You are now in the world of boutique cruising. It will be interesting to see how Crystal fixes this. The new arrangement, which Crystal rolled out last year, has attracted much flak on cruise blogs from loyal guests who hate disruptions to their routine. Table seating is open, which means no reservations and you will get to eat with different people during the voyage. Lunch was an excellent buffet, served by smartly turned-out crew, who in this case were from the Balkans. (For there is always gossip worth hearing on a long sea voyage.)It was a turnaround day with new passengers arriving and others departing, so only Palm Court, the main restaurant, was open (there are a couple of speciality restaurants offering sushi and Italian, as well as the wood-panelled Vintage Room, which accommodates just 12 guests around a table decked with crystal and heavyweight silver and where you get to sample the ship's vast wine list).The food is billed as modern and international, which covers vast ground. It's where you stroll around the ship, taking in the bracing air - and meeting your fellow passengers and perhaps catching up with the scuttlebutt. In an age where more and more cruise ships are almost completely enclosed, making their passengers little better than self-loading cargo, the Crystal Symphony has a promenade deck like the ocean liners of yesterday.Ī promenade deck is the mark of civilisation. Most cabins have outside verandas, which I feel is an essential offering on any ship. The suites and staterooms, where Egyptian cotton linen is a basic right, are roomy - no poxy, airless cabins here - as are the bathrooms. Where many cruise ships feel like an oceangoing version of Las Vegas, with slightly tacky finishes and interiors that bellow nouveau riche, the Symphony looks and feels like a luxury hotel - or perhaps the kind of ship that was once built for the Transatlantic trade. The river ships sail on Europe's beautiful and sinuous waterways - the Rhine, the Moselle and the Danube, among others.In a word, beautiful. There are week-long round-trip voyages in the Caribbean, Baltic and the Med, and many shorter itineraries in just about every destination the line sails to. Both the big ships embark on regular world cruises and other long ocean voyages, such as the 16-day cruise across the Pacific's vast, heaving blue from Valparaiso in Chile to Papeete, and a 21-day crossing of the Indian Ocean from Perth to Cape Town. There are voyages to Hawaii, Alaska, the Middle East and Antarctica. Serenity and Symphony follow the sun with voyages to the great cities of the Baltic, the Caribbean and the West Indies and the Mediterranean's classic harbours. On a 68,000-ton ship, that translates into a lot of usable space per passenger. The Serenity is heading to the yards in October for its own multimillion-dollar transformation that, among other things, will reduce its capacity from 1,070 to 980 guests. The Symphony is fresh from a prolonged and very expensive refit - the sea is a harsh mistress - with new suites and penthouses being added to an already luxurious ship. WHAT ABOUT ITS SHIPS?The line operates two ocean-going vessels - the 50,000-ton Crystal Symphony and the 68,000-ton Crystal Serenity, along with a fleet of four luxury river ships and the 3,000ton, 62-passenger Crystal Esprit, a magnificent luxury yacht that would not look out of place in a tech billionaire's toybox. Renamed Crystal Ltd, the line is owned by Genting Hong Kong, who have embarked on additions to the ocean-going cruise brand with river, luxury yacht and "air cruises". The line is highly regarded for its excellent service, which is in part due to a high ratio of staff to passengers. The line started out with one ship, the Crystal Harmony, and from the outset sought to position itself as a luxury cruise line. A luxury cruise line founded as Crystal Cruises in the US in 1988.
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