We just booked another 3 day mini-cruise. This time on Crystal Symphony. It will go nowhere,(no ports of call) but we felt this is a great chance to try Crystal. It is a Virtuoso exclusive at, I think, a good fare.

Keeping in mind, the wonderful post from Ngaire and others, in regard to comparisons between RSSC and Crystal, we already know that we prefer Radisson's larger cabins, open seating, etc....
We do think, however, this will be a way to try the Crystal product.

We go March 10 thru 13. Should be fun! Anyone want to come along?

Betty

Betty, don't leave before I get to Fla. We have to plan where to meet and say HI! We leave March 2 but I am flying in the 27th. I will e-mail or call you. :)

Suzie,

Looking forward to meeting you. I am marking my calander. Let us know when you will be free to get together. :)

Betty

Betty: Have a wonderful mini cruise - look forward to your opinions - Joanna

Great way to sample a ship. Do eat in Pregos that was a highlight for me.

Betty,

I love a mini cruise. I tryed the Diamond and it was wonderful.

Thanks for the information.

JPar

Betty,

Sorry spelling I tried the Diamond!

Betty - have fun and do post, we've always wanted to try Crystal, and I had clients that were big Crystal cruisers, unfortunately she passed away, but....my point being, would love to hear your impressions, Ngaire's were wonderful, and I'm sure yours will be too.

PS - we'd love to come, but we have a new Grandbaby due March 10, if our daughter makes it that far!! Will certainly be thinking about you.

Betty:

Is the Symphony sailing from a Florida port? Sounds like a great chance to get a general impression.

Margo,

Yes, the cruise is out of Ft. Lauderdale and back. We live only about 2 hrs and 45 mins. from Port Everglades, so pretty easy for us. It is even more interesting, that the Symphony will be just coming back from what the describe as a "multi million dollar facelift".

JoAnn,

Early congrats on your new grandchild. That's wonderful!!! Much better than any ol' cruise! LOL! :) Hope you will post a photo of the baby, for all of us to see.

Betty

And, thanks Joanna, and thank you, Ngaire for the tip about Pregos. Larry's favorite is Italian. We must not miss it.
Judith, we will all miss the Diamond!

Betty

Betty,

We took a 3 night cruise from Vancouver to L.A. in 9/04 with no port stops. It was on our first mega ship, Island Princess. A good way to test the difference between mega & luxury. I still vote for luxury when I can :D :D . But we had fun. A great way to spend 3 days if you get a chance no matter what ship you are on!! Go for it!!!

I've been lurking on this terrific board and finally registered to post. I will also be on this short cruise. I have been on the Symphony before and just loved it. While I've never been on Radisson I continue to hear great things about their ships from numerous friends. I think the main differences are the cabin sizes, lack of open seating and wine with dinner. However, the food on Crystal is great, the staff is wonderful and the entertainment is excellent. Betty, I'm glad you are giving Crystal a try. Perhaps we can meet up for a drink. Nancy

Nancy, it is so nice to see all the people who have been "uncloaking" lately! Welcome to the board!

Welcome Nancy! It has been really nice to see so many new people coming onboard!

Welcome, Nancy! We love to hear from new posters!

Nancy,

Great!!! We'd love to meet you. We are really looking forward to this little cruise, and trying Crystal. We do not have a cabin assignment yet, but I will post when we do.

Welcome to LCT!!!!!!!!!

Betty

Betty, I want to thank you and everyone else for such a quick and warm welcome. I don't have my assignment either but hope to have it next week per the TA. I'd love to post my picture but I'm not sure how to do that yet! Anyhow, thanks to your post, I was able to find out about this cruise. I'm going solo because my husband isn't a warm weather cruise person. I will also be going to West Palm Beach after the cruise to see my folks so this worked out well for me. I've traveled/vacationed by myself but never on a cruise. Since I'm familiar with the ship and there's assigned seating at dinner, I feel very comfortable. I look forward to meeting you and Larry.

Nancy

Nancy, You can email a picture to me here: karen@brownandkeene.com and I will be glad to install it for you!

Thanks Karen, I will try and find one to email you. Nancy

Nancy,

Cool......since you have been on the ship before, you can show us around. ;)
Larry & I look forward to meeting you!

Betty

Betty, I would love to show you around. Are you planning on the early or late seating for dinner? I'm doing the late seating. If you are, perhaps we can arrange to sit together. I have requested a table for 8 but I am flexible. If you and Larry want to be by yourselves, there are plenty of tables for 2 and I perfectly understand. Also, the 2 specialty restaurants are great and it's open seating but you need to make a reservation. I arrive in Ft. Lauderdale around 2PM and will go directly to the ship. I think you can board starting at 1 or 2. It might be nice to meet for a drink in the Palm Court around 5. We'll figure that out later. Nancy

Welcome Nancy - I'll bet cruising solo will be no problem and hope you have a wonderful trip - Joanna

Nancy,

You are kidding about the "Larry and I want to be by ourselves" thing, aren't you? Haha We have requested late seating. We also want to try to get into Pregos (Ngaire recommended it, and we don't want to miss it.) Do you know when they will take a reservation there?
Palm Court, 5:00....you're on!!!!!!

Betty

Betty, I wasn't totally kidding, just being nice! There really are some people that don't want to dine with others. I think being with other people at dinner makes the cruise more interesting. When I was on the Symphony, they starting taking reservations for Prego and Jade Garden around 1:30 or 2 the first day. We ( me and my Larry) ate at Jade Garden twice and Prego once. We were with a group that took over Prego for the evening so we had a special menu. The food at both restaurants were great. You can see the menus on Crystal's web site. Palm Court at 5 sounds great. Nancy

Welcome Nancy! Good to see you "uncloaking" as Karen puts it (love the ST reference again) :)

Masaki

Nancy - here's another welcome to LCT!!! I know you're going to love your 3 day mini cruise. Hope you & Betty can have that drink together and don't forget a toast to us at home :)

Masaki, what's a "ST" reference? Also, I wanted to congratulate you and your wife on your upcoming baby.

Nancy

Nancy - sorry, Karen's a Star Trek fan (as am I) so it was an inside joke. :) Thanks for the congratulations! Maybe if you find time, you can post impressions from your upcoming Crystal cruise when you get back? (you too, Betty!) - I love hearing about other people's cruises.

Masaki

Masaki,

I will be happy to post when I come home. I have been on this ship before but it was to the British Isles so this trip should be quite different. I'm just thrilled to be going on a mini vacation that wasn't planned.

Nancy

We're booked on the 3 days to nowhere on the Crystal Symphony March 10-13 too. We wanted to see how the other half lives. But I missed Ngaire's comparison. I'll have to scroll back and find it. Will report if there is anything remarkable to say.

Count,

So happy you are going to be on board our mini-cruise. The more LCT friends, the merrier. :)
Larry and I look forward to meeting you.

Betty

Count,

I too look forward to meeting you. I have never been on any Radisson cruises but have been on Crystal before. I think the main differences are the size of the standard cabins, assigned seating at dinner and no free wine. However, the food, service and entertainment are great. I hope to give Radisson a try soon. I really enjoyed my Crystal experience but if I had been on Radisson before, I would note those differences. They are both luxury cruise lines and I hope you will enjoy the cruise.

Nancy

Count - where have you been!?? :)

Masaki

Betty,

Have you received your cabin assignment and the docs yet? I haven't received anything.

4 weeks to go!!!

Nancy

Hey nancy - welcome to LCT. You will find lots of fun cruisers here, even people who haven't cruised yet, not to mention a wealty of info at any given time. Also, its fun to hook up with others when you are cruising - I'm sure you will have a great time, and of course you'll meet Betty and Larry and Count.
Let us know what you think.

Boy it must be nice to live close to a cruise ship port where you could do a 3 day cruise.
Oh well. Us land lubbers will just have to ride on our Prairie Schooners. :D

Nancy,

No, nothing yet, but I expect any day now. I'm busy dusting off my dancin' shoes!! ;)

Jim,

Yes, we are at an advantage living close enough to make a 3 day cruise worth while. Nancy, however does not live close (Houston), but she is "killing two birds with one stone"...visiting family, who do live close, I think.

You will all hear me WOOHOOing in the near future.

Betty

Can't wait to see you dance, Betty. And a belated welcome, Nancy!