The first is the photo that was taken of us at the Crystal Society Reception when we were recognized for a Crystal Cruises Milestone. The photo includes Captain Birger, Crystal Society Hostess Isabell and Cruise Director Rick who escorted to the front of the dance floor.
This photo was taken at the Captain's Quarters. At certain thresholds Crystal Society members are recognized with a dinner.
At Milestone 30, guests are recognized with a special on-board recognition dinner normally at Prego. At milestone 50 the recognition dinner might vary either at Prego or possibly at the Captain's Quarters. At 75 milestones the recognition dinner is held at the Captain's Quarters and at 90 milestones the dinner is held at the Captain's Quarters as well. At 100 milestones the private dinner is held at the Vintage Room.
Standing from L-R; On Board Booking Consultant Daniel; Cruise Director Rick; Food& Beverage Manager Tayfun; Hotel Director Hubert; Captain Birger; Friends Kelly & Ashley; Crystal Society Hostess Isabell.
Before dinner last evening, we had a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove.
At one point the Cove became relatively noisy so we ended up going to the Avenue Saloon just to sit and talk. It was much quieter at the Saloon.
Afterwards, we dined at Prego with friends Jim and Judy. As we mentioned the last time we dined together, we first met Jim and Judy on the 2007 World Cruise and have sailed with them on the 2008, 2013, 2014 World Cruises plus this year's World Cruise. This will be our last dinner together of this sailing as they will be getting off Serenity at the end of this voyage.
Dinner was fantastic between great conversation, food, service and the overall ambience of Prego.
From L-R, Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Antonio, Keith & Anne Marie and Head Waiter Slavko.
Antonio will go on a well-deserved Holiday starting tomorrow when the current cruise ends and the new one begins. At that point, Slavko will swing over to the Maitre d' position for the Specialty Restaurants and Head Waiter who is returning from his Holiday will assume his responsibilities as Head Waiter of Prego.
We each began our meal with a small appetizer portion of the additional item that could be ordered as either an appetizer, entree or even side order and that was Ravioli. For our next course we each had salads. Anne Marie had the Caesar Salad and Keith had his Standing Order Salad. For our entree, it was Veal for Anne Marie and it was Fish for Keith. For dessert, it was Fruit Plate for each of us.
This is a photo of Keith's Seafood Entree and the next photo is Grilled Vegetables that Keith had as well.
Since it was Black Tie Optional evening, Prego was not very crowded as many guests chose to dine at the Crystal Dining Room instead. In fact, it was the least crowded that it has been in sometime.
We slept very well as we were sailing to our next and final port of call of this voyage; Lisbon.
Keith was up first and thankfully we didn't move the clock forward so it made it easier to wake up.
As he made his way over to the Fitness Center it was apparent to him that ship was rolling given the sea swells and the associated wind. Even during the workout he could hear the wind from time to time and the vibration of the ship and from time to time the ship continued to bounce around.
He enjoyed a good workout at the Fitness Center and had coffee at the Lido Cafe while he read and wrote. Like the Fitness Center, the Lido Cafe is located at the Stern(back) of the ship and while a better location than being all the way to the front (Bow) of the ship one will feel the ships movement to a much greater extent than being in the middle of the ship. For much of the time Keith was a the Cafe, the feeling was like being in an airplane with moderate to somewhat strong turbulence.
Anne Marie was up next, and she walked for an hour inside the ship.
Around the time that Anne Marie returned to the room, we enjoyed breakfast.
Today was what we would call a hybrid day since we didn't arrive to Lisbon until 2:00 PM. The morning was like any other sea day and later in the afternoon it was like any port day.
As such two morning lectures were offered.
Destination Lecturer Ken Rees spoke about the highs and lows of world reporting sharing his experience during his career reporting the news from around the world. While we have heard this particular lecture in the past, it is still an enjoyable talk and one that we watched again.
The second lecture was given by World Affairs Lecturer Ronald Marks who spoke about the challenges that the next President of the United States would have with respect to American's Foreign Policy. This included the resurgent of Russia, expanding China, challenges with NATO and the United Kingdom and the potential of Terrorism and Cyber Space attacks.
Our own view is that usually it is the issues that one doesn't even consider that become the new challenges so while these are all concerns there likely will be issues around the world that are not necessarily on anyone's radar screen. As the say, time will tell.
As we do on most days, we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe and made our usual salad entrees. As we ate, we watched as Serenity made its way into Lisbon. By the time we got back to our room, we enjoyed additional views of this beautiful city.
We then got ready for our arrival to Lisbon, Portugal which we have visited many times including twice last year on both the 2014 World Cruise and on the voyage that followed after the conclusion of the World Cruise.
We think that Lisbon is an amazing city with its hills, the open areas with beautiful landmarks/monuments, its landscape, its beautiful architecture and all of the hidden treasures that you see as you make your way into small areas within the city, including those areas where people live, eat and worship.
Lisbon has a population of around 575,000 people in the city center. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felictasa Julia. It was ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century. By the 8th century, it was captured by the Moors. In the year 1147, the crusaders reconquered the city for the Christians and since that time it has been a major economic, political and cultural center for all of Portugal.
We arrived to Lisbon earlier than scheduled which was great. While we were waiting for the ship to be cleared, we spoke with Captain Glenn who was leaving a few minutes later. Due to a business commitment in Japan he needed to fly today rather than tomorrow morning, as originally planned. We also spoke with Captain Birger for a little while and also with Hotel Director Hubert.
A shuttle was offered but we decided to walk to the city centre ourselves. In the past the piers that we have been docked at (two different ones) were located within 15 and 20 minutes respectively of the downtown centre. Unfortunately, as we began our walk we started to realize that this terminal was much further away and the walk to and from the city centre took around 50 to 55 minutes each way. In contrast to April of 2014 when we were last here, the weather was quite a bit warmer as it was sunny and the high around 87. With that said, we enjoyed the walk and our time walking the city centre.
The Seabourn Quest was docked at a terminal about ten minutes from where Serenity is docked.
It was nice to get out and about and to walk this city. This is what we hope to do in many of the ports we will be visiting on this upcoming voyage.
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......
A mind once sketched by a new experience, can never go back to its old dimension.
Spend your time and energy creating, not criticizing.
Keith & Anne Marie
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