vistaman

9 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

Is this new? Just while they are in France or other European countries too?

 

Patty

suppose they are going Morocco or Tunisia  the second day ; no more VAT 

it all started with Spain when they had budget problems 

it seems only Portugal , France and Spain so far 

doubtful it is legal  as when a Dutch company is buying goods in Belgium it is without VAT  providing a valid VAT number is  given 

the Belgian supplier must provide a list with  the Vat numbers of the clients of the EU to the Belgian Taxes

and the other country can verify the purchases 

but paying french VAT in a italian port  ??? so far no single company had the courage to go to the european court 

and that is lasting for years it all started with Spain...

8 hours ago, BWIVince said:

 

It might take more patience than that...  🙂  It took old Crystal 30+ years to get a handful of intermediaries.  The synergy with A&K's sales network might expedite this, but it's is such a conditional process that I wouldn't hold my breath on what partnerships they sign next/soon/later/ever.  Crossing my fingers for you though.  🙂 

 

Vince

the former representative moved to Explora and because my one and only EJ was a disaster and I did made it down rather seriously - it was also the end of a good understanding

for the moment on symphony  cruise was departing from Toulon   20% taxes on special wines 

sorry for late reply ; zeebrugge is a terrible cruise port imho one of the weakest on the line lisbon hamburg

in december during weekdays there is one train to brugge every hour from zeebrugge station 

under normal circumstances  i will be pax on queen anne dep 15th december 2024

maybe as a belgian i should do a consultation parlour 😄

blankenberge is a weak rather low classed village  the upper classed village on the belgian seaside is knokke the opposite direction of blankenberge  there is a statin as well ome train every hour 

being belgian i will not going to brugge  but going to a nice restaurant either in knokke or heist 

unfortunately that day a nice and friendly place opposite the church of zeebrugge is closed during that december cruise call

people from antwerp dislike zeebruggge  heavily !!!

stlll  nobody for belgium netherlands ...

TA not aware of new C 

37 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

It is the other way around.

 

Crystal went under because of Genting. Genting didn't go under because of Crystal. And yes you can blame some for recommending that NYK accept Genting's offer although none of us were privy to any of the discussions related to the acquisition so we really don't know.

 

I really don't understand why people continually put down someone who is long gone and blame every woe on the one person.  

 

Even Genting I try to forget about.  And it was them who made the decisions to go into the River market and Expeditions.  Like some owners they made almost every decision.  The same seems to be happening with another luxury line too whose owner has centralized most of the decision making. That is the prerogative of the owner.  An example of this was the ridiculous amount of money spend on Endeavor which was one of the last things they did.  

 

This is why I try to just put this out of my system because life is too short.

 

Keith

 

 

" some owners"  - yes that what is going on at Explora for the moment ... 

23 hours ago, sogne said:

pilot boarding is the key factor

the Star Pride - stretched former Seabourn Pride - is in Zeebrugge and no problems with bringing the pilot on board   - actual force is  BF4  to 5

tomorrow a Norwegian C L is due to dock , not a small one.   

My last QV : I  ( solo )  got a not so pleasant table  and close to me a table with 3 Germans, refusing to talk ( they had problems with English : not understanding the menu in full ) , despite i do speak  German fluently. 

the weather forecast    :  for Zeebrugge  force  4 -  5 BF  north west winds 

and decent tugboats available 

another "easy " cancellation ? 

7 minutes ago, Kynance said:

Having been to both Le Havre and Cherbourg, I preferred Cherbourg - seemed a lot more to see and do within walking distance of the ship.  Back in December 2014, we were on the “cruise to nowhere” aboard Queen Elizabeth. Due to high winds, the ship could not navigate the canal into Amsterdam for the planned overnight stay. Cunard were unable to arrange any alternative ports so we had 4 days at sea in stormy weather. Lots of passengers weren’t happy! In the case of today’s departure, it’s good to hear that two nice sounding alternatives have been found. Hope those on board have a good trip and you’re back in good time for me to board on Sunday for the fjords.. 😀

and they forgot Rotterdam ... very broad no locks 

8 hours ago, drpclarke said:

...and this is my first rodeo with Explora.

 

Explora doesn't seem to offer additional trainings for TAs, so I'm just popping on these boards, visiting their websites, and trying to understand all things Explora. While I am learning about it, the pricing is just baffling to me.

 

For example - the cruise they are looking at...(April 2025, Explora 2) ...the "Unique Escapes" rate (this looks like a short term promo) starts at $5285 per person. The "Early Booking" rate starts at $6695 per person. It goes on to say that the "early booking" rate is a great deal on the "journey" fare.

 

Huh? Journey fare? Is the unique escape not a journey fare?
 

I just don't know all of this Explora terminology...can anyone here help?

Thanks!

Rachel

read my review in "reviews"  failure of luxury !

18 hours ago, commodoredave said:

It seems that the biggest cutbacks and price increases have come post-Covid as the mega-cruise companies try to increase profits to pay down debt. This applies to all of the cruise lines from mass market to luxury. 

that is very true   : Silver Dawn last year in July  -  Silver Dawn April 

a serious downfal in the F&B operations  

I think it will be Milano or Roma airport ... 

Good to hear  - and pleasant for the guests -  Bruno is back as CD !

On 5/21/2024 at 5:48 PM, English Tim said:

I agree with Gary.

 

The onboard service on virtually all the ships I’ve ever been on has been first rate. On Explora, they go to another level and some are very keen to offer top level service.

 

There is a fast difference between the level of service on board and what we often suffer from the shore service personnel.

 

I have had some interesting discussions with senior management and clearly all is not well. Hopefully they will find the optimum solution and will all be happy, or as I have explained if they don’t get it right for me, then I will vote with my feet.

i wish you good luck and take aa few bottles of your own wine with you !

1 hour ago, tinaincc said:

That’s OK. Where can I find the list?

ask the butler  

9 hours ago, flyers said:

You ask the Butler or room attendant and they will bring you little boxes with a few of these items included.

some "bathroom"  items do occur a payment - there is a - long - list  (  shaving foam , brush... )

last year there was an IT man  handling the "automatic " piano's  

and he did ask  : do you like Mozart and i said yes , he put in some IT figures and there was half an hour Mozart music ... 

9 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Thank you. Spaghetti bolognese at a Crystal cruise? Not really my idea of luxury although I love pasta. 

that was usually served during embarkation lunch 😃 

2 hours ago, BWIVince said:

Good example…. So what happens when you book a cruise, and then 2 weeks out the hotel director changes, as happens sometimes?

 

Vince

so then I have bad luck  ...😁

4 hours ago, Roland4 said:

Why?? I have never understood this. The lecturers and entertainers I understand, possibly even the CD, but what does it matter who the Captain/Hotel Director/Maitre D' are?? Would anyone seriously consider cancelling a booking because they don't like the Captain or HD?? 

I find it useful ... and yes I do avoid one hotel director !

C really should add the senior officers ( captain hotel director ) , cruise director and restaurant manager !

7 hours ago, Sdancer said:

Why such an unfriendly language, especially telling others how they should chose their cruise line?

 

I understood travelberlin perfectly and agree with him. BWY, he was not "complaining" but rather sharing information about the European custom. In Europe there are Breakfast, Dinner ( the largest meal at midday) and Supper (a light meal in the evening). 

This is our meal schedule too, even before we have retired.

The bonus: we are fit and have the same weight as in our youth :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that really is depending on which country in Europe

exception for weekend , we always  had the largest meal in the evening ...

and pastries were for the weekend  unless there was a celebration , but in Germany during the week a lot of pastries are consumed . and in France in some area's 2 hot meals a day and in summer daily salad and in Italy cakes and tarts for breakfast ... the pastries we eat as desserts

6 hours ago, late2cruisin said:

We had it on Nova in December.

You have to ask for Pommery !