Crystal Serenity Review

-- / 5.0
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An excellent first cruise in the Mediterranean

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Crystal Serenity
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LosAltosTraveller
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: May 2013

My wife and I had never been on a cruise before as it just didn't seem like our kind of thing. Nevertheless, we signed up for this cruise, Crystal Cruise 3309, which went from Venice to Rome with 5 stops in between. Since it's a long way from California to Italy, we added time before and after in Italy to justify the long airline flight.

We started off with 3 nights in Venice before boarding the ship. The embarkation process went very smoothly and we quickly lost first time cruiser angst. We had a cabin with veranda on deck 10. The room was very nice and more than adequate for our needs. The veranda is very comfortable and was larger than I expected. The bathroom was laid out very well and did not feel at all cramped, but rather seemed like an efficient use of the space. The beds were extremely comfortable, perhaps a bit hard for some but perfect for our tastes. Everything in the room worked well. The flat screen TV was well positioned for easy viewing from the sofa or bed.

The first night, the ship stayed berthed in Venice and some tours were offered the next day. Since we had been three days in Venice, we elected to stay on board and checked out all the ships facilities. Our room was close to the forward stairwell/elevators, so we could get anywhere on the ship quite quickly. The ship seemed in immaculate condition. Scoped out the steam room and sauna on the top deck. It turns out, these are accessible 24 hours and became one of our favorite spots. Both the steam room and sauna were under utilized so I often had them to myself. The sauna in particular has a window to the outside so sitting there, sweating, watching the world go by was a enlightening experience.

Cabin Review

Cabin AA

The cabin was just fine for us. We travel light. Could be a bit crowded if you're a clothes horse. The veranda is very pleasant and good sized. The weather was perfect so we used it a lot. Given the direction of travel, our port side cabin saw the sunrise making a wonderful start to the day. The cabin is close to the front stairwell and elevators but was nevertheless very quiet.

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