parallax

We took our daughter on a 10 Crystal cruise several years ago. There might have been 15-20 kids on the cruise total. Still to this day, it is her favorite cruise of all time and she has been on 15+ cruises. The programming for the children is great, especially for the days at sea. She also loved the food and the staff. With port intensive cruises, children will be even less visible as they will be off the ship touring.

It seems like Las Vegas would be a better option. I think a mass market line would be a better option. When I'm on a cruise, I never turn on the TV. I will say that the internet is so good on Explora that some people were streaming football games on their devices.

At the end of the day, I will tip a little extra at the end of the cruise for those who have provided great service. The reality is that me tipping $100-$200 to the person who has kept my room in top shape is not going to have any impact on my bottom line. Giving a few bucks to the bartender who has kept me plied with delicious drinks is warranted. I know this money can have a significant impact in their lives. We also do little gifts. When we were on the Explora in December, we brought See's samplers and handed them out to the crew. They were very grateful and appreciative.

We were on the Explora in December and there was a big group (friends and family) that traditionally sail on Crystal. I asked why they weren't on Crystal for this trip and they said it was due to a lack of casino. A few of them had sailed on NC and they did not like the fact there wasn't a casino. They wanted that option, especially on cruises with multiple at sea days. We agree with that sentiment and have not booked an cruises on NC. We are sticking with Explora and trying Regent.

We are in our 50s and we have been a couple Crystal cruises. It is a very good product but it is safe to say that we are not their target demographic. What happens when the current Crystalites are no longer able to cruise? Where are these next generation cruisers coming from? I'm more comfortable on Explora. What some see as negatives on Explora others see as positives.

The numbers aren't great on Crystal but where is the doom and gloom with Crystal. Explora can play the long game because of its parent MSC. Just like Stickman, we have booked a future cruise on Explora with friends because we know that they will love the product.

We did a holiday cruise and our daughter (16) came along with us. There must have been 50-60 kids on the cruise but one couldn't tell. Our daughter did spend some time at the club but she also attended some of the shows, enjoyed the pool, had great dinners, etc. They have pool tables, foosball tables and board games. There are always going to be naysayers when it comes to kids on luxury cruise lines. Ignore it. Some kids, and it sounds like it is the case with yours, thrive on these sorts of cruises.

We did the Christmas cruise in December and had a blast. We are doing it again this year. The stafff was wonderful, Santa came to visit and they had special treats and events during the cruise. We brought along boxes of See's Candies for the staff.

The more space per passenger is an interesting position. I'm less interested in the overall ratio and more interested in the space at the places I spend time in (cabin, bar, restaurants, etc.). While Crystal's ratio is better, the cabins are very small.

I haven't been on NC since the reboot. We loved OC. The food and service were top notch. I was not a big fan of their cabins and it was the one negative in cruising with them. Due to our wonderful cruise on Explora in December, we have two cruises booked with Explora. We looked at doing a 2025 cruise with Crystal but the price point per day was too high. We can receive much better value on Explora, which includes a bigger standard cabin. Another downside is there is no casino onboard the Crystal ships. I believe they are planning to bring them back. It is a nice change of pace.

I think they can provide UTH if people are interested. You can take out chips as a room charge. There is no extra cost in doing so.

The BJ table was $25 on our cruise.

I wish I had known that when we were on the cruise. We did provide additional tips to those who provided exceptional services.

I will preface this by saying that we never have been on Regent. However, soon our kiddo will be heading off to college and we will have more flexibility to travel. Therefore, we were very interested in the Grandeur and the cruise line in general. Our travel agent was able to get us on a tour. It encompassed a walkthrough of the public spaces, viewing several of the different types of cabins available and lunch. We thought the ship was stunning. The Compass Rose restaurant was beautiful, as well as Pacific Rim. Explora's restaurants while very well designed, had a little less style in our mind. One strange aspect is that the Atrium's ceiling on Grandeur rose to the top of the ship. It looked like a giant white wall rising 6/7 stories. We thought the Atrium or Lobby in the Explora had a nicer design and seemed more elegant. The main pool on the Grandeur was very nice but the aft plunge pool, if you really can call it that, does not compare to what one can find on the Explora. If pools are important to you, the Explora wins hands down. The spas facilities on both ships are very nice but we liked the facilities on the Explora slightly more. The salt room on the Explora was a big draw for us. On the Grandeur, we saw the different top level suites and they were beautiful and well appointed. The concierge suites had a very nice layout and were over 400 sq ft. The one category of rooms we found somewhat disappointing was the veranda suite and the deluxe veranda suite. The storage in the veranda suite was somewhat lacking. The biggest issue for both categories of suites is that they had an extremely small bathroom. I thought the base level suites on the Explora were nicer. One last note on the suites. Regent told us what type of champagne that each category of suites received. For penthouse and above, the customer received Veuve Clicquot. On Explora, we received Veuve for our basic ocean terrace suite. Dom was provided to certain upper level cabins. Finally, the one thing that jumped out to me about the Grandeur is that the ceilings seemed to be very low in some areas and the passage ways to seem somewhat narrower that one would find on a cruise ship. I'm 5'11" and I kept on looking up because my head was closer to some of the fixtures than I'm use to. Overall, the Grandeur was a stunning ship and I'm sure one day we will try Regent. I think the Grandeur is more traditional in design and would be a comforting to traditionalist cruisers. I'm more partial to the more modern looking Explora and their somewhat different spin on luxury cruising.