We began our evening by stopping by the Crystal Cove before dinner. The Cove is set up for the World Games including the Award Ceremonies.
We then made our way over to Tastes which is the casual dining venue which offers a tasting menu which is served family style. Last night marked our fifth visit to Tastes for dinner since we joined the ship on January 5. We have tried to eat at Tastes once per voyage and on this voyage we will be dining there two times.
We dined with Mary Jean, Chairman and CEO of the Travel Agency we use, her husband Brad, and our Cruise Travel Specialist Gerri. They are on for this segment of the World Cruise since they have many clients on board the ship and Mary Jean's team has also organized a Private Safari Excursion that her clients on this voyage could take while we are in Africa. This was their first time dining at Tastes for dinner since the makeover of Tastes and the change to this new dining concept.
From L-R, Anne Marie, Keith, Mary Jean, Brad, Gerri
This voyage marked the first change to the Tastes menu since service began following the makeover late last year.
We had Fabio as our waiter. Since he has been our waiter all times we have been there except once, he already knew our preferences and he asked some questions of Mary Jean, Brad and Gerri to get an idea of what they liked but most importantly whether there were any items on the menu that no one wanted. From this discussion, he said if it was OK with us he would create the dinner meal for us and that is precisely what he did. For most items he brought out two courses a time and two of each item. We had some items that we have had before as well as the newer items on the meal, including the Philly Cheese Steak Sliders and the Spinach Quesadillas. Although the Sliders look large in the photo, they are only three inches in length.
It's nice that the tastings are not large so one can try several different items and it really gives one the opportunity to enjoy items from various areas of the world.
We had an absolutely wonderful meal, with excellent service which was provided by a wait staff team led by Fabio but whom also included many members who we know who work in other areas of the ship during the daytime and afternoon hours.
Most importantly we enjoyed a terrific conversation throughout the night and we could have talked for hours on end. All in all it was a wonderful evening.
We slept well last night as the Serenity continues to sail to the next port of call.
Once again, we turned the clocks back another hour and we should be doing this four more times during this segment. Keith was up first and read and wrote before he went to the Lido Cafe for coffee. As he does each day, when he was ready to return to the room he got take-out coffee which he brought back to the room for Anne Marie to enjoy. After she got ready, we both walked outside on the Promenade Deck for about twenty minutes but we stayed just on the shady side. Because of the heat, we finished our walk inside the ship.
With another sea day, we watched the Daily Morning Show while we had breakfast that Rao brought to the room for us. After breakfast, we enjoyed another wonderful day on the ship.
Another Spin Class was offered and Keith took that one. This was one of the more challenging classes as we had a mixture of speed and climbs and the last set was a big push. It was a lot of fun and everyone worked very hard.
Anne Marie stopped by to take a couple of photos and then she went downstairs to the Crystal Plaza to sit and read and she also spoke with several guests and members of the crew who she saw. She also worked on her needlepoint project. After Keith's class was over and he freshened up, he met her downstairs. While we were together we spoke with Captain Birger for a while, and also with Hotel Director Josef, Cruise Director Rick and Food & Beverage Manager Tayfun (pronounced like Typhoon) who all stopped by at different times. We also chatted with fellow guest Barbara for quite awhile. We know Barbara from previous cruises and she boarded in Singapore.
There were two lectures on the schedule today since there were many other activities such as late morning dancing in the Crystal Plaza. The first lecture was given by Bill Toone who has been a regular lecturer with Crystal Cruises for many years who spoke about Gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. In the afternoon, World Yachtswoman Rona Cant, who Keith met yesterday, spoke about the BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Race.
Keith watched the pre-recorded talk from yesterday of Crocodile Hunter Mick Pitman. This is his first time lecturing on not only Crystal Cruises but also on any luxury cruise line. Keith met him and his wife yesterday along with another guest lecturer and during the course of the conversation learned a great deal about his experience in the bush and also about crocodile's. The lecture covered other areas that they had not talked about when they met as well as a few of the areas they had discussed.
On top of this Anne Marie went to knitting in the morning and Keith also participated in Team Trivia and we didn't do too well today but still had a lot of fun.
For lunch we each enjoyed a salad entree.
In the afternoon Anne Marie walked outside and Keith played Paddle Tennis. Anne Marie also attended the afternoon Yoga Class and later in the afternoon Keith caught up on some lectures that he had missed.
This evening we will be dining at Prego.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Keith & Anne Marie
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