A view from the bridge

The captain’s quarters on Crystal Serenity has a new occupant. We sat down with Captain Placido Libro on his inaugural voyage to find out how he’s settling into life in the master’s chair. 

It’s been just a few days since Placido Libro joined Crystal Serenity as its new captain, but he already looks perfectly at ease on the bridge. “Well, I’m new but I’m not brand new,” he laughs. Indeed: Captain Libro has spent 45 years of his life at sea, starting as a boy accompanying his father who worked as a bosun on the ferries between Messina and Calabria in Italy. “I would feel the atmosphere of spending every day at sea,” he recalls. “I grew up with this feeling in my blood, the feeling of the salty sea.”

From a summer job as a 16-year-old deckhand to a career in the Italian navy, from overseeing multiple new ship builds to captaining various cruise lines, Captain Libro certainly has pedigree. For the past two years, he has been working on the creation of Crystal Grace as Crystal’s Director of Maritime Affairs. “Here I have some drawings,” he says, waving a tantalizingly thick tome, “but it’s a secret,” he jokes. “I’ve been responsible for working with Fincantieri to check all the plans in terms of safety, navigation, and so on. I can bring all my experience at sea to it – for example, I’m designing the bridge consoles specifically to our needs. It’s exciting because you see everything you are asking for being realized.”

When Crystal Grace takes to the waters in 2028, Captain Libro will be at the helm. “It will be an emotional moment when I step on board for the first time,” he says. “When you see the flag going up, the ship is handed over to you, the staff is moving all the equipment… You see that there have been years and years of work to make this come true.”

In the meantime, he is enjoying the Crystal experience on Crystal Serenity. “Everything on board is made with particular care and attention, the food all over is amazing,” he enthuses. “I’m not saying this because I’m with Crystal but because it’s the truth. They say Waterside is a normal restaurant – it’s not normal, it’s amazing! 

“It’s an honor to be in this position. It is a lot of responsibility but the greater the responsibility, the more pleasure and more honor it is to serve the guests as their captain. It’s not my first time as a captain, but it is my first time with Crystal, so I will do my best to please the guests and sail safely. Receiving back a smile is the best achievement.”