Well, this was fascinating; I called Crystal!

[Stickman1990]

38 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Could be a communication disconnect between the government and the cruise lines that explains why multiple cruise lines are having these issues only now.

There’s pages and pages of fact and conjecture on this in multiple threads - not worth going back over here but the NZ requirements are crystal clear 

[Emdee]

I asked the Ovation Captain why Seabourn was not impacted by the NZ requirements. He thought it could be because they paint their hulls with a very expensive protective paint from Japan. 

[May B]

On 2/1/2023 at 12:57 PM, History&Wine said:

May, thanks for posting.  When you say the "single stateroom" is $4800 are you quoting the price for one of the designated solo cabins  or the price for other deck seven cabins with a single supplement? 

Deck seven single.

[ak1004]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:50 AM, ctjon said:

I'm sure there are destinations (ports) that are fully booked a year or two in advance or with very few available dates.  Certainly, a challenge for a cruise line that is just starting up again and trying to provide people both short term and long term opportunities.  Could also account for a lot of sea days on some trips.

 

Crystal was purchased in June 2022, and first sailing is in July 2023. That's more than a year in advance.

[BWIVince]

49 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Crystal was purchased in June 2022, and first sailing is in July 2023. That's more than a year in advance.

 

Port calls are normally locked in 3 or more years in advance, at least for the popular ones...  Even if the cruise line doesn't market them at that point.  Trying to start from scratch even a year out puts them behind the 8 ball -- they can only pick from what's left at that point.  

 

Vince

[ctjon]

I'm sure it took a while to hire the staff and estimate what the refurbishment was needed and how long it would take.  

[Embowaf]

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Crystal was purchased in June 2022, and first sailing is in July 2023. That's more than a year in advance.

Yeah but, Manfredi and Anderson didn't start off by dialing up ports and booking slots. They had to rebuild the company first.

[FlyerTalker]

On 2/8/2023 at 2:12 PM, BWIVince said:

 

Port calls are normally locked in 3 or more years in advance, at least for the popular ones...  Even if the cruise line doesn't market them at that point.  Trying to start from scratch even a year out puts them behind the 8 ball -- they can only pick from what's left at that point. 

 

I think the problem is that Manfredi and Anderson made the mistake of not hiring some folks from there on the Crystal board.  These posters seem to know how to speed up timetables and make up for having a compressed schedule to work with.

[KenzSailing]

38 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I think the problem is that Manfredi and Anderson made the mistake of not hiring some folks from there on the Crystal board.  These posters seem to know how to speed up timetables and make up for having a compressed schedule to work with.

 

I made a Venn diagram to visualize this:

 

Venn Diagram Template (1).pdfVenn Diagram Template (1).pdf

[Keith1010]

Right now the reservations and incomplete data on the Crystal Website are the weak links IMHO and they do need to improve.  I don't think anyone would disagree with this and I don't think anyone has.

 

The strength will be the ship experience and yes there will be lots of familiar faces on board between the crew and returning guests.

 

Keith