Radisson V Crystal

Having now sailed with both Crystal and Radisson I would say both cruise lines are fantastic and each have their own great individual product. To give you an idea of whom I am; I am a younger guy in my late 20’s who is a chef and I love to cruise.

EMBARKATION: Prefer Radisson+

I was quite surprised upon boarding the Serenity we were not even welcomed by any staff let alone offered a glass of champagne. We were pretty much ignored and made our own way to our cabin without any escort. Not a good first Impression.

Boarding the Radisson Mariner we were very warmly welcomed and the Assitant cruise Director even remembered us from our previous cruise on the Voyager, immediately we were offered complimentary champagne and escorted to our suite.

CABIN: Prefer Radisson+

Even though both Radisson and Crystal’s cabin décor are very tastefully decorated we prefer Radisson.

Both cruise lines have marble bathrooms filled with fine Egyptian cotton towels and Aveda products. Radisson Voyager has a separate bath and shower where as the Serenity’s shower and bath is one. Judging by the clientele onboard the Serenity, would think a lot of passengers would have trouble getting in and out of the shower.

Serenity has twin sinks which is a nice touch where as Radisson has the one.

We missed the walk-in wardrobe on the Serenity which we previously had on Radisson.

Cabin size Radisson wins hands down.

Radisson offers 2 complimenatary bottles of spirits and a bottle of champagne in your cabin upon embarkation where as Crystal offers nothing. Both cruise lines offer complimentary stocked soda in the mini bar.

SHIP: Overall Prefer Crystal

Crystal has obviously spent a lot more money on the interior of the Serenity compared to the Radisson Voyager and Mariner. Either that’s the case or Crystal just has a better interior designer.

The Crystal Serenity Spa area has to be the best decorated at sea. As I understand it was designed with Feng Shui incorporated.

One thing I did miss on the Serenity is the 2 story theater which is both on the Mariner and Voyager. Even though the Serenity is 18,000 tones bigger then the Mariner/Voyager the theater was quite substantially smaller. The Serenity Theater felt like I was more in a show lounge where as the Voyager and Radisson actually felt like we were in a theater.

FOOD QUALITY: Crystal+

Being a chef I can honestly say Crystal wins with the food quality, freshness and presentation.

Crystal chef’s obviously having a bigger budget per person to spend compared to Radisson. Maybe this is because Radisson use part of their food budget towards the complimentary drinks/wine with dinner. I must say Radisson also has fantastic food but Crystal is better.

The Sushi onboard the Serenity was fantastic! Radisson does not have a sushi restaurant but they tempted to have sushi on their Asian buffet one day which I didn’t end up trying due to the look of freshness and presentation. I am very fussy when I eat raw fish.

OVERALL SERVICE: Crystal+

Main Dining Room: Crystal +

Over all the service on Crystal is better then you will find on a Radisson ship.

I think the main factor this is the reason is that Crystal staff work for their tips whereas Radisson has a no tip policy.

Crystal has 2 separate set dining times which I think is easy on the waiters to handle as they seem to be a lot more organized with the set dining times, whereas Radisson with people turning up at all different times it can feel a little disorganized.. Although I much prefer the open seating concept on Radisson, I think having open seating does effect the quality in service. Having the same waiter every night on the Serenity does also make a difference as they remember the small things you prefer when you dine. You will have a different waiter every night on Radisson and it’s these small things that are missing.

What we did notice with Radisson is when you dine with an Officer the service is outstanding, shouldn’t this be the case everynight?

Buffet Restaurant: Radisson +

Breakfast service on the Serenity needs to be looked at. This is where the Crystal service was very disappointing. More then often during breakfast we were not offered any tea or coffee. Sometimes it was even too hard to wave down a waiter so we often ended getting up and getting the coffee ourselves. Especially when sitting outside at the aft the service was literally non existent; nothing was cleared no drinks or coffee offered.

Buffet Lunch service was the same and we would often have to get up and go to the bar and order ourselves.

Where as on Radisson; from the moment we sat down during b/fast coffee and tea was immediately offered.

I also prefer that the Buffet restaurant on Radisson all the tables are individually set where as Crystal you receive your bundled up cutlery with your tray at the start of the buffet.

One morning on the Serenity I asked for ice-cream to go with my waffles only to be told NO, the ice-cream parlor doesn’t open until another 2 hours.

Specialty restaurants: Crystal+ and Radisson +

Both Crystal and Radisson have an Italian restaurant but Crystal wins with this one.

Italian Restaurant was fantastic on the Serenity where as Radisson transforms part of their buffet restaurant to make an Italian restaurant. For your appetizer/ starter on Radisson you go the buffet whereas Serenity you are served all courses. A Crystal +

Radisson’s best restaurant has to be the restaurant “Signatures”. Crystal does not have a restaurant similar to this one. Radisson +

Both Crystal and Radisson have an Asian restaurant, Crystal’s Asian restaurant is a sushi restaurant where as Radisson has a set menu offering different Asian foods. E.g. Thai etc.

Radisson’s Latitudes was disappointing. Where as Crystal’s Silk Road was absolutely fantastic. Crystal +

Crystal has a café style lunch area called Taste’s. We enjoyed this café very much as they offer a variety of healthier style salads. Radisson does not offer anything similar. Crystal +

ROOM SERVICE: Radisson+

Radisson wins this one hands down. Radisson has a separate staff department for their room service whereas with Crystal your room service is also your cabin attendant.

When dialing for room service on Crystal the system Paige’s your attendant and then they call you back for your order. I kind of felt guilty ordering room service on Crystal as your room attendant works hard enough as it is. Because of this the only thing we ordered through room service was occasionally caviar to go with our afternoon drinks.

Radisson room service attendants will come in and set a full table setting.

CABIN ATTENDANT: Crystal+ and Radisson +

This one falls onto one person, so sometimes your lucky and sometimes your not.

HIGH TEA OR AFTERNOON TEA: Crystal exceeds ++

Crystal really did shine in this category. Their selection of teas was superb and being waitered on with waiters wearing white gloves and sometimes dressed up for Mozart tea was fantastic. Waiters will come around and offer you everything from pastries/cakes etc.

They have a very unusual selection of different types of teas which is a nice change compared to your usual limpton teas etc.

Radisson also has an afternoon tea but it is very basic with the normal common teas you find everywhere. Pastries/cakes etc will have to be retrieved by your self as there is no waiter service for this.

ENTERTAINMENT: Crystal +

Entertainment was better on Crystal then Radisson. There seemed to be a lot more selection on the Serenity. Their main Dancing show was partly accompanied by the ships band which made a nice difference compared to Radisson’s main production shows where are all the music is pre-recorded. I suppose as Crystal has more passengers which means more money per cruise they can afford better entertainment.

OVERALL We give Crystal 9 out of 10 Radisson 8.5 out of 10

Overall we probably prefer Crystal but Radisson is very close behind. Crystal just seems to do things with a nicer touch.

What made it for us on the Serenity was the Coffee bistro they have onboard the Crystal ships. They serve fantastic specialty coffees and there is always a great buffet selection if you’re feeling peckish. This café has a full waiter service and is always very prompt.

Radisson Voyager and Mariner also have a coffee sitting area next to the library but its very unimaginable with automatic coffee machines serving tasteless coffee where you serve yourself. Occasionally you will find a very basic tray with pastries.

Although we are looking at our next cruise which looks like it will be with Radisson, so basically we think the differences between the 2 lines is not great enough for us to just to steer towards one.

Let me know if you have any questions.

thank you for this thread! I'm really anxious to try Crystal now!!

I liked Radisson, but some things left me disappointed. I see they are the same as for you, so you seem to have to same tastes as me. And we are the same age.

I think both lines offer a clearly superior product. We've cruised on Harmony twice, Mariner twice, Voyager once (B2B) and Diamond once.

I come close to your conclusion, i.e., it's pretty much of a toss-up between the two.

In our opinion, the service is almost the same on both, but on Crystal the service is rendered more in the "European style", a tinge on the aloof side whereas we find Radisson a little warmer. There were times on Crystal that we felt that our last name as in "Yes, Mr. R, No, Mrs. R, Anything else, Mr R" was used so often in short conversations that it seemed somehow artificial and forced. It made us feel uncomfortable as we felt it bordered on being obsequious.

Other ratings:

-Food: Crystal by a nose

-Entertainment: Crystal by a fairly wide margin

-Cabins: RSSC by wide margin

-Room service: RSSC by wide margin (I truly can't understand why Crystal falls so short in this area. For a luxury line its inexcusable, IMHO)

-Enrichment Lecturers: Crystal by a fair margin, most cruises

-Embarcation/Debarcation: RSSC

-Ships: We haven't been on latest Crystal builds so we can't compare. But of the 25 or so ships we've been on, Mariner is our favorite ship.

While we prefer the dining freedoms and near all inclusive alcohol policies on RSSC, we would cruise on either again gladly. They are so close in our opinion that its like the old candy commercial for us, i.e., "sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't."

One additional comment: We always ask the maitre'd for a table being served by the same wait staff that serves the captain. When that's not possible, we ask for an excellent wait table team. Then we ask for this same section everynight so that our personal likes and dislikes become understood by our waiter.

Ozziecruiser, thanks for such an indepth, well-balanced review. I am envious that you were able to sail on the Serenity. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to sail with the Serenity or the Voyager yet. It seems like the itineraries and dates that I always go for are not onboard these lines' newest tonnage.

I have to agree with all of your points. However, I have never had such an unwelcome embarkation on Crystal. Each time I have boarded, I have been greeted by white-gloved stewards or stewardesses. This was shocking to hear. However, I am always thoroughly impressed with Radisson's embarkation. The champagne flows freely (eventhough I don't drink, it is nice to see) and we are whisked to our suites like VIPs.

I will take Radisson or Crystal anyday over any other line!

I'm glad to hear about your voyages. Thanks for sharing.

Michael

Ozziecruiser, thanks for such an indepth, well-balanced review. I am envious that you were able to sail on the Serenity. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to sail with the Serenity or the Voyager yet. It seems like the itineraries and dates that I always go for are not onboard these lines' newest tonnage.

 

I have to agree with all of your points. However, I have never had such an unwelcome embarkation on Crystal. Each time I have boarded, I have been greeted by white-gloved stewards or stewardesses. This was shocking to hear. However, I am always thoroughly impressed with Radisson's embarkation. The champagne flows freely (eventhough I don't drink, it is nice to see) and we are whisked to our suites like VIPs.

 

I will take Radisson or Crystal anyday over any other line!

 

I'm glad to hear about your voyages. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

 

 

Michael

Hi Michael, How was your last cruise on the Harmony? Have you posted a review?

You seem to love cruising as much as I do. Not many people our age do.

Im also looking at a 25 night Princess cruise on the Grand Princess next year which has the perfect itinerary for me. Any suggestions?

Kurt

Kurt,

My November cruise on the Harmony was great. 10 days was my shortest cruise - and way too short - but it was amazing. I wrote a review on it, but my computer froze and I lost what I had written. I have not had time to rewrite it :mad: It was special to be on the next-to-the-last cruise of that ship. And eventhough I have been to the Mexican Riviera more times than I can count, the maiden port calls at La Paz, Loreto and Santa Rosalia were spectacular. The Sea of Cortez is just incredible!

Which voyage on the Grand Princess are you looking into? I could only find a 19-day Atlantic crossing.

I am hoping to do 16-days on the Radisson Voyager from Rome-Ft.Lauderdale this Fall. But if not, I am trying to fit a cruise in this March as I am taking 2 months off from work. As I will be starting a new job in the Summer, asking for 16-days off this November might be asking way too much. It is difficult juggling a full-time career and my cruise addiction!

It's rare to find someone else who is as young as I am who loves cruising. I'm an old soul. What can I say? My parents got me addicted to cruising at the tender age of 7. It all falls on them. I've always gotten on well with an older, well-traveled set anyway. I am only 28, but I am ready to retire so I can spend my days at sea!

Michael

Michael:

Are you on the Photography Spotlight Cruise in November and then staying on for the crossing? We are on that from Rome to Funchal in November 2006.

We have a new review of the Voyager TA posted in CC review section.

Hope you enjoy it and the wonderful cruise.

One factor about Crystal is that, for some of us in the lux cruising market, their two seating dinner, smaller rooms, and totally extra charge alcoholic beverages are absolute "deal breakers" regarding cruises in Crystal's price range. And the fact that their ships carry a fairly large number of guests (1000 or so) is a "near deal breaker." Yet there are others for whom entertainment, lectures, and such are the prime factor, and these folks are often loyal Crystal cruisers.

Thanks,Richard

Luv my Radisson.

I have chosen to try Crystal to see for myself. Have booked the Nov 15 transatlantic from Lisbom to Miami (10 day sailing). With only 2 ports of call I fgigure this will proved me a good taste of the product from every respect. Since I like my sea days, the lack of port is of little concern.

The size of the cabin of course will be smaller, and no balcony so I am already taking this into account and will not be an automatic negative. It will be the service, food and attentiuon ton detail I will use for comparison. As far as entertainment, I like my piano bar so I will not grade based on the "shows" although I will attend on a crossing of the big pond.

I have avoided this line for years...time to see what it is like. I only hope the crew is friendly, that solo passengers are well accepted and there is some festive moments while on board. This will be a sure thing if there are any Aussies on board...still the most fun and friendly people at sea.

happy New Year to all.