Review of Crystal Cruise from Civitavecchia to London- May 11-23, 2004 with RSSC Mariner comparisons.

Before the glory of this wonderful cruise slips from my ancient mind, I thought I would jot down my impressions and feelings about this wonderful cruise on the Crystal Symphony.

Firenze and Tuscany
We arrived in Rome on May 7th and made arrangements with AutoEurope to pick up our car from Europcar at the airport (we prepaid this car in the US so it included all taxes and all insurance). After spending about a half-hour locating the Europcar pickup point, we took possession of a compact Fiat, manual with a/c, and we headed out on the A1 toward Firenze and Tuscany.
It took about 3 hours to make the trip to Firenze and we checked into the Plaza Lucchessi hotel, which was highly recommended by Gil and a few others ( on the Radisson board). We wholeheartedly agree! This is the bargain of the year. The Plaza Lucchessi is a beautiful hotel, very centrally located in Santa Croce area, and in walking distance to all of the attractions. Our room overlooked the Arno ( at 160 Euros per night including VAT and breakfast) and the service was outstanding. If you are driving, like we were, they have a convenient parking garage in the hotel basement at a nominal rate ( 20 E per night)
We also listened to Gil and ate at Ristorante del Fagioli which is about 2 blocks from the Plaza hotel. We absolutely loved this trattoria. It is a small trattoria owned by two brothers and the dinner we had was sensational. We would have gone back the second night but they were closed due to a family function.
After two days in Firenze we headed south to Radda in Chianti for two days of bliss.
We stayed at the hotel L’Ultimo Mulino in Radda and toured the immediate area of Greve, Radda and Gaioli in Chianti. The next day we toured a bit to the south; visiting Montepulciano and Pienza, and ending up in the beautifully scenic town of Siena.(we have visited Siena many times and each time it is a joy to sit in the main square, people watch and enjoy a cappuccino) This day was a full day’s drive after starting off at the Prada outlet store in Levanella. ( you want to make sure you visit this Prada outlet during the week cause on the weekends the tour buses line up with tourists all day) Need I say more, this was a necessary pit stop and one of the main reasons we were in the Chianti region in the first place. Yes, there are many, many bargains (between 50-70% off) to be had in this outlet if you are a Prada devotee. My BW insisted that this was a pre-condition to the trip. ( we go through this every time we visit Firenze and Chianti and that is why we stay in Radda, close to all the “sights”).
The Ultimo Mulino is a beautiful restored mill that sits all by itself in between Gaioli in Chianti and Radda in Chianti. We had a wonderful room with garden patio for 190E per night ( including VAT and breakfast)
We did have two wonderful meals in Radda. On the first day we had lunch at La Bottega in the small village of La Volpaia, outside of Radda and the next evening we had a wonderful dinner at Le Vigne in Radda. We highly recommend both restaurants as heavenly and quite inexpensive.
The weather in Firenze and Radda was cold and partly cloudy with indispersed rain here and there. This was not as disappointing as it may seem. We were well prepared for this weather and the cool weather ( in the low 60’s during the day and in the low 50’s at night) made for wonderful sleeping and during the day it was occasional light showers, which was refreshing. The driving in Tuscany was quite easy with the roads well marked.

The Crystal Symphony:
After two days in Radda, we drove to Civitavecchia to board the Crystal Symphony. It was quite relieving to learn that the return of our Europcar was right next to the Symphony pier.

After 4 wonderful days in Tuscany ( all of the driving, sightseeing and shopping) we were ready for our wonderful and peaceful jaunt on the Crystal Symphony. We were not disappointed in the least. We have cruised with Crystal before and this was the best service and dining that we have ever experienced on any cruise ship. I guess part of the reason this was so special was that we had exemplary service in the Crystal dining room and wonderful service from our stewardess, Emma, in our cabin. This was our third cruise on the Symphony and it was our best.

Over the past few years we have cruised with both Crystal (5) and Radisson(4) so some of my comments, criticism and praises will compare the two cruise lines.

When we first boarded the Symphony we were checked in quickly and escorted to our cabins. I did expect a welcome glass of champagne upon check in and when I inquired I was told that the “free” champagne was served at lunch ( chalk one up for RSSC)
We arrived on board around 4 :00 pm so we went up to the Bistro for a snack before dinner at 7:30. Wandering into dinner at our leisure was sure a treat. RSSC +

The Dining Venues:
Our waiter Greg and his assistant Arik and the head waiter Remi, made each meal in the Crystal dining room a special treat. In fact, we do enjoy dining in Prego, the Italian alternate dining room, but we enjoyed the Crystal dining room so much we gave up our second Prego reservation ( one knows how hard it is to get these reservations) BTW, the new practice on Crystal of reserving the alternate dining venues in advance really works. If you have paid for the entire cruise by a certain date, you can e-mail your reservation requests and it saves you from running down to these restaurants when you first board. When we arrived on board our reservations were waiting for us.
Much to our pleasant surprise, there was only one seating on this cruise. This was due to the fact that the cruise was less than half full. Why? Beats me although Crystal swears that they are full the next 5 Med cruises. We loved the open seating concept, the personal service and the personal attention which was heaped on us. To tell the truth, we receive excellent service every time we sail Crystal, but this time it was exceptional. I guess we had the right waiters and stewardess.

Our wait staff were as professional and courteous as we have ever encountered. The food was outstanding but the service made it taste even better. Remi, our head waiter, was always hovering around making special salads, desserts, etc. One night we asked him for lobster tails for the next evening and sure enough, we each had three, yes three, large and perfectly cooked lobster tails apiece (we were traveling with another couple so everything was for four) You should have seen the faces of the diners at the nearby tables.....pure envy! Yes! We were looking forward to each dinner and it got better as we went along. We ate mostly all of our meals in the Crystal dining room so we really had a taste of what the dining room had to offer. All meals were top notch. Leon, the maitre d was very pleased when he learned that we gave up our second Prego reservation to have the Neptune dinner in the main dining room. Also, the desserts were to die for. We asked the baker to duplicate a wonderful chocolate- nut torte and sure enough the next night it was presented to us for dessert. Wow! that is service! We ate in the Jade Garden once and although it was fine....it was too much fried food.
Based on the quality of food, presentation and the outstanding service, I would opine that Crystal has it a bit over RSSC in the food department. Crystal+

The Cabins:
We booked a cabin with a verandah. The cabins were OK however, this was an area which was not “touched” by the Crystal “refurbishment”. It should have been! The cabins need some refreshing touches and should have a privacy curtain between bedroom and sitting area as RSSC does. RSSC cabins are all verandah, much roomier, large walk- in closets and have the “privacy curtains” which allows one person to sleep and the other can watch TV or read without disturbing.
While the “new” Crystal soft drink inclusion policy is great, it still does not compare to RSSC’s policy of soft drinks in all venues, booze in the room, welcoming bottle of champagne and fine wine with dinner. We are not big drinkers but it is nice to have wine with dinner and a drink in your room. This is not a deal breaker though!
RSSC ++

Entertainment, Lectures and the like:
The Computer University area has been refurbished and is quite nice although with Crystal’s outrageous e-mail prices we did not use it much. Crystal did offer free computer classes on digital photography,etc. which was very informative. We still favor the Radisson internet venue, especially the prices. RSSC +
We also attended a Berlitz spanish class which was held 6 times during the cruise. This was fun and entertaining.
Unlike RSSC, Crystal did not offer many passenger interactive games, sewing circles or much interaction by the cruise director as does the Mariner ( Jaime, Glenn and Muriel for starters). We missed the after tea trivia each day and the pantomime games on sea days. RSSC +
However, Crystal did have excellent lectures and guest speakers on this cruise. Barbara Rush (do you movie fans remember her?) was a pure joy to listen to and she did interact with the passengers all the time. Jan Wahl, a movie critic for a San Francisco paper, interviewed Miss Rush and in separate lectures, recounted her interviews with famous Hollywood celebrities. Movies was our cruise theme in view of the fact that we were visiting Cannes during the film festival Crystal+

The entertainment shows on Crystal were simply outstanding. These were the best singers and dancers we have seen or heard on board any ship anytime. The voices were superb and the choreography simply outstanding. Crystal shines far and above RSSC in this category. All in all, the “entertainment” aspect of the Crystal experience was top notch and was far superior to the mediocre entertainment on RSSC.Crystal +++

Currency Exchanges:
The value of the US dollar really puts a crimp on doing any serious shopping. As one cruiser put it awhile back , treat the Euro and the British pound as equal to the US dollar and it will not hurt so much on vacation. This you can do only so far. The hotel and the restaurants were easy to do cause you had to sleep and eat anyway. Where it gets you is in doing all this discretionary shopping in Italy, Spain, Portugal and London. When you look at their prices there are very few bargains left anymore because of the devaluation of the US dollar. BTW, as was recommended on one of the boards, we took an ATM debit card with us. ( I had never used an ATM card before) However, this made changing dollars very simple and at the best rates. It got to be so much fun! The ATM machines have English instructions and after putting in my pin number and my card, it spewed out Euros. What fun! I must have changed dollars on at least 5 occasions. That was one of the highlights of the trip! The exchange of the dollar to the British pound was exasperating. Almost 2 to 1. So there were no bargains in London.
On of the most exasperating experiences in Europe is trying to call home using MCI or any of these type calling cards. You cannot connect from a port or city telephone going through the operator or using a toll free number and must buy a telephone card for the phone to work. After much anguish, we bought a telephone card at a local kiosk in Seville and the proprietor was nice enough to make all the dialing arrangements. There are many different telephone cards so be careful. I guess you can buy a card in the US before you leave but we were not that smart.

Shore Excursions:
About 4 months before the cruise departed, I did my homework and checked the boards to try and set up our own shore excursions in Cannes, Lisbon and upon debarkation from Dover to London. I studied the various boards’ recommendations and then e-mailed each tour operator.
The first glitch was that Crystal changed the port itinerary after we learned that we would not be docking in Gibraltar. This put all ports after Cannes one day sooner than expected. This created the challenge.
Our first independent shore excursion was in Cannes. I originally thought that since Crystal was making such a big deal about the “ Cannes film festival” that they would have a shore excursion that would be special in some way ( maybe a meeting with a current film director, actor or both- wishful thinking!) So after consulting the CC board, I came up with the name of Sylvie di Cristo and her tours in Cannes and the environs. She had me fill out a form and sign it and in essence, guarantee that we will show up. No, she did not require a deposit. We e-mailed back and forth and finally she instructed us to meet her in front of the hotel Sofitel in Cannes at 9:00 am. As we pulled into the port of Cannes, you can see the hotel Sofitel from the ship. We disembarked and proceeded to walk some 15 minutes to this hotel. I thought it strange that she could not pick us up closer to the pier cause there was a hotel across the street. (Sylvie originally told us that because of the Cannes Film Festival it was impossible to meet us at the pier). We arrived at the hotel Sofitel at the appointed time of 9:00 am and encountered a cruiser’s worst nightmare. No Sylvie! We waited until about 10:00 am and still no Sylvie. We were frantic. No private tour and too late to join the Crystal tour. Luckily, the concierge at the hotel Sofitel took pity on us and informed us that he uses a tour company that might be able to assist us. He made a call and within 20 minutes a car and driver appeared. That’s what you call lemonade from lemons. We had a terrific tour of the coast between Cannes and Nice, had a wonderful lunch in Nice, visited Monte Carlo and then spent a good bit of time in St. Paul de Vence. We lucked out. In all fairness, I waited to post this experience until I contacted Sylvie for her side of the story. I finally received a couple of e-mail from her and she claimed that the Symphony docked at a pier that was not the regular pier but a bit further from the Sofitel. She took it upon herself to go to the pier instead of waiting for us at the Sofitel. I don’t see the logic in this! We had an appointment to meet at a certain place ( hotel Sofitel) at a specific time ( 9:00 am) and that should have been that. To hear the weak explanation that she decided to go to the pier to look for us at 9:00 am and wait there until 10:30 is not rational thinking. In addition, Sylvie should have had the common sense to call the hotel and ask the concierge if we were there. (We were the only ones frantically pestering the concierge in the lobby) She did none of the above.
Sylvie’s side is that she had given us her mobile phone number and when we did not see her at the hotel Sofitel, we should have called her. OK good point, but with our experiences trying to make a call from a public phone in Europe ( more about that later) I thought this would be useless. After a number of e-mails back and forth since our return, I believe that this was a good faith mistake in judgment on her part ( which she admitted) and will leave it at that. This is the reason why this posting has taken so long to post cause I wanted to be fair to Sylvie and not post something too harsh without hearing her side of the saga.
I guess this experience just puts cruisers on notice that this can happen to you and regardless where the fault lies, make sure you try to have some safeguards built in ( ie, mobile phone number,) or you are out of luck and could waste a day of touring.

This little episode left us with a sour taste cause we had a second independent tour in Lisbon and a final independent tour from Dover to London ( for which we had put up the entire cost of the tour).
Much to our pleasant surprise the last two tours were absolutely outstanding.
In Lisbon we engaged the services of Tours For You which was recommended to us on the CC board, again. Nuno, the owner, had requested a deposit up front and he requested a wire of funds since he was not equipped to take credit card charges. I told him that the credit card charge is the only way I would go and he relented. The mini van and driver met us at the ship in Lisbon at the appointed time and what a great tour this was. The touring mini van was large, airy and well air conditioned. Our driver, Josue, was an architect who drives for this touring company in his spare time. He spoke fluent English and was extremely knowledgeable as to all of the sights we visited. We visited Estoril, Cascais and then Sintra in the morning and Lisbon in the late afternoon. Estoril and Cascais were two lovely coastal towns which were very quaint. We arrived in Sintra a bit before noon and visited the wonderful castle high up on the hill. It is totally preserved and is a marvel to visit. We had a wonderful lunch, sampling local delicacies, in a small, local restaurant in Sintra (Restaurante Cantinho de S. Pedro). After lunch we meandered back to Lisbon and toured Lisbon in the air conditioned mini van stopping off in Belem for the famous “pasteis” with some strong coffee. What a tiring but fabulous day! We were ready for some cocktails and dinner on the Symphony ( I believe that this was the triple lobster tail night...we deserved it) This tour deserves an A+

Our final independent tour was at the end of the cruise when the ship docked in Dover. We made reservations with Denise Ryeland of Tours of the Realm and did, in fact, send her 170 GBP for the tour, in advance. She is the company and came highly recommended from the CC board. Crystal was going to charge us $75.00 pp to transport us from Dover to midtown London so this was a bargain (for the four of us) as far as we could see. Denise met us on time at the pier with a large and spacious air conditioned mini van loaded with fruit and cold drinks. This was service! We toured the castles and small towns from Dover up the coast towards London and stopped for a wonderful pub lunch on the way. I would give this tour an A+.
The Crystal tours we did take were adequate. We took the bus ride to Seville but it turned out to be a Monday when all the museums were closed. We were a bit disappointed with Seville. It is a large city with a beautiful cathedral, some nice museums (all closed) and a large downtown area. We would skip this city the next time.
From the port of Malaga, we took the afternoon tour to Marbella and St. Mijas. These small towns mere nice but nothing special. I did explore Malaga on my own in the morning (my BW decided to “sleep in” this morning) and loved the Picasso museum and the Alcazaba Fortress.
Portofino is another beautiful port that is picture postcard perfect. We walked this small town visiting the small shops and then took the local bus to Santa Margherita (also a beautiful coastal town with beautiful beaches and shops) Well worth the bus ride.
As a sidenote, I am partial to lovely picturesque European beaches and the European custom of sunbathing “au natural”. This made the beach scene in Cannes, Santa Margarita and Marbella so, so environmentally stimulating. (OK, feminists send all negative comments to my e-mail address at Yahoo.com)
The nicest surprise for us was the stop in the port of Zeebrugge. We did not see anything special in the tours being offered by Crystal, so we decided to take the train, on our own, to Bruges. The Crystal shuttle took us to within 1 block of the rail station and after purchasing our tickets (3 Euros apiece- roundtrip) we took the 15 minute train ride to Bruges. What a remarkably beautiful city! This was the type of city we had been envisioning. Small, beautiful and everything centered in a 20 minute walk. We had a wonderful snack of Belgian pancakes and hot chocolate in the main town square and then proceeded to visit the town. What exquisite buildings and architecture. We wanted the take the boat ride on the canals but the lines were too long for my patience.
This was the kinda town that we love and what we felt Seville wasn’t. I know it is like apples and oranges....give me a break, I am partial to small, quaint and beautiful towns.

London:
We spent two wonderful post cruise days in London. The weather was unseasonably warm. We had high tea at Fortnum and Masons, made the requisite visit to Harrods (we bought a few souvenirs for our grandson), hopped on a double decker bus, shopped in Greys Market for antiques and went to the theater to see the “The Rat Pack”, which was sensational.

Gratuities:
With the extremely high level of service which we received on this cruise, the gratuities handed out were well earned and not insignificant. Everyone received a well earned thank you ($$$$), from the assistant waiter to the maitre d to the personnel in the beauty salon and spa (messages and facials). These gratuities are all included on a Radisson cruise. Some interesting side issues raised were: if you ate in Prego and were “assessed” an extra waiter’s gratuity of $6.00 pp, do you subtract that from the daily amount of tips due to the Crystal dining room personnel (in other words should you tip twice?) On the Radisson board, the major consensus has always been not to tip for services ( which are all included in the price) unless the service received is not only extraordinary but beyond the ordinary duties expected to be received. BTW, it is interesting to note that on our next Crystal cruise from Montreal to NYC,, all gratuities are included in the price ( I believe this is a travel agent “perk” on this particular cruise) RSSC +++

Overall Impressions:
In light of the perfect service, sensational food, wonderful ports and company, this was a special and outstanding cruise. We had visited most of these ports on previous cruises (the new ports were Lisbon and Bruges) and enjoyed most of them a second time.
While we consider superiority in cabins (with verandahs at no extra charge), soft drink beverages, liquor in cabins, wine with dinner all included, all gratuities included and open dinner seating to be the RSSC strong and superior points, we feel that Crystal excels in ambiance, service, entertainment, lectures and cuisine. We are very fortunate to have experienced such a marvelous cruise.

As you can see, comparing Crystal and Radisson is like comparing filet minion with lobster tails, each one has something terrific for everyone. We will be cruising with Crystal from Montreal to NYC in October and will cruise with Radisson in 2005 (hopefully again with MarnaLou and Paul 59, if they are available).

Outstanding review!! Enjoyed every word! :D

What a wonderful review! I'm so pleased about your guide in Lisbon...we have the same company and schedule lined up on June 11th ! It sounds like you had a GREAT vacation!

Thank you for the review! As always, fascinating to hear impressions and comparisons from seasoned cruisers about the differences in the cruise lines!

Masaki

med4bike, thankfully, we are with Marcie and have the same guide in Bordeaux as you! The only thing that keeps me off Crystal is that they tell you when to eat, and with whom. I don't travel with a group of four. When you said it was "open" (I think), does that mean you are able to eat when, where, and with whom you wish? This is one of my big stumbling blocks to booking with Crystal.

I, too, love to hear cruiseline comparisons. It sounds like you experienced a winner!

Great review thanks for posting. You were indeed fortunate to have your cruise "open seating". I was surprised with Crystals newer ship that they did not adopt this style of dining. Most people as Olivia pointed out find the set seating and two seatings an issue with Crystal. You had neither of those to contend with.

Your experiences with pre-arranged guides was interesting. I did that for a few years and have now backed off with the requirement of upfront money and also the problems that arise if the person is not where they say they will be. That has happened to me also. We are now into SPONTANEOUS tours - either taxis or guides we find on arrival. Probably go full swing at some point and go back to pre-arranged. Certain places you need to pre-arrange, St. Petersburg being one of those.

Sounds like you had an incredible trip! Thanks for sharing your experiences and comparisons. I have been curious about Crystal. We were in London earlier this month on a land based trip. We also benefited from the warm weather and suffered from the terrible exchange rate!

Sue

JHP
I think you mean the guide in Lisbon...we were never in Bordeaux. Josue was terrific! You and Marcie will really enjoy him.
Because there were so few passengers on this Crystal cruise, open seating was the venue. This meant you could eat at whatever time you chose but with a certain table and wait staff. We loved this cause we loved our wait staff. On Radisson, you can dine whenever you chose but when you get to the dining room, they put you with a different wait staff each time. I guess you can request a particular waiter and if he has tables available you are in luck.
This "open dinner seating" on Crystal was only because of so few passengers, they don't ever have open seating at all and that is a minus for us. We like to dine around 7:30 and that is not what you get with two separate seatings on Crystal.
Have a wonderful cruise and send Josue our regards. Have him take you to that wonderful restaurant in Sintra and order the "green" wine.

Med4Bike,
I'll be cruising Crystal for the first time in August on the Harmony. Do you need to carry cash around to tip if someone brings you a soft drink at the pool while you are on the deck? Do they not leave soft drinks with bowls of ice for self-service in the lounges? I think the whole tipping thing is going to really cheapen the experience of cruising but I hope not. Did you find it intrusive and onerous?

med4bike, great review. I'm glad you and Mrs. m4b had such a lovely vacation.

One thing you do really well is to explain why you prefer one line without trashing the other. This is very helpful to those of us who have not cruised as extensively as you have.

MarnaLou

juicyjuju
Good question about the soft drinks. Actually, you receive as many soft drinks as you want in your refridge in your cabin. The stewardess refills the supply daily. The soft drinks on the rest of the ship is like the Radisson. You order a soft drink at the pool, for dinner or lunch, in the Saloon or in the entertainment venue. The soft drink is brought to you ( as a hard drink would be) but there is no bill. There are no soft drinks left in bowls of ice in the lounges. How do the servers of the soft drinks get "tipped" you ask? I guess they must be compensated in some other way. The only check which one receives is if you order a hard drink, a beer of a glass of vino.
You do not need any cash for any tipping anywhere on the ship. At the end of the cruise you can prepay all of your tips at the reception and they give you a chit which you give to the waiter, ass't waiter, stewardess, etc. We gave cash our traveling companions put all tips on their Crystal account.

Thanks, Med4bike. I really enjoyed your review. I have some trepidation about Crystal, since it's not all-inclusive, but really, how bad can it be? It's a luxury cruise after all, and I'm grateful to be able to go on it.
I think I understand the process for dinner in the alternative restaurants but are they open at lunch? Can you have sushi in Kyoto for lunch?
Last summer, while on Silversea, we were in Taormina and I really wanted sushi for lunch. Since the temp was over 100 degrees, my other half was amenable to going back to the ship. The ship was packed 'cause it was too hot to walk around anywhere. I asked them if they had any sushi today (we were in the alternative restaurant). They said no, so I fixed myself a salad at the buffet. About ten minutes later the waiter brought me some sushi. He said when the chef heard I wanted some, he fixed it fresh. I had it every day after that. Made up for having a ten-course dinner at night ;)
Do they have good sushi on Crystal?

juicyjuju-
The alternative restaurants, Prego and Kyoto are not open for lunch. We did not try the sushi at dinner. However, if you ask the day before, that you would like sushi for lunch the next day in the main dining room, chances are you will get it. In the main dining room they try to cater to your every whim. Normally, if you give them one days notice, you will have what you want the next day.
Have a wonderful cruise.

Hi Med4Bike,

Sounds like you had a wonderful cruise. Did Jan Wahl wear her hats? She's famous around here for that. In fact, when she rates movies, she gives them 'hats'. And yes, I second your enthusiasm for Glenn and Muriel from the Mariner!

Yes Gatowoman, Jan Wahl did wear her various hats everywhere on board and on shore excursions. We had the pleasure of dining with Jan and her hubby one night and they were a delight. Jan is very outgoing, friendly and willing to share her cinema experiences and interviews with anyone and everyone who asked.
Again, she wore a different hat to all meals and everytime she either interviewed Barbara Rush or gave a lecture.
Her personality is so bubbly and outgoing, I wonder when she will get a chance to review films on the national scene. ;) (I love these Graemlins)

Hey Med4bike,

I want to say I've seen Jan sometimes on ET or Access Hollywood giving some sort of movie impression or interview with a movie star...but since I don't get to see that much TV these days, it has been a while. She has a regular spot on KRON, usually in the Sat. Morning news show and she talks about the newest releases and rates them with the hats. I've seen her around since the late 80's, she may have been doing it longer than that! I think she also reviews for the Examiner, but the venerable Examiner (the King of the Dailies!) went bankrupt a couple of years ago and now it is a tabloid...and I don't recall seeing any reviews from her since the change.

How nice that you got to spend some time with her...I bet it was fun!!