CruisePfan

Ask your TA to ask Crystal. I was able to get the schedule for the full world cruise prior to start.

Any last minute iinstructions or items to pack for world cruisers? 1. My big suitcases were shipped and confirmed to have arrived in San Diego, but still packing one carryon plus hand luggage; With bad weather forecast for San Diego, my seasick supplies have arrived from Amazon: dramamine, ginger drops, patches, and bonine. 2. Batteries, Kindle are charged. Tech bag and cords packed, iPad and iPhone to be charged night before leaving. 3. Books, movies, tv shows, and music downloaded to Kindle, iPad and iPhone. Do a final backup of your devices to the cloud before you leave home. Heard ship internet can not handle backups at sea. 4. Subscription drugs, cold and flu remedies, bandaids packed in hand luggage. 5. Jewelry and cash packed in hand luggage. 6; Passports, air and ship tix packed in hand luggage. 7; Last minute supply list to pick up in San Diego so I didnt have to worry in flight: mouthwash, aerosol products, sun tan lotion, hand sanitizer. Is there a makeup mirror on desk or should i pack my portable lighted mirror?

Surprised today with a Fed Ex from Crystal with 2 black leather luggage tags, preprinted tix for cruise, luggage tags, the Before you Sail Guide, and a welcome letter from Christine Levis, CEO. 4 suitcases already shipped ahead, but still packing carryons. Can’t wait to board in San Diego!

Just received an email from Crystal: Thank you for choosing Crystal for your upcoming World Cruise. We are looking forward to sharing all the incredible experiences curated for you on this journey. Our thoughts remain with the local community and all those affected by the devastating wildfires in Lahaina in August. Given the severity of these fires and their significant strain on local resources, Crystal Serenity will cancel her scheduled call to Lahaina, Maui on February 10, 2024, and will instead visit the beautiful island of Nawiliwili, Kauai. This will affect your voyage and while the adjustment may not align with your original vision, we appreciate your understanding considering this difficult decision. We have also engaged our A&K Philanthropy initiatives to help support our Maui community and look forward to sharing those details with you once they are finalized. Feb 10, 2024 (Old) Lahaina (Maui) (New) Nawiliwili, Kauai, Hawaii USA 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Please note, any excursions that have been reserved and prepaid in the original destination will be refunded. The updated tours and excursions for our new destination are available to be booked via ‘My Account’ on our website. Our reservations team is also available to assist with any bookings needed. Lastly, we recognize that communicating these changes to guests before all updates are live to the public is important. We plan to update all online platforms within 24 hours following this communication. Thank you for your unwavering loyalty to Crystal and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon. Sincerely, Crystal Guest Relations

I received a forwarded message from my travel agent who got it from Crystal. She was watching for an itinerary change notice.

My TA Just sent me the following docs from Crystal regarding the 2024 World Cruise. She did a terrific job in following up with Crystal to get the info everyone has been asking for. Just another example of superb Crystal and A&K service!! Regards, Adelina Please find attached Crystal’s 2024 World Cruise visa benefit information and application. Once the visa benefit application is completed and returned with passport copies and photos, we will begin processing the guest’s visas and travel authorizations. Once the visa and travel authorizations are issued, we will send them directly to the ship on the guest’s behalf. Kindest regards, Cindy Cindy Williams Senior Manager of Guest Visa Services, Port Operations cwilliams@crystalcruises.com Key info excerpt from the doc: "US and Canadian passport holders require visas and travel authorizations prior to arrival in India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Indonesia. It is our pleasure to process guests India eVisa’s, New Zealand ETA’s, Sri Lanka ETA’s and Indonesia e-VOA’s. Due to Australian government restrictions, we are unable to include Australian ETA processing in our visa benefit. Guests must obtain their required Australian ETAs prior to embarkation directly through the Australian government’s ETA app. Crystal will obtain Visas and Travel authorizations on arrival and pay any applicable fee for US and Canadian passport holders transiting Jordan, Oman, Cook Islands, Egypt, Tonga, and Turkey." CRYSTAL WC 2024 Visa Benefit Application.pdf 2024 WC Visa Requirements for US and CAN.pdf

We thought the shower was great in the newly redesigned suite with a bench you can sit on. The area around the two sinks is spacious with more storage under the sinks and more storage on the opposite wall. The sofa is very comfortable and the tv is bigger in the living room. By closing the curtain between the BR and LR, occupants can watch different shows at the same time, but because the tvs are back to back, the remote may adjust the wrong tv, a small nit. Another rod in the closet would definitely be nice, but there are six small shelves over the bar/ desk area for putting hats, tour tickets, and makeup. All in all, the redesigned suite is very comfortable and will make a wonderful home for the World Cruise.

I confirmed with Daniele Puma, the on ship future cruise manager on the Crystal Serenity, the private transfers are included for the 2025 WC, similar to OC on previous WCs. This includes: 1. Home to home airport 2. Ft. Lauderdale airport to Ft. L hotel 3. Ft. L hotel to pier 4. Pier to Barcelona hotel or airport 5. Home airport to home You do not have to use Crystal air program or Crystal pre cruise hotel to get the private transfers. Also as per the published details “For those residing within 50 miles of Ft. Lauderdale, a private transfer from guest’s home to pier will be provided.

I’m sorry, but I’m not reading the fine print the way you are about private transfers. There is no reference to Crystal air or Crystal pre cruise hotels re the private transfers, So I am assuming I am eligible for: 1. Transfer from home to home airport 2. Transfer from Ft. Lauderdale airport to Ft. Lauderdale hotel 3. unknown cost, if any, Ft. Lauderdale hotel to pier 4. Transfer from pier to Barcelona airport or Barcelona hotel 5. Transfer from home airport to home. The good news is we’ve got over a year for Crystal to clarify and get this sorted out. I’m like Keith, and will assume the best, not the worst scenario.

Booking on board earns you a 2.5% discount. An open booking is a placeholder if you haven’t picked an itinerary yet. I’m not sure what the timeframe is for finalizing the booking.

Yes it is still doable to do two visits to OdO, UU, the Sushi Bar, or any combination thereof without charge. The third visit is a fee of $50 per person.

If your main goal is to see a museum, skip the ship tour. We were in Bilbao today and the target was the Guggenheim. The Crystal shuttle into town dropped us one block from the Guggenheim. Admission tix were 18 Euro or 9 Euros for seniors. You could download an audio tour onto your phone for free and see the museum at your leisure. The ship tour was $149, although it did include the Old Quarter, a short distance away. We found a similar price differential in New Orleans for the excellent World War II museum. With a tiny bit of research you can even order tix online to save waiting in line.

This is our 6th Crystal cruise and so far only a few minor glitches. We arrived on Thursday and there were 3 Crystal reps to meet us at airport and escort to us to small van for hotel. We stayed at the pre cruise hotel Tivoli Avenida Liberdade. It was one and half blocks down from the original announced Sofitel Hotel in a great section of town. Letters were waiting for us with instructions on time to meet and when they would pickup luggage from room. A Crystal desk was manned where you could pick up luggage tags if you had not receive them before you left home. 15 minute ride to cruise terminal. Arrived about 12:40. A little bit of confusion on baggage handling at dock. Rep on bus told us we had to point out our bags to waiting porters, but someone else advised to just get on ship and baggage would be delivered to rooms. Check in was easy, they took pictures of each passenger, and then you could go directly to your suite where you key was waiting in room. A bottle of Charles Heidsieck champagne was chilling on ice in our Sapphire veranda suite. All the Sapphire suites on 9 are the 2023 redesigned ones with fabulous walk in showers. Tons of storage in the bathroom! Had to ask for toiletries. First night small tubes, but on second day new bottles were delivered. We are still waiting for the new Lenovo tablets, but the daily Reflections is being delivered so we are managing fine. Paddle tennis courts are in great shape, and we’ve managed to take 2 golf lessons already! Instructor is a PGA Teaching Pro, Joe Herbert, and he is excellent. More info to come, but Crystal is back and the experience so far has been great.

If you normally play tennis, adjusting to paddle tennis is not that difficult and you’ll be able get to a nice workout fairly quickly. I agree with Keith, when it is windy, pickleball will be more difficult to play. Our old hometown has pickleball courts near the beach and the wind will definitely carry the ball.

Could someone post more details on the additional Wi-Fi packages available for purchase.