DAY 58 - DAY FIFTY ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

We wanted to begin by saying that the weather over the three days in Hong Kong was the best we have ever experienced there.  We enjoyed nice temperatures and a couple of the days had blue skies and no fog nor smog.  Monday, our last day there, was the best we have ever experienced in all our visits.  We had a wonderful time and we thoroughly enjoyed the city.  Next time we visit, we plan to also visit a couple of the other islands in addition to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

Before dinner last evening, we attended the emergency muster (lifeboat) drill.  This was a mandatory drill for all guests including not only those guests who boarded in Hong Kong but also for all guests such as us who previously boarded the ship in other locations. 

OK you have to have a sense of humor.  

A short while after the drill finished we had dinner in the
Crystal Dining Room.  Cruise Director, Rick Spath, joined us for 

dinner.  We had a wonderful time with Rick and enjoyed not only a great conversation but also a lot of good laughs.  



This was our first dinner with Senior Waiter Ivana.  She was 

terrific and our Senior Waiter Ayan had left her a written list 

before he left for holiday of our food preferences.


From Left to Right, Head Waiter Augusto, Anne Marie and Senior Waiter Ivana.

We began our meal with chicken consommé soup and our next course was a salad.

Keith's Standing Order Salad

Anne Marie's Chopped Salad

We pre-ordered Salmon with Risotto for our entree after we looked over the dining room menu that morning.    We also had our assortment of vegetables on the side (Peas and Asparagus).  Salmon is always prepared very well so it is a good choice if we don't see another seafood item on the menu or some other item that we prefer.

After dinner, we attended the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle Part held up at the Palm Court.  When ten or more people who are members of Cruise Critic sign up for the party Crystal Cruises is kind enough to host a party.  Unfortunately, the turnout was very small with only three of us attending.  More officers and other key staff attended than the members of Cruise Critic.  Hopefully, we will have a larger turnout the next time around.

The show last evening featured Anthony Stuart Lloyd who we last saw preform a couple of years ago.  He has a very deep voice and is over 6' 5" and sings many showtime songs and has an excellent voice.

The good news is before we went to sleep we set the clocks back one hour as we are now sailing into yet another new time zone.

We both slept well as we sail to our next port of call.

Keith was up first and just read and wrote and did some laundry.  He skipped the elliptical machine as he would be taking a Spin (indoor cycling class) a few hours later.  He did have coffee in the Lido Cafe and then brought some coffee back to the room for Anne Marie.  

After she freshened up, we went on a walk.  We ended up walking inside the ship.  

At 7:30 AM, Anne Marie took a personal training class with Michael as Fitness Director Scott when home on Holiday. She had been taking 9:00 AM classes with Scott, but that time period was not available when she scheduled appointments for this segment of the World Cruise with Michael.

We both enjoyed breakfast in our room while we watched the Daily Morning Show. We were featured at the end of the highlight video along with Bob and Glo.  

During the program Rick played Rocky E. Cruz and he interviewed World Cruisers to ask what is their favorite time at sea.  The answer, they all said they enjoy most the Captain's 12:00 announcement and that they each highlighted what they enjoy most such as the depth of the ocean, the temperature of the outdoor spas, the location of the sister ship and so forth.  Now the question is if Captain Birger watched the program what he will do for today's noon announcement.  LOL.  It was funny.  Rick did the talk with his Italian accent.  We think Rick should go with his new hair look.  It is very distinguishing.

Rocky E. Cruz interview World Ruth.   He also interviewed George who some of you know from 2011, and Ann Russell, and Pinky.

After the show, Keith went to the Fitness Center and took the Spin Class which was taught by Fitness Director Michael.  This was the second Spin Class that Keith has taken since his medical episode and he gave it 100%+ and felt great.  There were three new people in the class who joined the ship in Hong Kong.  

 This is why they call this spinning as your legs spin and spin and for certain sets at very high speeds.

Fitness Director Michael challenged us today to a fine workout.  We started slow and then we had a set where we went at 60%, then 80% and then finally 100% plus in terms of speed.  Another set we had three consecutive points where we could either go at 100% for all three or just 100% for one and reduce it back for the other two. As usual, Keith took the 100%+ challenge.  We had other sets where we climbed meaning the legs moved slower to the beat of the music and we kept increasing our resistance as if we were going up a very steep hill. All in all a nice class and the three new people seemed to like it as much at we did.

There were two lectures in the morning.  The first one was given by Sir Stephen Brown and focused on Ho Chi Minha and the second one was given by Lee Ellis whop spoke about a Young Fighter Pilot's Journey to Hanoi.

Anne Marie attended Knitting in the morning. She continues to enjoy the knitting and getting together with the women who are also working on their knitting projects.  As we mentioned, she completed the first scarf and is now well into the second one.

Keith represented the two of us on the Team Trivia team.  Today, our team had our best score answering fourteen of fifteen questions correctly.  It was a great team effort.  For some questions we all knew the correct answer and for others one or two people knew the answer.  Again, win or lose we're having a great time.  Today, we and one other team had the top score.  Most teams got 8 to 10 answers so as they say it was a good day.

We both enjoyed a salad entree for lunch which is our normal lunch time meal.

Afterwards, Keith played Paddle Tennis.  Anne Marie walked for an hour on the promenade deck and then she attended Yoga.  Only two people took the class.  Keith met up with dear friend Bob after he played tennis.  Weather outside was very nice.

This evening we are back at the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.  The evening attire is Black Tie Optional and this evening features a Captain's Reception as well as the Production Show Across The Pond.  This show is only shown on the Serenity and features music from the British Music Invasion of the 1960's as well as some other songs.  Yes, it does included some songs from those four young lads from Liverpool.

TODAY'S THOUGHT OF THE DAY…..

‘Think of all of the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy.” – Anne Frank

Keith & Anne Marie