DAY 37 SANTO DOMINGO AND DAY 29 CRYSTAL SERENITY

Originally, Keith had planned to take a Spin Class at 4:00 PM yesterday but decided that after all the Paddle Tennis in the afternoon that he should pass on this one.  He played for a couple of hours straight as the team that won stayed in while two others came in and for better or worse it was a lucky day for Keith and his partner.  LOL, but true.  It was one of the few Spin Classes that Keith has not taken since we boarded on December 21.

Before dinner yesterday, we went to have our photo taken for the World Cruise Photo Book.  The Photo Book is put together on the ship and once all the photos have been taken and the book put together it will be assembled on the ship and then distributed to each of us.  It not only provides a wonderful keepsake from the World Cruise but is very helpful if one cannot remember the name of someone.

We then went to the Crystal Cove to enjoy a pre-dinner drink and to listen to John Mentis play the piano.  Our dear friend John joined us and a short while later John's wife and our dear friend Linda joined us as well.

We took a photo with Nathan who has taken great care of us at the Crystal Cove.

Photo with dear friend John.

We then had dinner at Prego.  

Waiter Marija (pronounced like Maria) took great care of us.

Sommelier Jiri took great care of us with the wine.  Jiri was our Sommelier in the Crystal Dining Room on many previous voyages.

We began with a pasta special which we had as an appetizer.  Tonight was the first time it was added to the menu.  It included a thin layer of fish, spinach and shell noodles.  We try to pace ourselves so we each had about half of the portion that you see in the photo.

Our second course was the standing room salad that Keith has in the Crystal Dining Room.

For our entrees Keith enjoyed the Striped Bass.  It was very tasty and perfectly prepared on top of spinach.

Anne Marie had the Veal Scaloppine al Limone.  She really enjoyed it as well.   It is accompanied with a side dish of spaghetti and vegetables.

We also had a side order of Grilled Vegetables.

We ended the meal with blueberries for Anne Marie and Mixed Berries for Keith.

Prego was not too busy while we were there but by the end of the night many two person tables were to be in use and it was to become fairly busy.

We had a wonderful time. The ambience of Prego is just amazing and the service is fantastic.

After dinner, we attended a cocktail party at Pulse that was hosted by Marvin who we have known many years from sailing the World Cruise.  There were lots of guests at Pulse but what was amazing is that we knew them all.  There were also some people involved with enrichment and some senior crew.  Like last year vocalists Sara and Jonathan have been brought on for the World Cruise.  Sara mainly sings in Big Band Orchestras and both are amazing.  Last night, Sara sang two songs without being accompanied by music.  One of them is What A Wonderful World which is played each and every time we leave port.  Most of us sang along and at the end Anne Marie had some tears in her eyes.  It is a very sentimental song and a reminder that despite some of the bad that occurs around the world that overall we live in a wonderful world.

There was a violinist performing two shows last evening but we have to say we were just too tired to go to the performance.  We do try to pace ourselves when it comes to the evening entertainment going to a few shows each week but on some nights just relaxing after dinner or after say the cocktail party that was held last night.

The seas continued to be relatively calm, making it easy to fall asleep. In fact, for the last 24+ hours it is easy to forget that we are sailing at sea.  There was enough of a swell to enjoy the gentle rocking of the ship.

We started the morning as we always do with a workout for Keith followed by Coffee at the Lido Cafe.  The morning crowd at the Lido is finally coming together.  As was the case in 2013, Keith usually is alone at the Cafe for most of the time.  About 15 minutes before he leaves a couple from Australia who takes the World Cruise on odd years arrives along with Reverend Ed and his lovely wife Ruth.  Dear Friend Linda usually arrives around that time too. And we all seem to sit near one another.  There is a gentleman who is taking his first Crystal World Cruise who like us boarded on December 21 and he is also an early riser and was there too.  What is funny is that we all seem to take the same tables each morning.  This is part of what we mean when we say that on the World Cruise the ship becomes a small community.  And, yes many of us are a creature of habit.  Often depending on time of day you'll know where to find many friends.

A short while after Keith returned to the room we had breakfast in our room thanks to Rao.

We arrived to Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic on schedule this morning.  This is the Capital and the largest city in all of the Dominican Republic and it is also the largest city in all of the Caribbean.  It was founded in 1496.  

A couple of photos from our Verandah as we made our way to the port.

The first photo is the statue of Dominican Friar Montasino.

This was our first visit to this city and also to this country.  As such, we arranged for a private car, driver and tour guide through Crystal Cruises Shore Excursion Department.  We had the option for a full day or a half day and opted for the half day private Crystal tour.  Keith had met recently with Shore Excursion Manager to discuss what we might see and Daniel made several suggestions which Keith thought sounded great.  As such,  this was passed on to the local tour operator so that the tour could be organized along the lines that Daniel recommended.  

Our tour guide was Miguel Roman who spent a great deal of time telling us all about the history of the city and country.  He also filled us in on the current conditions of the city, country and economy.  The major drivers of the economy are tourism and also agriculture.

About 50% of the people who live in the city of Santo Domingo, live in Poverty.  Unemployment is high but there is a lot of potential here.

Our driver was Aturo.  Sorry we didn't take a photo of him.

Santo Domingo has some of the characteristic of Cartagena, Colombia and also of Havana, Cuba with its architecture.  They are putting effort into restoring the old city just as Cartagena has as well as places such as Panama City.  We spent a great deal of time walking the old city, stopping at selected places.  We also drove around the area off the water and also drove the modern city.  There are 22 historical churches in the city plus the Catedra Pimada de America which date back to the 16th and 17th century.

Outside of one of the Churches

Outside of one of 50 recently constructed hotels.

Outside of another Church.

There was some very interesting trees, bushes and other landscape in this area of the city.

This is the outside of Cathedral Primed de America which is located in the Colonial Zone of the city and is the oldest cathedral in the Americas.  It was completed in the year 1540.

Statue of Christopher Columbus who is buried in the city.

This is the Pantheon Nacional which was also set up for some type of family/children's festival.

City Hall.

Photos of some of the locals.

Miguel thought this was a 15 year old celebrating her birthday.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour.  We found the tour guide to be very informative and had a good command of the English Language.  He also gives a lot of tours to visitors from France and Germany and speaks both languages as well.

We pre-ordered lunch to our room as we were not getting back to the ship until later in the afternoon.  We each had a tuna fish Salad with tomatoes, cucumber and mushrooms.  

After lunch, Anne Marie walked outside for a long time and Keith returned to the Fitness Center for another workout.   Later in the day Keith met up with dear friend Bob.

This evening we will be dining in the Crystal Dining Room.  

This evening's entertainment features Comedian John Joseph.  Before his first performance, there will be Ballroom Dancing in the Crystal Cove with live music by the Galaxy Orchestra.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” – George S. Patton

Keith & Anne Marie