Here is my analysis comparing a HAL Alaska cruise with the Crystal Alaska cruise.

Essentially you are getting the standard 7 day HAL cruise Vancouver to Vancouver which HAL sells for a balcony for approximately $2000 a person.

Crystal adds 3 sea days going from San Francisco to Vancouver and back to San Francisco, but once in the Vancouver area, the routes are essentially the same.

Crystal costs $6000 for their 12 trip, HAL charges $2000 for their 7 day trip.
So deduct the HAL two thousand and you have $4000 for the extra sea days Crystal takes going and coming to San Francisco, which can be a rough passage.

That is the $4000 Crystal difference - a thousand dollars a day to sit on a Crystal on the high seas, ship, after seeing the same things on a $2000 HAL ship.

How much food can you eat for that $1000 a day extra because when you sleep, the Crystal rooms are not any better than HAL rooms. So does spending $300 each those extra breakfasts, lunches and dinners for those 4 days really make it worth choosing Crystal?

Please, someone report back and tell me what a $300 Eggs Benedict tastes like on Crystal because I sure don't remember them being any different that what we get on HAL?

But for those 4 extra $1000 a day Crystal at sea days, you get (1) bragging rights you can spend that kind of money, and (2) spend those sea days with others who also don't know the difference between value and price. Huzzah, and there you have the Crystal Difference.