DAY 151 SEA DAY & DAY 143 ON SERENITY

Last evening we celebrated a major milestone at the Captain's Quarters.  This was in recognition for the number of cruises we have attained.  We took these photos in our room, right before we went to dinner.  

Keith is wearing his most recent Crystal Society Milestone Pin which we each received in January of 2014 on the voyage right before the start of last year's World Cruise.

We could invite up to ten people in addition to Captain Birger and Crystal Society Hostess Isabell Wagner.  We invited eight people to join us.  This included:

Friends Ashley Barrington-Mace and Kelly Wagner;

Hotel Director  Hubert Buelacher;

Cruise Director Rich Spath;

Food & Beverage Manager Tayfun Aybar;

Cruise Sales Consultant Daniele Puma;

This is our third time dining at the Captains Quarters.  Our most recent time was in January of 2014.

Everything about the evening was very special and words cannot adequately describe how wonderful the evening was.

As we made our way towards the Captain's Quarters and arrived to the door that separates the guest rooms and those of the captain and the bridge, the timing was perfect and Butler Jijo opened the door at almost precisely the second we arrived.  He then escorted us a short walk over to the Captains Quarters, where Crystal Society Hostess, Isabell, was waiting outside to welcome us to the Quarters.

Once we entered the Quarters we were greeted by Captain Birger and the other Senior Officers along with Daniele were already there and a few minutes later friends Ashley and Kelly arrived.  

Champagne was poured and we all spoke for a few minutes and the Captain toasted to us and just before we were seated for dinner the ships photographer who was on hand took a photo of all of us at the beautifully set table with some of us seated and others standing behind us.  Once the photos were taken, it was time for us to enjoy an absolutely fabulous dinner.  The service was one of the best we have ever enjoyed in our lives and the food was absolutely delicious and the conversation flowed easily.  After we were seated, Captain Birger graciously proposed another toast to us after the wine was served.

This was the commemorative menu that each person received.

Several Butler's were involved with serving the entire meal.  The point butler if you will is Butler Jijo.  Jijo who was our Senior Waiter on several cruises, including a couple of full World Cruises before becoming a Butler a couple of years ago.  One of his responsibilities in addition to taking care of several Penthouses is to take care of the Captain's Quarters and that does include any dinner functions hosted by the Captain.   

As various courses of the meal were served, other Butlers assisted Jijo, usually anywhere from two to four butlers, other than when the entrees are served and at that moment several butlers come out simultaneously with the entrees in hand.  All in all Butlers, Jijo, Rao (our butler), Ural, Crunch, Vincente, Almir (who took care of us on the Holiday Cruise before Rao returned to Serenity for the January 4 cruise) and Jason, were all involved at various points during dinner.  They are all gems and really made the entire evening so very special for us.


The menu included:

Lobster Cocktail

Cream Of Broccoli Soup

Chilean Seabass or Grilled Filet Mignon

Blond Chocolate Trifle.

For the Champagne, Bilecart Salmon Brut Rose was served and the white wine was Chardonna, Wedell Cellars, Sierra Madre Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley 2011 and the Red Wine was Cabernet Sauvignon, Caymus Vineyards, Napa Valley 2012.

The wine and the champagne were great and while we have had Caymus Cabernet before, 2012 must have been an excellent year as the thoroughly enjoyed this wine.  

For the entree, Anne Marie had the Filet Mignon and Keith the Chilean Seabass and we were both happy with our respective choices.  The room was 50/50 on this as Keith noticed that half the people went with the Beef and the other half went with the Beef.

These are photos and a photo book that we received today.

This was a terrific night with lots of good discussion and a lot of good laughs with our Crystal Family.  One of the items we did discuss is the August of 2016 Northwest Passage Voyage which is a 32 day voyage that we have booked.  We will board one cruise before that one, and coincidentally Ashley and Kelly will be on that one cruise so we look forward to seeing them next year.  Captain Birger will be the Captain for the Northwest Passage Cruise and Crystal Serenity will be the largest passenger ship carrying the most people to sail this passage.  It is one of those cruises of a lifetime.

After an absolutely lovely evening, we went back to our room.  When we got back to our room we had to forward the clocks by one hour.

We did sleep very well and Keith was up first as he always is and after his workout he enjoyed coffee at the Lido Cafe while he read and wrote.  Anne Marie walked for one hour and Keith returned back to the Fitness Center, before we had breakfast.

Since today was another sea day, we had another indoor Cycling Class which Keith participated in.  It was taught by Fitness Instructor Leanne, and we had four rather than the three participants we had yesterday.  Leanne pushed Keith and the others to a high level of spinning.  The next class is scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

There was lots on the schedule today.

The talks included:

Glenn Robinson who spoke about several of Broadway's Groundbreakers including Fiddle On The Roof and Hair.

Ken Rees spoke about the Winston Churchill Story and covered the highlights of his storied career.

Loren Lester welcomed those who like Frank Sinatra to a casual social mixer about blue eyes.

On top of this, lunch featured the Grand Gala Buffet. While we ended up eating at the Lido Cafe, the Buffet featured many special lunch items.

The amount of effort that goes into creating such a wonderful buffet is mind boggling.  The preparation starts a few days prior to the buffet and then continues with each passing day.  On the day of the buffet, the final touches are added to the various items such as cakes and then the work starts to set up the buffet.  The waitstaff under the direction of one or more Head Waiters begin setting up tables and plates around 7:00 AM and the work continues with members of the galley putting out all of the food items.  Even after the buffet is open, the work continues as so many items have to be refilled including the dessert table.  The waiters help the guests to tables inside the Crystal Dining Room and the Sommelier take care of drinks that the guests might want.  When the Gala finishes then everything has to be cleaned up and put back the way it was.  Kudos to the Food & Beverage Department is just amazing day in and day out.

Executive Pastry Chef Harald Neufang with some of the members of his team.  They have to prepare enough desserts to refill the table several times during the course of the Buffet.

When we had lunch at the Lido Cafe it was not very crowded, as the majority of guests were dining at the Grand Gala Buffet.

Afterwards, Keith played Paddle Tennis for a couple of hours and then met up with a couple of fellow guests and Anne Marie walked for an hour and then continued work on her Knitting Projects.

In keeping with one of the themes of this cruise. today's tea was called the Captain's Tea which included Captain Glenn Edvardsen.

This evening we have another special dinner which we will post all about tomorrow.

We wanted to share a couple of additional thoughts of the day that Captain Glenn share on the 2012 World Cruise.

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

Dreams keep changing but friends are forever.

We all live under the same sky but we don't necessarily have the same horizon.

Keith & Anne Marie