Cruise Lines

Yesterday was the first sea day on Crystal Serenity so this is a good moment to reflect on what Crystal Cruises is all about.

The cruiseline is a bit of hybrid - definitely up there with its six-star peers if you equate luxury with service, but the odd one out against other ultra-lux lines Silversea, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Yachts of Seabourn in that it retains traditional two-sitting dinner in the evening and you have to pay for alcohol (but soft drinks are free).

Serenity is also the biggest ship in the ultra-lux fleet - actually not much different in size to QE2, but where QE2 squeezed in 1,700 passengers, Serenity only holds 1,070. And on this cruise, from Piraeus (for Athens) to Barcelona, there are only 550 of us. Which means we are outnumbered by the 655 crew.

No wonder we are being treated like royalty!

Actually that was a joke, because when I was on this ship last September I was still treated like royalty, and then they had to cope with a full complement of passengers.

Many of the are crew are Croatian, Hungarian and Bulgarian and so many have names beginning with Z that I am beginning to wonder if that is one of the main qualifications for working on Crystal! As well as having a captivating smile and slightly cheeky sense of humour.

Any passengers who thought today's sea day was time to relax would have been sorely disappointed as there was a packed schedule of lectures (Math and the Mona Lisa or the Presidency of Barack Obama anyone?), Italian lessons, a free wine tasting, which I still cannot believe I managed to miss, golf, team trivia, ballroom dancing, needlepoint - yes, really - music and computer classes. Phew.

And somehow everyone had to find time to get ready for the first formal night as well.

What has really surprised me is the number of children and teens on this cruise, which, let's face it, is an expensive line to bring kids on. Ilana has been out in the evenings and much of today with her new friends, who all seem to be enjoying themselves but are not upsetting non-kid fraternity in the process.

Strangely under-18s they are not allowed to be in anywhere with a bar after 11pm unless they are with an adult, which seems a bit harsh as that's just the time Ilana does not want mum hanging around. So she and her friends walk around the ship, sometimes nipping into a lounge just to see if they can get away with it.

I couldn't possibly say any more.

Although I am not a fan of fixed dining, so far things have worked fine, mainly because we keep moving around so haven't had been in the same place twice. The first night we changed from an empty table of eight, where we looked very sad indeed, to one for just two, the next night it was open seating anyway as a lot of passengers were at an evening concert at Ephesus, so we had a different table for two.

Two waiters but both called Zoltan. See what I mean about the Zs?

Tuesday night we were in Prego, the Italian restaurant, which is my favourite and serves the best mushroom soup ever, last night we were back in the restaurant but this time on a table for 10. I think we will be at the same table tonight, hopefully sitting with the people who were at the other end to us as we have exhausted conversation with the ones we were with.

We would also like to try Tastes one evening - that's a casual eatery by the Neptune pool, and we'll be dining Nobu-style on Saturday, before we disembark Sunday. The speciality restaurants are all free, incidentally, but they recommend a $7 per person gratuity. Given the level of service, I don't think anyone could have a problem with that.

Tastes is in a glass-roofed "conservatory", set around a small pool, and also open for a late served breakfast, which is a lovely alternative to the self-service and much lighter and brighter than the dining room. Yesterday it was also dressed up for a special Cuisine of the Sun Mediterranean lunch buffet.

I took these pictures before it opened, planning to return to eat later but lost track of time and managed to miss it altogether, so I ended up having a late lunch in the Bistro, where you can help yourself to cold meats, pates, bread, cheeses, fruit and French bread.

Leave out the cheese and add a glass or two of white wine and you have my idea of heaven.

Cheers!