CRYSTAL SERENITY New Sailings in May 2021

[DeanHenderson]

Crystal should not be allowed to sail until they have paid all of the refunds they owe to everyone. 

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, DeanHenderson said:

Crystal should not be allowed to sail until they have paid all of the refunds they owe to everyone. 

 

But they aren't collecting any money for deposits on the new sales, are they? And by the way, Crystal still owes me money from a fully paid cruise they canceled in April.

 

Patty

[travelberlin]

8 hours ago, DeanHenderson said:

Crystal should not be allowed to sail until they have paid all of the refunds they owe to everyone. 

But in order to refund they have to get some income from cruising...

[Psoque]

5 hours ago, travelberlin said:

But in order to refund they have to get some income from cruising...

That is somewhat similar to how Ponzi schemes work.

[DeanHenderson]

13 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

But they aren't collecting any money for deposits on the new sales, are they? And by the way, Crystal still owes me money from a fully paid cruise they canceled in April.

 

Patty

I also have been waiting since April 2 for my refund. 

[DeanHenderson]

6 hours ago, travelberlin said:

But in order to refund they have to get some income from cruising...

Whatever profits Crystal make from these new cruises won't be given to us. It will be used to help pull Genting out of the hole they are in. 

[FlyerTalker]

All this talk about "we want our money" reminds me of this clip from Groucho in Cocoanuts:

 

 

[vistaman]

On 11/14/2020 at 11:29 AM, kool kruiser said:

Not just Crystal. This is very typical in the cruise industry and not just for start and finish ports. For example Le Havre (Paris) and Warnemunde (Berlin), entailing long train journeys.

And some companies even put on Brussels (Antwerp ) - i remember defunct Royal Viking always did 

[Cruise Wonderland]

After publishing these new 2021 May sailings for just two months, it seems that Crystal Cruises have to cancel them again.

 

Today, all 2021 May sailings of ocean / river / yacht cruises are closed ("call for availability"). For expedition (i.e. Endeavor), May to August sailings are closed.

 

I expect a cancellation announcement to be made in the coming week.

[Roland4]

2 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

After publishing these new 2021 May sailings for just two months, it seems that Crystal Cruises have to cancel them again.

 

Today, all 2021 May sailings of ocean / river / yacht cruises are closed ("call for availability"). For expedition (i.e. Endeavor), May to August sailings are closed.

 

I expect a cancellation announcement to be made in the coming week.

No surprise really. Celebrity announced earlier this week they are cancelling the bulk of their Europe 2021 season. With the way most of the world is struggling with rising COVID numbers and the slowness of the vaccine rollout almost everywhere, cancellation was almost inevitable. We are booked on Endeavor Sep 15 and I fully expect that one to be cancelled as well.

Edited January 16 by Roland4

[TER777]

I received the May 1 Symphony cancellation notice earlier this evening.

[Travel2Learn]

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Edited January 19 by Travel2Learn
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[Keith1010]

Really not a surprise.  It's just too early for any of the ships to sail IMHO.

 

Keith

[vistaman]

I find it very sad , another month with cancellations. ( and another cancellation in my collection 🤢)

I think Crystal is now also victim that the company does depend on US passengers as vast majority on board. 

Ponant , Hapag Lloyd and MSC are operating - obviously quite safely so far ( one single incident on Msc ) .

Also the problem is maybe embarkation and disembarkation in Dover where it is not so safe for the moment - same in Germany - Netherlands ( rivercruises ) 

 

[Cancun01]

7 hours ago, vistaman said:

 

Also the problem is maybe embarkation and disembarkation in Dover where it is not so safe for the moment - same in Germany - Netherlands ( rivercruises ) 

 

Dover is no doubt one of several factors.  We were also notified last night that our May 18th Rome to Barcelona itinerary is cancelled.  Disappointed but not unexpected. 

[TER777]

And the Serenity May cancellation notices were sent out this evening.

[Keith1010]

Lines like Crystal cannot operate safely now.

 

Most Americans cannot go to other countries and if they can often a long quarantine period.

 

And most of us have not been vaccinated.

 

And the present virus has mutated and passes quickly.

 

I look forward to the time Serenity and Symphony will sail but I don't see it happening until sometime this Summer.

 

IMHO maybe July but could be later than that.

 

Keith

[Herman The Cat]

Had checked Crystal website yesterday afternoon for cancellations — they had cancelled all May Symphony voyages but no mention of Serenity. 

 

Cancellation notice for Serenity May 12 (Rome to London) — which was supposed to be first cruise operating —  arrived in email at 9pm last night. 

 

Will get in the refund queue. Did people request a refund AND dispute charge with CC company?

 

Unfortunately, I just can’t see the cruise lines operating until CREW can be vaccinated. They have so many more “touch points” with each other and passengers. It is possible they don’t require passengers be vaccinated but I would think they have to vaccinate crew. 

 

We are on Silversea in October and hoping that goes. 🤞🙏

 

[vistaman]

it seems tomorrow the leaders of the European Community will meet concerning travelling .

Belgium is intending to propose  an embargo for touristic travelling  ...

So far we could travel to Spain ( Canaries  are very popular during wintertime )  and Italy 

we cannot travel to Germany but it seems Switserland was open for ski holidays . 

 

 

[avalon1025]

Looks like my June cruise on symphony is the first cruise currently listed.  Not buying air quite yet!  

[SusieQft]

On 1/20/2021 at 4:53 AM, Herman The Cat said:

Will get in the refund queue. Did people request a refund AND dispute charge with CC company?

I don't think you can dispute the charge with your credit card unless you first request a refund.

 

On 1/20/2021 at 4:53 AM, Herman The Cat said:

It is possible they don’t require passengers be vaccinated but I would think they have to vaccinate crew. 

I agree 100%.

[bitob]

I agree with Keith

July at the earliest.  July more likely.

Everything is dependent upon how quickly and how extensively the world can be vaccinated.  I think we will know in a month or two is the pace of vaccinations is sufficient to get us back to cruising sooner rather than later.

 

On a separate note, I have b2b Crystal cruise set for end of August.  I went ahead scheduled private tours in all the ports as I always do.  Every single guide was willing to waive any deposit given the uncertainty of the situation.  They are hungry for business.  They are also concerned that ships will require passengers to book only ship sponsored shore excursions.

 

 

[cruisr]

I don’t think July will happen, either.  Hope I am wrong but I don’t think I am.

[ctjon]

The question, to me, is not only when but where will we be allowed to go.

[Roland4]

19 minutes ago, ctjon said:

The question, to me, is not only when but where will we be allowed to go.

You also have to keep in mind that while the US seems to be getting its act together, and a LOT more people are getting their shots, that is not true of much of the rest of the world. Here in Canada, we are still struggling to get staff and residents in LTC homes vaccinated, a problem made worse when Pfizer cancelled our shipment this week and will only ship 28K doses next week for the entire country! Anecdotally it appears much of Europe is behind us in the roll out, and other parts of the world have not even started. Even though we have Endeavor booked for September, I am beginning to think that cruising may not re-start in any meaningful way before very late 2021 or maybe 2022. I think July or August is going to turn out to be wildly optimistic.