Suite Travels

I am retried as well but I never can get the suite we want in a 3-6 month period. Most people that we know book at least a year out.

May B, what are you talking about? I am not disagreeing with Vince. How do you know how old I am? Oh, just got it ...you bothered to look at my profile. I have held up well over the years I think. I don't need the embalmer yet.

Have to agree.

 

 

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I agree as well. Very hard pressed to find a restaurant on land that is formal even in Palm Beach

Pilfering Is Big in African airports and even in Miami they have caught several rings that have been arrested. Of course my opinion of MIA is that it is the arm pit of airports. Most US airports are the pits compared to Singapore, Dubai and other European and Asian countries. Not to mention security is held at a higher level.

I forgot that United discontinued service from IAD-DXB last year. So you now have no choices of American carriers fly from those countries non-stop. Terriorists can still go to other non affected countries and fly an American carrier non-stop.

We fly EK a lot and many business people work on those 14-15 hour flights and buy premium cabin seats F & J. Now we heard they may start this on Asian flights.. Working off an IPHONE is difficult.

Emirates is a fantastic airline as well as Qatar. BTW all flights flying out of the restricted countries must comply with the so called temporary ban on electronic devices including US carriers which there are not many.

This really makes no sense as I can fly from Dubai to Milan or Rome to JFK with EK and I will be able to keep my devices onboard. This only effects non-stop flights to the US from the listed countries and now the U.K. has implemented the same restrictions.

Miles

Looking forward to your review and enjoy the rest of your cruise.

As far as dress code, I have seen the non-compliance manifesting on all luxury lines. Gezzz minimum standards are not hard to abide bye and one can still be comfortable.

Miles

I do think they should make everyone sign a no political discussion form before boarding and confine violators to the engineroom. Please let me eat in peace!

Ha! I agree! We had someone on the World Cruise hang an enormous (I should say "tremendous") Trump banner from his balcony at every port. I thought the rule was that nothing should be draped on the balcony.....I have a lot of funny things do say about this but, because they are irreverent and scatalogical, I'll refrain from sharing in this forum![/quote

No political banners should be displayed on a cruise ship. Display your banners and signs at home on your property.

I too can tolerate a light sport jacket with a collared shirt. No big deal.

Seabourn were worried that crew might strangle difficult guests.

 

 

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That is too funny. Good to see some humor here.

In my opinion Seabourn is still the best luxury cruise line out there no matter who owns it.

We will find that out later this year on our first Seabourn cruise. We have always been told that if you love Crystal you will love Seabourn. Also everyone on this board has been so helpful and not dominated by cheerleaders as on a few other boards.

flossie - appreciate your detailed response.

 

Host Dan - our of curiosity, did Seabourn's ships have things that needed to be replaced the first few months after they were launched? I ask because the Explorer is our first "new" ship and I do recall reading about issues when Oceania's two ships were launched. Thanks!

Whistling doors is a big issue when you are paying for a veranda you cannot use because it is all taped up. Certainly not anybody's idea of luxury. This should be an easy fix.

Flossie009,

 

Thank you for your informative response to this issue. I too would be a bit "put off" if I sailed on "the most luxurious ship ever built", and had to put up with latent defects.

I would be as well.

Hmmm...does not sound like six star service to me.:rolleyes:

The dress code is exactly the same as Crystal's very easy and more relaxed then back in the day when both were very formal. Wearing a sports jacket without a tie is easy with a collared shirt and comfortable slacks. I do see the tuxedos declining and the long gowns.

Machotspur,

Thank you for your comments and please post your experiences - it really is the only way others can get a balanced set of reviews. I agree that there are dominant posters on this board that try to refute every review that does not match their own which is why more balanced reviews are so very helpful!

Looking forward to your observations!

+1 Where is the like button.

I too would like to hear from new posters about the Explorer and comparisons to other luxury lines. The dominant posters are always defending the product and you can't win in a reply. The dominant posters put up smoke and mirrors. I think people want to hear from everyone not just a couple of people answering every post.

Most people we know know do the opposite and plan way in advance as many people here do on this board.

The shorter bookings will most likely not get you your preferred stateroom or suite especially in the six month or shorter window and penalty's come into effect. Your small sampling of friends are not what experienced cruisers do on luxury lines for sure. Most people we met on our recent cruise were booking one to two years out. Segments of the upcoming WC are sold out. Of course one can still book on the NWP cruise which is not selling as well as last year.:cool:

Keith, I know you book over a year out on Crysta cruises and you have stated so here with your future cruises and river cruises.:rolleyes:

Most everyone we know at home makes vacation plans more than six months in advance. I'd wager to say that most here on CC are the same.

 

Now, perhaps for short weekend jaunts, it's a shorter time frame. But when there are tens of thousands of dollars being expended, the time frame becomes more extended.

 

Of course, your "at home" neighborhood may have lots of folks who have thousands to drop on short notice. Maybe that's the 1% target that Crystal wants.

 

But then, whatever. To reverse the words of Buffalo Springfield: "Nobody's wrong if everybody's right"

Absolutely people make plans more than 3-6 months in advance. I know we do especially planning for tax season and family affairs I.e. weddings, business etc.

We plan our travels over a year out and put deposits down and book air. We are going back to Africa over the holiday season with our TA and most properties have non-refundable deposits and the only way to cover this is with travel insurance.

Crystal did the right thing or this would be a PR mess and a blemish on the line.

Yes, Crystal needed to provide compensation either a free cruise or some other type of compensation or they would,lose a good amount of customers. Of course they had to do the right thing or else.

No surprise here. What's next? :rolleyes:

Wow, I guess we over tip. We give the porters at airports and cruise terminals $5.00 per bag. The days of $1-2 were way back when. I want our bags to get to our destination. No, I don't pay baggage fees as I have my AA retiree ID card.

Love your comparison to the fashion police !

ALL employees of Regent are very observant of EVERYTHING that goes on in their ships.

It seems obvious that they do NOT intend to enforce any kind of dress code upon people that are clean and neatly dressed.

It really does not matter how many protest to Regent about this because an equal amount of people...if not more..like things a bit more casual.

The writing is on the wall about society changing and you might find cruise lines like Seaborne sticking to the the old fashioned ways but not Regent.

I personally miss the days when people as a whole dressed decent just to leave their house but those days are fading.....[/quote

 

Loved your reply and you and I are on the same page. Those glamour days are gone and fading more. The luxury lines are relaxing the dress codes and it is a fact but not to absurd shorts or ball caps as TC suggests. People with the money to travel on any luxury line will not dress as such as described. We will be on Seabourn later this year and posters said don't worry about it if you are dressed nicely and jeans if neat and clean are acceptable with a collared shirt and jacket.

 

I guess we will not sail RSSC because TC tells all of us what is acceptable or not and we have sailed Regent five times. Seabourn is our next cruise.

Due to "off topic" posts, this thread is starting to go down the slippery slope again. This thread is about enforcement - not what you think of the dress code (even though I agree with you)

 

Why does Crystal come up constantly when no one is asking a question about them:cool::confused:

Threads go off topic all the time and you always point that out. It happens on all boards. You can always create your own website and I run one for an airline and they always go off topic but I will not delete them it is inevitable that it will happen on our site.

If you don't like the off topic posts just move on or let the moderator decide.

Chatcat and Suitetravels, Couldn't disagree more about jeans. Consider the slippery slope we have been on and where does it stop. If jeans are next when do shorts appear and a few years later muscle shirts. Hard to believe I'm talking from experience as that costume was worn by an individual from a very casual country on a Uniworld river cruise in France. Unfortunately they allowed him to eat.

Shorts and muscle shirts are a bit extreme in your reply. I have seen on casual nights dress jeans mostly black. Jeans without holes or ragged can look very nice with a jacket. We have friends who sail Regent and they said as long as you look nice and they will not throw you out of the restaurant. We are on the Serenity and had many people coming back late from tours and many were in jeans and ready to eat.

I am not the fashion police like some people on CC. I only care how we look and both my husband and I dress well. The gown days and tuxedos are dwindling. If you want your own dress code charter your own yacht.

I avoided Crystal for years because of the strict evening dress code that Regent did not have. Our loss, really as I love the line so much. In reality, Regent has offered alternative dining in La Veranda. Crystal still does not have a casual dining venue although it's dress is Country Club Casual most nights as is Regent. As far as jeans go - it's time to consider that they are acceptable evening dress. As adults, I think that if you choose to dress like a slob, it's your choice to do that, but it's the choice of the cruise line to limit your access due to the social norms expected.

Kathy I know you are Crystalized as I have the pleasure of reading your posts/blogs since you started sailing Crystal. I just wanted to mention that on the Serenity they have the casual venue Tastes.

It really does not matter what one person here says about jeans as they are not the ones running the show and you are right times are changing and you are not going to stop those changes.