DAY 32 - DAY TWENTY-FOUR ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

We dined at Tastes with Joe and Maria Kita.  We first sailed with Joe and Marie in 2007 and then subsequently on some of the other World Cruises.  Joe teaches Memoir Writing and also the morning Yoga with Maria and Maria teaches the afternoon Yoga which Anne Marie attends regularly.

Joe also wrote an article that appeared last year in Men's Health about valuable lessons that Keith and a few other guests on last years World Cruise learned during the course of their business careers that one would normally not learn about in M.B.A school.

This was our second time to Tastes since we boarded the ship.  We were seated by the Head Waiter had the same Senior Waiter as we did the fist time around.

The Senior Waiter gave us time to review the menu and when he returned the two couples ordered one at a time.  The Senior Waiters gave us some advice, answered questions and he remember each of the items we had the first time we were here, even better than we did.  In a couple of cases he recommended trying an item we didn't have last time such as the Lamb where last time we had one of the two Lamb dishes and this time he recommended we try the other one.

Before dinner, we saw Food & Beverage Manager Victor who along with Daniel, Shore Excursion Manager, we had gone with the first time and Victor recommended an item that we order again so we made sure we did just that.

After ordering six items which the Senior Waiter called six courses he said he would bring out two at a time.  Joe and Maria also ordered six courses.  He also noted that he would give plenty of time between the courses.

While we were waiting for our order, he brought out the cooked and warm chick peas which are very tasty.  He also took our drink orders and then other waiters assisted throughout the evening with that including Clark who is one of the Lido Deck Stewards which many of you who travel on the Crystal Serenity know quite well.

Anne Marie and Maria each had wine, and Joe and Keith each had a Canadian Beer which Joe introduced Keith to on the Serenity last year.  It is served in a Brandy Glass.

The restaurant is very quiet, there is great spacing between arrival times so that the wait staff and the kitchen is not overwhelmed and as you sit there you feel as if you are at a restaurant at a resort Hotel.  

The courses are true tastings and the two of us shared each course.

When the Senior Water brought out each course he explained each item we were about to eat and in some cases suggested how to best  eat the item such as how to dip the item into a sauce.

We began with two courses; Scottish Cured Salmon

Caesar Fondue.  Yes, Caesar Salad which you eat by hand and dip in a tasty sauce.

We had the following two items for our next course.

Alastian Tarte.  This is actually one of the bread items topped with many wonderful ingredients.

Gambas a Lao Plancha.  The Shrimp were quite large and the sauce divine.

Our final course:

California Street Tacos.

Saffron Marinated Lamb Kebabs.

Our final course was the dessert.

Coffee Macchiato; one for each of us.

The four of us shared Dark Chocolate Creme Brûlée shown below and we also shared Bananas Foster Bread Pudding.

All in all we had a wonderful meal and it was great to get together with Joe and Maria.  We covered a lot of ground during our conversation and enjoyed a lot of laughs.


We slept very well last evening and the gentle rocking of the ship made it easy to sleep.  The seas were much calmer last evening.


Keith was up early and back to the Fitness Center for his morning workout.  


Afterwards, he wrote and read and he also read through a draft of a training sheet that will be provided as part of a class for everyone on some new capabilities that are available to everyone with a new reader App for iPads, iPhones and Androids which allow for the downloading of newspapers, and the viewing of lectures and movies on demand as well as a couple of other items at no cost and without accessing the Internet.  Keith had suggested that a simple handout be available with step by step instruction and when the class is held Keith will be one of the people walking around to help fellow guests with this.

This is a photo of one of the chefs who was making some of the breakfast goodies that are served in the Lido Cafe.  The smell of the baked goods cooking reminds one of being at a bakery.




Afterwards, he brought coffee back to the room for Anne Marie.

Anne Marie got in her daily morning walk and she walked outside on the Promenade Deck.

We then had breakfast back in the room as we we watched the daily morning show.

Later in the morning, Keith led a group of two other people, including Joe Kita on the Spin Bikes as we didn't have a formal spin class today. The next class is tomorrow.  We worked hard and had a great time.

The two of us then met with a few members of the crew on something we are planning.  Anne Marie then went to Needle Point.

Later in the day Keith watched the recorded Lecture given by Celebrity Lecturer Bruce McGill.  While many people do not recognize his name when you see him you will realize that he has been in lots of movies you have seen.  While not necessarily his first film, he was in Animal House and played the Fraternity member who rode the motorcycle.  He is also in a television series.  We first saw him speak a couple of years ago and he has appeared on at least one other World Cruise.  

Keith represented the two of us on our Team Trivia team.  We didn't do very well.  Instead of awarding the winning team at the end of this segment they are going to award the team that is ahead tomorrow and then start over given that there are so many sea days on this 

We enjoyed another Salad entree for lunch.  

In the afternoon, we were both busy with our respective activities.  Anne Marie walked another hour, and then she attended Yoga which was taught by Maria Kita who we dined with last evening.  Keith played Paddle Tennis, read, wrote and then met up with good friend Bob.

This evening we are back at the Crystal Dining Room.

We often speak about friends on our Blog posts, so we thought we would end with a thought about friendship.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......……

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things." - Author Unknown

Keith & Anne Marie