Txcotn

8 hours ago, babydrum said:

How was your Luxor tour?  I'm looking at booking the same tour now $1600 total for both of us.  I thought that pricey since there are private companies who will do the same tour with a 5* hotel for half the price.  With the current situation in Israel, I'm not willing to take the chance but I'd like to know if you thought the tour was worth it and if the bus ride to and from Luxor was comfortable.  Thanks.  Also, I'm looking at Petra for $430 pp with SB versus about $145 to $240 pp with private tour operators.  Once again, safety is a concern so I'm likely to go with SB but it irks me that there is such a disparity in prices even though I understand the nature of the markup

We did the Crystal overnight Luxor trip, can't remember the cost but it was worth every penny and then some!

8 minutes ago, Emdee said:

When walking by I saw a  room being cleaned. It had a single bed so I guess they are for staff. 

Only Symphony had deck 5 guest rooms, never on Serenity. Guest rooms start on 7.

2 hours ago, May B said:

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.

Nice to know you can reserve now, on our last cruise they wouldn't let us reserve, Paolo was adamant it was first come first served.

I still don’t see why anyone cares. I certainly don’t. 

Interesting that some people care so much about who paid. And skeptical when the man said they made $$ with youtube not from cruise line.

Enjoy every minute!

Many years ago I got distracted while packing to leave the ship the following morning and when I was getting dressed I discovered I had packed my shoes! Thank goodness for the spa slippers in the closet! I toddled off the ship and all the way through the terminal in Athens and was able to retrieve a pair of shoes from my suitcase before flight check-in. But thank goodness for those way too big spa slippers!

If anyone remembers the TV show "Moonlighting" with Cybil Shephard - she had terrible foot issues and always wore Reeboks, no matter where or with what. And today, fancy sneakers are "it" for brides. There are many more fashion issues to worry about than someone's shoes! 

1 hour ago, History&Wine said:

Interesting comments on shoes.  In the past I have packed a pair of nice hard sole dress shoes for wear exclusively on formal nights of a world cruise.  With size 15 feet, I could save packing room by leaving these out.....

15? I can sympathize - DH wears a 12 and he limits himself to 1 pair of dress shoes, 2 pair loafer of type and 1 pair of sandals - I make him wear the sneakers on the plane! I can usually fit all mine either inside his or all around but it's still an entire layer of the suitcase!

1 hour ago, ctjon said:

That I understand but if you watch TV a lot of the dress up (suits stuff) now wear white sneakers which, to me, looks stupid but...

What TV is that?! Must be the in thing if it’s on TV🤪

1 hour ago, ctjon said:

I hope men aren't wearing sneakers with suits as seems to be a style you see on TV these days.

Many people of a certain age have major foot issues and sneakers are all they can wear, so just don't look down.🤣

I'm ok with an electronic version but I would like the one printed page in the middle that shows the whats, wheres, and whens  for the day. It's so much easier to carry that around in a pocket rather than taking a phone or ipad everywhere. Maybe there could be a stack of just that page available at the front desk for us paper people?

On 10/17/2023 at 3:25 AM, Keith1010 said:

I haven't read all of the suggestions but try using a different e-mail.

 

Keith

It worked! I got an email just now! Thank you!

15 hours ago, drgigi said:

Umbrellas for rainy days.

Yes, I thought you meant beach umbrellas. See where my head goes?😎

Towels, yes, umbrellas, never did I the past. They're a bit cumbersome!

26 minutes ago, tnm6217 said:

T minus 16 days until my first Crystal adventure is underway and I have two small questions that would help me with packing. 
 

1) Hairdryers. Does anyone know the brand (or relative quality) of the hairdryers in the OV cabins? I only travel with a carry on, so being able to use the provided hairdryer would give me a good amount of extra space.
 

2) Temperature. How cold are the public spaces onboard Serenity? I am always cold, but I’m trying to decide if I can survive without bringing my heated vest. Any insight would be appreciated, especially from similarly cold natured folks!

There has in the past always been 2 dryers - one useless one mounted in the bathroom  and one pretty good one in the room itself in a drawer. Don't know the brand or even if they still have them. I suggest you contact onboard guest services for the definitive on that.

I'm always freezing in most of the public areas - bring a shawl if you tend to get cold.

Have fun!

8 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I haven't read all of the suggestions but try using a different e-mail.

 

Keith

Good idea! Now done so we'll see.......

Thank you all for your suggestions! I’ll just have to rely on my TA till Crystal figures out that I’m alive and interested in cruising!

Just now, BWIVince said:

You have to opt-in to the emails, since your permission to be contacted doesn’t convey to a new company that buys the data (or that would defeat the purpose).  Since A&K has major operations in the EU, I can’t imagine they have any part of their company that isn’t compliant with GDPR and the other patch quilt of privacy regulations covering their target markets at this point.

 

Vince

Did that. They think I’m too old to cruise anymore 🤪

5 minutes ago, May B said:

Also, checking your spam can be like going on a treasure hunt. I never remember, until somebody tells me they emailed me, but I didn’t receive it. Even emails responding to mine have ended up in spam! Does that make any sense?

Not in my spam😉

15 minutes ago, TER777 said:

If you're not receiving periodic emails from Crystal, I suggest you call and make sure you are on the email list. I just got back on having been inexplicitly dropped in May.

I think SEVEN times is quite enough 🙄

13 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

If you do t feel you’re getting enough of it, I’ll happily send you some of mine.  🫤

 

Vince

I get NOTHING. 50 some cruises since 1995, maybe they think I'm a ghost by now?

On 10/11/2023 at 9:08 AM, PaulMCO said:

 

I agree that 2024 Med season would be good indicator on their ability to attract back their clients.  Many people have already fully booked their 2023 season before a relaunch and some have done the same for 2024.

 

 

Maybe if they did some marketing to OC cruisers some of them would come back🙄

9 hours ago, Cruise-y said:

I’ve been in a completely empty Palm Court, then walked downstairs and Starlight was packed. I’ve never seem a crowd in Palm Court, but maybe I don’t stay up late enough. 

In nearly 30 years of cruising the Crystal ships, I've never see Palm Court packed unless it's a party.

First world problems.