DAY 143 SEA DAY & 135 ON CRYSTAL SERENITY

We wanted to begin by saying kudos to the Crystal Serenity crew for all they did yesterday on turn around day.  This was not your typical turn-around, not because of the number of people getting on and off the ship, but rather all of the work that had to be done when around 600 guests along with several enrichment personnel who have been on the ship for 108+ days are getting off the ship.  This is because in some instances furniture and other devices had to be put back the way they had been prior to the World Cruise, and also with each room completely empty it provided an opportunity to give each room a very thorough cleaning which was not possible when closets were full of clothing and other items.  Also there was a lot of work as guests were leaving the ship with lots of luggage and other items and disembarkation was a much longer process.    On top of this there was a health inspection.

Given all of this, embarkation had been scheduled for 2:00 PM but they were able to start this earlier.


These are some photos from the last two segments of the World Cruise.

With The Beatles Celebration Group.

We enjoyed a great night on board Crystal Serenity last evening.

After we posted, they held the tender drill for all newly embarking guests.

After the drill was over we made our way over to the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant.  We figured with so many embarking guest that the Crystal Dining Room would be very busy.

The good news was that Silk Road was not busy.

We were taken good care of by Waiter Albert and Richie who assisted him.

Cruise Director Rick who just boarded earlier today joined us for dinner.

These are some of the items we enjoyed.

We also saw the former Captain of this Vessel, Captain Glenn Edvardsen, who just came on board today as a host for this voyage since this is the Silver Anniversary of Crystal Cruises.  We had not seen Glenn for almost three years when World Cruise 2012 came to an end.  If was nice to chat briefly with him.  For those of you who know Mr. T, we spoke with him last night at Silk Road as he and his wife just boarded yesterday.

We both slept very well last evening as we are heading to our first port of call in Bermuda.  

We continued with our normal morning routine, although there was one little mishap.

Keith first worked out at the Fitness Center and given what would follow it was surprising that no one else was there.  

Afterwards, he went to the Lido Cafe and there was a new team of Lido Deck Stewards working the Cafe area for breakfast.  When we say new we mean that another team has rotated from another areas of the Lido Deck over to the Cafe and not first time Lido Deck Stewards.  In fact, this is a very experienced team.  

Normally at that hour there is just coffee and tea available and sometimes some cereal.  After Keith got his coffee, he looked up and he saw lots of breakfast items were out so he asked Raymond why the breakfast was out so early.  His reply, breakfast starts shortly and that is when Keith learned that we were supposed to move the clocks forward one hour last night which we didn't realize.  We didn't catch that in Reflections and evidently there was a technical problem so that station that the Stewardesses normally set the Television to on the evening's that the clock is changed was not operational when she was doing the turn-down service.  By the time it came up later in the night, we already had the Do Not Disturb set on the outside door.   Oh well, maybe it was better we didn't know about this so we got an hour longer of sleep.

Anne Marie enjoyed coffee in the room and walked inside the ship for a short time and then she finished her walk later in the morning where she saw friend Nancy.

The other day we answered the question about where she walks inside in the Ask Keith & Anne Marie section of the Blog but we did want to mention that when walking inside the ship she walks on deck 6 which she finds a good place to walk because it has wide corridors.   As she walks, she listens to audio books on her iPhone.  If it is light out and the weather is good, she will walk outside.

This is a family and theatre festival cruise and this cruise is also a special 25th Anniversary Captain's Cruise hosted by Captain Glenn Edvardsen.

There was a lot on the schedule for today.

In keeping with the theme of the cruise there were three lectures.

Loren Lester spoke bout Francis, Frankie, Ol' Blue Eyes: The Greatest Recordings of Mr. Frank Sinatra.

William Squire spoke about the behind the scenes view about the awards shows in Hollywood.

Switching gears to something not related to the theme was a talk given by Ronald Marks about Vladimir Putin and what he is doing to change the world's view of Russia with his attempt to make it a larger player than it's been since the breakup of the former USSR.

We caught two of the lectures on the Television later in the day.

As mentioned, after Breakfast, Anne Marie finished up her morning walk,  and she also spoke with the Crystal Society Hostess about a milestone we will be celebrating this voyage.

Keith took an indoor cycling class.  He had all new people spinning as everyone else from his world cruise classes are no longer on the ship. Fitness Director, Leanne taught the class and did a wonderful job.

Keith helped friends Ashley and Kelly with arrangements for a Vintage Room they are setting later in the morning.

As usual, it was lunch in the Lido Cafe and we sat for most of the time with Patty who just came on board in Miami.  

Anne Marie walked for an hour as she always does in the afternoon and then she worked on her knitting projects.

It was too windy for Paddle Tennis, so Keith worked out again in the Fitness Center and then later in the day watched the lectures and also read and wrote.

This evening is a Black Tie Optional night so we will post about this tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......

"A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." - Mark Twain

Keith & Anne Marie