Crystal Cruises Serenity receives Hospitality Design Magazine award

Crystal Serenity, almost ten years young, emerged from a $25 million facelift last year. Since then, this totally luxurious  ship has received numerous awards and accolades.

This latest and seventh award comes from Hospitality Design magazine and is aptly called, “Judges Award for Distinctive Cruise Design.”  So enthralled by the ship’s new appearance, the judges created this new category for their annual award program. 

“Because design is such a key sensibility of discriminating travelers, we have always been committed to creating ultra-stylish spaces in which our guests can feel at home,” says Alexandra Don, Crystal’s vice president hotel services and design.  “It’s incredibly gratifying to have the industry confirm that our latest vision was something markedly different from an archetypal cruise ship look, and in good company with the most beautiful of esteemed luxury hotels on land.”

The results of this amazing transformation can be viewed in a two-page spread in the May/June issue of Hospitality Design which profiles the work by Crystal and Toronto’s II BY IV Design Associates.

Additional honors recently bestowed upon Crystal Serenity include #1 Cruise Ship (Mid-Sized) from Conde Nast Traveler and Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, the Association of Retail Environment’s Crystal design award, and three Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, for luxury ship, suite and stateroom designs.

All 535 staterooms, retail spaces, outdoor pool deck, corridors, and more received a chic “Fifth Avenue”-style facelift during two weeks at Hamburg’s Blohm + Voss shipyard last May.  Crystal Symphony will be undergoing her own “Extreme Makeover” there this June, completing a five-year plan to redesign the entire vessel.

New to the all-inclusive cruise scene, the Crystal Serenity will set out on her first all-inclusive sailing on May 8 for a twenty-eight day transatlantic crossing from New York to Rome.  After that, the Crystal Serenity will cruise a series of 19 seven and twelve day European voyages until December and her return crossing back to North America.

Sherry Laskin

I’m the editor and creator of CruiseMaven.com, a solo traveler cruising the world on waves and wheels, collecting recipes along the way.  I hope my articles and photos entertain, advise and inspire you to travel the world without flying.  Take a breath…stop for a local meal and a glass of wine along the way.