Dover/London

Greetings From Crystal Symphony

​On the last night of the cruise the past few years we started a tradition to enjoy the evening from our room. Thank you, Head Butler Jaison, for taking excellent care of us over eighteen days. 
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We departed our last port of call yesterday late afternoon on our way  to Dover where the cruise ends. We didn't get the start of What a Wonderful World but turn up your volume.

What a Wonderful World.

What a Wonderful Cruise Line Crystal is.

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These are the dinner menus from Waterside.

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Fantasia.  Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity each have a room for young children. It can be used by families on their own and is also used when there are enough children on-board to have one or more Junior Activity Directors.
 

Throughout this voyage we have shared photos of various venues on board Symphony. The venues found on Symphony and Serenity have many similarities including their names other than venues such as Starlite (Symphony) and Stardust (Serenity) and Jade (Symphony) and Pulse (Serenity). There are differences in the layouts and size of some of the venues as well.
 
Another difference is Symphony has 12 decks and Serenity has 13 decks.
 
What is common between the two ships is significant including an experienced and extraordinary crew who are warm, charming, friendly, and professional.  
 
We want to give another shout-out to the deck hands and to housekeeping, and other parts of the hotel including food & beverage for always keeping the ship looking as spotless as possible given guest traffic and in fine working order.  Keith walks the ship early in the morning and even at that hour furniture is in its proper position and the ship is sparkling while at the same time the night crew is still working on cleaning the public rooms and is literally on hands and knees cleaning flooring and areas of the carpet on the floors and on the staircases. In those early hours the decks are being washed off.  It takes a team effort.  The crew represents around 50 different nationalities who work together regardless of their position. Can you imagine if countries from around the world adopted that same approach of working together? Maybe someday. 
 
We have said this before but Crystal Symphony looks much younger than its actual age because of the investment that has gone into the ship and because of the time and effort that goes into maintaining her each and every day and literally 7x24.  
 
Other areas that are common include an amazing dining experience between the cuisine, service, and the beautiful dining venues. Cuisine has been upgraded by new Crystal including the Italian Specialty restaurant Osteria, cuisine served in Waterside, offerings in Marketplace and even the canapes served in the lounges and in the suites.
 
Enrichment and entertainment continue to also be strong strengths of Crystal.
 
 
Success takes a team and success takes strong leadership. On board each Crystal ship you have Senior Officers, Junior Officers, Senior Staff and Crew who are focused on the safety of the ship for crew and guests, for keeping the ship in great working and who are focused on making the guest experience so very special.  When Crystal emerged from bankruptcy 85%+ of the staff returned to both ships. This says a lot about Crystal, the crew, and the guests.  
 
At the same time those on land for Crystal have a nice mix of seasoned Crystal employees combined with many seasoned personnel from A&K and other areas of the cruise industry and some land-based areas. More recently some members of former Crystal have returned in land-based functions that directly support service and food and drink on board the ships as well as some people from outside of old Crystal.  It is a magical recipe for success.
 
 
We have enjoyed an amazing time on Crystal Symphony as we did on our last Crystal Symphony voyage in 2018. We adore the ship, the new public areas and the new suite we stayed in, and most importantly the amazing team of very talented and caring people who are part of the Crystal Symphony Team. They have made us feel very welcome from the moment we arrive to the Port of Reykjavik, Iceland where we were greeted by some members of the team and from the moment, we boarded Serenity and throughout the cruise. They have touched each of our hearts in many ways. It has also been a pleasure being reunited with guests who we have sailed with before, while meeting several guests for the very first time.  


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We are including two photos of the Crystal Symphony Senior Officers as Cruise Director Raphael came on board the last week of the cruise to lend a hand.

We included a collage of four photos with three crew members; two of Jessie who is the lead person in the Computer University; Daniele who is the Future Cruise & Loyalty Manager and Mario the Specialty Restaurant Maître d’ who also swings up as Restaurant Manager when Remi goes on Holiday.
 
We have known all three for many years.
 
Jessie from his time on both Serenity and Symphony.
 
Daniele, starting in 2007when he was at the Reception Desk, then Concierge, then Assistant to Hotel Director, then Future Cruise Sales Consultant and now in his current position.
 
Mario as Head Waiter, then Senior Head Waiter, then swinging up to relieve Leo as Maître d’, then swinging between ships as Maître d’, then swinging between Maître d’ and Specialty Maître d’ on Serenity and now in his present position.
 
So why two photos of Jessie?  One of the photos is from outside the Computer University when we would both wave to Jessie and he would wave to us each time we would pass by when we walked inside the ship when the weather was not conducive to walk outside on the Promenade Deck.
 
All three are warm & friendly, caring, and professional. Like so many members of team Symphony & Serenity they are part of our extended Crystal Family and the number one reason we love and sail with Crystal, and why we can’t wait to sail again and again.

This morning we disembarked Crystal Symphony and were drive from the Port Of Dover to the Rosewood Hotel for a four night post cruise stay in London.
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We enjoyed our final meal (breakfast) on-board Crystal Symphony. We had a glorious time and words cannot express how much we have enjoyed these two cruises both on and off Symphony and the care that we have been shown by the members of Team Crystal Symphony.  

When we last sailed Symphony in 2018 we loved it so much we added a cruise for 2019 in addition to one we had booked for 2020.  Unfortunately, first one was canceled due to surgery for Anne Marie and the second one old Crystal cancelled due to Covid-19.  We plan to return to Symphony in less time than we waited this time around and maybe we will add another cruise so we can return sooner rather than later.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

Today's Daily Reflections for those getting off in Dover.

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More tomorrow about what we did today.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith