We have been on BIG ships, Allure of the Seas, small ships,
Celebrity Xpedition, we have been on river boats and Monica's Dad's boat, but
this is our first time on a yacht!!!! And not just any yacht, this time we are
on Crystal Esprit, along 60 fellow guests, sailing for 14 days from Athens to
Venice. The Esprit is more accurately an "expedition yacht", designed
to visit the very small ports that even the smaller "traditional"
cruise ships cannot get into. She has a complete marina onboard, with all sorts
of water toys to use, like jet skis, kayaks and snorkel gear. She even has her
own three person submersible for those who feel really adventurous!
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| Esprit on the pier at Nafplion |
But first we had to get there. The flights over were
uneventful and comfortable on Lufthansa, and we arrived in Athens right on
time. And could not find our transfer to the ship. Athens airport, to be
charitable, was a zoo, with easily fifty people holding signs with peoples'
names on them, but none of them said "Rowe" and none of them said
Crystal. After waiting for an hour, and constantly walking through the crowds
checking the signs, we decided it was time to take things in hand and find a
taxi. We found a very nice Mercedes limo van, with a price to match, but the
good news is we made it to the ship in Piraeus Harbour. Two hours late, but we
weren't leaving until 9:00, so no harm done.
Crystal Esprit is small enough that we rounded the bow of
the Silver Spirit in the port before we even saw her. She's only about 3,300
tons and 85 metres long so can easily get lost among the big ships. But that's
the whole draw for the yacht - she can also get into ports and islands where no
one else can go. Once we were on board - no need to put our bags through a
scanner or anything - we were escorted to our suite. Not huge but sufficient
with plenty of storage space, a bit of a
change after the 1,000 square foot apartment on Oceania Riviera in July.
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| Our 'welcome aboard' treat |
Then we were off to explore the ship. Because it is a Crystal
ship, it has a Crystal Cove where the evening piano entertainment takes place,
with comfortable seating and a nice bar. The Sunset Bar, aft on Deck 5 - and
there are only five decks!, seems to be the favourite gathering place of
most guests. You can walk all the way around the ship on this deck; the Grill
is here as well as the pool at the bow, more like an oversized shallow hot tub,
and apparently not heated, with lounges and chairs around it. The Yacht Club is
the dinner restaurant, and breakfast and lunch are offered in the Patio Cafe.
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| Crystal Cove |
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| The Yacht Club |
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| The forward 'pool' deck. And they even show movies on the big screen TV! |
In the evening, there was a 'meet the officers' cocktail party
in the Cove, where we found out that there were 61 guests on board, and 83
crew! It doesn't happen very often that the standard guest-crew ratio is less
than 1 to 1. And, of course, we couldn't get on a Crystal ship without meeting
somebody we knew. Clark, one of the pool guys who we've known since Crystal Harmony,
had joined Esprit when it launched, and works as a Butler, and Luigi, who had
been a specialty dining maitre d', is now here as the Dining Room Manager.
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