Firstly a little bit of background. My wife and I are long time cruisers, mostly on smaller and the R8 ships. Pacific Princess and the unfortunate Adonia have been our regular choice, but in recent years have looked into alternative cruise lines. Windstar, Regent and now several Cruises with Oceania.
Back to this review. We chose the Crystal Symphony because of the itinerary and to experience ...
We have gone on other Crystal cruises before and were anxious to check out the new Seabreeze Penthouses. While they are 50% larger than the standard Veranda Suites, they also cost about 50% more. The Suite was beautiful and the extra space was fantastic. On the negative, the TV is in an awkward place, the vanity area is very tight and the lifeboat just below our balcony interfered with our ...
Cruised on Crystal Serenity Oct 3 to Oct 13, NYC to Quebec City. Sailing out of NYC at sunset is an experience everyone should have - with the sun setting in back of the Statue of Liberty and then a full moon. Simply amazing! I really miss the leaves turning as I live in the desert. But the colors in Quebec were specular in early October. And Quebec City is an amazing walking town with plenty ...
Embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly.
This was our first Crystal Cruise (but hopefully not the last). We did not know what to expect, having sailed more mass market ships before.
Our cabin, 10058, was a penthouse with veranda. Loved the layout! Just beware of the high step into the bathroom. The closet was a fairly spacious walk-in, with a built in dresser and shelves. ...
I picked this cruise because it was a great deal for solo travelers, had lots of sea days (I love sea days - especially the lectures), and the itinerary. It did not disappoint. I reconnected with several fellow travelers from other Crystal cruises met many new enjoyable companions. The service, the activities, fellow travelers are all part of the reason that I love Crystal cruises and this one ...
We wanted to see Iceland and after looking at all the itinerary's of many cruise lines we decided we liked the Crystal Symphony itinerary the best since it sailed out of NYC , stopped in New England ports and then on to Iceland. We had heard it was a great cruise line but didn't realize how excellent it really was until we sailed on Crystal. We have been on 12 cruises on 3 different lines. We ...
Chose this cruise as a friend (a Crystal novice) was interested in seeing what the excitement is about...her room was on the same deck but opposite side so we were close by but not running into each other constantly.
Did our own version of shore excursions: using a combination of public transportation and ship supplied shuttles, mapping out our potential routes in advance. Saw a lot of New ...
We boarded the ship in NYC which was great as we live here. Embarkation was very easy, its on the ship. We were meet at the gangway and escorted to the desk, on the way a steward took our carry-on and delivered it to our stateroom. There was champagne and lunch in the MDR. I was surprised the lido was not open.
The ship is 1000 passengers, about the right size for us. It is in excellent shape ...
Although we have been on many cruises, this was our first time sailing with Crystal. I must say I was very impressed. A wonderful cruise. First class in every way - the ship, the staff, the food, the entertainment. Especially loved the magic show with Doc, the comedians and the dancing of Curtis and Beverly. Only down part was that we missed not being able to go into Savannah, Georgia. Very ...
My wife has never been to the east coast and I have on business. I wanted her to see the fall colors of New England so we booked this cruise. We did not get off to a great start, their shore people were pretty rude. But our butler was phenomenal and the staff onboard was great with one exception.. I mentioned that I enjoy having Baileys in coffee as a nightcap and a couple of hours later there ...