SEA DAY

After lunch yesterday, Keith decided to go out again in Seyjdisfjorour. Many thanks for the suggestion from Crystal Future Cruise & Loyalty Manger Daniele and Senior Head Butler Rao and for encouragement from Anne Marie for me to hike up to the bridge by the amazing waterfall. Mind you, Kieth is not a fan of heights, but it was well worth it. And he knows for many this is not considered high b for me…. LOL. Leaving the ship, it was very windy and cooler than the morning. However, as hemade my way across the way and started the hike the wind was mild, and it felt far less cool.
 
There are two paths to get up and down. Keith chose the windy one for the hike up to the bridge. As he got near the bridge I saw many crew members. The views were amazing as was the sound of the waterfall.
 
A big thank you to the crew members who offered to take my photo without me asking and for the offer of assistance while climbing down. Keith hiked down on my own and rather than walking down the way he came up which would have been much easier if he hiked down using the path that didn’t wind so it was very steep and moist and if you were not careful you would end up on your rear end. 
 
What a wonderful world it is.
 
One item of note is the city population totals 648 people, so we had more guests and crew than the town population.  The town is so beautiful situated at the most innermost point of the Seydisfjordur fjord which is how it got its name. Amazing.
 
Although not a large town between both walks and exercise on the ship I ended the day with close to 12 miles and over 28,000 steps and that excludes the time, I had to recharge the iWatch as the iWatch was exhausted and needed a rest and a charge. LOL. 
​
​

Waterside menu from last evening.

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

Last evening we dined with one other person in our suite. Senior Head Butler Rao organized everything.

Great food. Great company. Great Conversation.  

Many thanks to Rao for making last evening very special for the three of us.
​
 

The evening entertainment included Just John & Paul - The Revolution Show.


​

​Today is the final sea day of this cruise. 
 
Tomorrow, we arrive back to Reykjavik, Iceland for an overnight before the cruise ends the following day and a new one begins.
 
As usual, today featured more activities than you could possibly do in two or three days, let alone one day. There were three lectures on diverse subjects; Icelandic Volcanos & Vikings, Shop Talk With The World Affairs Lecturer followed by a Q&A and In The Wake of the Whale.
  
A sea day provides guests with time to consider booking another Crystal cruise while still on-board the ship. Of course, this can be done on any of the other days prior to the day of debarkation. With this in mind, we wanted to talk about the benefits of booking a cruise on board as well as the Crystal Society Program.
 
Old Crystal used to have one person designated as the Crystal Future Sales Consultant and another person designated as the Crystal Society Host/Hostess.
 
New Crystal has combined this position and kept two crew members performing these functions with the title of Future Cruise & Loyalty Managers. For the guest the benefit is having two people performing these functions rather than one allowing for either no wait times or very little waiting time to book a cruise or to seek information or help about the Crystal Milestone Program.

These managers also schedule the Milestone Dinners and other Crytal Society Dinners and are involved with the invites that go to guests to attend the reception(s) at the Captains Quarters.
​
 
Since we boarded the Daniele Puma and Andrew Triplow have been on board performing these functions. You will see them on both ships during the year.
 
Let’s start with booking a cruise.  If you have a cruise in mind to book while on-board or need help selecting an itinerary, they can help you with this. They are both very knowledgeable about the itinerary as well as the accommodations. If your question cannot be answered immediately, they will follow up to get you an answer.
 
If you have a specific voyage(s) to book they can book that for you including booking your accommodation. They have access to the same reservation system used by Crystal team members in the reservation offices. If you book with them you should have your credit card with you as this is needed for them to process your deposit which is the same amount as if you booked at home. If you have a Travel Agent for your current voyage and want to retain them then your booking will also be sent to them. Should you want to use another Travel Agent you can provide them with the relevant information.
 
The benefit of booking on-board is that you realize an additional 2.5% savings off the full fare of your cruise.  Let’s say you want to realize this savings, but you are not sure which cruise to book. You can make an open booking for $1,000.00 per booking for two people. Then when you are ready to book this open booking can be applied to your booking and you will receive 2.5% off the cruise fare.
 
As a Crystal Society member, you also receive another 2.5% off the cruise fare and should you book a back-to-back cruise you often realize an additional 5% savings.
 
This takes us to Crystal Society. Once you complete your first Crystal Cruise you are a Crystal Society Member. Just like many hotels and airlines, Crystal has an affinity program for there guests. Depending on the length of the cruise you receive one or two milestones per cruise. As you complete certain milestones you become eligible to use the milestone on the subsequent voyage(s). Depending on the milestone you could be eligible for on board credits, an onboard recognition dinner, credit towards a private transfer, unlimited visits to the specialty restaurants with no fee (based on availability), category upgrades up to 12 days for certain categories of accommodation, a substantial Crystal Society Credit for savings off the cruise fare, selected Crystal Society Pins, a dinner in the Captain’s Quarters, and a private Vintage Room Dinner.
 
Sometimes people forget that this milestone program exists or to use their milestones. While on board you can ask one of the two managers about the program and about your unused milestone(s).
 
They have office hours at their respective desks located on Deck 5 and this includes morning and afternoon office hours.
 

This is today's Daily Reflections

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

​It's been another wonderful day on-board Crystal Serenity and there is more to go.