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Fresh off their 124th cruise, Keith and Anne Marie Steiner are aficionados of the high seas – and experts when it comes to Crystal. Indeed, so dedicated are they to cruising with Crystal that Keith runs the “Crystal Society Family” Facebook page in his spare time. Who better, then, than Keith to tell us how life onboard Crystal is unfolding since the relaunch of the ships in 2023?

“I always tell people that if you liked the old Crystal, the new Crystal is even better. The new owners have taken the product that people loved and enhanced it. People are just so happy to have Crystal back. There’s an energy, an excitement onboard every cruise that we’ve taken since the restart – people are saying, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’”

For Keith, and the many passengers he talks to both onboard and online, there’s one key reason for this. “You come on the ship, and you feel like you’re coming home,” he says. “We’ve made friends for life onboard. The crew really is the heart and soul of Crystal. They’re human, not robotic – they’ll kid around with you – and they really care. They’re professional, of course, but friendly and warm.”

This feeling of being part of a family has been integral to Crystal since it began. Recalling his first ever Crystal cruise, Keith says: “It was the first time in my history of cruising that I was treated like a person and not a number. Crystal is unique in that way.”