My wife and I have been on many cruises, probably over 50. This was our first "World Cruise" and our first Crystal Cruise. I will try to summarize our thoughts on this with the great and the not so great.
Great: The food is amazing. No powdered eggs, frozen hamburgers, or cheap ice cream on this line. Everything we ate was fresh, good, and the way it should be. The ship, even though old in my opinion, was very nice and well maintained. The public areas were not tired nor did they look their age. The crew, all trained well and friendly. Silk Road- was amazing just like Nobu (which we frequent in Miami/Vegas). Activities on sea days-always something for anyone-they keep a lot of stuff going on which is great. Another great is no matter when you go to the pool area there are chairs and towels with umbrellas waiting for you. You dont have to go up at 6am and "reserve" a space!
Not so Great- We booked a "PH" which stands for Penthouse. Now, for the record I have been on Penthouses in Celebrity, Royal Caribean, NCL, Holland America, and other lines. This isn't a penthouse. Its more like a balcony room on most other lines. The rooms on this ship are not what they should be. I had the chance to see the Balcony Rooms on the ship and let me say that those rooms would not cut it. They didnt even have real closets! The tubs where made for small people, no grown person would fit in there. The rooms are just not up to par, and for the amount of money they ask for, it should be. Secondly, I had a big let down with the shows. The variety is horrible. The shows are singing and orchestra type and arent geared towards anyone who is below 70. There is no comedy, no magic (other then a small show they do which is fine) and no other variety. We went to three shows during the 100 day cruise. This is a big area Crystal needs to fix along with the rooms. Lastly, Shore Excursions. I would avoid them-they upcharge you from 100%-1000% for things you could easily set up on your own. I also found the description in the excusrion was not reflective of what the real excursion was. It was often over hyped and under delivered....