We began last evening by attending a special performance by Organist Hector Olivera which was held before dinner This was in addition to two performances given later in the evening by the Dance Team of Ryno and Elena along with Comedy Ventriloquist Mark Merchant who just joined the ship two days ago.
Hector's performance was absolutely amazing. He played a wide range of songs including those many from movies from The Gone With The Wind to Star Wars.
We then made our way to the Crystal Dining Room where we were taken excellent care of by the outstanding dining room wait-staff team.
We each began our meal with salads.
Our next course was the entree.
Anne Marie's entree was scallops which were accompanied on a bed of Butternut Squash Risotto, Chili-Tomato Marmalade and Confit Leeks.
Keith's entree was Broiled Salmon Fillet was accompanied with Mashed Potatoes, Root Vegetables, Mushrooms, and Lime Beurre Blanc which Keith asked for on the side and the salmon was so tasty that Keith didn't use the sauce.
Our entree was also accompanied with a side order of vegetables that we requested.
For dessert we each had fruit with Anne Marie having blueberries and Keith having mixed berries.
Shorty after dinner, we attended a Captain's Quarters Reception hosted by Captain Birger along with several other guests. We were welcomed by Captain Birger and by Crystal Society Hostess Jaque and then as we entered the quarters the one of the ship's photographers is on hand to take a photo, and some of the Lido Deck Stewards are present with wine and champagne on trays and will also take an order should you care for some other item. Some of the ship's Officer's were also present such as the Vice Captain, Hotel Director, Food & Beverage Manager, Chief Engineer, Shore Excursion Manager and Chief Financial Accountant and other senior crew members such as the Cruise Sales Consultant and the Activities Hostess. We always look forward to these get-togethers as they provide yet another nice opportunity to speak with some of the Senior Officers as well as other members of team Crystal and to converse with fellow guests.
We slept well last evening and the seas continued to be relatively calm. Keith was up first and walked up just a couple of flights to the Fitness Center for another of his morning workouts on the Elliptical Machine. Afterwards, he read and wrote at the Lido Cafe and also enjoyed some coffee. He brought some coffee back to the room for Anne Marie and after she got ready she went on her morning walk.
After enjoying breakfast in our room, we got ready to visit the town of Willemstad, Curacao. We stopped by the Crystal Plaza and it was already set-up for the New Years Eve Party.
Many colorful homes and buildings line the streets and are characteristic of Curacao.
Keith first visited Curacao at age 12 on his first cruise with his family. It was on this cruise that he visited one of the oldest synagogues of North America and that is where he got his Bar Mitzvah Tallis. This is the Mikve Israel Emanuel Synagogue & Jewish Museum. The Synagogue was constructed in 1732.
This is a photo of Keith's Tallit and Tallit bag that his Parent's purchased for him.
This Synagogue is one of the oldest in North America. The key about oldest is sometimes that refers to the actual building, or the land that the original building was on or the congregation. This Synagogue is the oldest Synagogue still in use today in the Americas. There are older one but the key term is "in use".
Last year we had the opportunity for Keith to return to Curacao and for Anne Marie to visit there for the very first time. We arranged a private tour with Crystal Cruises where we visited the synagogue, a Jewish cemetery, and drove to other sites around the island including the cave of Hato. Given that we had toured the island fairly recently, this time we decided just to walk around the town of Willemstad since we didn't get that opportunity when we were here last year.
These are some photos of the Jewish Synagogue. The floor of the Synagogue is unique as it is sand.
We walked close to five miles. We first walked towards and then over the floating bridge. The bridge moves side to side rather than up in the air to let other boats/ships through the area.
Later on while in town we could see the bridge moving to let a tug boat pass.
We walked up and down various streets passing government buildings, various statues, a church, stores and a floating market.
St Anne Church
Floating Market
After a long walk we headed back towards the floating bridge.
We then walked back over the floating bridge which escaped the Queen Emma Bridge and also known as the Pantoon Bridge and The Swinging Lady.
We had lunch back on board Serenity and ate at the Lido Cafe. We made our usual salad entrees. Today they had whole Turkey's and we had them slice us one piece each and it was very tasty and tender. The Captain and his lovely wife sat with us at lunch and we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with them.
In the afternoon, Keith played a lot of Paddle Tennis for a very long time with a lot of different people.
Something unusual started at around Noon and still continues for several hours as we are finishing today's Blog. Fire Crackers are being lit in different places on shore it it sounds like thousands upon thousands of them. At one point you could smell them in the Lido Cafe when the doors to the outside opened and while Keith was playing Tennis and Anne Marie was walking outside and then sitting out by the Pool the noise was unbelievable. At times it sounds like a Hail Storm.
All in all it has been an absolutely wonderful day. Also, today the six spin bikes in the Fitness Center were retired and have been replaced with 10 new spin bikes. Keith saw the first one being put together by the vendor and when he returned to the center five have been placed on the floor and the others should be out by this evening and tomorrow Keith will use one of them in the Spin Class scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Here's a peak at them.
This evening we will dine at Prego and then we will see a performance of a relatively new concert featuring songs of Bill Joel and we will attend several of the other New Year's Eve festivities as we get ready to say so long to 2014 and ring in 2015.
With the new year in mind we will end today with two thoughts for the day.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.” – Leon J. Suenes
Keith & Anne Marie
I just LOVE Anne Marie's New Year's Eve dress. It is so festive and she looks beautiful in it, as usual. You, too, are always dressed to perfection. I love reading your blog, thank you for taking us along on your fabulous journey.
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