Luxury travel advisors Robyn and Murray Sinfield were recently on board Crystal Serenity. Read their impressions in this exclusive review for Karryon Luxury.
When you have a tag line, you have to live up to it. Crystal is ‘Exceptional at Sea’. Bold statement, but true.
Crystal isn’t about the fancy new hardware, far from it. It’s about the award-winning, genuine service from the intuitive and friendly team.
An example was at breakfast in the Waterside Restaurant, where I ordered the fruit platter. First question back, “Mrs Sinfield, what type of fruit would you like on your platter? How many pieces of each? Would you like your apple served in water or on ice?”.
A suite life
The rooms and suites are modern, yet warm, pastels and neutrals with blue accents like the sea.
We are welcomed by quality champagne in our suite, which is a Sapphire Veranda Suite 8042.
Italian marble bathrooms have toiletries by Sicily’s own, Ortigia, and there’s butler service, complimentary mini bar, turndown, shoeshine and a pillow menu.
There’s also unlimited efficient Wi-Fi, an interactive tablet for news, updates and reservations, bathrobes and slippers, bottled water and a coffee machine.
Wining and dining
The choice of food and drink in the included fare is excellent. Nine dining options, including world-renowned Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s only restaurant at sea, Umi Uma.
The only Beefbar on the ocean is a great spot for lunch or dinner, and the Michelin-starred Alajmo brothers are putting their touches on Osteria d’Ovidio.
There’s also attentive room service personnel when you can’t be bothered ‘going out’.
Love it on deck? The Trident Grill is for you with burgers, wraps and snacks, and the Marketplace is open for lunch and dinner buffet. The included wines, beers, and spirits are all premium in all bars and restaurants.
Life on board
By day or night, you will always find something to do listed in the daily Reflections.
Expert lecturers, celebrity guest chefs, golf sessions, pickleball, gym classes, the Aurora Spa to relax in and the fitness centre deck to work out 24/7.
Like to learn? The Crystal Computer University at Sea offers technology concierges from 8am to 10pm.
Crystal is also one of the few luxury ships to offer professional photography assistance, and still has a wonderful library with a librarian.
By night, roll the dice in the only Casino de Monte-Carlo at sea, or watch arguably the best entertainment at sea from musicians to comedians and their very own cast of entertainers.
There is also the movie theatre, the nightclub and live music around the ship.
But why do we cruise? It’s to see the world, a new destination as you wake each morning, and Crystal is the sister brand of A&K, and with more than 60 DMCs globally, the off-ship experience is exceptional.
Day trips, overland adventures, tailor-made breaks between ports, it’s all put together by A&K’s trusted network of local experts.
Our trips off ship were great, like our culinary experience ‘Rapallo Culinary Journey’ with Chef Guido around his deli, which has been in the family for six generations.
Hands-on learning how to make amazing pesto, meeting the local chef with the best local pasta ‘pansotti’; enjoying the local wines, and sampling gelati made by the same family since 1902 – doesn’t get much better for a four-hour journey.
Tips
Before we boarded, we stayed in Barcelona in a new privately owned hotel Hotel Sixtytwo in Passeig de Gràcia, the most exclusive area of Barcelona, in front of the Casa Batlló, surrounded by Barcelona’s most prestigious shops and Gaudi’s main works.
It has preserved its modernist façade and its interiors date back to 1897, and with just 45 rooms, it’s boutique and personal from the moment you push open the enormous front bronze door.
For more information, visit Crystal Cruises.
