Crystal Announces Launch of Exceptional Initiative Guests who Lost Money Under Crystal Cruises’ Former Ownership Can Apply

[Ant@sea]

I’m not sure if this has yet been mentioned, but shortly after the announcement of this initiative, two major agency consortia signed preferred partner agreements with NC, first Signature, then, Virtuoso…the #1 and 2 biggest agency groups OC had. I’m sure to get this much needed  show of confidence, NC had to make some sort of concession to all the past guests who’d lost money. 

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

I wonder what percentage of those cruisers who lost money are actually taking advantage of the program. Of course, if you were booking crystal anyway it’s a no brainer and an unexpected gift 

 

among my cruising group no one is using the vouchers. The math doesn’t work. 5 cruises doesn’t work. Other luxury lines are calling 

 

it is clear nc did this to get back some of the loyal oc cruisers who lost money and thereby increase bookings. Wonder if it’s working as intended 

Exactly,there is too much excellent competition out there to be sure about NC at the moment.

Time will tell.

[Roland4]

5 hours ago, bitob said:

I wonder what percentage of those cruisers who lost money are actually taking advantage of the program. Of course, if you were booking crystal anyway it’s a no brainer and an unexpected gift 

 

among my cruising group no one is using the vouchers. The math doesn’t work. 5 cruises doesn’t work. Other luxury lines are calling 

 

it is clear nc did this to get back some of the loyal oc cruisers who lost money and thereby increase bookings. Wonder if it’s working as intended 

I realize you are pretty booked up, as are we, but even for one cruise, 20% of what we lost is significant, and is 100% more than what we expect to get back from Moecker. Will we book five cruises by Dec 31/25, most certainly not, but we may fit in a couple, and 20% off the fare is 20% in my pocket. 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Roland4

[Stickman1990]

3 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

Will we book five cruises by Dec 31/25, most certainly not, but we may fit in a couple, and 20% off the fare is 20% in my pocket. 

Remember your friends sailing on the same cruise can utilise your certificates too - so it doesn’t mean 5 cruises - you can knock them off in one cruise if you have a few friends who you like to sail with 😉

Standing by 😂😂😂🥂

[bitob]

3 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

I realize you are pretty booked up, as are we, but even for one cruise, 20% of what we lost is significant, and is 100% more than what we expect to get back from Moecker. Will we book five cruises by Dec 31/25, most certainly not, but we may fit in a couple, and 20% off the fare is 20% in my pocket. 

I would have to spend at least 30000 to get 6000 back (1/5 of total loss) and I usually spend more than that per cruise.  I'd be spending around 40k on a cruise line I know nothing about (will not have sailed yet) and an itinerary that does not interest me.  Makes no sense to  me overall. I have some amazing cruises booked going forward -- itineraries I really want to do.  I have come to terms with the loss.

[TER777]

 

  On 3/28/2023 at 5:59 AM, Keith1010 said:

I am asking. When you say more than one sub credit are you saying more than one credit card charge that was on the same claim or multiple claims?  

 

Keith

Multiple claims. 

 

Back home with the paperwork. I have 10 claims. Does that mean I will receive 5 subcredits or 50 subcredits? If the latter, no way I can book 50 separate cruises since B2Bs only count as one. Sure hope it is the former. Anyone have any experience with so far?

[Keith1010]

9 hours ago, TER777 said:

 

  On 3/28/2023 at 5:59 AM, Keith1010 said:

I am asking. When you say more than one sub credit are you saying more than one credit card charge that was on the same claim or multiple claims?  

 

Keith

Multiple claims. 

 

Back home with the paperwork. I have 10 claims. Does that mean I will receive 5 subcredits or 50 subcredits? If the latter, no way I can book 50 separate cruises since B2Bs only count as one. Sure hope it is the former. Anyone have any experience with so far?

I have confirmed that it is the former and they will combined the 10 claims into 1 claim with five sub-credits as long as the information they have can identify this as the same one person.  When you get the voucher it will show the total price and what cruises you have already booked.  

 

Keith

[vistaman]

10 hours ago, bitob said:

I would have to spend at least 30000 to get 6000 back (1/5 of total loss) and I usually spend more than that per cruise.  I'd be spending around 40k on a cruise line I know nothing about (will not have sailed yet) and an itinerary that does not interest me.  Makes no sense to  me overall. I have some amazing cruises booked going forward -- itineraries I really want to do.  I have come to terms with the loss.

I am living in Europa so I will try one 7 day cruise  - flight with bonusmiles 🤑

 

[Keith1010]

I have no idea how many people are taking advantage of this but I certainly have seen a lot of activity on social media about the promotion, have had several people ask me questions and have spoken with many friends who have taken advantage of it.

 

For me, it was a pleasant surprise and I will easily use all five sub credits.

 

It's terrific for those people who already had booked cruises and will either get a refund if they have paid in full or will get a cruise fare reduction for already booked cruises. Some would have booked additional cruises anyway once 2025 is released and this might encourage some to book additional cruises.

 

Whether it's 500 people 5,000, 50,000 is irrelevant to me.  Just happy new Crystal was able to do something for those of us who are owed money and planned to sail or will now sail with them because of this.

 

Keith

[TER777]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

I have confirmed that it is the former and they will combined the 10 claims into 1 claim with five sub-credits as long as the information they have can identify this as the same one person.  When you get the voucher it will show the total price and what cruises you have already booked.  

 

Keith

Thanks!

[bitob]

56 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

I have no idea how many people are taking advantage of this but I certainly have seen a lot of activity on social media about the promotion, have had several people ask me questions and have spoken with many friends who have taken advantage of it.

 

For me, it was a pleasant surprise and I will easily use all five sub credits.

 

It's terrific for those people who already had booked cruises and will either get a refund if they have paid in full or will get a cruise fare reduction for already booked cruises. Some would have booked additional cruises anyway once 2025 is released and this might encourage some to book additional cruises.

 

Whether it's 500 people 5,000, 50,000 is irrelevant to me.  Just happy new Crystal was able to do something for those of us who are owed money and planned to sail or will now sail with them because of this.

 

Keith

Not irrelevant to Crystal

[Keith1010]

In the case where we had already paid in full for a cruise two days after I received the voucher confirmation the credit showed up today on our credit card account. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly that occurred and our TA was easily able to apply the sub-credits to other cruises  we have booked and the invoices were updated promptly by Crystal.  

 

Keith

[Funatabi]

My few cents on this initiative. 

 

First of all, I was very anti-OC and anti-NC too, to be honest, after having lost a lot of $$$$. I wasn't sure if I would consider cruising on a Crystal-brand ship again. But, then I too got the email about the Initiative and it piqued my interest.

 

I applied Tuesday this week and today Friday, 3 days later, I received notice from NC about full compensation. That's fast work.

 

Everyone has their own schedules, concerns about the NC, whether the initiative amount per sailing is worth it, etc., etc. In my circumstances, even if I don't/can't use up all 5 sub-credits, I still feel that I am ahead by XXX dollars if I can use even 1. This is based on the fact that I want to cruise anyway, so why not make use of these sub-credits and pay less out-of-pocket money if I can. 

 

Today I will go to bed $$$$ richer than when I woke up, thanks to the NC who is offering an initiative to compensate OC cruisers who lost money. This is the type of consideration that I had been hoping would come forth ever since the demise of the OC. I hope this Initiative becomes a win/win situation for both us cruisers and NC. We shall see. 

[Mr Luxury]

22 minutes ago, Funatabi said:

My few cents on this initiative. 

 

First of all, I was very anti-OC and anti-NC too, to be honest, after having lost a lot of $$$$. I wasn't sure if I would consider cruising on a Crystal-brand ship again. But, then I too got the email about the Initiative and it piqued my interest.

 

I applied Tuesday this week and today Friday, 3 days later, I received notice from NC about full compensation. That's fast work.

 

Everyone has their own schedules, concerns about the NC, whether the initiative amount per sailing is worth it, etc., etc. In my circumstances, even if I don't/can't use up all 5 sub-credits, I still feel that I am ahead by XXX dollars if I can use even 1. This is based on the fact that I want to cruise anyway, so why not make use of these sub-credits and pay less out-of-pocket money if I can. 

 

Today I will go to bed $$$$ richer than when I woke up, thanks to the NC who is offering an initiative to compensate OC cruisers who lost money. This is the type of consideration that I had been hoping would come forth ever since the demise of the OC. I hope this Initiative becomes a win/win situation for both us cruisers and NC. We shall see. 

Hold on,they haven't even sailed yet. 

I'm hoping that it is all going to be worth it for you and that you get a good cruise experience.

Nothing is all about money in life is it.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Mr Luxury

[bitob]

Money is a means to an end.  It is not the end itself.

 

My father, who was not a wealthy man at all (he never even owned his own home), always told me the "money is freedom."  In this case, it is the freedom to choose between spending a bundle to sail on an unknown with a less than desirable itinerary to get some money back or going on a cruise I really want to go on and forget the refund.

[Shorex]

17 hours ago, Roland4 said:

I realize you are pretty booked up, as are we, but even for one cruise, 20% of what we lost is significant, and is 100% more than what we expect to get back from Moecker. Will we book five cruises by Dec 31/25, most certainly not, but we may fit in a couple, and 20% off the fare is 20% in my pocket. 

We share your point of view. Currently, we have only two cruises booked for 2024 and both on NC. Huzzah - now the bottom line for those two cruises is substantially reduced. Expecting nothing and getting something is always a plus.

Yet somehow there are always those who adopt a negative perspective and seem to be hoping for the worst. Oh well, c'est la vie. Now we wait for the 2025 itineraries even more optimistically.

[May B]

I think the quick reactions from Crystal are a very good sign.

 

Thank you to those who posted.

 

 

[Keith1010]

This new Crystal is far from an unknown for many of us. 

 

In fact, very little will is unknown as we learn things with each passing week.

 

An example is enrichment.

In short we know a lot.

 

And some surprises are always good.

 

As to the itineraries, it all comes down to personal opinion and preference.

 

What one person thinks is boring another person thinks is exciting.

 

Without a doubt my wife and I are very pleased with the itineraries we booked.  

 

I like visiting some new places and revisiting areas that we have been to before. There are some places I can go year after year and never get tired of visiting.

We like to smell the roses.

 

We are blessed having visited so many ports and countries

 

As to the exceptional initiative program all I can say is "Bravo" and "Kudos" to Crystal for doing this.  For those of us who are owed money it was a very nice gesture to do this. I have money on river and expedition that I won't get much back but for the money I had with the ocean vessels it was a wonderful surprise, and handled very well.  If you were not owed money, or have nothing booked it won't benefit you but for many of us it was an unexpected plus.

 

I was reading a post on another social network from someone who had it with the old company and had it was an overstatement. Well, they have decided to return after all that and was very happy to see this program (they were returning before this was announced) and spoke very highly about new Crystal.. 

Anyway each person should make their own decision.

 

Personally, I don't like raining on someone else's parade. I am happy when others are happy even if it is not something that makes me happy. I am just happy for them.

 

Keith

[May B]

Reading Keith’s last paragraph reminds me of individual differences. I’m happy that I myself feel the same way as Keith does. Whoever doesn’t, has a hard time imagining that somebody does.

 

Well, so be it. I’ll continue to do me; some of you would never even consider it. It’s ok. I don’t mind.

[nancygp]

Since we were owed money, it’s a nice gesture to get the credits.  We received the notification today and it’s an incentive for us to try NC.   We are currently on another lux line, one we really enjoy, have several more booked with this line and will find a time for at least 1 NC cruise.

 

Nancy

[Funatabi]

7 hours ago, bitob said:

Money is a means to an end.  It is not the end itself.

 

My father, who was not a wealthy man at all (he never even owned his own home), always told me the "money is freedom."  In this case, it is the freedom to choose between spending a bundle to sail on an unknown with a less than desirable itinerary to get some money back or going on a cruise I really want to go on and forget the refund.

There are 2 sides of the fence when it comes to this Initiative. Your points are valid for you and your reasoning makes sense. I understand there are many unknowns at this point and we each have our own expectations and needs when it comes to service, cabin, meals, entertainment, and itineraries. 

 

On my side of the fence, I see this as an opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone: cruise and save some money too at the same time. However, I need to be flexible when it comes to needs, priorities, schedules, and expectations. I am easy to please. I have never had a "bad" cruise ever, from being in an inside cabin to one with a balcony, on HAL, Carnival, MSC, Regent, Cunard, Norweigian, etc. that have changed itineraries at a moment's notice and ended up going in circles.

 

I am optimistic that I will be happy with whatever the NC too offers, so I am going to be flexible and see if and how I can best use the sub-credits. 

[bitob]

1 hour ago, Funatabi said:

There are 2 sides of the fence when it comes to this Initiative. Your points are valid for you and your reasoning makes sense. I understand there are many unknowns at this point and we each have our own expectations and needs when it comes to service, cabin, meals, entertainment, and itineraries. 

 

On my side of the fence, I see this as an opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone: cruise and save some money too at the same time. However, I need to be flexible when it comes to needs, priorities, schedules, and expectations. I am easy to please. I have never had a "bad" cruise ever, from being in an inside cabin to one with a balcony, on HAL, Carnival, MSC, Regent, Cunard, Norweigian, etc. that have changed itineraries at a moment's notice and ended up going in circles.

 

I am optimistic that I will be happy with whatever the NC too offers, so I am going to be flexible and see if and how I can best use the sub-credits. 

As you should. I hope you have a great experience as you recoup some of your losses 

[Funatabi]

31 minutes ago, bitob said:

As you should. I hope you have a great experience as you recoup some of your losses 

Thanks, and happy crusing to you too! 👍

[TER777]

It’s been nearly 4 weeks since I submitted my 10 claims and I still haven’t heard anything. Is this standard? A friend says he submitted his claim earlier this week and it was processed in 24 hours. 

[Keith1010]

1 hour ago, TER777 said:

It’s been nearly 4 weeks since I submitted my 10 claims and I still haven’t heard anything. Is this standard? A friend says he submitted his claim earlier this week and it was processed in 24 hours. 

I know it does vary by submission.  Some go quicker than others for sure and some take awhile especially if there are a lot of claims.

 

Try e-mailing exceptionalinitiative AT crystalcruises DOT com noting first and last name and when you submitted your claim.  You might have done this already but if not check spam folder.  

 

Keith