The Best "Large" Ship Experience We've Ever Taken!
Written: Mar 31 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Everything!
Cons: Premium Cost
The Bottom Line: If you want to have a fabulous cruise vacation, enjoy round the clock exemplary food & service coupled with almost no children around - save up and splurge on Crystal!
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| kandrparsons's Full Review: Crystal Symphony |
After having cruised the other “premium” lines multiple times my husband and I felt was time to upgrade to the consistently award-winning Crystal Cruise Lines. While costing over 60% more, if you can budget for it you will not be disappointed and every penny will be well spent.
We chose the Crystal Symphony because of its sailing date and 7-day length of sailing. We had sailed the western Caribbean many times before, so we were really counting on the ship to be our vacation destination. We opted for a balcony cabin on deck 8, very far aft so we could skip out to the chaise lounges out back where it was very quiet. Even these few chairs were appointed with green cushions and a freshly rolled towel. The bathroom had double sinks and a ¾ tub in which the water drained quicker than any ship we have ever been on! Provided toiletries were a pleasant surprise as they carry Aveda, which offer natural, and sensitive skin lotions and shampoos.
The color scheme on the Symphony is composed of pale sea foam, light teal, smoky grays and other soft hues – maintaining a subtle elegance throughout the ship. Seating in public rooms are well spaced away from one another, so you are not backing your chair into other guests. As the ship weighs in at 50,000 tons, she has an easy deck plan to navigate. Public rooms are located on either decks 5 and 6 or up on decks 11 and 12. Both the dining room and main show room are one level, not multi-leveled like many mega-ships.
One is never at a loss for an option in dining on the Symphony and the food at every venue is excellent. For dinner, the Crystal Dining Room offers pre-arranged 2 seating sitting while reservations are necessary in the optional Jade Garden (Asian) and Prego (Italian) restaurants. You are smart to book 2 nights in the optional dining rooms the afternoon you embark, otherwise you may find yourself out of luck. Two nights on this cruise, Crystal set up open air dining at the Neptune Pool. Here we could casually eat dinner in our shorts, while still experiencing wonderful waiter service with a good menu selection.
Breakfast and lunch are also served in the Crystal Dining room along with a buffet style service on deck 11 at the Lido Café. For lunch you may want to try the Trident Grill where they serve just the best burgers along with other grill fare. My husband had a REAL steak sandwich and I don’t mean that shaved meat at your local deli, but an actual New York sirloin sandwich! The Bistro back on deck 6 offers pastries and desserts along with a selection of cheeses, biscuits, breads and meats until 6pm. This is a good place to have a bite to go while you enjoy a freshly brewed espresso, cappuccino or latte – all complimentary. Of course there is always 24-hour room service so you will not go hungry on this cruise!
The daily newsletter is delivered to your cabin and outlines the events and entertainment each day. There are no bullhorns or intrusive announcements telling you that the art auction would start in 5 minutes or that you could buy 3 cards for $10 at the next bingo roundup. These events did occur, but you weren’t forced to hear about it. We did not take advantage of any of the shore excursions. While pricing for these seemed reasonable, the selection was rather limited and seemed to be restricted more towards the coach-ride type, not so many eco-tours here.
The service on this ship was just about flawless except for the first time we experienced our Crystal Dining Room waiter. Let’s just say I was glad it wasn’t me who had the oyster juice spilled on! In every other instance the service was genuine, pleasant and efficient. The servers would often remember you and the drink you had the other night. One waiter apologized for not remembering our cabin number!
The entertainment was very good. Both of the Broadway-style shows were absolutely top of the line and the best we have seen in a very long time. What they didn’t have in sets and props, they made up for it more than 2 fold with the quality of vocalists and dancers. The comedienne wasn’t our cup of tea, but otherwise, an excellent selection of evening shows.
There are so many other aspects of Crystal I have not even touched upon: spa, gym, wrap-around promenade, teak wood deck furniture, Internet services, free computer and dance classes - there's so much more!! Suffice it to say, if you can budget for it, you will not be disappointed. If you are used to the quality of a more moderate line such as Celebrity or Holland America, you will be spoiled every day on Crystal and will find it hard to step back to other lines.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
kandrparsons
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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