DAY 33 MIAMI AND THE START OF WORLD CRUISE 2015 & DAY 25

Before dinner last evening, sat at the Crystal Cove and listened to Scott Mitchel play the piano.  Starting today, Scott will move over to his position as Assistant Cruise Director and John Mentis will be the pianist in the Crystal Cove.

We then dined at the Crystal Dining Room with Stacey Huston, a dear friend, and also the World Cruise Hostess. Stacey returned to Serenity in St. Maarten, so she would have a few days on board Serenity to prepare for the start of World Cruise 2015.  We have sailed with Stacey on several World Cruises while she has been in this capacity and we have also seen her on land, including twice this past Summer for lunch.

Anne Marie with Crystal Dining Room Maitre d' Mario and with World Cruise Hostess Stacey.

A photo of the three of us right before we sat down to dine.

We thought we would also include the dinner menus from last evening.

It is always nice to dine in the Crystal Dining Room and, once again, we were taken very good care of by this wonderful waitstaff team whom we have enjoyed on the past two voyages.  As the World Cruise begins we will continue to be taken care of by Senior Waiter, Ayhan, who will be assisted by an experienced but different waiter.  We will also have Ivana as our Sommelier.  We had her for the last half the 2014 World Cruise as our Senior Waiter and when she returned to Serenity after her Holiday she started as a Sommelier.  These changes are because our Waiter and our Sommelier are going on Holiday.  

For dinner, we each had a salad.  Anne Marie had the mixed green salad and Keith had his standing room salad.

For our entree, we each had the Free Range Turkey.  We also had our standing order of vegetables.

We had a fun time catching up with Stacey last evening and we look forward to seeing her throughout the World Cruise.

We slept well last evening as we made our way to Miami, Florida.  Today, is turn-around day marking the end of the ten day Caribbean Voyage and the start of World Cruise 2015.  

On this voyage we traveled a total distance of 2,827 Nautical Miles or the equivalent of 3,251 land miles.

This map shows the itinerary for World Cruise 2015 as we circumnavigate the Globe.

We began our day as we always do with a workout in the morning.  Keith was up first and worked out on the Elliptical Machine.  He now appears to be fully recovered from the muscle pull which caused him to cease exercise for around 45 days before we boarded Serenity so he is very happy about this.  After his workout he had coffee at the Lido Cafe and also read and wrote.  

Anne Marie was able to get in a partial workout before we had breakfast in our room.  She saw various decorations that had been put up in the early hours of the morning in the Crystal Cove and also outside the Galaxy Lounge where there will be a performance later in the evening.  Keith went down to take a few photos and he ran into Bret Bullock, Vice President of Entertainment and also Cruise Director Rick who was in civilian clothes as he will be departing the ship this morning as Cruise Director Gary Hunter returns for the World Cruise.  Rick and Gary alternate each doing the World Cruise every other year.  Keith and Rick hugged and we will see Rick again following the end of the World Cruise.  

Vice President of Entertainment, Bret Bullock

Outside the Galaxy Theatre.

The Crystal Plaza where this evening the Balloon Drop will be held.

We had our breakfast a little earlier than normal and chatted with Rao after he set up the breakfast on our table.

At 9:00 AM we attended a meet and greet with President of Crystal Cruises Edie Rodriquez. When we first arrived there were a few World Cruisers there and we posed for a photo with two of the crew members who were serving drinks and pastries.

All of the full World Cruisers (approximately 50 were invited) who were already on board Serenity received invitations to attend.  Before the Q&A began we chatted with Edie and also chatted with Thomas Mazloum, Executive Vice President of Crystal Cruises.

Edie greeted each person as they entered the Palm Court and then she spoke with all of us and took questions and/or listened to comments from those who wished to speak.  Keith did complement Edie and her team for not only releasing the remaining 2017 itineraries in record time but also having the Cruise Atlas available in our rooms as soon as they were released.  Edie was asked about a new ship and said she had hoped to have had an announcement out by end of last year but that was not possible but expects to have it announced within the next three to six month.

It was timed so that when the session was over we could proceed to customs/immigration which we did and the entire process was very quick.  While waiting to board the ship again we saw John Stoll, Vice President of Crystal Land Programs and Port Operations.

Around the time we saw John, we saw dear friends John and Linda who we have shared many memorable World Cruises with.

We also saw World Cruise Hostess Stacey and chatted with her for a little while as we all waited to reboard Serenity.

After boarding Serenity we turned in our Passports and then we saw Jamie Brown who works at the Crystal Cruises Los Angeles Office and is responsible for Quality Assurance and the on board vendors.  At the same time the Crystal Plaza was being transformed for this evening's Gala.

It is sometimes difficult to put into words for those who have not taken a World Cruise the feelings that we have on the start of the World Cruise and those feeling have intensified on each succeeding World Cruise.  We have sailed with many people who will be on this year's World Cruise on one or more prior World Cruises and in some cases with the same people on all of the World Cruises we have sailed on.  Some we saw on one or more of the previous voyages, others in September and many on the 2014 World Cruise or one of the prior ones.  At the same time there are so many members of the crew who we have come to know so well and whom we have shared special moments with.  That first day of the World Cruise for us is similar to a family or university or even a grade school reunion as we are seeing so many people who have touched our lives in a variety of ways.  It's not just the people you become close with.  Even seeing people whom we might never have dined with or had a very long conversation with is still special as these people are also part of the family of cruising.  It is all very special and very exciting and that enthusiasm carries over for many days and weeks. 

A short while after we returned to the ship, we went back down to the Crystal Plaza and the transformation for this evening's Gala continued.

The 25 on the floor is for the 25th year Anniversary Of Crystal Cruises and this is the 20th year that Crystal Cruises has been doing World Cruises.

We spoke with Paul Garcia who is responsible for Crystal Cruises Public Relations.

As is our tradition we had lunch at the Crystal Dining Room.  The Dining Room along with Prego and Silk Road will be used for the World Cruise Gala so many of the two seat tables have been replaced with much larger table tops for the evening.  We sat with dear friends John and Linda who we first met on the 2007 World Cruise and whom we have sailed with on several World Cruises.  Another couple who we met for the first time joined us a short time later.

All six of us had the same entree which was a California Cobb Salad.  We all passed on dessert and most of us had a flute of Champagne to celebrate the start of the World Cruise.

We saw so many familiar people including Elaine, Jim and Judy, Mike and Lois, Arlene and Louise, Celeste and Bill and several other friends who we have gotten to know over the years.

When we arrived back to our room there was a table card for this evening's dinner.  The Crystal Dining Room along with Prego and Silk Road will be used for the dinner and we have been assigned to Prego.

We also received a program booklet with information about this evening's program.

This evening we will attend the World Cruise Gala.  Unlike in prior years when it was held at a Hotel (except in 2006 which was the year prior to our first World Cruise).  Since 2008, we have always been on board Serenity at least one cruise prior to the start of the World Cruise so we have attended min-gala's on board the ship, usually for around 30 to 40 people. This evening's Gala will be for approximately 610 full World Cruisers and will include a cocktail hour, followed by dinner, followed by entertainment.  We will post all about this tomorrow.

With the 2015 World Cruise beginning today, we will share one of our previous Thoughts For The Day with you again today.

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