It took me more time to compose my findings of Serenity. Crystal did a great job of coming home and posting almost immediately. Here are a few things I like to add.
The first thing that struck me when we boarded the ship was the spacious lobby area on deck 5. Having been on the Regent Navigator in 2012, the PG in 2013 and the Silver Galapagos in 2014, this ship was huge at first. With the capacity of 1090 passengers, this is the largest cruise ship I have been on. The Lobby is lovey with a several sitting areas, the Cruise Consultant’s desk and the Social Hostess’ desk, a space for a small band (the string quartet played there a few times) and dancing in the evening. The registration and shore excursions desk is located here along with Crystal Cove (or as my friend, Crystal likes to call it, the Lobby Bar). The center area has a stained glass domed atrium ceiling.
As we were escorted to our suite on deck 9, I was surprised by the long hall. Take in mind again the number of passengers. I got used to it and included it in my exercise regime!!
To add to Crystal’s dining section, on Crystal Cruise ships, the Trident Grill ice cream shop serves Ben & Jerry Ice Cream, but alas, no Pistachio Pistachio.
I have memories of burning my neck on the bed lamps on Regent ships when I would read in bed at night. On Serenity, the bed lamps are over the bedside tables and also include a spot light. You pull it out a bit and it comes on, push it back and it goes off. A nice touch. I have photos if you are interested in seeing the light or other photos of the cabin.
It appears that the forward and aft suites have extended deck space and that the railing is partially covered. Our balcony was like this and we didn’t have an issue with this, but we only used our balcony for sail ins and outs.
Serenity has 3 banks of elevators: 3 forward, 3midship and 2 aft elevators. It has a very familiar feel and Michael Johnson reminded us that Serenity comes from the same shipyard as the Regent ships.
Crystal provides apps you can download onto your tablet or iPad before you cruise. It is encouraged that you download these prior to boarding. Probably a bandwidth issue. Here’s a link to the App Center.
http://www.crystalcruises.com/ContentPage.aspx?ID=196 I downloaded the Press Reader and Swank Media Player.
The Press Reader gave you availability to Reflections, the daily newsletter. It was handy to have this on seadays. I suggested that they also use the app to “post” the evening dinner menus from the MDR. The TV doesn’t have the evening menus like Regent but they do post paper copies outside the MDR after lunch. Another good use of this app would be to post the ship’s deck plans, helpful for newbies.
We spoke with a few people who enjoyed using the Media Player app. This is in lieu of the on-demand movies like on the Regent TV system. It took me over 15 minutes to download a 50 minute video and it buffered so much, I finally stopped it. As this was on our last night on board, I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Computer Instructor to ask to troubleshoot. Besides movies, Crystal posts Guest Lecturer talks on the app.
