"Photo courtesy of Crystal Cruises"
Our home for the next seventeen days will be the Crystal Symphony. We first sailed on the Crystal Symphony in July of 2003, when we took a British Isles from London, England to Rouen, France. Cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed this cruise as we have all of our cruises on board each Crystal cruise ship.
We woke early this morning and enjoyed a very nice breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we finished up the last of the packing. We were taken by car from the hotel over to the Los Angles Cruise Ship Terminal in San Pedro, California.
We arrived to the terminal earlier than expected as there was far less traffic than we expected and we were through security by 10 30 AM. There were four other people already there including a couple who we knew from last years World Cruise sailing. In a matter of minutes another couple that we also know from last year arrived in the area and before we knew it there were many more people who we knew. We also saw Ambassador Peck and his wife Ann who we know from previous sailings as well and we had a wonderful chat with them. A little while later we saw the Rabbi and his wife. We completed the check in process by 11:30 AM, which was the earliest we have ever been checked in. We were asked to wait for about fifteen minutes and then a little before noon we had already boarded the ship. In keeping with Crystal this was a very orderly check in process.
As we boarded the ship we ran into the first of several familiar crewmembers; Franz who is now the head concierge on this ship. We have known him for many years. He was a butler in previous years, and also has worked the reception desk and then as a back up concierge. It is always wonderful to see the crew promoted to new levels of responsibility and Crystal is great about doing this. A few minutes later we ran into Josef the Maitre D’. He gave us each hugs and just like that he remembered our table number. And a few minutes after that we ran into another familiar crewmember whom we know from our sailings on the Serenity. Her name is easy to remember; Anne Marie and, yes, she spells it the same way that Anne Marie does.
There is no question that being back on the Symphony is like coming home with so many familiar crewmembers and passengers.
We soon enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room. As is customary for us on the first day of embarkation we enjoyed a Cobb Salad and a flute of complimentary champagne so we could toast the start of the cruise.
After lunch we took care of a few items including getting our notebook computer set up to access the internet while on board the ship and we also revised and added some new specialty restaurant reservations. We enjoyed seeing Paolo the Specialty Restaurant Maitre d’ and Willie who is the Senior Waiter for Silk Road. We have come to know them so well over the years.
Our room was ready early so we were able to get settled in before 2:00 PM. All of our luggage arrived shortly thereafter. We met our butler, Rainer from Austria, who we had first met on in 2003 when we sailed the British Isles. If we remember correctly, he has been with Crystal for 15 years. Amazing. We also met the Room Stewardess Aleksandra and the Assistant Stewardess Jeanette. Everyone was so very nice.
We are all unpacked and settled in. We attended the lifeboat drill in the afternoon and from there we viewed the Coral Princess leaving the harbor on its way out to sea. We ran into a very nice couple during the drill that we have sailed with before on several cruises. Like Keith, the husband enjoys playing Table Tennis.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the main dining room. The service was great. We were very pleased with the senior waiter, waiter, head waiter and the sommelier.
We are very excited to be on the ship. It is amazing how many passenger’s who we know from previous sailings. While we have spent more time on the Serenity than the Symphony in recent years it is amazing how many crew members we know as several have now moved over to the Symphony who previously worked on the Serenity plus others we knew from our Symphony and even our Harmony sailings. How they remember our names is also amazing.
This is one of the things that is so special about Crystal. When you step on board the ship you feel right at home and it is almost like a reunion each and every time you return.
As we understand, about 500 passengers are currently on board the ship. Another 100+ passengers will be joining the ship in Hawaii.
Keith & Anne Marie
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