As we made our way to the Crystal Plaza Keith took a photo of the concierge Natalia and the senior concierge, Sergio. Natalia has returned to Crystal after taking some time off.
Afterwards, we were back at the Crystal Dining Room where we enjoyed another fantastic dinner.
We just want to highlight what a great wait staff team we have. Senior Waiter Ayhan who knows our preferences and just is on top of everything along with his very capable assistant Jan who is the waiter and Ivanna our Sommelier.
Even the little details they are on top of. For example, Ayhan came over to the table when we were waiting for our entree to say it would be just a few minutes as the first time it came out that the dishes it was placed in were cold and not warm. We said we were in no hurry and no rush and a few minutes later there was Head Waiter Auguso and Senior Waiter Ayhan serving us the entrees. And then there is Maitre d' Leo who is a consummate Maitre d'.
We each began our meal with salads.
Keith had his standing order salad.
Anne Marie had the Red & Green Caesar Salad.
For our entree, we each had the Seared Ahi Tuna from the Modern Cuisine Menu. The fish was accompanied with Ponzu Tapioka, Mashed Sweet Potato, Bok Choy and Wasabi Air. It was very tasty as the sides that accompany the fish truly add lots of flavors to the entree.
We passed on the evening entertainment as Keith was tired from being up later than usual last night.
At the Captain's Cocktail Reception we asked the Captain about what time the seas would get rough based on what he said earlier in the day and he thought it would begin early morning and continue into mid morning and he was right. We could hear the Gale Force Winds around 1:00 AM. Keith still got up early and got in most of his workout. There were a few times where he slowed down as there was major shaking all around him but he still managed to get most of his workout in on the Elliptical Machine. The Fitness Center is located on Deck 13 but at least it is in the stern (back) area of the ship rather than the bow (forward) so a little less impact than if it was very far forward.
Afterwards, Keith went to the Lido Cafe where at times it was very rough. The Lido is located one deck below the Fitness Center. The Coffee Mugs were purposely placed on the table mats and more center as opposed to the corner of the table where several would have fallen off. At the time that Keith got to the Fitness Center, he saw Hotel Director Josef and they chatted for a couple of minutes. Josef was heading over to the Fitness Center with a sign to close it down until things would improve.
While Keith was at the Lido Cafe there were some points where it was like being in an airplane with very intense turbulence. Keith always gets two cups of coffee which he places in take out cups and a few times he had to hold both for fear they would fall over and make a mess of things.
Eventually, dear friends John and Linda arrived along with a few other people. There were a few times that Keith called out and said, "fasten your seat belts" as you could feel the large vibration as if you were flying in very bad turbulence.
The good news is that after all of these years of cruising that we both have gotten a lot more used to all of this.
We had our regular breakfast in our room. We watched the Daily Morning Show with Cruise Director Rao and World Cruise Hostess Stacey. They opened the show with a tease wearing life boat jackets.
Shortly after the show started, Captain Giske spoke from the bridge at around 8:10 AM. He noted that the plan was to have the Pilot come on at around 8:45 AM and to do that they would have to turn the ship and the ship might list from one side to the other as they get the Pilot on board. He recommended being sure to hold onto something if you are out and about.
We decided to sit in the Crystal Plaza since it is on a lower deck, mid ship and also is a large room. That was a good move because when the did turn the ship we could see these enormous waves but we did not feel anything whereas in other parts of the ship it was much more noticeable.
Since we did not arrive to Melbourne until Noon, there were several activities offered in the morning. Unfortunately, the sports related ones were cancelled such as the indoor Cycling Class that Keith planned to take at 8:45 AM and the 9:00 AM Yoga Class that Anne Marie was supposed to take.
While we were at the Crystal Cove in our usual spot we spoke with quite a lot of people. We spoke with Cruise Sales Consultant Daniele who came on board in Sydney a few days earlier than planned to assist Paula Jean. We also spoke briefly with Jamie from Los Angeles who is on board for a few days. Rob and Jim came by as did Celeste and Bill and Hotel Director Josef.
The Fitness Center was reopened at around 10:00 AM and Keith worked out and around the same time Anne Marie walked for an hour inside the ship.
Before our arrival to Melbourne, we had lunch and as usual we each had a Salad Entree.
We arrived to Melbourne shortly after our schedule arrival of Noon. Unfortunately, there was a delay getting the gangway to the pier. On top of this there were very strong winds.
Melbourne is a very large city with a population of close to 4.5 Millions residents. We have visited this city on three previous voyages.
With an afternoon arrival we were first going to walk along the beach and then go downtown tomorrow. However, after walking the beach we decided to go downtown and took a one hour walk from the beach over to downtown, walked around downtown and then walked back to the ship. It was windy and cooler when we began our walk but then the wind calmed down and it turned out to be a delightful day.
As we walked each way we passed several restaurants some with outdoor seating as well as various stores and on our way back we ran into several people we know as we got closer to the cruise ship terminal.
Decorations from Chinese New Year.
This evening we will be dining at Prego.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.
The fool wonders. The wise man asks. “ - Benjamin Franklin
Keith & Anne Marie
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