Posted by David Porter on September 16, 2016 · Leave a Comment
Enjoy Complimentary VIP Virtuoso Voyages Perks on all Crystal Ocean Cruises
Note: click image for larger view.
Our travel agency, Roaming Boomers Travel Services, is an affiliated member of Virtuoso®, the world’s leading international luxury travel agency network. Because of this, we bring our clients complimentary perks on cruises, hotels, resorts, and much more.
With regards to ocean and river cruises, we offer our clients Virtuoso Voyages on many of the world’s luxury cruise brands. While we’ll bring you the best available pricing, we will also compliment that with extra VIP perks that you simply can’t get on your own.
As you can see in our graphic above, we bring you these perks on every single 2016, and 2017 Crystal Cruise. These complimentary perks include:
- An onboard Virtuoso Host
- A fabulous private Virtuoso Shore Excursion
- A private welcome-aboard Virtuoso private cocktail party.
In the know luxury cruisers have learned to book with a Virtuoso-member travel agency so that they might join in the fun and enjoy these complimentary perks. Plus, it’s a great way to make new friends. Further still, this is on top of any promotional offers we might have on Crystal Cruises as well.
To explore well over 100 Crystal Ocean Cruises with complimentary Virtuoso Voyages benefits, CLICK HERE. And, to see our current promotions with Crystal Cruises, CLICK HERE.
Carol and I just returned from our first Crystal Cruises sailing and we absolutely LOVED it. To read articles from our personal experience, CLICK HERE.
For those who desire a luxury cruise experience far from the maddening crowd, we highly recommend Crystal Cruises.
To learn more about our complimentary VIP Virtuoso Voyages Perks, and exclusive promotional offers from Crystal Cruises, call our travel agency at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.
If you enjoyed this article, sign up for our travel newsletter to keep abreast of our best travel tips, on-location reviews, exclusive travel offers, group travel events, and much more.
Posted by David Porter on September 15, 2016 · 2 Comments
Carol with the sommelier at Prego
Understanding the Dining Options on Crystal Cruises Serenity
Before we share our personal dining experiences sailing on the Crystal Cruises Serenity, the first question that usually pops into the mind is the dress code.
Therefore, you might want to hop over to our article that explains the dress code when sailing with Crystal Cruises: click here.
Dress codes on luxury cruise lines have become far more relaxed over the last decade. So, I think you’re going to like it.
The Crystal Dining Room
First, we’ll start our discussion with Crystal Cruises main dining space, the Crystal Dining Room.
Warmly decorated with rich wood paneling, brass railing, crystal chandeliers, and floor-to-ceiling windows, the grand Crystal Dining Room is one of the most elegant dining facilities at sea. Sophisticated décor is enhanced by the finest of tabletop appointments, including Schott Zwiesel stemware, Villeroy & Boch porcelain, Sambonet silver, and Frette or Garnier Thiebaut linens.
Innovative menus boast a variety of international specialties, with regionally inspired dishes based on the itinerary, presented in either a “classic” style or “modern,” molecular gastronomy style. Guests always have multiple courses to choose from: appetizers soups and salads; the highest quality meats, such as prime rib or pheasant; fresh fish, including lobster and salmon; indulgent and sugar-free desserts; and premium international wines and champagnes to accompany it all. Remarkably, the Crystal Dining Room never repeats a menu during a cruise.
While the waitstaff is all gussied up each night, and the experience has a more formal feel to it, most of the patrons were dressed “Crystal Casual” with a few sport coats here and there. I brought silk shirts to wear in this more formal setting each night, and a dark sport coat to wear on the black-tie optional night. Dressing for the ladies seems easier. There’s beautiful, and ultra-beautiful on the one formal evening.
I really enjoyed having essentially two menus each night. Carol enjoys a more classic menu when she’s dining, where I love to explore new and innovative dishes. So, I found myself selecting off of the modern menu most nights.
When contemplating the modern menu, think molecular gastronomy where advanced galley equipment is used and expanded local sourcing of the freshest ingredients for such dishes as scallop and tuna tartare with flavored citrus foam, white miso soup poured over, and olive oil “caviar” balls that explode with cold flavor when bitten into; a Shiraz-braised oxtail ragout served with an egg poached to silky perfection after almost an hour of slow cooking; and a re-imagined Strawberries Romanoff comprising a cotton candy dome that melts immediately upon having strawberry consommé poured over it, revealing a flourless fresh berry-almond cake with vanilla anglaise hidden underneath.
While I wouldn’t call myself a food critic, we have dined in some of the best restaurants in the world, and we found the cuisine in the Crystal Dining Room to be top shelf. In fact, I enjoyed my first meal in the Crystal Dining Room so much, I leaned over to Carol and said, “let’s just eat here every night”. It was that good. Of course, she gave me a disapproving look, and said “no, we need to experience all of the restaurants”.
She was right of course. But all that to say that the cuisine in the Crystal Dining Room is superb. Three-star Michelin good? No. But very good indeed. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, I think you’ll be very pleased.
Crystal Cruises Perfect Choice Dining
When we were on our first cruise many years ago, we were forced to sit a particular table each night at a prescribed time and with a bunch of strangers. Now, we don’t mind sitting with folks we don’t know, that’s how new friends are made. But the prescribed time was a problem as it forced us to be aboard ship when we might not be ready to do so. When I’m exploring the world, I don’t want my dining experience to control my time.
Crystal Cruises has solved this problem with what they call Perfect Choice Dining. This unique concept allows you to choose between a classic main seating at 6:15, a late seating at 8:30, or dining by reservation (when and with whom you wish).
Once your cruise is fully paid, you may then reserve your personal dining times. Carol and I chose to be seated each night at 6:15 at a table of eight. This allowed us to meet new people, make new friends, and get to know our waitstaff. For us, we find this to be a far more personal experience.
However, as we’ll discuss below, we were absent from our assigned table five nights as we were also exploring some of the other dining options on the ship, and one evening we chose to make a dining reservation in the Crystal Dining Room to have a more intimate dining experience with new friends we made aboard ship.
We like options and the Perfect Choice Dining concept gave us the ability to dine how and when we wanted. Lastly, the Crystal Dining Room is open for breakfast and lunch with open seating.
A few of our Dining Photographs
Before we move on to some of the other dining choices available on the Crystal Cruises Serenity, I thought you might enjoy a few of the photographs we shot during our dining experiences aboard ship.
We didn’t capture any photographs dining in the Crystal Dining Room as we we chose to sit at a table of eight to make new friends. Attempting to get a good photograph on a table filled with eight people as well as all of the dining accoutrements filling the table just didn’t seem practical. However, in our other dining experiences, we requested a table for two so that we could capture some nice photographs for our readers to see. Hope you enjoy them.
Specialty Restaurants
Crystal specialty restaurants provide an opportunity for guests to enjoy a variety of culinary experiences. In order to ensure that each guest has a chance to dine at Prego, Silk Road and the Sushi Bar at least once during their voyage, a maximum of one reservation per specialty restaurant will be confirmed per booking through their Guest Check-in/Priority Check-in and Planning Center (PCPC). All additional reservations or visits (i.e. walk-in dining) will be confirmed on board on a space available basis for a nominal fee of $30 per person, per dining experience.
While we certainly enjoyed the Crystal Dining Room, it is our strong opinion that each guest should make a complimentary reservation at Prego, Silk Road, and the Sushi Bar. It’s best to do this immediately after your booking is completed. However, if you ignore that advice, make it your priority to get these restaurants booked immediately after boarding. These restaurants are much smaller than the Crystal Dining Room, are VERY popular, and if you wait too long, you’re going to be disappointed to learn that they have sold out. Forewarned if forearmed. Right?
Carol and I are big fans of Italian cuisine, so we gladly sprung for an additional $60 to enjoy a second night at Prego. Yum. Yum. Yum.
Prego
Charming and romantic, Prego brings the flavors of Italy to Crystal Serenity. The intimate European restaurant features classic and contemporary Italian dishes such as:
- Carpaccio of Black Angus Beef, with Mustard Sauce and Caravaglio Capers
- Minestra “Primavera di Verdura” Soup with Vegetables in Season, Tomato, Beans, and Macaroni Pasta, topped with Bread Crostini and Pesto
- Lavender Honey-Roasted Pink Duck Breast, with Balsamic Cherries, Chestnut Cappuccino, and Salsify and Poached Radish
- Paccheri and Swordfish with Mint, Basil, Capers, and Zucchini Ecrema
The tantalizing selection of desserts might include flavored lady fingers with light mascarpone cheese layers; a Nougatine Mousse with brandy cherries, cherry ice cream, and Frangelico schiuma; or a “Piedmontese” chocolate-almond flan.
I might also add that the Osso Buco was out of this world. If you’re an Osso Buco fan, get it!
Silk Road & The Sushi Bar
Silk Road restaurant features the eclectic cuisine of famed master chef Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa with dishes prepared by Nobu-trained chefs. Matsuhisa redefined sushi with an innovative blending of classically styled Japanese foods with distinct Peruvian and European influences. He personally guided The Sushi Bar’s intimate design and unveiled his own, fingerprint-proof line of fine china in The Sushi Bar and Silk Road during Crystal Serenity’s inaugural season. While The Sushi Bar offers an assortment of Nobu’s signature sushi and sashimi, including Tiradito Nobu-style, and Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeño, Silk Road presents more than two dozen of Nobu’s signature appetizers, soups, salads, entrées and desserts. Entrée selections include such treats as:
- Nobu-style Lobster with Truffle-Yuzu Sauce
- Black Cod with Miso
- Grilled Wagyu Beef Rib-Eye
The signature dessert is a Bento Box filled with Chocolate Soufflé Cake with Shiso Syrup and Sesame Ice Cream.
Carol and I enjoyed sampling all three of the entrées listed above. All were wonderful, but I enjoyed the Black Cod the most. If you’re a lover of fish, get it! There a photo of my Black Cod in the photo slider above.
Tastes
A custom-built open kitchen allows guests to watch. While Tastes is open during the day for a “Late Risers Breakfast” and full lunch menu, including specialties such as traditional “home style” Chinese noodles and dumplings, a deconstructed grilled shrimp Caesar Salad, and freshly-ground Angus beef Manhattan Beach Burger. After 6:00 PM, the restaurant is transformed into a cool and casual evening eatery with dramatic lighting that showcases the trees, plants, and decorative screens. Its new global-inspired menu was created in association with Sapphire Restaurants in Laguna Beach, CA, where acclaimed Chef Azmin Ghahreman offers cuisine with accents from around the globe. Crystal’s talented chefs create dishes such as an Alsatian Tart, California Street Tacos, and Scottish-Cured Salmon, all designed to be shared via small plates.
When it comes to culinary delights, my palate loves to explore. Therefore, I absolutely loved Tastes as I was able to explore the world’s cuisine in one spot and take my palate to places it has never been. While Prego and Silk Road seem to get all of the specialty restaurant attention, don’t miss a dining experience at Tastes. While we loved Prego and Silk Road, if I had the chance to go back to one of these restaurants today, I would pick Tastes for the opportunity to experience a culinary adventure.
Other Dining Options
The Lido Café
For casual meals, this indoor/outdoor venue features elaborate breakfast choices with exotic fruit, authentic Swiss muesli, fresh-baked breads and pastries, as well as made-to-order regular and egg white omelets, waffles, and pancakes, and Asian breakfast options for international guests. Luncheon options include custom-made pastas and salads, a delicious selection of soups, carved meats, fresh fish, and sumptuous desserts, including sugar-free options.
As the Lido Café was very near our stateroom, we frequented this fabulous buffet for breakfast and lunch. The Swiss Muesli is ‘da bomb, and the selection is mind-boggling.
Trident Bar & Grill
This ultimate grill with a full bar serves a Late-Risers Breakfast from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Crystal Symphony, and lunch throughout the afternoon on both ships. Among the casual choices are grilled hot dogs, made-to-order hamburgers, veggie and chicken burgers (with fresh-baked buns), tuna melts, two different wrap sandwiches each day, and more. The space brings the outside in with lush greenery-filled “living walls” on both ships. Crystal Symphony’s 37.7-foot wall, with plants creating a world map, was the industry’s first living wall at sea. Crystal Serenity went a step beyond with four living walls plus an herb garden for chefs.
My bride enjoys a good hamburger. While I said we can get a good hamburger anywhere, she twisted my arm and got her hamburger fix at the Trident Bar & Grill. If you too are a burger lover, you’ll enjoy this casual fare.
Trident Ice Cream Bar
For sweets on demand, the Trident Ice Cream Bar (called Scoops on Crystal Serenity) offers Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, freshly-made waffle cones, cookies, sundaes, shakes, sherbets, sugar-free ice cream and nonfat frozen yogurt with fresh berries and other toppings. During the course of a cruise, 20 different ice creams (including low-carb), 12 homemade sherbets, and nonfat yogurts are offered.
While I don’t need it, I must confess to enjoying a couple of scoops of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia on three different occasions.
The Bistro
Distinctive to Crystal Cruises is the centrally located and highly popular European-inspired café, which is open all day—and late into the night. In the a.m., guests can enjoy a continental breakfast with fresh croissants, breakfast pastries, smoked salmon and bagels served on The Bistro’s exclusive porcelain china custom-designed for Crystal by celebrated French artist Guy Buffet. During the afternoon, guests can sip exotic coffee drinks or premium wines by the glass and savor rich pâtés, fresh fruits, international cheeses, charcuterie and freshly made tarts and cakes. Wine, champagne, and digestif pairings continue into the evening, with more freshly-baked desserts, a chocolate fountain, and artisan cheese selection.
Palm Court
At the daily afternoon teatimes, delicious savories and sweets are accompanied by Mighty Leaf teas, the world’s finest whole leaf tea, served in special silk pouches. The charming sunlit Palm Court, with its expansive picture windows, ‘greenery’, comfortable rattan furnishings, and soothing classical music, provides the perfect backdrop for this favored afternoon ritual. Not to be missed are the themed specialty tea times, including the Mozart Tea, a visit to 18th century Vienna with tea and Austrian pastries served by staff dressed in velvets and brocades, and an English Colonial Tea with scones served with whipped cream and jams, finger sandwiches and other sweets.
In-Stateroom Dining
The mark of any true luxury experience is service. In keeping with Crystal Cruises’ commitment to providing the highest possible level of service, the line offers complimentary 24-hour in-stateroom dining to accommodate any guest at any time. At sea or in port, guests can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner in their rooms or on their private verandahs, served with the same precision and attention to detail found in the dining venues. During lunch and dinner hours, guests may order their in-stateroom meals from the Crystal Dining Room, served course by course, if so desired. Penthouse guests enjoy the added privilege of having in-stateroom dining available from specialty restaurants during dinner hours.
In summary
As I contemplate our dining experiences on the Crystal Serenity, the first thing that comes to mind is the wonderful variety of options available to Crystal Serenity cruisers. Because this ship holds 1,000 people, and the ship was designed to give passengers a high “space ratio” (learn more about that here), there was considerably more space available to offer Crystal guests a variety of dining options. So while we certainly enjoyed the dining experiences we’ve had on a smaller 300 passenger luxury sailing vessel, it was very nice to have all of these different options available.
However, I do leave the ship with one regret: for some crazy unknown reason, we didn’t make a reservation in The Sushi Bar. Carol and I will be sailing the Crystal Serenity again next fall from NYC to Montreal. I intend to fix this problem on that sailing.
Overall, Carol and I were very impressed with the quality of the dining experiences aboard the Crystal Serenity. When one considers the quantity of food coming out of these kitchens each day, it seems to me a modern miracle that the quality of the cuisine aboard the Crystal Serenity is equal to some of the finest restaurants in the world.
Bottom line, you’re going to love the dining experiences aboard the Crystal Serenity, and this is one of the many reasons that Crystal Cruises has enjoyed ‘best-of-the-best” ratings for decades.
__________________________________________________
And now, a shameless commercial message….
Listen, if you haven’t sailed with Crystal Cruises, you simply must. We promise, it will be an unforgettable experience. To read more about our Crystal Cruises experiences, click here.
We’re expert travel planners and know the luxury cruise industry very well. If you’d like to take advantage of our considerable knowledge of the luxury cruise industry, please give our travel agency a call at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.
Plus, as we’re members of the $15 billion/year Virtuoso Travel Network, we’re very likely to have complimentary VIP perks to share with you that you can’t get on your own.
Disclosure: our sailing was provided by the kind folks at Crystal Cruises. Photographs, other than those in our slider, were courtesy of Crystal Cruises.
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Posted by David Porter on September 12, 2016 · 1 Comment
Carol and I hate massive crowds. Don’t you?
We will never forget the massively long lines of people standing in line to see the Versailles Palace and Eiffel Tower in Paris. Or, the 6-hour line of folks waiting to get into the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Or, the worst, the poor line of thousands waiting to get into the Vatican in Rome. Perhaps thousands is an exaggeration, I’m not sure. I didn’t count. But folks, these were massively long lines. We’ve never seen anything like it!
Thankfully, our clients never spend a minute in these lines because of our connections.
But, did you know that you can experience overcrowding and long lines on cruise ships? One of the great frustrations of travelers on many cruise ships are the long lines to eat and having to get up at 5:00 in the morning to begin the daily battle for a lounge chair at the pool?
Does that sound fun to you? It certainly doesn’t to us.
How to Avoid an Overcrowded Cruise Ship
So, just how does one avoid a ship that was designed from the beginning to pack as many people aboard as possible.
Answer: take a peek at the ship’s “space ratio”.
Carol and I just sailed with Crystal Cruises in Alaska (articles here). One of the very first things we noticed aboard the ship was how spacious the ship was. Even though we were aboard with upwards of 1,000 people, the ship felt spacious and we never waited in a line or felt crowded. Ever. We were amazed at this.
As I began to explore this, I learned the a ship’s space ratio can vary radically from one ship to another. In other words, when some ships are on the drawing board, the goal is to pack as many people on the ship as possible. Where other ships are designed to create the best experience for the passengers; which means, among many things, more cubic feet/passenger.
Definition: a cruise ship’s “space ratio” (by definition) is the enclosed space (measured in ft3/cubic feet) per passenger. A ship of 45,000 GT (gross tonnage) with capacity 1,000 passengers will have a space ratio 45 (or 45ft3=45000/1000).
We Never Felt Crowded on the Crystal Serenity!
The Crystal Serenity is 68,870 gross registered tons. When we divide that by it’s maximum guest capacity of 1,070, we get a space ratio of 64.4. That is one of the highest space ratios of any cruise ship.
When I looked back at a particular ship we sailed in the past, which felt very crowded, its space ratio was 25. In other words, there were 2 1/2 times more people per cubic foot on that cruise ship than the Crystal Serenity.
YIKES!
Moral to the story: if you don’t want to be fighting for lounge chairs at the pool, or standing in long lines for dinner, be certain to check out a ship’s guest ratio. It is seldom talked about, but in our opinion, can make all the difference in the world in your cruise experience.
__________________________________________________
And now, a shameless commercial message….
Listen, if you haven’t sailed the Crystal Serenity, you simply must. We promise, it will be an unforgettable experience. To read more about our Crystal Cruises experience, click here.
We’re expert travel planners and know the cruise industry very well. If you’d like to have us help you find a ship with a very high space ratio, please give our travel agency a call at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.
Plus, as we’re members of the $15 billion/year Virtuoso Travel Network, we’re very likely to have complimentary VIP perks to share with you that you can’t get on your own.
If you enjoyed this article, sign up for our travel newsletter to keep abreast of our best travel tips, on-location reviews, exclusive travel offers, group travel events, and much more.
Posted by David Porter on September 8, 2016 · 5 Comments
Roaming Boomers Travel Services: 2016 TravelAge West Trendsetter Award-winners
For 2 1/2 years now, our clients have been awarding our young travel agency with a vote of confidence by their continued support, referrals, and following us closely on our website and social media channels.
In fact, Carol and I quickly launched into the top 10% of all travel advisors in our first full year as clearly folks have enjoyed and received benefits from our service. And beyond our wildest dreams, it looks like we might just double last year’s phenomenal performance in 2016.
Carol and I have been business owners for 25 years, and we clearly understand that a successful business is built by earning the trust of our clients and to have that trust so deep that they also refer their friends and family. We’ve been working very hard on that.
But, what has equally surprised us is that this summer our success has also been noticed by our peers and Carol and I were awarded a national travel agency award: the TravelAge West Trendsetter Award.
To say we were astonished by this is quite the understatement.
As it turns out, our TravelAge West Trendsetter Award was awarded to us because of our social media influence. Here’s what they had to say in the article:
“Baby boomers and social media might not immediately seem like the most likely pairing, but David and Carol Porter are proving that the two can go hand in hand. The owners of Roaming Boomers Travel Services completed their second year in business as an agency with $1 million in sales, and as of January had booked nearly $230,000 in sales and projected $2 million overall for 2016 — and they attribute their utilization of social media as a large part of their success.
“Most of our business is coming from folks that we’ve known for years, referrals and a social media strategy that features a large blog audience, 20,000 folks on our Facebook page, more than 5,000 folks in our weekly email newsletter and more than 5,000 folks following us on Twitter, as well as consistent sharing on LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+,” David said.
After starting The Roaming Boomers luxury travel blog in 2010, the Porters amassed a large following of boomers who were requesting travel guidance but overwhelmed with the abundance of information available on the internet. The couple decided to expand into a travel agency in 2014 to serve as trusted advisors.
“It’s quite amazing to realize that a great deal of our business is coming from our social media efforts,” David said.”
Now, lest you think that we now have heads in the clouds, please know that from a day-to-day perspective, nothing has changed. Our continued success will only happen if our clients find value in our service and reward us with their continued support and referrals.
Yes, it is true that we’ve accomplished remarkable results with our social media efforts, but the client relationship and referrals are the true test of a successful and mature business.
Thank you to our clients for rewarding us with your business. And a thank you to the folks and judges at TravelAge West for noticing our travel agency and its unique niche. We really appreciate it.
Lastly, in the immortal words of Sally Fields, “you like me, you really like me”. Hah. Had to say that! 😀
Links: Award Announcement, Magazine Article
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The Roaming Boomers
