FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – Half of Crystal 2016 World Cruise – 47 Days

January 31, 2016 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – Half of Crystal 2016 World Cruise – 47 Days 

Monday, January 25thfoyer

  • Having no international flights with the accompanying jet lag (plus a short flight from San Diego, with no delays) made for a most enjoyable start of our 22nd cruise. And in true fashion of “saving the best for last” we were looking forward to our first Crystal cruise experience.
  • We opted to pay more to have them transport us to the ship, versus grabbing a taxi, in the event there was a plane delay. Good insurance as we saw it. We were met in baggage claim, loaded into a shuttle, and arrived at Pier 27 in less than 30 minutes. Anything that could go wrong didn’t!
  • Aside from the 30 minute wait to board the ship, the check in process was extremely swift and well organized. Of course being greeted by a smiling waiter, with a full tray of champagne flutes, and having our stateroom ready erased any ill will we may have felt.
  • The Serenity set sail at 4:15 pm and having four-and-a-half days at sea gave us ample time to explore the ship and acclimate ourselves. The ship has 13 decks, 1070 passenger capacity, with 960 on this first 22 day segment, and a total of 360 doing the world cruise.
  • There are 7 bars, 5 dining venues, and 3 specialty restaurants (Prego, Silk Road & The Sushi Bar) that require reservations. You are allowed a total of 4 reservations during each cruise segment without a charge.
  • They have won hands down for “the best cappuccino” on a cruise ship. The problem is you can only get it at the Bistro which doesn’t open until 9 am. The other restaurants have the push button machines, not awful, but not the same.
  • Same goes for the food so far. Every meal has been very good or excellent.

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FUN-fact – Surprisingly we have not made it to every bar yet!