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   Cruise Travel - Reader Reviews

Welcome to Your Favorites, where you have the opportunity to share your travel experiences with fellow Internet Travelers around the world.


Crystal Cruises

MS Crystal Symphony

Your Rating:Five Stars
Reviewed by: Allen Shulman
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: May 22, 2001
Itinerary: Mediterranean

Overview
This was our first cruise, taken with some reluctance after years of resisting, and we ended up kicking ourselves for what we've been missing. Life never needs to get any better than this.

Public Areas
Gorgeous and very impressive, while being not the least stuffy. Every room made you feel welcome and comfortable. We especially liked the Avenues Saloon, which had the feel of half a piano bar and half an English pub.

The Palm Court is the forward section of 11 deck, and is the setting for tea in the afternoon, but during the rest of the time its huge picture windows overlooking the bow make a perfect place to sit and read or just watch the ship cut through the water.

There's a walk, jog, or run-around promenade, and if you like that sort of thing, you could have it much to yourself. It's virtually the only thing on that deck, so there is little traffic outside of the exercisers.

Ah, the pool. It took me eight days to appreciate that it's the best place on the ship. High glass surrounds it, so it is sheltered from the wind while still feeling very open. (Another pool has a retracting glass roof!). When you walk out to the pool one of the deck stewards greets you by name (never figured out how they knew), and sets up chaise lounges for you, and offers to bring drinks. After the first day the steward noticed I had taken extra towels to prop my head up to read comfortably, and each day thereafter, without my saying a word, he set up the lounge chair for me the same way.

Food and Service
The food is spectacular. Everything is cooked to order, and it's all delicious and well-presented as in the best restaurants. The buffets are miracles of variety and quantity, but the best quality was always in the dining room. There are always plenty of alternatives for those who don't wish to get out of their swimming trunks, but the dining room is open even when the lido deck is covered up with buffet tables. The Bistro has wonderful breads, cheeses, deli meats and desserts for late risers who miss dining room breakfast hours, and both the Bistro and the Trident Grill will serve lunch until dinner time.

Cabins
Okay, I never wanted to cruise because I was terrified of tiny rooms making me feel trapped. So we sprung for a Penthouse Suite. Not cheap, but so so spacious and luxurious. Every bit as much as a very good junior suite in a good city hotel. Double vanities, jaccuzi tub and nice stall shower in the bathroom, walk-in closet with tons of room, expansive verandah, full desk, sitting area with stuffed couch and chair. Delightful, and worth every penny every minute. I am very sensitive to noise and didn't have a complaint.

Entertainment
Entertainment was nothing special. A really good classical pianist was appreciated, as was a satirical pianist (picture a Generation X Mark Russell) but the production shows were just okay. No name entertainment.

The quality of the cruise staff is clearly where Crystal makes their reputation. I was dying to find out how they recruited and trained so many people who acted in a way that made you think they really did take pleasure in making you happy. Always friendly, never stuffy or pretentious in the least. This is the one aspect of the cruise that made it so special and relaxing, and is the most difficult to describe adequately. Let me try, though. Every morning you come down to the breakfast buffet, and a staff member meets you at the end of the line, takes your tray, and leads you to a table you select, usually out on the fantail. All the while he or she is chattering on about the weather, what you did the night before, what you'll do at the next port, etc. Just relaxed, friendly, impeccable service.

Activities
This is where I realized my misconceptions. The ports were terrific--Venice, Dubrovnic, Sicily, Florence, Nice, Mallorca, and Barcelona--and the shore excursions were creative (a cooking class at a two-macaroon restaurant in Nice, for example), but it isn't about the ports. If you really want to feel the culture of a country, mix with the locals and so forth, rent a car and drive from village to village. In the ports you feel like you're at Epcot because they are all covered up with tourists at the obligatory sights. Nothing wrong with it, and you can see what you need to, but you'll never understand the national character or appreciate the culture that way. And the ship is so wonderful to be on, so relaxing, that it's almost an imposition to be asked to leave to visit a port. Toward the end, at Mallorca, we just hired a cab for three hours and asked the driver to show us what she could. That was the best.

During the day, when I was sure I'd be bored at sea (about half the 12 days were at sea, half at a port) there were more things I wanted to do than I could do. Lectures by Michael Deaver, by an art historian (talking about what we'd see in Florence), by a French history professor with a wicked sense of humor, team trivia, ping pong tournaments, ballroom dancing lessons, a full workout facility, a spa, and, best of all, as it turned out, a glorious private verandah to stretch out on and just read while room service delivered pina coladas. Or the pool. Heaven.

Not a cruise for families with kids. Definitely not the atmosphere.

Who Goes
What's the saying? The newly wed, the overfed,and the nearly dead? That isn't at all accurate. There were no newlyweds. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but the average age on this cruise was deceased. There really are a goodly number of older people, and only a smattering under 50, but regardless of age, the group was remarkably interesting and very animated. Very friendly, very relaxed, with no one intent on impressing anybody. But this is Crystal, after all, with three formal nights, and a sport jacket (tie optional) is considered to be "informal" dress. To get to wear Dockers and a golf shirt, it needs to be a "casual" night, and that was one night in four. The women dressed to the nines on the formal nights, and there wasn't much stepping back on the "informal" nights, although the floor-length gowns were gone. If you're uncomfortable feeling dressed up, think twice. On the other hand, if you can deal with it, it creates a really beautiful atmosphere, and the ship is full of people with the most interesting lives and interests. And yes, I could fill my dining room for weeks with the people we met.

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