Hi everyone;

Just returned from 16days on the cattle car known as Crystal Symphony. I know, you're going to say it was my own fault, but my friends kept insisting I try them. OK, I've tried them. Now they can leave me alone.

I am never straying from RSSC again.

Cruise Crazed

Well, live and learn as they say! Care to elucidate the particulars?? (Spoken as one who loves small ships, and would probably hate Crystal.)

Hi cruisecrazed,

yes, please tell us what you didn't like on Crystal.

I'm curious too. Considering that Crystal is also a luxury line, what problems did you have onboard? I would have liked to have tried Crystal at some point though the fixed dining times are a turn-off for me.

Masaki

Masaki, I have read cruise crazed review on the cc board. His experience was not the same as the one I had on 3 crystal cruises. I'm sorry he didn't care for crystal. Recenty there have been very negative review about Regent and Silversea from some passengers. all I can say is different strokes for different folks. We are all very lucky that we can choose the cruise line that best fits our needs.

If you don't like fixed dining times then Crystal might not be for you. Unfortunatley, the dining room cannot accomodate all the passengers at one time. However, they do have great alternatiave restaurants that help in allowing passengers have open seating on several evenings.

Nancy

Hi all,

you ask for a review, I will give you more info than was posted on CC. That ship was boring. there I said it. There was nothing to do on board and since it was raining a lot, we were ocused in on the inadequasis (sp) of the on board activities. I like to go to fitness c lasses. On Regent we had 3 or 4 every morning. On Crystal 1. Stretching. When I asked about Pilates, the fitness director said it wasn't good to do in the AM. I told him I'd tell my Pilates instructor back home that has 20 students in each of 3 classes starting at 9AM. He offered private lessons at 100.00 per hour. Sweet. Otherwise you could learn the piano or Spanish on this 16 day cruise. There were computor classes and dance lessons and bridge. There was 1 trivia per day at 12 noon. The tea time was so crowded, we sat 4 on a love seat.

Not one fun thing to do, nothing. On our last Radisson we were inundated with fun and ineteresting thin gs to do.

Regarding the alternative retaurants, Prego is hardly worth mention compared to the Italien experience on radisson.

This ship was sold out, and it felt like we were in a crowd of thousands. Dining in your cabin is impossible. The coffee table wouldn't hold 2 appetizers. My partner doesn't drink so the free drinks on either line is of no immportance to him. He also feels that Radissopn is trhe only way to go. Less people, bigger cabins, open seating, better service and food as excellent as was on Crystal. Also, Crystal is way too formal. I like dressing up, but nopt every night. Dinner under the stars was dreaful, as they had the dome closed over the pool area and people were way too casual for us. Not enough service personnel.

Sorry, but Crystal not for us. We're doing 2 Regent cruises in 07. The last leg of world cruise in April and Rome Ft. Lauderdale in November. It's getting to the point that the ports are unimportant. It's the cruise experience that counts. AND, Regent is the cruise experience for us.

Cruise Crazed

Thanks Cruise Crazed,

For me the fixed seating time is a turn-off too. The other negative I see with Crystal is the Standard cabin size is too small.

Hi Cruise,

Are you on the Voyager for the November 07 (11/3-11/19) Crossing? We're on that one too. We expect that it will be great fun!!! If you see posts referring to CROSS, that's the name we've voted on here for that.

As for Crystal, we've not cruised on that line because of the formality and the small cabins as well.

Thanks for the details, Cruise Crazed!

Nancy - we're all glad that we have so many choices! :D

Masaki

I agree with Nancy - different strokes for different folks. As you'all know we cruised Crystal last December and had a very nice time and met some very nice people, and I posted a review of that cruise. Yes, its not for everyone, but then no cruise line is for everyone, and as you said Masaki, its good to have choices.

Cruise - We too are on the Nov 3 sailing, there are several of us from this board, most boarding in Monte Carlo, some in Funchal. We thought about adding the portion from Rome, but decided not to - who knows though, its a long way off and we might. :) Please chime in on Kathy's roll call and have her add your names to the group - I'm sure we will have a couple of get togethers.

Thanks for your review, my crazed friend. :) Your comments make me wonder if Crystal is geared to an older, more sedate clientele? If so, perhaps this is especially true of a cruise with so many sea days. Too bad the weather was so dismal.

I am glad Regent suits you so well. George and I would love to cruise with you two again anytime.

We like both Regent & Crystal and wouldn't hesitate to sail either if the itinerary
attracts us. We also respect everyone's right
to have their own preferences.
That said, I can't agree with some of your rants per our experiences.Crystal has a very active on board program w. lectures, computer classes, language & music classes, games [bingo,trvia]& a dedicated movie theatre. There are often pre dinner cabaret style shows [Liar's Club, Rep theatre] as well as post dinner shows. The casino is active as are the saloon and dancing venues. As for the alternate restaurants, many of us find Prego quite a special offering...and Serenity's Silk Roads is a wow! We do prefer the dedicated room service [vs the menu] of Regent and the roomier Regent cabins. We prefer the Crystal individual balconies & wrap around decks.
Both lines offer nice experiences...and since you have identified the line that you prefer, you
should have happy sailing in the future.

Paula, you are right on! While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I feel that Cruise Crazed had a very different experience than most people on Crystal. Like I said, it's great that there are choices out there for everyone. I can't wait to try other lines such as Regent one day.

By the way, I'm 45 and really enjoy Crystal. On any longer cruise with lots of sea days, I'm sure the average age of the passenger increases. My friend just returned from the last leg of the REgent WC and was suprised that the average age was much older than her other Regent cruises. My friend and her husband are in their late 60's.

Nancy

We took a short "to nowhere" cruise on the Symphony about a year ago, and found it fine, EXCEPT they charge for too many things that really should be included, like water! I heard they had stopped charging for nickel and dime stuff like coffee, water, soft drinks, and found they mostly had, but not all. And when they present the bill, like after they have poured the water you thought was free, $5.00 for a liter bottle, maybe $5.50, I don't like it. But we did have a perfectly marvelous meal in the oriental restaurant, Jade(?). Right up there with Signatures, IMHO.

Regular suites can't compare, RSSC's are far superior. But the lectures, even on the short trip we had, were superior. We enjoyed it, overall, but haven't sought to book with Crystal again. I guess it would take a special circumstance; a group of friends taking a cruise we'd enjoy, a great price for an itinerary we'd love, something like that. It was nice to try Crystal and know what its like first hand, and I'm glad we went!

Hello again,

First off we are booked on the Voyager for the last leg of the 07 world cruise. We haven't booked the 07 Rome-FT Lauderdale as of yet because our summer plans are not finalized. Question? Can we book now from home and still get onboard booking discount or do we have to wait for when we're onboard?

I seriously did not want to make anyone annoyed by my review of Crystal. These are my partners' and my own feelings. We personally felt crowded on the Symphony. We really like Radissons' spaciousness and smaller passenger counts. After traveling on the Navigator for the first time in November, we were looking forward to our first trip on crystal because of all the hype about them. They did not compare favorably to Radisson in any category except Dinner in the dining room. That was first class. Wonderful service and great food, but, they also felt crowded. Our wonderful waiter Bela, had to turn sideways to get between tables. I want to feel if I'm in a great restaurant, especially at these prices.

Derek and I have taken 50 cruises to date and until we went on Radisson last november we usually took suites on the mid priced lines as we could afford them and not the better lines. Don't forget a suite on Norwegian is less than ther entry level cabin on Radisson. Derek, bless his heart has finally qualified for social security and we thought this would be a good time to try the top lines. We fell in love with Radisson. It's thaqt simple. So, when we had the chance to go on Crystal we jumped on it as they were supposed to the best. Their not. Not in any way compared to Radisson ( I said that already, didn't I).

We look forward to great cruising and don't care much about the ports. So, it is important to have a nice size cabin. Dere spend a great deal of time in it. On crystal dining en-suite was difficult as they do not have a table topper for the coffee table. We had the same sized cabin as on Holland Americas Prinsendam, the former Royal Viking Sun. This is not that big. Trust me. The lay-out is nopt great either, as there is not enough closet and draw space for someone who likes to bring a lot of clothes and shoes. Me.

All in all we had a nice time but not a great time. I also believe everyone is entitled to their favorites, it just happens that mine is Regent.

Cruise Crazed

Count Florida,

I was on the same Crystal cruise to nowwhere and have been on several other crystal cruises since 2004. I don't understand why you were charged for water since they stopped doing that prior to 2004.

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner at Jade Garden, I love the food.

Nancy

I don't think you annoyed anyone with your review, I think that some were just confused as to why you disliked it so much when they really liked it. The answer is probably just as much "different strokes..." as it depends on the particular ship, the weather, the number of passengers on that particular trip, etc.

We all love reviews here at LCT, and that includes the negative ones.

Thanks for your thoughts and your review!!

Sheri

Thank you for the review. It's interesting to hear all different points of view.

But the free caviar anytime you want it is to die for on Crystal! They charge for caviar on RSSC.

hillorama, yes, RSSC charges for caviar. I hate the stuff, and tried it with a real expert putting me with all the trimmings when it was offered free at dinner once on the Diamond. I'm sure Crystal is great, as I have very few bad memories about what others have posted over on cruise critic. However, when you upgrade to get to what is RSSC's standard suite on an all-suite ship, it just doesn't translate to value for me. They also charge for wine with dinner on Crystal, don't on RSSC. Soon, RSSC won't even charge for drinks in the lounges.

UGH, can't stand caviar. When they have it at the Capt.'s party and such I stay clear. Had some delivered to our room (compliments of RSSC...long story) There was so much! Tom dabbled in it and ate what he wanted, there it all sat, I tried to give it to the stewardess (she declined) so finally flushed it down the toilet! I Felt guilty, should have thrown a party or something!!

Wish I'd been there, Marcie, I'd have eaten that caviar for you! Everyone teased me because I ordered it most nights on Crystal. I think it is nice to have open seating, but we just asked for the late seatings each night, so that we could stay in port as long as we wanted. I don't drink a lot of wine, (or any alcohol--it gives me headaches) so it doesn't much matter to me. But I do love the larger suite size on RSSC.
Love, Elena ;)

PETLOVER:

BET THAT CAT WOULD HAVE ENJOYED IT!!!!!!!