Crystal Harmony - Alaska 2001
Written: Dec 18 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great service and food
Cons: Small cabins, small bathrooms, two seating dinner
The Bottom Line: Overall, the Crystal Harmony is an excellent ship and I would enjoy sailing on her anytime.
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| donaldc's Full Review: Crystal Harmony |
Our trip to Alaska on the May 21, 2001 sailing of the Crystal Harmony was our fifth cruise on Crystal and about 30th cruise overall. The Harmony is a magnificent ship with outstanding service and very good food.
Embarkation and disembarkation: Crystal handled the San Francisco boarding fairly well. Cars would drive into the pier building, quickly unload people and luggage and drive off. Boarding did not start until around 3:00 p.m. We arrived at 2:30 and stood in line for about an hour. It might have been a bit smoother if they had let people on somewhat earlier as other ships do. Once we were on board, we threw our belongings in our room and immediately went up to the alternative restaurants Prego and Kyoto to make dining reservations. On disembarkation, things were delayed for almost two hours with little information being given out.
The stateroom: the rooms are quite nice with a couch, small table and chair. The standard rooms are about 200 square feet excluding any veranda. The bed is somewhat hard. There is no curtain separating the bed from the rest of the room. The duvet cover is a bit larger than the top of the bed so for tall people it can be somewhat of a challenge to keep it on the bed. Being tall (6'3") was also a hindrance with the safe; I had to get on my knees to open it. The room has a 13 inch TV-VCR combo player and the ship's library has a large collection of video tapes. The TV can really only be seen from the bed. A camcorder can be attached to the TV. There is only one 120 volt plug outlet in the room which is carefully hidden below the desk with some switches. Light can be seen through the stateroom window curtain (especially true with Alaska's midnight sun), however the hotel department offered to install blackout curtains. We had very little noise in our room on the 8th deck.
The bathroom has great water pressure and there is very little sound from other bathrooms. The bathroom, however, is a tight squeeze for more than one person. The tub-shower combination is nice. The bathroom had very little storage space. Even figuring out a place to put the hand towel was a challenge. The Crystal Symphony redesigned the bathroom solving some of these problems.
The laundry: There are four free machines and four dryers on each deck where I have found many men doing the laundry.
The dining room and food service: Every night, the women are escorted to the table; the men follow at a respectful distance. We had a table for 10. We had delightful table mates, but with this large a table it was hard to hear those across from us. The waiters were very willing to accommodate special orders including desserts. We are souffle lovers, so we ordered some ahead of time and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Bistro had light breakfast or wonderful cheeses always available during the day. This, along with the free ice cream on deck, were very nice touches. The ship welcomed us to bring guests on board. If we wished our guests to eat in the dining room, we would be charged $15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner. I understand that after Sept. 11, no guests are allowed on board.
Secrets and Tips of Crystal Cruises:
Booking and Upgrades: Crystal's rule is that they do not give upgrades. They state that it is not fair to those who have booked at full fare. This is, at least in part, true. I was on the Harmony last year when at least one-third of the penthouses including the expensive penthouses were empty. However, for every rule there are exceptions. Besides the past passenger upgrades (every fifth cruise), Crystal personnel say that they will give guarantees of a certain cabin level or better when they overbook to the extent of projected cancellations. If they miscalculate this percentage and actually overbook, then they will give an upgrade. They contend that this does not happen very often. Another exception to the upgrade rule is Crystal will make special deals with selected travel agencies. Although they will not officially name the agencies, I received some assurance that they included: American Express Travel, the Virtuoso Agencies, American Auto Association Travel agency, and Golden Bear Travel. I also understand that USAA can also give good discounts. I suggest giving these agencies a call to compare prices. Additionally, check alumni associations and other organizations which can offer very good deals. For example, in June 2001, the Notre Dame Alumni website listed the Crystal Harmony January 18, 2002 cruise for $2295. The brochure fare is $4245 discounted down to $3595.
Decks: If you are booking a window cabin, try booking on deck 5 which is cheaper than deck 7. Although deck 5 is a partially public deck, the views are unobstructed and there is no outside walking deck as on deck 7 in which taller walkers can look in on you. There could be some noise on deck 5 from the public areas so it may be best to book away from those areas.
In booking, note that the most forward and rear room balconies are larger. The downside is that those balconies have solid metal panels blocking the view as opposed to the smaller balconies which have see-through plastic.
Noise: Ironically the penthouse cabins may well have the most noise: the source is the open deck above: deck chairs and carts seem to be dragged at times of the day and night.
Food Secrets: Caviar is free when you request it. It is nice to order it in your room. Orange Juice: The normal orange juice on display is from concentrate. If you wish fresh orange juice, simply ask for it and they will get it for you. There is a world of difference between the two.
Compared to other lines: Crystal ships are certainly in the luxury category. In some areas they exceed against those in the same category however in some areas they fall somewhat short. The two most significant shortcomings are the stateroom size (about 200 sq. ft. vs. 240 to 300 for other luxury ships), and the two seating dinners. I believe that a number of other lines (Seabourn, Raddison, Princess, NCL, etc.) allow greater flexibility as to when and where passengers may eat dinner. These however may be partially remedied by the new Crystal Serenity scheduled to be launched in June 2003.
Overall, the Crystal Harmony is an excellent ship and I would enjoy sailing on her anytime.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
donaldc
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Member: Donald McKenzie
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 4 members
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