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After sailing 4,500 nautical miles, visiting five cities on two continents, and transiting the Panama Canal between the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans, our cruise aboard the Crystal Symphony finally came to an end in Miami, Florida some 15 days after it had begun in Valparaiso, Chile.  

As cruises go, this one had been absolutely marvelous (and I’ve been on 51 of them). But while the weather had been great and the itinerary fascinating, most of the credit for our displeasure in leaving the ship belonged squarely on the shoulders of the officers and crew of the Symphony. Once again, they had surpassed our expectations, which is probably why Crystal Cruises has been selected as the world’s best large cruise line by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine for the past 10 years.

From the moment my wife Gail and I had boarded the Symphony in Valparaiso, we had experienced extraordinary service. It began the moment a smiling crew member took our hand luggage at the gangplank and handed us a complimentary glass of champagne.  And it continued throughout the voyage with a lot of small but wonderful touches like crew members remembering our names, competing with each other to help us, and ensuring every meal was superbly cooked and served to our complete satisfaction.

The great service was complimented by a beautiful ship that I think is the perfect size for cruising.

At 51,000 tons with a passenger capacity of 922, the Symphony is large enough to have lots of choices for evening entertainment and dining, but small enough to be cozy. This is not a floating aircraft carrier with zip lines, surf simulators and ice-skating rinks where you never meet the same person twice and get sent ashore in hourly waves. It’s an intimate and sophisticated cruise ship where you meet interesting people, enjoy good conversation and make lasting friends.

In terms of layout, the Symphony is easy to navigate with most of the public areas conveniently located on four decks. Unlike the mega-ships, there’s no need to carry a deck plan around or use a Global Positioning System to find your cabin.  

The Lido Deck is the primary outdoor space aboard the Symphony, and it features a full-sized pool with a huge hot tub, a solarium with plush wicker furniture and table umbrellas, and a casual buffet-style café that serves breakfast and lunch. It also boasts an ice cream stand, a grill that’s open for late breakfast and lunch, a small bar and a lovely panoramic lounge located at the bow of the ship. Unlike some larger ships, we never had to search for an empty poolside chaise lounge or a fresh pool towel on the Symphony – they were always available. And within minutes of getting to our poolside chair, friendly crew members were ready to take our drink order.

Decks five and six are the two main decks for entertainment, dining and shopping. These decks feature several high-end shops, a martini bar, a coffee bistro, the main dining room, a casino, a sports bar, a main show lounge, a dance lounge and my favorite place on the ship, an intimate piano bar called the Avenue Saloon.

The Avenue Saloon offers a lovely pub setting and live piano music throughout the evening, which on our voyage was provided by the talented Charlie Shaffer.  However, we also had the benefit on being on one of Crystal’s Jazz Theme Cruises, which meant we were treated to a number of jam sessions in the Saloon and elsewhere by two wonderful jazz bands – the Pieter Meijer’s Quartet with Ms. Brady McKay, and the Cornet Chop Suey.

Deck 12 is home to a number of sports venues including a putting green, shuffleboard courts, golf driving nets, and a paddle tennis court. It’s also home to the Crystal Spa and Fitness Centre which offers a full range of treatments including hair styling, massages, and fitness classes. Their fitness staff and classes are so good that I even participated in several and hired a personal trainer for three sessions (and they have to be good to lure me away from the martini bar).

The food aboard the Symphony during our voyage was also outstanding – in fact, it was some of the most varied and delicious we’ve ever enjoyed at sea.

On most evenings we ate in the Crystal Dining Room, where we had a lovely table for two overlooking the water. During the cruise, our international menu options ranged from tender meats like Wisconsin veal chops and filet mignon, to mouth-watering fish dishes like lobster, grouper and sea bass – all served with delicious sauces.  And on those few occasions when we wanted a change of scenery and menus, we had two fantastic alternative restaurants to choose from, both of which are free.

We loved the ship’s Japanese-style restaurant called Silk Road, which is affiliated with renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The Silk Road features a small dining room with a full selection of Japanese main courses, as well as a sushi bar that serves freshly-made-to-order sushi and sashimi. Since the sushi bar operates on a first-come, first-served basis, it proved to be a great spot when we made a last-minute decision to skip our late 8:30 pm dinner seating in the main dining room.  

We also thoroughly enjoyed Prego, the Northern Italian-style restaurant that features a Venetian décor.  Once again, Crystal has partnered with a great celebrity chef to oversee the menu and food preparation – this time, with Piero Selvaggio, owner of the successful Valentino restaurants in the US. 

In terms of our accommodation, while our taupe and lavender stateroom was slightly smaller than those on competing luxury lines, it was well designed with plenty of storage. And it came with a wonderfully comfortable bed, a desk with sofa, and a beautiful granite bathroom with a tub/shower and two glass-vessel sinks.

So if you’re beginning to think it was difficult to leave the Crystal Symphony after 15 glorious days at sea, you’re right. However, we did manage to cushion the blow by signing up for another Crystal cruise before we left the ship!

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