Long and underwhelming Alaskan/Aleutian Island cruise with a fantastic crew.

Crystal Symphony Cruise Review to Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East)

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 42

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Crystal Symphony

22 Night Alaska & The Aleutian Islands (Tokyo To San Francisco)

Sail date: May 26, 2019

Ship: Crystal Symphony

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 1005

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

My overall experience positive. This was my first cruise and I was impressed with Crystal's efficiencey, cleanliness and the staff's positive attitude and ability. There was confusion in my group about tipping policies. That could be made clearer by the company. I felt most of the ports of call experience was less than exciting. They were okay but very toursity (for obvious reasons), however, maybe there's no where else to go up there or not much else to do. The on board experience was very good so I would definitely consider Crystal Cruise line for my next cruise. I would be more careful about desitinations and time. Three weeks was a long time for me to not see that much.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Dining experience was top drawer. Servers were attentive, knowledgable and friendly. Crystal has the best employees.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Overall activities were good. Gym could use more dedicated indoor space or upgrade activities outside on the deck. Movies were fair - kind of old fashioined. Computer classes great. Personally, I enjoy learning classes like bridge classes and Mahjong, etc. Maybe you could add writing classes, or finance classes for retirees, since it seems older folks were the demographic on this cruise.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
They were good overall. I didn't get to see everything, so I suppose that's a good thing.

Children's Programs

I had no children on board and didn't see any others on this cruise.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our servers were all top notch. Muzo and Viktor in the main dining room were great, the somalier was wonderful, as were the maitre dee(s) and all support. Lester and Dereck in the Palm Court were extra special, and Greg, who was our room steward and the two women who cleaned for us were five stars. Really Crystal hires very well. There was not one single employee who appeared less than. Very impressive staff over all.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Comfortable room overall. Kept very clean by the staff.

Ship tip

Check the itinerary and options at ports of call.

Ports of call

Tokyo, Japan

2 out of 5
We had no options to explore the city, unless we came much earlier and arranged our own tours. That was disappointing to me.

Hakodate, Japan

1 out of 5
What was the point of stopping there?

Petropavlovsk, Russian Federation

1 out of 5
As a tourist a huge disappointment.

Cross International Dateline

1 out of 5
Not applicable to anything.

Dutch Harbor, Alaska

1 out of 5
Awful. A bus to Walmart? Best part were the Bald Eagles.

Cruise Gulf Of Alaska

3 out of 5
It was pretty to see.

Kodiak, Alaska

3 out of 5
There was more to do here finally, although tired from crossing the dateline we did manage to find things to do. I was wait listed on an excursion which I ultimately did not get on (staff was not that helpful with this - I was disappointed) so left to my own devices I walked around town. The aquarium had only about three fish. Hardly worth the walk. I was told the museum was nice but we didn't get there.

Cruise Hubbard Glacier

5 out of 5
Spectacular and we were invited to view from the Captain's bridge. Captain was great.

Skagway, Alaska

4 out of 5
I'm confusing some of the ports of call. Not that much difference between them. The helicopters to the glacier was great - if that was here, although $400 for 45 minutes seems pricey to me. Then tourist shopping.

Sitka, Alaska

3 out of 5
Tourist shopping.

Ketchikan, Alaska

3 out of 5
More tourist shopping. I think the bear sacturary was here. Enjoyed that immensely.

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

1 out of 5
No excursion.

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5
Lovely city. We toured on our own. Not certain if a Crystal excursion existed.

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

3 out of 5
Again, we toured on our own. I was not aware of any Crystal excursion at this port.

San Francisco, California

3 out of 5
We arrived in the evening and preferred to stay on board to eat at Umi Uma as their food was spectacular.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Very organized. They took good care of us.
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