If you're yearning for a magical Mediterranean cruise vacation, consider upgrading to a luxury voyage. Smaller luxury vessels offer lavish accommodations, personalized service, extraordinary dining experiences, extensive pampering and much more. In addition, many luxury cruises are all-inclusive unlike many of their mainstream counterparts.

Before booking a voyage with a premium cruise line, make sure to compare that pricing with luxury cruise options and add in the cost of the many complimentary extras offered on a luxury ship. You're likely to find the actual difference in price is much less than imagined. In addition, the overall luxury cruise experience is outstanding and well worth the splurge.

Here are seven great reasons to book a luxury Mediterranean cruise:

1. Truly All-Inclusive. Premium cruise line guests often enjoy many aspects of cruising, but mention that the add-on pricing for many services takes away from the overall experience. Stepping up to a luxury brand like Crystal Cruises makes voyages truly magical. Crystal offers an all-inclusive cruise experience that's strikingly superior to other cruise lines. Sought-after amenities such as specialty restaurant dining, unlimited Wi-Fi, fine wines and spirits, specialty coffees, 24-hour in-stateroom dining, gratuities and more are included in the cruise fare. This all-inclusive aspect makes the entire vacation experience so much more relaxing and enjoyable.

2. Small Ship Luxury. Crystal Cruises is the world's most awarded luxury cruise line, operating a number of elegant small ships including Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony. Both Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony have won Conde Nast Traveler Magazine's Readers' Choice Awards and Travel Weekly's Gold Magellan Awards for the best cruise ship afloat. Beautifully reimagined and updated in 2018, Crystal Serenity accommodates just 980 guests on a ship with 13 decks and an abundance of well-designed public spaces. In addition to multiple dining areas, Crystal Serenity offers entertainment, fitness and spa facilities as well. The Crystal Spa on Crystal Serenity is exceptional, with a wealth of rejuvenating experiences including BIOTEC Anti-Aging facials, an ELEMIS Aroma Stone Therapy massage, detox treatments, acupuncture, and medi-spa services. Groundbreaking treatments on Crystal Serenity's Quartz Crystal bed are available as well.

3. Ultra-Personalized Service. Crystal's ships are well known for their outstanding staff and crew members, delivering incredible levels of hospitality and an amazing onboard experience. As a result, it's no wonder that Crystal Cruises has received multiple industry awards for outstanding service. Crystal Serenity features six-star service with a staff to guest ratio of 1 to 1.5, one of the highest in the cruise industry. Most of the ship's crew have been with Crystal for many years. Crystal has a high repeat guest ratio as well, due in significant measure to the superb personalized service and memorable luxury experience delivered on each of their voyages.

4. Unique Itineraries. Exploring extraordinary destinations is one of the most important parts of any travel experience. Crystal's luxury cruise itineraries include enticing ports of call, making these trips particularly special. Seven night sailings to voyages of more than two weeks are available. Crystal's smaller ships visit well-known destinations as well as less crowded ports, weaving a beautiful tapestry of experiences during each sailing. Crystal's varied Mediterranean sailings call on a wide array of destinations including Civitavicchia/Rome, Livorno/Florence and Barcelona as well as enchanting less-traveled ports like Italy's Porto Venere and Santa Margherita Ligure, and France's Corsica and St-Tropez. Crystal recognizes the importance of fully experiencing destinations, so itineraries can include lengthy stays in port with late evening departures. Shore excursions are easy to book with Crystal Cruises, both prior to sailing as well as on board, and are unique and well organized. A number of Crystal's experiences are not readily available to the general public. It's always possible to spend time exploring destinations on your own as well, and Crystal's knowledgeable concierges are happy to help.

5. Sumptuous Staterooms. Guests will immediately notice the extraordinary luxury cruise difference as soon as they enter their staterooms aboard a Crystal Cruises ship. There are just 490 staterooms on Crystal Serenity. None of ship's staterooms are inside cabins and almost all of the staterooms have verandahs. All staterooms are spacious, including Crystal Serenity's 544-square foot Seabreeze Penthouse Suites, slightly larger Penthouse Suites with verandah, and the massive 1,368-square foot Crystal Penthouses Suites with verandah. All staterooms include a love seat or couch, a large closet with a shoe rack, a refrigerator stocked with free bottled water and soft drinks, luxurious French-made Caudalie bath products and more. Additional amenities for Penthouses and above include attentive personal butler service, complimentary beer and wine in addition to bottled water and soft drinks, a fully-stocked complimentary in-room bar, a massive walk-in closet, an incredibly huge bathroom with a decadent shower, afternoon canapes and tea service, free clothes pressing, nightly hors d'oeuvre service and even more - all of which completely transform the overall cruise experience. Once guests have settled into their lavish accommodations on a Crystal cruise, they often find it hard to leave.

6. Extraordinary Culinary Experiences. Cuisine is a key part of the any cruise vacation experience, and the food aspect of the trip is even more amazing on a Crystal cruise. Crystal Serenity features a myriad of complimentary dining options for guests. Waterside is the ship's main dining room, serving traditional cuisine as well as Michelin-inspired international fare accompanied by an outstanding wine list. Menus offer a wide variety of choices and change throughout the cruise. Upstairs, The Marketplace is a casual buffet-style restaurant serving an extensive array of breakfast items. In the evening, The Marketplace transitions into the Churrascaria Brazilian steakhouse serving grilled meats and seafood. Located within a convenient walking distance of the pool, the Trident Bar & Grill serves hamburgers, sandwiches and wraps, pizza, fruit and other fare throughout the afternoon. Nearby, the Silk Kitchen & Bar offers a great menu of modern Chinese dishes for both lunch and dinner. Other enticing experiences include the Stardust Supper Club, The Vintage Room for intimate dinners, and relaxing with one of those all-inclusive specialty coffees or glass of wine at The Bistro. Two of the most stellar Crystal Serenity dining experiences are its specialty dining venues. Prego is an outstanding restaurant serving classic Italian cuisine and Umi Uma & Sushi Bar exclusively features exquisite dishes created by Master Chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Guests may find their Umi Uma dining experience ranks as one of the best of a lifetime.

7. Family-Friendly Luxury. Grandparents, parents and children can bond and make lasting memories while enjoying a luxury cruise together. Crystal Cruises is the only company that offers a true luxury cruise experience for families and multigenerational groups with dedicated youth lounges onboard Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony. In order to sail, children must be at least six months of age at time of embarkation. Supervised programs and activities are available for children ages 3-17 on selected holiday voyages as well as throughout the summer months. In-suite babysitting for children ages one and older is offered on a first-come, first-served basis on Crystal's ocean-going sailings as well. Crystal Cruises offers special group programs that can be advantageous for large families and multigenerational groups with a minimum of ten full fare paying guests/five staterooms with double occupancy. Check with your travel advisor or Crystal Cruises for complete details on the cruise line's family-friendly programs and amenities.