Crystal Symphony

This is the ship I sailed on (and the only photo I didn't take - the staff seriously frowns on people leaving the ship mid-cruise no matter how badly you want a picture!). You can find information on this ship and the others on the Crystal roster at the Crystal Cruises home page. We left Ft. Lauderdale at 9:00 PM on April 25th. It was a calm, pleasant night and watching the harbor lights drift by as we headed out was very pretty - and that's not mentioning the fresh ocean breeze and the shouts and greetings from the shore as we passed.

Cabin flower

I don't have any pictures of the cabin, because I just couldn't get the damned lighting to cooperate :) The cabins are lovely though with a king sized bed and a separate living area that includes a sofa, a desk and chair and an adjustable-height table. There is also a small refrigerator, a safe and combination TV/DVD player. The bathroom is positively luxurious by my standards with a half-size tub, vigorous shower, two sinks and lots of shelves, drawers and mirrors. These flowers are in all of the cabins and on every table in the dining room. They bloom slowly and last the entire voyage. That little refrigerator came in handy too as I got into the habit of smuggling a bit of the very excellent turkey breast available in the Bistro and a cheese roll (along with a pat of butter and, sometimes, a fruit tart) up to my cabin. I would put the turkey in the fridge and the roll into a plastic bag. Then I was all set for a midnight snack!

Promenade deck

This is the Promenade deck. You can see the lifeboats hanging over the deck. There is a lifeboat drill before you even leave port and they are dead serious about it. You had better show up or they'll come around to your cabin and demand to know why.

This is where you go if you want to take a walk in the fresh air (there are also treadmills in the gym). Four circuits of the deck equals one mile. Dad and I generally like to take a stroll after dinner, but on this cruise, the ocean swells were often sufficiently large (16-18 feet) that walking was problematic. On those days, all us passengers stumbled, staggered and reeled around like a bunch of drunks :) The weather was beautiful for the most part; we only had one semi-rainy day and the temperatures were consistenly in the 60s. Most hospitable and comfortable!

Seascape

And this is what you see, most of the time, on a transatlantic crossing - ocean, ocean and more ocean. I love this. When you look out the window or off the deck without any points of reference, the sky and the sea almost seem to be rotating around the ship. There is the strong impression that the sky and clouds are an inverted bowl over the surface of the sea and that you are at the center of it. I found that if I marshalled my thoughts just right, I could almost pretend I was one of those long-ago sailors who thought that was exactly the case because I could see why they would have thought so.

Ocean colors

The colors in this are very close to true. I am mesmerized by the limpid, translucent blue-green of the deep ocean and, as the sea mixes with air, the color turns to a rich aquamarine. If I could find yarn in these colors, I'm not sure I'd ever buy anything else. Of course, translucent yarn could be a problem - both to make and to wear :)

Ashtray seahorses

The seahorse is Crystal's logo and you see it everywhere on board. It is printed on all the paper and embossed, carved or etched onto every durable surface. Here, it has been stamped into the sand in the ashtray near the elevators where, as you might have guessed, it is forbidden to smoke!

Seahorse sculpture at the Trident pool

Palm Court

This is right at the top front of the ship. It's a beautiful little lounge where, among many other things, tea is served every afternoon from 3:30 - 4:30 PM and where I, and many others, played trivia every morning. Every ship I've ever been on hosts a team-trivia game and it is always huge fun, not to mention a great way to meet some lovely folks. One of the questions asked was "What, according to legend, did Cleopatra have her mattress stuffed with every night?" The correct answer was 'rose petals' but the best answer was 'Marc Antony'.

Dad in the Lido Cafe

The Lido cafe is also right at the top of the ship. They serve both breakfast and lunch in buffet fashion and there are always huge quantites and varieties of things to choose from. This is where you go (where I often went) when the attention of the waiters in the dining room gets to be too much - and trust me, it's intense. If you want a nice quiet meal, go to the cafe.

There are usually at least two guest lecturers on board who will do four or five presentations. There are also classes given in music, computer literacy, language and art. You just have to show up for them. Every night there is live entertainment (a show or a performance) as well as a movie (recently run - "Sideways", "A Series of Unfortunate Events", "Manchurian Candidate" and "In Good Company", for example). A couple of small groups play in the ship's bars and cafes until after midnight. For this cruise, it was the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - a great pleasure for those of us who enjoy big band and swing music.

As always, I was glad to get home and, as always, the closer to home I got, the more frantic I was to get there. The 7.5 hour flight from Lisbon was a killer and if I thought Boston's Logan Airport was a nightmare in terms of security procedures, well it's got nothing on Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ. I thought they were going to make me take my skin off and show them my bones!

The next trip (November - after Thanksgiving) will be back to the islands and I hope to be able to take some more interesting photos then!