We wanted to begin by saying that our thoughts and prayers go out to two members of the Crystal Family who recently passed. Giovanni or Gio as many fellow guests and crew called her, was a frequent World Cruiser. On the same day that Keith was taken off the ship in Yokohama for his medical episode, Gio was taken off the ship earlier that day after suffering a severe stroke. She stayed in Japan until they were able to not only get a hold of a family member but also until it was safe for her to travel home to San Francisco. Frequent lecturer, Dr. Harm de Bij has also passed and he was a Geo Political Lecturer who was very popular with guests. He was a very strong speaker who spoke about World Geography and the related Politics of each region and he always had a lot of very interesting material to cover. We shall keep both Gio and Harm in our thoughts and our prayers and in our memories.
We wanted to share the final set of photos we will be posting for now from the Safari.
The other six guests who were part of our ten person group who were in the 4x4 that was driven by driver and guide Martin.
Up front is Sarah who is one of the performers on for the entire World Cruise. She was the Crystal Cruises Escort for another group that stayed at one of the other Lodges at Pindah.
Before dinner last evening we had the Lifeboat Drill. All guests were asked to attend regardless of
when they boarded the ship. After the drill was over, we returned to the cabin with our lifeboat preservers and then we went down to the Crystal Cove.
We ran into Ileen who is a good friend of ours and was on the Safari with us and who we had dinner with at Silk Road the night before.
We dined at the Crystal Dining Room. It was the first of three consecutive nights
we will be dining there. We enjoyed dinner and had a lot of good laughs with the entire team including Maitre d' Leo, Head Waiter Augusto, and Senior Waiter, Ivana, Waiter Lazlio and Sommelier Javier. Also, one of the Sommelier's, Jurgi who we have had on past sailings and who was on board right before the start of the World Cruise just returned from Vacation so we spoke with him for a little while. When you are on the ship for a long time you will often see staff who leave for vacation and then return. For example, the Senior Concierge just returned from Vacation and she was on board for the January 5 sailing when we joined the ship.
The dining room was not with some tables open although this evening at Formal night it should be pretty much full.
We each began our meal with salads and then for our entree we each had the same item, which was fresh salmon. We also enjoyed salads and plenty of sides of vegetables. Ivana brought the sauce for the salmon out on the side without us saying anything. She knows that Keith is fine without any sauce and that this way Anne Marie could put as much or as little sauce as she wanted on the Salmon.
The dining room was not with some tables open although this evening at Formal night it should be pretty much full.
We each began our meal with salads and then for our entree we each had the same item, which was fresh salmon. We also enjoyed salads and plenty of sides of vegetables. Ivana brought the sauce for the salmon out on the side without us saying anything. She knows that Keith is fine without any sauce and that this way Anne Marie could put as much or as little sauce as she wanted on the Salmon.
For dessert, it was mixed berries for Keith and a Sugar-Free Rice Pudding Dessert for Anne Marie.
After dinner, we saw Organist Hector Olivera perform. We last saw him perform on the January 5th
cruise and once again he was amazing.
You would think that you are listening to a full-fledged orchestra if you closed your eyes. The show was performed twice but rather than in the Galaxy Showroom, it was performed in the Stardust Lounge. Stardust is a much more intimate lounge. Two full screens were also in place to give close up views of Hector performing and were pointed not only to his hands and the key board but also to his feet and what really is another keyboard rather than just pedals. Hector performs world-wide and when he leaves the ship in a few days he has some performances in Africa.
We then went to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle
Party. There were some guests in
attendance along with many senior officers and crew. Hotel Director Josef attended as did Food
& Beverage Manager Tayfun and Cruise Director Rick and on board booking
consultant Paula Jean and Elehna from Shore Excursions. It was a nice party. There were drinks and canapés available although we skipped on that since we had already eaten.
We also wanted to mention that over the course of the past couple of days we have spoken with many guests who went on a variety of Safaris and each person we spoke with had a terrific time. This says a lot about the experiences that people have when it comes on a Safari which is why we even took one in the first place as the comments had largely always been positive.
We also wanted to mention that over the course of the past couple of days we have spoken with many guests who went on a variety of Safaris and each person we spoke with had a terrific time. This says a lot about the experiences that people have when it comes on a Safari which is why we even took one in the first place as the comments had largely always been positive.
We were fortunate to have relatively calm seas leaving Cape
Town. Often the seas can be very rough in this area, but that was not the case. There was some fog though. We both slept
very well and Keith was up first as he always is. Since he took the Spin Class today, he read and wrote first, then spent
time at the Lido Café, and brought coffee back to the room for Anne Marie right
before we went on a nice walk together.
We had breakfast in our room as we watched the Daily Morning
Show.
Right after the show, Keith went to the Fitness Center for
his first Spin Class of this final segment of the World Cruise. Including Keith there were two regulars and two guests who had just boarded the Serenity in Cape Town. One of them has taken spin before but the other one has not and the other one made it through about half the class. It was a high energy class which Keith welcomes since it had been just before Safari that Keith last took this class.
With today being a sea day there were lots of activities on the schedule including three lectures. We watched one of them today and will catch up with the others since they are all pre-recorded.
Keith met up with Anne Marie at the Crystal Plaza where she was reading and writing. Anne Marie keeps a written diary. Later in the morning, Anne Marie went to the knitting get-together. She has finished two of her knitting projects and is now working on a third.
The first game of Team Trivia for this segment was held. There were some new teams or some people enjoying existing teams since 400 people joined the ship in Cape Town, some of whom play Team Trivia. Our team continues to remain in tack. We missed a couple of questions we should have gotten right so we are two behind the top teams.
For lunch, we enjoyed a salad entree as we usually do and afterwards Keith played some Paddle Tennis. Keith played with some people who just joined the ship some of whom he knows from previous sailings as well as some people who have been on the ship for quite a while. Both courts we in use the entire time and players kept alternating at the end of each game. It was a lot of fun. Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck for an hour Later on Keith met up with dear friend Bob while Anne Marie went to afternoon Yoga.
This evening includes a Captain's Welcome Reception and also it is Black Tie Optional on the ship. We will be back in the Dining Room for dinner.
All in all it has been another wonderful sea day.
With today being a sea day there were lots of activities on the schedule including three lectures. We watched one of them today and will catch up with the others since they are all pre-recorded.
Keith met up with Anne Marie at the Crystal Plaza where she was reading and writing. Anne Marie keeps a written diary. Later in the morning, Anne Marie went to the knitting get-together. She has finished two of her knitting projects and is now working on a third.
The first game of Team Trivia for this segment was held. There were some new teams or some people enjoying existing teams since 400 people joined the ship in Cape Town, some of whom play Team Trivia. Our team continues to remain in tack. We missed a couple of questions we should have gotten right so we are two behind the top teams.
For lunch, we enjoyed a salad entree as we usually do and afterwards Keith played some Paddle Tennis. Keith played with some people who just joined the ship some of whom he knows from previous sailings as well as some people who have been on the ship for quite a while. Both courts we in use the entire time and players kept alternating at the end of each game. It was a lot of fun. Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck for an hour Later on Keith met up with dear friend Bob while Anne Marie went to afternoon Yoga.
This evening includes a Captain's Welcome Reception and also it is Black Tie Optional on the ship. We will be back in the Dining Room for dinner.
All in all it has been another wonderful sea day.
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