Just curious if anyone has traveled both Crystal and Regent cruises with a passenger capacity of @ 300? Anyone have an opinion as to which is better? This will be our first Regent but, we have had amazing experiences on Crystal and just wondered how it would compare. Although the Crystal Cruise was mostly 65 and over.

The Crystal ships both carry around 700-900, I think. I've been on them both and enjoyed them both very much. I think my dh prefers Crystal, feels it's "tonier", but I am a little more casual than he is, and kind of like the more inclusiveness of RSSC. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Awhile back, I was comparing prices for the same # of nights, and think Crystal came out to be a little more reasonable, even after figuring in tips, drinks, etc.
Love, Elena

We've been on both and have enjoyed them both, although only once on Crystal. Cabins on Regent are definitely bigger, and although assigned dining isn't a deal breaker for us, we have come to enjoy the open seating on Regent. We also like the smaller number of passengers, although again, 900 versus 700 (or even 400 on Navigator) wasn't a major difference, we enjoy getting to know our fellow passengers and seeing faces we recognize.

I think you will enjoy Regent and be very plesantly surprised honeymooner's, and you will find some very similar things as well, tea in the afternoon, good food, nice, plesant, accommodating staff, interesting, well traveled fellow passengers, etc.

I agree with everything JoAnn said. You also have to consider in comparing, that you need to upgrade on Crystal, to have a balcony. On Regent, Voyager and Mariner are all balcony staterooms.

I appreciate the feedback...I am hoping we will enjoy the PG a little more socially than we did the Crystal Harmony. Alaska was amazing but I really do think the median age was 60 to 65 and we just seemed much younger by 20 to 40 years than most. The food on Crystal was great and I think I gained at least 5 lbs. There was absolutely no night life including in the casino on that ship. Well it is our honeymoon so I guess we should be entertaining ourselves! LOL! :ch:

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by AlmostHoneymooners:
<strong>Well it is our honeymoon so I guess we should be entertaining ourselves! LOL! :banana: <img border="0" alt="[naughty]" title="" src="graemlins/naughty.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" /> :D

It should be wonderful, savor every minute of it...

This is long, but here you go.


We had a type F balcony on Navigator Feb 26-Mar 13 2003, and Type A on Crystal Harmony May 1-9, 2003.

As for the ships, they are both lovely and very well maintained.

I personally loved the gray suede cloth walls and brass railings on Harmony. Bob liked the contemporary Navigator better.

Our Take:

1. Suites -- Navigator, by far. It was bigger, better laid out. Loved the drapery between the bedroom and sitting area. I could draw the drapes and nap, while Bob could lay on the sofa or out on the balcony and soak up the sun.

Bathroom on the Navigator was much better, as was the walk-in closet. Navigator and Voyager have separate tubs and showers, Harmony doesn't.

We had a type F suite, lowest with balcony, on the Navigator, and a type A suite on Crystal Harmony. The lowest category, G ( no balcony ) on Navigator was bigger and nicer than the type A on Harmony.

2. Dining room. Navigator, by far. It's always a big fight between us when it comes to assigned dining. If we go for second seating, I'm eating my entree at 9:30, and I don't like that.

So, the open seating dining was much more to our liking. We would go at 7:00, and get our favorite table and favorite waiter.

2A. We did like the Bistro on Crystal. We could sleep in in the mornings, then go have a hot chocolate or cappucino and pastry to tide us over until lunch. Wish they had that on RSSC.

3. Dining staff. Again, Navigator. I must say, we were on the May 1 Harmony. This was the first cruise after they cancelled the Orient sailings ( SARS ) and sailed back empty to Los Angeles.

Crystal put out fire sale prices, about 75% off, and thought they "might" sell 50% of the staterooms. They were waitlisted within three days.

They had sent half of the crew home from Tokyo, had to scramble to get crew in place by May 1.

The waiter on Harmony was very dour, didn't smile much. The assistant was quite a character. Service was so-so. In fact, other people mentioned that service on Celebrity was far superior to Crystal.

4. Sommelier. On RSSC, you have a true sommelier. We met ours first on Seabourn. When the Sun was transferred to HAL, he wound up going to Crystal Harmony, where he was just a wine steward, and moved around from dining room to Bistro to Lido every day. In fact, he trained the man who turned out to be our wine steward on Crystal. And he was just a wine steward, whereas the sommeliers on RSSC have been to formal schools in the hospitality food/beverage industry, and are so much more knowledgable.

5. Nickel and Diming. We were on the last set of cruises that charged extra for cokes and cappucino on Crystal. At the price we paid, I couldn't complain too much, especially since I drink about two cokes a week. I sneak on Stewart's diet Root Beer in my bag.

6. The Shops. Crystal, by far. The merchandise was of much finer quality and quantity. The shops on Crystal are company owned, not sublet.

7. Cruise Director/social hostess. The husband and wife team of Joe and Heather Raad on Navigator--what class! The hostess on Crystal Harmony was a lovely Japanese lady, but she didn't seem to interact as much as Heather did. Such a gracious lady.

And I mean L A D Y.

And Capt. Romeo on the Navigator had a wicked sense of humor. Every day at noon " Hello, it's me from the bridge!"

8. Entertainment. Crystal, but not by a huge difference, although we were told by RSSCs staff that the Production singers and dancers were about the best that they had ever had, and the quality could run from abysmal to great.

We loved the Repertory Theatre at Sea on Crystal. One night they did scenes from three Eugene O'Neill plays, another night they did a farce of a murder mystery that took place on a cruise ship.

RSSC had a great piano lounge entertainer that did a wonderful evening on Noel Coward.

They also had a piano duo called Katzenjammer. Four hands, one piano. If you EVER get a chance to see them, drop everything and go. Very talented musicians and comedians. They played some piece of classical music with one hand each, mixed a "gin and tonic" with the other hand, while playing the piano!!!

9. "Lido" dining. Navigator and Portofino Restaurant, hands down, no comparison. The "lido" on the Harmony was so poorly designed that you felt like a salmon fighting to go upstream. First, go through a very narrow line to get food, then fight your way back to look for a table. If you weren't able to find a seat in Kyoto or Prego, it was awful. It took me 15 minutes one day to get salt and salad dressing, as it isn't on the tables outside. They need to completely tear it out and start over. In addition, RSSC has linen tablecloths and napkins in their Lido section, where Crystal didn't.

9.A Specialty restaurants. Prego and Portofino about the same, I think Prego was a bit better, but Kyoto was fabulous.

10. Food. Very subjective here, but we both preferred RSSC. There was more of a selection each night, and the special chef's tasting menu was better on RSSC.

11. Room service -- RSSC.

12. Staff/crew in general -- RSSC. Melissa, the cruise consultant, was outstanding on the Navigator, spent a lot of time with us pulling up possible itineraries for 2004. No pressure at all. The person on Crystal couldn't pronounce some of the ports! Curacao was pronounced Kur RAK ko

13. The Spa. Run by Steiner/Elemis on Crystal, it's one big sales pitch. Go for a foot/ankle massage, and it's two minutes of massage, lift hands to demonstrate how to apply facial moisturizer, rub a bit, stop and explain how you really need an exfoliant. Lots of complaints by other passengers. I talked to our Crystal rep ( I'm was, at the time, an outside agent for a local agency, but this is not meant to be a solicitation ) and she said that Crystal had toned them down. Well, they were pretty pushy.

The only sales pitch I heard on RSSC was when I was signing my receipt, I couldn't read a sign behind the counter, she explained about a discount that they had.

14. Internet -- 75cents a minute on Crystal, download and reading time. 75cents a minute on RSSC, download time only. I paid more for one session and a few emails in two days of Crystal than 14 days on Radisson. This has changed on RSSC, but I still think they are better than Crystal. 0

Crystal has the nerve to claim they are competitive! Princess is 35cents a minute, Celebrity and RCI are 50cents. Plus, Celebrity sells packages on the Millie class ships for $100 per cruise. On a ten-day cruise, unlimited access, that's quite a savings. Crystal charges $150 a day for unlimited access. And since we're Platinum on Princess, it's free.

15. Tipping -- need I say more?

16. Library -- Navigator. More books, more videos, easier access.

17. Enrichment. We didn't care for the lectures on Crystal, which, if I remember, were about the working of the World Bank, and alternate treatments for menopause.

We did the Panama Canal on RSSC, and Dick Holt was the lecturer. He did a series of three lectures, South America before Columbus, the building of the canal, and something else. His grandfather went to Panama to help design the canal. His father worked on it. His mother's family came from Spain to Panama in the 1500s, so you know this man had stories to tell, and he told them well.

We own a UPS Store as our main business, and found out when we got home that he went to high school in Panama with one of our customers!!!

Plus, we had Terry Breen. At the time we sailed, she was the only permanent lecturer employed by a cruise line. She was an anthropologist by training, and absolutely fascinating. Her specialty is Latin America. I'm dying to go to more of her lectures.

18. RSSC really reads their comment cards and letters. We had such a wonderful time, and due to comments by CC board members advising us not to tip, unless the crew member did something way out of their way for us, I decided to name names on the comment card, and write an extra letter.

So, on the last full day at sea, I filled out the comment cards, named the waiter, assistant, sommelier, and Joe and Heather as being fabulous.

Then I went into the computer and wrote a three-page letter to Mark Conroy.

We took the cruise because our aunt had her 90th birthday at sea, and wanted to do the Panama Canal.

The head waiter and maitre d' went out of their way to make sure we had a special night.

I made my aunt a needlepoint of a Japanese kimono, had it "stuffed" and put on a stand. I asked Heather if there was any place to find gift wrap, she went to her cabin and gave me a lovely box that she had been saving.

I named names, told what they had done for us.

That night, the hotel manager had read the comment card and the letter, and put copies into everyone's personnel file. The dining staff were ecstatic, thanked me profusely. Heather and Joe also had been notified by their manager.

A week after we got home, I got a nice letter from Mark Conroy. And I wasn't working at an agency at the time, we were just first-time RSSC cruisers, so he wasn't responding with a sales pitch. It was genuine.

Tip money is nice, but the RSSC crew sure appreciated having someone take the time to let their superiors know what a good job they had done.


Bon Voyage!

Frances, you really out did yourself with such a wonderful comparison! We've never cruised on Crystal nor the Navigator but I was surprised to see

On both the Voyager and the Mariner they have the Coffee Corner (or whatever it's called) where you can get coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, cappucino, tea 24/7. During the morning they also have fresh fruit, yogurt and assortment of pasteries there. Around noon they switch over and have various types of cookies for the rest of the day.

I'm surprised the Navigator doesn't have something similar.

The Navigator has the same thing in the AM in the Navigator lounge (deck 6).

Dick Holt is the best Panama Canal lecturer we've ever traveled with for all the reasons Frances mentioned. Unforturnately (for us) he's transferred to HAL.

Peggy

Bob and Frances, much of what you wrote, I (as a 15-time Crystal cruiser on all three ships) agree with; But some things are better on Symphony and Serenity. It is great just to be able to cruise. Did you know Harmony has become the Asuka II and sails for the parent company out of Japan now? I hope you don't mind me making comments on your post.

1. Suites -- Still much smaller but Symphony and Serenity are larger than Harmony was. Bathrooms are bigger also.

2. Dining room -- open dining versus assisgned seating. Everyone has their own opinion.

2A. Bistro on Crystal. Love it. The one on Serenity is even bigger.

3. Dining staff. We have found the staff on Symphony to be excellent. Serenity - some little problems.

5. Nickel and Diming. Sodas, bottled and mineral water, specialty coffees, juices, etc. (all non-alcoholic beverages) are free through out the ship.

Repertory Theatre at Sea on Crystal -- love it.

9.A Specialty restaurants. Silk Road and the Nobu sushi bar on Serenity are great.

11. Room service -- Agree. Crystal needs a dedicated room service staff.

14. Internet -- Agree. Crystal has to do something about this.

16. Library -- they have really upgraded the libraries on both ships.

17. Enrichment. I'm a big fan of the Creative Learning Institute and all the various classes besides the lecturers.

Wow! Great reviews. When we get back from the Paul Gauguin and the French Polynesia, I will try to give some feedback on our experience! Thank you so much for all the good info!