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 Travel & Outdoors | July 2005 
A Cruise You Likely Can't Take
 Mike Cleary
| | On the Crystal Harmony, you can enjoy the sea from a private verandah or large picture windows. Rated by consumers as the top luxury cruiseline for 2002 by CruiseMates! |
If you hanker spending the Thanksgiving Day holiday on a luxury cruise hopping from one sunny port to the next along the Pacific coast of Mexico, you could try booking an extremely well-priced, seven day getaway on the Crystal Harmony. Picture you and your family happily giving abundant thanks in places like Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. And, the bonus is a Thanksgiving Day turkey quesadilla requires no carving.
Unfortunately, if you're intent on booking this particular cruise, all your travel agent will be able to do at this point is put you on a waiting list. If you're somebody really important, you might even get upgraded to a priority list. Either way, chances are slim to none that you'll be on the ship when it finally departs from San Pedro in Los Angeles on Nov. 18 with Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" blaring over the ship's sound system.
I do apologize for promoting a trip you can't possibly take, but I wanted to share with you the teasing manner in which it was presented to me by a mischievous travel agent friend.
What makes this cruise so blasted popular is that it is the final sailing for Crystal Cruises' very first ship of the line. The Harmony is being retired after 15 years of exceptional service. To give you an idea of how popular the demand has been for securing a stateroom for this cruise, imagine the rush for tickets for the Chicago Cubs' last home game should Wrigley Field be razed. As a lifelong Cubs' fan, I certainly hope this is not anything I will have to plan for in my lifetime.
Now I am keenly aware of dog years. As for cruise ship years, however, I can only assume that 15 years means geezer city. When I inquired as to why the Harmony is getting the heave-ho, I was told the ship is simply too old to compete effectively against the newer, glitzier, Las Vegas-style marble, glass and brass floating resorts of today. So, after this Mexican Riviera cruise in November, the over-the-hill teenager will head to dry dock in Vancouver where it will be refitted and renamed.
We just got off the ship after sailing to Alaska and judging by the army of sober-faced engineers and architects walking the decks armed with their trusty tape measures and blueprints, they can't wait to get their hands on her. Word is that after her extreme makeover, the Harmony will head for Japan to become part of another line that will have her cruising the local waters.
Mary Ann and I were told what the ship's new name will be, but neither of us can recall it, nor do we care to. While we are happy the ship has more sailing days ahead of her, we only wish to remember her as the Harmony.
In the past six years, this vessel has been our home for 11 cruises. That's some 125 days. In that time, we have taken hundreds of people to Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii and through the Panama Canal.
Our home at sea is a few pounds over 51,000 tons soaking wet. That's a flexible number if you factor in the weight of the guests toward the end of each cruise. Interestingly, for what is considered a large cruise ship, she only carries 940 guests. A crew of 545 see to your every comfort and need while aboard.
It is this crew that includes Norwegian captains, international officers and a European-trained hotel and dining staff representing some 40 countries that is the Harmony's heart and soul. Crystal management is working to move most of them to their two other ships, namely, the Symphony and the baby of the group, the Serenity. There's a very good reason why they want to keep these people. They consistently, cruise after cruise, provide a level of service that is unmatched in the hospitality industry. And for those of us fans of Crystal, they are family.
By the way, the Harmony has several well-priced Alaska and Mexico cruises scheduled before that Nov. 18 sailing. Our Alaska adventure included a bear-spotting, whales, bald eagles and way too much good food. |
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