Pagodas to Paradise Discussion

[HostDave]

Post your questions or comments about this cruise here and I'll answer as quickly as I can...assuming the internet works onboard at all, of course.

[HostDave]

Saw the ship sail in under the Rainbow Bridge this morning and later at the dock. I guess that means we're going on a cruise tomorrow!

[YFlower]

Am very interested to hear about your dinner with Captain Zander!!! He did an unbelievably awesome job navigating Antarctica and Easter Island this past year/earlier this year and I'll always be grateful for that. He does seem to have a dry sense of humor.

On two separate cruises, apropos of nothing, different crew members said he was popular with the crew and how they also liked him. He apparently has some little hand instrument that he plays for crew's birthdays or some such. Anyway, no one's ever mentioned liking any other Master before or since so I think that, at least, speaks well for him.

[HostDave]

That is pretty much what I have been told about him, too. The crew seems to think very highly of him. The speech he gave at the welcome party was very amusing. Now I'm looking forward to the dinner!

[YFlower]

I totally agree the whole Lido vs. Trident Grill vs. Trident Bar thing is annoying. I've taken to just asking for the picture book so that I can see the names and faces since I can never figure out who is/how many are really where and want to be fair dividing things up.

So sad to see the trip coming to an end; I'll miss the daily entertaining entries. Thanks for all the effort!! Looking forward to the rest of the pictures and to finding out about the next adventure. I hope it's southern Japan--Miyajima and Hiroshima are not to be missed!

[Mike808]

We just want to say that we really enjoyed cruising with Bill and Dave. I always throw the little newspaper in the rubbish can when I'm cruising so I had no idea there were fires until I was watching the news this morning while getting ready to go back to work. We hope you and your home are safe.

By the way, we like the changes on Crystal. Our only complaint is that for the first time, our food in the dining room was consistently lukewarm. This was consistent across the dining room at all three meals. I believe we could have easily solved this by asking for it to be heated. We decided to enjoy ourselves and let them get it fixed. They will.

[HostDave]

We enjoyed meeting you, as well! Thanks for supporting us at the big presentation

Odd about the lukewarm food. We didn't have that problem and we were only a few tables away from you. I wonder if your waiter was bringing it out too soon and let it sit on the counter? I guess that wouldn't explain other meals though. Or should I insist such a problem doesn't exist so I can fit in on CC? We thought the salad dressings lacked flavor. Never had that issue before.

I agree about the changes. The new menus are great and the food overall much improved. The only thing I could think of to complain about on the QAP is scheduling the shows before dinner.

It was a jolt back to reality to arrive and find fires all over the county! The house sitters got a reverse-911 call on Wednesday to evacuate, but they chose not to (we wouldn't have either under the circumstances). Looks a lot better today, but still very smoky in general. The heat is supposed to end tomorrow and back to normal next week. I may have to get serious about installing sprinklers on the roof this year!

[malone]

Welcome home!!! I really enjoyed reading about your adventures in Japan and your Symphony voyage. I'll be boarding the symphony again shortly and can't wait. The crew and staff really shine.

Thanks for sharing your travels with us.

[Paula]

I too enjoyed reading about your trip, will you be booking another cruise?

[HostDave]

I'm looking at doing something similar next year that would include a trans-Pacific cruise again. I won't decide which cruise line to book until later in the year when the prices drop. Right now Holland America is $1,000+ per person less for the same itinerary, but Crystal dropped the price so much this year that they may end up lower than that. We'll see!

BTW, Bill received an email from Crystal the day after we returned offering the onboard booking discount. I assume it is because we didn't book another cruise. However, I do all of the booking, so they kind of missed the mark Good marketing ploy though.