 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,
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.
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
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All ships have Penthouse level
suites with Butler Service.
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All cabins are outside with over 50
% with balconies.
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All Ships have multiple dining
options plus main dining room, lido grill and VIP.
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Vintage Wine Bar.
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Six Star service.
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Highest rating for food taste and
preparation
Incentive packages include:
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Wine with dinner.
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Gratuities.
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Meeting space and audio visual
equipment
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One for 10 berths complimentary.
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Non alcoholic beverages in bars and
restaurants.
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One Liter of your choice of alcohol
bottle in each stateroom.
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Fruit and bud vase in each
stateroom.
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Complimentary cocktail party plus
Captain's welcome and farewell parties.
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
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