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Crystal Symphony Back ground; A seven day
cruise on-board of the Crystal Symphony with Jim & Betts Huff hosting
several Incentive Client Buyer Couples, the itinerary was Ft.
Lauderdale-Key West-At Sea-Cozumel-at Sea-Freeport-Nassau-Ft. Lauderdale. For eight years in a row Crystal Cruises has been named "World's Best Large Ship Cruise Line" by the readers of Conde' Nast Traveler Magazine. These elegant mid sized vessels continue to amaze and delight passengers from throughout the world and now they have developed a series of seven night cruises for the charter and incentive market. As a test in 2004, Crystal experimented with eight 7-night voyages on the Crystal Symphony the Crystal Harmony and the new Crystal Serenity. In 2005 we will see eleven 7-night cruises, one 8-night Mexican Riviera cruise and one two night coastal cruise from Vancouver to San Francisco. These are the perfect incentive or full ship charter opportunities…let me tell you why!!!! As you are probably fully aware, my personal philosophy on cruising is less is more. I am not a big fan of mega-ships, pool games, bingo and waiting in line for anything. The Crystal Symphony offers big ship amenities with small ship service and attention to detail. The ship is extremely well laid-out and the natural flow of public areas is easily learned in one day. This alone is an amazing feat for a ship that holds 940 passengers. Crystal have a policy of maintaining their ships in top condition, so it was no surprise for us to learn that at the end of our cruise over 300 workmen were going to be boarding the ship for the 9-day transatlantic crossing to Lisbon during which time all carpeting, selected walls coverings and fixtures were being replaced moved or refurbished to new standards. This is not to say anything was frayed or seemed tired, it is just the commitment the owners have in maintaining the "best" designation. After the crossing and the dry dock in Lisbon the Crystal Symphony will be fresh, shiny and ready for her next ten years of service. (Click here to read about the up-coming refit). We were surprised to hear from the The chef de cuisine that he would be serving meals 24 hours a day to over 900 workers and crew. Many of the crew we spoke to would be assigned to "fire duty" to watch over the work taking place involving welding, repairing and refurbishing of vital ship areas. Many of the other crew will be doing deep cleaning and sanitizing of all public areas and staterooms. Next month the Crystal Symphony will have a new look, a new main dining room, a larger computer learning center, a Wine Tasting Room for VIP dinners, new carpets, duvets and soft goods to compliment the décor. The Crystal Harmony completed her re-fit in 2003 and the Crystal Serenity was christened new in 2003… as a slightly larger version of the previous sister ships. These three vessels are just waiting for the incentive and charter buyers to explore. The hardware is there and the intangibles are fantastic. The first person you encounter on the Crystal Symphony greets with a welcoming smile and lets you know they are there to take care of you…and they all do. I have to admit, the ship was a little more than half full so the service should have been good. The attitude was the difference. Every smile was genuine…every offer to assist was willing and able…every attempt to please was noted. The crew wanted happy guests and went out of their way to ensure each guest was made to feel special. Once the crew knew your preferences, they had your favorite beverages, deck chairs and table set up and waiting. It was a marvelous experience…rather like having several hundred personal assistants who take care of your every wish. Now lets talk about food. The Crystal Dining Room, capacity 500, served breakfast, lunch and dinner in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. Dinners were creative, artistic, flavorful and served with flair. Caesar salad was prepared each night by our Head Waiter. Appetizers varied from oysters, soft shell crabs and mushrooms tarts to BBQ quail and escargot. Dinner entrees brought Alaskan king crab, Canadian venison, traditional American meatloaf and of course, steaks, chops, fresh fish, lobster and veal. Prego…the Italian restaurant which seats 72 offers Venetian and Mediterranean specialties like Italian Mushroom soup served in a Tuscan bread basket, raspberry grappa sorbet, filet mignon topped with gorgonzola and served with rosemary polenta with Barolo-Pepper sauce. Truly a marvelous experience for alternative dining….and it can be pre-reserved for groups on certain nights. Jade Garden,
As you can imagine the Crystal Symphony caters to every taste with style, presentation and creativity. The dining options are numerous and varied and all offer food properly prepared of the highest quality. Dining is a very pleasant and palate-pleasing experience on a Crystal cruise and for groups, many of the venues can be pre-reserved on an exclusive basis. In addition to be varied
and numerous dining options, Crystal ships also offer a variety of
entertainment venues and lounges. Each ship has a full theater showing
first run movies and is perfect for meetings. They offer the most
advanced audiovisual equipment and table top writing desks. The theaters
vary in size from 134 to 283 and can be pre-reserved. Each ship also has
3 or 4 entertainment lounges. On the Crystal Symphony the show room, the
Galaxy Lounge, seats 420, the Starlite 400, the Palm Court 240, the Avenue
Saloon and Connoisseur Lounge seat 60. With this number of lounges it is
easy to pre-reserve for private group functions or special entertainment
needs. Crystal's entertainment is just that. Pure entertainment. The shows were up beat, lively, unique and the costuming was pure Las Vegas. I estimated that there were over 30 entertainers and lecturers on this cruise which was only one half full. WOW that is a huge commitment to maintaining the quality of the service. I could rave on about our experience on the Crystal Symphony, but better yet give me or your WWTCA sales expert a call to discuss in detail. I can tell you, one of our guests received 2 proposals while on board for short term programs and the others are looking for the right client to experience this cruise line. Here are the details: Crystal Cruises Crystal Harmony 940 Passengers 545 Crew Built 1990 Refit 2003 Crystal Symphony 940 Passengers 545 Crew Built 1995 Refit 2004 Crystal Serenity 1080 Passengers 655 Crew Built 2003
Incentive packages include:
Net Rates for outside staterooms begin at less than $300.00 per person per day including all of the above. Seven Night Itineraries in the Caribbean, Eastern Mediterranean, New England and Canada and Alaska. You do not want to miss the opportunity to be the first to have your incentive group or full ship charter sail on Crystal. It will be an experience of a lifetime. For a testimonial from one of our clients on this site inspection - click here Report submitted by: Jim Huff - April 16, 2004. The opinions above are of the author and do not necessarily represent Worldwide Cruise Associates |
the
Asian alternative restaurant which seats 78, can also be reserved for
groups. Wolfgang Puck created special menus from his Chinois Restaurant
such as chicken corn soup with egg drop, honey walnut shrimp over polenta,
fresh marinated sea bass with lobster sauce and green tea ice
cream…Yummy! On the Crystal Harmony and the Crystal Serenity the
Asian restaurants vary from sushi to full Japanese meals. All three
Crystal vessels offer Prego…the Italian specialty restaurant and a new VIP
Wine restaurant to be called The Vintage Room. The Vintage Room is
designed for 12- 15 persons who enjoy fine vintage wines and a menus
designed to compliment each wine course. There will be a surcharge for
this extraordinary experience of about $100.00 per person to cover the
cost of the wines. 