Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Crystal Cruises' Crystal Serenity Ship Review

crystal cruise ships

One deck up, there’s a fitness center with Technogym equipment and workout classes, plus pickle ball and paddle tennis courts close by. The spa has a gorgeous, light-wood sauna with a picture window — perhaps my favorite place to watch the world go by — and an extensive treatment menu. I was extremely impressed with my dynamic biotech resurfacing facial and noticed the effects of the healing LED blue-light mask, which dissolves dead skin, for a full week after the treatment. But A&K, committed to keeping the returning guests happy, left some Sapphire Veranda Suites as they were — including the room Linda Glenn has booked since 2009. Spending a week on Crystal Serenity feels like staying at a resort that families have been visiting for 20 years.

DINING ONBOARD

Combine all that with the live music at bars and lounges mentioned in the section above, and Crystal Serenity is a luxury ship where passengers can — and do — head out for a big "night on the town," so to speak. Guests usually get quite dolled up when they hit the entertainment areas of the ship at night, looking glamorous and expensive. At the base of Crystal Serenity's two-deck-high atrium, Crystal Cove is the ultimate social hub for the ship, the place you go when you want to meet all the new friends you're making on board for a pre-dinner cocktail or a nightcap afterward. Open from late morning until the wee hours, it offers live music for much of the day, starting as early as lunchtime and continuing through midnight.

crystal cruise ships

Honeymoon Cruises

The financiers were presented by the Bahamian law firm Alexiou Knowles & Co. Reportedly, both shipowning companies (CSY and CSE) are owned by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio de Clunieres di Balsorano (1953-born multibillionaire, co-owner of Silversea, Chairman of Heritage Group, Co-Chairman of A&K/Abercrombie and Kent). As the most discerning, up-to-the-minute voice in all things travel, Condé Nast Traveler is the global citizen’s bible and muse, offering both inspiration and vital intel.

What can guests expect from Crystal?

For an additional supplement, guests can dine in The Vintage Room for a food and wine pairing experience. Most alcohol is included, so bars like Crystal Cove off the Atrium, the Starlight Club cabaret, pub-style Avenue Saloon, Connoisseur Club cigar bar, and Luxe Night Club are also included, unless guests want top-shelf wines or liquors, which are also available. Both ships underwent extensive refurbishments before their relaunch, with newly redesigned specialty restaurants and spa and fitness areas and a reconfiguration of its staterooms to create a larger number of more spacious suites.

Food on Crystal Serenity is Inventive

As of the publishing of this guide, fares for Crystal Serenity sailings were starting at $3,200 per person for the least expensive cabin on a six-night sailing from Vancouver to Los Angeles. These fares are based on double occupancy — that is, they are valid when two passengers share a room. Other activity areas on the ship include a large library staffed throughout the day, a computer classroom, a shopping area that wraps around the central atrium on Deck 7 and a bridge lounge for bridge playing, tournaments and classes. (Bridge is big on Crystal ships.) The ship's entertainment staff also offers dance classes at times.

Crystal sets 2026 world cruise to 27 countries on luxury ship: See the itinerary - Business Insider

Crystal sets 2026 world cruise to 27 countries on luxury ship: See the itinerary.

Posted: Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The guests onboard deserve my time, and being new to the company, I need to earn their trust. I’m starting on the ground floor with the new Crystal but there’s so much respect for the company’s legacy. Crystal has always had a stellar reputation for entertainment, it’s always been at the very top of the industry and still is. I love the entertainment that Keith Cox and Michael Campagna are bringing on and am proud to be part of their team. I’m so lucky here at Crystal as there is so much for guests to do during the day. If they don’t want to go on a destination experience, there is the movie theatre, dance classes, bridge classes, art classes, the golf cage, pickleball courts...

Company changes in 2023 (relaunch)

That company ceased to exist when its parent company, Genting Hong Kong, collapsed in early 2022 and was liquidated. The company that bought Crystal Serenity and the rights to the Crystal brand name from the liquidators of the former company has relaunched the vessel. But not before it poured millions of dollars into a massive overhaul of the ship that has left it sparkling — almost as if it were new.

After takeover, Crystal is back in Florida with a revamped cruise ship - Tampa Bay Times

After takeover, Crystal is back in Florida with a revamped cruise ship.

Posted: Mon, 27 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Company changes in 2022 (bankruptcy and reacquisition by A&K/new ownership)

Elevated details, contemporary craftsmanship, and artisanal finishing embody modern refinement, while the spacious layouts maximize in-room relaxation. Unparalleled choice, including the only Nobu restaurant at sea, dining aboard Crystal is an unforgettable experience. It is with great excitement and pleasure that we introduce our new Cruise Director, Vicki Van Tassel.

The spacious suites

Crystal is known for effusive onboard service from longtime cruise veterans who establish yearslong relationships with guests who come back again and again. Butlers carefully catalog guest preferences, from room temperature to the exact specifications of a coffee order—and remember them. Crystal is focused on personalization—want the chefs to whip up your grandmother’s best cookie recipe?

The vessel's physical construction started on June 13, 2002, with the keel laying ceremony held at Chantiers de l'Atlantique (St Nazaire, France). The ship was launched/floated out from drydock on August 10, 2002, completed/delivered on June 30, 2003, and christened on July 3, 2003, in Southampton England by godmother Julie Andrews (UK actress-singer, 1935-born as Julia Elizabeth Wells). On July 7th started the Inaugural Cruise (14-day itinerary roundtrip from Southampton to Northern European/Baltic ports). For personal use in port, you can head to the concierge desk to rent a set of clubs. There are eight ADA rooms on Crystal Serenity — some aquamarine veranda suites and some aquamarine ocean-view suites. The pool deck — in close proximity to the gelato bar – on deck 12 feels like a relaxed, exclusive Mediterranean beach club.

Umi Uma & Sushi Bar, Prego, and The Vintage Room are considered specialty restaurants and require reservations. You can dine at each of the specialty restaurants once per cruise for free. Each additional reservation you make at a specialty restaurant will incur a $30 per person fee. You’ll be able to find the dress code for your ocean or expedition voyage, either Crystal Casual or black tie optional, for each day at sea in your Personal Cruise Calendar. Crew gratuities (for stateroom attendants, butlers, restaurant, and bar personnel, etc.) are included in all Crystal cruise fares.

On March 5, 2025, Crystal Serenity starts a 44-night voyage from Rio de Janeiro to Mumbai. Call ports include St Helena Island UK, Walvis Bay Namibia, Cape Town South Africa, Zanzibar, Mombasa, the Seychelles, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. The top-luxury aircraft features lay-flat seats (reclining to 73,5 inches / 1,87 m) positioned in clusters of 2, 2 aisles, dining lounge (with 4 dining tables), 24-seat bar lounge (with stone veneers, color-changing LED lighting), 2 galleys (kitchens). Crystal's yacht fleet had to operate in polar and coastal regions - European Arctic (during summer), migrating whales route (sailing along the coasts of Europe and the Americas), down to Antarctica (during winter). The bold decision for 3 new polar ships followed a 3-year research that found that nearly 70% of Crystal's customers are highly interested in polar expedition travel.

The company's sustainable travel policy (part of the Crystal Cares program) was implemented on June 8, 2019. By this fleetwide initiative, all plastic straws were completely eliminated and replaced with paper straws. Crystal Cares comprises various fleetwide environmental efforts and sustainable practices. In 2019 was signed the partnership deal with the global conservation organization ORCA (Organization for Respect and Care for Animals). By this partnership and as part of the OceanWatch Master Fisherman program, on select Alaskan cruises, Crystal ships are boarded by "Cruise Conservationists" for training, research and marine data collection. Normally, Crystal's around-the-world voyages begin and end in either Florida or California (or both; the line sometimes offers the option of joining its world cruises in either state as the ship makes it way around the world).

The Crystal brand was officially launched on July 24, 1990, when Crystal Harmony (now Asuka 2) departed San Francisco CA on a 12-day inaugural cruise to Alaska. Crystal Cruises is a luxury cruise line offering ocean, river, yacht, and expedition cruises. Each of its 8 ships is designed for the luxury traveler and includes elegant accommodations and exquisite cuisine. The cruise line’s new owner is London-based A&K Travel Group, whose majority stakeholder is luxury cruise pioneer Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, the founder of Silversea, which was sold to Royal Caribbean Group several years ago. The new Crystal currently features just the two luxury ocean ships (the former Crystal Cruises’ river ships and an expedition vessel were acquired by different buyers), but A&K Travel Group has revealed plans to build four additional ships by 2029.

So, in around the mid-nineties, I moved to NYC and started to pursue more comedic roles, first on stage and then as a stand-up. But even though I’d been having a lot of success, living and working in NYC is hard for performers, and when I was offered a chance to do a season in Las Vegas as Tanya in Mamma Mia! I had been going through a tough time with a lot of personal loss, and once in Vegas I had an epiphany - do I want to go back to NYC and stand in line with 300 other women, all talented, all beautiful, all up for the same role as me? As if the universe was listening, I got the word my musical Director for Mamma Mia!

The Two-Bedroom Crystal Suite with Panoramic Balcony-Window sleeps up to 5 guests and comes with butler service. This elegant room features 2 bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a fireplace with ambient lighting, a separate dining area, and an extra powder room. With Crystal Cruises you won’t find mega-ships like Royal Caribbean or discount party ships like Carnival.

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