Crystal Cruises

Crystal Cruise Lines, established 1988, is notable for its two high-end ships, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity, both of which can carry around 1,000 guests. Crystal Cruises is a subsidiary of Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the Japanese shipping company. Passengers on Crystal Cruise Lines are mainly North American, the majority of them hailing from California. Crystal Cruises have been voted Conde Nast Traveler's "Best Large-Ship Cruise Line" for 16 years, Travel & Leisure's "World's Best" for 14 consecutive years, and their ships are usually in theguidebooks' top 20 lists for cruise ships afloat.

Both ships range world-wide, offering cruises in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Australia & New Zealand, New England & Canada, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean and Mexico. If that's not enough, how about a 110 day World Cruise on board the Crystal Serenity?

The Crystal Symphony holds a complement of 940 passengers. Crystal Serenity provides for 1,050 passengers cared for by 650 crew. Crystal Harmony, the original Crystal Cruise ship, was retired from service with Crystal Cruises in 2005. Whereupon she was renovated, renamed the Asuka II, and joined the Japanese cruise market with Asuka Cruises.

Fleet

	Crystal Symphony The Crystal Symphony (1995) and holds 940 passengers. It boasts a casino, a gym, a Feng Shui-ed spa and pools, plus a 360 degree Promenade Deck. One of the most capacious cruise ships in the world, it joins Crystal Serenity in the top two spots among Condé Nast Traveler's best ships in the world.
	Crystal Serenity The Crystal Serenity (2003)is 820 feet long, with a gross tonnage of 68,870. Serenity's 548 staterooms can hold over a thousand passengers. All staterooms are externally opening, and 80% of these include private balconies. Condé Nast Traveler (as voted by their readers) consistently rates Crystal Serenity the best cruise ship in the world. Crystal Serenity maintains one of the highest space-per-guest ratios at sea, so you'll never feel surrounded by the crowd.

Each Crystal Cruises ship features two complimentary specialty restaurants (where tipping is encouraged)including the Italian restaurant Prego (overseen by Piero Selvaggio of Valentino restaurants) and Silk Road and the Sushi Bar (overseen by famous Japanese restauranteur Nobu Matsuhisa). Daytime activities include pools, lectures, a movie theater, lessons by Yamaha keyboard instructors, instruction by Berlitz language teachers.