We made what has become our regular visit to the Crystal Cove for a pre-dinner drink. Often our drink is a glass or part of a glass of wine for Keith and a wine spritzer (dab of wine and the rest club soda) for Anne Marie. A short time later we listened to Scott Mitchel perform for everyone on the Piano. Scott performs from 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM and then returns to perform before second seating and then again later in the evening.
It was very nice to be back to the Crystal Dining Room after being away for three nights. If you remember we were there for four consecutive nights as the first cruise came to a conclusion and the first voyage began and we didn't eat very often at the other restaurants. On this voyage for half the nights we will be dining at other venues and that is because of some invitations that came after making some dinner dates with others we know.
We were joined at our table by Cruise Director Rick Spath and by Pianist Scott Mitchel. As we have mentioned a couple of times, when the World Cruise begins Scott will be the Assistant Cruise Director and John Mentis will play the Piano at the Crystal Cove for the full duration of the World Cruise. Rick will be going home for a well deserved Holiday and Gary Hunter will be the Cruise Director for the World Cruise. Like the Captain's, the Cruise Directors rotate with one officer being on for the entire Full World Cruise and then the following year their counterpart is on for the full duration of the World Cruise.
We did pre-order two courses with Giuseppe ahead of time. More on that in a moment.
These are the dinner menus from last evening.
For our next course we all had , Caesar Salad which
Head Waiter Giuseppe made for the entire table and it was delicious. It had a very pleasant taste. Giuseppe added some pepper at the table for those who wanted more seasoning.
For our entree we had pre-ordered Surf 'n Turf which was a Fillet Mignon and Lobster which is one of the few times we have some beef.
For Dessert, Keith had mixed berries and Anne Marie had a sugar free dessert.
We had an absolutely wonderful time with Scott and Rick and as usual we enjoyed great conversation with a lot of good laughs.
We slept well last evening as we were sailing to St. Kitts. We have been very fortunate to continue to have relatively calm seas.
The morning began as it usually does. Keith was up first and worked out at the Fitness Center before having coffee at the Lido Cafe. He mainly watched the news about the recent tragedy in Paris, France.
Shortly after having her coffee, Anne Marie walked for an hour. We enjoyed breakfast in our room and then we got ready for our visit to St. Kitts.
St. Kitts is located approximately 1,200 miles from Miami. Major drivers of its economy include tourism, light manufacturing and agriculture.
It was nice not to have to take a tender to and from the ship to visit St. Kitts. Instead, we walked from the ship over to the town which was around a 10 minute walk.
Before we got off the ship, we couldn't remember if we had been to St. Kitts before. However, once we walked from the pier over to the area with the shops we not only realized we had been here before but remember it was in January of 2013.
We were in port with the Carnival Valor. As we made our way towards the bow (front) of the ships the Carnival Photographer wanted to take a photo of us. Wonder if he took the photo how he would find our room on Serenity. Just kidding!
As we walked a few minutes we saw Daniel, Manager of Crystal Shore Excursions and we chatted for a few minutes.
We walked over to the town and saw some familiar sites.
After walking around town, we headed back to the area with the stores nearby the pier. We even ran into a Pirate.
Some of the stores were ones you will find in most Caribbean Ports and a few stores are just one of a kind or stores that are found in some of the ports.
As we were returning to the ship, we saw several members of the crew washing the exterior of the ship and performing other maintenance. The crew works so very diligently to maintain both the interior and exterior of Serenity and they do this as one cohesive team.
As soon as we boarded Serenity we saw Louisa one of the members of the Shore Excursion Team
When we returned to the ship, we stopped by our room to drop off some items. Our Stewardess had some fun with Bat Man. She turned Bat Man over to be upside down like a real Bat.
We then we went down to the Crystal Cove to sit at our usual spot during the morning as it's a great way to see guests and crew out and about. Keith worked on the Blog while Anne Marie was crocheting. Hotel Director Josef stopped by as did World Cruise Events Coordinator Shane. Shortly after that several friends came by including Bob and Glo, Barbara, Ed and then Stanley and Linda (our neighbors each year on board Serenity who are only a few doors down from us) and Carri and Stu.
A short while later we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe and we had our usual Salad Entree. We do have a running joke with a few passengers and members of the crew that we are not leaving enough salad for everyone else to have. LOL. Shortly after returning to the ship, we enjoyed lunch back on board Serenity and we dined at the Lido Cafe where we made our own salad entrees.
After lunch, Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie walked.
There are quite a few people who regularly show up for Paddle Tennis on this voyage. Four guests Keith has played Paddle Tennis with before, including Bob and Leon who along with their wives try to sail on many voyages together and Bob and Leon will play Paddle Tennis on board the cruise. There is a woman Hollis who Keith played with on a similar voyage last year. There is yet another Bob who Keith played with last year. If you ask Bob why he is on the sailing he simply says for the Paddle Tennis. He does very well and what is amazing is how good shape he is in at age 80. We also play with some of the Senior Officers who have privileges to use the Paddle Tennis Court. With that said the guests have priority so the Senior Officers will always sit out so no guest is waiting for a spot that they are occupying.
While Keith was playing Tennis, Anne Marie took her one hour walk and then she sat outside to get some sun. After Keith played Paddle Tennis he met up with dear friend Bob.
Before dinner we will be attending another reception at the Captain's Quarters before dinner this evening. From there we will dine at Tastes with two friends, Ed and Patty, who we met through a mutual friend, Nancy, on one segment of last years World Cruise. Coincidentally, the four of us were on the same Crystal Cruises overland Safari last year. We will post about this tomorrow.
We want to leave you with a thought for the day that is from the 1940's yet has as much relevance today as it did back then.
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good
at heart.” – Anne Frank
Keith & Anne Marie
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