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Ship Report - Crystal Symphony I am going to let you into a well kept secret. I am sure that everybody
involved in the travel section of our industry has heard of Crystal
Cruises. I am equally sure that it was positive news as Crystal
Well, the secret is now out.... all this has changed. Worldwide was recently invited to view the Crystal Symphony. Our host was someone we have spoken with a number of times over the years and who realized the problems, but was not at that time able to change the corporate culture. Well as I mentioned, all that has changed. With recent times being tough in the cruise industry and a new ship joining the fleet, Crystal has come to terms with what is needed to make things work for corporate programs. Firstly, let me briefly describe the ship, as it is about to undergo a pretty major facelift and refurbish it will obviously be significantly different and even better, in a few months time. The Crystal Harmony, Serenity and the Symphony are midsized vessels, some 788 ft in length with 8 passenger decks, accommodating 940 passenger served by 545 crew. The space to passenger ratio is very good at 54.3 and the crew to passenger ratio at 0.57, for this type of ship is excellent. So just looking at the numbers one would expect to have spacious accommodation and good service and this certain was the case we encountered. Crystal is aggressively going after group and charter business and with this in mind we checked the ship out to see how it would work for charters and mid size groups. Our team was impressed. A group of up to 250 would be the perfect size. The Penthouse deck which is the uppermost accommodation deck, is a mix of three types of luxurious accommodations, of all of which are verandah suites. There are two Crystal suites (Cat CP)which are identical, they consist of a large bedroom and separate lounge as well as the usual bathrooms and dressing room. etc. There are also 18 Penthouse Suites (Cat PS) which in size are midway between the Crystal suites and the 44 Penthouse verandah staterooms (Cat PH). So, on this deck, 62 staterooms and two luxury suites. The next deck down is the Seabreeze deck and here are found 132 identical Cat A verandah staterooms. The next deck is the Horizon deck which consists of a mix of three styles of stateroom. The Cat B de-luxe verandah staterooms consists of 24 slightly larger than standard size stateroom each with an oversized verandah located at extremity of each end of the Horizon deck. Next in from either end of the ship are located another 58 standard sized verandah staterooms, these are the same size as the Cat A's on the Seabreeze deck, and finally, sandwiched in between are 52 standard sizes staterooms (Cat E) with large picture windows. For a corporate group taking over a combination of two of the decks would give a nice mix of staterooms at a reasonable overall price. The ships are in fact of a size that lend themselves to a full ship charter. The break on price for a charter would mean that some of the cabins need not be filled and yet it would still be economical to charter. There are numerous public rooms which are available for exclusive use as well as smaller lounges which can be used as breakout rooms. To quickly list them with seating capacities;
Breakout Rooms;
There is also a good choice of dining venues, some of which can be had on an exclusive basis plus there are two wing areas in the main dining room, the Crystal Dining Room, which can be reserved on an exclusive basis. Besides the main dining room, there are two specialty restaurants;
Needless to say, the ship has a spa (which is going to be given a major facelift and extension), plus a gym and computer room close by is the connoisseurs Club, this is a cigar, brandy, vintage wine lounge with a wonderful clubby atmosphere.
That then is the ship in a nutshell... now to add to the package Crystal are (depending on the group size) prepared to be generous with complimentary add-on's. This is not the place to go into that, but we would be happy to discuss this with you should you have any interest in offering a Crystal ship for a clients program.
Crystal have also arranged their itineraries to accommodate some shorted than usual sailings. Seven days Bahamas and Mexican Riviera from Port Everglades for example...Venice to Athens is another popular cruise as is Rome to Venice. On the West Coast, Caldera (Costa Rica) to LA. LA round trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Vancouver.
A quick two day repositioning cruise which can be purchased at an interesting rate - Vancouver to San Francisco.
I hope the forgoing has raised some interest as there is no doubt this is a product that can impress. WWTCA would be happy to discuss any programs you may have that might fit these delightful quality ships.
Submitted by Steve Bloss- Jan 2004. The views expressed in this report are solely those of the author and notr necessarily thos of WWTCA.
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has
a great reputation in the travel agent market, however, very few corporate
travel professionals have ever utilized a Crystal ship for a program.
There are various reason for this, not least being, the fact that the
price of excellence does not come cheap, plus Crystal in the past have not
proven to be user friendly to our market segment.
Finally,
there is the Lido Cafe and Garden, this is a buffet dining area, located
on the Lido deck which spills out onto the Lido deck for al-fresco
dining. In the Atrium is located the Bistro, this is a delightful coffee
shop with hand made cakes, cheeses and other delectable's. In the lobby,
one deck below is the Cystal Cove, this is a popular small bar area.