We booked a Sea Breeze suite on deck 9 in mid 2017. These suites were created when the ship was refurbished in October. 14 days before we were due to step on board our agent was told by Crystal that due to electrical problems the Sea Breeze suites required repairs and we had been upgraded to a Penthouse Suite on Deck 10 under the pool deck. Our agent knew that after 25 years of regular cruising there are locations of a ship that we would not accept even if free. Under the pool deck is one area. Upgrade rubbish - suite size the same, fare the same and services to the suite the same. We asked if we cancelled would there be a penalty. Yes there would be no refund and read the small print we,Crystal, have the right to change the suites. We had also taken a 3 day pre cruise hotel package in Mauritius. Two days before flying out to Mauritius we checked the weather to discover the island was about to be hit with a category 3 (severe) cyclone and all air travel was cancelled to and from the island. We telephoned Crystal in Sydney and identified ourselves with the booking number etc. The voice at Crystal told us that they had no official notice of any Cyclone and they would only talk to our travel agent. Hello a cruise ship capable of holding 848 passengers heading into a cyclone forecast area and they did not know that fact. Does anyone in Crystal tell the truth? The coach from the hotel to the ship was a shambles. We arrived after 1.30 pm so lunch was not available - part of the service was suppose to be a champers lunch, which no one knew about. When we arrived on board we were told that deck 9 was closed due to flooding. Hello the ship must have great scuppers (drains) if only deck 9 was effected. When we told the Concierge that our concern with the Penthouse Suite was noise from the pool deck we were told they had never had a complaint about noise. Hello again. The now have one.

For the next 14 days we had foot steps over our heads from around 7 am to 10 pm or later. Furniture was dragged across the deck. From time to time heavy trolleys trundled across the deck. At 5 pm the staff rearranged the sun lounges by moving them into position and dropping them. We complained to the Concierge and the time moved to 9 pm. When the deck was hosed down in the early hours of the morning we had the benefit of an early wake up call.

On the second day we became aware that there were only 380 passengers on board, so that really explains why deck 9 was closed. Read more