Crystal Serenity, Nov 2-13

[Keith1010]

6 hours ago, Cruisemonty said:

Keith, are you referring to the 2017 refurbished Aquamarine suites on Symphony? I am looking forward to occupying one of those suites in May. My understanding is that it has no tub, unlike the classic Aquamarine. 

Yes.  They were created new so I think of them more as new rather than being refurbished. On Deck 9 and former Seabreeze. No tubs.  

 

Keith

[May B]

On Saturday, we had a nice Cruise Critic get-together. I believe ten of us attended. We’ll try to do it again, perhaps on Wednesday and Saturday? Let’s say 6 pm if there’s no show, or 5:15 if there is? 
 

Shall we do Palm Court again? It’s a nice location, if the singer of the duo isn’t shrieking too loudly. Her rendition of New York, New York was not pleasant.

 

 

[Memlin]

What about the “card room?” Or would we interrupt something?

[PaulMCO]

Bob Ray -- I wonder if he has updated his show.  Seen him 3 times in last two plus years... 

And no his interviews are not live.

[travelberlin]

How was embarkation in Miami? Which Terminal is Crystal using? How do we know which terminal will be for our cruise? Does the information come with the ticket?

Ivi

[Ibis]

We really enjoyed Saturday’s Cruise Critic get together! Let’s try for Wednesday 5:15 if there is a show or 6:00 if not? 
 

Just had a fantastic meal in Osteria d’Ovidio! One of the few if not the only meal we have had outside of Italy that tasted like we were  actually eating in a restaurant in Italy. Everything was great; most particularly the Tortello; could have been in a two star Michelin restaurant. What an impressive addition for Crystal.

 

We have always loved Umi Uma and we could barely wait to be back in there:-). We enjoyed a very good meal there Saturday night. Various rolls, sushimi, tempura, all just as good as we remember. 
However, there was a bit of disappointment on our part. First of all with the newly renovated decor. The room seems a bit too bright and hard, with nothing to soften the noise and rather glaring lights. At the same time, in spite of having veteran Crystal servers, the service just didn’t seem up to standard; not very smooth, to say the least. We do plan to try to get back there before the end of the week as we do still love the food! Maybe the answer is to sit at the sushi bar and try ignore the rest of the room;-)

 

Paolo continues to do a super job in Waterside and we’ve had good meals with good service. Love lunch there on sea days!

 

Thanks to May B for posting photos of last night’s White Party .. it was fantastic to see The Cove filled with so many happy people! We are very happy campers😍

 

 

[Keith1010]

6 hours ago, travelberlin said:

How was embarkation in Miami? Which Terminal is Crystal using? How do we know which terminal will be for our cruise? Does the information come with the ticket?

Ivi

Ivi,

 

I assisted a friend with this.  Crystal has no assigned terminal at Miami as it doesn't sail there regularly.  

 

As you cruise nears, you can find the assignment using the Port website.  But I found the information is not provided very far in advance.  When you use the search click on cruise and put in the date before doing the search.

 

https://wwwx.miamidade.gov/apps/seaport/dailydock/Default.aspx

 

Even if you don't know which terminal when you enter the port it is really easy to find whatever ship you are looking for and your driver will not have a problem. With the exception of terminal J which often Crystal was assigned (not the other day though) the other ships are docked on the other side and are all lined up at the respective terminals.

 

Keith 

[May B]

20 hours ago, Memlin said:

What about the “card room?” Or would we interrupt something?

Ahh, we should’ve discussed this when I saw you at lunch yesterday!

 

For the card room, that’s a quiet time. It’s not as comfortable, plus we’d have to bring our own drink. 
 

I’ll read more comments. I think I haven’t caught up here. I’m not sure if it has something to do with new requirement to sign in by email rather than nickname.

[May B]

15 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

Bob Ray -- I wonder if he has updated his show.  Seen him 3 times in last two plus years... 

And no his interviews are not live.

So when he gets Cousin Brucie on the phone, that isn’t live? We wondered!

 

Yesterday Denise “surprised” him by getting Dean of Jan and Dean on.

 

First show was Beatles, yesterday was Beach Boys.

[May B]

12 hours ago, travelberlin said:

How was embarkation in Miami? Which Terminal is Crystal using? How do we know which terminal will be for our cruise? Does the information come with the ticket?

Ivi

I didn’t see info.

 

We were at E.

 

Embarkation was cinch’s, but it started exactly at 12 noon. Many of us arrived soon after 11, so we had a wait. Met a very nice couple to pass the time.

[happy cruising]

Ibis, agree with you re lighting and noise in umi uma. We loved the food in both umi uma and in Osteria but were not thrilled with the atmosphere although the 2 restaurants are beautiful. It was way too bright in both - and especially noisy in Osteria , maybe because part of the floor is not carpeted and the material on the walls doesn’t insulate the noise. I hope crystal has a plan to dim the lights in both restaurants and see what can be done about the acoustics. 

[May B]

We never fail to go fahblungit at Port of Miami, and embarkation day was no different than every other time.

[PaulMCO]

7 minutes ago, May B said:

So when he gets Cousin Brucie on the phone, that isn’t live? We wondered!

 

Yesterday Denise “surprised” him by getting Dean of Jan and Dean on.

 

First show was Beatles, yesterday was Beach Boys.

no not live.... yes same shtick with Jan and Dean

 

Is he giving away some of his bracelets.... he tried to sell them in the Regent shop, but the contractor pulled them.

 

I saw him first on one of the OC final cruises -- then again twice on Regent.

His shows are good and interesting. 

He had a great rock history trivia quiz at the end.  Really tough..

[May B]

The fact that they can’t dim the lights (yet) has been mentioned many times. It just hasn’t been solved yet!

 

When we first sat down at Umi Uma, it was clearly evident, but after we were there a while, it didn’t bother us at all.

 

We did wonder if they ever have trouble getting enough black cod. Wonderful dinner.

[BWIVince]

9 hours ago, Ibis said:

However, there was a bit of disappointment on our part. First of all with the newly renovated decor. The room seems a bit too bright and hard, with nothing to soften the noise and rather glaring lights.

On a different but related note, I’m kind of relieved that they made slightly less drastic changes to Symphony’s Umi Uma than were originally depicted in the renderings.  I’ve always preferred Symphony’s decor of that space to Serenity’s (after the switchover in 2008), but that’s fair in a 2.0, second generation kind of way.  I have no doubt that once they resolve the lighting issue, Serenity’s will feel a lot more cozy, and the decor will come together a little better.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

Vince

[May B]

1 hour ago, PaulMCO said:

no not live.... yes same shtick with Jan and Dean

 

Is he giving away some of his bracelets.... he tried to sell them in the Regent shop, but the contractor pulled them.

 

I saw him first on one of the OC final cruises -- then again twice on Regent.

His shows are good and interesting. 

He had a great rock history trivia quiz at the end.  Really tough..

Now I REALLY wish my son could’ve been here, he’s really good at great rock history. He did forget, though, that Roger McGuinn was first Jim McGuinn. We look forward to hearing about that at Roger’s next presentation. He and his wife were in the front row at both of Bob Ray’s talks.

 

Now he’s giving out a cute magnet shaped like a record disc, with the title something like Any Day at Sea Is Better than a Day at Home”.

 

 

[May B]

John Joseph left the ship this a.m. after two very entertaining shows. We do love him. I had forgotten the punchline about changing planes in Montreal. Actually, I had also forgotten the punch line about his wife and the purse! Not that it matters. His delivery is what makes it great.

 

Interestingly, one of the lecturers looks a tad like John Joseph, so cruisers got them confused. That’s according to John. The retired judge and his wife were in the front row of John’s second show.

[May B]

Today for the third day, there’s a six pm show and a different 9:30 pm show.

 

Last night was Icons. Gorgeous costumes, fun songs, soooooo loud. It’s Rafael’s favorite show, which I guess explains why the singer of the duo also shrieks.

[Texas Tillie]

42 minutes ago, May B said:

John Joseph left the ship this a.m. after two very entertaining shows. We do love him. I had forgotten the punchline about changing planes in Montreal. Actually, I had also forgotten the punch line about his wife and the purse! Not that it matters. His delivery is what makes it great.

 

Interestingly, one of the lecturers looks a tad like John Joseph, so cruisers got them confused. That’s according to John. The retired judge and his wife were in the front row of John’s second show.

 

Was listening to the 60s channel on Sirius XM and they played "Come and Get Your Love". I'll never hear that without thinking of John Joseph!

 

Patty

[Keith1010]

3 hours ago, May B said:

Now I REALLY wish my son could’ve been here, he’s really good at great rock history. He did forget, though, that Roger McGuinn was first Jim McGuinn. We look forward to hearing about that at Roger’s next presentation. He and his wife were in the front row at both of Bob Ray’s talks.

 

Now he’s giving out a cute magnet shaped like a record disc, with the title something like Any Day at Sea Is Better than a Day at Home”.

 

 

I remember when we saw him last he was working on a project which was songs associated with the sea.  His wife is lovely.  I remember one one of the sailings when there was live music outside by the pool each time he passed by the band would play Turn Turn Turn.

 

I had that LP.  And probably wore it out playing it so much. Not as much as the Beatles but a lot.

 

Keith

[PaulaJK]

Have appreciated the above posts. Shared the wait times of Ibis; they seemed longer than I recalled. After check in we were told not to go to the MDR as it was full. The buffet in the Marketplace was fine but we missed the first lunch ritual. Many familiar faces among the staff w greetings, hugs, merriment and good service. Once sailing, the ocean expressed itself..better now but not quite calm.

Staff is happy to have a good head count. Ship in tiptop condition. We thought that we had booked a classic Aquamarine but found ourselves in a very pretty new look suite. Kind butler whom we knew. Good service in restaurants but our menu selections were a but bland . HBulacker is HD,Vorland, Captain, Paolo maitre d, Raphael is CD. Passenger mix looks good. 2 very good lectures thus am.

All we need is sun!

[PaulaJK]

The above is a post I wrote but forgot to submit.

Life on board has been happy. Having never seen John Joseph and Bob Ray, we really enjoyed their presentations. Also enjoyed judge’s talks.Have not been very positive about other entertainment. I do not even ‘get’ tonite’s schedule of a 30 min show at 6 pm and a 25 minute show at 9:30. Joel Shire in the Avenue has been great,as always. 

Our dinners have hit high notes w much attention to presentation. We would have been happy to receive a few of these in Michelin restaurants! My octopus app was circular in presentation w every circle decorated, some w pieces of edible flowers…incredible. Service in MDR is excellent, in Uma less so.Agree re the lighting there.

Waterside is closed for lunch when in port. We miss it. We are not buffet fans plus find the seating in Marketplace uncomfortably jammed, making the service anything except rekaxing. Frankly, we travel another line w a buffet area w white cloths, spaced  tables,an a ility to order hot itens, etc..but not as good a salad bar or desserts.

 

Our CC meeting was warm and friendly…thanks May B.

 

The tour in Tortola was a negative experience..many concur.

ps The white chocolate ice cream is ti swoon over.

[Ibis]

Paula, totally agree with your comments on buffet lunch.. we so miss Waterside on port days!

Hope to get together tomorrow:-)

[May B]

On 11/7/2023 at 10:14 AM, Texas Tillie said:

 

Was listening to the 60s channel on Sirius XM and they played "Come and Get Your Love". I'll never hear that without thinking of John Joseph!

 

Patty

I didn’t know that’s the name of it! They closed his second show with it, even though he hasn’t used it in the second show.

 

 

[May B]

Attention Cruise Critic and other folks, cruising right now with us on Serenity:

 

Join us at 5:15 pm today for informal get-together across from the Cove on deck five, between the two future cruise/loyalty desks.

 

Also planning to do Saturday, same time, same location.