DAY 51 – DAY FORTY THREE ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

Last evening we dined at Prego with good friends John and Linda.

On Keith's Lapel was a Beatles Button that Dear Friends Bob and Glo gave to Keith yesterday during Team Trivia.

Our waiter for the evening was Costa who took wonderful care of the four of us as he always does.

We each had three courses.  We both had Caesar Salad to begin the meal.  For our entrees Keith had one of the additional entrees, which was, the seafood entrée featuring Cod and Anne Marie had Veal Scaloppine.  For dessert, it was fresh fruit for Keith and a small scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream for Anne Marie.

After dinner we attended the last fifteen minutes of the first of two performances by a group from Liverpool that plays the music of our favorite all-time Rock N' Roll Group - The Beatles.  

We then stayed and moved to the first row for the second performance.  The group played a total of 26 songs over about fifty minutes playing some songs in their full length and a portion of other songs.  The songs date from 1962 until the group split.  They changed outfits once and three of the members did this while Paul sang the song "Yesterday" and then Paul changed while John sang the song "In My Life" Paul Changed.  By the way at our daughter Jennifer's wedding the Keith and Jennifer danced to the Father/Daughter song "In My Life" so this song has even extra meaning for us.  It was a lot of fun and for the last two sets of songs we stood up and danced a little including in the aisle, sang, and swayed back and forth.

When the group finished and went back stage, Cruise Director Rick Spath asked them to come out for one final set which they were happy to do.  For the last song Cruise Director Rick Spath came to the front and danced with Anne Marie and likewise World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston danced with Keith.  For us this was like being at a concert of The Beatles.  It was a wonderful and fun evening.

The concert brought out the "kid" in most people.  There was a portion of the concert where just about everyone in the audience stood up to sing and sway to the music. A passenger who we know so very well who was sitting directly to the right of Anne Marie who often is pushed in a wheel chair by a member of the crew, got out of her seat and without the aid of anything to hold onto she stood for a few songs and swayed back and forth as well.  It was terrific.

This is a photo of Keith with the man who plays Paul McCartney and is also the producer of the group.  Keith was wearing his Beatles Shirt.

 A short while later we attended a sock hop which was held in the Crystal Plaza.  The Sextet group played Rock 'N Roll Music, and the Crystal Singers and Entertainers danced to a couple of songs and were joined by dancers Curtis and Beverly and Jonathan and Sarah also sang.  We danced to several songs before we called it a night.

The Sextet Band.

Line Captain Shane in the Yellow Jacket.

Beverly & Curtis Wowed All Of Us With Their Dancing.

In keeping with the theme of the Sock Hop, The Bistro served milk shakes, hot dogs, pizza, desserts and popcorn.

We had just an absolutely wonderful evening.

We slept well and Keith was up first.  He once again did about half his normal workout on the Elliptical Machine but did it at a lower interval than normal.  He is not pushing it too much until he feels that he is 100%.  Afterwards, he stopped by the Lido Cafe where he chatted with some of the Lido Deck Stewards such as Joe and Ross.  He brought back coffee to the room for Anne Marie and then afterwards we went on a one hour walk around the ship.  We walked inside because it looked very (and we mean very) polluted outside.  We ran into so many passengers we know along with crew.

Afterwards, we had breakfast in the room.  

Later in the morning we went through the mandatory face to far Chinese Inspection.  A few minutes later we headed back to the ship.  

We stayed on the ship today and plan to do so tomorrow as we cancelled tomorrows tour.  Given the weather, the pollution and the drive between port and city being one hour each way and Keith still not feeling 100% well we decided it wise to just stay on the ship.  We last visited Shanghai in 2012 so we just decided that the ship would be best for us this time around. Several other people we know did likewise.

We had lunch in the Crystal Dining Room with Cruise Director Rick Spath.  

Afterwards, we walked for another hour inside the ship.

We took advantage of the time on board the ship to read and to write and we ran a few errands as well.

This evening we will be dining again in Prego as we were invited to dine with one of the Senior Officers.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.

"The music and the songs of The Beatles are as meaningful and enjoyable today as it was the first time we heard each song.  Those young lads from Liverpool with all of their songs about love and peace have brought so much joy to our lives, and to the lives of others from all across the world.  Long live The Beatles." - Keith & Anne Marie

Keith & Anne Marie