DAY 78 CRUISING & DAY 70 CRYSTAL SERENITY

These are some photos that we took of Milford Sound which was the last of the three sounds which we sailed yesterday.

We continue to be amazed about the natural beauty of of our planet, and yesterday was another opportunity to see the natural beauty through our own eyes and the lens of our camera.

Before dinner, we went to the Crystal Cove for a pre-dinner drink while we listened to Pianist John Mentis perform.  We sat with dear friends Linda and John.

Minutes before dinner, a catamaran docked next to our ship with guests who were on a Crystal Cruises Overland Tour so that they could return to the Serenity.
We then had dinner in the Crystal Dining Room where we dined with friends John and Pauline Clark.  John is the Golf Pro who is on board for the full World Cruise and teaches golf on board Serenity and also will organize golf at selected ports for those guests wishing to golf.  John has been the Golf Instructor on all of the World Cruises we have sailed with the exception of 2014.  Over the years, John has always encouraged Keith to take up golf and at some point if Keith would take up golf he would be sure to take classes with John as he is always thought of so very highly as a great instructor to learn from.  We talked about this over dinner and Keith may give it a try sometime during the World Cruise.

We began our meal with Eggplant Parmigiana which Head Waiter Augusto made for us.  The other night he had said he was making it for friends Bill and Celeste and he asked if we would like it as well.  We said that would be great and he made a pan for them yesterday and a pan for us today.  It was absolutely delicious.  The sauce was out of this world.  No calories.  LOL.

For our next course we each had salads and then for our entree:

Keith had the Charred Cod.  Cod is a relatively simple fish.  For those who do not like any fishy taste then Cod is a good option.  

Anne Marie had the Seared Sea Scallops. The Scallops were very tasty.  Senior Waiter Ayhan had ordered a couple of extra scallops for Anne Marie and she ended up sharing them with Keith.

We slept very well last evening as we are now sailing to our next port of call of Sydney, Australia.  The seas were relatively calm.

Our morning began the way it always does with Keith getting up first and working out at the Fitness Center and then going to the Lido Cafe to read and write and to enjoy some coffee.

After Keith returned back to the room with coffee for Anne Marie, she then went on a walk inside the ship before we had breakfast in our room.  We ate a little earlier than normal, as Keith took an indoor cycling class at 8:15 AM.

Keith enjoyed the class.

Anne Marie attended the Yoga Class taught by Maria Kita with assistance from her husband and memoir writer Joe.  They offer two classes in the morning each day at sea.

Afterwards, we both got together at the Crystal Cove where we sat for awhile and read and wrote and spoke with some fellow guests and members of the crew.

Anne Marie attended the Knitting Class which not only provides a nice opportunity to socialize with others who are also doing knitting, but it offers an opportunity for the instructor as well as others to help each other out with their projects.  For example, there  are times that Anne Marie has leaned how to do stitches she is not familiar with from either the instructor or other guests and other times that she has been able to share her knowledge with others.

Since and tomorrow are sea days as we sail towards Sydney, we wanted to highlight the four lectures that were given today.

Robin Oakley spoke about the Art of the Put down.  He spoke about the history of political jokes about the various Prime Minister's.

The second morning lecture featured Sir Roger Carrick whop spoke about Admiral Arthur Phillip of the Royal Navy and Founder and First Governor of Modern Australia.

The third lecture was given by celebrity photographer Neil Leifer who we have seen on several cruises who spoke about the lifetime of magazine covers highlighting photos that appeared on the front cover of Time, People and Newsweek covers and providing details on how many of the photos came about.  What is amazing is that most of what he showed are photos that were taken with cameras that used film that do not have the benefit of today's cameras where so much editing is done and where photographers are no longer limited to how many photos they can take.

Usually there are three lectures but with so many lecturers on board and fewer sea days today included a fourth and final talk with was given by Australian Television and Radio personality Susie Eleiman who spoke about stories of her hometown of Sydney that one would not find in tour guides about this beautiful city.

We were back in the Lido Cafe for lunch and each made our traditional salad entree.

Afterwards, Keith played Paddle Tennis.  It was very windy making playing a bit more challenging, but the temperature was perfect for playing tennis.  Later in the afternoon met up with dear friend Bob and a few other fellow guests.

Anne Marie walked outside for an hour an hour and continued to work on her knitting.

This evening we will be dining with two friends at Silk Road and will post about that tomorrow.

We thought we would end with a quote from Leonard Nimoy who passed away yesterday and is most known for playing Mister Spock in Start Trek in both television and motion pictures.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." - Leonard Nimoy

Keith & Anne Marie

DAY 77 CRUISING DUSKY & MILFORD SOUNDS & DAY 69 CRYSTAL SERENITY

We wanted to begin with a few additional photos from yesterday while we were in Dunedin, New Zealand.

We thought we would update you on how we are each feeling from our recent injuries.  Keith's eye is much better.  He can now open it fully, and now that he is off that antibiotic that he had to take four times each day which was sticky his eye is a lot less red and overall he can tell that the abrasion is healing well.  Anne Marie has a large black and blue mark from where her shoulder hit the ground and is a little sore in that area but overall is doing great and her cuts on the knee and scrapes on the hand are healing.  So, the good news is we are both doing better with each passing day and continue to enjoy each magical moment of our journey.

Shortly before we left port last night, Captain Giske spoke about the weather forecast for today and said that the forecast calls for periods of rain and that in the afternoon that the winds could pick up.

Before dinner last evening we had a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove.  We arrived after many people went to the main (early) dinner since our reservations for dinner were an hour later than we usually eat.

We dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with friends Mike and Sandy.  We first sailed with them in 2011 and since then have sailed with them on each of the succeeding World Cruises.  

We were taken excellent care of by waiter Maria, and also Head Waiter Mario and Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' also checked up with us from time to time.

As soon as you enter Prego, you pick up wonderful scents of the Italian Cuisine and we just love the ambience of this dining venue.  As we've mentioned before, it has that "old world" charm of dining in a relatively small restaurant in Italy.  We do like traditional dining.

We did not take photos last evening.

We both began with one of the additional entrees which was spinach pasta which we had as a small appetizer.

For our next course, we had Keith's standing order salads from the dining room.

For the entree, we had the other additional entree which was chicken which came with tomatoes and a tomato sauce and also spinach and some other vegetables.

We had selected a red wine for the evening which was not part of the inclusive selection.  After starting with the inclusive white wine we went to the red and everyone enjoyed it.  Jiri, the Sommelier, decanted the wine one hour before we arrived.

We had an absolutely wonderful time being with Sandy and Mike.  

We slept very well last night.  You could feel the gentle rocking of the ship.

We began our morning as we do each day with Keith waking up first and working out at the Fitness Center.  Afterwards, he was back at the Lido Cafe where he enjoyed some coffee while reading and writing.

After Anne Marie had her coffee and got ready for another day she went on a one hour walk inside the ship.

We then had breakfast in our room while we watched the Daily Morning Show with Gary and Stacey.  

It's funny that on the last segment which was mostly sea days everyone was ready for sometime in port. Then this segment started with several port days and now people were ready for some sea days which began today and will included a couple of more sea days before the next port of call.

The highlight for today was cruising the Dusky and Doubtful Sounds and the Milford Sound.

Dusky and Doubtful Sounds are the two largest of South Island's 14 major sounds.  Many consider them to be the most impressive sounds/fiords in this area of the world.  Milford Sound is made up of deep valley and gorges that were created by the massive force of ancient glaciers.

Because we were sailing in the Sounds today's program included just one lecture to provide more time for people to view each of there three sounds we sailed.  Appropriately, today' talk was given by Park Ranger Ross Kerry who spoke in the afternoon about New Zealand's Fiordland National Park and time was also allotted for a Question and Answer session which followed the talk.

An indoor cycling class was offered (in fact one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and Keith did take the morning class.   All of the bikes were taken.

Fitness Director Chase to the left taught today's class.

In the white Triathlon Shirt is Christeen who along with her husband Carl who Keith often meets with in the afternoon is on their first World Cruise.

On the right is Linda Permutter who is the founder of the Odyssey Art and the Odyssey at Sea Knitting Classes which are both offered on each voyage.  She has instructors who teach these classes and she comes on from time to time and will teach the art class.  

Before Anne Marie took the photos she walked again but this time outside on the Promenade Deck so she could take in the beauty that was all around us.
For much of the day we did enjoy a leisurely day on board Crystal Serenity.

It was overcast but this did not dampen our spirits.  Later in the morning the sun came out.

The clouds actually at times enhanced the beauty that was all around us  we sailed each of the three sounds.

We had lunch at the Lido Cafe where we each made salad entrees.

In the afternoon, Anne Marie walked for an hour, and also worked on her knitting.

Keith played some paddle tennis for the first time since his blow to the eye and also met up with dear friend Bob and a couple of other fellow guests.

We will post some photos from Milford Sound tomorrow.

This evening we will dine at the Crystal Dining Room.

TODAY'S THOUGH FOR THE DAY

Our Policy….Rule 1 – The customer is always right!  Rule 2 – If the customer is ever wrong reread rule 1.”  - Stew Leonard 

Keith & Anne Marie

DAY 76 DUNEDIN & DAY 68 CRYSTAL SERENITY

Before dinner last evening, we went to the Magic Show.  On every Crystal Cruise there is a Magician and there is a different Magician on each cruise.  Shows are held throughout the cruise and you obtain tickets ahead of time as they limit it to 20 guests per showing which makes it a more intimate experience. We saw him perform when we had our son and daughter in law on last May on a cruise we took from Rome to Istanbul.

The Magician we saw was Peter Samelson.

After the show, we had some photographs taken outside by the one of the shops photographers.  Keith took this one of Anne Marie

We then had dinner at the Crystal Dining Room.

We each began our meal with a salad.  Keith had his standing order salad.

Anne Marie had the Assorted Garden Green Salad.

For our entree, we each had from the Modern Cuisine the Pan Seared New Zealand Sea Perch.

Our Senior Waiter Ayhan also brought us the fish that accompanied the seafood Chow Mein.  We didn't take a photo of it but we were very impressed with the fish so we plan to try the Chow Mein entree when it is offered again.

Shortly after dinner, we attended a Cruise Critic Meeting & Mingle Party at the Stardust Club.  The party is hosted by Crystal Cruises and included Cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres.

The party was well attended by many of the guests.  The officers who stopped by included Captain Giske, Hotel Director Josef, and the Executive Housekeeper Maria. We both spoke with Captain Giske and Hotel Director Josef for awhile along with many of the guests who attended.

We slept very well as we sailed to Dunedin.  The seas were relatively calm.

Keith was up first as he always is and enjoyed a nice workout at the Fitness Center.  One of his fellow guests who also does indoor cycling with Keith was already working out so this was one of the few times that Keith arrives to the Fitness Center and someone was already there.  Keith got in a really good workout as he caught up on the news of the day.

He then stopped by the Lido Cafe for coffee and to read and write. Since we were having breakfast earlier than normal, he brought back coffee for Anne Marie a little earlier so she could get her morning walk in prior to us going ashore.

Today we visited Dunedin, New Zealand which is our last stop in New Zealand as part of World Cruise 2015.  From Dunedin we will sail the various sounds and then make our way to Australia.  We last visited Dunedin in 2011. We took the shuttle into the city which took about 20 minutes.  Unlike in 2011 when it rained on and off, we enjoyed very nice weather.  High was in the mid-60's Fahrenheit with some sun.

Almost 125,000 residents live in Dunedin.  This city is located in Southeastern New Zealand.  Its name means Edinburgh in Gaelic and it still has retained its Scottish heritage and roots.  As one walks the city they will see Victorian and Edwardian buildings.  

The most photographed building in New Zealand is supposedly the railway station.

There are some very nice gardens outside the train station.

We then walked various areas of the town.

Law Courts Buildings

There are several churches in tow.

We walked over to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.

Once we returned back to Serenity we had lunch and each had a salad entree as we pretty much do each and everyday.

We were also able to speak with our son Eric, daughter in law Kara and see our grandson Jackson via FaceTime.

We also were able to speak via FaceTime with our daughter Jennifer, son in law Gui, Grandson Andre and also see grand baby Emma.

In the afternoon, Keith went back to the Fitness Center and then later in the afternoon met up with dear friend Bob.

Anne Marie walked for an hour outside the ship and then worked on her knitting projects.  

This evening we will be dining at Prego with a couple of friends who we first met on the 2011 World Cruise.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"I'm not a headline guy. I know that as long as I was following Babe Ruth to the plate I could have stood on my head and no one would have known the difference." – Lou Gehrig

Keith & Anne Marie