The luxurious 50,000-ton, 940-guest Six-Star Crystal Symphony is one of the most spacious cruise ships at sea. Onboard amenities include grand lounges, full-service fitness facility, Crystal casino, Feng Shui-inspired spa, 360° teak Promenade Deck, two pools, Jacuzzi®,award-winning cuisine and entertainment, in addition to, elegantly appointed staterooms most with private verandahs.
Currency Shipboard Accounts
At the beginning of the cruise, for your convenience and to expedite the settlement of your account, you are requested to have an imprint of your credit card and your signature taken at the Reception Desk. Your shipboard account and charges may be settled with cash (in U.S. dollars), traveler's checks, MasterCard®, VISA®, American Express®, Diners Club® or Discover Card®. Personal checks of up to a per-cruise total of $2,000 per person may be cashed on board for personal use and to settle your shipboard account. Credit card payments and personal checks are subject to credit clearance. For our guests' convenience, a local foreign currency exchange service is available on board in certain ports.
Daily Program
There's so much to do on a Crystal cruise. Go shopping, see a movie, spend some quiet time in the library. The Reflections daily program is delivered to your stateroom each evening to help you plan for the next day. It is a valuable guide to the activities on board, including a complete schedule of the day's events, hours for the ship's diverse venues and important announcements. It also contains entertaining articles on ports of call, personality profiles of shipboard officers, staff, entertainers and Crystal Visions Enrichment Program lecturers, facts about cruising and a great deal more.
Internet
All Computer University@Sea workstations are configured for Internet access. Charges for Internet access are $50 for 120 minutes, $200 for 600 minutes (10 hours) and $300 for 1,500 minutes (25 hours). The current schedule of charges is available on board.
Wifi access is now available on board throughout the ship. Feel free to bring your laptop. Once on board, please contact Computer University@Sea to sign up for Wifi during your voyage. Internet access charges will apply.
Laundry
Complete valet services are available, including laundry, pressing and dry cleaning. Services may be arranged through your stateroom stewardess, or through your butler if you are in categories PH, PS or CP. Valet charges are billed to your shipboard account. Pressing is offered free of charge to Penthouse guests in categories PH, PS and CP. Complimentary self-service launderettes, including washing machines, detergents, fabric softeners, dryers, irons and ironing boards are provided on Decks 8, 9 and 10.
Dietary Requests
Special diets, e.g. vegetarian food, can be catered for if requested in good time. Passengers on very strict diets, e.g. vegans, may find that the food offers limited variety.
Luggage
All check-in luggage is collected outside your stateroom door on the last night of your cruise in order to be cleared through Customs before disembarkation. Please do not pack critical travel documents such as passports, wallets and air tickets in your check-in luggage. You may wish to pack a small overnight bag to keep your personal items and identification with you for the morning.
Medical Services
Medical staff are on call 24 hours a day. The professional services of this staff, as well as certain medications, are available on board at reasonable costs. Guests requiring ongoing medication, or having specific dietary needs, are advised to bring an ample supply of medication or dietary supplements with them in their carry-on luggage.
Portable oxygen tanks and concentrators may be used on board, provided Crystal Cruises is notified in writing, no later than 30 days prior to sailing, that a guest is bringing his or her own oxygen equipment, and has made direct arrangements with an independent medical contractor who has agreed to undertake all required arrangements without involving the ship's onboard Medical Center and its personnel. The oxygen-dependent guest must travel with a companion who is also completely familiar with the operation of the concentrator.
Oxygen-dependent guests are limited to those cruises on which they can be properly supported by equipment vendors and which have itineraries that will easily allow medical disembarkation if it should be required. The number of oxygen-dependent guests using portable equipment is very limited on any cruise. Requests for oxygen equipment for a specific cruise will be processed in the order of date received.
Guests with existing medical conditions, guests who cannot completely care for themselves and who may require treatment by the ship's medical staff, or guests who may constitute a risk or danger to anyone else on board must be reported in writing to Crystal Cruises' Onboard Guest Services Department prior to departure. Crystal Cruises reserves the right, without liability, to refuse to board and transport such guests who are in need of constant care by the ship's staff.
Shore Excursions
A selection of optional excursions are available to book on-board. Where available we will supply you with excursion information. Otherwise you will receive full details and prices on board.
Excursions and their content are subject to maximum/minimum numbers and local weather conditions.
Smoking
At Crystal Cruises, we recognize that some of our guests smoke and others do not. Therefore, the living environment on our ships is designed to satisfy everyone. Most areas of the ships are non-smoking. There are designated smoking and non-smoking tables in most bars and lounges (except The Bistro, inside the Lido Café, Starlite Club, the Crystal Dining Room, Prego, Silk Road and The Sushi Bar restaurants and the Galaxy Lounge, which are entirely smoke-free). Pipes and cigars are permitted only in the Connoisseur Club, and on the "open decks," except all areas of deck 11. Smoking is not permitted in guest penthouses, staterooms, on verandahs or in corridors. Crystal Cruises kindly asks its guests to observe the non-smoking areas, which have been created for the comfort and enjoyment of everyone on board.
Telephone
Crystal ships are equipped with a sophisticated telephone system that allows you to make direct-dial satellite phone calls from your stateroom. The ship telephone number is included in your travel documents before sailing. Calls are billed to your shipboard account or a major credit card. However, please be aware that the per-minute cost to use this system is significantly higher than a normal shoreside call. You may also wish to use pay phones located in various ports of call.
Through an agreement with SeaMobile,™ Crystal Cruises lets you take advantage of your wireless devices while at sea. Using your own mobile phone and telephone number, you can make and receive calls to and from fellow travelers who are on the ship, and friends and family who are far away on land. If you currently have the service through your home provider, you can also send and receive text messages. Other available wireless services include use of PDAs, such as your Blackberry®. Charges for using the SeaMobile system will appear as roaming charges on the regular monthly bill of your service provider.
Gratuities
Because tipping is a personal matter, Crystal Cruises does not include gratuities in the cruise fares. Suggested guidelines for stateroom and dining service gratuities are as follows: stewardess, $5 per guest, per day (single travelers, $6 per day); senior waiter, $5 per guest, per day; waiter, $3 per guest, per day; butler (Penthouse Decks), $5 per guest, per day.
Tips for the maître d', headwaiter, assistant stewardess and night Room Service personnel are at your discretion. Gratuities may be prepaid or charged to your shipboard account.
For our specialty restaurants, Prego, Silk Road and The Sushi Bar, we suggest $7 per guest, per dinner. A 15% gratuity for all bar drinks and wines is added to your bar check automatically. We suggest a 15% gratuity for Crystal Spa & Salon services.
Valuables
Cabins are not equipped with a safety deposit box. However, jewellery, money, and other valuables can be handed in at reception for safe-keeping in the ship's safe. Hurtigruten Ltd cannot accept responsibility for the loss of valuables.
Voltage
Both 110-volt (American current) and 220-volt (European current) outlets are available in each stateroom; two hair dryers are also provided. If you have any questions about compatibility of appliances, please ask your stewardess.
Clothing Suggestions / Dress Codes
Throughout the day, our guests wear a mix of active resort wear. Dining room attire is casual during the day; however, swimsuits, swimsuit cover-ups/robes and baseball hats are not appropriate. If you do not wish to change for a meal in the afternoon or evening, alfresco dining on deck is available.
Each evening on a Crystal cruise has a specific dress code for dining areas that also applies to all public areas of the ship after 6:00pm (except for alfresco dining on deck when available). If you choose to change your attire following the evening dinner and other festivities, please maintain a minimum style of dress in keeping with the dress code for Casual Evening Attire. Guests find that the occasional formal nights create a special atmosphere in contrast to the other more informal or casual nights on board. The three codes of attire are formal, informal and casual. Typically, 10- to 14-day cruises have three formal nights. The number of informal nights is usually based on the number of days at sea, and casual nights are based on days in port or the time of departure. For your convenience, your cruise ticket lists the number of specific dress code evenings during your stay on board.
Formal attire is evening dresses and gowns of fashionable length for ladies, and a tuxedo, dinner jacket or dark suit and tie for gentlemen. Informal attire is appropriate for most evenings on board. For ladies, this is evening cocktail dresses or pantsuits. Gentlemen wear suits or sport coats and slacks; ties are optional. On casual evenings, a more relaxed attire is accepted, such as casual dresses and pantsuits for ladies, and sport shirts and slacks for gentlemen. Ties and jackets are not required. Jeans, shorts, sport shirts and caps or baseball hats are not permitted in the dining room or our specialty restaurants after 6:00pm.
There are bathrobes and slippers in each stateroom for your use during the cruise. Other amenities include a clothes brush, shoe horn, hair dryer, soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, sewing kit and umbrella.
For all voyages we advise you to take breathable rain and windproof clothing. A warm hat, gloves, scarf and thermal clothing can be useful, together with thermal underwear, during the winter months. On land where it may be icy, sturdy shoes are important for shore excursions and a walking/trekking pole may be useful. You should pack a pair of UV protective sunglasses, even during winter as the reflections of snow and ice can be harmful to the unprotected eye.
