Crystal - clearly the best.

The November issue of Conde Nast Traveler lists the results of its annual reader's poll, and, once again, Crystal Cruises was named the number one cruise line. Crystal is a large ship luxury cruise line. Smaller ship competitors are in the premium/deluxe category.

Crystal Cruises had one of its highest scores ever (94.1)--more than five points ahead of all competition, large ships and small. This year, Crystal has won not only the Conde Nast Traveler award, but the CNT U.K. award, the Travel & Leisure Award and CNT's Best Cruise Line spa award--all voted by travelers.

"Cruise Week" correspondent Art Sbarsky, having returned recently from a Crystal Serenity cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean, highlights several aspects of what differentiates a luxury cruise in today's marketplace, focusing on how the largest luxury ship compares to the premium/deluxe lines.

Sbarsky notes that some of the features formerly associated primarily with luxury cruises--e.g., balconies, exotic itineraries, alternative restaurants--are now available on all kinds of ships, but the luxury lines still have the edge in space ratios and the crew per guest ratios. In the case of Crystal Serenity, space ratio is 63. As for stateroom size, the luxury lines pretty much have the bigger rooms and a higher percentage of balconies.

An overall feeling of quality is important in defining the difference between the top of the quality pyramid and the others. As virtually all ships now have different places to dine for meals, what is it that sets a brand like Crystal apart in that it continues to win the big awards? The answer lies in the immeasurable details.

For example, on Crystal Serenity guests are offered perhaps the best duo of alternative restaurants at sea: first is Silk Road, and its dining room and sushi bar are operated under the auspices of Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa. All of the chefs are from Nobu restaurants around the world; all menu items are as well. The ship's Italian restaurant, Prego, has its menus overseen by Piero Selvaggio. And meals here are offered for the extremely small (gratuity) of $7 per guest, a teeny percent of what it would cost to eat shoreside at the restaurants operated by Nobu or Selvaggio.

And Crystal shines with things like the quality of lecturers. On a particular Crystal Serenity cruise, the two lecturers were both former United States Ambassadors. Their lectures on the history of the region, foreign cultures, the English language, and more are enjoyable and of very high quality. Other high-quality learning activities are featured as well; the wine lectures are certainly a cut above--conducted by a Master Sommelier, one of only eight Americans to be so designated. The sessions are informative and very entertaining.

And then there's the less tangible: staying in touch while at sea has become more important. Crystal has done its fair share to keep up with wi-fi and cell phone access throughout most of the ship. However, certain areas are blocked so as not to disturb the ambience of various areas for the bulk of the guests. The Internet connection, using the same technology as the navy, is absolutely the fastest at sea. It symbolizes the smoothness of the whole experience.

Each traveler has their own set of priorities in defining what is best. Individual opinions count, but the majority opinion is clear – Crystal is the winner – by a long shot.