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Brad A. Johnson

Food & Travel

Brad A Johnson
  • Blog
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    • Food Photography
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World’s Best Cruise Line for Cuisine

  • May 17, 2015
  • Brad A. Johnson
Food dictates where I travel. I book restaurant reservations before I buy plane tickets. I choose hotels based on their proximity to where I will eat.
I also like cruise ships. But I’ve learned over the years that my passion for food and my love for cruising are not always compatible. I’ve found myself on cruises where I’ve had to lower my expectations at the dinner table, at least while the ship was at sea.
Ruby snapper in the Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Caviar and chive custard in the Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Tuna crudo in the Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Beef and truffles in the Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Palm Court aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

All of this was on my mind earlier this year when I started planning a trip to Southeast Asia. Two years had passed since my last trip to Singapore and Thailand, and even longer than that since I had seen Vietnam. Some of my greatest food memories come from that part of the world. Singapore’s dining scene rivals New York’s and Tokyo’s, and I knew of at least four new restaurants there I wanted to try. I craved real Thai food and warm sand between my toes. I longed to explore the street food of Ho Chi Minh City with the friend of a friend who lives there. The more I thought about the possibilities, the hungrier I got.

I checked various cruise itineraries and noticed that the Crystal Symphony was scheduled to sail the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand at precisely the narrow window of my desired travel dates. I immediately plotted my meals.

In Singapore, I dined at the reincarnated Tippling Club. It was flawless. The southern-style Thai food in Koh Samui shook my soul. It was even better, richer and so much spicier than I had remembered or expected. My guide in Ho Chi Minh City showed me things and places I never would have have found on my own. I can’t remember a vacation when I’ve eaten so well, every single meal for three weeks.

But the funny thing is this: For all the great food I devoured along the way, the memories I will cherish most might be the days and nights I dined onboard Crystal Symphony.

I had taken a Crystal Cruise years ago and enjoyed good food, but I was genuinely stunned and delighted by the Symphony’s cuisine this time around. As it turns out, it had recently revamped the menus in the Crystal Dining Room. The evolution was remarkable.

Alongside the classic selections that I remembered – prime rib, steaks, soufflés and whatnot – the menu now includes an additional menu of “modern selections” that change every day.

For 14 days and nights, the kitchen never repeated a dish. I enjoyed a beautiful mosaic of swordfish and tuna carpaccio topped with orange-chili sorbet, ginger confit and purple basil.

Everyone at the table gasped and applauded when our waiters placed silver domes in front of us, then lifted them to reveal bowls of wagyu beef tartare, sending plumes of horseradish-scented smoke into the air beneath our noses. And these were just regular nights in the dining room.

Formal nights ushered in even more elaborate flourishes like Petrossian caviar served in eggshells filled with chive custard; fried squares of snapper balanced atop bright yellow ravioli, the fish’s honeycomb-like skin perfectly charred and garnished with soft, golden pearls that tasted like saffron.

Broiled Chilean sea bass arrived with a garnish of lemon snow, the sort of kitchen magic that involves liquid nitrogen and safety goggles, the sort of thing I would expect at some of the world’s top restaurants but not in the main dining room of a cruise ship. But I did a little digging and discovered that Crystal’s culinary team worked with Kyle Connaughton, the former head chef of the research and development lab at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in England, which helped pioneer molecular gastronomy. The cuisine onboard the ship isn’t nearly as precious as Fat Duck, but the famous chef’s influence is clear and impressive.

Our final destination was Hong Kong, where the ship would dock for two nights. Eager to explore, I made a reservation at a trendy new restaurant in Kowloon for the night of our arrival. We were scheduled to disembark the following day.

As soon as we docked, I called the restaurant to cancel. I had one last night on the ship, and I wanted to make it count. Cruise cuisine isn’t what it used to be.

Smoked beef tartare in the Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Smoked beef tartare in the Crystal Dining Room aboard the Crystal Symphony (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

CRYSTAL SYMPHONY
The Symphony circumnavigates the globe and docks at least once a year in Long Beach. This year the Symphony stops at the Port of Los Angeles on May 25 en route to Latin America, with onward itineraries to New York, London and beyond. Fares start at about $1,700 and include all meals, alcoholic beverages and gratuities. The Vintage Room wine dinners cost extra, starting around $200 per person, depending on the wines being poured. 888-722-0021 or crystalcruises.com

This article originally appeared in the Orange County Register. To view more of my work for the Register, check out the archives. For more dining and travel inspiration, I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

 

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Brad A. Johnson

Brad A. Johnson is a writer and photographer specializing in food and travel. His work has been honored by the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, James Beard Awards, World Food Media Awards, Food Photographer of the Year Awards, Society of Features Journalism Awards and others. Based in Southern California, Brad currently serves as Editorial Director of the new luxury consumer travel magazine of the Global Travel Collection (launching Spring 2023).

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Hey, OC. Do you know about this one? Cool new modern Thai restaurant in Irvine: Nara Thai Kitchen . Beautiful food, but the kitchen doesn't do spicy. The flavors are not nearly as exciting as, say, @thai_avenue (still the best) in Garden Grove, but this is easily one of the nicer Thai restaurants in OC. Great potential here.  It just opened a couple weeks ago. You'll need a reservation. It's been packed every night.  #orangecounty #thai 290 10
Hey OC, do y'all know about this new wood-fire pizzeria @theparlorsp in Tustin? Really good stuff! They're open only for weekday lunch, no weekends or dinner, located next door to the new @ryegoods. It's an odd location (adjacent to the chef's commercial catering kitchen, maybe?), with limited seating inside the tiny parlor itself. But they also have extra seating in a common indoor/outdoor area shared with Rye Goods.  I hope they eventually open for dinner/weekends. ⁠ 333 25
I might have found my new favorite place in OC for chicken pho @pho.nicfv⁠ 174 19
My sincerest thanks to the North American Travel Journalists Awards!⁠ 129 19
Hey, OC. FYI in case you missed it, @ryegoods has opened a new location on Red Hill in Tustin, just down the street from Flight/Mess Hall. Same incredible breads and pastries as the original on the peninsula. No lines here, plus a huge seating area. #sourdough #pastries #coffee #orangecounty 337 10
One more post from our lovely stay at @fstokyo. Delicious lunch at @maisonmarunouchi, the casual sibling to @sezannetokyo. Excellent all around. And clearly popular with Tokyo's ladies who lunch: the clientele during our visit, almost entirely women. Quite the see-and-be-seen crowd. 70 1
Brad A. Johnson
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Writer. Photographer. Traveler. Restaurant Critic.

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