HOUSTON - We were four hours out of Lisbon at the start of a 10-day voyage to Ft. Lauderdale when Crystal Serenity cruise director Gary Hunter greeted passengers in the ship's theater.
"We normally carry 1,080 passengers, but on this cruise we've only got about 500 guests and a staff of 655," Hunter said.
"We've finally got you outnumbered."
Then Hunter grinned. "I thought about assigning one crew member to every guest," he said, "but I looked out and realized that some of you need two."
No problem. As our voyage continued, it seemed that the entire staff was at our beck and call, attesting in part to why Crystal consistently gains accolades as a leading purveyor of luxury at sea -- including designation as the world's best large-ship cruise line by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine for 12 consecutive years (1996-2007).
The Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony, the Los Angeles-based line's two-ship fleet, have won awards for best service, best cultural enrichment, best cuisine, best entertainment and best spas while sailing to every continent.
Many passengers return time and again.
What's behind this remarkable success? My self-appointed mission was to soak in as much pampering as possible -- well, somebody's got to do it -- and try to discern why Crystal is No. 1.
Personal service
A knock on the stateroom door interrupted the unpacking routine.
"Welcome back!" a tuxedo-clad gentleman said, presenting a bottle of champagne.
"Ural!" my wife and I shouted in unison upon recognition.
Ural Korkmaz, a native of Turkey, was our butler eight years earlier aboard the Crystal Symphony as we sailed through the Panama Canal. Now, let me pause to say that we're not butler people; I'm more comfortable carrying an ice bucket to the self-service machine at a Comfort Inn. But once or twice each decade, I find myself in a butler's presence. Crystal devotes an entire deck to suites with butler service, and with an unusually light passenger load we'd been upgraded.
I remembered Korkmaz for his smile and dedication, and for the caviar he'd delivered each day prior to dinner on the Panama Canal cruise.
It's like that on Crystal -- from Filipino deck stewards who greet passengers by name to Canadian pianists who never seem to forget a guest's favorite Broadway song.
Josef Lumetsberger, the hotel director who supervises the Serenity's passenger service, suggests that staff continuity is a key to Crystal's high standards.
"We have so many stay with us year after year, and I like to think there are reasons they do," Lumetsberger said. "We arrange special activities for the crew -- late-night music in a passenger lounge, dinner in a restaurant, formal nights. We know they work hard, and we want them to be happy."
Cultural enrichment
Physician Herb Keyser, who lives in San Antonio, has delivered more than 8,000 babies for a living. In his spare time, he's toiled as a TV actor, a singer and a dancer. He's written books on food, travel and medicine (including "Prescription for Disaster: Health Care in America").
But Keyser wasn't aboard the Serenity to discuss any of those topics. Instead, as one of four enrichment lecturers, he dissected the accomplishments and travails of Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and other jazz legends.
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