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Crystal Symphony

Past experiences on Crystal have been superb.  Symphony has recently been remodeled and things have changed.  While it continues to be a very good cruise, there are some very evident changes.  As a repeat World Cruiser, my hundreds of days aboard Crystal gives me a basis for comparison.

The overall atmosphere is not as friendly.  Many of the crew are top notch but the remaining leave much to be desired.  The uplifting can-do spirit of the past is gone.  Many of the crew look and act exhausted.  Service has fallen off too.  It is no longer top notch, only acceptable.   Longer wait time before being approached to take orders or serve drinks and food is too frequent.

The open concept of the dining room works as far as being seated.  Then the wait begins.  In some cases the noise is so loud that conversation is impossible.  This seems to be a problem when the tables are filled with groups of 6 or 8.  Adjacent tables for 2 do not have a chance. 

Entertainment runs the gamut - outstanding to spotty (like filler food).  The production performers of dancers and singers continue to excel.  Current cruise director, Shane, shines.  The cruise hostess, Sarah, and special events director, Jonathan, all excel in their jobs.

Food in specialty restaurants is excellent, but the Brazilian steak house is not.  Here again, service is sloppy.  We served ourselves from the salad/vegetable/bread bar which was good, but did not get the much bragged about meat course until we had finished everything else.  Same with dessert - serve yourself but what about the coffee??  Servers are inattentive and understaffed.

A good cruise at a hefty price.  Perhaps it's time to try a competitor.

Beautiful ship does not indicate beautiful cruise!

Florence (Livorno)

We wanted to see as much of Australia as possible in a brief time. We also went to Tasmania, which was a bonus! Best shore excursions were in "The Bush" where we got to look around for kangaroos and koalas in the wild.

Though I am not a big drinker, I enjoyed not having to pay attention to the drinks I was ordering and once I gleaned on to it, I enjoyed trying the "featured drink" listed on the daily newsletter. 

We felt the entertainment was mostly too late after days hiking around all day - but we tend to go to bed around 10:00. Our friends enjoyed the live lectures, while I preferred watching those later in our cabin.

Trying different dining rooms was great, and I really enjoyed the cafe where I got specialty coffees and pastries or fruit in the mornings while my spouse cleaned up. They got to know me on a first name basis. Then I'd join my spouse and friends for a more complete breakfast later. Food was *always* varied and fantastic!!

We never had to wait in line to get back on board - which we appreciated! 

Worst part of the trip was when our transfer didn't pick us up at the airport when we arrived. When I called the emergency number, they were disorganized and confused. After multiple "holds" they said we were in the computer, but didn't come out on the print out - so they weren't looking for and left us, which didn't help. Then they didn't know how to help us at the emergency number - said they had to wait to hear from ONE person, who wasn't answering her phone. Since this was our friends' 1st cruise - this made an unpleasant 1st impression. We were stuck in the airport baggage pickup about 2 hours on the phone with them, before we finally gave up grabbed a taxi on our own. We were later reimbursed by the concierge later on-board the ship. They also gave us ship credits to spend as a consolation. I would have still rather had the transfer without the stress.

The bathrooms were pristine and I loved having both fresh laundered individual finger towels, then paper towels to open the door to leave. Exceptional!

Beautiful Tasmania!

I was interested to see if the hype around the recent dry dock was justified, it was not. Sure the new penthouses are impressive, our request for one of the new penthouse suites prior to the cruise went unanswered by Crystal, yet on the open day there was one available for viewing, very annoying. However, the existing penthouse suite allocated was very comfortable, if a little dated, for my mother and sister.

My other sister and myself were on deck five and personally I think these are great value for money, they are the same size as the much more expensive staterooms and missing a balcony isn't an issue, for me anyway. There are only a small number of these, tucked away behind reception, very private and quiet, yet very handy to MDR and one of the bars, also located on deck five.

But getting back to the renovations, the new large smart TV's in every stateroom are great, with a huge variety of on demand movies, but where the old tv was there's now an ugly and unfinished "hole", they could have tidied that up way better.

The renovated MDR is impressive, much quieter and more sophisticated, many more tables for two and food And service as good as ever, some dishes truly memorable. I felt sorry for the waiters, having to use a tiny device, smaller than a cell phone, to take orders, in the main they mostly got it right. The Starlite Club "reimagining " was no more than new carpet and a recovering of the same old awkward and uncomfortable chairs - a bit of a non event, the room still as tired as previously and easily the most dated public room, especially compared to Palm Court, which I personally think is the most beautiful space on any ship I have been on. Elsewhere the new spaces on the pool deck are good,  the old Trident Grill area now extra smart.

As usual, the staff were outstanding in all areas, cannot be faulted. Overall, a very enjoyable cruise, up to the usual standard, just don't expect too much from the "extreme makeover"

Continues to Deliver

We were excited to take our first Crystal Cruise as Crystal is known to be the "top of the line" in cruising.  We found our cabin to be adequate but cramped and dated.  The bathroom was above average.

While the ship is old, it is quite beautiful, the service excellent, the enrichment excellent, the entertainment very good, however the food was very disappointing.  The dining room menu was not very extensive and the food preparation average.  The quality of some of the cuts of meat were below average.  The specialty restaurants were disappointing as well.

Our expectations were high due to Crystal's reputation and we surprised to find it lacking!

This cruise was our 20th cruise.  We have cruised on Renaissance, Celebrity, Princess, Azamara, and Oceania.  Oceania is by far our favorite!  Depending on the itinerary and time, we might try Crystal again but will try to stick with Oceania.

Disappointing!

This was my tenth cruise with Crystal and every one of them has been excellent. Sure, there are always small things to quibble about but the overall experience on Crystal is consistently excellent. Once again the friendly and professional staff were a huge part of why I keep returning to Crystal; I did a short cruise last year on a three star ship and that reinforced to me how much better Crystal (and no doubt the other top end lines) are, it's the little things that make the difference - like the cold towels when returning from a hot tour, the roses on Valentines Day, the afternoon tea, the entertainment throughout the ship. And that's  before mentioning the truly excellent dining and beverages. It always amuses me when I see poor reviews of Crystal, I think those people are really trying hard to find fault or have unrealistic expectations.

Am looking forward to my next Crystal cruise (already booked!)

Couldn't be better

Wanted to go to the Great Barrier Reef and see the ports on the Eastern coast of Australia.I didn't realize that we would need to wear "sting suits" which are full bodied slip on net suits to avoid being stung by the tiny jelly fish and other poisonous creatures while in the ocean. The food was especially good and the other people on the cruise varied in age from young to old, a good mix of nationalities with Americans, Canadians, Chinese who all spoke English.  The activities onboard especially on the days at sea were excellent with classes on iPad use, lectures on the countries we visited and the animals connected with them, bridge instruction and play.  Our cabin was small but well planned so everything could be stored out of sight with room for 2 people to move about easily.  Having a balcony was well worth the additional cost.

Sydney to Bali

Crystal Symphony cruise departing on January 5, 2017

 I chose the cruise for two reasons. One was the ports of call and the area that the cruise was visiting. The other was the fact that it was a bridge cruise and I wanted to but  participate  in playing bridge and learning bridge 

 I loved the luxury of the cruise. The service was excellent especially the young lady who took after me in my room when I was sick for a few days. The food actually was not up to my measure I guess because I really don't like complicated foods and very often I would order something that did not meet my expectations 

 All in all I would cruise with Crystal again. It is nice to be taken care of and envjoy and such luxury 

The  two is provided by the crews were excellent and certainly meant by expectations,  they were well organized and well thought out . 

 My only criticism and it is a serious one is that when I had my hair washed and blown out I was offered a little special conditioner and a teeny tiny tube. I was told that they wash and blow out what's going to cost me $43. When they showed me the bill they had added an extra $76 for this exceedingly tiny little tube of something. I should have complained but it was the last day of the cruise and I didn't have the opportunity. However I I will send a letter to the cruise company because I thought this was an out rages rip off

Rating. Crystal Symphony cruise departing on January 5, 2017

We went to Crystal Symphony because our past experience was excellent even though the company was bought by an Asian company. We had been cruising with different cruise lines for over a long time. We still decided to try again even when we saw some bad reviews recently. First, the embarkation was a total disaster at Melbourne. There were hardly any Crystal agents and there were no instructions where to go and what to do. The lines to the security were long and the check in once we board the ship was confusing. The whole cruise experience was very disappointing. The food especially with the main dining room was very poor. Even with the specialty restaurants Prego and Silk Road, they were below par. The menu choice was small and food was ordinary. They don't deserve to be called specialty restaurants. 

The chef at the kitchen tour apologized that because the ship is required to purchase everything from Australia and the price was experience, the ship had to purchase the lower quality produce. This is absurd, so Crystal decided to buy lower quality food for their customers for the Australia/New Zealand trip when the theme of this cruise was supposed to be Food and Wine! Their chef table only offered twice through out the trip and they were already filled even the first day. I don't know why they didn't do the chef table every night like other cruise lines.

The excursions for New Zealand were almost identical in every port so there weren't much to choose from. 

The worse was the entertainment in particular the shows. They were so outdated in comparisons to the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Sea which we went in October. The dancers and singers were low quality, their costume are ordinary, the stage was small and lacked scenes. The lighting and sounds lacked the newer digital equipment, sound and lighting. The entire program was similar to what we experience more than 15 years ago. 

As for enrichment program which they pride themselves in, they had old retired guests to talked about outdated material. One of them was an old security guard whom he talked about his experience with Jackie Kennedy for many nights. Another one was a pianist and singer that followed the John Elton style. The music and singing are mostly classic and lacked the dynamics. The computer work shops was based on only Ipad or Mac fo old people with no computer experience. 

The ship was supposed to have renovated but they are still old and showed wear. Many of the activity rooms were so small and old fashion. There were hardly any stores. They only had three, 1 jewelry store, 1 sells handbags and convenient items and 1 on low quality clothing. We met 2 couple of friends from the main dining. 

The only item that was still of good quality was their service personnel at the restaurants and cafe. The wait staffs still continued to remember and called us by our name and some times helped to carry our trays.

Crystal Symphony is outdated.

We chose this cruise because of its proximity to our home and no long haul flying needed.

We boarded in Melbourne and this was orderly but we had to wait to be called as it was a full sailing.

Once onboard we dined in the dining room and later went to our cabin to find the bags on the bed.

TIP: we brought our own wire hangers and discarded the Crystal ones and the heavy robes.

Our cabin was small but we got all our clothes in with drawers not used!

These cabins are clever and well designed.

Bathroom clean and tidy.

The dining was very good and the wait staff obliging.

Entertainment and activities were all very good.

Yes there is something for everyone on Crystal.

I must say that although aging the ship is very well maintained.

The stars of the show truly are the staff at all levels and they are really customer focussed in my opinion.

One joy for me is getting off the ship and being welcomed back after excursions.

Keep up the good work Crystal!

Better second time round!

A mix of good and bad. The service was generally excellent. The onboard lecturers were very good. The Palm Court is a lovely room with excellent staff and quickly became our room of choice on board. The food, in particular the main courses in the MDR, were mostly very disappointing. Every meal seemed to emphasis Salmon or Shrimp and the meats were dry, bland or overcooked. Considering this was supposedly a Food & Wine cruise it was not good. The entertainment was variable, sometimes quite good and sometimes very ordinary, and catered for more for a 70+ market rather than the 50+ market my wife and our friends belong to. The 'streamlined onboard checkin' was one of the slowest checkins I've experienced and definitely not what you would expect with a smaller luxury ship.And despite being an upmarket ship, we copped the second string berth at many ports, with the prime spots going to other vessels. I enjoyed the cruise but my wife and I both agree it wasn't worth the higher cost, even with its all-inclusive nature, and I think we'd rather go back to a balcony or suite on Princess or HAL over another oceanview on Crystal.

Not up to expectations

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