Posted by David Porter on August 19, 2016 · 12 Comments
First impressions from our recent sailing on the Crystal Cruises Serenity in Alaska
Click photo for larger view. Crystal Cruises Serenity docked in Juneau, Alaska. ©2016, David A. Porter
Click photo for larger view. Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay. ©2106, David A. Porter
I’ve been sitting here for quite some time staring at my photograph above trying to figure out how to best share our recent sailing experience with Crystal Cruises on the Crystal Serenity in Alaska.
This is our third sailing in Alaska, and the first thing I want you to know is that if you haven’t sailed Alaska’s Inside Passage, you must. Not only is the scenery stunningly beautiful, but for you first time ocean cruisers, the waters in the Inside Passage are smooth and more akin to sailing a river than an ocean. Therefore, no sea sickness worries.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we came aboard the Crystal Serenity with very high expectations because of the bold claims and awards that Crystal Cruises shares on their website. For example, “Crystal Cruises consistently ranks among the top luxury resorts— at sea or on land— in the world. For more than a decade, Crystal has won an unprecedented number of top awards across multiple categories including being voted “World’s Best” by the readers of Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler more than any other cruise line, hotel or resort in history”.
More top awards across multiple categories than any other cruise line, hotel, or resort in history. Bold claim. Right?
Before I begin, let me share a little about how we like to travel. If you click the “our destination visits” tab above, you’re going to find that we haven’t done a whole lot of ocean sailing. In recent years, we’ve sailed with Norwegian, Paul Gauguin in the S. Pacific, Silversea, and now Crystal Cruises. And, we’ve made and loved three European river cruises. But when we started The Roaming Boomers®, it was a bad experience that we had with a cruise line nearly 15 years ago that made me decide that we’d never cruise again. However, we wanted to see the Inside Passage and the only practical way to do that is aboard a cruise ship. So, I put aside my bad experience and hopped aboard a cruise ship back in 2012, and I’ve slowly but surely been changing my mind.
Crystal Cruises has made us raving fans of their brand!
Carol with our butler, Alfredo from Portugal.
Let me just say this at the outset, Crystal Cruises has made us raving fans of their brand, and you know what? I can’t wait to again board another Crystal Cruises ship. We LOVE the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts brand. Crystal Cruises is like the best Four Seasons Resort floating at sea. Absolutely everything was remarkable and first class.
Over the coming days and weeks, we’re going to share articles with you about the ship, the staterooms, the food, the entertainment, the ports of call and much more. But as to not make this one post to long to read, I want to share the one overriding impression that comes to mind when we think back about our Crystal Cruises experience.
Yes, the ship was marvelous, the food fabulous, our stateroom luxurious, and the ports of call beautiful beyond imagination, but it was the staff on the ship that made the experience remarkable. Not only did they learn and greet us by name at every opportunity, but they also achieved the remarkable, they became family and friends.
We met a gal that has sailed with Crystal Cruises 93 times. 93 times! Even more remarkable, there were three ladies who actually live on the ship. And one of them has lived on the Crystal Serenity for over 8 years!
So, how does a luxury cruise line go from good to great? You make your passengers family, truly care about their needs and lives, and have them love the experience so much that they want to come back for more.
You know, Carol and I have enjoyed some of the finest luxury resorts and cruise lines in the world, but we’ve never been invited to become a part of the family before. Does this make any sense? When Carol and I got out of bed our first morning back home, we were lamenting that we didn’t have Alfredo, our smiling butler to help us greet the new day.
Our travel brand is all about relationship. Crystal Cruises understands the same thing, and they’ve worked hard and have earned the right to have me gushing about my relationship and new friends at Crystal Cruises. Carol and I are sailing again with Crystal Cruises again in the fall of 2017, and we can’t wait to again go see our friends on the Crystal Serenity and explore another part of the world with them.
Well done Crystal Cruises. Well done!
Information Link: Crystal Cruises
Disclosure: our experience was provided by the fine folks at Crystal Cruises. However, all editorial content and opinions are strictly our own. We call ’em as we see ’em.
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Posted by David Porter on August 17, 2016 · 10 Comments
Carol and I are just home from a fabulous 10-day cruise of Alaska’s Inside Passage. We sailed with Crystal Cruises from Vancouver to Seward and had a fabulous time. More on that later.
What I wanted to share with you today is that as I’m typing these words, my desk and computer are seemingly moving about as though I were still on the cruise ship. While my sensations are not particularly intense, it is quite noticeable.
If you’re reading this and feeling similar sensations, don’t be alarmed, it’s a symptom called Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (or MdDS). Some have described it as trying to walk on a mattress or perhaps a trampoline after being on a cruise. I’ve experienced this before, and my symptoms went away after a day or so.
If you’d like to read a little more about Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, click here.
Meanwhile, after I get my photographs sorted, and my computer stops swaying from the illusionary waves, I’ll swing back around and tell you all about our Crystal Cruises experience.
Stay tuned…..
Did you know that we won a national travel award this year? Yep. The TravelAge West Trendsetter Award. You can read about it here. And, if you enjoyed this article, please 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 August 4, 2016 · Leave a Comment
November, December, and January are wonderful months to explore South America as our winter is their summer.
For a limited time, we’re bringing you free shore excursions, beverages, Internet and airfare, plus up to $1,200 shipboard credit.
To see 5 South American itineraries we’ve curated for you, CLICK HERE.
Did you know that we won a national travel award this year? Yep. The TravelAge West Trendsetter Award. You can read about it here. And, if you enjoyed this article, please 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 August 1, 2016 · 1 Comment
Traveling Overseas? Travel Smart, Travel Safe with the Smart Traveler App from the U.S. Department of State.
If you’re traveling overseas, can we give you three pieces of advice?
- Go visit travel.state.gov to learn about any official U.S. travel alerts that might be present in your destination.
- Take the time to register with the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). This will make the State Department aware of your overseas travels and allows them to send you travel alerts if necessary. And, God forbid, if a crisis were to break out, they know who is in the region to offer help.
- Download the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler App on your smartphone. Once registered in the STEP program, you’ll get alerts right to your phone. And, if you need the location of the U.S. Embassy for any reason, their information is right in your phone. The Smart Traveler Smartphone App is free and can be downloaded here:
- Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-traveler/id442693988?mt=8
- Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.state.apps.smarttraveler&hl=en
You know, we’ve never had any serious issues traveling overseas. Neither have the hundreds and hundreds of folks we’ve helped travel overseas. However, if something were to happen, you’d want our government to know that you’re there if they have to get you out. It’s unlikely. But better safe than sorry. Right?
We’ve got the App on our phone, and we strongly encourage you to do the same.
Did you know that we won a national travel award this year? Yep. The TravelAge West Trendsetter Award. You can read about it here. And, if you enjoyed this article, please 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 July 30, 2016 · 4 Comments
Photo courtesy of Crystal Cruises.
Crystal Cruises Majestic Alaska – Vancouver to Anchorage on Crystal Serenity
Carol and I will soon be sailing with Crystal Cruises in Alaska.
We love cruising in Alaska, and we chose Crystal Cruises for our third Alaska sailing because we wanted to see for ourselves what all the hullabaloo is about with this cruise line.
You see, according to the Crystal Cruises website, “Crystal Cruises consistently ranks among the top luxury resorts— at sea or on land— in the world. For more than a decade, Crystal has won an unprecedented number of top awards across multiple categories including being voted “World’s Best” by the readers of Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler more than any other cruise line, hotel or resort in history”.
That’s quite an extraordinary achievement. Particularly when you consider that they’ve been able to accomplish this with only two ships and what some would say are older ships as they were built in 1995 and 2003.
Now, before I get started, you should know that their ships have both enjoyed major multi-million dollar refurbishments, and with a new owner announced this year, Crystal Cruises is on a tear building new ocean liners, smaller luxury yachts, luxury river cruise ships, and even a massive jumbo jet that will take folks around the world on luxury journeys. So, things are pretty exciting in the strategic planning rooms of Crystal Cruises.
So, rather than tell what I think about Crystal, or what our peers and clients have told us, I’m going to be sharing our Crystal Cruises experience with you from aboard ship. We’ll share information and our own photographs about the staterooms, our first impressions, the food, the restaurants, the entertainment, the destination, and much, much more.
Keep an eye on our website, Facebook Page and Twitter beginning next weekend as that’s when all the fun begins.
Lastly, for those of you who are clients of our travel agency, don’t worry, we’re not abandoning you. Simply call our travel agency and our team members Oscar and Leah will take great care of you. And, we do have cell phones and Internet on the ship and in Alaska. Remarkably, ours is a business that we can operate from anywhere in the world. How cool is that?
Stay tuned. We can’t wait to share our experience with you!
Did you know that we won a national travel award this year? Yep. The TravelAge West Trendsetter Award. You can read about it here. And, if you enjoyed this article, please 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.
The Roaming Boomers
