As Crystal Cruises prepares to segue to “All-Inclusive” starting next month, the line has also been transforming in another big way: to a focus on significantly more local shipboard overnights at the beginning of cruises.
For the upcoming European season, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony have doubled the number of voyages that begin with days (and nights) in port.
The move eases the worry of late flight arrivals, lost luggage, relocating to/from hotels, finding quality eateries, and settling in prior to sight-seeing, while also enhancing recreational choices due to the more extensive options available on board Crystal’s ships than can be found at hotels on land.
“By adding more overnights to the cruises, especially at embarkation, travelers only have to unpack once, yet get even more time to experience a culture, while still having their Crystal home as a luxurious base,” explains President Gregg Michel.
“They also begin meeting the people who will be sharing their time aboard—the staff and other travelers who will become their Crystal family by vacation’s end–all the sooner.”
Crystal has also added overnights to the middle and/or end of the majority of cruises this year.
Overnights at the disembarkation ports of Venice, Barcelona or Istanbul, for example, further allow guests to see significantly more of the final destination without having to move to a hotel or rush to the airport to fly home.
