May B

Btw, we should report to you that the iPad/iPhone Tips class (I went to both of them) was taught by a gentleman who worked in IT at the Los Angeles office for 15 years! In fact, he may have been the head. I liked him a lot. Ironically, neither he nor another guy from the dept. could get one of his two screens working, at his second talk. I never noticed a place in the survey to comment on this. His wife was the Great cruise line escort on one of my shore excursions. Sandy, who taught photography with your phone, was the escort on my other one. So good to have those escorts! And the speakers were often in the first or second row at the other speakers’ presentations. I had a conflict for music trivia, but the rumor is that Roger McGuinn and his teammates won it! The other four trivias, I believe, were all won by the same team. We tied them on the last one but lost the tie-breaker.

I think you had to answer Yes to the question, Do you want to help us decide details of future cruises? I may be paraphrasing. I found it a bit hard to navigate, until I realized I could hit tab to go to the next line. I gave quite a bit of feedback on food in several venues. I gave a ton of 10s, all over the place. I described the four enrichment speakers, from my and Mr B’s viewpoint. I had not realized it didn’t ask for specific shout-outs.

Sue is a superstar among CDs. I had read about her but never cruised with her until March. I’m sure she’ll be home with family over the holidays so we’ll miss seeing her on our next Connie. Mornings in Tampa are sometimes foggy, and on a few occasions, arrivals have been delayed. This a.m. looks like it might’ve been one of those times! Cruise ships sometimes are able to compensate by arriving earlier than originally planned. Today when I look at CruiseMapper, nobody’s in the vicinity, so I can’t test my theory. Keep enjoying!

You can just go to be seated, when you want, or you can make reservations. On my Edge TA, alas, they couldn’t even figure out how to handle the reservations vs. walk-ups! It turned out fine once we fed ourselves a dose of patience … plus it got better as the cruise went on. I think you will find the bar service better or much better or vastly better than what you report from Oasis. I’ve never cruised n NCL.

And was it great?

The bar service you experienced on Silhouette will not be a good predictor of Beyond, imho. That having been said, I expect the OP to find a rhythm that works, after night two. Night one is generally a madhouse every place. The four main dining rooms concept takes a bit of attention for it to be mastered. Actually, last October (2022), the whole systems was in disarray for more days than I thought it should’ve. My recommendation is to chill out and not be in a rush. Check out the four menus so you’ll know which of them have things on offer that particularly appeal to you, depplep. You’ve probably already begun to understood the concept. We dined at Eden and the service was great. Special experience for sure, but we do not have a good track record with specialties, on any line, on any ship.

I’m on over Xmas! I just hope we have pleasant temps and calm seas. I know we’ll have good to great everything else! By that I mean food, service, entertainment, trivia, decorations, and nod to Xmas.

Thank you for taking us along with you! So glad to see so much yummy food and great experiences.

Beautifully said! You must be as disappointed as they are. Other Celebrity ships might be a much better fit for them, but I totally agree with their decision not to cruise with Celebrity again.

Hi Paula, Great to meet you! And Mr Paula 😉😘. I like the production shows, too, though. The dancers are sooooo good! Love the choreography. It was very loud in the Galaxy. Last night, Mr B went to our stateroom, got under the covers and watched it live (but without getting to enjoy the audience great reaction). I stayed in Galaxy but turned my hearing aids down to the lowest they could go. We found disembarkation frustrating, not from anything Crystal did, but from the port employees who had us all waiting for one elevator, until we asked for stairs or escalator. Then we were misdirected, so got some extra steps in, in the process. We were following a whole bus load of transfer folks. One of my favorite things on this cruise was that we had two different shows most nights, one at 6 pm and one at 9:30. Sometimes in Galaxy, sometimes in Stardust. Also loved Bob Ray and Roger McGuinn. Loved most of the food, loved most of the service. Truly thrilled to be back on Crystal.

We left with a rainbow and are welcomed back with one! Couldn't post photo.

Ten couples in the dance floor in Stardust. Tripacian and his SO, Mr B snd I are just sitting, drinking, enjoying the music.

I had forgotten that! After lunch on embarkation day, I went to Osteria d’Ovideo to give my Supper Club request to Mario. I believe that was the mention in the Day One Reflections. A day or two later, we received written confirmation. Then this a.m., I realized there were so many great things on Waterside’s menu, we wanted to change our plans, so that’s what we did. Our friends kept their Supper Club reservations and were seated with a couple they enjoyed meeting very much.

Phil and I are cancelling our Supper Club reservations tonight. I don’t know if there’s a wait list. Have a blast, whoever is attending.

And that big deck plan is useful, too! I suggest everybody go by and pick one of those up, even if you aren’t booking now. The deck five staterooms for Serenity don’t show up, so I guess they aren’t for sale for guests.

My recollection is Mumbai to Athens on Serenity, then a week on land, then Symphony.

Paula Jean at future cruise desk seems to be pretty good at sorting out the options, Ibis. I think you should sit down with her and explain what you like and don’t like. Have fun!

We had another lovely CC get-together Wednesday night, and looking forward to the final on Saturday, same time and place as Wednesday. Tonight the 9:30 show was James Fox doing Billy Joel, and I love that show as much as the three Billy Joel concerts I’ve been fortunate to have attended. And he’ll be back Sunday night doing his own show. Should be great, also. Magician was fun! Bridge people attended, and Sandy who teaches iPhone photography. Sandy was our Crystal escort for a wonderful tour today in St Lucia to hike to see the Pitons up close. We heard about so much that grows on this island and saw so much of it, too. There’s a begonia plant whose flowers taste like a green apple (with similar crunch). Attended our third Bob Ray presentation, so much fun! Then met him and his wife in the Cove and heard about their 2024 schedule on Serenity and Symphony. Tomorrow we get to enjoy Roger McGuinn again and, except for a conflict, could attend two trivias. Btw, prize for trivia winners has been discounts, either at spa or photo shop. And tomorrow night the Supper Club!

Today I went to Marketplace for lunch, just after 1 pm. It was quite sparsely attended! I guess many guests were out and about in Barbados. Mr B walked to the historical museum and gave it rave reviews.

You find the QR code on the tablet they provide. You access on your smart phone. I didn’t think to access it on my iPad as well, but that would also have worked.

They have it! I couldn’t do it myself so I asked one of the very helpful people at reception.

To dinner! We were at Umi Uma and I was seated where I could see everybody as they entered. So much fun!

Have you all used the QR code on the iPad to get the onboard Crystal app? I learned an interesting functionality. Last night, I wanted to read yesterday’s Reflections, but it had already transitioned to today’s. Back at Itinerary on the home page of the app, click, then scroll down and click on the plus sign to the right of the port and you get an option to click for Weather or for Daily Reflections for that day and port.

Once onboard, you use a QR code on the iPad to get the onboard Crystal app. I learned an interesting functionality. Last night, I wanted to read yesterday’s Reflections, but it had already transitioned to today’s. Back at Itinerary on the home page of the app, click, then scroll down and click on the plus sign to the right of the port and you get an option to click for Weather or for Daily Reflections for that day and port.