Sunday, March 31, 2024

Royal Caribbean Cruise Reviews 2024 UPDATED: Ratings of Royal Caribbean International

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Among the major luxury lines, the original Crystal Cruises was always known for a stepped-up level of entertainment (it's long been a Crystal thing), and the new Crystal is no different. From the day of its relaunch, Crystal Serenity has been a ship that gets lively at night in a way that many luxury ships don't. As is typical for a (relatively) small luxury vessel, Crystal Serenity doesn't have a huge number of eateries. Nor are there so many bars that you won't have time to get to them all on a typical cruise. That sort of too-much-is-never-enough excess is the realm of the big mass-market ships. For longtime Crystal fans, the thing to know is that a large percentage of all these accommodations were massively overhauled and enlarged in advance of the line's relaunch this year.

Crystal Serenity cabins and suites

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If you plan to spend a lot of time in your cabin, you might value a balcony or a spacious room more. Families might look for cabins with connecting doors or extra bed options. Wi-Fi service on Crystal Serenity is relatively fast for a cruise ship and included in the fare.

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The Budget Accommodation Choice

As of the publishing of this guide, fares for Crystal Serenity sailings were starting at $3,200 per person for the least expensive cabin on a six-night sailing from Vancouver to Los Angeles. These fares are based on double occupancy — that is, they are valid when two passengers share a room. Other eateries on Crystal Serenity include Marketplace, a casual buffet, and The Trident Grill, serving cooked-to-order burgers and hot sandwiches. Both are steps away from the ship's main pool on Deck 12, as is Tastes Kitchen & Bar. The latter serves a mix of classic lunch dishes from around the world at lunchtime — everything from stir-fried egg noodles and a grilled Reuben sandwich to chicken quesadillas and a shrimp Caesar salad. The new entrant to Crystal's scene is Osteria d'Ovidio, a high-end Italian eatery that takes the place of Prego, another Italian restaurant that was in the same location for years leading up to the line's shutdown in 2022.

10 of 42,668 Royal Caribbean Cruise Reviews

This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Hi, we are Chris and Rickee and we have been cruise journalists since 2002. We love sharing our experiences on our website, blog and YouTube channel. Travel and food writers, John and Sandra Nowlan spend seven nights aboard Hurtigruten’s Roald Amundsen. We spend seven nights aboard Celebrity Beyond on a Western Caribbean cruise.

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Like Umi Uma, Osteria d'Ovidio only can be visited once per cruise for free for sailings of 11 days or fewer. After that, there's a $50 per person charge to dine there on a space-available basis. If you want additional reservations at Umi Uma, you can sign up for another turn, on a space-available basis, for $50 per person. This is basically a crowd-control measure, as otherwise, everyone on board would want to eat there every night.

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Luxury cruises tend to be longer than other cruises, so they appeal to guests who have ample time for vacation,” she adds. As is typical for cruise ships, Crystal Serenity operates on a cashless system, with any onboard purchases you make posting automatically to your onboard account. You'll receive a plastic keycard upon embarkation that you can use to make charges. Rounding out the ship's accommodations are 46 smaller cabins for two with balconies that measure 269 square feet. There are also 42 cabins for two without balconies that measure 215 square feet. Both cabin categories are officially called Double Occupancy Suites, though, in my book, cabins of that size aren't really suites and shouldn't be labeled as such.

Lunch brings its own enticing array of mouth-watering dishes, from pan-fried rainbow trout with almond-caper butter to lamb kofte. While I was only on Crystal Serenity for six nights, I was able to visit every food outlet on board — something made possible by the ship's relatively intimate size. The solo cabins, which I wasn't able to see, are also an entirely new category of cabin for the ship. The six Junior Crystal Penthouses offer separate dining and living areas looking out over a private balcony, a bedroom with a large walk-in closet, a spacious primary bathroom, and a half-bath near the entrance for visitors. The remaining 30% of accommodations include a handful of larger penthouse and junior penthouse suites, and roughly 100 smaller double and single rooms (more on these in a moment). My all-time favorite bartender from any ship at sea, Ana, also is on board, now promoted to a position at the front desk.

But let’s face it: The base fare alone isn’t ultra-affordable compared to other cruise ships.

That's no longer the case, thanks to the overhaul of the cabin decks mentioned above. The two decks were completely gutted, with smaller cabins replaced by suites that are twice as large. I'll go into more detail on this below in the cabins section, but the result is a game-changing transformation for Crystal Serenity's accommodations that give it some of the best luxury cabins in the business. By definition, small ships hold fewer than 1200 passengers, usually making the cruise experience more intimate with more individualized service. Cabins on higher decks will provide better views from balconies and suites, and good access to many of the ship’s amenities, but passengers may feel the ship's movement more. Choosing your cruise ship cabin or stateroom is an essential part of planning a dream cruise vacation.

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In addition, men can wear tailored shorts but only when dining in the casual Tastes restaurant. A shorter five-course food and wine pairing in the Vintage Room is available for $220 per person. Occasional seven-course meals overseen by celebrity chefs that sail on the ship cost $1,100 per person, including wine pairings.

That said, some restrictions may apply based on specific countries that the ship visits. The top decks of Crystal Serenity also are home to two paddle tennis courts that can double as pickleball courts, a complex known as Wimbledon Court. Six decks down, hidden at the back of the ship, you'll also find a golf lover's hideaway with driving nets, a small putting green and table tennis. It's tucked away so well that it's a bit of a treasure hunt to find it. Its dark wood and leather-lined walls, heavy red-upholstered barrel chairs and turned-down lights create the air of a speakeasy.

The right accommodation can enhance your cruise experience, providing you with a comfortable retreat after a day of adventure, but some choices may turn out to be an expensive mistake. Crystal Serenity's cabins and suites offer both U.S.-style 110V outlets and European-style 220V outlets and USB ports at built-in cabin desks. You'll also find both types of outlets and USB ports above the nightstands on both sides of cabin beds. Americans may want to bring an adapter for charging devices in public rooms where the outlets are all European-style. At the center of the top of the ship, a main pool area sports a large pool (the Seahorse Pool — a nod to Crystal's seahorse branding), two large hot tubs and rows of plush loungers of the sort you'd expect on a luxury vessel. Elegant modern white rattan sofas and chairs are sprinkled around under shading umbrellas.

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I am not a gambler, and you won't ever find me in a cruise ship casino. But Crystal has traditionally drawn a lively crowd that likes to stay up late drinking, dancing and soaking in the onboard entertainment, and for some, at least, that includes dropping a little money at a casino. It is the interplay of this crew with Crystal's regular customers — and 80% of Crystal's customers are regulars, according to its new owners — that creates an onboard experience that many luxury cruise lovers find unrivaled.

The four Crystal Penthouses, one of which I toured, are truly over-the-top. The bathroom toiletries, too, were high-end, made by Italian luxury purveyor Ortigia Sicilia with scents of Italian wildflowers. On Deck 7, not far above the waterline, the promenade also is wide and blissfully uncluttered.

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