Crystal Unveils 2025 Itineraries

[BWIVince]

12 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Nobody is concerned that 2025 prices are higher by 20% compared to 2024 already high prices?

Not really…. We’re seeing the same thing in 2025 group contracts for hotels, so I imagine it will bode similar for other segments of the travel industry as we get closer.  If they get it, good for them (costs are up),  but if they don’t (and they certainly may not), prices will be back down.  
 

Capitalism in the travel industry is alive and well.

 

Vince

[ak1004]

2 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

Not really…. We’re seeing the same thing in 2025 group contracts for hotels, so I imagine it will bode similar for other segments of the travel industry as we get closer.  If they get it, good for them (costs are up),  but if they don’t (and they certainly may not), prices will be back down.  
 

Capitalism in the travel industry is alive and well.

 

Vince

 

Well, I definitely don't see the increases on other lines..SS, SB and Regent 2025 prices are very similar to 2024. 

[Keith1010]

30 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Nobody is concerned that 2025 prices are higher by 20% compared to 2024 already high prices?

Haven't analyzed it but just looked at one cruise which is 20% higher but that is with 2023 pricing not 2024.

 

Like most things the market will dictate pricing and each person will make a decision which works for them.

 

 

[BWIVince]

17 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, I definitely don't see the increases on other lines..SS, SB and Regent 2025 prices are very similar to 2024. 

You certainly will if these other suppliers get it.  😉  If they don’t, they’ll come down.  It works both ways, and neither is in a vacuum.

 

Vince

[ak1004]

20 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

Haven't analyzed it but just looked at one cruise which is 20% higher but that is with 2023 pricing not 2024.

 

Like most things the market will dictate pricing and each person will make a decision which works for them.

 

 

 

I checked a typical Mediterranean sailing of 10 nights. Prices started at $500/night in 2023-2024 and jumped to $600+ in 2025. 

[nancygp]

55 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, I definitely don't see the increases on other lines..SS, SB and Regent 2025 prices are very similar to 2024. 

Booked a 2025 cruise on one of these lines and the price was similar to what I paid in 2022 and similar to the 2024 pricing.  Crystals 2025 pricing looks very high, particularly the non penthouse cabins

 

Nancy

[Keith1010]

38 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

I checked a typical Mediterranean sailing of 10 nights. Prices started at $500/night in 2023-2024 and jumped to $600+ in 2025. 

And I just looked at one July on Symphony and the per diem in 2024 was $642.00 and in 2025 is $633.00

 

I am not saying prices haven't gone up but like most things this will vary cruise by cruise, year by year and ship by ship.

 

But in the end the market will determine some of this.

 

Keith

[jjs217]

I so much want to go on a Crystal cruise again.  But, I was underwhelmed with the cruises that are available for the times that I'm available for 2025.  I guess I will try again in 2026.

[travelberlin]

4 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Nobody is concerned that 2025 prices are higher by 20% compared to 2024 already high prices?

I am concerned, but there was a particular itinerary I was interested 😔. 
Ivi

[vistaman]

There are a few items i do not like on Symphony for 2025 and I do not understand those : 

Jeddah ??  ( hiding all the licor and wine  pax cannot bring it neither ) and 2 days in Aqaba - i do understand pax very  willing to go to Petra ( what i cannot do due to my illness ) but why not the second day to Eilat...imho far   more pleasant 

overnight in Livorno - several times   why not Viareggio ( tendering ) ?     Tarragona as embarkation port - overnight in Napels in May ? 

Thessaloniki  ?  overnight in Casablanca 😝( i dislike that port )  overnight in port of Tunis

Genoa  : one of the most difficult airports to reach with very weak connections 

 

 

[BWIVince]

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I don't know if this is true, but someone mentioned a while ago that every line has "influencers" who are paid to promote the line on social media and forums. There are also some TAs and other influencers like TPG who are invited to some sailings (for example, when new ships are introduced).

 

 

That's very true...  But it's not completely new.  In the old days we just had a more limited view of what media sources were in the travel industry.  The type of perks that were once extended to travel writers and the like, are now extended to different types of media channels.  Circulation doesn't equal followers and views the same way obviously, new formulas exist to calculate how much publicity an influencer really generates given the fluff in everyone's history, but it's worth noting that a lot of these cruise influencers reach more people now than many travel publications back in the day...  So it's definitely a thing.

 

Vince

 

[ak1004]

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

This shows thatt fares didn't go up by 20% across the board between 2023 and 2025.

 

On Serenity it ranged fro 4 to 12% per category and on Symphony 7 to 16%.  

 

And this is an average. Some similar voyages might have a higher increase while other similar voyages might have a lower increase.

 

In the end, each person makes booking decisions based on one or more factors just as they do for most items they purchase.  

 

Keith

 

This might be an average across all destinations and categories, definitely not the average on categories and destinations I looked at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To me it is very clear: entry level cabins on 10-12 nights European sailings went from $500-510 to $600-670. This is actually more than 20%.

[Keith1010]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

This might be an average across all destinations and categories, definitely not the average on categories and destinations I looked at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To me it is very clear: entry level cabins on 10-12 nights European sailings went from $500-510 to $600-670. This is actually more than 20%.

What is clear is making blanket statements is not true of a 20% increase and your original post said prices went up 20%.

 

I looked at some Mediterranean cruises yesterday and looked at the per diem and they didn't go up 20%.

 

What I did is look at it one at a time trying to find very similar cruises in the same month.

 

As shown above 20% doesn't apply to all sailings.

 

And Crystal to be successful and to build new ships has to make money.

 

 

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, Keith1010 said:

What is clear is making blanket statements is not true of a 20% increase and your original post said prices went up 20%.

 

I looked at some Mediterranean cruises yesterday and looked at the per diem and they didn't go up 20%.

 

What I did is look at it one at a time trying to find very similar cruises in the same month.

 

As shown above 20% doesn't apply to all sailings.

 

And Crystal to be successful and to build new ships has to make money.

 

 

 

Yes, but do you believe they will be successful with less than 30% load that current sailings have? Even inaugural sailing with all the excitement was only 60% full. When Oceania debuted with the Vista, most of the inaugural season sailings were sold out months in advance. And they have 6 more ships. Apparently this is not happening with Crystal, with only 2 ships. 

 

Most people don't care that Crystal has to make money. They look what's best for them, not what's best for Crystal. 

[Keith1010]

Just now, ak1004 said:

 

Yes, but do you believe they will be successful with less than 30% load that current sailings have? Even inaugural sailing with all the excitement was only 60% full. When Oceania debuted with the Vista, most of the inaugural season sailings were sold out months in advance. And they have 6 more ships. Apparently this is not happening with Crystal, with only 2 ships. 

 

Most people don't care that Crystal has to make money. They look what's best for them, not what's best for Crystal. 

Yes I do believe they will increase load. The issue this year is most people had cruises booked already with other lines and didn't want to change plans and the focus was on Society members.  Next year and the year after are key and that will include marketing to the general public.

[ak1004]

31 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

What is clear is making blanket statements is not true of a 20% increase and your original post said prices went up 20%.

 

I looked at some Mediterranean cruises yesterday and looked at the per diem and they didn't go up 20%.

 

What I did is look at it one at a time trying to find very similar cruises in the same month.

 

As shown above 20% doesn't apply to all sailings.

 

And Crystal to be successful and to build new ships has to make money.

 

 

 

Well, if you look at my screenshots, you can see an average increase of 20% or more. No single sailing increased by less than 20%, some increased by more.

 

21 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

Yes I do believe they will increase load. The issue this year is most people had cruises booked already with other lines and didn't want to change plans and the focus was on Society members.  Next year and the year after are key and that will include marketing to the general public.

 

Time will tell and I definitely hope you are right. More options and more competition is always good.

[Keith1010]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, if you look at my screenshots, you can see an average increase of 20% or more. No single sailing increased by less than 20%, some increased by more.

 

 

Time will tell and I definitely hope you are right. More options and more competition is always good.

Yes I've looked at the screen shots.

 

I looked at pricing yesterday and also what was posted earlier.

[ak1004]

2 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

Yes I've looked at the screen shots.

 

I looked at pricing yesterday and also what was posted earlier.

 

Then we are probably looking at different categories and/or different destinations. Because for entry level cabins, the picture is very clear.

[Keith1010]

I went to the web site and compared like categories and went with the lowest price category.

 

However on the summary provided by another member that compares three different categories including the lower priced ones.

 

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

Yes, but do you believe they will be successful with less than 30% load that current sailings have? Even inaugural sailing with all the excitement was only 60% full. When Oceania debuted with the Vista, most of the inaugural season sailings were sold out months in advance. And they have 6 more ships. Apparently this is not happening with Crystal, with only 2 ships. 

 

Most people don't care that Crystal has to make money. They look what's best for them, not what's best for Crystal. 

FWIW, three different staff members, all in a position to know, and whose opinions I trust, have said that guest numbers will increase substantially ("are looking very good") starting in November and leading up to the Holiday Season and the World Cruise.

[Keith1010]

A few things about 2025.

All of the voyages have been added to the Crystal website.

 

There are some gaps.

 

I know that Serenity has a dry dock after the world cruise.

 

I am not sure about the other gaps on Serenity and Symphony.  

 

I've been looking through the itineraries one by one as I am sure many of you are doing.  

 

Keith

[AtA]

6 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, if you look at my screenshots, you can see an average increase of 20% or more. No single sailing increased by less than 20%, some increased by more.

 

 

 

And I’m sure we could pick and choose other cruises that didn’t increase much. Many times we can choose numbers to make our point

[ak1004]

50 minutes ago, AtA said:

And I’m sure we could pick and choose other cruises that didn’t increase much. Many times we can choose numbers to make our point

 

Well, since there are only 20 Med cruises in 2025, I went over ALL of them. Except for Jeddah which is listed under Med, but is not really Med, no single cruise is less than $600, with average being $630-650 and a few $670. 

 

In 2024 there are 14 Med cruises, with vast majority around $500-510, and only 1-2 $640.

 

No matter how you manipulate the numbers, that's 20% average increase, actually more like 25%.

 

The funny thing about numbers is that unlike opinions, they are hard facts . 

[Keith1010]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, since there are only 20 Med cruises in 2025, I went over ALL of them. Except for Jeddah which is listed under Med, but is not really Med, no single cruise is less than $600, with average being $630-650 and a few $670. 

 

In 2024 there are 14 Med cruises, with vast majority around $500-510, and only 1-2 $640.

 

No matter how you manipulate the numbers, that's 20% average increase, actually more like 25%.

 

The funny thing about numbers is that unlike opinions, they are hard facts . 

I am exhausted.

 

I posted several in this thread earlier.

I am a numbers person too.

 

And Cheddar Cheese or whatever the CC name is posted an entire years worth.

 

In the end if you are not happy with the pricing  don't book the cruises.

 

I have booked several and know many others who are booking and not complaining.

 

In the end each person should do what they want.

 

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

I am exhausted.

 

I posted several in this thread earlier.

I am a numbers person too.

 

And Cheddar Cheese or whatever the CC name is posted an entire years worth.

 

In the end if you are not happy with the pricing  don't book the cruises.

 

I have booked several and know many others who are booking and not complaining.

 

In the end each person should do what they want.

 

 

My numbers referred to specific region, category and duration that are of interest to me. I provided specific parameters that are easy to calculate and verify. 

 

I already considered 2023-2024 fares too high. 2025 fares are a fantasy fares. And based on the current loads, looks like most people don't really buy the hype..

 

Thank you for your feedback.