Open Booking Deposit Program

[Stickman1990]

4 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Ten thousand deposits only equals five million dollars.  Twenty thousand yields ten million.  And I sincerely doubt that they are reaching those kinds of numbers.

Me too

 

Here’s my take on the numbers. Based on receipt numbers issued yesterday I think they actually have around 7000-8000 deposits (as opposed to depositors). Interestingly I heard some people have made up to 10 open deposits - maybe they’re planning on taking a family group on one or more of the cruises

 

The real leap of faith will be when people have to put up the 25% deposit for each cruise booking they make once bookings open - that’s certainly going to generate some cash 

[Mr Luxury]

8 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Me too

 

Here’s my take on the numbers. Based on receipt numbers issued yesterday I think they actually have around 7000-8000 deposits (as opposed to depositors). Interestingly I heard some people have made up to 10 open deposits - maybe they’re planning on taking a family group on one or more of the cruises

 

The real leap of faith will be when people have to put up the 25% deposit for each cruise booking they make once bookings open - that’s certainly going to generate some cash 

10 open deposits?

Who would be mad enough to do that at this stage.

On second thoughts,don't answer that 😁

[Keith1010]

While I don't know anyone who has 10 open bookings but if they do good for them if that is what they want, I do know many people who have one to five open bookings.

 

No one was forced to make an open booking.

 

I know there are lots of conspiracy theories here that somehow this was all done to generate cash but I think Flyer Talker comments were spot on.  I would add there is a cost to do this from the amount of money that they have to put up with the credit card companies to transaction fees.  I will also add it allowed them to test out their ability to process transactions and to work through any issues which they did as we saw adjustments made.

 

It was a way to start to move things along and to stimulate interest and stay engaged.

 

And when it comes to making a deposit people will decide if they want to book the cruise as they do with any cruise line including new ones and either book or not book.  If they have an open booking they can cancel it.

 

At the same time I know others who didn't do an open booking because they do want to wait for the itineraries or they want to wait for the line to sail and see what people think,

 

All of this is good IMHO because choice is good. For us, I was glad to have the opportunity to do an open booking and our driver was not the on-board credit but rather to hopefully get the category of room and even location we prefer on the itinerary/itineraries we prefer.

 

Many of us have totally different approaches to booking travel plans.  Some people like to book cruises years in advance while other wait until much closer.  Best strategy???  None.  It's all what each person thinks works best for them.

 

Keith

[May B]

On 1/11/2023 at 9:23 AM, cruisr said:

Edited January 13, 2023 by May B
Should’ve read to end of thread. PPTI.

[May B]

My driver for my two open booking deposits was the same as Keith. I want first crack at my preferred category and location.

 

The reason I made two is that I have two different friends who like to cruise with us, and they’re mutually exclusive.

 

I should’ve made a third, b/c we also like to cruise alone!

[TER777]

8 minutes ago, May B said:

My driver for my two open booking deposits was the same as Keith. I want first crack at my preferred category and location.

 

The reason I made two is that I have two different friends who like to cruise with us, and they’re mutually exclusive.

 

I should’ve made a third, b/c we also like to cruise alone!

It’s not too late May B.  Open booking deposits are still available. 

[May B]

10 minutes ago, TER777 said:

It’s not too late May B.  Open booking deposits are still available. 

😘🥂🍣

[happy cruising]

I am one of Crystal’s biggest fans and anxiously looking forward to cruising with Crystal again. 

Crystal led customers to believe itineraries would be published by YE.  Whoever is in charge of communications ought to know that good customer service begins with communications.  Crystal really owes an update on status, regardless if the status is good or bad.  Let people know.  Sorry to say that I had high expectations but it's a disappointment so far.   

[johng75370]

11 hours ago, happy cruising said:

I am one of Crystal’s biggest fans and anxiously looking forward to cruising with Crystal again. 

Thanks for hitting the nail on the head!  They have an email list from the open deposit program which is the same as a list of their most interested/excited pent-up-demand-filled future customers - yet no contact other than confirmation of the deposit. Sharing some of the design details (arch drawings, for example) would be a good first step to fill the awkward silence.

 

Happy we did the open booking and looking forward to the relaunch - just surprised about this part of it,   

Edited January 16, 2023 by johng75370

[Jimmycruiser]

Shoreside operations lack of communication should not be a surprise since all the cruise lines have had many complaints about shoreside operations and lack of communication including the old Crystal. I am not letting that influence or detract from what I believe will be an excellent on board experience and if by some slim chance I am disappointed then there are many other cruise lines to choose from.
 

I am sure they are working overtime and have their hands full. Building a complex operation from scratch has many more unexpected surprises and timing delays than managing a going operation, so I will cut them some slack and patiently wait for the release of the itineraries.

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 12/28/2022 at 2:35 PM, Keith1010 said:

Terry, like most things each person has to decide their level of comfort and confidence.

 

I would be more worried booking air with Southwest Airlines right now.  Just kidding.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  

 

The open booking is $500.00 per booking so not something I am concerned about and I plan to make full deposits.  I will use American Express as they were so easy to deal with and one of the lessons I learned.    I leaned the lesson when the saplings were impacted due to COVID and used them for all new bookings. and easily got money back after Genting went under for the new ones.  Unfortunately I had money tied up with another credit card company who had already been a pain in the.......well you know what I mean and that money is lost.  

 

There is always risk but I feel confident in the ownership of Crystal Cruises.. 

But I would never tell anyone what to do when it comes to something like this.  Only what I am doing.  

 

Keith

Just to put a bit of a kink in the problems with bank Amex, we charged to an Amex that the following fiscal year the bank decided to discontinue and replace it with a Visa. (just what I didn’t need as another bank changed my MasterCard to a Visa!)  By the time the chargebacks were needed the cards were no longer valid and not being pushed forward to the replacement card!   Talk about a mess to unscramble!  We had friends who had a similar experience, what a mess.  We all did eventually get our money I believe we both got checks.  
 

Yes, I knew that my bank Amex wasn’t exactly like my old Gold Amex …. But who expected this. 

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Just to put a bit of a kink in the problems with bank Amex, we charged to an Amex that the following fiscal year the bank decided to discontinue and replace it with a Visa. (just what I didn’t need as another bank changed my MasterCard to a Visa!)  By the time the chargebacks were needed the cards were no longer valid and not being pushed forward to the replacement card!   Talk about a mess to unscramble!  We had friends who had a similar experience, what a mess.  We all did eventually get our money I believe we both got checks.  
 

Yes, I knew that my bank Amex wasn’t exactly like my old Gold Amex …. But who expected this. 

I think the best way is AMEX cards directly, not 3rd party AMEX cards (if that is a real term).

[Keith1010]

32 minutes ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Just to put a bit of a kink in the problems with bank Amex, we charged to an Amex that the following fiscal year the bank decided to discontinue and replace it with a Visa. (just what I didn’t need as another bank changed my MasterCard to a Visa!)  By the time the chargebacks were needed the cards were no longer valid and not being pushed forward to the replacement card!   Talk about a mess to unscramble!  We had friends who had a similar experience, what a mess.  We all did eventually get our money I believe we both got checks.  
 

Yes, I knew that my bank Amex wasn’t exactly like my old Gold Amex …. But who expected this. 

Thanks for sharing.  Another lesson learned.

 

Keith

[Keith1010]

15 minutes ago, Coral said:

I think the best way is AMEX cards directly, not 3rd party AMEX cards (if that is a real term).

As they say, "now you tell me".

 

Another good lesson in addition to all of the other lessons.

 

Keith

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

As they say, "now you tell me".

 

Another good lesson in addition to all of the other lessons.

 

Keith

Yea - we have all learned lessons the past few years 🙂

 

I still don't have a real AMEX card but I haven't booked an expensive trip yet either.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Coral

[Keith1010]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

Yea - we have all learned lessons the past few years 🙂

 

I still don't have a real AMEX card but I haven't booked an expensive trip yet either.

 

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

Yea - we have all learned lessons the past few years 🙂

 

I still don't have a real AMEX card but I haven't booked an expensive trip yet either.

As they say, don't leave home without it.  Or was that the American Express Traveler's Cheques.

 

I do think we've learned a lot from this experience as we do with other items.

 

For example, from business I learned never to fly in for a cruise the day of the cruise but that was a hard lesson that many people learned on CC including years ago some from this board who used to fly in the day of the cruise.

 

Keith

[Emdee]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

As they say, don't leave home without it.  Or was that the American Express Traveler's Cheques.

 

I do think we've learned a lot from this experience as we do with other items.

 

For example, from business I learned never to fly in for a cruise the day of the cruise but that was a hard lesson that many people learned on CC including years ago some from this board who used to fly in the day of the cruise.

 

Keith

If ever I need to fly in the day of the cruise…almost never these days…I always make my contingency plan. How far is the next port of call for example and how will I get there. 

[Txcotn]

16 hours ago, johng75370 said:

Thanks for hitting the nail on the head!  They have an email list from the open deposit program which is the same as a list of their most interested/excited pent-up-demand-filled future customers - yet no contact other than confirmation of the deposit. Sharing some of the design details (arch drawings, for example) would be a good first step to fill the awkward silence.

 

Happy we did the open booking and looking forward to the relaunch - just surprised about this part of it,   

Even a best guess on when ships will be ready would be nice! A plus would be a list of enhancements. 

[Txcotn]

16 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

Shoreside operations lack of communication should not be a surprise since all the cruise lines have had many complaints about shoreside operations and lack of communication including the old Crystal. I am not letting that influence or detract from what I believe will be an excellent on board experience and if by some slim chance I am disappointed then there are many other cruise lines to choose from.
 

I am sure they are working overtime and have their hands full. Building a complex operation from scratch has many more unexpected surprises and timing delays than managing a going operation, so I will cut them some slack and patiently wait for the release of the itineraries.

 

Poor communication was the hallmark of old Crystal, one would reasonable think the new Crystal would know this and make some effort to be better.

[TRIPACIAN]

29 minutes ago, suzeluvscruz said:

Poor communication was the hallmark of old Crystal, one would reasonable think the new Crystal would know this and make some effort to be better.

If you think Crystal is bad try Silversea!

[travelberlin]

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

As they say, don't leave home without it.  Or was that the American Express Traveler's Cheques.

 

I do think we've learned a lot from this experience as we do with other items.

 

For example, from business I learned never to fly in for a cruise the day of the cruise but that was a hard lesson that many people learned on CC including years ago some from this board who used to fly in the day of the cruise.

 

Keith

Nowadays is not even enough to fly the day before the cruise. Now we are planning to reach our city of embarkation at least two days before the cruise.

Ivi

[Keith1010]

4 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Nowadays is not even enough to fly the day before the cruise. Now we are planning to reach our city of embarkation at least two days before the cruise.

Ivi

I agree 100%.

 

When I worked we would travel one day before but since I retired we travel in two or more days before the cruise and make adjustments to add more days if flying to places like Europe.

 

I believe in Murphy's Law.

 

Keith

[Roland4]

Received this earlier today in my office e-mail. Also received a Client Copy in the home e-mail.

 

Thank you for your ongoing support of the new Crystal Cruises. Our teams are continuing to make extraordinary progress in various areas to introduce the new Crystal to the world.

Your support has made our Open Deposit Program a huge success, providing thousands of future guests the ability to reserve their preferred voyage in anticipation of our general sales launch. As we continue to prepare for the release of our itineraries, please be advised that our Open Deposit Program will only be available through Sunday, January 22, 2023.

As a reminder, Open Deposits provide your clients with an exclusive first access to our soon-to-be released itineraries. In addition, guests with an Open Deposit benefit from an As You Wish shipboard credit of up to $500USD* per suite! Guests may take out as many Open Deposits as they wish and can be redeemed for one (1) reservation, so if they wish to book more than one (1) cruise, please be sure they purchase the needed number of Open Deposits to do so at launch. Please note, your clients who have elected to receive information from Crystal Cruises will also receive notice in the coming days that our Open Deposit Program will be ending. As a courtesy, we continue to encourage past and future Crystal Cruises guests to contact their preferred travel advisor and we kindly ask you reach out to any of your clients who may have interest in our Open Deposit Program as well.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 12/31/2022 at 11:58 AM, hypercafe said:

SS charges a non refundable admin fee of 250$ pp if you cancel door to door trip with or without air. You can use the fee as a FCC for one year. Just a sign of the times I would expect Crystal 2.0 to follow in some form.

When our TA was looking to re-book the group that got cancelled on Crystal to SS they found that the entire $1500 deposit was non refundable.  They thought that was ridiculous and found another cruise line with better/lower cancellation fees!  

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 12/31/2022 at 3:08 PM, travelberlin said:

Azamara charges US 75 administration fee if we cancel a cruise before penalties apply. The rest of the deposit is refunded immediately to our accounts.

I am fine with that.

Ivi

 

And you can actually move that $75 once!