AtA

No it could be that the dog can sense when the owner is about to have a seizure or if diabetic, needs to have some food. Or lots of other hidden medical issues. Of course if the dog is a true service animal, it shouldn't be sitting on furniture.

We always booked a PH so I'm sure that's not an issue for us.

When we sailed in Sept. we brought our own Paxlovid. Thankfully we didn't need it but glad we had it if we did need it.

Actually if they keep all that, they will be ahead of those lines.

I'm glad your butler service was good because ours on Whisper was less than we had come to expect on Crystal. And in reality, I felt that the public spaces on Crystal were more spacious than on Whisper. And with a lack of liquors (my partner couldn't get a sazerac or a ginger cosmo because of a lack of the ingredients), food that at lunch and breakfast was less than stellar (hockey puck hamburgers for example), less than stellar service in the main dining room until we became friends with someone who had sailed something like 100 cruises on SS, a lack of anything to do during the day on sea days, etc, we felt the price did not warrant what we received.

But the PH on Crystal was the same size as the regular cabin with butler on SS.

Manfredi did say originally he wanted to recreate what made Crystal great. Let's hope he does.

In reality, my PH on Crystal cost less than the regular cabin I just had on a SS cruise. By a lot! And there was always something to do if one wanted to. And yes, even the worst butler on Crystal was better than the butler we had on SS.

They did a retrofit of some of the cabins BEFORE covid and they were the same size as the penthouse. The bathrooms were very large and beautiful and the walk in closet was head and shoulders above what we were in on Whisper which is the only one I can compare to. Plus there was a lot more storage What Crystal had that SS doesn't is first and foremost, staff who ANTICIPATES rather than reacts only when asked. Additionally, it was everything else; computer classes, golf lessons, knitting classes, art classes, photo classes, dance lessons, 3 lectures a day on sea days, a movie theater where the movie was shown 2x a day (in the afternoon and at night and changed daily and more. And definitely better entertainment.

YES! We were on a SS cruise that got impacted by Hurricane Fiona. We wound up missing most of the ports, had one port changed on us and instead of getting a full day in Quebec with what sounded like a wonderful tour, we arrived at 4 PM. (I personally think they did that on purpose to save the money on tours) And the tours in Halifax and the ports we did make, they dumbed down to basic drive around the town or city tours versus some that were more interesting. (Money saver there too?) Overall, we should have gotten back a lot more money.

We stopped sailing with Regent once they started including tours and their prices jumped because of it. We just went on a SS cruise where tours were also included and the prices were ridiculous for the 11 days and the tours were quite lame. I'll always choose a ship where I have to pay for my tours over one that includes it if possible.

We looked into using their D2D service when flying from Sarasota to NY to do our B2B NY/Quebec City/NY cruise. First they wanted us to take the car service from our house in Sarasota to Tampa which was 4 miles outside the free car service and 1 hour from our house. The Sarasota Airport is less than 15 minutes from our house and has 3 (or 4) flights a day that are direct to NY.

We wrote her after our cruise and sent our cruise review. Her response was basically a non committal non response.

Actually I'd rate O below SS. We found staff to be friendly but perfunctory. Food was not as good as it was on SS. And the lack of daytime activities on sea days or unexpected sea days was a big turn off on both O and SS. Right now I'd choose Seabourn over either SS or O but I am anxiously awaiting the return of Crystal and am also booked on Explora Journeys next fall. And like others have mentioned, I do not want D2D included or excursions.

The veggie burger was no better.

Good question. Two lines I probably will not sail on again are Oceania and SS. And to be honest, SS was very similar to Oceania except we felt the food, at least at dinner, was better on SS. The only other difference is SS is a heck of a lot more expensive.

Exactly!

We had high hopes for SS having come from Crystal but were quite disappointed overall.

Yes and SS now folds in the cost of tours too which we didn't get to do either. So if ports are missed, or maybe if less expensive ports such as on my cruise Seven Isles (forgot the French way of saying it) is substituted for a more expensive port like Quebec City, they save a lot too. I'm sure the tours in Quebec City cost SS more than they did in the other city we wound up in.

And yes, Regent used to refund port fees too. And as mentioned so does SB and so did Crystal. The big difference is with SB and Crystal we didn't pay for tours upfront, whereas with Regent and SS you do. If I'm paying for something that I don't use (for example, I don't drink) that's my choice, but if I'm paying for something that I signed up to use and the fares reflect the higher price to include it, then yes I would hope I'd be reimbursed and not with another cruise I have to pay for and take within a year.

Of course missed ports are part of the game but in every other cruise we've done on what is a 6 star line, when a port was missed, we'd be given back the port fees and if we had paid for a tour, that too would be returned. Technically we paid for tours in each port. Agree that there are factors that impact why ports are replaced. However in this case it impacted anyone who was on the first segment because they got to spend a day in a less than stellar port instead of going to Quebec City to spend the day. (Maybe it was missed so SS wouldn't have to pay for all those Quebec tours?)

That was our experience too. The only tours that were worth it were the one we paid an uncharge for and the one they arranged for us on turnaround day. (We were doing a B2B) The one tour we paid an uncharge for used a bus for 40 people but there were only 18 of us on the bus. Compare that to the included tours where the buses were filled to capacity. And in one port, the bus was a school bus. In the same port with the school bus, the tour guide told us that the museum we had been looking forward to going to was closed, so instead we'd be going to see a sculptor's work in his backyard. Mind you the tour was supposed to be the history and past culture of the area.

If that's their mantra, it doesn't really speak well for them trying to promote themselves as a 6 star line. And especially not being up there as one of the most expensive. On all our cruises we had a good time.

Bobolz, thank you for correcting me as to which port it was. By the end of that first segment, I was so confused. LOL I have to agree with you as to why we went to Sept Illes instead of Saguenay. Also grateful we didn't head into rough seas but wonder why other ships were able to get up to the St Lawrence before the storm and we weren't. Yes it was Perce rock we went to. If I also recall, there were several people who couldn't handle the slightly rough water in the smaller boat.

Thank you. We went in with high hopes after seeing so many positive reviews