Amazon Discovery

Fly direct with British Airways to Miami where you will be met and transferred to a hotel for an overnight stay on a B&B basis.

Originally a fort built by the U.S. Army in 1838, during the Second Seminole War, Ft. Lauderdale has little left of its warlike past. Instead the city welcomes visitors with broad beaches and an easy pace of life, plus convenient air and water connections that make the city a perfect place to begin or end a cruise.

Check out of your Miami hotel and take your included shared transfer to the port and embark Crystal Symphony for your 24-day luxury Amazon and Caribbean cruise.

Appearing as emerald streaks in a sapphire sea, the two islands of Bimini—North Bimini and South Bimini—are just 50 miles from Miami, but just far enough to have garnered some lore and legend: The isles were used as a secret storehouse for rum-runners during prohibition and Ernest Hemingway made no secret of spending time here knocking back libations and trolling for the Bahamas’ world-famous game fish. Today, this tropical locale is a favorite escape for vacationers seeking a laid-back pace, astounding natural scenery, a drink or two of rum and a dip in gin-clear waters.

Your Story at Sea

Adventure. Romance. Discovery.

Aboard the most award-winning ships at sea, your story can be written exactly as you wish: pamper yourself at the Feng Shui-inspired Crystal Spa, work-out at our state-of-the-art fitness center or Walk-on-Water along our 360o Promenade Deck; learn how to translate your story into a movie with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts Digital Filmmaking class at our Creative Learning Institute ®; or learn about art, history and worldly destinations with our engaging celebrity entertainers and speakers with our Crystal Visions® Enrichment Program; sneak away to watch recently-released movies in the Hollywood Theatre, shop our luxury boutiques, or simply lounge poolside while our attentive crew caters to your every whim. From mat Pilates and yoga to PGA golf instruction and paddle tennis on full-size courts, today is all about you. As evening arrives, dine on the renowned culinary creations of Nobu Matsuhisa, and Crystal’s own acclaimed chefs with new Modern Cuisine and Global Inspired menus, enjoy special wine-makers dinners, breakout new production shows, intimate lounges, a pulsing dance club or our action-packed Crystal Casino. The choices as always aboard the World’s Best are yours. How will you write your story on board?

St. Barts forms part of the French Overseas Region of Guadeloupe. Descendants of settlers from Brittany and Normandy operate its tiny inns, shops and restaurants. This charming, slow-paced island attracts tourists year-round to its shores. The graceful meadows surrounded by low stone fences, spectacular beaches, the small volcanic mountains and the quaint Creole-style villages are just several of the alluring aspects of this tranquil island.

Translating to “Land of High,— Terre-de-Haute is indeed positioned above its neighoring Île de Saintes, Terre-de-Bas. Terre-de-Haute also rises to the top of vacation hotspots thanks to a magical combination of Caribbean locale and French joie de vivre. Small at about three miles long and one-and-a-half miles wide, the island is big in international sailing, with yachts and other vessels—including your own—glamorous and glinting in the harbor. Trekking on land, you will encounter colorful, tile-roofed buildings housing all manner of eateries and shops, spiced with a French-Creole culture and mellowed with a sun-warmed vibe. A primary island attraction is Fort Napoléon, built on a bluff as a defensive structure and later used as a prison. Today, it houses a museum dedicated to the island’s history and environment and boasts a botanical garden of succulents.

A gem-like strand of 32 islands, of which only nine are inhabited, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is among the most idyllic and least touristy of all the Caribbean island nations. At 18 miles long, St. Vincent is the largest isle, regarded for its black-sand beaches and sky-blue waters – paradise for leisure sailors and a wonderland for scuba divers and snorkelers. The imposing, still-active La Soufrière volcano and its surrounding waterfalls and rainforest make St. Vincent a haven for eco-adventures with exceptional hiking trails and a spectacular Botanical Garden – the Caribbean’s oldest. In the capital city of Kingstown, cobblestone streets lined with arched stone doorways and magnificent churches recall both French and British colonization, as Fort Charlotte overlooks the city from its perch 600 feet above the sea.

Devil’s Island (Ile du Diable) is one of the three infamous penal colonies of the Iles du Salut archipelago (Islands of Salvation), the other two being Ile Royale and Ile St. Joseph. The penitentiary was first opened by Emperor Napoleon III's government in 1852, and became one of the most infamous prisons in history before closing in 1946. Each island served a different purpose of the penal colony: Ile Royale was the site of the administrative center, the wardens’ accommodations and for prisoners deemed less dangerous. The more troublesome convicts of hardened thieves and murderers were kept at Ile St. Joseph. On the almost inaccessible Devil’s Island, political prisoners such as Alfred Dreyfus were held in isolation. A great many of the more than 80,000 prisoners sent to the harsh conditions at disease-infested Devil's Island were never seen again. Other than by boat, the only way out was through a dense jungle; accordingly, very few convicts ever managed to escape. The prisoner who became world famous was Henri Charriére, immortalized in the movie Papillon, for supposedly being the only convict ever to have escaped from the “green hell.”

Straddling the equator, Macapá hosts a large obelisk-shaped sundial marking the equatorial line and a sports stadium with seats in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. This Amapá state capital on the Rio Amazonas also boasts a large Portuguese-built fortconstructed between 1764 and 1782. The area’s natural attractions are numerous, thanks to Macapá’s Amazon location. The remote Guiana Amazonian Park, accessible only by air or water, is ideally suited not only for its protected animals but also for intrepid adventurers who relish the idea of taking a small, flat-bottomed boat called a pirogue into its wildlife-rich environs.

Technical stop only.

First settled by Jesuits in 1661, Santarem quickly became a focus of American interest during the rubber boom of the early twentieth century. Today, Santarem remains one of Brazil’s most important trading centers, and is imbued with the energy of a growing city. Be sure to view the “Wedding of the Waters,— the unique merging of the Tapajos clear water with the Amazon’s muddy water.

This small village located on Tupinambarana Island is situated in the largest river archipelago of the mid-Amazon. This two-century old village is rich in Indian culture, as celebrated with an annual “Boi Bumba” festival, an event that has been taking place in the Parintins for over 80 years, and that is a ritual of magic, mystery, passion and faith. Enjoy the exotic appeal of the Amazon via this fascinating area.

The capital of the State of Amazonas, the belle époque splendor of Manaus is still evident in the graceful mansions and the Teatro Amazonas opera house. This city, resting on the Rio Negro, was created by the rubber boom of the mid-19th-century, when steam navigation opened up the Amazon to entrepreneurs and the social elite. Today, stroll down the Parisian-styled boulevards and Italian piazzas, or watch the fisherman at Municipal Market unload their catch of the day on the river’s edge.

The “mouth— of the Valeria River, the colorful Caboclo village contains a few wooden houses and an abundance of local wildlife, including monkeys, birds and several varieties of flora. As Crystal remains anchored off-shore, canoes bearing the local inhabitants will glide through the river’s waters, providing a fascinating display of the colorful culture of the Amazon region.

Technical stop only.

Just off the coast of Venezuela sit the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, birthplace of steel pan and calypso music, chutney and limbo. The island country is raising the bar for what it means to venture to a tropical destination, offering what seems to be just the right combination of things to do and opportunities to do nothing at all, if you so desire. If the “doing— part of that equation is your speed, then take the ferry that runs between Tobago’s Scarborough and Trinidad’s Port of Spain to see the larger island’s Emperor Valley Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Asa Wright Nature Center and impressive colonial houses, known as the Magnificent Seven. Just off the shores of Tobago lies Buccoo Reef, a natural wonder viewable by glass-bottom boat, and up on a hill with magnificent, coastal views is Fort King George, a vestige of the islands’ colonial past.

The dramatic sandstone fortress of El Morro, begun by the Spanish in 1540, was built to guard the harbor against Sir Francis Drake and his British privateers. Stroll the breezy boulevards of Old San Juan, lined with five centuries of palaces and great homes, as well as outdoor cafés where you can sample the island's famous coffee and seafood delicacies.

Debark the ship and take your included shared transfer to the airport for your onward flight to the UK, arriving the following day