We wanted to begin with some photos from the Panama Canal Voyage.
We also wanted to post a couple of photos from the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle Party from yesterday and to also thank Crystal Cruises for always providing such as nice setting and party for us with canapés and drinks and also for the support that Crystal Cruises shows for these events including the fact that many of the Senior Officers and Senior Crew attend.
Senior Officers:
Food & Beverage Manager Victor speaking with Keith and Hotel Director Josef speaking with another guest and towards the front of the photo si Cruise Director Rick.
Cruise Critic Member, Beth, with Keith. It was nice to finally get to meet Beth who is from Australia.
We had a fun time on the ship last evening.
Before dinner, we sat at the Crystal Cove and listened to John Mentis play the piano.
We then went to the card/game room to have our photos taken for the World Cruise Photo Book. The book is similar to a Year Book as it contains the name of each World Cruiser and their respective photo. It is a great source for helping to remember the names of each person you meet. It also contains photos of the Senior Officers and some Senior Crew Members who will be on this adventure. Jeremy, the Photo Manager, took the photos and did a nice job of making each of us relax for the photo. The wait was relatively short.
Afterwards, we had dinner at Silk Road for only the second time since we boarded in Miami. Silk Road is under the direction of Chef Nobu who has Nobu restaurants in some of the major cities around the world. The specialty is Japanese Cuisine. Our Senior Waiter for the evening was Albert.
We dined with friends Peggy and Elaine. We sailed with both of them on the 2012 World Cruise and then with Elaine on the 2013 World Cruise. Before boarding we agreed to dine early in the cruise so we could also do this again later in the cruise.
We had a lot of good conversation and a lot of good laughs with Peggy and Elaine while enjoying a fabulous dinner with outstanding cuisine, service and ambience. While Nobu food is terrific on land, Crystal makes the experience even better because of the top notch service and the dining venue.
The following are some of the items that we enjoyed.
Albert had this trio of Nobu Sashimi Delicacies prepared for each of us. Even those who normally do not eat Sashimi always seem to enjoy this trio as the taste of each sauce makes each dish very tasty. Albert recommended to all of us to eat this from the right to the left which represents the most to the least of the spicy ingredients.
Each of us then enjoyed Lobster Tempura
Elaine enjoyed this appetizer.
We all shared a nice platter of sashimi and sushi which Keith ordered with input from everyone. We did not get a photo of that nor some of the entrees that we had. This is a photo of Dragon Roll which Keith and Peggy shared.
For his entree, Keith enjoyed the Hot Sobo Noodles with a nice soup and had some scallops add to the dish. It was very tasty and light.
We each had a dessert with Keith having a fruit plate and Anne Marie having ice cream.
We did not attend the show last evening which was comedy entertainment performed by showman Jon Courtenay.
We did sleep well last evening as we sail to the big island of Hawaii. The seas seemed calmer than the night before.
As he does each day, Keith was up early and began another wonderful day on the Crystal Serenity at the Fitness Center. He watched one lecture that had been recorded and caught up on some news.
After working out he was back at the Lido Cafe to get his daily dose of some coffee. He brought back some coffee for Anne Marie as well.
Anne Marie walked for one hour as she does on most days and then we enjoyed breakfast together in our room as we watched the daily morning show hosted by Rick Spath and Stacey Huston in our room.
Rick interviewed the Captain who noted that the sea swells should stay the way they are now but tomorrow evening they could double in intensity. The Captain said this is why they have been going faster to get ahead of schedule so that when the swells pick up in intensity that he can slow the ship down to provide a more comfortable ride for the guests.
We then got ready for another fabulous day at sea.
On sea days on all voyage throughout the year, Crystal Cruises offers an array of daytime activities that has something for everyone. On a World Cruise, there are even more activities offered each day while at sea. They are certainly too numerous to list for you, so we thought we would post activities from yesterday, that are listed in the daily program called Reflections.
Keith took another spin (indoor cycling) class in the morning which was taught by Fitness Director Michael who has taught all of these classes since we boarded the ship. The other Fitness Director, Scott, mentioned to Keith that he will teach a few of the classes on the voyage and he emphasizes speed. And here Keith thought Michael emphasized speed so looks like it will be an even more challenging class.
When Keith arrived to the center he was cold but he knew in a matter of minutes once he began to spin he would feel warm and then hot and we was so very right.
These three photos look out of focus but that is because the legs were spinning very fast as we were working at 100% speed.
Speaking of Scott, Anne Marie had her personal training class mid-way through Keith's class with Scott. She is enjoying these classes and it just helps to ensure she is keeping up with this area as she does at home.
We then sat in the Crystal Cove for awhile and several Senior Officers came by. The Vice Captain stopped by to say hell and then Captain Birger came by and spoke with us for awhile and we asked him about the weather and some other items. He is a wonderful communicator and just very enthusiastic. Cruise Director Rick Spath also spoke with us for awhile as did Food & Beverage Manager Victor. We often say that during the World Cruises there is even more time to speak with others including crew and the guests and today was a perfect example of that.
Anne Marie had read in Reflections (daily program) that there was a 75% off bathing suite sale and she was able to purchase a bathing suit made by the same company of the suits she normally buys and the price was pretty much 75% less than she paid at home and on top of that excludes the tax. Best news for her was that they had it in her size and a color she wanted. A short while later, Anne Marie attended the Knitting Class for the second consecutive day. This is a new class not offered on our previous sailings and Anne Marie is already enjoying it. While some yard and the needles were provided various Kits are available for a relatively small cost and Anne Marie purchased one of them today.
Anne Marie then went to the new Knitting Class which had not been offered in the past. They do provide a small ball of yarn and a set of knitting needles and beginner's instructions to learn how to knit. For guests such as Anne Marie who already knows how to knit you can purchase a kitting kit for a relatively small price which Anne Marie did. The instructor helps with that as well.
Anne Marie represented the two of us on Team Trivia today. The team is mainly comprised of guests that we have played with before including dear friends Bob and Glo and Arlene, Louise and Sandra and one other person who we had not played with before.
In between these activities and ones in the afternoon we had a salad entree for lunch.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie had Yoga which is taught by Maria Kita and Keith played Paddle Tennis and also got together with good friend Bob.
There were two lectures that Keith watched and that included one by Special Interest Lecturer Evelyn Evans which focused on Japan and its neighbors since we will be sailing this area as part of the World Cruise and the other lectures was given by author, James Bradley, which spoke about how the United States won the Pacific War.
This evening we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner and we also have a special guest joining us. Before dinner, we will be going to the Captain's Quarters for drinks along with some other guests.
It's been another wonderful 24 hours on the Crystal Serenity.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.........
Photo from the Captain's Welcome Reception.
We also wanted to post a couple of photos from the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle Party from yesterday and to also thank Crystal Cruises for always providing such as nice setting and party for us with canapés and drinks and also for the support that Crystal Cruises shows for these events including the fact that many of the Senior Officers and Senior Crew attend.
Senior Officers:
Food & Beverage Manager Victor speaking with Keith and Hotel Director Josef speaking with another guest and towards the front of the photo si Cruise Director Rick.
Cruise Critic Member, Beth, with Keith. It was nice to finally get to meet Beth who is from Australia.
We had a fun time on the ship last evening.
Before dinner, we sat at the Crystal Cove and listened to John Mentis play the piano.
We then went to the card/game room to have our photos taken for the World Cruise Photo Book. The book is similar to a Year Book as it contains the name of each World Cruiser and their respective photo. It is a great source for helping to remember the names of each person you meet. It also contains photos of the Senior Officers and some Senior Crew Members who will be on this adventure. Jeremy, the Photo Manager, took the photos and did a nice job of making each of us relax for the photo. The wait was relatively short.
Afterwards, we had dinner at Silk Road for only the second time since we boarded in Miami. Silk Road is under the direction of Chef Nobu who has Nobu restaurants in some of the major cities around the world. The specialty is Japanese Cuisine. Our Senior Waiter for the evening was Albert.
We dined with friends Peggy and Elaine. We sailed with both of them on the 2012 World Cruise and then with Elaine on the 2013 World Cruise. Before boarding we agreed to dine early in the cruise so we could also do this again later in the cruise.
We had a lot of good conversation and a lot of good laughs with Peggy and Elaine while enjoying a fabulous dinner with outstanding cuisine, service and ambience. While Nobu food is terrific on land, Crystal makes the experience even better because of the top notch service and the dining venue.
The following are some of the items that we enjoyed.
Albert had this trio of Nobu Sashimi Delicacies prepared for each of us. Even those who normally do not eat Sashimi always seem to enjoy this trio as the taste of each sauce makes each dish very tasty. Albert recommended to all of us to eat this from the right to the left which represents the most to the least of the spicy ingredients.
Each of us then enjoyed Lobster Tempura
Before the entree was served we each had something different. Keith had the Salad which is topped by a sauce and warm musrooms.
Peggy had the eggplant.
Elaine enjoyed this appetizer.
We all shared a nice platter of sashimi and sushi which Keith ordered with input from everyone. We did not get a photo of that nor some of the entrees that we had. This is a photo of Dragon Roll which Keith and Peggy shared.
For his entree, Keith enjoyed the Hot Sobo Noodles with a nice soup and had some scallops add to the dish. It was very tasty and light.
We each had a dessert with Keith having a fruit plate and Anne Marie having ice cream.
We did not attend the show last evening which was comedy entertainment performed by showman Jon Courtenay.
We did sleep well last evening as we sail to the big island of Hawaii. The seas seemed calmer than the night before.
As he does each day, Keith was up early and began another wonderful day on the Crystal Serenity at the Fitness Center. He watched one lecture that had been recorded and caught up on some news.
After working out he was back at the Lido Cafe to get his daily dose of some coffee. He brought back some coffee for Anne Marie as well.
Anne Marie walked for one hour as she does on most days and then we enjoyed breakfast together in our room as we watched the daily morning show hosted by Rick Spath and Stacey Huston in our room.
Rick interviewed the Captain who noted that the sea swells should stay the way they are now but tomorrow evening they could double in intensity. The Captain said this is why they have been going faster to get ahead of schedule so that when the swells pick up in intensity that he can slow the ship down to provide a more comfortable ride for the guests.
We then got ready for another fabulous day at sea.
On sea days on all voyage throughout the year, Crystal Cruises offers an array of daytime activities that has something for everyone. On a World Cruise, there are even more activities offered each day while at sea. They are certainly too numerous to list for you, so we thought we would post activities from yesterday, that are listed in the daily program called Reflections.
Keith took another spin (indoor cycling) class in the morning which was taught by Fitness Director Michael who has taught all of these classes since we boarded the ship. The other Fitness Director, Scott, mentioned to Keith that he will teach a few of the classes on the voyage and he emphasizes speed. And here Keith thought Michael emphasized speed so looks like it will be an even more challenging class.
When Keith arrived to the center he was cold but he knew in a matter of minutes once he began to spin he would feel warm and then hot and we was so very right.
These three photos look out of focus but that is because the legs were spinning very fast as we were working at 100% speed.
Speaking of Scott, Anne Marie had her personal training class mid-way through Keith's class with Scott. She is enjoying these classes and it just helps to ensure she is keeping up with this area as she does at home.
We then sat in the Crystal Cove for awhile and several Senior Officers came by. The Vice Captain stopped by to say hell and then Captain Birger came by and spoke with us for awhile and we asked him about the weather and some other items. He is a wonderful communicator and just very enthusiastic. Cruise Director Rick Spath also spoke with us for awhile as did Food & Beverage Manager Victor. We often say that during the World Cruises there is even more time to speak with others including crew and the guests and today was a perfect example of that.
Anne Marie had read in Reflections (daily program) that there was a 75% off bathing suite sale and she was able to purchase a bathing suit made by the same company of the suits she normally buys and the price was pretty much 75% less than she paid at home and on top of that excludes the tax. Best news for her was that they had it in her size and a color she wanted. A short while later, Anne Marie attended the Knitting Class for the second consecutive day. This is a new class not offered on our previous sailings and Anne Marie is already enjoying it. While some yard and the needles were provided various Kits are available for a relatively small cost and Anne Marie purchased one of them today.
Anne Marie then went to the new Knitting Class which had not been offered in the past. They do provide a small ball of yarn and a set of knitting needles and beginner's instructions to learn how to knit. For guests such as Anne Marie who already knows how to knit you can purchase a kitting kit for a relatively small price which Anne Marie did. The instructor helps with that as well.
Anne Marie represented the two of us on Team Trivia today. The team is mainly comprised of guests that we have played with before including dear friends Bob and Glo and Arlene, Louise and Sandra and one other person who we had not played with before.
In between these activities and ones in the afternoon we had a salad entree for lunch.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie had Yoga which is taught by Maria Kita and Keith played Paddle Tennis and also got together with good friend Bob.
There were two lectures that Keith watched and that included one by Special Interest Lecturer Evelyn Evans which focused on Japan and its neighbors since we will be sailing this area as part of the World Cruise and the other lectures was given by author, James Bradley, which spoke about how the United States won the Pacific War.
This evening we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner and we also have a special guest joining us. Before dinner, we will be going to the Captain's Quarters for drinks along with some other guests.
It's been another wonderful 24 hours on the Crystal Serenity.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.........
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill
Keith & Anne Marie
Keith & Anne Marie
Redbird48 thoroughly enjoys your daily postings.
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