J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by snowb4ndit

After chatting to someone going to Soldue at the same time as us we planned to meet up when there. We did just that and spent some time skiing together and drinking...as you do. They were great company and we all had much fun. We will definitely be keeping in touch with them and it's all thanks to J2ski also. :D

I've been with Crystal on several occasions and have never intended or needed to take advantage of the rep services apart from when in Bulgaria last year. On this occasion the rep was extremely helpful when my mobile phone was stolen and my OH broke his collar bone. I have also always been very happy with Crystal in terms of value for money, quality of hotels and ease of travel.

One thing however, that has irritated us a bit on the last two trips is that they have not given out lift passes/vouchers on the transfer coach like they used to. Instead they have given them out at the end of the 'welcome meeting' which is all about persuading holiday makers to buy excursions etc and we are really are not interested in that part of the package.

Not wanting to sit through an hour's meeting on the last trip, we asked if we could just have our lift passes and was told that we had to go to the meeting. I then said that we definitely would not be going to the meeting and was told that they would be put under our door after the meeting. We then went out and 'unintentionally' got a bit drunk :shock:. By the time we got back to our hotel it was quite late and the lift passes had not appeared.

Luckily my OH spotted a rep at the hotel bar when and we asked him where we could get our passes. He was most put out that 1. We did not attend his meeting and 2. that he had to go and get passes for us in his leisure time. But he did, and on this occasion we did not miss out on any skiing time.

I do not see why people should be duped into sitting through a sales pitch in order to get essentials that they have paid for and I hope that Crystal revert back to (what I think was the best practice) distributing passes and vouchers on the transfer coach.

Anyone else had this problem?

I have a bunion on my right foot. If you have a bunion you can see it clearly. My bunion never hurts when I am not wearing anything on my feet but when I am wearing narrow shoes or ski boots the discomfort is usually pressure on the opposite side of the foot...resulting (if the pressure is prolonged) in a corn on the little toe, which can be very painful. If there is what looks like a protruding bony mass on the side of your foot (at the base of the big toe) then you have a bunion. If not you need to see a doctor to find out what is causing the pain.

I flew to Toulouse from Gatwick New Year week, on Thomson Airlines. I put my boots in my hand luggage (Small wheely Salomonn case) as I have always done. I told them at check in that I had ski boots in my bag and it was very clear on the x-ray machine going through security. There were no problems at all there and back.

Tony_H wrote:I dont understand why anyone would want to travel with a separate boot bag to be honest.

I like to travel with my boots because I really don't want to risk loosing my them. I have a bunion on one foot and my boots have been blown out to accomodate it. I can't replace them easily and I don't want to miss a days skiing.

I booked through Crystal and they tried to charge me £30 for ski carraige (which includes a boot bag). I argued that Thomson(the airline)only charge £15 and they agreed to charge me the same. I took my boots as hand luggage in a small Salomon wheely case. I told them at check in and the response was 'Are there any sharpe objects or liquids in the bag?' I said 'No, only my ski boots. The same question was then repeated to me again and I just said 'No'. There were no problems at security and it was very clear on the xray that there were ski boots in my bag. It was fine on the way back too. (Gatick and Toulouse).

I never had any problems taking them as hand luggage on my last two trips either.

:-)

Hi nanz,

No you don't have to pay for the coffee and tea in the morning. Like I said the breakfast is a bit boring if you are a 'full english' lover like me, but the evening meals are fab. Three courses every night!If you don't like what's on offer you can choose something else for a small cost. We ate in the hotel every night apart from two nights and that was because we had drunk too much too early. In Soldeu the spirit measures are very very generous!

there are radiators in the rooms to put wet stuff on if necessary. I only needed to when i had washed something.

I went to Borovets last Feb...IMO do not go I have nothing positive to say about the place. I chose Soldeu for New Year (on a budget again) It was fabulous in everyway compared to Borovets. So if I were you, and you fancy somewhere other than France and Italy and you're on a budget then you won't go wrong with soldeu in Andorra. :D