Crystal Cruises: Why You’ll Love the Crystal Symphony

Thinking about taking a Crystal cruise? Find out about what to expect with this Crystal Symphony review!

Over the years we have taken many cruises across several cruise lines, starting with a 4-day honeymoon cruise out of Los Angeles. 

Like many travelers after multiple COVID vacation cancellations, in 2021 we treated ourselves to something quite special:  two luxury ocean cruises on Crystal Cruises.

The Crystal Symphony is a classy cruise ship, inside and out—tastefully decorated and superlatively staffed.

There are so many things to love about a Crystal cruise!   This article highlights several of my favorite things, as well as a few items with some room for improvement (nobody’s perfect).

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Highlights of a Crystal Cruise

1. The People

With a maximum guest count of 848 and a staff to guest ratio of 1 to 1.7, it’s no surprise that the Crystal Symphony scores high marks for service. 

On our cruises, the guest count was a lot lower than full capacity. (There were about 180 guests on our first cruise, and roughly 640 on our second.) It often felt like there were multiple servers vying to take care of us.

As we embarked for our first cruise, it was kind of amusing! At each step of the way a Crystal staff member escorted us thirty feet and handed us off to the next crew member, with welcomes all along the way.

Crystal is very guest focused – if they can do it for you, they will.   And if they can’t, they are extremely apologetic! 

On our first cruise, I had requested Diet Dr. Pepper (my caffeine vice) to be stocked.  Somewhere along the line it had mistakenly been recorded as regular Dr. Pepper, and due to supply shortages, they didn’t have any Diet on board.  My housekeeper was so apologetic that I felt bad for her.

I am happy to report that on our second cruise, they did have Diet Dr. Pepper stocked for me in the stateroom mini-fridge.   

Knowing they had it in stock on this voyage, I ordered it in Waterside with my meal.  They must have had to search all the bars in the ship, as it took them about ten minutes.  So, for convenience, I had started bringing a can with me from my stateroom for breakfast and lunch.  

One morning the head gentleman in Waterside said, “We have that for you.”   (I think he was dismayed that I felt that I had to BYOB.)  From then on, whenever I arrived in Waterside for breakfast, he would get a server started on a soda quest for me.

In Waterside, we always had several servers welcoming us to the dining room and then thanking us as we exited.  Several crew members remembered our names for the rest of the cruise after one interaction with them. 

This was particularly impressive given the variable masking requirements on these cruises.  I have to give tremendous kudos to people that can remember names as that is a particular weak spot for me.

2. Waterside (Main Dining Room)

You can (and should!) make reservations for the specialty restaurants on the Crystal Symphony before your cruise.  I had put some thought into which days might be ‘special’ days in the main dining room, Waterside, for deciding when to book the specialty restaurants. 

I figured the first full cruise day, as well as the last evening (farewell), would be the most likely days for the Waterside menu to be extra-special.   Turns out that I was half right – the first full day was indeed the ‘fancy’ menu, although to be honest there are excellent choices on every Waterside dinner menu!

On each of our Crystal voyages, the second night of the cruise featured the ‘special’ menu in Waterside. For example, one menu featured oysters, caviar, beef tenderloin, and lobster.   

The presentations of the food are beautiful — as they say, you eat with your eyes first!

Overall, we found the cuisine in the main dining room, Waterside, to be excellent.  I can’t think of more than one or two dishes that weren’t fantastic. 

Note the entrées tend to be a little light on vegetables (used more as accents to a dish). If you need to get your five servings of veggies for the day, feel free to ask for a side dish and your server will be happy to provide.

On most other cruise lines, we frequently dine at the buffet if we are in a time crunch between activities.  On Crystal, there is no buffet option for the dinner meal. The buffet, Marketplace, turns into the Churrascaria specialty restaurant in the evenings.

Our Crystal cruises had several at-sea days, so we had plenty of time to take things a little slower.  Given the excellent service, the pacing of the courses flowed pretty well and the meals weren’t extensively long, unless you wanted to linger.

One thing we noted was the high percentage of tables for two in Waterside.  On some mass market cruise lines, there are so few two-tops that it is like pulling teeth to get one.  And in some cases, they’re so tightly packed as to render irrelevant that they are supposed to be for just two people. 

On Crystal we never had a problem getting a table for two – and on the first (low guest count) voyage, it was always a coveted window table.

The dinner menus have a wide variety of offerings — there were always multiple entrées that sounded good.  The lunch menu was a little bit more limited, with the menu skewed heavily towards sandwiches and salads. 

I personally would prefer a couple more entrée-style offerings on the lunch menu. There are plenty of other lunch options onboard (the buffet, the grill, the Bistro) if nothing tempts your palate in Waterside.

The cuisine was delicious (as evidenced by the dreaded cruise weight gain!), and the service was excellent.   The sommelier was prompt with keeping wine glasses full, so certainly no stinginess with the included alcohol.   We were really impressed with the presentation of the food. 

3. Specialty Restaurants

As I’ve said, you can (and should) make your specialty restaurant reservations for your Crystal Symphony cruise in advance.  

One meal each at Prego and Umi Uma are included and can be reserved in advance (the count may vary based on cruise duration).  Additional Prego/Umi Uma visits beyond the included number are an additional fee.

(Note:  if you love one much more than the other, you can dine twice at one and none at the other, but you can’t reserve it that way in advance.  For that you’ll need to visit the Maitre D’ once you have boarded.)

On the Crystal Symphony, additional specialty restaurant options for dinner are Silk (Chinese) and the Churrascaria (Brazilian Steakhouse). Visits to these restaurants don’t count against your allocation, so you can follow your tastebuds.

Prego (Italian)

Prego is definitely our favorite of the Crystal Symphony’s specialty restaurants. Be forewarned: you WILL overeat at Prego since everything is so delicious.  Do yourself a favor and prepare properly for your visit by having a very tiny lunch and NOT going to afternoon Tea on Prego day!

Firstly, your server will tempt you with bread.  There is an excellent pillowy focaccia, and also white and wheat mini-ciabatta loaves.  These come along with adorable tiny trays containing olive oil, salt, and a roasted garlic-mascarpone spread.

The mushroom soup in the bread bowl is a guest favorite, and for good reason.  However, this is dangerous as you will be tempted to eat the bread bowl, and you still have many more courses to go.  Eater discretion advised here.  Or to take away the bread bowl temptation, ask for the soup just in a regular bowl.

Pace Yourself!

Half portions are available for many of the pasta and entrée options, and this is a good choice to make.  My personal favorite pasta is the lasagna—the pasta is so soft and the duo of sauces is luscious.  Best. Lasagna. Ever.

My spouse is a sucker for the fantastic osso bucco for his main course.  Beware: this portion size is huge and comes with a sidecar of mascarpone polenta.  Too bad they don’t have a way to make this a half portion so that you didn’t feel guilty about not being able to finish it…

In general Crystal does a fabulous job with their sauces – it takes real strength of character not to use your bread to soak up every last drop from the plate!   The duck entrée comes with balsamic cherries which are so decadently flavorful that if you used them to top your ice cream, you’d be a happy camper. 

Umi Uma (Japanese Peruvian)

The restaurant Umi Uma was created by Japanese chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa.  Going to one of his restaurants on land would cost you a pretty penny, but you can dine for free on Crystal (once, anyway). 

If you are an aficionado of sushi, a visit to Umi Uma and its Sushi Bar should be at the top of your to-do list, or you’ll be kicking yourself.

I, unfortunately, am a self-proclaimed picky eater and the concept of eating raw seafood is a non-starter for me.  My spouse will eat sushi on land, but is prone to seasickness and hence on cruises will generally not be as adventurous in the dining department.

For us, the Umi Uma experience was good, but not ‘Wow!’  The dishes had interesting flavor combinations (for example the black cod entrée had young ginger to use as a palate cleanser), and Umi Uma did not disappoint in the arena of artful presentations.

Tip:  You should order a wide variety of items to sample and share, as the portion sizes are more like tasting plates.

Churrascaria (Brazilian Steakhouse)

For the dinner service, Marketplace (the buffet) turns into the Churrascaria, a Brazilian Steakhouse. 

As you are escorted to your table, you’ll be offered the specialty cocktail and given an explanation of the process, particularly the use of your tabletop indicator.  This is what you’ll use to signal to the servers if you want them to bring you more meat offerings, or if you are taking a breather (in which case they will bypass your table).

You select your antipasti, salads, and side dishes from the buffet area, and the staff fills your plate accordingly (no self-service).  Then you return to your table and begin the parade of servers brandishing meats on skewers.

There are seven different kinds of proteins (beef, short ribs, chicken, lamb chops, bacon-wrapped pork, and garlic shrimp) as well as grilled pineapple for dessert.   I like my beef a little more well done, so the server happily sliced some off of the skewer and took it back to the grill area to increase the doneness.

Once you’ve had your fill of meat, turn over your tabletop indicator and venture back to the buffet for dessert.  Our favorites were the bite-sized coconut bonbons, and they also have warm churros with a variety of sauces.

Silk (Chinese)

Silk is Crystal’s Chinese restaurant, and it is open for lunch and dinner service.  Its lunch hours are a bit longer than those of Waterside or Marketplace. So, it’s a good option for lunch on embarkation day or for those port days when you get back a little late from your excursion.

The menu features several dim sum choices as well as soup, salad and a few entrée selections. Don’t forget to hear the chef’s special entrée of the day!

  The lemon chicken entrée is our favorite. The preparation is elevated compared to what you’ll find at a typical Chinese restaurant, and the flavors are excellent.

The portions are small, so be sure to order several items to share and sample.  Note that if you order several things, the servers will bring them out as they are ready – so your entrée may well arrive before your dim sum plates.

We enjoyed lunch in Silk several times, but actually have never made it to dinner there since the menus in Waterside always look so enticing!  We’ll have to give them a try for dinner next time.

They don’t offer dessert in Silk, but the restaurant is located conveniently close to the Scoops ice cream bar. So that is a natural progression if you have a sweet tooth.  At Scoops you can choose from about a dozen different ice cream flavors and customize your dessert with sprinkles and sauces.

4. Marketplace (Buffet)

Marketplace, the buffet on the Crystal Symphony, is open only for breakfast and lunch. For the dinner service, the space is used for the Brazilian Steakhouse, The Churrascaria.

Although on other cruise lines we dine in the buffet much more frequently, on Crystal we have tended to dine in the main dining room, Waterside.   

On our first cruise, we had one breakfast in Marketplace just to check it out. We also had two lunches in the buffet when the menu offerings in Waterside just didn’t strike a chord.  (And… full disclosure, there might have been one visit just for the dessert.) 

Check your daily schedule to know which days are ‘theme’ days in Marketplace for lunch in case there is something that really tempts your palate.

Stake claim to a table (usually not a problem), sit down, and allow your server to get your drink order started.   Then pre-plan your attack by scoping out all of the day’s offerings in the buffet.  When ready, you select your desired items and the servers will fill your plate – no self-service. 

The lunch buffets feature a nice variety of protein options with accompanying sauces (pork saltimbocca, Swedish meatballs, jerk-style chicken).

There are several starch and vegetable choices to round out your meal.  You will also find soup, salad fixings, and a nice selection of cheeses. Note, the cheese station is not available every day –I wish that it were!

The buffet setup

Each of the hot selections was generally in a covered skillet with about 10 servings worth of the item. This was a nice setup compared to the large catering dishes used on the mass market lines.  This approach allows for higher freshness of the items. 

The portions are moderately sized –  you don’t feel compelled to have to clean your plate as is sometimes the case when portion sizes are larger.  There is just enough for a nice taste, and if you really love it, you can always go back and get another serving.

A Marketplace highlight is the assortment of petite desserts.  These are sized at about 2-3 bites apiece which is a perfect tasting size.  That way you can have just a little taste of multiple delicious things.  Don’t forget to check the hot buffet area as there is usually a hot dessert featured there (bread pudding with caramel sauce) as well as an array of cookies.

My personal favorite desserts were the creme brulee and the teeny tiny raspberry eclairs.  They also had fresh fruit if you wanted to go with a healthier option (scoff). The presentation is top notch, featuring cute miniature serving dishes.

5. Best place to enjoy a cocktail:  Palm Court

Drinks are included on Crystal cruises. Unless your tastes in liquor are ultra-premium, you won’t incur any charges for your beverages. 

There are several bars and lounges available on the Crystal Symphony where you can enjoy a cocktail. As an added bonus, there is often live music accompaniment in the evenings.

The lounge we enjoy the most is Palm Court, which would typically be referred to as the ‘observation lounge’.  It is located on deck 11 forward, so you get to enjoy a lovely view of wherever you are going.   

We frequently went up to Palm Court to read in the afternoon, or to enjoy a pre-dinner drink.  Even on our higher passenger-count cruise, there were usually only a few other couples in Palm Court. There was plenty of room for social distancing and a place for a quiet conversation.

Try something new..

I’m not a big drinker (I favor fruity things that don’t taste much like liquor) and actually don’t drink at home.  On most cruise vacations I don’t drink much. Why? I don’t want to spend $12 on something I don’t really like. 

Drinks being included on Crystal allowed me to try new things ‘risk free’ and see if I could find a cocktail that I actually liked.  The winner for me:  the Jade Martini – which somehow manages to not taste much of liquor—maybe it’s the vanilla vodka, or the pineapple juice.

They also have great bar snacks in Palm Court.  You’ve got your standard pub type mix, mixed nuts, and, if you’re lucky, cashews.    Closer to dinner time the servers bring out canapes – small bites like olives, quiche, or brie.

The service in the lounges was top notch.  On our second cruise I asked the server if they could make a pomegranate martini.  He asked me about the ingredients, but unfortunately they did not have pomegranate on hand. 

The next day he came up to me and excitedly let me know that they had acquired some pomegranate syrup so that they could make the drink for me.    This is a perfect example of how Crystal will make every effort to make your cruise experience a great one!

6. Afternoon Tea

Every afternoon in Palm Court (other than embarkation day), Crystal offers an Afternoon Tea.  Even if you’re not a big fan of tea, it is worth experiencing at least once.  (Just don’t go on the day you will be having dinner at Prego.)

Live music is performed during the tea – once was the guitarist from the showband, once was the excellent violinist.  This sets a lovely backdrop for the tea.

The waiters set the tables in advance with delicate plates and silverware. You are offered a tea menu and they bring your tea selection in an adorable individual teapot.

The waiters then bring you a tray full of sweet and savory goodies to tempt your taste buds.  The top tier is an array of petite desserts, and the bottom tier contains an assortment of finger sandwiches. 

The middle tier contains strawberries and baked goods. I think that they’re supposed to be scones but are really more in the muffin family.  The waiters bring you jam, whipped cream, and clotted cream to put on your ‘scone’.

7. The Bistro (coffee and snacks)

If you’re a coffee aficionado, you’ll want to find The Bistro, conveniently located midship on deck 6. 

I’m not a coffee drinker but my spouse is, so first thing in the morning as we were getting ready, he would dash up to The Bistro to get his first caffeine fix of the day.

In addition to coffee in various incarnations, The Bistro features a wide variety of selections both savory (think charcuterie) and sweet (pastries and desserts).   Just as in the buffet, you indicate your selections and the server will plate it for you. 

Not that there is ever a shortfall of dessert options on Crystal, but if you didn’t care for the lunch dessert offerings in Waterside on a given day, you can swing by the Bistro. Don’t forget to try the famous Portuguese tarts!

There are several tables within The Bistro, as well as some out in the atrium area (which are perfect for people-watching).  From there you can view the grand curving staircase leading down to the Crystal Plaza on deck 5 and enjoy the live music playing in the Crystal Cove.

8. Evening Entertainment

Every evening there is one big entertainment option in the Galaxy Theater, ranging from production shows by the in-house entertainers, to guest performers – vocalists, musicians, comedians, and even a ventriloquist.  Be sure to check your daily schedule, Reflections, so you don’t miss out!

The evening production shows from the Crystal Ensemble and Crystal Show Band are very high quality.  We especially enjoyed the ‘Crystal on Broadway’ show, with performances from three musicals:  Something Rotten, West Side Story, and Rent.  We had never even heard of Something Rotten before this cruise, but if it comes to our town, we will definitely go see it. 

In addition to featured evening shows in the Galaxy Theater, frequently there is a second set of performances in the Starlite. 

The ‘Crystal Show Band and Friends’ show allows each of the musicians some well-deserved time in the spotlight.  This also featured the ship’s excellent featured vocalists and violinist.  On our cruises, even the Cruise Director took a turn demonstrating his vocal chops.

In one of the morning shows, the Cruise Director mentioned two interesting bits of performer trivia.  One, when you are going all out in your performance, it is referred to as ‘singing your face off’.  Two, if you really enjoy a performance, you should throw your shoes at the feet of the performers at the show’s end.

Evening entertainment quality

The performers are very talented — the singers and dancers from the Crystal Ensemble really go all out – ‘singing their faces off’ every night for our entertainment!  (For safety, we did refrain from throwing our shoes at them.)

The guest performances are more variable in quality.  Some guest performers were excellent, where for us others missed the mark.   These things are all subjective of course—particularly with comedians.

In addition to the evening shows, there are musicians playing in the lounges throughout the ship.   You will run across a pianist or small musical groups providing background music for ambiance as you enjoy an evening cocktail – or to accompany you as you take a spin around the dance floor. 

There is also a feature movie that plays in the Hollywood Theater in the evenings (and as a matinee showing the following day).  You can even have some popcorn along with your screening.  The seats in the Hollywood Theater are surprisingly comfortable—no issues sitting through a two-hour movie!

9. Daytime Activities

The daytime entertainment schedule on a Crystal Symphony cruise is jam-packed on sea days and more limited on port days.  You’ll want to check the daily schedule, Reflections, to see what is offered every day.

Each cruise features several guest lecturers, which give presentations on the sea days.  This will typically include a destination lecturer as well as a special topics lecturer and a current affairs lecturer.  

The quality of the guest lecturers on Crystal was head and shoulders above what we have experienced on other cruise lines.  There is variability in the quality (which also depends on what your personal topic interests are) but for us they ranged from ‘okay’ to ‘very entertaining’. 

Classes and Seminars

In addition to lectures, there is also a surprising array of computer-oriented classes and seminars.  I attended a series of classes on how to use various photo-manipulating techniques in Photoshop Elements.

One thing I did not realize was that you need to sign up in advance for these computer-based classes. There is limited seating available since everyone needs access to one of the computers.  Luckily, most people that had signed up were no-shows, so everyone on the wait list was able to attend. 

Tip:  Register interest for computer-based classes in advance of your trip online, or swing by the computer center early in the cruise to get on the sign-up list.

You can also join in a game of bridge or mah-jongg to while away the afternoon.  On both cruises there has been a bridge instructor onboard if you wanted to learn to play.

10. Art Classes

Crystal Cruises is part of the Odyssey Art at Sea program, which resources art instructors to various cruise lines.  The instructors bring along all the required materials and tools, provide brief demonstrations and tips, and then turn you loose on your project.  This is a nice creative outlet – you can learn a new skill or pick up some new techniques for an existing hobby. 

On our first Crystal cruise, I participated in two watercolor art classes.  The first one focused on sunsets and palm trees, and the instructor brought special fan brushes which make painting palm trees a snap.

 Living in Arizona, palm trees feature heavily in our landscaping.   My previous attempts to render them have not turned out so well – so this was a great technique to learn.

The instructor even put the finished art pieces in matted frames, which definitely boosts the visual quality.  Now we all have unique keepsakes (and the experience of creating them) from our cruise!

On our second Crystal cruise, I joined the afternoon creative arts session on jewelry making.  The instructor provided everything we needed — post hooks, beads, and needle-nosed pliers. 

The classes were small –about six to twelve students — but we had a lot of fun.  There was a student ‘art show’ at the end of the second cruise in the Crystal Plaza.  One gentleman actually asked me how much the art cost – so I guess that tells you a little bit about the quality of our creations!

11. Promenade Deck

One thing we really enjoy on a cruise ship is the promenade deck.  I know they are kind of going out of fashion — most ships don’t have them anymore, which I think is a shame.   I consider a promenade deck to be a big plus (I have to work off all those little desserts somehow).

There is nothing like taking a few laps around the ship if the weather is nice.  We like to take a walk after meals to help the digestion, or work on getting our 10,000 steps on a sea day.  You can choose to power walk (or jog if you’re really ambitious), or just take a leisurely stroll while enjoying the views.

On the Symphony there are even several comfy pieces of furniture on the promenade deck if you want to sit a spell.  Bring a cup of coffee and a book and you’re all set.]

We are always surprised to find so few passengers taking advantage of the promenade deck on our cruises.  We ran across more crew members doing ship maintenance (cleaning, painting) than fellow guests enjoying the fresh sea air. 

12. Fitness Center

The Crystal Symphony’s fitness center is located at the top of the ship, on deck 12 aft.  The fitness center was equipped with bikes (regular and recumbent), elliptical machines, treadmills, and a variety of weight machines.   

The cardio equipment was pretty high end with different program options (for example you could choose different ‘routes’ to bicycle through, and a video would play during your exercise as if you were riding that route in real life).

There were some classes offered (pilates, yoga, boot camp) — we didn’t participate in any of those on these trips.   There is an open space in the room for classes, which you can use for stretching the balance equipment. 

Tip:  The fitness center has a mini fridge stocked with bottled water.  On port days if we were not part of a group excursion, we would pop up to the fitness center to grab water before heading off the ship to do our own explorations.

13. Library

The library is located midships on deck 6.  It has a wide assortment of well-organized books to choose from, both fiction and nonfiction.  I always stack up a lot of reading materials on my Kindle, but my spouse prefers to leave it to chance and make interesting library discoveries on board. 

The library is also where you’ll need to go to get tickets to the magic shows.  The library is only open for limited hours daily, so be sure to check the daily schedule in Reflections. 

One thing that is a little odd is that you have to check out the books from the librarian – and if you don’t return them, you’ll be charged a hefty fee to your shipboard account at the end of the cruise. 

(This seems a little out of whack given how much guests are paying for a Crystal cruise, and all the other things that are included in the cruise.)

14. White Party

The White Party is a signature Crystal event that you’ll want to experience for yourself.  The whole Crystal Plaza and atrium area are decorated in an elegant cascade of white to set the mood. 

Guests don’t have to wear white, but it is encouraged and most guests do. Servers circulate with two specialty white cocktails for the party along with bite-sized white snacks (macarons, anyone?). 

The Crystal Show Band does an excellent job supporting featured vocalists, performing popular dance numbers designed to get your toes tapping (think: YMCA, Let’s Get Loud). 

The cruise director entices folks out on the dance floor and cuts a rug with the ladies – and, on our cruise, even showed off his vocal stylings with a rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’.

15. Special Extras:  Holiday spirit

For our second cruise on the Crystal Symphony, we were fortunate to take a holiday cruise and experience the spirit of the holidays on Crystal.  The entire ship was festively decorated –an array of Christmas trees in the Crystal Plaza, a line of Nutcrackers in the Starlite, garlands and twinkling lights everywhere.

A couple days into the cruise, there was a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the Plaza.  The Cruise Director led the holiday festivities with carol singing (supported by the singers from the Crystal Ensemble), eggnog and Christmas cookies, and a reluctant performance by the cantankerous snow machine.

Entertainment for Christmas Eve was the fabulous Christmas Show – featuring the combined talents of the Crystal Show Band, the Crystal Ensemble, the violinist, the ship’s featured vocalists, the Cruise Director and special appearances by this week’s guest performers.  And don’t forget an encore performance by the aforementioned snow machine.

The show was very well done and was capped off with a moving rendition of ‘Silent Night’ with verses in English, sign language, what I think was German, and a round sung by the surprisingly talented Filipino backstage manager.  

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, there was a scheduled appearance by Santa for the children.  Waterside featured a special holiday menu, with standards of glazed ham and turkey with all the trimmings (along with regular entrée options).  

Dessert continued the holiday theme with buche de Noel (for me) and plum pudding (for my spouse, who cannot say no to pudding).  He was also happy that they had mincemeat tarts at lunch the next day…

One thing that surprised me was that there weren’t very many decorations on passenger stateroom doors.  There are a few decorated with Santas or wreaths. Overall, probably less than a dozen staterooms were decorated showing the holiday spirit.

We generally travel with just carry-on luggage, so we brought magnets (ornaments, holly) to decorate our door and our stateroom. Those don’t take up much space!

I had wondered if it was going to be strange being on a cruise for the holidays, but it was a lovely experience and I would certainly do it again.

Areas for improvement on a Crystal Cruise 

1. Spa

The only time on the cruise where I felt service was a little shaky was in the spa.  Normally I don’t go to the spa at sea due to the huge markups on services.  However, since this was our first Crystal cruise, they had a ‘welcome’ discount for a spa service. Since we had nonrefundable onboard credit to spend, I signed up for a massage. 

There were some communication hiccups with my spa experience. My therapist was waiting in the treatment room for me, but I was seated in the waiting area.  Then we had a lengthy conversation in which she tried to upsell me to a hot stone massage. I stood firm and we eventually moved forward with the scheduled service. 

From what I’ve heard, the spa is staffed by an external supplier, not directly by Crystal. That may explain why the spa service is a bit of an outlier from the otherwise high level of service experienced on the cruise.

I didn’t make use of other spa amenities, but there were sauna and steam rooms in the ladies’ area.  Overall, the relaxation area for these rooms was smaller than on other cruise lines.  (We do LOVE the heated ceramic loungers available on some cruise ships.  Those are a wonderful place to relax and read and watch the ocean go by…)

2. Trivia

We do love playing trivia on our cruise vacations and are proud to say that we have been on our fair share of winning teams.  Many cruise lines offer multiple trivia sessions per day. 

Unfortunately, on our Crystal cruises, trivia was only offered at 12:05 — and only on sea days.  This time slot seems like a little bit of an afterthought, being scheduled at lunchtime.

Trivia prizes were discounts to the photo shop or the spa, which is of course limited usage in redemption (you have to spend money to save money with your prize).   

It would be nice if small prizes (coffee mugs, playing cards) were given to the winners. Credits to the onboard gift shop would be more usable than spa and photo discounts.

3. Internet Service

Internet is another item included on a Crystal cruise.  However, the usability of the internet is widely variable.   On our first (low passenger count) cruise, we didn’t experience any issues with the internet.

However, on the last days of our second cruise, the internet was so slow that it was really not viable. 

Note this is just for standard web page loading, not streaming videos or anything requiring heavy lifting.  It took us 10-15 minutes just to get checked in for our flight. Even going to the computer center didn’t yield better internet results.

I give kudos to Crystal for providing free internet, but there has to be a way to improve the availability and consistency of internet service onboard.  I feel sorry for anyone who needed to get work done from the cruise ship!

Final Thoughts:

As you’ve seen, there is a lot to enjoy on a luxury Crystal cruise.  And there are even more things that I didn’t get a chance to check out yet – my to-do list for my next Crystal cruise is already growing.  Maybe someday I’ll even get to try out a fancy Penthouse (a girl can dream).

I look forward to my next cruise — who doesn’t love these kinds of views to begin and end their day?

Do you love cruising as much as I do? Here are some cruise travel ideas for inspiration!

By far our favorite port on our Symphony Caribbean cruise was St. Barts — we were able to see so much on our walking tour of Gustavia. Seeing the beautiful sights of the island and harbor is one of the top things to do in St Barts for a day!

A beautiful Caribbean destination that we visited on our Crystal cruise was Dominica, the nature island of the Caribbean. Whether you’re interested in waterfalls, whale watching, or snorkeling, here are some of the best Dominica tours for you!

There is no need to be bored on a cruise (unless you want to be!). On your next cruise, why not take the opportunity to learn something new?