DAY 55 - DAY FORTY SEVEN ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

A couple of additional photos from the first segment of the World Cruise.

We also wanted to mention that during yesterday's Daily Morning Show they did a spoof and they should a video that they had taken with World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston who was playing Katie Couric but they used a different last name interviewing two guests who we know very well (The Porter's) in the laundry room discussing some of the crazy stuff that goes on there.  Chuck spoke in a made up twang and we had tears running down our eyes.  It was funny.

Stacey as a Blond.

These are some additional photos from the Beatles mixer. We just wanted to mention how much fun we had at the mixer.  While in the photo showing us dancing does not show that many people dancing that is because this was the first song but by the end of the first song the entire Crystal Plaza was almost wall to wall with people dancing.  There were also times that the band wanted us to all sing along to the tunes and people did just that. The atrium level right above the plaza was also standing room only with people watching and enjoying the show.  The music of the Beatles transcends multi generations and also touches people around the world and that is what we saw first hand yesterday.  It also brings out the kid in almost everyone so you saw people smiling, laughing, dancing and singing.  We really enjoyed the music, song and these band members.  We had many opportunities to speak with the gentlemen who plays Paul McCartney throughout their time on board.  All in all, a lot of fun.

Before dinner, we went outside to watch our arrival into Hong Kong.  It was sunny and there were very few clouds in the sky. We then met up with friends Linda and John in the Crystal Cove.

From L-R Butler Jason and our Butler Rao.

After being away from the Crystal Dining Room for five nights in a row, it was wonderful to be back to the dining room.  We had a terrific time enjoying lots of laughs with the waitstaff team as we were being taken terrific care of by our Senior Waiter and Waiter and of course by Headwaiter, Augusto.

Our Senior Waiter Ayan is going home in a couple of days for a well deserved vacation and he introduced us to the woman who will be our Senior Waiter.  We knew her from some lunches we have had at the dining room.  We will retain our waiter Laszio.

We began our meal with salads.  Keith had his standing order salad and Anne Marie had a Crisp Vegetable Salad. This is Keith's salad.

We each had the same entree which was Fresh Broiled Salmon and what made this entree unique was the Mustard, Herb & Comte Crust.

For dessert Keith had his mixed berries and Anne Marie had a low fat yogurt.

As we were leaving the dining room we saw John Stoll who is a Vice President for Crystal Cruises responsible for port operations and all of the shore excursions and also pre and post hotel programs.  We have known John for several years and we spoke with him for about 45 minutes.  John is in town for the upcoming World Cruise Shoreside Event which he has planned and also for some planning as the sister ship the Crystal Symphony will be in Hong Kong on New Year's Eve.  It as great to catch up with John.

Originally, we thought we would go off the ship to watch the Laser Light Show but decided we would do this tonight instead of last night.

We slept very well last evening.  There was no gentle rocking of the ship as we were docked at Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong where we will remain docked for the next few days.  Our last time in Hong Kong was in 2012.  

Keith woke up first and did a shorter workout at the Fitness Center on the Elliptical Machine as he caught up with the news of the day and then he stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee.  After Anne Marie got ready we walked for about 45 minutes and we walked outside on the Promenade Deck.  It was great to get outside after all of those days being inside.

We were able to speak with our son, Eric, while we were walking outside and it was great to hear his voice and to catch up on things.  We were unable to reach our daughter, Jennifer, but will try again tomorrow.

We had breakfast earlier than usual as we had a private tour today. 

We met our tour guide Victor as we exited the ship.  Victor was our tour guide for a private tour of Hong Kong in 2012 and we had such as great time with him that we arranged for him to take us around today.

We walked with him to the Star Ferry building where we took the ferry over to Hong Kong Island.  The Ferry’s run every five minutes and the ferry ride over to the island took about seven minutes.

From there we walked over to where the buses were and we took a bus that took us over to Stanley Plaza.  We got a nice tour of the island and Victor pointed out many of the places that we passed.  We walked around for awhile and then we visited several stores on our own and then met up with Victor at a designated spot.

We then took another bus that took us around the Island and then we took it all they way back to Kowloon.  From there he took us to an eye glass store where we each ordered prescription sunglasses which will be read tomorrow anytime after 2:00 PM.  We then went to another store that he had taken us to last time.

From there we had lunch at the Spring Deer Restaurant, which is very popular with the locals.  We ordered a beef entrée that Victor recommended and we also ordered a nice mushroom/noodle soup.  We also had Chinese Tea.

From there we walked around to other areas around Kowloon until it was time to go back to the ship.  Coincidentally, as we were at the entrance for the ship we ran into Bob, Glo, BJ and Jim and then Keith got together with Bob a short while later.

As was the case in 2012, we learned so much from Victor including the history of Hong Kong and the relationship it has with Mainland China.  We even discussed that our next time we visit Hong Kong, we will have Victor take us over to some of the other Islands that we have not yet visited.  Excluding Keith’s travels for business, we have visited Hong Kong for pleasure four time and we have enjoyed each and every visit.

Anne Marie with our tour guide Victor.

This was similar to the Ferry that we took from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island

A view of Hong Kong Island.

Some of the fishing boats.

These are house boats.  We saw several of them.

This was the double decker bus that we took back to Kowloon.

For lunch we had beef and you would insert it into a very tasty sesame roll.

We also enjoyed a very tasty soup.

The chef is carving Peking Duck table-side.

 A view of some of the buildings in Kowloon.

A final photo with Victor right before we returned to our home on the Crystal Serenity.

This evening we will dine at the Crystal Dining Room and then afterwards we plan to go back into the city to view the Laser Light Show and also walk around.

It was a great day!

This evening we are back at the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY………

"Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave." - Indira Gandhi

Keith & Anne Marie