NOTE: This Entry Is From Tuesday, January 7 but posted on January 8.
A LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY
A LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY
GEORGETOWN, GRAND CAYMAN - TURNED OUT TO BE A SEA DAY ✔ DINNER CRYSTAL DINING ROOM✔
Before we begin with last nights highlights we wanted to mention that this first voyage is a Transit Of The Panama Canal, from Miami to Los Angeles. Our arrival to Los Angeles will mark the start of the World Cruise.
We have sailed this itinerary several times in the past and enjoy it very much. The transit of the Panama Canal is fascinating, regardless of how many times you have transited the canal. It is truly an engineering wonder. We only mention this because we have no shore excursions in these ports since we have previously taken several of them so on the most part we will be walking around each of these ports of calls. Once the World Cruise begins we have many shore excursions planned.
We also wanted to note that this cruise on the Crystal Serenity as well as the current cruise on board the Crystal Symphony marks the first cruises where smoking is no longer permitted inside staterooms or the Crystal Cove which is the lounge located on the main deck of the ship near the Crystal Dining Room. With this change, the only place where smoking inside the ship is permitted is in one lounge, Connoisseur's Club, which was designed for smoking and smoking outside the ship is only permitted in selected areas. For several years smoking has not been permitted on stateroom verandahs and smoking continues to be prohibited on the verandahs with the revised policy.
Last night was Black Tie Optional. Guests could either dress in formal attire or Elegant Casual (informal) attire. The vast majority of guests were in Formal Attire.
Before dinner, we had several photographs taken by the ships photographers who were stationed in various spots outside the Main Dining Room. As we did last year, we have purchased a photo package which for this voyage includes selected voyages to be printed and those photos will also be places on a thumb drive and we will own their rights. There will be a slightly different package for the World Cruise and we will provide a description of that package shortly after the World Cruise commences.
We dined in the Crystal Dining Room for the first time this cruise. We were back at the table that we have sat at for the past few years. Our Head Waiter is Bojan, who we have had from time to time on previous cruises.
Before we ordered, Maitre d'Hotel Mario Gallo came by our table as did the Executive Chef of the Crystal Dining Room, Werner Brenner and the Vice Captain. A few other members of the wait staff who we know from previous years also came by. It was so very nice to catch up with them. We also spoke briefly with friend Peggy who will also be on board for the entire World Cruise. Keith had seen Peggy a couple of times but this was the first time that Anne Marie and Peggy saw one another since we boarded the Serenity.
We each began our meal with Salads. Keith had a standing order salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and mushrooms.
Anne Marie had the Captain's Salad which comes with a nice array of vegetables and fruits.
We each enjoyed fresh Lobster which was accompanied by Risotto. This is Anne Marie's favorite. We did not get a photo of the entree but we will next time and probably the time after that and after that, etc...
For dessert, Keith had mixed berries.
Anne Maire and the sugar free Mocha Cream Puff. She loved the dessert and Keith was very happy with his fruit.
Unlike last year's Blog we will not post menus each and every evening but will post some of the special menus and last night was one of those special menus.
The menu featured the Gala Welcome Dinner.
If you click on the menus or the photos you can make them larger.
After dinner, we attended the Captain's Welcome Reception. We went through the receiving line and were first greeted by Jaque the Crystal Society Hostess, then the Captain, and then Cruise Director Gary and Hotel Director Josef. As we did last year we walked all the way to the back of the Palm Court and we stood at the bar area rather than being seated at one of the many tables located throughout the Palm Court. We didn't have anything to drink but it's a nice area to speak with fellow guests and crew members. We chatted for awhile with Food & Beverage Manager Victor and on board Cruise Consultant Nikki and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque came by to chat with us. We also spoke with a couple of fellow guests.
The Captain introduced his senior officers and we spoke with several guests as well as many members of the crew. We had a very nice time and we actually stayed at the reception a little while after it ended.
One of the highlights of the evening is a performance of the show Rocket Man which includes so many of the favorite songs of Elton John. It is an amazing show and we highly recommend seeing it and it is one of those shows you can see again and again.
We did sleep very well. Although the ship is at full occupancy it is so very quiet and we find that the gentle rocking of the ship makes it very easy to fall asleep.
Keith awoke first and was back up at the Fitness Center for his daily morning workout on the Elliptical Machine.
After his workout he stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee.
He spoke with some of the Lido Deck Stewards including Jun, Raymond and Benjamin.
When you first arrive to the Lido Deck from the stairway towards the back area of the ship it is very inviting regardless of which side of the cafe you enter.
We want to thank those of you who who wrote to us about this photo from yesterday. On the left is Benjamin and on the right is Raymond rather than Jun.
This photo from this morning is of Jun.
After Keith got his coffee he sat at this table with his iPad.
Afterwards, Keith brought back some coffee for Anne Marie and a little while later she took her daily morning walk on the Promenade Deck.
At 8:00, Butler Vincente, came by the room with our breakfast.
Today was to mark our first port of call; Grand Cayman. We have visited this island many times over the years. It is a popular stop for cruse ships often having three to up to seven ships in port. Each ship must run tender services between their respective ship and the downtown area. The downtown area is more commercialized than it was when we first began visiting here in the early 1990's. Highlights of this port include snorkeling with the stingrays as well as enjoying all or part of a day at the beach.
Unfortunately due to weather, the port stop was cancelled. The port authority had warned that the swells were likely to get bad as the day progressed so while tender service could have run in the morning there was no guarantee that it could run safely as the day progressed. Even the tour operator canceled most of the excursions before the warning by the port authority.
Crystal wisely cancelled the stop for the safety of all, so today became a sea day. In less than an hour, Cruise Director Gary Hunter announced several activities that were added to the program including lectures, and a range of enrichment programs and a revised program was also delivered to all guest staterooms.
We took advantage of the time in the morning to visit with several fellow guests and members of the crew.
One of the items they added to the schedule was needlepoint and Anne Marie picked up a new needlepoint kit to work on.
Keith met up with a fellow guest who he plays paddle tennis with and they decided to play. When they first got to the court the crew was vacuuming the surface to dry off the court. It was overcast but eventually it became sunny.
For lunch we were back at the Lido Cafe which we enjoy as we each make salad entrees. We include lots of vegetable items and either a little turkey, chicken or some type of seafood. For example, yesterday they were carving a whole turkey so we had that and it was not only very tasty but very moist.
In the afternoon, Keith played some paddle tennis until it started to rain, while Anne Marie walked for an hour. Anne Marie also used the weight machines.
In the afternoon, Keith also met up with friend Bob along with a couple of other fellow guests.
When we arrived back to our room there was a nice box of candy on the coffee table. When you complete a certain number of cruises then you receive this gift from Crystal Society. We also have received some invites over the next several days for some dinners, and also for a couple of receptions and we will be posting about this in the coming days.
This evening we are back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner and will post about this and other evening activities tomorrow.
Before we begin with last nights highlights we wanted to mention that this first voyage is a Transit Of The Panama Canal, from Miami to Los Angeles. Our arrival to Los Angeles will mark the start of the World Cruise.
We have sailed this itinerary several times in the past and enjoy it very much. The transit of the Panama Canal is fascinating, regardless of how many times you have transited the canal. It is truly an engineering wonder. We only mention this because we have no shore excursions in these ports since we have previously taken several of them so on the most part we will be walking around each of these ports of calls. Once the World Cruise begins we have many shore excursions planned.
We also wanted to note that this cruise on the Crystal Serenity as well as the current cruise on board the Crystal Symphony marks the first cruises where smoking is no longer permitted inside staterooms or the Crystal Cove which is the lounge located on the main deck of the ship near the Crystal Dining Room. With this change, the only place where smoking inside the ship is permitted is in one lounge, Connoisseur's Club, which was designed for smoking and smoking outside the ship is only permitted in selected areas. For several years smoking has not been permitted on stateroom verandahs and smoking continues to be prohibited on the verandahs with the revised policy.
Last night was Black Tie Optional. Guests could either dress in formal attire or Elegant Casual (informal) attire. The vast majority of guests were in Formal Attire.
Before dinner, we had several photographs taken by the ships photographers who were stationed in various spots outside the Main Dining Room. As we did last year, we have purchased a photo package which for this voyage includes selected voyages to be printed and those photos will also be places on a thumb drive and we will own their rights. There will be a slightly different package for the World Cruise and we will provide a description of that package shortly after the World Cruise commences.
We dined in the Crystal Dining Room for the first time this cruise. We were back at the table that we have sat at for the past few years. Our Head Waiter is Bojan, who we have had from time to time on previous cruises.
Before we ordered, Maitre d'Hotel Mario Gallo came by our table as did the Executive Chef of the Crystal Dining Room, Werner Brenner and the Vice Captain. A few other members of the wait staff who we know from previous years also came by. It was so very nice to catch up with them. We also spoke briefly with friend Peggy who will also be on board for the entire World Cruise. Keith had seen Peggy a couple of times but this was the first time that Anne Marie and Peggy saw one another since we boarded the Serenity.
We each began our meal with Salads. Keith had a standing order salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and mushrooms.
Anne Marie had the Captain's Salad which comes with a nice array of vegetables and fruits.
We each enjoyed fresh Lobster which was accompanied by Risotto. This is Anne Marie's favorite. We did not get a photo of the entree but we will next time and probably the time after that and after that, etc...
For dessert, Keith had mixed berries.
Anne Maire and the sugar free Mocha Cream Puff. She loved the dessert and Keith was very happy with his fruit.
Unlike last year's Blog we will not post menus each and every evening but will post some of the special menus and last night was one of those special menus.
The menu featured the Gala Welcome Dinner.
If you click on the menus or the photos you can make them larger.
After dinner, we attended the Captain's Welcome Reception. We went through the receiving line and were first greeted by Jaque the Crystal Society Hostess, then the Captain, and then Cruise Director Gary and Hotel Director Josef. As we did last year we walked all the way to the back of the Palm Court and we stood at the bar area rather than being seated at one of the many tables located throughout the Palm Court. We didn't have anything to drink but it's a nice area to speak with fellow guests and crew members. We chatted for awhile with Food & Beverage Manager Victor and on board Cruise Consultant Nikki and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque came by to chat with us. We also spoke with a couple of fellow guests.
The Captain introduced his senior officers and we spoke with several guests as well as many members of the crew. We had a very nice time and we actually stayed at the reception a little while after it ended.
One of the highlights of the evening is a performance of the show Rocket Man which includes so many of the favorite songs of Elton John. It is an amazing show and we highly recommend seeing it and it is one of those shows you can see again and again.
We did sleep very well. Although the ship is at full occupancy it is so very quiet and we find that the gentle rocking of the ship makes it very easy to fall asleep.
Keith awoke first and was back up at the Fitness Center for his daily morning workout on the Elliptical Machine.
After his workout he stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee.
He spoke with some of the Lido Deck Stewards including Jun, Raymond and Benjamin.
When you first arrive to the Lido Deck from the stairway towards the back area of the ship it is very inviting regardless of which side of the cafe you enter.
We want to thank those of you who who wrote to us about this photo from yesterday. On the left is Benjamin and on the right is Raymond rather than Jun.
This photo from this morning is of Jun.
After Keith got his coffee he sat at this table with his iPad.
Afterwards, Keith brought back some coffee for Anne Marie and a little while later she took her daily morning walk on the Promenade Deck.
At 8:00, Butler Vincente, came by the room with our breakfast.
Today was to mark our first port of call; Grand Cayman. We have visited this island many times over the years. It is a popular stop for cruse ships often having three to up to seven ships in port. Each ship must run tender services between their respective ship and the downtown area. The downtown area is more commercialized than it was when we first began visiting here in the early 1990's. Highlights of this port include snorkeling with the stingrays as well as enjoying all or part of a day at the beach.
Unfortunately due to weather, the port stop was cancelled. The port authority had warned that the swells were likely to get bad as the day progressed so while tender service could have run in the morning there was no guarantee that it could run safely as the day progressed. Even the tour operator canceled most of the excursions before the warning by the port authority.
Crystal wisely cancelled the stop for the safety of all, so today became a sea day. In less than an hour, Cruise Director Gary Hunter announced several activities that were added to the program including lectures, and a range of enrichment programs and a revised program was also delivered to all guest staterooms.
We took advantage of the time in the morning to visit with several fellow guests and members of the crew.
One of the items they added to the schedule was needlepoint and Anne Marie picked up a new needlepoint kit to work on.
Keith met up with a fellow guest who he plays paddle tennis with and they decided to play. When they first got to the court the crew was vacuuming the surface to dry off the court. It was overcast but eventually it became sunny.
For lunch we were back at the Lido Cafe which we enjoy as we each make salad entrees. We include lots of vegetable items and either a little turkey, chicken or some type of seafood. For example, yesterday they were carving a whole turkey so we had that and it was not only very tasty but very moist.
In the afternoon, Keith played some paddle tennis until it started to rain, while Anne Marie walked for an hour. Anne Marie also used the weight machines.
In the afternoon, Keith also met up with friend Bob along with a couple of other fellow guests.
When we arrived back to our room there was a nice box of candy on the coffee table. When you complete a certain number of cruises then you receive this gift from Crystal Society. We also have received some invites over the next several days for some dinners, and also for a couple of receptions and we will be posting about this in the coming days.
This evening we are back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner and will post about this and other evening activities tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............
"We live
in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no
end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." - Jawaharlal Nehru
Keith & Anne Marie
Yay for paddle tennis! Looking good, Dad!
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