FINAL THOUGHTS

This has been another wonderful cruise for us. Highlights for us included:

The itinerary including visiting Liverpool for the first time ever, return visits to Belfast and Dublin, and the chance to visit some first time ports of calls in charming towns such as Ringaskiddy/Cork Irlean Greenock, Scotland, and Saint Helier, Jersey of the Channel Islands.

Cuisine including its diversity, unique styles and presentation and the ambience that we enjoyed in each of the dining venues.  

Dinner with special people including friends and senior officers/senior staff.

Enrichment and other on-board activities including all of the Spin (indoor cycling) Classes which Keith took.

Entertainment including the Beatles Celebration Performance on the night we left Liverpool, which was so enjoyable that we attended both concerts.

Crew which for us is why we keep returning to Crystal Cruises voyage after voyage and year after year.  They have become our extended family and sailing with Crystal is like returning back to home.  

We hope that you have enjoyed our blog and felt as if you were traveling with us.

We have much to look forward to next year including a voyage on board Serenity in May followed by an Alaskan Cruise and the very special Northwest Passage Adventure starting in early August and continuing into September.    We also will be enjoying some time on land vacations with our family as well as on our own.

"We prefer to travel the world and see the world through our very own eyes so that we can experience first hand the many wonders of our beautiful planet Earth."  - Keith & Anne Marie

DAY 19 - HOMEWARD BOUND

We had dinner in our room last night.  It was not our typical dinner other than than the salad but we just kept it simple with club sandwiches.  

We slept well at the hotel.  The rooms are very soundproof so we do not hear any of the flights taking off or landing not do we hear any nice from the hallway or adjoining rooms.  

We had breakfast in one of the two hotel restaurants that serves breakfast and the breakfast was included with the room.  We could either have breakfast at the restaurant or at a club floor room.  We have eaten at the restaurant before.  Although it has a very extensive buffet of both hot and cold breakfast items, we kept it very simple as we do at home or on the ship.  Instead of having oatmeal, we had cereal, a banana and a few pieces of other fresh fruit.

A short while after breakfast we checked out of the hotel and walked over to the airport terminal and check in counter which is only about a five minute walk via an enclosed walkway.  

Check in was easy and we then proceeded through airport security over to the airline club lounge where we read and wrote until it was time to make our way over to the gate for our flight.  Our flight was on the same type of aircraft that we were on for our outbound flight to London Heathrow and other than being on the other side of the plane we were in the same area of the aircraft with the same configuration with Anne Marie in a seat by the window which faces to the rear of the aircraft and Keith by the aisle facing forward.

We arrived ahead of schedule and we were one of the first off the plane.

After we exited the aircraft we made out way over to immigration and then over to customs.  Since we shipped all of our luggage other than our carry-on items, we did not need to wait for our luggage on the luggage carrousel and we went through immigration and customs quickly.

We were home earlier than what we expected.  Coincidentally when we texted our son and daughter in law they were on their way back from a wedding and they were able to meet us at our home along with grand baby Jackson for dinner.  We ordered Pizza and that worked out well and they are now on their way back home.

In the next day or two we will post our final thoughts.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.......

"Our travels have taught as much about ourselves, as they have about people and places we have visited around the world, along with others we have traveled with." - Keith & Anne Marie

Keith & Anne Marie

DAY 18 -DISEMBARKATION DAY - DOVER, ENGLAND

We had a relaxing evening on board Serenity.  

We decided to just enjoy dinner in our room which we have never done the night before we disembark but just thought it would allow for a quiet dinner and then an easy way to just get the final items packed in our bags.

It was indeed a nice dinner for us and we had salad, some sushi/sashimi from Silk Road, an entree from the dining room and some popcorn.  A fun way to end a fun time on board Crystal Serenity.

Butler Rao organized all of this for us.

Our morning was similar to other morning's on-board Serenity but this time there was no early morning exercise for Keith.  He slept a little later and then made his way to the Lido Cafe for some coffee and to read and to write.

A short while after bringing some coffee back to the room for Anne Marie we had our final breakfast in our room thanks to Rao.  Usually on the last morning of a voyage, we will have something other than our regular breakfast of Oatmeal and Fruit such as eggs for Anne Marie and a Bagel and Smoked Salmon for Keith, but we decided to just go with our regular breakfast.

We thanked Rao for all he does and look forward to seeing him again.

This has been another extraordinary cruise and in a final post we will share our final thoughts.  During this fourteen day voyage we sailed from Dover Roundtrip and sailed 2,604 Nautical Miles or the equivalent of 2,995 Land Miles.

We vacated our room at around 9:00 AM although we could have stayed there until our assigned time to be at the Crystal Cove.  We did this so our stewardess, Gloria, could get into our room to clean it for the next guests embarking Serenity today.

A few minutes after we vacated the room we received a call from Head Concierge Natalia.  We used Luggage Concierge to ship our luggage.  In most ports including this one normally you have to claim your luggage in the terminal area and then go through customs where it is handed off to the Luggage Concierge Representative.  We actually experienced exceptions to this in Rome and in Istanbul on two our our last disembarkations which is typical for those ports.  Natalia said that they were not doing customs today and asked if we had anything that we needed to place in or remove from the luggage and if not asked if she could hand it over to Luggage Concierge and we said absolutely.  It made it all the more easier for us.

While we were on Deck 5, Hotel Director came by to speak with Keith and then walked over to Anne Marie and he wished us the best as we did with him.  We look forward to seeing him on our next Crystal Cruise.

While we were waiting in the Lounge, Head Sommelier Tilmar stopped by and we spoke with him for awhile.  Tilmar joined Crystal Cruises a few weeks after we departed Crystal Serenity on May 31 after along career with Seabourn.  We met him the first night of the cruise when he came by our table at the Crystal Dining Room to introduce himself and we have enjoyed several discussions with him during the course of the cruise.  He is very easy to talk with and we certainly share a common interest in wine and in travel and in history.

We were one of the last people to leave the ship as we are going to be flying home tomorrow.  We were in the Crystal Cove and at around 9:50 Concierge Louisa told us that our car was now ready for us and she escorted us to where the vehicle and driver was and Head Concierge Natalia was also there as well.  We had booked the car with Natalia and Crystal Cruises and it actually was supposed to be a sedan but we were pleasantly surprised that it was a vehicle that could hold eight people.  Natalia asked if that was alright and we said absolutely.

We then wished Natalia and Louisa our very best and they did likewise with us.  

We were then driven to London Heathrow Airport where we are staying at the Sofitel Hotel which is a short walk from Terminal 5.  We have stayed at the Sofitel on a few previous occasions a find it to be one if not the best airport hotels we have ever stayed at.  The drive took a little longer than usual as there was on vehicle breakdown on our side of the highway.  A little later on there was a several mile backup and that was caused by an accident on the other side of the road which resulted on the other side being completely shutdown but vehicles on our side were looking at the accident which slowed down traffic to almost a standstill.

When we arrived to the Hotel we collected our carryons from the vehicle.

After arriving to the Hotel, the good news is that our room was ready.  We checked in, got settled.

We then walked over to the non secure area of the airport to pick up some Salads which we enjoyed in the room.

In the afternoon we read and wrote and we will have dinner at the hotel this evening.  We will post about that and our flight back home a day or two after we arrive home.  

In a few days, we will also post some final thoughts about the trip.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY..........

"Our journey never ends, as there are more places to visit, more adventures to enjoy, more special memories to make, that together, we will carry with us for the rest of our lives." - Keith & Anne Marie

Keith & Anne Marie

DAY 17 - SAINT HELIER, JERSEY

We enjoyed another night on board Crystal Serenity last evening.

We were back at the Crystal Cove for a pre-dinner drink while we listened to Scott Mitchell play the piano.

After Scott finished playing, he joined us for dinner at the Crystal Dining Room and this provided additional time for us to catch up with Scott although we have spoken with him on many nights right before he gets ready to play the Piano.

We both had an appetizer of Crabmeat.  It was very tasty.

We each had salads and then for our entree Keith had fresh Salmon.

Anne Marie had the Fresh Angler Fish and afterwards Branislav came around with some of the fish for Keith to try.  It's texture is similar to Lobster.  It was very tasty too.

Last night was our last night in the Dining Room of this voyage and we just wanted to take a moment to complement the wait-staff team that had taken excellent care of us.  This includes Senior Waiter Branislav whom we have known for so many years but this is the first time we have had him as our Senior Waiter.   He not only was on top of each and every item we ordered he knew so much about what we already preferred from being a Senior Waiter at nearby tables over the years.  He also is very personable and willing to go the extra mile.  And, he is funny too.  Our waiter Frenando has been very professional and we will see him from time-to-time.  The major role of the waiter is to take the orders that have been carefully written down by the Senior Waiters and to not only get them to the appropriate Galleys that prepare the food items for the dining room but to stay in the galley until coming out with all items that are associated with a particular course for each table that they have responsibility for.  While our orders might be more straight forward because we sit at a two-person table, others are a lot more complicated such as those at an eight person table or at the case of the table near us an eight person table as on certain nights that table is hosted by officers during both the main and late seatings.  

Our Sommelier Javier is a gem and takes excellent care of us.  He will take the time to explain the wine before we have it and also stays on top of the wine the entire evening.  Sometimes we tease him that when our the wine in our wine glasses go down to a certain level that the flashing lights goes off because he always seems to make it over to our table at that point in time.

Rounding out the wait staff is Head Waiter Giuseppe whom as we mentioned we have had from time-to-time as our Head Waiter and who has been with Crystal Cruises for a very long time and someone that we have known for many years.  

Finally, there is the Maitre d' of the Crystal Dining Room, Leo, whom we have also sailed with for many years now and who is very adept at seating guests who might need a different size table from what they normally have or might need to come a a different time on selected nights and while he is doing this somehow can find a little time to stop by the table to check on us as he does with other guests.  Leo came by last night two different times including once when we finished dinner.  He and Anne Marie hugged and we will see him again next year.

We are very appreciative for all that these professionals do to make our dining experience so enjoyable.

We also want to mention the Galley which is under the direction of Executive Chef Frantz and all of the people some of which we know and others we never sea who work behind the scenes each and everyday to prepare wonderful meals and who are in other roles including washing all of the dishes, glasses and eating utensils along with those who have to clean the galley and the dining room.

As they say, this is all a team effort and it shows.

It was very quiet in the Crystal Dining Room as many people were dining at the other specialty restaurants and some were off the ship as we didn't leave until 10:00 PM.  

We slept well as we sailed to our final port of call at Saint-Helier, Jersey before we arrive to Dover where this voyage will come to an end and we will disembark Serenity.

Keith was up first and enjoyed a long workout at the Fitness Center.  With the time difference he caught half of the life Presidential Debate in the USA, followed by post analysis.  Interestingly enough, one of the BBC stations carried it live too.  After his workout, he made his regular visit to the Lido Cafe to read and write and to enjoy some coffee.  He spoke with some of the Lido Deck Stewards who like their other colleagues who work on this deck day-in-and-day out for us represent the pulse and the heart of the ship, including Max, Michael, Phil, Martin and Raymond.  

We then had breakfast in our room as we got ready to visit Saint-Hellier, Jersey.

Saint Hellier is the largest town on the largest of the Channel Islands.  Jersey is around 45 square miles   It is believed that St. Helier was settled at the time of Roman control of Gaul.  Its population totals approximately 35,000 residents.

The Channel Islands are located just 12 nautical miles off the French Coastline where Normandy flanks the English Channel.  Great Britain is located approximately 100 miles away.  

Some of the highlights of Saint-Hellier include:

-Elizabeth Castle which is but on a rocky islet in St Aubin's Bay.

Jersey War Tunnels 

Liberation Square where a statue was erected in 1995 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jersey's liberation from Nazi occupation.

We took the first tender over to town.  It took around twenty minutes to arrive to the tender drop off area which was located right near the marina.

We then walked along the Marina towards the town, making our way to the Steam Clock-Ariadne

We then made our way towards Liberation Square

We had a short stop at the Jersey Museum & Art Gallery.

Liberation Square and the sculpture erected commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Liberation from the Nazis in 1995.

We then continued our walk of the town stopping at a area with various stores, and restaurants.

As we walked the town, we would pass a variety of monuments and sculptures.

The town is very charming including the architecture of many of the buildings we passed.  The locals were also very friendly.

We stopped off at a local market featuring fruit, vegetables, flowers, a butcher and some other fine shops.

Throughout the town there were nice displays of flowers hanging in baskets, which we always enjoy looking at.  On a related note the weather was quite nice and reminded us of a nice autumn or spring day back home.

On our way back from town as we neared the tender pier we ran into the dream team of Shore Excursions including Manager, Daniel, Assistant Manager Joyce and Louisa.

This Tender also serves as the Life Boat for the room that we normally stay in.  

We had a private tender on our way back to Serenity.

Moments before we arrived back to Crystal Serenity.

All in all we had a great time in port.  This is one of those towns that we just enjoyed a nice walk around town rather than taking a formal tour.  Many on board were signed up for the tour of the tunnels.

We enjoyed lunch back on the ship and we had our final lunch of this voyage at the Lido Cafe.  Yes, we each made a nice salad entree.  

Keith played Paddle Tennis and Anne Marie walked outside on the Promenade Deck for the final time this voyage.  This was by far the warmest afternoon day of the cruise with lots of sunshine.

This evening we will finish the final packing as we get ready to depart Serenity tomorrow morning.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Keith & Anne Marie