Ibis

We had the same reaction to the carpet in the newly renovated rooms! Very unattractive, at the least😔

Meant to say, if I recall correctly.

As I recall correctly, there were 110 plugs on either side of the mirror that forms the back to back desks and also on one side of the bed in the bookcase.

Many thanks to Keith and May B for their responses concerning our Aquamarine/Sapphire questions. Yes, Paula Jean is very helpful and we have had two short meetings with her; yesterday’s was shortened as she suddenly remembered the Crystal Society party! It was great to see her again and I’m sure we’ll sort it out today. Having said that, it’s always very interesting to hear what other posters with lots of experience have to say:-) Thanks to all! Once again loved Osteria d’Ovidio on our second visit! Great food, great service. Tried a few new things which were amazing and just had to taste the Tortello again…fantastic! We are so fortunate to have great food in Waterside, Osteria d’Ovidio and Umi Uma. The experience at the Sushi Bar is simply world class and we can’t imagine why someone (who makes those decisions?) chose to reduce the number of seats at the bar from 9 to 6. Yes, maybe I forgot to mention, the newly renovated Umi Uma only has 6 seats now instead of 9 at the Sushi Bar:-( Be there at 6:00 sharp if you want a seat! Billy Joel show last night was super.. talented guy plus, the stage production was very well done!

Apologies for asking this question again, but we are trying to make an on board booking for Symphony for Spring/Summer 2024 and still need help with the differences between Aquamarine and Sapphire on Symphony😆. Also comparing them on the two ships. It seems the Aquamarine on Symphony is smaller than Serenity but also are any of these on Symphony that are newly renovated, as we don’t prefer the newly renovated decor? Were any of these rooms on Symphony previously Seabreeze, not our favorite either? Thank you so much in advance! Further thoughts from Umi Uma… second dinner there last night was so unbelievable! Managed to arrive early enough to have two seats at the Sushi Bar and what a fantastic treat! Every bit as good if not better than we remember from many past visits. Those guys are true artists and so focused and intent on their work. Of course everything was delicious! Worth arriving before 6:00 in order to sit at the bar. The ambiance between sitting at the Sushi Bar and being at a table with the Umi Uma servers is like night and day. And yes, that is true in any Japanese restaurant, but unfortunately even much more so here in Umi Uma. Can’t wait for tonight’s return visit to Osteria d’Ovidio😋

I agree totally with those saying actual numbers of guests in Waterside for lunch will speak more loudly than any of our verbal complaints… certainly did our part with lunch there on our two sea days down and plan to do the same on the way back in to Miami! There were actually quite a few others, as well. Last night’s show Sweet Soul Music was good but LOUD! Stardust Club was packed as was Avenue Saloon afterwards. Looking forward to seeing our group in The Cove later today.

In my opinion most of the people who dressed in white did so for dinner as well as the party which was immediately after dinner in The Cove.

Paula, totally agree with your comments on buffet lunch.. we so miss Waterside on port days! Hope to get together tomorrow:-)

We really enjoyed Saturday’s Cruise Critic get together! Let’s try for Wednesday 5:15 if there is a show or 6:00 if not? Just had a fantastic meal in Osteria d’Ovidio! One of the few if not the only meal we have had outside of Italy that tasted like we were actually eating in a restaurant in Italy. Everything was great; most particularly the Tortello; could have been in a two star Michelin restaurant. What an impressive addition for Crystal. We have always loved Umi Uma and we could barely wait to be back in there:-). We enjoyed a very good meal there Saturday night. Various rolls, sushimi, tempura, all just as good as we remember. However, there was a bit of disappointment on our part. First of all with the newly renovated decor. The room seems a bit too bright and hard, with nothing to soften the noise and rather glaring lights. At the same time, in spite of having veteran Crystal servers, the service just didn’t seem up to standard; not very smooth, to say the least. We do plan to try to get back there before the end of the week as we do still love the food! Maybe the answer is to sit at the sushi bar and try ignore the rest of the room;-) Paolo continues to do a super job in Waterside and we’ve had good meals with good service. Love lunch there on sea days! Thanks to May B for posting photos of last night’s White Party .. it was fantastic to see The Cove filled with so many happy people! We are very happy campers😍

Thanks so much for that correction about the size.. I forgot about the hallway between the two ! Agreed, we like those two desks and have no need for the tub. You mention on Symphony preferring Sapphire over Classic. Help me with that, please. Do you mean on Symphony there is only one designation? Sapphire, and none have been renovated? So no worries choosing which Sapphire? And when you say over the Classic you mean what was just the Classic Penthouse before on Symphony? And Sapphire is the next larger category? Sorry for the confusion but we have only been in Veranda on Symphony but with the changes to Veranda category we will want to want a better category. Once again, Keith, thank you for your help.

Suite Open House yesterday was very interesting. This of course, just represents our opinion and there are certainly other opinions:-) We are currently in a Classic Aquamarine and very pleased with it. We have had this room once before in 2019; prior to that we sailed in Ocean View and Veranda. The Aquamarine refurbished 2018 is much less appealing in terms of decor than the Classic. I guess this was the former Seabreeze. Same square footage but much more modern decor. Likewise the Classic Sapphire was very well appointed, in our opinion, compared with the newly 2023 renovated Sapphire suites. There was no Sapphire 2018 renovated suite available for viewing. Unfortunately, the new carpet in the 2023 renovated suites is, well, I would say very unattractive, bathroom layout unappealing and a much smaller closet. Smaller than ours in the classic Aquamarine. I guess we just prefer Classic, whereas others may like the more modern decor and design of the newly renovated suites. There were no higher level suites open, unfortunately. Having sailed in the OV and Veranda we have always felt Crystal rooms at that level were the very best across all lines we have sailed, in terms of storage particularly. Sadly that storage is gone, as has been previously reported. The new carpet is the same that we found unattractive in the new Sapphire suites. Very happy with our choice, plus Sandeep continues to give us the great butler service every day that is very exemplary of what has made Crystal service legendary.

Yes, I totally agree with Keith. We have taken a sea view on Deck 7 several times in the past and one big plus is you definitely have very easy access to the promenade deck. Windows are also large and the room is basically identical to the Deck 7 Veranda room; just a window instead of a sliding door if my memory is correct. Check out 7071 it has a tiny obstruction which was no problem for us and it is almost next to the door out to the promenade. Enjoy! CORRECTION. just realized 7071 that we enjoyed was on Symphony so I don’t advise looking for that particular room on Serenity but still stand by the rest of my comments about the Ocean View category compared with Veranda. Apologies!

Will be glad to do after our first port day. We were at sea today and again tomorrow. Had a super lunch in Waterside today:-)

Yes, I totally agree with Keith. We have taken a sea view on Deck 7 several times in the past and one big plus is you definitely have very easy access to the promenade deck. Windows are also large and the room is basically identical to the Deck 7 Veranda room; just a window instead of a sliding door if my memory is correct. Check out 7071 it has a tiny obstruction which was no problem for us and it is almost next to the door out to the promenade. Enjoy!

By the way, I didn’t mean to highjack May B’s thread ! Just in a rush to share news and thoughts from our boarding and didn’t think it necessarily to start another one. Apologies if that is considered rude or not correct ☺️

Yes, dreams to come true! We also boarded yesterday! Back on Crystal… it was emotional walking aboard amidst many crew members calling out “welcome aboard” and “welcome home” and it really did have the feeling of being home again. On the down side, that was just after we had waited from 12 to 1:15 in the terminal for our number to be called. However, once on board and in The Lounge, former Casino, our check in went very smoothly and very quickly, so we were able to hustle straight down to Waterside just at the stroke of 1:30! In a flash Poalo appeared from nowhere to give us an incredibly warm welcome. 🥰. Enjoyed a super lunch, Cobb salad and Champagne, what else?? Our classic Aquamarine suite is basically as we remember it. Met our butler, who has been great so far, as well as our two housekeeping ladies. We knew of the changes for our level concerning extra specialty restaurant reservations so although being a negative, it was not a surprise. It was however a very disappointing surprise that Charles Heidsieck is no longer given as the welcome bottle in our suite. Instead, we found the ordinary Jacquard. Our butler very kindly researched and said he was told that CH had been discontinued as our welcome gift, although it is available for purchase in the dining room:-(. He said most definitely the only Champagne that is offered to this level of suite is Jacquard. Guess we’ll learn to love it😜 On the positive side, dinner was delicious, after a short wait for a table. Service, head over heels super and truly very good food! We feel so fortunate to be here and look forward to today, as the first afternoon is always a push to settle in. Louis sang at approximately 6:20 with winds around 20. Sorry to rush away to enjoy more of this day. Hope to meet up with others tomorrow evening as planned.

Roy, thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us! I have enjoyed following your travels for some years now. You have inspired us to combine cruise lines and itineraries and even Amtrak from Florida to New York to join Queen Mary! In spite of experiencing many different cruise lines, like you I believe, Crystal has always been our preferred destination, so we were thrilled to see you back on board Serenity. In one of your early posts about this trip you mentioned, with the exception of a few differences in the culture this was the Crystal you had always loved. Would you share with us some the differences you saw? We appreciate your point of view. Hopefully, the future will bring more travels and we look forward to hearing about them. Have a great time on Rotterdam! Thank you once again for sharing your special moment on Serenity with all of us😊

That experience is so typical of Crystal.

Crystal Serenity?? Are you kidding?

Thanks so much for responses and will plan to let Head Sommelier know our thoughts when we board! Thanks again😊

Keith, did you reserve your Vintage Room before boarding or after? We are not interested in reserving a private dinner but joining a group that might be organized by the sommelier as we have done on past voyages. Checked our roll call, Miami to Miami November 2, but nothing happening there regarding Vintage Room. Thanks again for your help!

You are right, crickette! Fond memories of sitting in the Bistro, perusing the wine list, then arriving at the table for dinner to find your choice on ice and waiting!

Thanks for your response. And yes, we have been known to take a couple bottles on board and/or pick up something interesting along the way! Do you know if there is currently a corkage fee in the dining venues for wine brought on? The one thing we had hoped would change with NC was the Jacquart as the offered champagne 😣. However, not going to let this be a big worry in the overall scheme of things! Also, wondering if anyone has had the pleasure of attending a Vintage Room dinner with NC? Thanks again!

Roy, thanks so much for your efforts! Plenty of contrast and could read it quite well. On the other hand, it seems we may have to decide to be happy with the included options 😔. Good to know this in advance and we really appreciate your help. It is a bit surprising the wine list for purchase isn’t a little more extensive but I’m sure we’ll make out just fine! Looking forward to hearing more about your continuing adventures! Enjoy and thank you again.