DAY 80 - DAY SEVENTY TWO ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

After three nights away at Prego, Silk Road and Tastes, it was nice to be back at the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.  We asked if they had given our table away for good.  LOL.  Well maybe the nights we were away, but thankfully the table is still ours for the duration of our time on board.  LOL.

We had another great dinner.  Since it had been three nights since we were back in the Crystal Dining Room we had to introduce ourselves again to the waitstaff.  LOL.  

We each began with salads.  Anne Marie had a spinach salad and Keith had his regular salad.

We then had the Chilean Sea Bass and several side orders of vegetables.

After dinner, we attended a special St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza evening show which was called The Lord Of The Dance.  It featured Crystal Ensemble member Dimitri Iliukhin along with the Crystal Ensemble, Vocalists and Musicians of the Crystal Serenity and included special appearances by Marty Slverstri, Christine Andreas and Ian Cooper.

In the past, on St. Patrick's Day there is normally an Irish Comedian in the evening and then later in the evening a party in the Avenue Saloon.  For the very first time a special show was created.  As is the case for the other World Cruise Shows, the theme for the show was planned along time before the World Cruise started to allow for props and other related items to be ordered and brought onto the Serenity.   However, the show was written, choreographed, and pulled all together on the Serenity and the show was just created for one evening which included two showings.

For the last three weeks the entertainers have practiced for this show each and everyday.  The dancers who performed tap and clogging had mostly never done this before so they had to learn something very new.  It is just amazing about the talent and energy of this team.  They put together shows that are so professional and so enjoyable that you would think they have been performing the show for a year or more.  Then after it is performed it will not be performed again.  Speaking of unique entertainment a tradition of World Cruises of late has been dancing with the stars and that will be performed within the next week.

This had to be one of the finest shows we have ever seen.  When people ask what is the difference between Crystal and some of the other cruise lines, this is a perfect example.

Dmitri Iliukhin is in the front and has his arms up in the air.  He is an amazing dancer who we first saw perform around 2010 and he taught the dancers how to clog.  His energy and their energy and the energy of each performed and musician was truly amazing.  They energized the audience who clapped often and cheered them on.  Bravo!

At one point Tom sang Danny Boy and the dance team of Beverly and Curtis danced and it was one of those songs that brought tears to our eyes.  The close included a short video highlighting the places we have visited to date on the World Cruise with a clog performed by the Ensemble of Dancers.  It brought down the house. 

We were seated in a side row and about 10 rows back from the stage and between that and Keith not having his DSLR camera with him, the next couple of photos are not as clear as we would prefer.

Cruise Director Rick Spath shortly after he closed the first show.

On top of this, from 7:45 to 8:30 PM and then from 9:45 PM to Midnight there was dancing in the Crystal Cove and from 9:45 PM to Midnight there was singing at the Avenue Saloon which included not only Pianist Colin Salter but for part of that time singing with Jonathan and Sarah.

It was both a fun and most memorable evening.

We slept very well last evening and the seas were relatively calm.

We began today as we normally do.  You know the drill. 

Keith was up early.  He read and wrote and then he went to the Lido Cafe for coffee.  

He brought coffee back to the room and then we both walked for one hour before it was time for breakfast. We walked outside on the Promenade Deck.

Like clockwork, there was a knock at the door and Rao was there with our breakfast.  We enjoyed breakfast as we watched the Daily Morning Show with Rick and Stacey.  Is this sounding like the movie Groundhog Day.  You bet given all of these sea days. We hope to see land soon.

Keith took today's Spin (indoor cycling) class after taking a day of from Spin yesterday.  It was another tough class but even though there was Paddle Tennis to come Keith put in his regular effort.  On this voyage we have had a lot of people interested in taking the class so each day we have different people in class.

Right after Spin, he had a few minutes to change and to get ready for the mixed Doubles Paddle Tennis World Cruise Games tournament.  Anne Marie came up to watch until it was time for her to attend Knitting.  Keith was matched up with fellow guest Mary and they won their first match and then lost the next one but that qualified them to play for a bronze medal.  The games were halted due to rain.

Keith also had Team Trivia and today was the special game that was the World Games Team Trivia Tournament.  We stumbled on some of the questions and did not win any of the medals.

Afterwards, we had lunch.

There were two lectures in the morning.  The first one was given by Rick Senat who presented Warner Bros. including animation, oscars, the war years, casablanca and the invention of television.  He was followed by Ambassador Tony Leon who spoke about the changes in South Africa in which it went from apartheid to a democracy.    In the afternoon, Carmin Romanelli spoke about the 2014 Winter Olympics and showed photos from Sochi.

In the afternoon Anne Marie also walked for an hour and attended the Yoga Class.  Keith played some more Paddle Tennis with some members of the crew and then a short while later he played with Mary against another team for the Bronze Medal and they easily beat the other team to bet the Bronze.

This evening is another awards ceremony and Keith will get his Meal for Basketball and on the last night of the awards he will get the Bronze for the Mixed Paddle Tennis.  More events will be held over the next few days.  Keith will play in the Men's Doubles Paddle Tennis Match and also the Family Paddle Tennis where a crew member will be matched up with a guest.  Last year Keith and Line Captain Shayne won the gold for Paddle Tennis but we'll see what happens this time around.  Again, it's all about having fun.

This evening we will be back at Tastes for the second time this segment and will be dining with entertainers Sarah and Jonathan.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…….

"Life is like a coin.  You can spend it any way you wish, but only spend it once."  - Lillian Dickson

Keith & Anne Marie