Crysal Symphony Profile, Photo Tour and Dining Guide

Crystal Symphony, along with her fleetmate Crystal Serenity, provide the benchmark for luxury cruising. Not only do other luxury lines compare their products to Crystal but officers on premium ships aspire to have their levels of service and quality approach those of Crystal. Thus, as part of our focus on luxury cruising, we had to return to Crystal Symphony.




This ship was one of the first ships profiled on Beyondships in 2007. Since then Crystal Symphony has undergone an extensive refurbishment.



The refurbishment did not change the essential character of this ship, which is one of understated luxury. Her interiors are not elaborate. The public areas have a streamlined contemporary style. They are extremely well-maintained and glisten in their cleanliness.



This is not to say that there have been no major changes. The pool area, the special restaurants, and the buffet restaurant have all been significantly altered. However, their elegance remains - - they are still eye-pleasing without calling attention to themselves.



Our new photo tour of Crystal Symphony begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CrystalSymphony-Tour-1.html

. The profile page remains at http://beyondships.com/CrystalSymphony-Profile.html but has new menus and new other information about the ship.



Another addition to our coverage of Crystal Symphony is an insider dining guide. I sat down with Food and Beverage Manager Walter Pietsching to talk about dining on Crystal Symphony. Not only did we discuss each of the dining venues on the ship but also the secret behind Crystal’s legendary service. http://beyondships.com/CrystalSymphony-dining.html

Asuka II - - Japanese Luxury Cruising.

Earlier this month, AIDA announced its intention to build its next two ships in Japan. The press reports on this move almost universally mentioned that the shipyard that is to build these ships, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was the ship yard that built the Diamond Princess and the Sapphire Princess. However, before Mitsubishi built those ships, it built the Asuka II of NYK Cruises, which is part of the world’s largest shipping company, NYK.




The fact that Mitsubishi built Asuka II is a considerable feather in its cap. Asuka II is the highest-rated luxury cruise ship serving the Japanese market, which is quite discerning and demanding when it comes to luxury. Furthermore, Asuka II is over 20 years old now and yet it is still able to provide luxury service. That indicates that the ship was well-built as well as that it has been well-maintained.



Asuka II was formerly the Crystal Harmony of Crystal Cruises. In that incarnation, she garnered a reputation for providing a six-star luxury cruise experience. Despite this popularity, in 2006, NYK, which owns both NYK Cruises and Crystal Cruises decided to transfer the ship to NYK Cruises to replace the smaller Asuka.



Although NYK Cruises refurbished the ship for the Japanese market, much from her Crystal Harmony days was carried over. As a result, the ship is still very much a western-style cruise ship. Indeed, the only decidedly Japanese additions were the bath house and the traditional matted tea room. This underscores that standards of luxury have become international.



Beyondships’ profile of this fascinating ship is at

http://www.beyondships.com/AsukaII-Profile.html

and the multi-page photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/AsukaII-Tour-1.html

The Crystal Difference

Broadly speaking, the cruise industry can be divided into four categories. First, there are no frills budget cruise lines. These companies tend to have ships that were once used in the more up-scale lines and which have now entered a second life transporting vacationers on no frills holiday. The largest category is the mass market cruise lines. These are the most popular lines including Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line. For those who want more service and a taste of luxury there are the premium market cruise lines such as Celebrity, Holland America and Cunard. Then at the extreme upper end are the luxury cruise lines.

For the most part, the luxury lines offer cruises on small yacht-like ships. The conventional wisdom being that you cannot offer excellent service or have top quality amenities if there are too hundreds of passengers competing for the attention of the staff and trying to use the ship’s facilities. However, one line, Crystal Cruises has for several years been rated a six star plus experience on large ships. Admittedly, the CRYSTAL SYMPHONY and CRYSTAL SERENITY are not mega-cruise ships but at just over 50,000 tons, they do qualify as large ships.

I recently had the chance to go aboard CRYSTAL SYMPHONY and talk with her captain, hotel director and cruise director about how Crystal manages to consistently obtain high ratings in the luxury category. They conceded that it was not a “hardware” advantage. There are some beautiful ships coming out in the mass market and premium categories. In addition, the mass market and the premium lines have steadily improved their facilities and the quality of the experience they offer. Things that were found only in luxury ships a decade ago are now standard on the mass market ships.

Instead, they said that it is the people that Crystal employs that really makes the Crystal difference. The line seeks to take care of its crew and the crew is disposed to provide the best quality service. Of course, they gave some other reasons as well.

I have posted my interviews at http://www.beyondships.com/CrystalSymphony-Interview.html I hope you enjoy the article.