Set your compass for bliss,
and set sail on a themed Wellness Cruise aboard the Crystal Symphony

My butler just knocked on the door of my penthouse cabin to offer me a tray of canap©s. Yes, I’ve got a butler which, in the greater scheme of things, could just possibly mean that my karma isn’t as awful as I think it is. He’s mine for the next 14 days, during which I’m journeying with my husband, James, from Miami to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal aboard the six-star Crystal Symphony.

Our swanky penthouse suite is located on Deck 10, with a wide veranda overlooking the sea below and while I’d be perfectly content parking myself there in a lounge chair with a book and something cool to sip, we spend our first afternoon aboard getting acquainted with the ship’s layout. I’m dazed by the elegance, from the comfortable, well-stocked library and plush theater, to the luxurious main dining room, inviting lounges, and outdoor pool area. There’s also a caf©, The Bistro, where coffee, tea, and freshly made pastries are served throughout the day; plus two specialty restaurants, Prego and Silk Road.

Besides a paddle tennis court, and an area where golfers can keep their swing in shape while sailing, the Sun Deck, topmost on the ship, is also the location of the fitness center, salon, steam baths, and Crystal Spa. Crystal Cruises www.crystalcruises.com/ partners with the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, offering guest speakers and wellness programs that include tai chi, yoga, Pilates, and nutrition on their specially themed Mind, Body & Spirit wellness cruises.

After a leisurely dinner at our private table overlooking the water below, we stay up late to enjoy a special musical extravaganza featuring The Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers. Even so, I’m awake bright and early, and make it up to the Lido Deck in time to participate in Crystal’s Walk on Water program, which involves the cruise line’s exclusive WALKVEST Training System [TM]. The vests are weighted to maximize the workout, but it still feels effortless in the fresh sea air.

Over breakfast, we peruse the day’s offerings in Reflections, the onboard newsletter that’s left for us each evening in our door-side mailbox. It gives a comprehensive listing of the next day’s lectures, movie choices, entertainment schedule, and fitness classes. The day before port calls, maps and tourist information are also supplied. On this particular trip, we’ll make day-long calls at Grand Cayman’s George Town; Cartagena, Colombia; Caldera, Costa Rica; Acapulco, Mexico; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before finally sailing into California just south of Los Angeles.

We quickly notice that the menu each evening reflects the part of the world we’re closest to. Themed dinners included a South American Dinner, California Dinner, French Dinner, and a Guest Chef dinner with Chef Sam Choy dishing up some of his best Hawaiian fare. While the choices all sound delicious and interesting, I’m personally pleased to see that Crystal’s commitment to wellbeing is also reflected here, with menus always including 4-course, gourmet vegetarian meals, light options, and sugar-free desserts.

My first visit to the spa comes in the afternoon (after a relaxing nap on my deck). It’s my first view of the interior, and I notice how the spa’s Feng Shui concept is carried throughout the relaxation area, 10 treatment rooms, and acupuncture room. Each room features a separate theme including Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness. The name of the room where facials are given is Karma, and I laugh out loud when I see it, thinking about the old saying that we all eventually wind up with exactly the face we deserve.

I’m shown to a spacious locker area and given a soft robe and slippers to change into. Jessica, my therapist, leads me to a quiet room done up in tranquil shades of cream, green, and brown. My Shiatsu treatment begins with a welcoming foot massage ritual while I’m seated upright, then progresses to a full body treatment on a massage table. After a head-to-toe dry brushing to eliminate dry skin and rouse my lymphatic and circulatory systems, Jessica begins the actual massage. She uses her fingers and palms to apply pressure to classical acupressure points located along the meridian channels recognized by Traditional Chinese Medicine. The intention is two-fold, and much the same as acupuncture: to free blocked energy, or chi, and to stimulate my body’s own innate healing processes. My 60-minute session leaves me deeply relaxed.

For the next several days, James and I both experience a huge reduction in stress. The constant gentle roll of the ship moving through the sea is an enormous part of that benefit but there’s also the fact that our every need is addressed by Crystal’s attentive staff and crew, the delicious meals are prepared, served, and tidied up after by someone else, and we have the daily option of indulging in quiet rest or being pleasantly stimulated by the ship’s many entertainment offerings.

Not that we’ve completely succumbed to self-indulgence. We avoid the elevator entirely, except for three evenings that require formal dress and a full-length gown, racking up an average of 664 stair steps each day. We also enjoy the yoga, Pilates, and Tai Chi classes that are offered, and make good use of the state-of-the-art Kinesis„• equipment in the gym. There are even Spinning classes, though I confess that managing the cycles and treadmill was more than I could deal with during the few occasions when the seas were rough. My inner balance may be improving, but my outer balance abandoned me completely whenever the waves were rolling.

The passage through the Panama Canal took a full day, and I learned that we are one of 15,000 ships that will transit the canal this year. We sat by a window as the Crystal Symphony negotiated the first series of locks, the Gatun Locks, and it was astonishing to see how close the edges were literally inches away on either side. There was ample evidence, in the form of many shades of yellow, red, green, and blue paints on the lock’s sides that some ships had come much closer than we.

When we finally slipped through the Miraflores Locks and out into the Pacific Ocean, I slipped back to the spa for an Elemis Musclease Aroma Spa Seaweed Massage. It lasted 120 minutes, and included a full body, warm seaweed masque, a relaxing wrap, and a full body massage. Feeling a little sleepy, I requested an invigorating essential oil for the massage. My therapist complied with a combination of pine and eucalyptus oils. The effect is that I’m suddenly wide awake and surprised to realize I’m famished. At dinner, I choose from the menu’s regular feature, The Lighter Side, which tonight includes guest chef Sam Choy’s Kona Coffee-Crusted Fresh Costa Rican Mahi Mahi with Tropical Fruit Salsa & Ginger Basmati. During the cruise, Chef Choy hosted several food demos, sharing his tips for healthy cooking. One of his philosophies is that it’s important to develop your own individual “inner circle of flavors,” based on your own dietary needs such as using yogurt in place of milk, olive oil instead of butter, or nonfat milk instead of cream. Establishing these exchanges as part of everyday meal preparation, Chef Choy explained, allows them to become habitual, so you don’t feel deprived of flavor.

While cruising has become associated with shameless gorge fests and 24-hour buffets, Crystal is dedicated to offering guests healthier choices. Curious about how these efforts are being implemented, I tracked down the trio of men responsible for the ship’s outstanding food service, Executive Chef Markus Nufer, Food and Beverage Manager Johannes Lorenz, and Hotel Director Herbert Jager. Over tea at The Bistro, Nufer tells me that while there are plenty of dining venues aboard where food is available outside of the regular hours of food service in the main dining room (where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are ordered from menus and served to guests at their tables), all menus include healthy options it’s just up to the guest to make the choice. No trans fats are used in the kitchens, and besides sugar-free and low calorie options, the kitchen staff can accommodate requests for low sodium, gluten-free, and macrobiotic diets.

“These are things we need to prepare for, however,” adds Jager. “So guests who are sailing with us just need to let us know in advance of any special dietary requirements.”

Lorenz emphasizes that menus are also built around what will be available fresh along the way giving a truly local angle to eating onboard.

“On longer transatlantic or transpacific crossings, of course, this becomes more of a challenge,” Lorenz says. “Fresh fish, for instance, can be a bit tricky which is a little ironic, since we’re at sea.”

Pondering the paradox, I meet James for a special dining experience at one of the ship’s two specialty restaurants, Silk Road. Under the direction of world-renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa, it’s a haven of candlelight and ocean views. We choose seating at the sushi bar, and spend a fabulous evening sharing travel tales with several other guests, and allowing the sushi chefs to prepare whatever they choose for us, which included assorted and delectable sashimi, plus some truly scrumptious eel.

Afterwards, we head to the Starlite Club on the Tiffany Deck for an evening of dancing, made slightly more interesting for the other guests due to the multiple servings of sake that accompanied our meal. The Crystal Sextet provides the evening’s musical accompaniment, and we sway contentedly in one another’s arms beneath the twinkly lights overhead. The entertainment on our sailing included Gary Arbuthot, one of Ireland’s most noted flautists, classical pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff, and harpist Shirley Dominguez from Uruguay. Along with a number of enjoyable theatrical performances, highlights of this particular trip included two presentations by the legendary broadcaster and television host Hugh Downs which, as a journalist, I enjoyed immensely.

Proof that you can take your wellness with you when you leave home, we left the beautiful ship in Los Angeles feeling well-nourished, rested, and restored and dreaming about our next adventure at sea. James’ long-time (and not-so-secret) plot to sell our mountain home and take up residence on a sailboat moored somewhere off the coast of Hawaii may actually be growing on me. Provided, of course, that the sailboat comes with a chef, a masseuse, and a butler. A girl has standards to uphold.

Crystal Cruises offers several Mind, Body & Spirit themed cruises each year. For detailed itineraries, fitness options, and spa menus, visit crystalcruises.com. While all of Crystal’s cruises focus on the wellbeing of the mind, body, and spirit, these specially-themed sailings also offer additional holistic programs that include lectures, classes, and workshops given by leading experts and instructors in healthy, mindful living.

By Debra Bokur

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