We had seen Butler Rao at the Gangway when we returned to the ship yesterday afternoon and since he is leaving the ship at the end of this voyage for a well deserved holiday, he and the other crew members who are also departing Serenity had to go through immigration at the same time yesterday afternoon.
When we started with our salads, another Butler, Pravin brought them to our room as Rao was not yet back due to immigration. It seemed like a busy night as Pravin took several calls on his phone from other guests while he was setting everything up for us.
Shortly after we finished the salads and while we were watching a movie we had gotten from the library, there was a knock at the door and there was Rao. As it turned out, immigration had taken all of the crew members in a bus to some building for the immigration. Although Rao was first on line, no one from the crew could go back to the ship until each and every person was done with the immigration and it took about twenty minutes per person as the computer system they used in immigration was very slow.
We were very happy to see Rao back and he took excellent care us and served the rest of the meal as we had planned it. We did make it a Pizza night and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
We called it an early evening, after watching the rest of the movie.
As usual, we slept very well and started today with the same routine that we have enjoyed since boarding Serenity.
After Keith completed his early morning workout he had coffee at the Lido Cafe as he read and wrote. Normally, when he arrives to the Lido Cafe it is for the Early Bird Coffee but since today is turn around day and some people had extremely early flights, breakfast was set up very early in the morning. There were also some guest already there when Keith arrived.
A few minutes before Keith was getting ready to leave the Cafe, he saw Specialty Restaurant Maitre d', Antonio, who was all decked out in his civilian clothes. He was just getting a cup of coffee before he will be leaving Serenity for his well deserved Holiday at home. We will see Antonio again when we are back for the July 25th cruise.
With breakfast out earlier than normal, Keith could smell the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon breakfast rolls being heated in the ovens as they are prepared fairly close to where Keith sits. If they taste as good as they smell they should be delicious. The good news is no calories if you only smell them. LOL, but so very true.
Speaking of breakfast, we ate earlier than usual in our room so that we could explore Lisbon early in the morning. We wished Butler Rao very safe travels, and a wonderful time at home with his family.
Today marked the end of the Miami to Lisbon Voyage. During this voyage we sailed a total of 3,744 nautical miles or the equivalent of approximately 3,340 land miles.
Today also marks the start of the Lisbon to Rome Voyage which will be our final voyage of this adventure.
This voyage is called Passion de Grand Prix since we will be in Monte Carlo for two nights/three days to coincide with the running of the Grand Prix Race.
Approximately 130 passengers are in-transit guests. Like us, this means that these guests were on the Miami to Lisbon crossing and are staying on at least for this next voyage. Unlike when arriving to a port in the United States of America, we did not have to go through immigration and today which is known as a turn-around day, we could go and come as we please on and off the ship. We could remain on board all day should we wanted to do that, unlike in Miami where all in-transit guests had to get off the ship in order for the ship to be cleared.
In addition to many guests departing from/arriving to Serenity, today marked the day when various crew members will be going home for very well deserved Holidays and other crew members will be returning. For example, Crystal Dining Room Maitre d' Leo went home and Mario Gallo who swings between Serenity and Symphony is back on board, and as we mentioned yesterday, Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Antonio goes home and Slavko swings from being the Prego Head Waiter to being the Specialty Restaurant Maitre d'.
Butler Rao, who has taken excellent care of us since January 4 goes on a very well deserved Holiday today. Butler Almir, who was our Butler on the December 21, 2014 Holiday Cruise, is now our Butler for this voyage.
There is a big contrast between the itinerary for the Miami to Lisbon Voyage and the Lisbon to Miami Voyage. Whereas the previous voyage was a crossing and with heavy emphasis on sea days, the Lisbon to Miami voyage emphasizes lots of Mediterranean ports, with only one sea day.
Before we left the ship we ran into one couple from the 2015 World Cruise who was leaving today and we also welcome Maitre d' Mario Gallo back to Serenity. We sailed with Mario on the Holiday Cruise and the January 4 cruise. He is back on board, as Maitre d' Leo has gone on a well deserved Holiday.
Shortly after our breakfast, we took another walk to the downtown centre of Lisbon. We left as soon as possible in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat as today was another warm day. In some ways the walk was easier today than it had been yesterday because we knew precisely the route to take and around how long it would take. We actually walked a longer distance and in total we walked 12.5 miles.
We walked mainly on a bike/jogging/walking path for most of the way. About half of this was along the coast line but shortly after we turned towards the left and continued on the path we saw a car ram into this pillar. We didn't take the photo when it happened but on our walk back to Serenity. At impact, the front of the car hit it hard enough that the front end collapsed and the radiator fluid came rushing out of the radiator onto the bike path. The driver was OK but not the car. When we walked back and took the photo a few hours later the car was gone (it obviously was towed) and as we thought through what happened he turned incorrectly and instead of keeping right to stay on the street he turned left onto the bike path. We were just a few feet from impact and as they say timing is everything and we were glad we were not any closer than that.
Once we were at the City Centre we walked for quite awhile and admired the overall beauty of the city.
We did pass several pastry shops. They did have the Portuguese Tarts.
On our walk we stopped by this outdoor market, which we first visited with our daughter, Jennifer, and son-in-law Gui in 2008. They sell lots of local items at very reasonable costs.
We walked into two hotels and stopped by another. We were just checking them out for future trips. At each of the three Hotels we saw people who had just left the ship checking into each hotel. We knew people from two of the three hotels where Crystal guests were checking in.
There was some type of running event today with runners running on one of the main roads, mainly single file.
This is where the Crystal Serenity is docked which is very close to this bridge.
As we were nearing the gangway, we ran into Hotel Director Hubert. Hubert was walking over to the Cruise Ship Terminal to check on arriving guests.
Once back on the ship, we ran into Tastes Head Waiter Luigi who was in Civilian Clothes as he and his bride to be Andrea, Executive Housekeeper, would be leaving the ship at 3:00 PM today for their well deserved holiday. They will be married in the next couple of weeks.
We also ran into Crystal Dining Room Head Waiter Giuseppe who returned today from his Holiday. When you stay on as long as we have we have seen many Crew Members come and go. We kid around from-tme-to-time noting that we are on a very long contract.
A couple of years ago Crystal automated the checking in of newly arriving guests and instead of the check in being done with contractors and before guests board the ship, the process is done on board the ships at this table. The check in desk is conveniently located right outside the Crystal Dining Room so that after check-in guests can have Lunch.
Speaking of Lunch, we also went to the Crystal Dining Room for our traditional lunch on embarkation days and turn around days of Cobb Salad and a flute of Champagne.
After lunch we ran into some fellow guests that we knew and continued to welcome back various crew members including Bar Manager, Ross.
In the afternoon, Keith read and wrote and also met up with a few guests and Anne Marie sat out by the pool. The weather was sunny.
This evening we will be dining at the Crystal Dining Room.
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......
We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.
Try and fail but don't fail to try.
Keith & Anne Marie
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