Crystal Cruises – Crystal Serenity May 2018

In May of 2018 we boarded the luxurious Crystal Serenity for a 12 day cruise around the Mediterranean Sea. This fabulous Crystal Cruises voyage had amazing picturesque ports of call. The itinerary had us visit the following ports: Rome/Civitavecchia, Livorno (Florence), Villefranche-sur Mer, Saint-Tropez, Ajaccio, Ibiza, Barcelona, Monaco, and Marseille. I will be highlighting this wonderful experience in multiple blogs as there is just too much information to cover in one post.

Since our cruise was embarking in the Italian port of Civitavecchia outside of Rome, we flew into Rome a few days prior to the cruise to make sure we were rested and fully recovered from any possible jet lag so that we could fully enjoy our cruise was aboard the ship. On the day of embarkment, we took an express train from Rome to Civitavecchia which took just about 47 minutes.

We purchased first-class reserved seating tickets online the day before we took the train for a cost of approximately 34 Euro for the both of us. We were travelling with 3 large pieces of luggage, 1 carry-on, and a backpack. There were no issues in bringing these onto the train.

I also appreciated that the train seats we chose had a table with charging stations for our devices.

Upon arrival at the train station in Civitavecchia, we were able to arrange transportation directly to the ship inside the gates of the port for 10 Euro. Prior to the cruise, we had been told that it would be about a 15 minute walk from the train station to the port. However, I feel that with all of our luggage that this was not a viable option and, based on the length of the journey in the van we rode in, I also feel 15 minutes was a large underestimation of the walking time.

We were very excited to get our first view of the Crystal Serenity as we drove through the port.

We were dropped off at a large staging area just outside the ship where porters attached tags to our luggage with our names and staterooms (Crystal provides these tags for you in the pre-cruise package) which I had completed on the train. Our luggage would be delivered and waiting for us in our stateroom. Due to security protocols, similar to that in an airport, we were not permitted to take pictures in the security zone. It is very similar to that in an airport with a check of your passport and your belongings going through a scanner. Once through this process, it was finally time to get on the ship.

When we boarded Crystal Serenity, we were escorted by a member of the crew to Deck 5, where the reception desk, concierge, sales desk, and more are located (I will do a separate blog the tours the various decks).

Here we were quickly checked onto the ship, had our photo taken, provided with our Crystal Serenity access key card, and finally a glass of champagne.

We took a moment to finish our champagne in the lounge, Crystal Cove, prior to going to our room. As we made our way to the elevators to go to the 10th deck, I was impressed with the quality and decor of the main areas and halls.

After taking the elevator to Deck 10, we started to walk down the hall to our room.

After having booked this cruise about 8 months ago, we were excited at finally seeing our room that we had carefully selected.

My next blog will provide a tour of our Penthouse with Verandah.

If you would like to learn more about schedules and different Crystal Cruises, please visit my Virtuoso page here.

If you would like to receive more information, or book a Crystal Cruise, you can contact me here.

Vision Travel is proud to be able to provide my clients with special deals and shipboard credit. These can be combined with promotions offered by Crystal Cruise as well.