The officers, crew and staff of Crystal Serenity is an elite team. Their Norwegian captains and their corps of officers are masters of the sea, with a lifetime of distinguished service. The crew is handpicked for their skill, professionalism and pride, and the staff is carefully trained to ensure that they are uniquely qualified for their positions. But perhaps their most important credential is a matter of instinct, not training. Their people share a respect for hospitality as rich and varied as the 33 countries from which they hail, a gift for friendship and good cheer that brightens each day aboard their ships.
Being the perfect host means lots of hard work, which continues around the clock, up on deck and behind the scenes. Yet along with the work comes enjoyment: the camaraderie and esprit de corps that comes with excellence, the satisfaction of knowing they're the best team at sea.
Your day at sea can be as relaxing or as activity-filled as you wish
The Crystal ships are a wealth of worldly temptations, which take on a whole new intensity in the majestic surroundings of a cruise.
Imagine playing paddle tennis on the full-size court high atop the ship, surrounded by the jungle-clad peaks of Bora Bora. Perfect your strokes with a PGA golf professional while using Callaway® clubs, amid the sails and shining bays of Auckland, or train in the fully equipped gym beside sweeping views of the Mediterranean. Enjoy a soul-soothing aromatherapy message in the exclusive European Spa, caressed by the sun-blessed Mexican Riviera, or a stimulating stroll around the Promenade Deck, face-to-face with an Alaskan glacier.
The sheltered spaces of the ship hold countless other pleasures. The chic boutiques of the 3,000 square-foot Avenue of the Stars shopping arcade feature designer jewelry, the latest European fashions, and fine collectibles from around the world. Spend a quiet hour in the 2,000-title library, or play a sociable hand of bridge in the Bridge Lounge with an ACBL instructor. There's just time for ten laps in the Seashore pool and a relaxing soak in the poolside Jacuzzi®, before meeting with your expert dance instructors to polish your footwork for the night of dancing that lies ahead.
The imagination thrives on the freedom and discovery of a sea voyage, and their unparalleled enrichment programs provide nourishing food for thought. The Crystal Visions Enrichment Lecture Series assembles a cast of international stars and luminaries, who'll share fascinating insights and historic moments. The celebrated chefs and wine connoisseurs of the Crystal Wine & Food Festival offer a dazzling array of gourmet demonstrations, tastings, and Guest Chef dinners. And in the cutting-edge Computer University@Sea equipped with Compaq® computers, experts show you the limitless potential of this powerful, and fascinating, tool. Each cruise is a feast of talent, intellect and sheer enjoyment, which gives new luster to the wide world through which you sail.
Daily Program
The Reflections daily program is delivered to your stateroom each evening to help you plan for the next day. It is a valuable guide to the activities aboard the ship, including a complete schedule of the day's events, hours for the ship's diverse venues and important announcements. It also contains entertaining articles on the ports of call, personality profiles of shipboard officers, staff, entertainers and Crystal Visions lecturers, fun facts about the world, cruising and a great deal more.
Lecures and Enrichment
The popular Crystal Visions Enrichment Lecture Series is offered on every cruise and includes a noted historian, anthropologist, geographer or geologist who lectures on the regions visited during the cruise. Also on board each cruise is at least one noted artist, art historian, archaeologist, architect, oceanographer, scientist, financial analyst, motivational speaker, author, critic, journalist, celebrity, or other interesting personality who shares insights into his or her particular world.
You can also expand your interests in subjects such as bridge and dance and participate in their acclaimed Computer University@Sea where guests learn about the fascinating world of computers in a relaxed environment. On selected cruises there is also instruction in golf, yoga, and arts and crafts.
Ambassador Hosts
Crystal Cruises offers a host program that includes four to six carefully screened gentlemen per sailing with interests and backgrounds similar to those of their guests. Each distinguished Ambassador Host is cultured, well traveled and an an accomplished ballroom dancer.
Dance Lesswons
Crystal Cruises offers an abundance of dancing opportunities and venues, each with its own style and ambiance. The Starlite Lounge (Crystal Symphony), the Palm Court and the Galaxy Lounge offer dancing before and after the evening shows.
Professional dance instructors offer regular classes in the most popular dance steps as the distinguished Ambassador Hosts await to escort you to the dance floor.
Spa & Fitness Facilities
The Crystal Spa offers a wide range of health and beauty services for men and women, in a tranquil atmosphere surrounded by panoramic views of the sea. There are complete sauna and steam room facilities, and our health specialists offer a wide variety of treatments, including aromatherapy, Aqua Meditation, exfoliation, reflexology and Swedish massage.
Both ships offer an ocean-view gym facility with weights and exercise equipment, as well as a full-time fitness director offering fitness advice and a variety of stretch and aerobic instruction. Other onboard fitness facilities include: one full-length lap pool; one indoor/outdoor pool; two Jacuzzis®; an extensive Promenade Deck for walking and jogging; a regulation paddle tennis court; table tennis; golf driving ranges and putting greens with Callaway® golf equipment; and shuffleboard courts.
Shore Excursions
An extensive selection of shore excursions has been developed to enhance the guests' cruise experience. Options include sightseeing, flightseeing and adventure tour programs. Activity levels vary from tours requiring less walking to more active excursions such as cycling and kayaking, each providing you with an opportunity to explore the points that interest you most about the ports you are visiting.
A book of shore excursion options is included with your cruise documents so that you can familiarize yourself with the tours available prior to embarkation. Once on board, you can book your tours through the ship's Shore Excursion Office. Some shore excursions may be booked in advance. Confirm availability with your Crystal-Cruise-Discount specialist. The Shore Excursion Staff also offers informational talks on each port of call, providing shopping tips and things to look forward to while ashore.
Afternoon Tea
This is a special event at Crystal Cruises. Each Tea presents a selection of savories and sweets served daily in the sun-lit charm of the Palm Court. Their "Mozart Tea" is a visit to 18th-century Vienna you are greeted by staff dressed in velvets and brocades and are tempted by a selection of the finest cakes and pastries Austria has ever made. Their English Colonial Tea offers a taste of tradition, complete with scones and clotted cream, finger sandwiches and other assorted sweets. The American Tea is a Crystal creation paying tribute to the classics of the American summertime.
Cocktail Hour
selection of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres are served in the various bars and lounges every evening before the dinner hour.
Entertainment
Production Shows
The Galaxy Lounge is the venue for their award-winning production shows, and a host of other evening performances. The showroom was custom-designed to offer perfect views from each of its 500 seats, and features state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems.
Each show is a magical blend of music and dance performed by the finest talent in musical theater. Costumes are individually designed and hand-made and staging is skillfully crafted to bring each vibrant scene to life.
Variety Entertainment
Each cruise features a variety of cabaret-style entertainers from illusionists, comedians, impressionists and ventriloquists to vocalists, musicians and classical artists.
Before and after dinner hours, musical entertainment and dancing are offered in a number of venues around the ship. Each lounge features a diverse array of performances from classical artists to ballroom dance bands. The musical trio serenades you with classical melodies during afternoon teatime and plays requests as they stroll through Crystal Dining Room each evening.
Piano Bars
Soft piano melodies fill the Crystal Cove in the afternoons and each evening at cocktail hour. The popular Avenue Saloon features a pianist/vocalist performing jazz and favorite tunes.
Casino
Crystal Cruises exclusively features Caesars Palace at Sea casino, run by the world-famous Las Vegas gaming operation. The 3,000+ square-foot facility houses five blackjack tables, as well as baccarat, craps, roulette, and more than 85 slot machines. The expert casino staff is employed by Caesars Palace.
A casino shipboard advance of up to $200 U.S. per person, per day, may be charged to the guest's shipboard account (up to a maximum of $2,000 US per cruise).
Guests must be at least 21 years of age to enter the gaming areas.
Parties & Special Occasions
The Bar Manager is happy to make arrangements for any special occasions or parties in your stateroom, or in the public rooms, if available. The Bar Manager can provide you with available packages including waiters, bartenders, special hors d'oeuvres and invitations.
Butler Service
Available to guests on Penthouse Deck 10, your own personal butler will attend to every detail of your stay, from packing and unpacking your bags to dinner reservations to planning a party in your penthouse. They are on call to look after your requirements.
Shipboard Services
Crystal's staff takes pride in making sure your entire journey goes smoothly, from beginning to end.
Concierge
The concierge and a 24-hour Front Desk Staff is available to assist you with any special shipboard or shoreside needs.
Cruise Sales Consultant
Crystal's shipboard sales representative will provide itinerary details and fares for future cruise reservations.Onboard sales receive a 5% discount.
Crystal Society Hostess
The Crystal Society Hostess is on every cruise to welcome first-time cruisers into the Crystal Society and to acquaint members with all the benefits and rewards of being part of the Crystal Family.
Room Service
Available 24 hours a day from the Room Service menu. Room Service may also be ordered from the Crystal Dining Room menu during regular dining hours.
Laundry/Valet Services
Complete valet services are available, including laundry, pressing, dry cleaning and shoe polishing. Services may be arranged through your stateroom stewardess, or through your butler if you are on the Penthouse Deck. All valet charges will be billed to your shipboard account. Complimentary self-service launderettes, including washing machines, detergents, fabric softeners, dryers, irons and ironing boards are provided on Decks 8, 9, and 10 (Crystal Symphony).
Business Services
Business centers are available on both ships, equipped with a personal computer and fax machine. Conference and meeting facilities are also provided on board. Secretarial and copying services are available upon request for a nominal charge, as is private e-mail, through their Computer University @Sea.
NEWS SERVICE
While you relax and unwind at sea, you can still stay in touch with the world. CNN and ESPN are transmitted live via satellite to your stateroom television, 24 hours a day (signal permitting). TimesFax, a summary of daily news from the pages of the New York Times, is transmitted via satellite to the ship (reception permitting) and is distributed to staterooms each morning. In addition, for a nominal charge, they will offer a Financial Fax service, a unique one-page personalized stock portfolio of up to 30 stocks that is delivered directly to your stateroom, shortly after US markets close each business day.
Communication
Mail
Prior to the departure date, you will receive a list of port addresses where mail can be forwarded or delivered to you throughout the cruise. Postage and mailing services are available on board. Be sure to allow sufficient time for delivery to distant destinations.
Telephone
Both ships are equipped with a sophisticated telephone system (COMSAT®) that allows guests to make direct-dial satellite phone calls from their staterooms while at sea. The ship telephone number will be included in your travel documents before sailing.
Calls will be billed to the guest's shipboard account. However, please be aware that the per-minute cost to use this system is significantly higher than a normal shoreside call. Guests may prefer to use pay phones located in various ports of call. Credit card phones are also located in specific public areas on the ship.
E-Mail
Crystal Cruises offers a private e-mail system through their Computer University@Sea. Your personal e-mail address is included on your Cruise Ticket. Details are provided with cruise documents or contact our specialists Agent for more information.
Facsimile (FAX)
Facsimile services are available for a nominal charge.
Hair Salon
The Crystal Salon offers a full range of beauty services for women and men, performed by trained professionals. Featured services include haircuts, hairstyling, coloring, permanents and body waves, facials and skin analysis, manicures and pedicures.
Medical Services
A trained physician and medical staff is on call 24 hours a day. The professional services of this staff, as well as certain medications, are available on board at reasonable costs. Guests requiring ongoing medication, or having specific dietary needs, are advised to bring an ample supply of medication or dietary supplements with them, in their carry-on luggage.
For safety reasons, liquid or gas oxygen tanks are not permitted in any staterooms or public areas. Oxygen concentrators may be used on board, provided Crystal Cruises is notified in writing, in advance, that a guest is bringing his or her own oxygen concentrator, and has made direct arrangements with an independent medical contractor who has agreed to undertake all required arrangements without involving the ship's onboard Medical Center and its personnel. The concentrator-dependent guest must travel with a companion who is also completely familiar with the operation of the concentrator.
Guests with existing medical conditions, guests who cannot completely care for themselves and who may require treatment by the ship's medical staff, or guests who may constitute a risk or danger to anyone else on board, must be reported in writing to the Crystal Cruises' On Board Guest Services Department prior to departure. Crystal Cruises reserves the right, without liability, to refuse to board and transport such guests who are in need of constant care by the ship's staff.
Religious Services
Jewish and Protestant services are available during major holidays, and Catholic services are offered on most cruises. Interdenominational services are performed on Sundays at sea. Details on the services are provided in the daily program.
