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Casinos gone?

LNugent

By LNugent,
in Crystal

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Mr Luxury

Mr Luxury

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, bitob said:

I don’t think price is issue. Some people are holding a grudge and are not happy with the “incentive” that came too late. Others have found other lines with newer ships and superb service and food. They might never have discovered these others lines had crystal not gone kaput 


Mr luxury I’m in Istanbul-boarding ovation Sunday. Anyone I should look up?

Captain Andrew Pedder if he is still at the helm.

Great guy,lives in the NE of England.

He has an Aston Martin which is his pride and joy. 

Much more exciting than driving a ship

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Mr Luxury

Mr Luxury

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, FLcruiser2011 said:

On the other hand, we were dining last night on Seabourn with a couple we had just me from NYC.  They mentioned that they had sailed three times on OC, and that it had been their favorite in recent years.

 

We commented on how excited we were that Crystal would sail again, and that we had booked the 2024 WC on NC.  They were astonished to hear that there is a NC, and that Serenity will sail again.

 

This couple have had no communication from NC, are not among the relatively few of us who read CC regularly, and had been totally oblivious of NC.

 

Given the rather pathetic job NC has done of getting the word out (apparently even to those in the database they bought), it would not surprise me if sales are a bit slow at this stage.

 

That's interesting and worrying at the same time.

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nancygp

nancygp

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Mr Luxury said:

Captain Andrew Pedder if he is still at the helm.

Great guy,lives in the NE of England.

He has an Aston Martin which is his pride and joy. 

Much more exciting than driving a ship

Loved the ovation captain…just posted to bitbob that she’s boarding the Encore on Sunday! 🤣🤣😄

 

Nancy

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nancygp

nancygp

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

We've had along discussion about this.  Pricing varies. Depends on many things including itinerary, single or double and so forth.

 

I have booked cruises with NC that are as similar as you get to OC in terms of time frame and itinerary and they are either the same or less.  In comparison the hotels are considerably more.

 

Best not to generalize on pricing.

 

Keith

Based on a booking I made several years ago, 2019 for a defunct 2021 cruise, a similar cruise on NC for a standard non balcony cabin had an increase over 30%.  However, the standard balcony price on the NC is fractionally more than a non-balcony.  The larger suite categories are close to what they had been prior to OC startup in 2021.


No one should be surprised by the higher hotel prices as they have across the board.  they have increased significantly in the past couple of years and post pandemic.

 

Nancy

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bitob

bitob

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Don't buy any of those fake Louis Vuitton hand bags from him.

He's very persistent.

Fake is not my style

 

to quote my late mother:  the only initials I’ll ever wear are my own

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bitob

bitob

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Don't buy any of those fake Louis Vuitton hand bags from him.

He's very persistent.

 

26 minutes ago, nancygp said:

Based on a booking I made several years ago, 2019 for a defunct 2021 cruise, a similar cruise on NC for a standard non balcony cabin had an increase over 30%.  However, the standard balcony price on the NC is fractionally more than a non-balcony.  The larger suite categories are close to what they had been prior to OC startup in 2021.


No one should be surprised by the higher hotel prices as they have across the board.  they have increased significantly in the past couple of years and post pandemic.

 

Nancy

 

27 minutes ago, nancygp said:

Based on a booking I made several years ago, 2019 for a defunct 2021 cruise, a similar cruise on NC for a standard non balcony cabin had an increase over 30%.  However, the standard balcony price on the NC is fractionally more than a non-balcony.  The larger suite categories are close to what they had been prior to OC startup in 2021.


No one should be surprised by the higher hotel prices as they have across the board.  they have increased significantly in the past couple of years and post pandemic.

 

Nancy

It’s not the higher prices per se that might affect bookings. Crystal was the luxury line that was cheaper than the others. A relative bargain. The increased prices may take away that advantage in the luxury market 

 

the larger suites imo are the least desirable. Most of us who book top suites want space. Even at the same price they are really small 

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Keith1010 "Live from...." Rare

Keith1010

Posted
Posted

My bags are packed.

Ready to go.

Cam't wait.

 

And whether or not there is a casino means nothing to me.

 

I am just excited that we will return to New Crystal and share a new experience with so many people who we know including crew, guests and land based enrichment and entertainment personnel and experience several items that we enjoyed with old crystal along with whatever is in store for us which is new.

 

Like most things in life everyone will make their own decision. For some they don't care about a casino. I know others who prefer a casino but they are booked for next year including full world cruises. And for some this is a deal breaker.  

 

This won't be the first time when a change was made where some felt the same way as they do for a casino and their view was similar.

 

Keith

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Cruise-y

Cruise-y

Posted
Posted

I don’t care about casinos at all. But I do care about enrichment lectures and evening shows. I want to see what is planned before I book - and hope we will see the same caliber as OC, because a smattering of comics and lounge singers is offered on every cruise line.

 

The end of July is nearing the 90 day mark and we haven’t seen much on this yet. 
 

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KenzSailing

KenzSailing

Posted
Posted

Well, just got off the agency webinar on NC that a lot of you were on.  Asked about the casinos.  The answer is, yep, they're gone for good(I had that one wrong.) Explanation was interesting, from the head of hotel ops for the line(this is a paraphrase, but close:) "management felt that the positioning of the product was not congruent with certain of the clientele attracted to the casino amenity."  I read that as translating to "prior ownership's focus on gaming and comps from other parts of their empire was a relationship we wanted to clearly and completely sever."

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happy cruising

happy cruising

Posted
Posted

Kenz, I was on the same webinar and I took that comment to mean that new crystal was hoping to not attract some of the clientele who frequent the casinos. I didn’t think it had anything to do with Genting … we probably will never know the reason but we did get confirmation today that there is no plan to have casinos.

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KenzSailing

KenzSailing

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, happy cruising said:

Kenz, I was on the same webinar and I took that comment to mean that new crystal was hoping to not attract some of the clientele who frequent the casinos. I didn’t think it had anything to do with Genting … we probably will never know the reason but we did get confirmation today that there is no plan to have casinos.

 

I agree completely with your first sentence.  It's just that I've taken a number of OC cruises when NYK owned Crystal, and I never encountered an atmosphere in the casino that seemed in any way undesirable.  Then that other company(I won't use their name) took  the reins, and we got a high rollers room and, IIRC, some of the high rollers from their other properties (all basically casinos) started getting comped with Crystal cruises.  I'm suggesting it's that crowd NC wants to lose.  Pure speculation on my part, however. 

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Keith1010 "Live from...." Rare

Keith1010

Posted
Posted

My thoughts on the Casino. I could be wrong but when OC had the Casino I never heard that they did as much comping of rooms as they did when owned by the G.  I just listened to portions of the Webinar again and the answer was brief. In short he said he thinks a conversation around the direction of the product.....Not mixing well with some of the former casino guests they had.


Regardless, I never thought this was a short term change as a couple of people did.

 

Keith

 

 

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edgee

edgee

Posted
Posted
On 6/9/2023 at 4:55 PM, happy cruising said:

Kenz, I was on the same webinar and I took that comment to mean that new crystal was hoping to not attract some of the clientele who frequent the casinos. I didn’t think it had anything to do with Genting … we probably will never know the reason but we did get confirmation today that there is no plan to have casinos.

Sounds like Crystal is rubbing it in by denigrating those of us who enjoy the casino and won't cruise without one. Message of "don't let the door hit you on the way out" clearly received. 

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