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A review of the Crystal Harmony by Ralph Grizzle* - 2007CLICK HERE for Crystal Symphony photo gallery (opens in a new window) The ‘New’ Crystal Symphony Crystal Cruises spent $23.5 million upgrading the 12-year-old Crystal Symphony. How has it changed the passenger experience? There are whispers that Crystal Cruises will announce a new ship soon. The company conducted research last fall and is at work on a conceptual design. “We are working on it,” says Crystal Cruises’ President Gregg Michel,“but we are very methodical.” That is to say that, “soon” could mean next year, or the year after. What is known for now is that whatever emerges from the architect’s desk will be a new class of ship for Crystal, as innovative, Michel says, as Crystal Harmony was when it came into the marketplace in 1990. Until the new ship arrives, however, Crystal Cruisers have two choices: Crystal Serenity, built in 2003 and similar in design to Crystal Symphony, built in 1995. Both are fine pieces of ship hardware, and Crystal has done an enviable job keeping the 12-year-old Symphony up todate. The company recently spent $23.5 million upgrading Symphony. Company officials are thrilled with the improvements, which transformed the ship. “It’s opened up the ship a lot more to the guest,” Michel says. At a cost equal to nearly $2 million per day, the 12-day project began at sea and was completed during a 10-day drydock in Newport News. In addition to 545 crew, 750 workers were contracted to complete the renovation. The dole out was the largest in Crystal’s history for a ship upgrade. Since 2004, the company has invested more than $35 million in Symphony. Stateroom Upgrades On a recent sailing, I stepped aboard Crystal Symphony to check out the changes. Walking into Stateroom 9133 on Deck 9, I saw a room redesigned to reflect the look of a chic boutique hotel. 9133 is a category A stateroom, that measures 246 square feet with veranda. That’s not particularly large by today’s luxury ship standards. Crystal plans larger staterooms on its new ship, but on Symphony, the company had to work with existing space. “We couldn’t make [the staterooms] bigger,” says Bill Smith, Crystal’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, “but we could give them a richer feel.” Notable appointments such as new Murano glass bedside lamps, Rubelli fabrics and a handsome leather headboard adorn a reconfigured space with state-of-the-art features including special LED reading lights and new 20” LCD flat screen televisions. Bathrooms were newly reconstructed with a contemporary style showcasing two oval glass sinks atop granite countertops. While the category A staterooms are a good value, if you go down one deck, you get an identical stateroom — category B — for an even better value. You pay more as you move up the decks on this ship. Wireless internet is offered throughout, and it’s cheap by industry standards, as low as 20 cents per minute depending on the package you purchase (compare to an extortionate 75 cents a minute on some ships.) Public Area Upgrades The biggest transformation, perhaps, was on Tiffany Deck. Deck 6 was completely transformed from stem to stern with new color schemes, new construction and new contemporary lighting that creates different moods as day moves into night. Among the major structural changes: * Starlite Club — Centrally located in the middle of Tiffany Deck, existing walls were removed and a dramatic round bar takes center stage in this open environment offering panoramic sea views. It was the hub of social activity. * Crystal Casino — Dramatic black flooring anchors a sophisticated black and silver color palette in the completely redesigned Crystal Casino. New offerings include The Ultimate Texas Hold-em and state-of-the-art slots. * Luxe Nightclub — From its polished aluminum Phillipe Stark bar stools to the glass Bizzaza mosaics, Crystal Symphony’s new nightclub Luxe proved to be a sophisticated spot for drinks and dancing. * Boutiques and Shops — The boutiques and shops aboard Crystal Symphony were completely transformed with white marble, black accents, clean stone finishes and chandeliers. Facets features a new private space for guests to consider high-end jewelry purchases, and Apropos offers the line’s popular logo items and resort wear. * Bistro Café — A comfortable European atmosphere was recreated in this popular venue, enhanced with decorative tiles, wall finishings and fresh upholstery all done in a warm palette of russets and earth tones. I found the Bistro Café to be a good place to pick up speciality coffees, breakfast and light snacks during the day. * Computer University@Sea — Expanded just two years ago to accommodate the increased demand for its growing portfolio of courses, Crystal’s revolutionary Computer University@Sea was outfitted with all new equipment. According to Thomas Mazloum, senior vice president, hotel operations, 42 percent of passengers participate in at least one class. Crystal Symphony is an anomaly in the luxury cruise sector. Carrying 940 guests, it is a larger ship than the smaller luxury ships that dominate this segment, and perhaps because it is a larger ship, you won’t find free booze in the public areas, as you will on many of the smaller luxury ships. Nor are gratuities included. The 12-year-old Crystal Symphony’s deluxe staterooms also are on the smallish side when compared to similar accommodations on other luxury ships. That said, the larger ship platform allows for a wider breadth of facilities, such a spacious award-winning spa, the ever-popular Computer University@Sea, a wonderful round-the-ship promenade and more. As Crystal Cruises continues to invest in Symphony, the ship keeps pace with the times, rivaling newer ships. But perhaps what most distinguishes the Symphony is not the hardware component itself but the software, the 545 staff and crew who serve 940 guests. Crystal’s crew is the real reason that the company has for the past 12 years been named “World’s Best Large-Ship Cruise Line” by the readers of Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler magazines — the only cruise line, resort or hotel to have achieved such distinction. * Ralph Grizzle - Writer & Author has been on more than 100 cruises and writes the best cruise blog: The Avid Cruiser CLICK HERE for photos of Crystal Syphony Back to Home Page
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