THE JOURNEY NEVER ENDS

We thought we would began our final entry with "Today's Thought For The Day".

"Our journey never ends, as there are more places to visit, more adventures to enjoy, more special memories to make, that together, we will carry with us for the rest of our lives."  - Keith and Anne Marie.

We have enjoyed an extraordinary adventure from the time we boarded the Crystal Serenity on January 5, 2014.  The  service, cuisine, enrichment, entertainment, shore excursions  and all other facets of our time on board the Crystal Serenity have been truly amazing.   This was our sixth full World Cruise and seventh World Cruise all on-board the Crystal Serenity and this one was the best yet.  We think this speaks volumes about Crystal Cruises when the experience gets better with each passing year.

This is the recap of what we said and we hope that we have done just that (or as close as possible) with our daily entries and updates.

Some of the things you will read and see on the blog:

1.  Lots of photos of food, fellow cruisers, crew members, ourselves, shipboard events, along with buildings, statues, scenery, people and an array of other items whether at sea or on land.

2.  Narratives of our experiences at sea including some repetition of those items that we enjoy, including those daily morning workouts.

3. Background information on ports of call, including some statistics related to population and local economy.

4.  Our thoughts and observations from those glorious days at sea, as well as those wonderful visits to each port of call.

5.  Some typos and grammatical errors because there is just not enough time in the day to reread what we have written or smooth out any rough edges prior to posting each and every entry.  

Some of the things you will not read nor see on the blog:

1.  Gossip or criticism of others.

2.  Emphasis on those few things that might go wrong.

As many of you know, we tend to take the glass is half-full approach which carries over to cruising and travel.   We do this because in the scheme of things we realize that life is relatively short, and we get pleasure by focusing on all of the wonderful events and items that we experience each and everyday on our journey. We realize that we may experience just a few hiccups, but keep in mind these are relatively few and minor.  We also talk about making memories that will last a lifetime, and we would like to remember all of the positive experiences from our adventures and not dwell on the few items that didn't go our way.  We consider ourselves very fortunate (lucky too) to be able to take these journeys.  

3.  Making fun or trashing if you will any of the ports of call we visit.  Sure, we have favorite ports, but in the end we know that most places will have their own identity as they do in our very own country and we know there is beauty to be found in almost each and every place around the world.  Sometimes, you just have to look a little closer but it likely is right in front of your nose if you care to take the time to find it.  While some areas might not be our favorites, we can usually learn something from each and every place we visit.  We do our best to be balanced in our observations of all ports of call. We also remind ourselves that this is part of discovery.  If one doesn't want to see and experience places that are different from their own home towns, travel might not be for them. 

This has been an absolutely amazing journey starting with our six night pre-cruise stay in Miami before the January 5 Panama Canal Cruise, continuing on with World Cruise 2014 and then sailing on two Mediterranean Voyages.

The World Cruise included so many memorable events both on and off the ship.  Highlights of some of the on-board special events included:

On Board World Cruise Gala

Bon Voyage Balloon Drop

Super Bowl Party

Shoreside Events in Hong Kong and Singapore

World Cruise Games

Valentine's Day Mixer

Beatles Show

St Patricks Daytime Mixer and St Particks Day Evening Show

Tour of the Senior Officers Quarters

The Carnival Games 

Back of the House Tour when Anne Marie visited the crew decks and got a big behind the scenes look at several areas of the ship

Two on board dinners and entertainment along with several other evening special events.

Serenity Pops

World Cruise Video Screening

Farewell Balloon Drop

Continuing on with the voyage that followed the conclusion of the World Cruise we also enjoyed seeing the Serenity Pops performed one final time and also attending not one but both of the Beatles Shows.

At the same time we enjoyed so many special moments from the places we sailed.

Some of the highlights included:

Transiting The Panama Canal

USS Missouri Behind The Scenes Tour

Overland Safari At Pindha

Our multi-stays in several places including Hong Kong, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City

Visits to several ports of calls throughout Southeast Asia

Stops in the Mediterranean and the beautiful Almalfi Coast and Villages of Sicily

What made this even more enjoyable was sharing all of these events and experiences with so many good friends and the wonderful members of the Crystal Cruises Crew and for the final seven days with our son Eric and daughter in-law Kara.

This World Cruise and the other voyages were not only wonderful but exceeded our overall expectations.  We have created memories that will last a lifetime.

We hope that you have enjoyed our Blog.

Until next time.

Keith & Anne Marie

These are some additional photos from our journey.