I Am Excited About The Return Of Crystal Cruises

[Keith1010]

Last year I was hopeful that Crystal vessels would be purchased and would sail again as part of Crystal Cruises.

 

While al the vessels weren't purchased, thank fully the two darling sisters were; Serenity and Symphony.

 

Most recently, I said stay tuned.

 

And yesterday, many of us received the teaser  e-mail about booking opening up starting February 1 for those with open bookings.

 

Oh I know, some thought things should happen quicker because that is what we are used to.

 

When you consider there was no longer a company to purchase and what was purchased was a name, two vessels and whatever else came with it and no employees and here we are around seven months later and bookings will open soon, I think is amazing.

 

In the seven months they have had to start hiring key people, agree on plans for the ships including the cost to overhaul them, schedule the work, develop itineraries, pricing, decide on many other things I am sure about what will be offered and a zillion other things not to mention whatever back office work is needed, finding space for newly hired employees to me it is amazing.

 

Will everything be perfect?  I doubt it but even seasoned companies make errors.

 

I am very excited about the return.  We will start to get a glimpse as we see pricing, itineraries and whatever else will be shared with us and then we'll know more when the ship sail.  

 

Seeing a nice combination of former returning personnel in key spots coupled with some with backgrounds others than Crystal I think is brilliant.  And with each passing day learning and hearing from former crew who plan to return adds to the excitement.

 

Crystal always evolved both in terms of the offerings, the ships, the amenities and the personnel at sea and at land and I always found that exciting.

 

I am so excited for the next chapter of the new Crystal to be told and just like a great book I look forward to each and every chapter.

 

It began with hope.  It continues with excitement. 

 

And I look forward to those roll calls and all the things which go along with the excitement of an upcoming cruise.

 

Bags are packed.  Ready to go.  Can't wait for the party to start.

 

I hope some of you feel the same way.  

 

Keith

 

 

[bayonejoe]

A year ago  we were on Serenity’s last voyage. We disembarked on 1/30. We never thought we would see her again. Well here it is a year later and on Monday the 30th

we will be seeing itineraries. To say we are excited is an understatement.

What a wonderful world.

Bags are packed

[StoryMag]

Hell, yeah. 

[juicyjuju]

I won't be on either of the inaugral cruises due to timing, but I'm really looking forward to on board trip reports. 

[Emdee]

I doubt I will make the inaugural cruise due to health reasons but I will enjoy booking a few cruises I hope to go on. 
With time running out we haven’t waited for Crystal to come back and have been on all the other luxury lines which was a real wake up call to what we loved about Crystal. Crystal was the real McCoy for us. Happy days are here again…

[cruisr]

How do people here know when the Inaugural cruise is?

[nancygp]

6 minutes ago, cruisr said:

How do people here know when the Inaugural cruise is?

Good question..unknown

 

Nancy

 

 

[Emdee]

7 minutes ago, cruisr said:

How do people here know when the Inaugural cruise is?

From what I heard from past and future employees they were given two dates…June and September. If it is June I know I cannot make it…if it is September there is a chance I will be able to.

 

Pure armchair speculation….don’t have much else to do… but I think it likely that Symphony due to its cabin design configurations may be easier  to bring back earlier with Serenity getting more larger suites to follow in September. Just saying….

[Keith1010]

The good news is with booking beginning on February 1 we will all know lots more very soon.  So stay tuned.

 

As to the analogy of Crystal and the Cowboys as a sports fan IMHO nothing analogous.  When I think of Crystal the Cowboys just don't come to mind.  And when I think of Cowboys, Crystal doesn't come to mind.

 

When I think of Crystal I do think of some other products but let's save that for another time.

 

I am very excited.  Why anyone would laugh about that is beyond me.  I would think for those of us who are happy people would just be happy that someone is happy.  Happy....Happy......Happy......

 

And yes bags are packed.  Ready to go.

 

 

 

Keith

[KenzSailing]

19 hours ago, Emdee said:

 

 

Pure armchair speculation….don’t have much else to do… but I think it likely that Symphony due to its cabin design configurations may be easier  to bring back earlier with Serenity getting more larger suites to follow in September. Just saying….

 

That's logical, but I'm going to be the contrarian and predict Serenity sees paying pax first.

 

Hey, I haven't been wrong yet!

[Emdee]

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

 

That's logical, but I'm going to be the contrarian and predict Serenity sees paying pax first.

 

Hey, I haven't been wrong yet!

For me it is a win win! Love both the stately ladies.
We were looking at some of the older cabins with their elegant wood fixtures and found it such a contrast to the cheap granite fixtures in SS. Hopefully they will have received plenty of spit and polish. 
 

You may well be right as the staff member who said that he was joining April for a June start up was ex Serenity and the person who said he was joining for a September start up was ex Symphony. But as I said…a win win for me.

[Keith1010]

I’m just excited. Speculation will be over soon.

 

On a related note crew are always needed during dry docks. 

 

Bags are packed.  Ready to go.

 

Keith. 

[Emdee]

6 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I’m just excited. Speculation will be over soon.

 

On a related note crew are always needed during dry docks. 

 

Bags are packed.  Ready to go.

 

Keith. 

It’s good they are bringing back crew earlier to better inculcate the Crystal spirit of family. 

[Keith1010]

Have I said I am excited?

 

This is truly an understatement.

 

What we are most excited about is seeing our Crystal extended family; both the amazing crew and our cruising friends.  

 

Bags are packed (Not Locked Yet, LOL), Ready to go., Can't wait.

 

And while we live through another freeze at home I look forward to warmer weather and being at sea on our favorite vessels and favorite cruise line.  

 

Keith

[May B]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Have I said I am excited?

 

This is truly an understatement.

 

….

 

Keith

That’s exactly as I feel. I’ve narrowed down my choices and am merely awaiting pricing and ports of call.

 

Which I expect to see before 4 pm today.

 

Mr B isn’t ready to book a Jr CP yet, so you’ll (hopefully) find me on Deck Seven. 
 

 

 

[Keith1010]

This song goes along with the title of the thread.

 

Keith

 

K