Leejnd4

I haven't been on New Crystal yet, but I did my last Old Crystal cruise in 2019 with a single friend. There were two pre-scheduled "solo table" nights, one at Prego and one at Umi Uma. We signed up for both through the Maitre'D. At the Prego dinner we had one other lady and one of the gentleman hosts. At Umi Uma we had two solo ladies. It sounds like they are still doing this.

Ooh, another insider tip! I will remember to go to the Cove and ask for the "French Champagne" when we embark. 🙂

Oh, great idea! I'll buy the tickets online and that way we don't have to try to pick up tickets on Friday.

And more great info! Thanks, this is very helpful. We have a sea day right before our day in Monaco, which is our day right after embarkation. But we have two days in Villefranche immediately after. I just checked Rome2Rio (if you don't know about this website, it's the best way to find how to get from anyplace in the world to any other place in the world!) and it shows that it's just a 15 minute train ride from Villefranche to Monte Carlo. So....maybe we should get tickets for Saturday and watch the actual qualifying races of the F1s! We can pick up our tickets while we're in Monaco on Friday, then train it to the race on Saturday. Assuming there's no train strike, of course! But there's always the bus, which is only 38 minutes. All sounding very doable. Thank you again! 😄

I absolutely will! We've been living abroad on our sailboat for the past five years, but we just moved back to terra firma and are now stepping up our traveling on cruise ships. So far we've done Paul Gauguin and now an upcoming Crystal cruise, but I've heard great things about Azamara and I'm eager to investigate options. Thanks for the welcome!

YES! And with SO much information, exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

THANK YOU SO MUCH! This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. We will be on a Crystal cruise, in Monaco on May 23rd, which is a Friday. According to the schedules I've found online, Thursday is the practice day for F2 & F3, and Friday is the qualifying races for F2 & F3, and practice races for F1. (Please don't hate me that I have no idea what F2 & F3 means! I'm sure my husband does. I will google it, I promise.) 😉 We'd be happy to see any of it, including practice races. I imagine it will be easier to attend if we are able to do it via a Crystal shorex, so I will reach out to them to find out if they will be offering them. Given our cruise is still 8 months away, I expect it's just way too early for them to appear. But if they will not be offering them, I will definitely look into purchasing tickets through the site you mentioned. Funny coincidence: the only other time I was in Monaco was about 12 years ago, when on a Regent cruise with my mother, and it was during the Grand Prix! Neither of us were interested in going to the races, so we did a private excursion that took us to the main sites of Monaco, avoiding the downtown area entirely. We then walked around town in the evening, went to the Casino and lost a bit of money, had THE MOST EXPENSIVE MARTINI OF ALL TIME at the Hotel de Paris Montecarlo, and enjoyed the exciting vibe. Yes there were many blocked off roads, barricades, crowds, and of course the track, but we were walking so it didn't bother us. I remember seeing the most OPULENT yachts I've ever seen, and tons of super high-end cars like Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bugattis etc, just parked all over the place like they were daily drivers. So once again I will be in Monaco during Grand Prix! How cool is that? Thanks again for this detailed response. Cruise Critic comes through again! Full disclosure: I've never been on an Azamara cruise. But now that I see how friendly and accommodating Azamara cruisers are, I may have to change that. 😉

Thank you for this! We're on a Crystal cruise in that region in May, which also stops in Marseille. I'm working on my list of what to do in each port now, and I put Aix-en-Provence down for our day in Marseille. I've been to Marseille before and it wasn't a huge draw for me. We're planning on taking a train or bus to Aix-en-Provence for the day. Good to hear your thoughts on it!

I posted this question in the France port forum. Someone suggested I cross-post my question in this forum, as they thought some Azamara cruisers might have done this. We will be on a cruise in May that will be in Monaco on the first day of the Grand Prix. I've been to Monaco before and don't really feel like I need to explore it again, and we think it would be fun to go see a race. Anyone ever done this? Suggestions, thoughts, warnings? We're not tied to this, but my husband is a car enthusiast and if it's not too difficult to accomplish, it seems like it could be a good opportunity to witness something we never would normally (we're not such big enthusiasts that we would purposely travel to go see one).

Thanks! I'll do that. I haven't seen any shore excursions listed on our cruise that include the Grand Prix, but it's still WAY early so they may show up closer to the date.

Our cruise coming up in May will be in Monaco on the first day of the Grand Prix. I've been to Monaco before and don't really feel like I need to explore it again, and we think it would be fun to go see a race. Anyone ever done this? Suggestions, thoughts, warnings? We're not tied to this, but my husband is a car enthusiast and if it's not too difficult to accomplish, it seems like it could be a good opportunity to witness something we never would normally (we're not such big enthusiasts that we would purposely travel to go see one).

I was originally booked on that cruise. I recall seeing you in the roll-call. But the timing wasn't going to work, so I pushed it out and ended up booking two back-to-back cruises in May instead. I do hope somebody else picks up the task of organizing private tours! That's going to be a lovely itinerary, enjoy! Ah, so you're on the itinerary right before we board, and then you'll be with us on our first leg of our B2Bs. Do pop over to the roll-call. I'm an "organizer" type, and I love to arrange private tours for any other cruisers interested in joining us. Even if you're not interested, please just say hello! Maybe we'll get lucky and get a few more people in the roll call. It's always nice to have a few ready-made friendships before boarding.

Awesome on BOTH accounts! Would be fun to meet you, after seeing you on this board for so long. We will be on back-to-back cruises - Rome-Marseille & Marseille-Tarragona, May 21-June 4. So it sounds as if he'll at least be on the first one. If he's on the first and Vicki is on the second, that's great - I do keep hearing good things about her (thanks @USCAdventurer for your comments) and it would be fun to experience them both. I wish I could remember where I heard Russ wouldn't be on Symphony - it's possible it was just a temporary departure for him and I read it wrong. Anyway, will you be on either of those itineraries? If so, I've started roll-calls for both already, so please head over! I've been so disappointed in the participation in roll calls lately. I did a Paul Gauguin cruise recently and while a few lovely couples showed up (and joined private tours with us), it wasn't like the good-ol-days when we'd have dozens of people and were able to set up private tours in every port.

The two Incheon-Tokyo itineraries on Symphony are looking pretty darn good to me! They are both 12-day cruises, but with slightly different port stops. Both in the Spring. Not sure which one is more appealing yet. SOOO...you thinking of putting Japan in your 2026 plans? One of these days we have to end up on the same cruise. 😉

I see everyone already responded with the value-add of using a TA. I just want to add one comment: I'm a dedicated and expert DIY traveler, meaning, I haven't used a TA for any travel for decades. I book all my own flights, hotels, tours, rental cars etc., always booking directly with the travel company, never using OTAs (online TAs such as Expedia or Priceline). EXCEPT FOR CRUISES! I would never consider booking a cruise without going through my wonderful TA. Everyone has already mentioned most of the benefits. My TA also offers a frequent-customer discount right off the top, as well as a "rewards" check that I receive after the cruise. AND I get OBC from the TA directly, as well as from their travel consortium (in our case it's Signature). In addition, some of their cruises are "Hosted Trips" in which one of their agents is on the cruise, and we get additional benefits - larger OBC, included excursions, cocktail parties, larger post-cruise rewards. Even if I didn't feel I needed them for solving problems or whatever, just the financial benefits are significant. And the truth is, I DO find them helpful for solving problems! In my experience, most cruise lines are just not staffed to handle passengers booking directly. They expect you to book through a TA, and in fact prefer that. TAs are customer-focused and you can develop a close relationship with a TA, who knows your preferences. So here's another vote for TAs! 🙂 Editing to add: getting back to the topic of this thread, I haven't yet booked but we are pretty excited about the two Incheon-Tokyo itineraries on Symphony in Spring 2026. But we are going to wait until our next cruise on Symphony to book, so we can take advantage of the on-boarding booking discount.

I don't remember where I heard it, but obviously I heard wrong! I'm SO relieved! I'm probably remembering something wrong. Sorry for my confusion, and thank you for clearing that up. It wouldn't feel like a Symphony cruise without Russ!

THANK YOU KEITH! This is exactly what I wanted to know. I intend to already have our 2026 cruises picked out and we will be ready to book and pay in full. We're pretty excited about the 2026 Asian itineraries. Asia is a region of the world we haven't spent enough time in, other than two trips to Hong Kong and Bali more than ten years ago. We've never been to Japan, Korea, or any of the other ports on those itineraries. So something tells me we've got some Asian travel in our future. 😄

I was happy to be able to take advantage of Crystal's Explorer fares for our upcoming 2025 cruise, which saved us a nice chunk of change and allowed us to fit two back-to-back itineraries into our vacation budget. I'm hoping to do that again for a 2026 cruise. My question is: if we book a cruise onboard, can we combine the 2.5% Onboard Booking discount with the Explorer fares discount? If not, then I see no benefit to booking onboard as we will save more using the Explorer fare. We prefer to book far in advance anyway. Has anyone else tried to do this? --LeeAnne

I've been away from CruiseCritic for a few months due to...well, life. 😉 Just busy is all. But I popped back in on a whim and was happy to see this fantastic recounting of your recent cruise. I always appreciate when someone is not afraid to give the bad AND the good, because you are right, no cruise ship, cruise line, or individual cruise is ever perfect and it helps to know where the occasional lapses lie. I'm also happy to see that nobody jumped all over you for your honesty. I remember in years past, in this and other cruise line forums, the slightest criticism could result in angry assaults from the "cheerleaders". Being a frank and honest person, I was the unhappy recipient of some those assaults, to the point where I used to be afraid to offer even the mildest negative impression. Seems we've all moved past that these days. Yay! Oh, and I appreciate the new bit of info I just got: that if I want clotted cream for my scone, I simply need to ask for it. I don't eat scones very often, but when I do, I prefer clotted cream. Now I know!

I'd heard Russ will be leaving. Is this permanent? Or will he be back? If he's leaving, I'll be sad. I adore him - my favorite cruise director ever - but my next Symphony cruise isn't until May. Waaah!😭

Oh trust me, I want to know ALL of this! I will definitely reserve my car in advance. I've already reserved our rental car for the week we are spending pre-cruise in Italy. And I'm afraid to even mention when our actual cruise is, because you will laugh at how early I am planning everything. Like I said, I'm a super-planner! 😄 I will check to see if any car rental places will allow pickup/delivery in Villefranche (I think I spelled it correctly this time). 😉 But it seems to be a very short and easy train ride to Nice, so if not, it's no big deal. Now that we've decided to rent a car, I'm thinking we will probably visit both villages. We're both very active (I'm a runner) and love hiking, and given the incredible food on our cruise ship, we will be looking for some opportunities to get in some calorie burns. Doing some climbing in a medieval village sounds perfect. We will have a chance to explore Villefranche on the next day, as the ship overnights there.

This is really helpful info! I'm a super-planner and like to know all of my options for every port, including exact walking directions to things like train stations etc. I put all of those details in a spreadsheet so I don't have to waste time each day scrambling to figure out where to go and how to get there. Our ship has excursions of course, but I'm just not keen on those bus tours, rushing here and there and being herded around with a group of tourists. We are very independent people, and don't like being on someone else's schedule (other than the ship's, of course). Plus, as I mentioned, we prefer to pick one place to visit and just take our time there, wander around and experience it. We don't mind taking public transport, in fact we enjoy mingling with the locals just living their daily lives. I rely on the Rome2Rio website, which is FABULOUS - it gives you every way to get from any spot in the world to any other spot in the world. In this case it's showing exactly what you say - that it's rather a pain to use public transport from Villefrance to Saint Paul de Vence. We can take a train that connects to a bus, or a bus that has two connections, but it's all more trouble than I want to deal with. So I like your suggestion of renting a car. We are overnighting in Villefrance, so we've got the whole day and don't have to worry about a flat tire causing us to miss our ship's departure. It looks like there's a very short train ride from Villefrance to Nice that runs continually, so we can pick up the car in Nice easily. And yes, our day in Saint Paul will be on a Saturday, so we will look for that field you mentioned. 🙂

This is great info! Thanks! It's been many years since I visited the Med, so all of the info I have is long-ago outdated. You'll probably see me ask more and more questions in this forum in the coming months as I scout out what to do in our port stops. 🙂

Our ship is actually doing an overnight in Villefrance over a weekend, so we could go on either day, but we figured we'd go on Saturday and then spend Sunday enjoying a quiet day walking around Villefrance and just enjoying the ship. So probably Saturday.

Well there seems to be a consensus. St Paul de Vence it is! We don't like to rush around trying to see too much when we are on vacation, we prefer to pick one spot and enjoy the whole day there. I haven't looked into the best way to get there from Villefrance yet...any suggestions?