New Ocean Vessels And New Expedition Ships

[parallax]

I believe I read that in one of Keith's post.  We tend to purchase suites on larger cruise ships.  We find it to be a refuge.  On luxury cruise lines, we are less interested in the suite.  We can find multiple places to relax.  The challenge with Crystal is that their balcony cabins are on the smaller side and the storage is llimited.  While we are not in the cabin that much on a Crystal ship, we feel like we are on top of each other.  I would assume that the new ships would have balcony cabins around 300 SQ FT.  That would be a much more ideal for us.  

[skybluewaters]

5 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

You are aware that many of the "balcony cabins" on Crystal have been enlarged?? I've never done an accounting, but I'd guess it's over 50% have been eliminated and converted to 50% larger suites.

 

Patty

 

...and at ~ 50% higher price. The point is that the entry level veranda cabin on Crystal is markedly smaller than the entry level veranda cabin on the other ultra-lux lines.

 

And when you say "50% larger," yes, the old veranda suite was 215 sq ft, while the new Aquamarine Suite is 323 sq ft.  But on Seabourn, for example, the basic veranda suite is 315 sq ft.  Since, on average, the price per diem of an Aquamarine Suite is 50% more than Seabourn's basic veranda cabin, you're paying quite a bit more for an extra 8 sq ft of space. 

[Shorex]

The dimensions of every stateroom are readily available on the website. We make our cruising decisions based on the whole picture. If parsing the value of a cruise by square footage results in a deal breaker for some, so be it.  To each his own. 

[FlyerTalker]

I could get a huge suite on Carnival for far less per square foot than I would pay for Crystal.

 

Of course, that means......I'd be on Carnival.

 

 

[tryber]

1 hour ago, skybluewaters said:

 

...and at ~ 50% higher price. The point is that the entry level veranda cabin on Crystal is markedly smaller than the entry level veranda cabin on the other ultra-lux lines.

 

And when you say "50% larger," yes, the old veranda suite was 215 sq ft, while the new Aquamarine Suite is 323 sq ft.  But on Seabourn, for example, the basic veranda suite is 315 sq ft.  Since, on average, the price per diem of an Aquamarine Suite is 50% more than Seabourn's basic veranda cabin, you're paying quite a bit more for an extra 8 sq ft of space. 

 

On the cruise I booked, the Aquamarine Suite is about 35% more expensive that a regular veranda room, not 50%.  And the Seabourn regular rooms in a good location, tend to be comparable in price to the Aquamarine rooms on Crystal.  So, comparing apples to apples, the difference in cost is probably not more than 10-20%, if any.  

 

Also, you are not just paying for the size of the room.  The Crystal ships are much bigger, and in my opinion, have much better public spaces than the Seabourn Ovation (the only Seabourn ship I have been on), which is the largest and newest class of Seabourn ships. Crystal also has a better selection of restaurants.  Only the TK Grill on Seabourn was comparable to the food on Crystal.  The sushi restaurant on Ovation was embarrassingly terrible. 

 

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, skybluewaters said:

 

...and at ~ 50% higher price. The point is that the entry level veranda cabin on Crystal is markedly smaller than the entry level veranda cabin on the other ultra-lux lines.

 

And when you say "50% larger," yes, the old veranda suite was 215 sq ft, while the new Aquamarine Suite is 323 sq ft.  But on Seabourn, for example, the basic veranda suite is 315 sq ft.  Since, on average, the price per diem of an Aquamarine Suite is 50% more than Seabourn's basic veranda cabin, you're paying quite a bit more for an extra 8 sq ft of space. 

But it is how that space is used. We spent 12 nights on Seabourn Ovation in June in a standard suite. It was laid out identically to an Old Crystal standard balcony room, but a little longer, though not much wider. It was impossible for us to pass ecah other at the end of the bed, the walk-in closet was rather small, and the door opened out into the hallway to both the room door and the bathroom door. We really liked the ship overall, but the room design left more than a little bit to be desired.

[Stickman1990]

6 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

I could get a huge suite on Carnival for far less per square foot than I would pay for Crystal

 

But Skybluewater wasn’t comparing Crystal to Carnival - well I guess they own Seabourn - the comparison is luxury line to other luxury lines - and yes that opens the debate as to what’s a luxury line and what’s included in each lines “all inclusive”

 

It’s always difficult to compare such things as only very rarely are all things equal

[FlyerTalker]

15 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

But Skybluewater wasn’t comparing Crystal to Carnival - well I guess they own Seabourn - the comparison is luxury line to other luxury lines - and yes that opens the debate as to what’s a luxury line and what’s included in each lines “all inclusive”

 

It’s always difficult to compare such things as only very rarely are all things equal

 

Exactly.  My point is that comparing price per square foot is ultimately meaningless.  So much else goes into a value decision.

 

 

[skybluewaters]

As several people have mentioned, there's a lot more involved than just the price per square foot, of course.  But those things (food, service, entertainment quality, etc.) are subjective.

There are two measures that are objective:  price per diem and size of cabin.

Some might prefer the Seabourn experience over Crystal, while some might prefer the Crystal experience over Seabourn...that's all debatable.  What isn't debatable is the price you pay and the size of your cabin.

 

In any event, this is mostly a moot point because there are very few veranda or ocean view cabins on the new Crystal ships and they are mostly in undesirable locations.

[tryber]

45 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

But it is how that space is used. We spent 12 nights on Seabourn Ovation in June in a standard suite. It was laid out identically to an Old Crystal standard balcony room, but a little longer, though not much wider. It was impossible for us to pass ecah other at the end of the bed, the walk-in closet was rather small, and the door opened out into the hallway to both the room door and the bathroom door. We really liked the ship overall, but the room design left more than a little bit to be desired.

 

I found the Ovation standard room to have noticeably more space than the regular Crystal veranda room.  It was more comfortable to eat in the room, and the walk-in closet, though small, made some difference.  But that extra space in the room did not come close to making up for the other differences in the ships.  

[Keith1010]

I might be different than most.

 

Years ago I tried to compare pricing between cruise lines.  I gave up and don't waste my time doing it anymore.  Why? I couldn't.

 

If each cruise line offered the same number and quality of amenities I could. But they don't.  They vary a great deal IMHO.

 

How do I value the crew?

 

How do I value Umi Uma?

 

How do I value the quality of entertainment and enrichment?

 

How do I value public room space?

 

I suppose if I didn't care about anything other than room space I could but like I believe most people I do.

 

Even on the same line pricing varies even for the same itinerary in the same room based on factors such as time of year.

 

The cruise lines are very different.

 

And when there are new ships I am sure the pricing will be higher than the existing ones.  

 

Keith

[vistaman]

I am very curious who will fill up  all those cabins on all those - new -  ships ?

For some people free drinks is synonym for luxury ,  for others free excursions 

For me Umi Uma is not adding any value as I never eat Asian , so we are all different as are the cruise lines. 

 Hapag Lloyd i must pay 7,9 for a Negroni ( free on C ) and around 18 € for a special GT, but my eventual bottle of Krug bubbles is 45 % cheaper as on C.   Just to mention one difference. 

 

 

[Emdee]

6 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I might be different than most.

 

Years ago I tried to compare pricing between cruise lines.  I gave up and don't waste my time doing it anymore.  Why? I couldn't.

 

If each cruise line offered the same number and quality of amenities I could. But they don't.  They vary a great deal IMHO.

 

How do I value the crew?

 

How do I value Umi Uma?

 

How do I value the quality of entertainment and enrichment?

 

How do I value public room space?

 

I suppose if I didn't care about anything other than room space I could but like I believe most people I do.

 

Even on the same line pricing varies even for the same itinerary in the same room based on factors such as time of year.

 

The cruise lines are very different.

 

And when there are new ships I am sure the pricing will be higher than the existing ones.  

 

Keith

And then there are the intangibles that are priceless. 
The warm blanket kept at the ready in Waterside for my arthritic knees. The water temperature exactly as I like it…I don’t usually drink anything else! The bottles of Evian lined up to welcome me. The camaraderie of staff who know and like you. This is why Crystal feels like home. 

[LouChamp]

6 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I might be different than most.

 

Years ago I tried to compare pricing between cruise lines.  I gave up and don't waste my time doing it anymore.  Why? I couldn't.

 

If each cruise line offered the same number and quality of amenities I could. But they don't.  They vary a great deal IMHO.

 

How do I value the crew?

 

How do I value Umi Uma?

 

How do I value the quality of entertainment and enrichment?

 

How do I value public room space?

 

I suppose if I didn't care about anything other than room space I could but like I believe most people I do.

 

Even on the same line pricing varies even for the same itinerary in the same room based on factors such as time of year.

 

The cruise lines are very different.

 

And when there are new ships I am sure the pricing will be higher than the existing ones.  

 

Keith

Aloha. I agree with Keith. It is almost impossible to compare different ships, hotels , restaurants etc. Variety is indeed the spice of life. For example when we staycation in Honolulu we stay at the Halekulani which is different than the Cipriani in Venice.  The Grills on Cunard is different than the Celebrity Retreat. First Class on Hawaiian is different than Virgin.  It is the fun and enjoyment and indeed a blessing to be able to sample all that is available.That said, in a toast to my late father…nothing compares to the Crystal Bistro! All the best.

[FlyerTalker]

As Oscar Wilde wrote:

 

“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”

 

 

[ctjon]

I've said this before the size etc of the room doesn't really interest us - we spend as little time in it as possible and when asleep I don't notice its size.  I'd rather save money to do more cruises or spend money on other stuff than spend on a fancy room.  There are so many great things to do on Crystal that I want to make sure I do as many as possible

I know most disagree with me but..