DAY 118 - DAY ONE HUNDRED TEN ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

We just wanted to begin by saying that the reason we extended our World Cruise voyage to include this current voyage is that it had been four years since we last sailed the Mediterranean.  We are so very happy that we did extend our voyage because we really love the Mediterranean, with the beauty and charm of many of the ports of call.  This is also a perfect time to visit the Mediterranean as the majority of the ports are far less crowded than in the Summer and the weather is much milder.  We added on one additional voyage beyond this one about one year ago so that our son, Eric, and daughter in law, Kara, could sail with us. 

Although the ship was not in Gibraltar very long and we just walked around the town we always enjoy visiting this port of call.  We just like to walk up and down both the main and the side streets and take in the charm of the town.  Admittedly we prefer doing this in the morning before many of the streets get crowded with pedestrians but given a chose of not visiting Gibraltar or visiting there as we did yesterday afternoon when it was more crowded, we would still take the latter.  For us it brings back nice memories.  In fact, in 2008 our daughter, Jennifer, and our son-in-law, Gui, were on the last segment of the 2008 World Cruise with us which included a stop at Gibraltar so as we walked the city in both 2010 and again yesterday we reminisced about some of the same areas that we walked to with Jennifer and Gui.  

We can see positive changes since we first visited here in 2007 and the local economy seems to be flourishing. At the same time, there are those quaint areas that are part of this area that we are glad to see remain in place, even today.

All in all it was a nice visit and we are happy that we had the opportunity to visit Gibraltar as part of this voyage.

Before dinner, we sat at the Crystal Cove and we spoke and also listened to John Mentis play the piano.  John will be going on holiday at the end of this voyage.

Last evening we were back at the Crystal Dining Room.  These are the menus.

We continued to order some items from the Modern Cuisine Menu so we could taste some of the new offerings.  We normally do not have an appetizer for dinner but have been doing so on many evening's since the new menus came out.

Micky who is the consultant helping with the rollout stopped by our table before we ordered and then afterwards to see what we thought of each item.

For his appetizer, Keith ordered the Olive-Oil Poached Black Cod and had it without the Braised Sweetbread.  When our Senior Waiter Ivana placed the plate on the table, Keith could immediately smell the aroma from the plate.  He enjoyed this course.  On the left is a flower which Keith didn't eat but it is edible.

Anne Marie had the Shrimp Trio and she enjoyed it as well.  It represented three different ways to prepare the shrimp.

We both had the Grilled Tuna for our entree.  It included cooked Tuna and also some Tuna Sashimi.  We both enjoyed it and it was also very tasty with added flavor from the sauce at the bottom of the bowl.  We also had our usual array of side orders of vegetables. For those who do not like Sashimi you can either push it to the side or just order the entree without the Sashimi.  As they say all you have to do is to ask and the Galley Chefs are very happy to change things up.

For dessert, Keith had mixed berries and Anne Marie had the sugar free Chocolate Cheesecake which she enjoyed.

Although the ship is fairly full, we thought the dining room was very quiet as many people were dining at one of the Specialty Restaurants.  In fact, it was probably the least busy since we boarded on January 5 and this is a fairly full cruise.  Since it was not so busy the wait staff had more time to talk with us and we actually were having such a nice time that we got out later than usual.  

After dinner, we saw Caryn, and Anne Marie and Caryn posed for a photo together.

We didn't go to any of the shows last evening as we were very tired.  We did sleep well last night and whereas these seas can be choppy the seas were relatively calm other than a bump once in awhile.

Keith was up first and unlike yesterday he woke up regular time.  Keith read, wrote and also went to the Lido Cafe.  After he brought back some coffee to the room for Anne Marie, we took a very nice walk for an hour.  We then had breakfast in our room.

Today is another sea day as we are now sailing to Monte Carlo, Monaco.  There were lots of activities on the program including three lectures. There were three lectures on the program including;

Talk by Professor Louis Beres about Israel, Iran and a Palestinian State.

Talk by Professor Roy Willis about Monte Carlo

An afternoon talk by John Sandon focusing on the humorous side about Tea Pots associated with Royalty.  There were also lots of classes including Fitness Classes, iMove, Art, Bridge, dance just to name a few.

After breakfast, Keith was going to take another Spin Class but there were four more people than bikes so Keith said he would sit out and that way he is guaranteed a spot in the in the next class.  Instead he worked out on the Elliptical Machine.  It was funny that no one seemed to be working out when Anne Marie took this photo of Keith because on this voyage the Fitness Center is pretty much full as this cruise has many younger passenger's on board.

Anne Marie read, wrote and worked on her Knitting while Keith was working out.

After his workout, Keith freshened up, he met Anne Marie in the Crystal Cove.

A little while later Keith played singles Paddle Tennis against another guest for about an hour until they had Paddle Tennis open play and some others played so they played doubles.  Keith did have a close call.  A ball was hit to them and Keith just nicked the ball so the point should have gone to the other team so he started to turn to his right to go back to start the next play but his partner not realizing he had nicked the ball not only hit it hard but directly at Keith.  The ball hit about less than two inches from his right eye and it would not have been pretty if it hit the eye.  Keith may have some black and blue from the ball but much better than what it might have been.  As they say, inches do matter.  He did put some ice on it, when he returned to the room.  

Keith continued to play until a few minutes before lunch. We then went to the Lido Cafe for lunch.

Anne Marie walked for one hour and then did some work in preparation for moving rooms.

Keith played Paddle Tennis again with three other people for about ninety minutes.  The couple that Keith played with on the opposing team Keith remembered from a cruise we took in 2010 on board the Crystal Symphony.  This is one of the things that Keith enjoys about Paddle Tennis which is getting to know other guests and then seeing them again on other voyages.  

We ran some errands around the ship and then got ready for dinner.

This evening we are dining at Silk Road and will post all about that tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY………..

"Each day there are opportunities to make new memories which will last a lifetime." - Keith & Anne Marie

Keith & Anne Marie