for me when comparing lines (premium vs. mainstream) is whether I can purchase an on sale rock bottom cruise (like the $599 HAL Caribbean one) and then put on add-ons (spa, drinks, excursions, specialty dining) and make it like a premium line. And still save something.

[sammiedawg]

One question that arises for me when comparing lines (premium vs. mainstream) is whether I can purchase an on sale rock bottom cruise (like the $599 HAL Caribbean one) and then put on add-ons (spa, drinks, excursions, specialty dining) and make it like a premium line. And still save something.

 

IMO no, no and no unless you are totally loyal and infatuated with HAL and you crave the repeat customer recognition and attention. Some trip reports and reviews focus on grading, comparing every tiny detail to what they are used to on HAL.

If you book premium or luxury let it go.

[OlsSalt]

You cannot upgrade the decor or the plushness of the carpeting when comparing add-ons to HAL to the more premium lines. That was the primary difference we found between HAL and Crystal: decor.

 

However if you view the links in the prior showing the Crystal Serenity ocean view cabin and the similarly priced HAL Neptune suite cabin, you can start at least some basic cabin choice comparisons for approximately the same price.

[whogo]

The Berlitz description of the Prinsendam also referred to the golf simulator (which has been gone for several years), and the Oak Room as a smoking room. It is not (and if it ever was, that was even longer ago than the golf simulator was removed). The Oak Room as a smoking room is on the Noordam.

As I said, hopelessly out of date for a 2016 description.

Just saw a switch on the ceiling in a hall on Prinsendam's Dolphin deck labeled "Fire Dampers Golf Simulator Deck 5". The simulator might have been in the nearby Stuyvesant room before my time. I resisted the urge to flip the switch.

[RuthC]

Just saw a switch on the ceiling in a hall on Prinsendam's Dolphin deck labeled "Fire Dampers Golf Simulator Deck 5". The simulator might have been in the nearby Stuyvesant room before my time. I resisted the urge to flip the switch.

Good decision.

Yes, the Golf Simulator was in what became the Stuyvesant room when I first sailed the Prinsendam in '07. It was gone by the time I sailed her again in '11, although I don't know when it was removed.

[cruisun]

You cannot upgrade the decor or the plushness of the carpeting when comparing add-ons to HAL to the more premium lines. That was the primary difference we found between HAL and Crystal: decor.

 

However if you view the links in the prior showing the Crystal Serenity ocean view cabin and the similarly priced HAL Neptune suite cabin, you can start at least some basic cabin choice comparisons for approximately the same price.

 

Your analysis is so far off it makes no sense.... the only difference you found between HAL and Crystal was decor!?!????

[OlsSalt]

Your analysis is so far off it makes no sense.... the only difference you found between HAL and Crystal was decor!?!????

 

I have stated this conclusion several times. The rest was a mixed bag. Some good, some not so good. After two cruises, admittedly in the small, cramped cheap seats, I did not come away "Crystalized". Maybe the hype was too much.

Edited December 18, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Ken the cruiser]

Bolding is mine. While there were some things we liked about Oceania (the stateroom and it's layout) we found the food disappointing (other than Jacques) and with too many days at sea there were little activities of any kind planned. We are the same as you. One and done - at least, for a very long time.

 

I agree on Jacques. It was very good. I wouldn't call it the best but it is very good. As to the rest of our food on our cruise on the same ship (last fall) - the food was pretty blase. Probably because it came either cold or had sat under a heat lamp for far too long. Cruises can change from week to week certainly but our 14 day was not a good experience overall and we heard the same comments by a number of experienced O cruisers.

 

We agree completely. We cruised on Oceania this past March and found both the food selection in the Terrace Cafe and the evening shows had definitely gone down hill since we cruised on the Riviera the previous March. Definitely not worth the money in our opinion.

 

However, we are so looking forward to our first cruise on the Crystal Serenity in May when they cruise along California and then to the Mexican Riviera. We still love HAL, but every once in awhile we like to spoil ourselves and hopefully both Crystal and Azamara will fill that void for us as we have future cruises booked with both of these cruise lines.

[iancal]

Our experience is that it is very possible, even probable, to have a less than perfect cruise on any cruise line. Clearly, HAL is no exception. Neither is Crystal, Oceania, or the others.

 

It is the reason why we are not loyal to any one cruise line. While Celebrity is currently at the top of our preferred list of mass market lines, the last three cruises we have enjoyed have been on RCI and Princess. Our cruise next month is on Princess. Price and ship won the day over several cruise lines that had essentially the same itinerary. We were not about to pay an extra 40 percent simply because it was a Celebrity ship, the staff might recognize us, or we get some minor recognition because we had sailed the line a few times in the past. We place value above our egos being artificially stroked.

 

Like others, we could care less about being recognized as prior guests. Medals are less than meaningless to us. Don't care about special lunches, free dry cleaning, or discounts. It comes down to itinerary, ship, price, and then cruise line. We simply do not see a lot of difference other than at the ship level. The rest is down to luck of the draw.

Edited December 19, 2016 by iancal

[Ken the cruiser]

Are there any HAL veterans who have also cruised on Crystal? I know that Crystal is a more upscale line. What did Crystal do better than HAL? Did you feel as comfortable on Crystal as on HAL? Is there anything that HAL did better than Crystal?

 

What we're looking forward to on our upcoming maiden Crystal Serenity cruise is the 50+ activities to pick from on sea days which includes up to 3 lectures per day. It will be nice to have options to choose from again. On our recent HAL cruise to Hawaii and back, there were the normal events HAL offers on all their cruises, but nothing new except for maybe on the Koningsdam. That was a pretty cool cruise with a bunch of new offerings and events to enjoy. However, after being on 3 HAL cruises this year, we're ready for a change like iancal suggests. Afterall, variety is the spice of life and Crystal sure sounds like a spicy cruise line to try!

[OlsSalt]

What we're looking forward to on our upcoming maiden Crystal Serenity cruise is the 50+ activities to pick from on sea days which includes up to 3 lectures per day. It will be nice to have options to choose from again. On our recent HAL cruise to Hawaii and back, there were the normal events HAL offers on all their cruises, but nothing new except for maybe on the Koningsdam. That was a pretty cool cruise with a bunch of new offerings and events to enjoy. However, after being on 3 HAL cruises this year, we're ready for a change like iancal suggests. Afterall, variety is the spice of life and Crystal sure sounds like a spicy cruise line to try!

 

Wading through the Crystal hype - you have one sea day on that West Coast itinerary and Crystal offer the standard array of spa talks, fitness, computer, movies, bridge lessons, casino, etc:

 

From the Crystal website:

 

Your Story at Sea Adventure. Romance. Discovery.

Aboard the most award-winning ships at sea, your story can be written exactly as you wish: pamper yourself at the Feng Shui-inspired Crystal Spa, work-out at our state-of-the-art fitness center or Walk-on-Water along our 360o Promenade Deck; learn how to translate your story into a movie with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts Digital Filmmaking class at our Creative Learning Institute ®; or learn about art, history and worldly destinations with our engaging celebrity entertainers and speakers with our Crystal Visions® Enrichment Program; sneak away to watch recently-released movies in the Hollywood Theatre, shop our luxury boutiques, or simply lounge poolside while our attentive crew caters to your every whim. From mat Pilates and yoga to PGA golf instruction and paddle tennis on full-size courts, today is all about you. As evening arrives, dine on the renowned culinary creations of Nobu Matsuhisa, and Crystal’s own acclaimed chefs with new Modern Cuisine and Global Inspired menus, enjoy special wine-makers dinners, breakout new production shows, intimate lounges, a pulsing dance club or our action-packed Crystal Casino. The choices as always aboard the World’s Best are yours. How will you write your story on board?

Edited December 19, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Tom O.]

Wading through the Crystal hype - you have one sea day on that West Coast itinerary and Crystal offer the standard array of spa talks, fitness, computer, movies, bridge lessons, casino, etc:

 

From the Crystal website:

 

Your Story at Sea Adventure. Romance. Discovery.

Aboard the most award-winning ships at sea, your story can be written exactly as you wish: pamper yourself at the Feng Shui-inspired Crystal Spa, work-out at our state-of-the-art fitness center or Walk-on-Water along our 360o Promenade Deck; learn how to translate your story into a movie with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts Digital Filmmaking class at our Creative Learning Institute ®; or learn about art, history and worldly destinations with our engaging celebrity entertainers and speakers with our Crystal Visions® Enrichment Program; sneak away to watch recently-released movies in the Hollywood Theatre, shop our luxury boutiques, or simply lounge poolside while our attentive crew caters to your every whim. From mat Pilates and yoga to PGA golf instruction and paddle tennis on full-size courts, today is all about you. As evening arrives, dine on the renowned culinary creations of Nobu Matsuhisa, and Crystal’s own acclaimed chefs with new Modern Cuisine and Global Inspired menus, enjoy special wine-makers dinners, breakout new production shows, intimate lounges, a pulsing dance club or our action-packed Crystal Casino. The choices as always aboard the World’s Best are yours. How will you write your story on board?

 

We would not be interested in any of these services.

Also, we never attend any shows or participate in any ship activities.

The only things we care about is:

A nice cabin, with a balcony (doesn't have to be large).

A desirable destination.

Good food (does not have to be gourmet, it just has to taste good).

Good service in our cabin and at table side.

And, at a price we can afford.

 

I cannot think of anything else that is important to us.

When cruise lines add things like a free spa treatment, we feel we are paying a higher fare to get services that we will never use.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Tom O.

[OlsSalt]

We would not be interested in any of these services.

Also, we never attend any shows or participate in any ship activities.

The only things we care about is:

A nice cabin, with a balcony (doesn't have to be large).

A desirable destination.

Good food (does not have to be gourmet, it just has to taste good).

Good service in our cabin and at table side.

And, at a price we can afford.

 

I cannot think of anything else that is important to us.

When cruise lines add things like a free spa treatment, we feel we are paying a higher fare to get services that we will never use.

 

I am pretty much in your same situation. It took me a while chatting here to understand this( slow learner -duh?), but there are many passengers who do cruise primarily for the shipboard experience itself. Or even to just to get away from winter weather for a while, often repeating the same itineraries multiple times.

 

My own good weather California orientation just did not take this into consideration that this was a perfectly reasonable decision to make when taking cruises (Duh again).

 

Instead, I saw cruising only as a comfortable means of travel, to go places, especially new places and be able carry one's own bed and board, sleeping through the night with a new port upon wakening the next morning. This travel orientation obviously made many of other aspects of ship board life of far lesser concern.

 

Naturally, many passengers are right down the middle - looking for the perfect combo of travel and ship board life, which is where we find ourselves more today too, having seen and done an awful lot of the world now thanks to HAL letting us afford to do this. (I am now up to 138 countries visited after a lifetime of travel by land and sea.)

 

For super enrichment cruise travel with little frou-frou we still choose Voyages of Discovery, when we find a must see and do itinerary that we would rarely if ever find on a lesser price mainline cruise lines. And we are taking our first kick-back weather only HAL cruise, back to the Caribbean for sand and warm water only.

 

However, for our own primary (1) comfortable travel and (2) new port exploration orientation, we do keep coming back to the HAL as the value combo is just right for us. Mainly because for the price they keep offering some of the better and more varied itineraries, after digging deeper into their more routine offerings.

 

But for those who choose to primarily cruise for the ship board experience itself, exploring new cruise lines makes perfect sense. Much like those of us who choose to cruise for the new port destinations, even when it means also staying within the same cruise line.

 

Glad HAL keeps pushing the itinerary envelope from time to time offering new places to explore, while keeping the same value and comfort we have come to know and enjoy. (Even if things are not the way they used to be on board.)

[Ken the cruiser]

Wading through the Crystal hype - you have one sea day on that West Coast itinerary and Crystal offer the standard array of spa talks, fitness, computer, movies, bridge lessons, casino, etc:

 

From the Crystal website:

 

Your Story at Sea Adventure. Romance. Discovery.

Aboard the most award-winning ships at sea, your story can be written exactly as you wish: pamper yourself at the Feng Shui-inspired Crystal Spa, work-out at our state-of-the-art fitness center or Walk-on-Water along our 360o Promenade Deck; learn how to translate your story into a movie with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts Digital Filmmaking class at our Creative Learning Institute ®; or learn about art, history and worldly destinations with our engaging celebrity entertainers and speakers with our Crystal Visions® Enrichment Program; sneak away to watch recently-released movies in the Hollywood Theatre, shop our luxury boutiques, or simply lounge poolside while our attentive crew caters to your every whim. From mat Pilates and yoga to PGA golf instruction and paddle tennis on full-size courts, today is all about you. As evening arrives, dine on the renowned culinary creations of Nobu Matsuhisa, and Crystal’s own acclaimed chefs with new Modern Cuisine and Global Inspired menus, enjoy special wine-makers dinners, breakout new production shows, intimate lounges, a pulsing dance club or our action-packed Crystal Casino. The choices as always aboard the World’s Best are yours. How will you write your story on board?

 

I know, OlsSalt, doesn't it sound great!! Actually there are 4 sea days as we hooked 2 cruises together - 1 sea day on the California Coast 7 day leg and 3 sea days on the 14 day Mexican Riviera leg.

 

PCruzer, the big reason we decided to choose this particular 21 day B2B is not only because we got a great price on a B1 balcony room ($350/pp/day), but it also gave us a chance to check out what extras, if any, come with cruising on a luxury cruise line. For example as far as Crystal costs go compared against HAL's 14 day Alaska and 22 day Antarctica cruises we're booked on, we're paying HAL $353 and $393 pp/day, respectively, for a VS, plus on Crystal you automatically get free gratuities, free internet, free drinks and free specialty dining.

 

Another thing we're enjoying as we're getting ready for our upcoming first Crystal cruise is that once you pay, and oh by the way you get 2 1/2% off if you pay 6 months early, you can go online and reserve not only your excursions, but also all of your "Dining By Reservation" times for the entire cruise! You also don't have to pay for your excursions up front if you would rather pay for them with OBC, of which we have a bunch, when you get onboard.

 

Finally, may I suggest you post your same question on the Crystal forum and see what responses you get. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Ken the cruiser

[OlsSalt]

.....

Finally, may I suggest you post your same question on the Crystal forum and see what responses you get. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

Still licking my wounds from the Crystal CC forum, after I somehow failed to get "Crystalized", on their terms, after our two cruses. They are a tough crowd. :cool:

 

Though I forgot to add one thing that I did like very much, which still brings back fond memories - playing "What a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong on deck when we sailed away from each port. That could get a tear from me. Seriously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yCcXgbKrE. Or maybe it was the final cost of the Crystal cruise or the size of the ocean view cheap seat. I dunno.

Edited December 19, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Ken the cruiser]

Still licking my wounds from the Crystal CC forum, after I somehow failed to get "Crystalized", on their terms, after our two cruses. They are a tough crowd. :cool:

 

If I might ask, why do you despise Crystal so much? There must be some reason other than the over-priced cost you paid for your dinky little OV room.

 

I know for us, we will never sail on Oceania again. But that was because we were on the March 2016 sailing of the Riviera when norovirus broke out on the ship the second day at sea. We later found out it was the 5th outbreak in 4 months on the ship. Luckily, we didn't catch it like 10% of the other passengers did. But after witnessing how the officers and management handled the ordeal while on ship as well as after the cruise was over, caused us to make an about face and never to sail with them again. So when someone asks us about Oceania, I have no problem venting my thoughts.

 

So, why are you so upset with Crystal? I mean you have to admit, it's a pretty nice cruise line even if they do charge 4 times what you would pay for a HAL OV with a similar itinerary.

[OlsSalt]

I don't despise Crystal, and have reported I would sail Crystal again for the right price. We got fire sale prices on our second Crystal cruise, due to the Mexican crime wave at that time which caused a lot of cancellations for that particular segment. And it sailed less than full for that cruise - which was a quite wonderful Mexican Riviera -Sea of Cortez itinerary.

 

We enjoyed that cruise, even in our tiny OV cabin. No problems, and they had eliminated some of the pretentious fussiness we had encountered on our first cruise which we had not enjoyed. Which BTW also had a terrific itinerary - Singapore to Dubai. I just don't think "Crystal" as a brand deserves the deified hype we keep hearing about it. It has some good points and some not so good points. Isn't that true about all of them.

Edited December 19, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Ken the cruiser]

I don't despise Crystal, and have reported I would sail Crystal again for the right price. We got fire sale prices on our second Crystal cruise, due to the Mexican crime wave at that time which caused a lot of cancellations for that particular segment. And it sailed less than full for that cruise - which was a quite wonderful Mexican Riviera -Sea of Cortez itinerary.

 

We enjoyed that cruise, even in our tiny OV cabin. No problems, and they had eliminated some of the pretentious fussiness we had encountered on our first cruise which we had not enjoyed. Which BTW also had a terrific itinerary - Singapore to Dubai. I just don't think "Crystal" as a brand deserves the deified hype we keep hearing about it. It has some good points and some not so good points. Isn't that true about all of them.

 

Thanks for clearly that up for me and you're exactly right. Every ship has their pluses and minuses. Hopefully, our upcoming Crystal cruise in May, after we take another ride on the Koningsdam in February, will be loaded with a bunch of pluses and produce a ton of fond memories as well. :)

[cruisun]

Still licking my wounds from the Crystal CC forum, after I somehow failed to get "Crystalized", on their terms, after our two cruses. They are a tough crowd. :cool:

 

Though I forgot to add one thing that I did like very much, which still brings back fond memories - playing "What a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong on deck when we sailed away from each port. That could get a tear from me. Seriously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yCcXgbKrE. Or maybe it was the final cost of the Crystal cruise or the size of the ocean view cheap seat. I dunno.

 

Sure there are some hot topics but I've always found friendly helpful people who are happy and grateful to be sailing on Crystal.

The OP did not ask for a comparison, just what they may like and if HAL did anything better.

[kazu]

Sure there are some hot topics but I've always found friendly helpful people who are happy and grateful to be sailing on Crystal.

The OP did not ask for a comparison, just what they may like and if HAL did anything better.

 

I have found all the boards on CC to be very helpful when you are researching. Very helpful. :)

 

Now, if you happen to express some disenchantment with a cruise line justified or not, the cheerleaders abound (including this board) and you are often chastised :). I discovered that the hard way on a live thread when I was dumb enough to report Noro observations. C'est la vie, As was wisely pointed out anyone can have a bad cruise on any cruise line ;)