We have been back to our winter home for a few days now. Enough time to rest up a bit and reflect on our experiences on this cruise. In today’s blog, I have included several photos from onboard the Symphony. So this will be a tour of the ship and some of my thoughts regarding the cruise line.
Ship Facts
She was built in 1995 in Finland and is the oldest in the Crystal fleet. Having been remodeled three times since, the latest in 2012. The ship was built at a cost of 250 million dollars and has 12 decks and six diesel engines capable of 34,000 horsepower. The propulsion is diesel-electric with two shafts with a maximum speed of 21 knots (24 mph).
The Crystal can carry 960 passengers with a crew of 545 people. On our cruise there were only 321 passengers and about 400 crew members.
Crystal Cruise Background
This small cruise line has only two ocean going ships, one expedition ship and five river cruise ships that operate in Europe. It is or maybe was a part of the Genting Hong Kong organization that owns a couple of other independent cruise lines.
Crystal maintains that they provide a six-star level of service. And I would agree. A friend, Robert, described them to me like this. If Carnival Cruise lines as a 1 on the scale of 1-10, and Royal Caribbean was a 3, then Crystal is a 15.
They have Michelin inspired menus and the presentation is incredible. From Broadway stars and renowned guest lecturers to live music and comedy shows, world-class entertainment and enrichment are available. First-run movies at The Hollywood Theatre, shopping arcade, library, casino, yoga, golf-driving ranges, full-sized paddle tennis.
The passenger to crew ratios are the best in the business at 1:1 to 1:7. On our particular cruise the ratio was .8 They have people everywhere to wait on you and clean up. It is also an all-inclusive cruise line meaning that everything is included except for shore excursions. Included are all meals, all beverages including alcohol, and all gratuities.
Cost
This is the only downside. They are very expensive. This cruise may be a once in a lifetime for us, unless I get another great deal and get the commander’s approval. 🙂 The benchmark that I have used on other cruise lines is if the rate is less than $100 per day, per person, then it is a good deal. The list price of our 21 day cruise was $22,798. That is over $1,000 a day! Luckily, they heavily discounted this cruise down to $4,000 per person for the 21 days, or $190 per day. About double the Royal Caribbean rate. And this is for the basic stateroom, not a suite or penthouse.
There are many people who take the World Tour on this cruise line that is over 100 nights and countless stops all over the world. Obviously, these people are wealthy enough that cost is not a factor. We met several other couples who are frequent Crystal cruises. It seems once you have experienced it, most become repeat customers.
Photo Tour
The front desk 
Our before dinner lounge 
The Bistro 
A $20,000 coffee machine. I was there every morning! An americano or latte 
The Palm Court – High Tea at 3:30 each day 
The ship receives a plaque from many of its locations. 
The gym 
Library 
The Bistro and shopping court 
First run movie theater – we saw two 
The ship’s donation area
Main area waterfall 
Me and Pat
Laundry 
They even had ironing equipment 
The daily schedule of events – Reflections 
Charisse – our stateroom attendant from the Philippines. She was great.
Maryna played violin every night 
Dining
This young lady was a great lounge attendant 
Duck 
Dessert 
A beef appetizer 
Mushroom soup within bread bowl 
Filet mignon 
Sake at the Umi Uma Japanese dining room 
This wraps up the cruise saga. Many thanks for following along. We’ll see what other trouble to get into here in Snow Bird Land. Take care and God Bless.
I think it was still a great trip for the two of you. Very memorable (unfortunately for two spectrums of experience). I’m glad you jumped in and tried it. You will get back on that horse.
Safe travels!!
Robert