This was my twenty second sailing with Crystal and my first with my partner Craig. We choose this cruise to celebrate his birthday and to visit some new ports of call; Venice and Dubrovnik. The balance of our ports were repeats of some favorites - Sicily, Sorrento, Rome, Florence and Barcelona. He had never been to Monte Carlo and the French Riviera towns of Nice and Eze. We were both pleased with our Crystal experience. Our flights from Miami on Alitalia were uneventful and our transfer to the ship was flawless, as always. We arrived in Venice midday, enjoyed lunch in the MDR and settled in to our cabin and exploring the ship, as we were docking overnight.

The next morning we took the first of many shore excursions, doing a whirlwind introduction to Venice. This included a guided tour of Doge's Palace and a walking tour of the center square. Next was an hour long gondola ride followed by a demonstration of Murano glass blowing. We were enchanted by Venice, despite being in port with many other ships. Our sail-away was enhanced by welcome party hospitality for our V.Com group while we enjoyed views of Venice from the Palm Court. Our first dinner in the MDR was up to the usual Crystal standards. All was well with Serenity, sparkling from her drydock and renovation this spring.

Our second full day was at sea with the usual abundance of choices of guest lecturers, and a cooking demonstration by Andre Soltner of the French Culinary Institute. Craig loved his demonstration of traditional french cooking and won a private lesson in the Galley with him that afternoon. That evening was our only formal night and the usual Captain's Welcome reception. This was where we first noticed a marked change in the usual demographics of the guests. This sailing was almost full with nearly 1,000 guests, but only 350 Society members. Formal attire and polite behavior was markedly absent among the many new to Crystal passengers. Matre'D Leo had his hands full attempting to enforce the dress codes in the dining room. Read more