Over-Priced Letdown? I Paid A Fortune to Cruise On “New” Crystal Cruises. Was It Worth It?

Before it went bankrupt in early 2022, Crystal Cruises was considered THE most luxurious cruise line. Its two ships and name were bought by the luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent, who relaunched it in 2023 after major renovations of the ships.

I have been intrigued as recent reviews have been very positive, including it having the highest passenger ratings on Cruise Critic in the ultra-luxury category, better than Regent Seven Seas, Silversea and Seabourn.

So, I decided to test Crystal Cruises out to see if they really are the best of the ultra-luxury lines.

I booked myself on an 11-night Crystal Symphony cruise from Tokyo to Manila, as always I paid with my own money and, in this case it was no small sum – about $17,000 so I was hoping for a top tier experience.

Here is, much to my surprise, what I discovered.

Let me start with the positives.

Crystal Cruises Good: The Ship

A big concern for me was the age of the ship. The Crystal Symphony is 30 years old, while her sister ship, Crystal Serenity, is 22 years old.

I worried the ship might feel dated and its age. But instead, I loved the classic layout and look both outside and in versus the more contemporary ships of the competition.

Things like the wide promenade deck that goes all round the ship, and the tiered rear with seating and loungers on each level versus modern ships that run all decks to the edge to put in more cabins.

I was delighted that the refit, update, and maintenance made the ship feel contemporary, with only the public restrooms and elevators feeling somewhat dated.

In the refit capacity was cut by over 200 guests to just 606 guests, which meant the ship and venues felt spacious and were never packed.

Crystal Serenity also had its capacity reduced by over 200 to 750 guests. On both ships this was done to increase cabin sizes, a big issue I need to come back to later.

For a small ship I found a good range and choice of venues with many options of restaurants, bars, lounges and fitness options. Many of these are signature Crystal venues found on both ships. Rather than dwell on those here, I have created a short video review of Crystal Symphony’s venues, facilities, and cabins. A link to that is at the end of this.

Next, I want to talk about how Crystal compares in the all-important area of food.

Crystal Cruises Good: The Food

The Crystal Cruises food was a huge highlight for me and, based on my experience, I found it surpassed what I have had on Regent, Silversea, and Seabourn, all of which excel in this area. But they were a notch above.

Menus were exciting, the food quality and presentation were outstanding across all venues.

There were 9 dining options, and all but one was included in the fare.

Waterside

The key dining venue was the Waterside Main Dining Room. This beautiful venue was open for breakfast and dinner every day, and for lunch on sea days.

It had a large breakfast menu comparable to other ultra-luxury lines, but I found their dinner menus especially appealing.

The menu had two sections that changed each evening: “Contemporary Cuisine” and “Crystal Classics,” with the classics also changing daily.

I could request something that had been on the menu from the day before, and it was made clear I could make off menu requests with notice. But I never tested either of those as the menus offered so much choice.

The dessert menu had nine options every day, and there was a generous daily cheese menu.

The food was amazing and beautifully presented.

I liked that I was usually put at the same table or section, so I was able to build a relationship with the waiting staff who came to know my likes and preferences.

There were a few included wines on the menu each night, though if none appealed you could choose one from a long-included wine list. I spoke to many fellow guests, and they agreed the wine choice was strong.

On the topic of drinks, as well as wines, the list of included alcohol brands was huge, and looked to me to be larger than on their direct competition.

Back to dining though! Crystal Cruises specialty dining was another highlight, though it came with an issue, but first the options.

Umi Uma by Nobu Matsuhisa

There is Umi Uma by the famous chef Nobu Matsuhisa, which was incredible. Crystal have the only Nobu restaurants and sea. It is a Japanese/Peruvian specialty restaurant in a stunning venue, which includes a sushi bar.

The menu is large and the food amazing. This is among the best dining I have ever had at sea.

Osteria D’ Ovidio

Osteria D’ Ovidio, is an Italian specialty restaurant. Again, another classy looking restaurant, with a good and interesting Italian classics.

While I liked it in here, I am not sure it is elevated above any competition at sea as the other dining venues were.

But the food was good and tasty.

Beefbar

Beefbar, is a meat-based restaurant chain that started in Monte Carlo and now has about 30 branches all around the world. I had not heard of before.

It offered a mix of street food and steak and was open for lunch and dinner.

I liked the venue and the menu a lot. The signature Bao Buns were very tasty, and I had Filet Mignon steak which was especially high quality.

In addition steaks included in the fare, there were some added surcharge Wagyu and Kobe beef options ranging from $90 to $220 per person!

Now to the issue about speciality restaurants.

For cruises of 10 days or less passengers in all but the highest-grade cabins can only go to the two main speciality restaurants (Umi Uma a and Osteria D’ Ovidio) a total of two times (so once at each, or twice at one).

Additional visits were possible but at a charge of $50 per person. I could have gone to Beefbar more often but had to make reservations, so was subject to demand.

It is a pity they charge as on other ultra-luxury lines they usually let me go to speciality more often if there was availability without charge.

Let me talk about the more casual dining next. There was nothing really stand out here versus the competition, but it was all solid.

Marketplace

Marketplace was the buffet restaurant and was open for breakfast and lunch. A nice venue with outside seating for good weather days,

I only ate lunch here and although not a huge choice, there was a decent range of options, high quality and tasty. Like the competition, on most days had some theme, like Asian, Greek and so on.

Trident Grill

Trident Grill was open from around 11:30 to 6pm offering burgers and the like. It was fine, but nothing outstanding versus similar offerings on other lines.

The Scoops Ice Cream area was part of Trident Grill with a good range of ice cream and gelato.

The Bistro

One of my favourite venues was The Bistro and I went here frequently during the day. It was their cafe and had an island stocking good light savoury and sweets snacks relevant to the time of day.

This included one of Crystal’s signature treats, a Portuguese Custard Tart which were pretty good.

Room Service

There was also room service of course, where I could have ordered from the room service menu or any of the restaurants open at the time.

The Vintage Room

There was also an intimate dining venues called The Vintage Room where occasional tasting and wine pairing menus are offered for around $300 a person. I did not try this one out.

Other Food Of Note

There are two other Crystal Cruises food offerings of note I must include too.

First, a passion if mine: Afternoon Tea. It was held in the Palm Court every day from 3:30 to 4:30, with live music.

Most days it was served on a tiered stand with different sandwiches, cakes and scones with clotted cream and jam every day. A couple of times there was a theme, like a chocolate one and what I believe is a signature for them, a Viennese one which would be more buffet style.

It was fantastic and I rated it highly.

The second item of note, and the first time for any cruise line I have called it out, are the daily canapes!

Delivered around 4:30pm they were served on a tray of three treats, both savoury and sweet. They were the best canape offering I’ve had on any cruise.

Misses

In terms of misses, unlike Silversea and Seabourn, Crystal Cruises do not offer unlimited, or it seems any, caviar. There was a caviar menu in the room, and it was high quality but costly.

And there was no casual dining option for dinner, other than room service, and while this is the same as the competition I do wish there was something.

Crystal Cruises Good: Enrichment and Entertainment

I was very impressed how Crystal Cruises invests in and puts a lot of focus on enrichment, providing activities and classes that other lines seem to have cut back on.

On my cruise, there were three enrichment speakers (all experts in the region), a digital lecturer giving classes on getting more from mobile phones and tablets, a person teaching us how to improve our photography, a PGA Golf Pro who ran workshops in the on-board golf nets and putting green and helped arrange golf sessions in each port, two ladies running art and craft classes, a bridge teacher, dance professional couple running dance classes, and Gentlemen dance hosts.

In terms of other activities there was not a lot other than the usual daily trivia, and some bingo on sea days, fitness classes, unhosted activities like Paddle Board and Table tennis, and a big White Party in the atrium one evening and a late-night disco.

I will talk about the production shows and guest entertainers in the less good section as there was one big issue that means I put it there, but I have kept one part of entertainment in the likes section.

Crystal Cruises Good: Live Music

Crystal had a focus on live music, and it was great. They had many musicians for the size of the ship, playing several sessions across the evening in different venues.

I liked Crystal Cruises played a wide range of music from classical right though to current chart material.

On the ship was a 7-piece band that supported the production shows and guest entertainers, violinist, pianist, guitarist, and a piano and singing duo.

The band and the duo would play music suitable for ballroom dancing in either the Starlite Club or Palm Court at various times in the evening.

Crystal Cruises Good: The Crew

One question I had about this “new” Crystal was that so much of its past reputation was about the calibre of and service by the crew, and had they been able to replicate that.

I was amazed when told that 80% of Crystal’s management and crew had returned, and it shows.

The crew and service were a standout.

The Crystal Cruises crew felt like a family, as many have been working together for decades. They were attentive, personalized my experience, and never felt stressed or rushed. Service across all ultra-luxury lines is amazing, but this stood out even more.

And I did feel very much like I was being taken care of by a close family business, versus probably a more corporate feel on the competition.

Crew of all levels spoke to me about how well Crystal takes care of them and it showed.

Across the ship crew remembered my name and likes. For example, a waiter in the Marketplace buffet that served me on embarkation day that I only saw again three quarters through the cruise, not only remembered my name but that I liked sparkling water and caffeine free coke zero.

Crystal Cruises Good: The Solo Focus

I also liked how much Crystal Cruises focuses on solo travellers, which is more than the competition.

They have solo cabins and frequently run no solo supplement promotions across selected sailings.

They host daily meet ups and arrange solo tables in the specialty dining venues.

Crystal Cruises Good: The Deals

This next one may change, but it does seem from what I observed that Crystal is still building its reputation and trust back, both with cruisers and travel agents. This means that the ships are not sailing full.

So, there seems to be frequent promotions and offers to encourage people to try the line or return.

So, sign up for their mailing list to get these as they are frequent.

The main Crystal Cruises promotion seems to be suite upgrades, where you pay for a lower grade but get a higher one.

For example, book an Aquamarine Suite which is a balcony cabin but get the larger and appealing Sapphire suite with dining and seating area, and separate bedroom area.

I suspect this is being used to address one area they fall down versus the other ultra-luxury competition with newer and larger ships.

This makes it a good time to talk about what I found and feel Crystal does less well, starting with explaining more about that cabin point.

Crystal Cruises Less Good: Mish Mash Of Cabins

As the ships are older, the entry level cabins I saw are smaller than the entry level cabins on the competition even though similarly priced. That is why I suspect that frequently used promotion of suite upgrades.

While they have a wide range of cabins, ranging from solo through to Aquamarine balcony, larger Sapphire suites, Junior One-bedroom Penthouses and up to vast Crystal Penthouses, there are two other issues I found that Crystal has with cabins.

First, they are out of step with their direct competition who have all balcony cabins on their more recent ships, while Crystal has many Oceanview ones.

They know this is an issue, as I note the 3 ships Crystal have on order entering service from 2028 onwards all suites appear to have balconies.

Second, in some grades there are very different styles based on when they were upgraded, with some having new contemporary decor from the 2023 refit but others more dated and classic looks.

For example, with Sapphire Suites, while these are a great size and layout, with seating/ dining area, bedroom and large bathroom, you need to choose carefully as here is the 2023 version I had which is modern and bright, a 2017 refit version which uniquely have washer/ dryers in the bathroom, a classic version with darker and more traditional feel, and then Oceanview ones with no balcony.

To see and find out more about the cabin grades and what perks are included in the cabins, watch that video I mentioned earlier that I have made about the ship. Link at the end.

Next on my less good list are the shows.

Crystal Cruises Less Good: Shows

The Crystal Cruises shows are performed by a cast of 4 singers and 6 dancers, who are very talented, and the shows have high energy, demanding and impressive choreography.

The reason I have the shows in the less good section is the music and themes are way out of date for the passengers.

I am turning 66 this year and so slap bang in the core passenger mix, and the music and show themes are not for me or us.

It was what my parents listened to (and if they were alive, they would be mid and late 80s). Crystal needs a big rethink on music and eras used in the shows. They need to be focused on at least the 1980s and beyond.

Many guest artists were also pitched wrong. For example, one did a Bobby Darin themed show, who last had a hit when I was 3, and a Frank Sinatra cabaret show whose last hit was when I was 7.

So, taking all this into account, what did I think overall? And would I go again?

I loved my experience and enjoyed myself enormously, with the ship, cabin, food, and service making it for me. I loved the focus and depth of enrichment.

In fact, I was so impressed and wanted to experience it again that I booked, again with my own money as always, Crystal Serenity next year on a 15-night Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale Transatlantic which had a great price being a repositioning cruise and had the suite upgrade offer running.

I was impressed with Crystal and if ultra-luxury cruising is your chosen way to cruise, they are worth considering. To find out more about Crystal Symphony ship and what worked and did so less, join me over on my Crystal Symphony ship tour video. See you over there.