Beginning this year, Crystal Cruises will make its foray into river cruises using the ms Mozart, which will be renamed Crystal Mozart when she enters service this summer. The real game changer, however, will come next year, in the form of Crystal Debussy – Crystal Cruises first purpose-built river cruise ship. She’s still well over a year away from setting sail, but her deck plans reveal that she won’t be your ordinary river cruise vessel. What do the deck plans of Crystal Debussy reveal? Let’s have a look, deck by deck.
Deck 1
The lowest passenger-accessible deck aboard Crystal Debussy, Deck 1 is home to two Category S4 Suites with windows; and 14 Category S3 Suites with windows. The color-coding may be difficult to see, but Suites 100 and 101 are the lone Category S4’s on Deck 1. All suites on Deck 1 measure 220 square feet each.
Two things are notable about Deck 1 from a passenger standpoint: The elevator that sits in the center of Crystal Debussy’s spiral main staircase will travel all the way down to Deck 1; a rarity among river cruise ships.
The other noteworthy feature: There is a self-service laundry, located on the starboard side of the ship adjacent to the main stairwell. A staple among many oceangoing ships, self-serve laundry stations are tough to find on river cruise ships due to their lack of available space, although Uniworld features self-service laundry on its newest vessels, and Scenic includes laundry service in its fares.
Deck 2
Moving up to Deck 2, we come to Crystal Debussy’s main Reception Area, spiral staircase, lift, and gangway doors. This public area is bookended by four Category S2 Suites With Full Sash Windows (200, 201, 229, 232); and 22 Category S1 Suites With Full Sash Window, four of which are interconnecting (225-227 and 228-230). All of these suites measure 250 square feet each.
Rounding out the mix is a single gigantic 2 Bedroom Crystal Suite (217), which will measure an astonishing 750 square feet and can sleep four adults.
Deck 3
Deck 3 is where you will find all of the public rooms aboard Crystal Debussy, with the exception of the Reception Area on Deck 2.
This is a unique layout as most river cruise ships have stuck with a general layout that places the restaurant on a lower deck, with the main observation lounge situated directly above (A-ROSA is another exception with its restaurants and lounges on the upper deck). Crystal clusters all public venues on a single deck that stretches from one end of the ship to the other.
There are plenty of surprises hidden on Deck 3, like an impressively large Promenade Deck that runs along the better part of the starboard side of the ship.
Look closely and you’ll notice that the Promenade provides access to some of the public areas aft of the ship, including the ship’s Secondary Restaurant, Gym and Studio Store, Fitness Center and Spa. An interior stairwell also provides indoor access to this restaurant as well.
In fact, the deck plan for Deck 3 of Crystal Debussy looks a lot like the deck plan of an oceangoing cruise ship. And that blank space in the middle? That’s the ship’s Galley. It’s impressively large, and will no doubt churn out some culinary masterpieces.
The Main Restaurant is situated midship just aft of the Palm Court Lounge, which will no doubt provide easy access in transitioning from cocktails to dinner, or vice-versa. The Palm Court Lounge also features a large stage and an outdoor seating area.
But that’s not all – the Palm Court also has a Skylight Roof mounted to Deck 4.
Deck 4
Up on Deck 4, it’s easy to see that the Palm Court isn’t the only beneficiary of a skylight. In fact, there are a total of three skylights affixed to the top of Deck 4: one over the Palm Court, one over the main restaurant, and one over the aft dining room.
A casual Bar and Grill is featured on the forward end of Deck 4, allowing guests to dine outdoors when the weather is agreeable. Just aft of that is The Pavillion, featuring more outdoor seating. Additional Sun Loungers appear to be placed aft on the deck, which looks wide, open, and generally uncluttered.
What The Deck Plans Say
In a nutshell, these two-dimensional plans provide a surprisingly intimate look at the ship that will become Crystal Debussy – even moreso than the already released 3D rendering of the ship does, because rendering are subject to change. At this point, the general arrangement – or GA Plans as they’re known in the industry – are locked in stone. Changes, if any, should be minor at this point. The deck plans are an accurate representation of what the ship will look and feel like, from a top-down point of view.
Crystal Debussy makes her maiden voyage on June 4, 2017. Her sister, Crystal Bach, joins on June 18, 2017. And Crystal Ravel and Crystal Mahler set sail on August 8 and August 29, 2017, respectively.
Crystal Mozart joins the fleet – and kicks off Crystal’s first-ever river cruises – on July 13, 2016.
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