New Crystal - the Good, the Bad and the Indifferent

[bitob]

2 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Can a lettuce salad be that much different between lines? Hoping they’ll jazz it up a bit for me 

It’s the croutons that make the difference  lol

[TER777]

14 minutes ago, bitob said:

And you will love the food. Better than crystal

 

and the chef made me Portuguese tarts

I totally disagree. Eatable, yes, but definitely not great. 

[bitob]

5 minutes ago, TER777 said:

I totally disagree. Eatable, yes, but definitely not great. 

Food is subjective as has often been said 

[AtA]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

All the ones we had with Crystal were more than a rain shower.  For me that is an easy way to refer to it but it does have more than that.

 

Odd that you would say that most women would agree since we see rain showers in many high end places.

 

Keith

It's a trend. One I find most men like and women not so much. We have a rain shower which I've never used. Instead I use the hand shower that's on a pole. Nice strong spray so I know the soap gets out of my hair.

[Stickman1990]

27 minutes ago, bitob said:

It’s the croutons that make the difference  lol

Far too many calories in all that bread - I’m an all natural kind of guy

[AtA]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

 

 

explora is supposed to have 9 restaurants. Can’t wait for someone to report on that

10. We are on them in September. I'll let you know. 🙂

[AtA]

38 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

When was your last Silversea meal? Maybe things have changed since then? Are you suggesting that Silversea dining errs on quantity versus quality?

 

Guess I’ll be able to judge for myself next week - and yes my bags are packed for their door to door service 

Mine was in September this past year. And yes I'd suggest that overall, it wasn't up to what Crystal was in the past. You can read our review here in the reviews.

[bitob]

We can disagree about food forever

 

for us the best part of crystal food was the lunch buffet and prego and the light fare at the bistro 

 

we disliked silk, found waterside so so, and avoided the churrasqueria. Great food but way too heavy 

 

food was not what attracted us to crystal 

 

 

[Keith1010]

15 minutes ago, AtA said:

It's a trend. One I find most men like and women not so much. We have a rain shower which I've never used. Instead I use the hand shower that's on a pole. Nice strong spray so I know the soap gets out of my hair.

Good news is I expect we'll have both.

 

Keith

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

Silversea has best variety of dining options of any cruise line I have sailed on, at least with respect to the newer ships 

 

they also have the dinearound menu and of course all that caviar

and real gelato that is awesome

 

There is good food on all the luxury lines. No one starves

 

explora is supposed to have 9 restaurants. Can’t wait for someone to report on that

I am booked on a 20 nights cruise with Explora next year. I have got a solo friendly deal in a good balcony suite. I will try to post my impressions.

Ivi

[Psoque]

Do we even know if the renovations to the two ships are completed, or for that matter, started?  I think it is extremely premature to judge this new cruise line until someone can verify what is described in the website has occurred to the ships.

[bitob]

12 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Do we even know if the renovations to the two ships are completed, or for that matter, started?  I think it is extremely premature to judge this new cruise line until someone can verify what is described in the website has occurred to the ships.

For the devotees it doesn’t matter

they are booking

 

my ta — owner of huge on line cruise agency— not one crystal booking. Not one deposit He books tons of luxury cruises. He considers pricing insane

 

 not sure the big crystal fans on cc are reflective of the larger world of luxury cruisers

 

time will tell

[Observer]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

The quality of Silversea dining does not compare to what the old Crystal offered in terms of quality or service. 

 

 

A statement like this using the present tense to describe Silversea dining prompts the question: when did you last done on a Silversea ship? Was it a Muse class ship with the multiple dining options?

 

Please share with us the basis of your sweeping judgment.

[Keith1010]

3 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

A statement like this using the present tense to describe Silversea dining prompts the question: when did you last done on a Silversea ship? Was it a Muse class ship with the multiple dining options?

 

Please share with us the basis of your sweeping judgment.

I didn't use a tense and last cruise was 2017.

 

 

[travelberlin]

1 minute ago, Keith1010 said:

I didn't use a tense and last cruise was 2017.

 

 

I have to agree that when we have cruised with Silversea, we did not particularly like it. This was before Royal Caribbean bought Silversea. I believe the owner was Manfredi? 
I have heard that Silversea has improved in the last years. We might try it again if the price is to our liking. 
Ivi

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, TER777 said:

I totally disagree. Eatable, yes, but definitely not great. 

 

Agree 100%. And both of us had the experience in the last 2 months.

 

Patty

[Stickman1990]

1 minute ago, Texas Tillie said:

Agree 100%. And both of us had the experience in the last 2 months.

Same ship even - guess it’s lettuce salads for me then 😂😂😂

 

Looking forward to judging for myself of course - I’m sure with all the dining locations on Silversea I’ll find one or two things to eat 

 

I think the dining discussions are amusing - are people really suggesting that the food on Silversea was of such quality that to eat it was an unpleasant experience? Or was it one dish that was not to their taste? 
 

Of course there’ll be misses from time to time - are you telling me that never happened on old Crystal? Seriously? Or any other line or restaurant for that matter 
 

To me poor service is a bigger issue - and one I hold the management responsible for as they set the standards 

 

[nnn]

Has anyone received information about:

 

1.  Third berth availability and pricing?  The old Crystal put a * on third berth-capable rooms (PH and above were all third berth-capable), and pricing was 1/2 the adult fare (and sometimes free).  The new floor plan does not show any * rooms and there is no mention of third berth pricing.

 

2.  Whether any rooms will have "exterior" connectors like the Seabreeze suites did on old Crystal?  Again, the website doesn't seem to indicate it, and there are surprisingly few inside connectors on the new layout maps.

 

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

It’s the croutons that make the difference  lol

It's the Portuguese tarts that you put on the salad also

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

Far too many calories in all that bread - I’m an all natural kind of guy

What about that hair dye you use

[Mr Luxury]

37 minutes ago, bitob said:

For the devotees it doesn’t matter

they are booking

 

my ta — owner of huge on line cruise agency— not one crystal booking. Not one deposit He books tons of luxury cruises. He considers pricing insane

 

 not sure the big crystal fans on cc are reflective of the larger world of luxury cruisers

 

time will tell

My TA the same.

Lots of real world luxury bookings with SB,SS,R

He says he'll let me know if and when he gets asked for Crystal.

The UK sales guy for Crystal in the UK used to work for Cunard with him.

[Stickman1990]

2 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

What about that hair dye you use

😂😂😂 I don’t have a big call for that product - I’m follically challenged and what’s left can age gracefully 😂😂😂

[Texas Tillie]

16 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Same ship even - guess it’s lettuce salads for me then 😂😂😂

 

Looking forward to judging for myself of course - I’m sure with all the dining locations on Silversea I’ll find one or two things to eat 

 

I think the dining discussions are amusing - are people really suggesting that the food on Silversea was of such quality that to eat it was an unpleasant experience? Or was it one dish that was not to their taste? 
 

Of course there’ll be misses from time to time - are you telling me that never happened on old Crystal? Seriously? Or any other line or restaurant for that matter 
 

To me poor service is a bigger issue - and one I hold the management responsible for as they set the standards 

 

 

The food wasn't bad on the Muse (with a few exceptions) but I never had one meal anywhere on the ship that was as good as 90% of the meals on the old Crystal. It was a combo of the quality of the food, the recipes and the presentation. That was my only other experience with luxury cruising. Was it better than all mass market cruises I've done (Disney, Princess, Holland America and Royal Caribbean) - of course.

 

The service wasn't the old Crystal quality. Crew tried, but they just weren't well trained.

 

Patty

[Emdee]

11 minutes ago, nnn said:

Has anyone received information about:

 

1.  Third berth availability and pricing?  The old Crystal put a * on third berth-capable rooms (PH and above were all third berth-capable), and pricing was 1/2 the adult fare (and sometimes free).  The new floor plan does not show any * rooms and there is no mention of third berth pricing.

 

2.  Whether any rooms will have "exterior" connectors like the Seabreeze suites did on old Crystal?  Again, the website doesn't seem to indicate it, and there are surprisingly few inside connectors on the new layout maps.

 

I asked this question. Third berth is available in the Sapphire rooms. I think the pricing was equivalent to a single cabin….but not sure there. 

[claudiaYVR]

Only four hours away from this board and the thread got almost completely hijacked. Thanks everyone 🙂

 

Back to the purpose of the thread:

 

Bad - that they didn't have certain core policies in place before booking started. What is included in the all-inclusive? what discount if any will Crystal Society members get?

They did not have to have everything sorted out but these two seem kind of biggie, easy to decide at the top executive level and pretty important to passengers when making booking decisions as the pricing seems to be higher than the competitors'.

 

Good - it appears our beautiful promenade decks will be left intact!