DAY 20 CRUISING AND DAY 12 ON CRYSTAL SERENITY

We wanted to begin by wishing each of you a very safe, healthy and a very Happy New Year.

We had just an absolutely wonderful time last evening, as we said farewell to 2014 and welcomed in 2015.

Before dinner, we went to the Crystal Cove where we listened to pianist Scott Mitchel perform.

Anne Marie with Scott Mitchel.

We began our evening by dining at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant.  The attire for last evening in keeping with the New Years Festivities was Black Tie Optional.

We were seated at our table by Head Waiter Mario and we were taken good care of by waiter Maria.  


A photo with Head Waiter Mario.

One of the waiters who took our photo with Mario was being funny.  He says "1, 2, 3...." but has the camera pointed his way just to be funny.  We had a good laugh.

We began our meal by having a small portion of the Pasta Additional Entree as an appetizer.  It was delicious.  Each night there is one additional entree which could be seafood, beef, pasta or some other item.  Coincidentally the two times we have dined at Prego this voyage the additional entrees were Pastas but they were two completely different Pasta Entrees.

For our second course we each had the salads that Keith has in the Crystal Dining Room.

Our third course was an entree.  Anne Marie had the Veal Scallopine again but this time Marsale, while Keith had the Pan Fried Fillet of Striped Bass. We were both very pleased with our entrees.  Keith also had a side order of grilled vegetables.

These photos are of Keith's entree and vegetables.

They even added foam to the entree as they do with the modern cuisine menu in the Crystal Dining Room.

We were both very happy with our selections.

Jiri, one of two Sommelier's in Prego took very good care of us.  Jiri was our Sommelier on several cruises in the Crystal Dining Room.  We began the meal with a white wine, and then had a full bodied read wine.  

We say it often but for us the service, ambience and the cuisine in each restaurant is remarkable.  We were welcomed to Prego by Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Slavko and by Head Waiter Mario.
As we made our way to our table we were welcomed by name by each and every waiter.  Many of the waiters have worked for Crystal for several years and some have worked at Prego for many years with most if not all having begun in the Crystal Dining Room.  All of this has the charm of the old days of dining on land ,and we really enjoy and appreciate it.  

After dinner, we walked around the ship for a little while and we then attended the second of the two concerts appropriately called My Life: The Music of Billy Joel which features many of Billy Joel's hit songs.  The Crystal Ensemble of Dancers and Singers and the Galaxy Orchestra is also part of this performance.  This is a relatively new concert that has been rolled out to Crystal Serenity and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was very upbeat and it reenforces how many truly wonderful songs have been part of Billy Joel's career and part of our lives.  Billy Joel lived on Long Island which is also where Keith lived until attending University and the irony is that one of Keith's cousins played with Billy Joel in their early days.

We thoroughly enjoyed the concert.  The songs were ones that we were quite familiar with as are most people, and it was very upbeat.  The dancers and singers and the orchestra really add to the show.  

An incredible amount of entertainment was offered last evening making this a very special New Years Eve on board Serenity.

This included:

Vocalist Toni Warne performing a One Woman Show.  She was a runner-up from BBC's The Voice.

Pianist Scott Mitchel performing from 5:15 to 6:00 and from 7:45 to 8:30.

The Romantica Strings performing from 6:30 to 7:30 and from 8:30 to 9:15.

The Crystal Sextet performing from 5:15 to 6:00, 7:45 to 8:30 and once again 9:45 to Late Night.

Pianist and Singer Mark Farris performing from 8:00 to 8:30 and from 9:45 to Late Night.

D.J Edgar playing music from 10:00 to Late Night.

After the concert, we walked around the ship several times so that we would stay awake before it was time for the New Years Celebration at the Crystal Plaza.  We spoke with several guests and members of the Serenity team including Food & Beverage Manager, Tayfun and we also spoke with some fellow guests.

A major highlight of the night was the New Year's Countdown.  Activities began at 9:45 PM at the Crystal Plaza and continued with the Balloon and Confetti Drop and Champagne Toast at midnight and continued beyond that time. Captain Birger noted that this countdown had the most people ever turning out for the celebration. 

All of the tables and chairs from The Bistro were placed one deck below at the Crystal Plaza so guests would have places to sit.  The Bistro was used as a staging area to get the champagne poured and ready for the Midnight Toast.

We wanted to mention that for the members of the crew who didn't have to work late into the evening that there was a party for them in another area of the ship which was truly very nice to allow the crew to also celebrate New Years.  Those who did work were mainly in areas with guests who were celebrating the New Year and although they were working they could also enjoy the celebration of the New Year.  

When we got back to our room there was a Crystal Cruises Wall Calendar for 2015 on our coffee table.

We slept very well last evening, as we got to sleep very late.  

We started our day a little later than we normally do, but nevertheless we had the same routine.

Keith was up first and began the new year the way he does each year with a workout.  As he was walking up the steps to the Fitness Center he saw a member of the night crew who he sees on most early morning's and they shook hands and both said Happy New Year which was a great way to start the day and the New Year.

All of the spin bikes (10) were in place on the floor of the Fitness Center.

Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine using the one furthest to the left as he does for most of his workouts.

A funny thing happened to Keith after his workout when he was heading back to the room before he would go to the Lido Cafe.  Sitting on the steps, he saw a couple still wearing their Black Tie  attire from the celebration.  Keith also says that since he works out so early that he will run into someone who is still up from the night before and it did this time around.

Keith then went to the Lido Cafe for some coffee and to read and write.  It was very quiet for most of the time he was up there.  Each of the Lido Deck Stewards came by where Keith was sitting and they wished each other a very Happy New Year.

Anne Marie managed to get part of her walk in, before we had breakfast in our room and then she got the remaining morning walk in after breakfast.

There was lots on today's program including three lectures. Dr. Jay Wolff spoke about the great fortunes that were made by the white gold of sugar.  Next up was Tom DeFrank who spoke about 2016 (United States Presidential Election) and offering his views about this.  In the afternoon, special interest lecturer Tom Eastwood spoke about Donovan who as director of the Office of Strategic Strategies (OSS) and the father of the CIA.

Since it was New Years Day even the Fitness Center got into the act with a talk about weight loss since for some that is their New Years Resolution.

There was a special New Years Day luncheon buffet set up outside the Crystal Dining Room by the very talented team from the Crystal Dining Room.  Although we didn't eat at the buffet the food smelled and looked great.

All of the displays are truly a work of art.

Keith took the photos before the Buffet was all set up for the official photos and then for people to eat.  It's interesting to watch all of the effort that goes into setting it up.  Hotel Director Hubert stopped by to check on the set up so he and Keith chatted for a few minutes.

We had our lunch at the Lido Cafe.  As we do often, we prepared a salad entree.  With so many guests dining at the Buffet, they closed one of two sides at the Lido Cafe. There were actually very few guests eating at the Cafe with most enjoying the Buffet.  We sat at a table next to Cruise Director Rick, Golf Pro Joe and with friends Dave and Gary and we had a lot of good laughs.  Captain Birger stopped by to wish us a Happy New Year and also asked Keith if he had been on the spin bikes this morning and Keith said he was waiting for this afternoons spin class.

Today was also a great day to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and it's just nice being with so many people we know.  

Keith enjoyed Paddle Tennis in the afternoon.  Unlike most cruises there are several children in their teens who have been playing and Keith and the other adults have actually enjoyed it.  The children have been well behaved and it has been a pleasure to help them with their game. Keith also got in a lot of good games with fellow guests.  For those of you who play paddle tennis it was a windy day so often when the ball went up in the air you are not certain where it might land.  The good news is on days like today if you lose you blame it all on the wind.  LOL but so very true.

Keith also took another Spin Class so he became one of the first people to use the new Spin Bikes that Crystal purchased.  There are now ten spin bikes rather than the six that previously were used providing more opportunities for guests to spin on voyages where there is greater demand than availability of the bikes.

Fitness Instructor Chase taught the class and we had the most people ever take the class since there are now more spin bikes.

This evening we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for the first of three consecutive nights until this voyage comes to its conclusion.

We will end our post with two thoughts for the day with the new year in mind.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” - George Eliot 

Keith & Anne Marie