ryndam

A bit small of an area. My guess is a repurposing of Pulse to a casino. There’s already a bar in that room.

Your cruise next September is within the 520+/- day credit card dispute window determined by the major credit card issuers. As many of us discovered, any advance deposits for any service/travel/product/etc. older than 520+/-days in advance will not be protected by your credit card issuer. You should be financially protected for a scheduled September 2024 cruise.

Available to book and reserve online 60 days before sailing.

Flexibility is the operative word here. In the past, we've been fortunate to enjoy multiple dining opportunities at Umi by asking the restaurant manager when additional days/times were available, rather than requesting a specific day/time later in the cruise. Generally, we have been able to secure a 2-top at 8:30pm+/- without much difficulty, even on shorter cruises. If a day/time could not be confirmed immediately, we asked to be placed on a waiting list, which generally cleared within 48 hours or so, with a confirmed day/time. Table size also is a consideration; there used to be very few larger tables that could accommodate 6 or more people. Looking at the photos of the refurbished Umi, it appears that there are even fewer larger tables in the new configuration than there were in the previous decorating scheme. Rob

Welcome home, Keith & Anne Marie, albeit to record breaking hot and dry weather. (It's been hotter in Austin all summer than here in Houston.) Wishing a rapid healing to you both. Thank you for sharing your time with us the past 3+ weeks. Rob & Jim

St. Barth, as several other world ports, appear to restrict the size of cruise ships as well as the number of cruise passengers/day that are allowed to anchor on any given day. Perhaps there’s a scheduling conflict, with Crystal coming late in the game. St. Martin ( the French side) is lovely. And also affords an opportunity for a day trip to Anguilla, if interested. Rob

Been in #7016. Furthest forward cabin we've ever been on a Crystal ship. Felt every bump, wave, roll and pitch. I would not even guess the additional movement up on deck 10, even further forward. Then again, some do enjoy the roller-coaster-ride-at-sea. We'd never book a room forward of the forward stairs; too bumpy. Rob

Thank you for posting the link. Much appreciated.

The Crystal website may not reflect cabins held by agencies. Or Crystal may be holding back some inventory for contractors. Or some rooms may not be completely updated. No telling. According to our TA, there are rooms available in all categories for the July 31 sailing, except the designated single rooms and the Junior & Crystal penthouses. Rob

We were there, too! The city was setting up for the upcoming Grand Prix. Rob

The new Crystal branding appears to be graphically consistent with Abercrombie & Kent's new, minimalistic logo (a big ampersand).

Our certificate is for the full amount that we claimed with Moecker.

Same here. But if one does not make the first reservation and activate the certificate on or before 7/1/23, it's a moot issue anyway and the certificate becomes invalid.

I couldn't resist. Sorry... Rob

Ours too. Credit on my Visa card 1 week after disembarking. Way more efficient than other suppliers or cruise lines.

I wanted to provide an update. We returned from a 14-day b2b on Star Pride last month, r/t San Juan. We were so glad to be back onboard, in a warmer climate, where we could take advantage of everything the yacht offers in better weather. Swim platform- yes! Star Bar & Grille - yes! Pools and whirlpools - yes! Deck barbeque - yes! Beach picnics on private beaches/islands - yes! yes! Outdoor dining on the Verandah/Candles aft terrace - yes! Late night visits to the bridge - yes! Although we were last onboard in July 2022, so many of the officers and crew from last July were onboard last month. And we were greeted, high-fived, hugged, and welcomed back, even on the pier as we were checking in. Hotel manager Andreas was at the gangway and hauled our carry-ons himself up the gangway! So many staff, servers, housekeepers, the chef, maitre'd JP and others remembered us as soon as we were onboard. It really was returning "home" to an extended family. There were 210+/- pax onboard the first week. 30 pax, including us, stayed for week two. It was almost a full ship with 290+/- pax the second week. We opted for the all-inclusive package again. We really enjoy not having to sign any bar chits. The internet service has been changed to Starlink. Wow! What a difference. The satellite connection was faster and more reliable than our 5G connections ashore. And since it was a b2b Star Collection voyage, laundry was included, too. A most enjoyable, restful and thoroughly stress-free journey! Rob

I agree. We learned an expensive lesson the past few years about credit card charges. Going forward, I'm not advancing payments to any supplier, vendor or enterprise that requires significant deposits longer than the credit cards' allowable chargeback protocols will cover. Rob

Just submitted mine. Takes less than a minute. Need: 1. Crystal Society #; 2. Booking # (or bookings #'s) for cruises that were canceled; 3. Amount still owed/unreimbursed/claimed. The saga/journey continues... Rob

It's an interesting marketing gesture. My simple, non-actuary/mathematic-type brain did a quickie not-so-hypothetical calculation. It's a 20% discount off of A&K Cruises/Crystal's higher per diem rates. So one needs to spend $150K to "recover" $30K in lost/unreimbursed/bankrupt advance deposits with Genting/Crystal. This appears to be a generous initiative, especially for those booked on future, multi-segment WC's or Grand Journeys. For others, maybe not so much. There doesn't appear to be any downside to register for the credits by 6/1/23. Rob

Starlink was the provider on a recent Windstar Caribbean cruise. The service exceeded our expectations. The connection was faster than land-based 5G connections. Rob

We were onboard for two weeks in February. No a/c issues.

If multiple dining opportunities are important to one’s vacation experience, there are many other opportunities other than the controlled dining environments of a cruise ship. Multiple dining choices are important to some and irrelevant to others. Over the years, we’ve had our most memorable dining experiences off ship and ashore than onboard any cruise ship.

We’ve done private and group escorted land tours with A&K in Japan, Southeast Asia, African safaris and India/Nepal. Absolute luxury class. Seamless arrangements. This type of service does come with a price tag, but with A&K, the value (for us) has consistently exceeded expectations. Rob

I didn't quite know what thread to post this observation, so I chose this one (didn't want to start a new thread). A&K must have acquired quite a set of contact lists of former Crystal guests. There appears to have been another mass emailing recently. Three good friends of ours forwarded their copy of the stock email marketing message signed by Jack Anderson. The interesting commonality was that all three friends have not sailed Crystal for at least 17-20 years. And the email messages were sent to their deceased spouses (apparently the last email address on file). None had sailed Crystal in years, have had no marketing materials sent to them in over a decade, had no knowledge of the liquidation, didn't know of the acquisition by A&K, nor who Jack Anderson is/was. All were a bit disturbed that their deceased partners' email address was still hanging around in some outdated marketing database. None of the three indicated any interest in entertaining any offers from A&K Cruises, aka Crystal. Rob

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