5 Best Destinations You Can Visit on a Crystal Cruise Ship

If you want to see the world with Crystal, you have a lot of options. The beloved luxury cruise line reopened in July after an 18-month shutdown and despite operating only two cruise ships, it still offers cruise service to multiple destinations around the world.

The 740-passenger Crystal Serenity and the 606-passenger Crystal Symphony are almost always on the move. They operate diversified routes on multiple continents including Europe, North America and Asia.

In fact, one of the ships is scheduled to complete a circumnavigation of the world in 2024, visiting six continents. Among its many products, the Crystal has a particularly extensive footprint in Europe, with both ships staying in the area for at least some time each year. More than a third of Crystal flights operate to the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe.

But the company also offers many flights to the Caribbean, New England and Canada, as well as Alaska.

Crystal boat voyages range from a 7-night short voyage to Alaska to a 141-day circumnavigation of the world. Unlike mass-market routes, the company typically doesn’t offer flights for six nights or less. Between now and early 2025, there will only be one flight shorter than 7 nights in the timeline, a 6-night voyage from Vancouver, British Columbia to Los Angeles. Here are our picks of five of the best Crystal Cruise destinations.

The Mediterranean

A crystal cruise ship sails outside Lisbon, Portugal. Crystal is the case with luxury cruise lines, with a special focus on the Mediterranean route. A quarter of its planned flights are currently dedicated to the region, and both of its ships plan to spend at least part of the next two years in Europe.

Most of the Crystal’s Mediterranean tours range from 7 to 14 nights, but occasionally longer voyages are available. These itineraries include sailings specifically for the Western Mediterranean or Eastern Mediterranean, as well as some that dock in between.

A typical example of the latter is the 12-night flight from Istanbul to Monaco, a one-way trip with multiple stops in Greece and Italy.

The 12-night Istanbul to Monaco journey is part of a longer 45-night itinerary from Lisbon to Monaco via Spain, Morocco, France, Italy, Greece, Croatia and Turkey.

In the Mediterranean, the main hub of the route is Piraeus in Greece (the port of Athens); Istanbul; Venice, Italy; Barcelona; Monaco; Civitavecchia, Italy (port of Rome); and La Senne (port of Toulon), France.

The Caribbean

Crystal Cruises is not a major player in Caribbean cruises, but it usually sends a ship to the region each winter for at least six to eight weeks of sailing, passing through well-known and lesser-known ports.

In many cases, these Caribbean routes are very different from the typical seven-night Caribbean routes offered by most mass market routes.

First, they start and end at many ports, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Bridgetown, Barbados. The voyage is usually 9 to 13 nights, which is relatively long for the Caribbean route. In some cases, these itineraries can be combined to create longer Caribbean itineraries, i.e. 20 nights or more.

Crystal offers a typical 11-night Caribbean route from Miami, which includes a call at the British Virgin Islands island of Totola; Sint Maarten; St. John’s of the U.S. Virgin Islands; Barbados; Saint Lucia; and Nassau in the Bahamas.

Crystal also occasionally offers one-way Panama Canal flights from Florida to the west coast of the United States. These routes stop in the Caribbean Sea and pass through the Panama Canal.

Alaska

Crystal Serenity, one of the few luxury cruise lines dedicated to the Alaskan market in the summer of 2024, will travel to the region for a brief season with 740 passengers.

During July and August, Crystal Serenity will offer round-trip flights from Vancouver, British Columbia to Alaska, as well as one-way flights between Vancouver and Seward, Alaska.

The voyage lasted seven nights, making it one of the shortest voyages of the Crystal’s itinerary. But the itinerary is slightly different from the seven-night Alaska itinerary offered by most major cruise lines.

The Crystal’s typical round-trip voyage from Vancouver to Alaska includes a day sail and experiencing British Columbia’s famous Seymour Strait scenery, a rarity on Alaska cruise itineraries. This 3-mile-long narrow strip is only a few hundred meters wide in some places and can’t sail into Alaska’s large mass-market vessels, but it’s a place worth seeing. (I’ve had the pleasure of sailing a few times, and if the weather is good, it’s a real treat.)

Round-trip flights from Vancouver also include stops in the Alaskan town of Sitka instead of the more touristy Juno, the mainstay of Alaska’s seven-night voyage. The tour will include stops at Skaway and Ketchkan and visit the glacier-carved Ndicott Bay Fjord.

The one-way cruise between Vancouver and Seward will visit Ketchikan, Sitka, Skagwe, and Houna in Alaska and include a scenic cruise to Hubbard Glacier.

Asia, Australia and New Zealand

Crystal Cruises typically sends one of two ships to Asia, Australia and New Zealand each winter, sailing from cities such as Bangkok, Singapore, Sydney and Auckland.

The company also typically sends a second ship to sail around the world, which includes segments from Asia, Australia and New Zealand, so the company’s two ships sail in these areas during the winter. (See below for more information on the company’s world routes.)

These vessels offer a relatively broad portfolio of routes and do not make multiple consecutive stops in the same region in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Crystal Air’s Asia route for the next two years includes 12-night flights between Hong Kong and Singapore, with stops in Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Brunei. The Australia and New Zealand route includes a 17-night round trip from Sydney to New Zealand with stops in Auckland, Tauranga, Picton, Littleton and Dunedin, New Zealand, and Bernie and Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

The longer itinerary combines visits from Asia, Australia and New Zealand into one voyage, including a 42-night voyage from Mumbai, India to Auckland. The voyage included Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.

The world

The Crystal has long been known for its epic circumnavigation of the globe, calling at dozens of destinations on four, five and even six continents.

These trips can last four months or more, allowing Americans to travel the globe without having to fly. Typically, the Crystal’s circumnavigation of the world begins and ends in Florida or California (or both; The company sometimes offers the option to join its world cruise in any state while the ship is traveling around the world).

Crystal is planning one such trip around the world in 2024 – starting on January 18,2024, the Crystal Serenity will make a 141-day voyage. The ship will depart from Miami and stop in 33 countries. Future World Cruisers can also board the ship in San Diego on February 3,2024, after which the ship will sail through the Panama Canal to California.

After leaving San Diego, Crystal Serenity will circumnavigate the globe on a westward course, first crossing the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii and French Polynesia, and then on to New Zealand and Australia. From there, the ship will travel to Asian countries, including Indonesia and India, before crossing the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean.

In the Mediterranean, the ship will visit various ports in Israel, Turkey, Greece, France and Spain before heading to Portugal. It will then cross the Atlantic to Miami, where West Coast passengers can continue through the Panama Canal back to San Diego.

Crystal Cruises also recently announced a 123-day round-the-world voyage in 2025, calling at 62 ports in 31 countries. The voyage, which will depart from Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 7,2025, is not a full circumnavigation. Instead, it will focus on extended exploration of South America and Antarctica before the ship crosses the Atlantic to Africa, India and Europe.

Despite its small size, Crystal Cruises offers a diverse range of itineraries at cruise destinations around the world, from North America to Asia. You’ll find Europe with the most choice of crystal itineraries, followed by the Caribbean and Alaska. The company is also known for its epic circumnavigation of the world.