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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
 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.
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;
-
Hollywood Theatre 283
-
Palm Court 231
-
Avenue Saloon 60
-
Galaxy Lounge 620
-
Club 2100 250
-
Crystal Dining Room 530
-
Stars
45
Breakout Rooms;
-
Bridge Lounge 36
-
Century Lounge 36
-
Avenue Saloon 52
-
Stars 45
-
Vintage Room 15
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;
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.
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. |
