Reflections of a Regent Cruiser re: Crystal Symphony

CanadianKate was kind enough to begin a thread comparing her recent Crystal cruise to her Silversea experiences. As my partner & I have just completed our first Crystal cruise, after a number of cruises on Regent (total of 160 days), as well as cruises on Silversea and several expedition ships, I will try to describe some of the matters that might be useful to a Regent cruiser who is considering a dip into the Crystal waters.

Perhaps I should begin with a list of caveats, qualifiers, and other relevant or irrelevant statements of caution and explanation, in the firm hope of heading off the most incendiary reactions from loyalists of either Regent or Crystal:

First, this is not a review or discussion of both Crystal ships or of any Crystal cruise other than the one we took, 18 days from Tokyo to Vancouver about the Symphony. I am well aware that Serenity is not identical to Symphony and have no intention of comparing any feature of Serenity to any other ship, as I have never set foot or life vest onto Serenity. Further, as I have not cruised on the new Regent ship (which hasn’t yet been launched), I am not comparing Symphony to any Regent ships other than Navigator, Voyager and Mariner, on all three of which we have cruised multiple times.

Second, lest my reflections in some case produce the not-unreasonable retort that certain things should have come as no surprise to us if we had a decent TA or had done proper research, please accept my assurances that we have an excellent TA who only deals in luxury cruising; and we did extensive research before the cruise. Of course we knew the size of the cabins and the fact that the ship does not offer open dining. We booked and boarded with our eyes fully open regarding such matters. Clearly, until we tried the ship we would not know which characteristics of the experience would be positive, negative, or neutral for us.

Third, in order to not have to insert IMO or IMHO or IMWGASO before every statement, please assume that all of these observations are simply ours and the conclusions drawn from them are merely our opinions, with no particular dedication to making statements of fact cast in granite (or fake marble, either).

Finally, if any reader wishes to skip to the end of my ramble to read my conclusions (probably a good idea unless one has insomnia and requires a dreary read to get to sleep), I will let you know in advance that we will not likely consider another Crystal cruise until the new ship is launched. Our reservations regarding reserving again before that are primarily associated with the dining system, cabin size, and theatre design. A bit more detail on those issues will follow…

Reflections (cont’d)

The ship itself is quite beautiful and does not appear to be any older than the Regent ships, even though they are considerably newer. It is clear that maintenance is a high priority with Crystal. The public rooms on Symphony, particularly the Palm Court (observation lounge) and Crystal Cove, are much more attractive and comfortable than any comparable space on the Regent or Silversea ships. As a special note of interest for recent Regent pax who dislike the very heavy new furniture in the lounges, the furniture in the lounges on Symphony is both comfortable and movable without the assistance of a couple of stalwart stevedores. Further, Regent has no space as delightful as the intimate Avenue Saloon on Symphony. (Of course, that wonderful little venue would be much less appealing without the presence of the talented and amiable Mark Farris at the piano.)

One aspect of the public spaces on Symphony that we noticed, particularly when the weather was not ideal and consequently the lounging areas near the pool or in the Trident grill section were not acceptable to most pax, is that the remaining public spaces became quite crowded. That may well be related to the small size of 85% of the cabins on the ship (approx. 202 sq.ft. of interior space), making the cabins a less agreeable alternative for “hanging out”. A possible comparison for Regent cruisers of the rather busy public spaces in inclement weather is Navigator, which can also seem quite crowded when the pool deck cannot be used. Thus, if a Regent cruiser has not found public spaces on Navigator to be too crowded in less-than-ideal weather, that same cruiser would likely be quite happy on Symphony in similar weather.

Even though all three Regent ships have decent walking/jogging tracks, none of them has anything as appealing as the Promenade Deck on Symphony. That wonderfully old-fashioned feature of the ship should be de-rigueur for all cruise ships. Whether for walking, jogging, or observing the scenery, that wide and comfortable teak-floored space is a genuine treasure.

Ah, the cabins… All things considered, 202 sq.ft. just is not very big, irrespective of how efficiently it may be designed. Most Regent cruisers will miss the walk-in closet, the full-size sofa, and the large bathroom. The Symphony bathrooms are very well fitted-out, with good storage and fabulous water-pressure in the shower-over-tub (no separate shower) in the standard cabins. However, they are “one-person” bathrooms, with very little space for a second occupant. It is a bit peculiar that Crystal chose to install two sinks on a counter that is relatively difficult for more than one person to use.

We solved the small cabin problem by booking two connecting cabins (our cruise had a marvelously low single supplement). Thus, we had the great luxury of two bathrooms, two closets, and (when one of us was under the weather with the upper-respiratory ailment that attacked many of the pax on our cruise) two beds. Frankly, though, it took us about five minutes to determine that absent such a booking of two connecting cabins, we would not be comfortable in a single cabin of that size. Of course, there is also the alternative of booking one of the larger penthouses on Deck 10, at considerably higher cost (and no second bathroom!!).

Reflections (cont’d – Lordie, will this never end?)

Service and crew attitude - Those Regent cruisers who have become a bit disappointed (as we have done) in the level of service (both from a standpoint of organization and from a standpoint of staff attitude and morale) would be delighted in both aspects on Symphony. Overall, the service levels on our Crystal cruise were superb, with helpful, cheerful, and charming service from every member of the staff whom we encountered.

Dining Issues - This is probably the most difficult issue for us to address, as we find ourselves torn between the generally superior cuisine on Symphony and the (to us) unpleasant mode of dining scheduling.

Especially during our first week aboard Symphony, we often found ourselves stating that the food was a serious step up from Regent of recent years. (During the last few days of the cruise, the train went a bit off of the track, perhaps due to illnesses of the staff both in the dining room and the galley.) Even considering the many errors (cold soups, bouillabaisse served both cold and with unopened mussels – a major health no-no, oysters Rockefeller with no oysters under the topping) over the last 5 or 6 days, we remained convinced that the food was a tick up from Regent. It did seem, however, that in that last week of the cruise, no one was really watching what came out of the galley. Further, one aspect of dining on a fixed-dining schedule is that many of the dishes must be pre-cooked to deal with the mass of pax arriving at the same time, resulting in a lot of less-than-optimal dishes in terms of temperature and degree of doneness.

In fact, we had booked Dining by Reservation. However, the other members of our little cruising group who boarded 12 days before us in Hong Kong found that DBR was remarkably unsatisfactory. They were repeatedly seated at the dreadful tables directly adjacent to the service stations (aka, plate-scraping stations or waiter-butt-watching stations, as the waiters scrape the plates into the bins at the stations - seriously gross, folks!!). Therefore, our group negotiated a table at the early fixed-seating time. It was a very good table, with a capable and amiable waiter. However, it was necessary for us to enter the dining room “on time”, thus joining into the 6:00 pm cattle call line-up. Clearly, many people like fixed dining and do not mind the loss of the flexibility of finishing one’s cocktail in the Avenue Saloon before dashing off to the dining room; but we have determined that we are not among those people.

The menus on Symphony seemed to be a bit more varied than on Regent, particularly with regard to the Modern (left) side of the dinner menu. Indeed, there were some delightful offerings on that left side, along with quite a few offerings that were the absolute height of silly pretentious nonsense. (Oops, do I have to reiterate that this is all my own humble opinion?) On one evening, the left side of the menu included items with “froth”, “foam”, “snow”, “espuma”, and (drum roll) “olive oil caviar”. The last of those items may be the silliest of the modern/molecular cuisine but is also the most fun – I would love one of those liquid nitrogen baths to make those little beads of olive oil.

Reflections (cont’d - Yes, it finally will come to an end)

The Theatre - We loved the entertainment on Symphony. Aside from the Cirque shows on Regent, the entertainment on Symphony was a clear step up from Regent. However, the theatre on Symphony seriously sucks. It is small, offering seating for only 400 pax. That would be manageable, since there are usually two shows; however, the design of the theatre is quite ghastly. It has almost no change in elevation from front to back, resulting in many, many seats being quite bad. Even when one goes to the theatre 30 minutes in advance of the show to get a good seat, it only takes a couple of people sitting in front of one to make the whole experience most unpleasant. Further, for the performance after the early seating (which is the most popular of the three options – early, late, or DBR), there were often no seats left whatever for people who came into the theatre within 15 minutes of the beginning of the show.

Excursions - In this arena, Symphony is posing a serious challenge to Regent in the dubious distinction of incompetency. Overall, Regent probably remains ahead in the race; but the performance of the Crystal team at Korsakov was definitely a nadir in our experiences on cruise ships. It is quite true that much of the Chinese fire-drill was due to the Russian customs agents and their playing with passports; but the total lack of common sense and logic on the part of the Crystal excursion crew was at least an equal factor in the whole cock-up. When passengers have to convince the excursion staff of a logical way to hand out passports, something is amiss.

Summary - (yes, dear boys & girls, ladies & gentlemen, and children of all ages, this is at last winding down).

Do we regret cruising on Symphony? No, not in the slightest.

Will be cruise again on Symphony or Serenity anytime soon? No, not likely.

Are we returning to Regent? No, not likely. Our sights are now set on Seabourn. We will consider Crystal again when the new ship, with, one assumes, bigger cabins and open dining, debuts.

PS – Among the ports we visited was Aomori, Japan, which is not in itself much of interest. However, we took the occasion to visit the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival (about 60 miles away), which was absolutely one of our great travel experiences. There were 5,000 cherry trees in full blossom, with the castles moats carpeted in cherry blossoms. When there was a gust of wind, we were engulfed in a magical snow-flurry of cherry blossoms. As the MasterCard commercial says, “Priceless!!”

I have not tried DBR, but we are going on Serenity in September, and I had planned to. However, they have an additional diningroom that Symphony does not, so we will probably do that.

Regarding cabin size, I agree, and unless I can have CP, we don't do it. Our last trip we were in a Crystal Penthouse with a Verandah and we both got Norovirus...the bathroom situation was not at all good. You did right by getting two cabins. Good thinking.

I am surprised about your comment on tours as in the past...the past, I had found Crystals better than Regent. However, as you know, we prefer private tours when possible and so we don't subject ourselves to that.

In short...great write-up.

Thanks for your insight.

Carole

Carole - Like you, we almost always do private tours (or wander about on our own). That was not really an option at Korsakov. The only viable option was to take a Crystal tour, which in our case, was something from a Monty Python sketch, in terms of how the beginning was handled. Clearly, the excursion staff either does not have any sense of logical organization or fears that they would not be allowed such by their managers. In either event, it was a mess which would have been largely avoided by a couple of people taking a pragmatic approach to the whole matter.

We certainly agree that Norovirus or no-Norovirus, two bathrooms is better than one!!

Cheers, Fred

I love the Monty Python thing! And yes, two bathrooms rock! LOL

Instructive, insightful and witty! Envious of your cherry-blossom time.

Hi Freddie,

Great review! I have been waiting to see a Crystal review just like this. I think you have Pat or my email, please drop us a note. I'm wondering about the dogs! Also, we're booked on the Encore in Feb. 2017.

Stan

As Silversea and Regent cruisers, we had wondered what type of experience Crystal offered.You impartially answered so many questions that we had. We are taking a serious look at Seabourn for next year but were also considering Crystal. It still sounds like a fabulous product but may not be for us.

Thanks for the report, Freddie. The issues you addressed are precisely why we have not ventured to try Crystal, and probably won't anytime soon.

Thanks for the report and comparison. Each of these lines (Crystal and Regent) has one feature that keeps me from sailing with them. On Crystal it's the assigned dining schedule and on Regent it's the included excursions. DBR on Crystal is like trying to fit a square box into a round hole.

Great review Freddie. We were thinking about you and wondering how things went. None of your words came as a surprise. It is good to hear that your next time up may be to trying Seabourn. I think it could be a good fit.

Ann

Thank you, Freddie, for your very interesting post.

We are former Silversea and current Seabourn cruisers. Very happy with SB but also open to trying other lines given suitable itinerary.

We've looked at Crystal and you've addressed the major sticking points for us, which are the smaller suite size and the dining arrangements.

Freddie,

Just two things I wanted to tell you about Seabourn. We've only sailed once on the Quest, 42 nights Singapore to Venice, a wonderful cruise. Your review tells me you care a lot about the ambiance of the ship. Seabourn is modern and sleek. Art is minimalist and minimal. Also, be careful of the forward veranda cabins on deck 5 where the balconies get smaller and smaller as you go forward toward the anchor! Other than that we love Seabourn.

Hi freddie,

Enjoyed your report, and further convinced me that Crystal is not for me. A couple of years ago we did Seabourn Sojourn, Buenos Aires to Chile and and really liked it. Its a great alternative to Regent, give it a try!

The tub showers on Crystal are very deep. If, like me, you have bad knees, getting in and out is very difficult.

Thank you Freddie. I loved your review and comparison. Crystal is not on our radar for the reasons you stated. I have considered Seabourn but their smoking policy makes me hesitate. I look forward to hearing about your first Seabourn cruise and hope you do the same kind of comparison. Happy cruising.

We are about to leave on the Crystal Symphony for a 14 day transatlantic. We cruised the Med on the Mariner in April. We like both lines for different reasons...

When we get back I'll try to do a comparison/critique however I won't go into the smaller cabins on the Symphony and the traditional early/late seating dining. That's been covered ad nausium.......

We just got back from our first Crystal cruise and we had "dining by reservation". After breakfast the first morning, I talked to the Maitre'D about changing our reservation to a different time the next day. His response was, come in anytime you want. The reservation is just something that needs to be done on the computer. So we always just showed up and were seated immediately and most evenings we had a table for two by the window.

We don't like fixed seating either, and this worked well for us. By the way, we were on the Serenity, i don't know if the Maitre'D on the symphony are as accommodating.

I agree with Freddie's review

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I found your review interesting & very informative - thank you for your efforts. I am about to retire and plan on spending more days at sea. Since the 1970's I've spent considerable time on Cunard, HAL, Sitmar, Home Lines - even the old French & Italian Lines. I was fortunate enough to recall the good old days & what quality & luxury cruising is all about. And I've also seen the changes over the years - some good some not so much.

What we are looking for is a consistent quality onboard - sure nothing is perfect but after comparing the lines(Regent, Silversea, I won't step onboard a Carnivore Corp Line or ship and Crystal). I don't understand how these corporate monkeys can't coordinate the marketing departments w/ the onboard experience. We had looked at Crystal but after reading about the line & the ships we decided to skip it - basically because of the size of the cabins, the age of the ships and the 2 tier dining. At these prices I expect to go into the DR when I want(we usually eat dinner after 8pm). As you noted nothing beats a Promenade Deck - but I also expect to be comfortable in my cabin(usually a mid ship balcony). We sail for itinerary not based on cost. Because of that we now have taken more land vacations because of the quality of the overall experience. I could care less about meeting the officers or having dinner w/ the President of the line - just deliver the quality experience as advertised.

Living in NYC affords us the chance to eat in really great restaurants(bless Danny Meyer) and we dress often enough for the opera etc. So a great evening onboard sometime means the ability of ordering a roast chicken or duck w/ French fries along w/ a great wine in the cabin. But it has to be a great experience all around...we'll try the inventive / modern cuisine also but the ducks skin better be crispy!

The post that stated someone on another Crystal ship was also on DBR as you were & the Maitre'D said come in anytime you want....

Your thoughts certainly gave us reason to give up thoughts of sailing on Crystal - for the time being. Its funny there are certain people on the Crystal boards & granted the line suits them after many many days onboard the Crystal ships - but reading their posts it sounds like they are on Crystal Koo Koo Punch!

To each their own - we have friends that have sailed for years on Regent & won't go on another line!

Hopefully with the new ship Edie Rodriguez(or whoever will be in charge) will put up or shut up!

Thanks again - Full moon & smooth seas to you & yours Freddie!

Rotterdam - I can't help feeling that you are 'cutting off your nose to spite your face' as we say, in refusing to try a Carnival line - i.e. Seabourn. We have just had a cruise on Regent for the first time in many years, after quite a few on Seabourn more recently. Obviously everyone has their own opinions and biases, but my feeling is that Seabourn's service personnel, food (except for perhaps the specialist restaurants) and wines are streets ahead of Regent. We also know Silversea, and Seadream, over several cruises on each, and still feel Seabourn comes out on top. No, we too have not tried Crystal and do not intend to, mainly because of the restaurant seating problems. Seabourn's basic suites are 50 sq. ft. larger than Regents, which definitely makes for a bit more comfort, and all have a bathtub and separate shower. Worth a thought?

We did go back to Regent with optimism, expecting to enjoy it just as much as SB, but sadly did not.

lincslady, the one thing that you may not be considering is the smoking policy on Seabourn. Although many passengers do not feel that it is a problem, there have been very long threads discussing how much of a problem is truly is. When there is smoking permitted on balconies, it is a crap shoot in terms of whether or not your neighbor will smoke (or chain smoke as has been the case upon occasion) and it will waft onto your balcony. While we would not try Crystal for the reason you stated, we would not try Seabourn because of their smoking policy.

First of all let me start off, if you do dining by reservation on Crystal and you are a small party 2-4 you will have no problem on either the ship going when you want at least for us it has never been a problem at all.

The standard cabins are smaller but well thought out and the ships always look new and in perfect shape. I also find the comment that Crystal people are a bit koo koo is snarky in tone. Trust me, Crystal has many converts from all the other luxury lines. We have sailed Rgent five times and were not wowed by the food or the service the same with SS.

Crystal is moving forward at a rapid pace. The two new ships will have standard suites boasting 400 sq feet of space. The Espirit luxury yacht will be launched this winter with 31 luxury suites. Also, a luxury riverboat cruise will be built as well. If you want to do the world by air Crystal is either purchasing or leasing a B-787 Dreamliner which will take 60 guests around the world with only 60 guests on a plane that can hold over 300 passengers. I find it funny that people who have never had the Crystal experience can judge a line that has won the most awards over any cruise line. I started Crusing Crystal on the Harmony when I was thirty and have cruised them for 25 years. Ok, now you know my age.

Edie, came on board before GHK purchased Crystal. Edie is a brilliant woman and knows what she is doing and we have met her. Gentry Hong Kong Holdings has the money to move Cryatal forward in the luxury market. With four ships, yacht and riverboat and a plane and also the talk of a smaller aircraft to add. Cryatal will give the luxury traveler more choices which will really up the game in the luxury market.

Don't be concerned about open dining. The yacht and the two new ships will have it along with more speciality resturants.

The currents ships never seem full do to many solo cruisers and the space ratio is excellent as well as the top notch service. Crystal also has very little turnover among the crew. Something to be said for that.

These last 3 posts (including mine!) just go to show how attached we can get to our own favourite! No line is perfect - however, I do feel that unless one has tried a particular line one should avoid being over critical. To us the other advantages of SB overcome the small - to us - problem of smoking areas. A lot of the reason for personal preferences I think boils down to one's own particular likes and dislikes, and we are all different. We value staff interaction, good food and a good choice, freely offered, of reasonable wines over some other things, so don't worry too much about the smoking. One thing I must say in Regent's favour - really nice poolside loungers, Seabourn's are very uncomfortable and really need to be replaced or given soft mattresses. I can somehow tell by reading between the lines in 'Crystallers' posts that it would not be our sort of thing - and that most of them would probably not care for Seabourn. Diffrent strokes.

Incidentally, the smoking area with the sofas on Regent's pool deck was really smelly if you were anywhere near!