THE SHIP

Cruise Critic gives a good overview of the history of the ship and its chequered career. Ship enthusiasts might want to read the Wikipedia entry to help them flesh out the details. At time of writing the ship has changed identity yet again. The transformation began while we were in Montego Bay, and the Louis Cristal will become the Celestyal Cristal by the time she reaches the Mediterranean!

We’ve travelled on a variety of different vessels of different sizes, types and vintages and consider the Cristal to be one of the best of the smaller ships we’ve sailed. She’s not a big ship (26, 000 tons), but this allows her to navigate easily into ports that are closed to larger vessels. Her compact size also makes for easy internal navigation—much less intimidating that a larger vessel. If you appreciate some of the features found on older ships (real wooden decks, brass railings) you’ll love the Cristal. Read more