“I have never been particularly keen on cruising other than at the luxury end of the market. My favourite ship was Silversea’s Silver Cloud, and so I didn’t think I was going to like being on a larger ship, but Crystal Symphony hasn’t lost anything in terms of intimacy. It’s now my favourite ship. There are more activities than on Silver Cloud.”
“None. We don’t get any complaints about Crystal at all.”
“We ask a lot of questions. If a customer wants to take a five or six-star cruise, that narrows it down. Then you have to know if they want a small, large or medium ship. A lot of our clients go for smaller ships. The kind of people who like Crystal are slightly more conservative. They are quieter, more understated, and they are quite intelligent. I would sell Crystal to them in terms of service, and the other important thing is destination. Crystal itineraries tend to include a lot of days at sea, and their ships often stay at a port for more than one night.”
“The service more than anything else. For instance, when a waiter comes up to you at the pool to ask if you want a drink, and calls you by your name, even though he’s only served you once before. Also, the computer university is a unique feature. People can come on board and learn about e-mail, Word, Excel and so on. You can get an introduction to computing, which for many passengers is considered beyond their generation.”
“My criticism is not a real criticism, It’s just that although the entertainment is good, there is little going on after midnight. It’s just about what a younger person might like to see on board.”
“We establish what sort of land-based holidays a customer has taken over the past few years, and what their lifestyle is. If they have been to five-star hotels and like the quality things in life, it’s easy to switch them on to Crystal. We get a lot of people to trade up to Crystal, but it isn’t right for everyone. The trade-up from a four to a six-star cruise is a big one. People who have been on a Celebrity or Holland America cruise are probably ready to be moved up to Crystal.”
What do you think of Crystal Symphony?