ChatKat in Ca.

On 4/16/2023 at 9:00 AM, nancygp said:

Currently sailing with John…terrific CD

 

Nancy

I adore John.  He and his wife were on board a cruise with us to Alaska the first time.  He was with Radisson then and we had the very best time.  We sailed other cruises.  He's a class act - best of the best!

13 hours ago, May B said:

I think we were all on the six-day, SFO to YVR in 2016! That was my first time on Serenity.

 

 

 

 

June 13th.  We were.  We met you  (Muriel) onboard!  We previously traveled with Julie and Chester and the Little Miss a few times.

Last time I was on tour in St. Paul de Vence, I missed a one inch step going into one of the stores.  I heard something snap.  The ladies in that store did not even as if I was ok.  They were beyond rude.

I was so lucky I could keep going for the rest of the crossing.

2 hours ago, juicyjuju said:

Well if Kathy and Muriel are on it I might just have to sign up too!

We haven't booked it but I think we will call and get onboard.

1 hour ago, History&Wine said:

good catch!

 

I also note that stops in  Astoria and Portland are listed.  I'm guessing there is just the one stop for two nights in Astoria, as Portland is an hour or two inland. 

We were wondering where the port for Portland might be....

I was looking at some cruise details.

This is funny.  On the West Coast San Diego to Vancouver there picture is of Seattle and the text mentions the port of Seattle.  The cruise does not go to Seattle.

https://www.crystalcruises.com/cruises/none-cse-008-240624

We do one each cruise and I don't think we paid more than $200 pp. 

We did the Champagne Lunch last Crystal and it was $125. pp

We did a pairing lunch on Regent for $150 and it was pretty comparable to a Vintage Dinner.

On land, we just had a pairing dinner with well know chefs and it was $250. pp.

I am sure there are surprises.  I saw the cost of dinner in the Vintage Room and while I love great wine pairing dinners, that cost is beyond what we'd consider.  We did a wine event in October on Regent and it was half of the price of the Vintage Room.

I know there are many details to be worked out for New Crystal.

They have some 'street cred" with their A&K heritage for considering Shore Excursions.

I am considering a booking but there is no information for shore excursions yet.  This is holding me back from reaching out to my TA for booking.  I don't get to take advantage of the Exceptional Booking because I was smart enough to cancel the 2 cruises and one had an admin fee that could be used for FCC which I lost.

I am hoping that there will some kind of announcement before the end of the month.  Anyone have any ideas of what to expect?

I've sailed in Glacier Bay and since you can walk on all sides of the ship, it should not make a difference. You can use your polarizer In Alaska, there is generally many hours of daylight.

You can search for sunrise and sunset times at Time and Date dot com.  I used Juneau for the location and July for the month,  but you can adjust for the day you ill be in Glacier Bay

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/juneau?month=7&year=2023

I too am a professional photographer.  I traveled with my cameras before I was encouraged to shoot professionally and Ive owned a studio for 18 years. I do mostly families, pets and commercial/editorial work. I took film photography in High School and always had a camera around, although not professionally.  I started with my mom's Kodak Brownie. Anyway, My husband and I used travel as our photography fix. 

I came from a film background but my first digital camera went with me on a cruise 20 years ago to Canada and New England.  In Nova Scotia, I was so excited to go to Peggy's Cove.  Got out there and forgot the battery.  Bought a Kodak disposable Film Camera so I had only 24 frames. Those images are still some of my favorite travel  images.  It's not the camera so much as your eye and your technical ability.  after that, I learned to always have 3 batteries - one in camera, one in reserve and one on the charger.

I have used several compact cameras for travel and  I've carried multiple bodies and lenses and for quite a few years but I got "camera weary" and bought a Tamron 28-300 3.5. for my Canon bodies.  I love that lens for my personal stuff. I had a long lens fail in Alaska while Whale watching and then I went again a few years back with a full case of glass.

My last cruise (in October) I didn't take one photo but the cruise before was intense to the British Isles and Iceland and I brought a full kit.

I think each person and each trip are unique. The bottom line is to enjoy your trip.  If I am traveling with a camera to my face most of the time, I will certainly miss some travel moments that will be priceless.

On 4/8/2023 at 10:08 AM, D&L Thomas said:

A I would talk to the steward directly but we have yet to meet him. The assistant has been by but she was not aware of any of our requests so maybe there are communication difficulties between the two of them.

I will try leaving notes.

 

 

The phone in your cabin will ring to your room steward.  Ask him to come and meet you and when it will be convenient for you..

10 hours ago, SFRiA said:

My wife and I totally agree. We live in a 55+ community, and the first thing we did to our new home was to remove the bathtub and put in a HUGE shower.

 

As you get older, tubs become trip hazards.

We live in one too and our bathtub is huge.  A danger to get into. But you need ONE or you lose valuable equity to sell.  One day I'll take it out.  We've never used it once over 5 1/2 years.

While I would manage without a casino, the Mr. would not manage without some form of Bridge.

Crystal did have ACBL Instructors on every cruise. Many times there was a late game on a port day and no instruction.  Regent no longer offers ACBL Bridge Instructors on all sailings - only selected sailings.

On 3/23/2023 at 5:20 PM, TER777 said:

What about the old FCCs? Presumably those can’t be used. 

Yes.  I canceled for Future Cruise credit. Did not file a claim because I had a future credit.

I canceled one cruise when the issue came up and got my money back less the admin fee and then a 2nd booked cruise for a FCC only.  So I think we are not eligible.  Next to some of you, we lost a pittance but this won't benefit us at all.

Some of our best cruises ever with private excursions booked with strangers. We did a 28 Day cruise where every port we booked private.  We did have a couple of people we wouldn't spend more than a few hours with (and the one guy that forgot his wallet).  And they guy whose companions went shopping so did they didn't return on time, but, he at least came to tell us. But the few out weighed the risk.

Could it be that the other dining venue is an Asian influenced restaurant and not Room Service?

7 hours ago, May B said:

There are several who run organized bridge, after blocking space (staterooms, and playing space). I’m guessing I know who you mean, as I can only think of one who is new to the market, and they seem to have taken over for the previous couple.

 

That previous couple had a huge number of loyal followers, b/c they did a beautiful job. I actually stopped in to say hi once, on Symphony. Their game was in Prego!

On Serenity they played in the Starlight Lounge on one cruise.

But there is another Bridge Sailing Entity that was recently sold. Our friends were on that sailing (with us) but we did not participate.  They told us it was a mess.

9 hours ago, bitob said:

One "fly in the ointment" with respect to the bridge program is what happened with the two agencies who provided the ACBL certified directors when Crystal went under.  At the time there were only 2 agencies who could provide ACBL sanctioned games.  I have heard a rumor that there might now only be one agency left.  Were they owed money?  Were they stiffed?  I cannot imagine it is a fortune.  Easily remedied if the NC is willng to pay that debt to get the bridge program back.  YES -- I know they don't have responsibility for the debt.

There are 2 different sources of Bridge Directors. 

The "charter" Cruises you can find in the ACBL Magazine where the famous bridge instructors come from and they hold the Sectionals at Sea. If you did not book via the Group Bridge Program, you cannot play.  There were 2 sources of these instructions/games. One was sold and they had a group on our recent cruise.  It was the transition to the new owners/directors and it did not go well. The other well known group is still booking the charter sailings.

Regular Passengers who play in the Crystal games also have ACBL sanctioned Bridge Directors and you can earn points just like any land based Bridge Club.

We took Bridge Lessons on a Atlantic Crossing on Regent (2007 I think).  They had an Audrey Grant program once in a while.  Classes were in the Steakhouse.

We cruised Oceania and they had Party Bridge and on another Crossing we did they had an ACBL instructor and Party Bridge. 

We moved to Crystal and every sailing had an ACBL instructor and the dedicated Bridge Room.  Our last cruise was on Regent and they had some duplicate play and an Instructor and a Bridge Sailing.  Our friends onboard did the program.  My husband is a Silver Life Master now.

It would be disappointing to him if there was no Bridge Program.

On 3/6/2023 at 7:16 PM, sasejm said:

I think in 1999, Carnival Paradise tried it and it didn't last very long because they realized smokers spent more money at the casino and the bars. 

Well, there will be no Casino and the drinks are free....

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

In our opinion, Mariner has the best layout of public areas and the decor is fine.

The Mariner has always been my favorite ship. Love the layout.  But it's ready for a refresh.  We sailed not long ago and we were disappointed that some areas are quite worn.

In Vancouver, We enjoyed Granville Island, Stanley Park, The Capilano Suspension Bridge, and walking around Downtown from Canada Place.  My husband also had a pickpocket experience while we were there in one of our visits, so be aware when you are walking around.  We've been there about 5-6 times.  We've stayed at Canada Place and also in North Vancouver at a B&B. There are some very good places to dine as well.

I think in addition to the cruise line, some times there is not only a difference in the kitchen staff, but some ships provisioning can cause a difference in the food quality because the food might arrive at a different time and the vendor might be different as well so there is inconsistent quality. Was the lobster frozen or fresh