We skipped the pre-dinner drink last night, and for dinner we dined at Tastes.
Beautiful views of Monte Carlo behind us.
While some people eat off the ship while in Monte Carlo, we prefer to dine on board the ship where we not only enjoy fantastic cuisine, service and a beautiful dining venue but also beautiful views of Monte Carlo.
Captain Birger and Cruise Director Rick Spath joined us for dinner which made it a very special dinner for us.
Needless to say, the four of us never ran out of topics to talk about and we could have talked for hour and hours on end.
In addition to the wonderful company and conversation we enjoyed the wonderful service, cuisine and ambience of Tastes. We ate several courses. We ordered eight different items and they were served two at a time which creates four courses. We also shared two desserts.
With one week to go before it is time for us to leave Serenity there will be a lot of lasts and for this adventure last night marked our final dinner at Tastes. So, we ordered one of every item on the menu. Well, NOT. If you believe that we can arrange to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.
When we arrived back to our room, our Stewardess Longhar had set up Woody and Boris on the couch and placed one of the Grand Prix hats on Boris.
We slept very well last evening. We were anchored of of Monte Carlo.
We began today as we always do with Keith getting up first and working out at the Fitness Center. This was followed by coffee at the Lido Cafe where Keith read and wrote.
Anne Marie walked for an hour inside the ship, until it was time to have breakfast in our room.
We then got ready for a special day in Monte Carlo which was attending the Grand Prix. On two previous visits to Monte Carlo, we were in-town a couple of weeks before the running of the Grand Prix so we saw all of the viewing stands in place, but this is our first time to be in Monte Carlo for the race and the first time we have ever attended a Formula One Race.
Keith got into the spirit of the race.
Anne Marie also got into the spirit of the race.
We booked all of this through Crystal Cruises and close to 200 fellow guests did the same as we did.
We met at the designated Stardust lounge on board Serenity at 9:30 AM. We were assigned groups and there were 20 people to a group plus escort. They took the first three groups on one tender. When we arrived to the tender pier we were also met by a local tour operator representative. She explained what we would do and we then proceeded to walk for about 15 minutes until we got to a meeting point where a lead person from the tour operator was there and gave us each our entrance tickets and went into more detail o how things would work including what was awaiting us on our seats (eg., food, head sound mufflers, cushions, etc.). While it turned out that it did not rain they gave us ponchos and ear plugs when we got the tickets. We then all walked together to the entrance to the grandstand. They also indicated where we would meet if we wanted to go back together.
When we arrived to our seats there was a bag and a chair cushion. The bag included a box lunch which included a coca cola, mineral water, a club sandwich, a quiche (we didn't eat the quiche), an apple, cookies, and cereal stick, We just ate the sandwich and had the water plus water that we brought from the ship.
The weather ranged. When we first walked over to the Grand Stand in the morning it was actually cool so the Jackets we wore came in very handy. Eventually, it became rather warm and it felt even warmer when the clouds moved out and with the strong sun. Later, some cloud came back and we had a nice breeze and then still later it became warm again. The key though was that it was not hot nor did it rain.
We had great seats for viewing the race.
This was the meeting point right after we received the tickets.
Anne Marie is holding one of the bags we received and you can see the seat cushions.
Directly across from us were lots of Yachts and other vessels where people could see the race from and have a little party. We had a better view of the track though. Also behind us and all around people were watching the race from apartments, condominiums, office buildings and other vantage points.
Last evening, for a fee you could walk around the track and it was a real party atmosphere as told to us by another couple who were sitting right behind us at the race. They said that some of these yachts were charging $200.00 (euros) per person to come on board just for last night for drinks and music.
Shortly before the start of the race, the Crown Prince was driven around the track in this vehicle.
All in all we had a great time. We walked back on our own and took the tender back to the ship.
These past couple of days are the first time we have tendered over to the Tender Pier as opposed to being docked in port. Last year we were docked the first day and anchored the second day but we didn't go in on the second day as it was pouring down rain. Captain Birger made sure that Serenity arrived first so we could get the best spot and we did. The sea swells can be quite strong until you get to the protected area and getting in and out of the tender was a challenge. The key was to listen to the instructions from those on the tender platform and that is precisely what we did.
We will post some additional photos tomorrow.
This evening we will dine at the Crystal Dining Room.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......
"I was at the right place at the right time. My work was one of my loves. It was not a job. Each day we were making history and we had the finest team in the history of Telecommunications." - Keith Steiner
Keith & Anne Marie
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