EN Route To Devils Island - Day 7

Some of you have asked what time zone we are now on. We are now two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

We really enjoyed the party that was held before the sail away yesterday afternoon. There were performances by a local band and by the Crystal entertainment staff.

The pictures we posted include one with our Cruise Director Rick Spath, another one with our World Cruise Hostess Stacy Huston alongside our Assistant Cruise Director. They even got Keith into the act. He not only joined the conga dance but also was taken on stage with one of the performers where they both went under the limbo bar. The party was a lot of fun.

Our friend Bob provided another picture to us. It was from Team Trivia. Since in the past we have played team trivia we realize that some people take it more seriously than others. But, hey guys, it’s only a game. J

This picture is from the other day and includes a couple of passengers and actress Rita Moreno in a funny pose with our World Cruise Hostess Stacy Huston who is the one who is in charge of selecting the questions and determining the correct answers. Apparently, at the end of the Team Trivia game on the day the pictures was taken a few people did not like nor agree with some of the answers. J

We also included a few pictures from the Grand Gala Buffet. We will include pictures from these buffets from time to time. There is also a picture of Anne Marie with our Main Dining Room Waiter Therese. Therese assists our Senior Waiter on each evening and has been wonderful as has the Senior Waiter.

After the party we had dinner with the Rabbi and his lovely wife. It was so nice to catch up with each of them. Like us, they also visited the synagogue in Barbados. They arrived with two vans of ship passengers about 45 minutes after we had left the synagogue. The concierge had arranged for the vans. We look forward to seeing Rabbi Morrie and his wife Gerri throughout this adventure.

There is something different about moving the clocks forward one hour and still beginning ones workout before 5:00 AM and this is exactly what Keith did. Actually unlike Anne Marie who did not sleep very well Keith slept well. When Keith walked over to the Fitness Center he did realize that the ship was rocking a bit which is why Anne Marie didn’t sleep so well. The good news is once on the Elliptical Machine Keith could not feel any rocking as he was doing his own rocking. About 45 minutes into the workout one of the other regulars showed up and then a little bit after that our friend John arrived. After a nice long workout Keith did some weightlifting. Anne Marie did her workout a little while after Keith finished up and she worked out on the treadmill.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room. During Captain Glenn’s morning announcement he shared his thought for the day.

“Anything difficult is impossible. Anything challenging is possible.

Since this was a sea day there were a lot of activities held throughout the morning and afternoon hours.

We attended Rap With The Rabbi, which as usual involved a very nice discussion and exchange of ideas between passengers and the Rabbi. We talked about the experience at the Synagogue and also covered some other related topics.

This was followed by a couple of presentations. This included Bill Toone who presented “Trekking the Land of Ghosts – Conservation Crisis in Madagascar.” His presentation covered his contact with the remote village of Antanambao and its people who were ultimately devastated in a natural catastrophe, which was exacerbated by poor conservation practices.

Ken Rees who presented “Welcome to Devil’s Island gave the other presentation”. His talk was about the notorious prison colony that divided one-nation and helped to found another and made Papillon famous. His talk provided some great background information for tomorrows visit to Devil’s Island.

Today was also the Grand Gala Buffet which includes a vast array of luncheon items with elaborate displays set up in the Crystal Cove which is located outside the area near the Main Dining Room. After selecting their food, waiters are lined up outside the dining room who take the plate for each guest and escort them to a table.

We walked over to the Grand Buffet just to admire all of the delicious items and to take a number of pictures. Afterwards we had lunch at the Lido Café where Captain Glenn joined us for lunch. We had a wonderful conversation with the Captain and truly appreciate the time he spent talking with us.

In the afternoon there was a third lecture. This was given by Chris Croxson whose presentation topic was “S.O.S. – Save our Species: Anyone for shark fn soup?” He talked about the implications that take place as more and more species face extinction and what all this means to our planet’s diverse animal population and the consequential effects on ecosystems. He also discussed measures being taken to address this issue.

Keith played paddle tennis in the afternoon. A couple of the games included some members from the Crystal crew.

Typically on cruises throughout the year Crystal will offer at least two lectures on each sea day. On the World Cruise three lectures are offered providing even more choice for the guests.

At the same time there are so many other activities to choose from including sports and other health related activities, classes on computers, dance, bridge, art and Spanish. There are two different movies shown each day, competitive and social bridge, dancing and lots of other activities.

Come evening there is a great deal of entertainment choices available including dancing, a movie, live music in several lounges from long terms performers John Mentis and Colin Salter who play the piano in the Crystal Cove and Avenue Saloon respectively. There is the Crystal Orchestra lead by Raphael Derkson who is another longtime entertainer on Crystal who plays during the evening production shows and other times in the afternoon or evening. This evening they played at the production show which it titled My Favorite Things which is a tribute to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Of course another option when at sea is the casino and there is even Karaoke from 11:00 PM to 12:30 AM. However, that is not an option for us as it is way past our bedtime. J

This evening was a formal night on the ship. Many times on the formal nights we eat at one of the Specialty Restaurants. Originally, we had reservations for Prego but we had a few recent and upcoming invitations at both specialty restaurants so we decided to go the main dining room instead.

This evening’s menu features the French Dinner.

Appetizers included escargots, crackling salad or a fruit cup. There were various choices of soup and salad, which included French onion soup, veal consommé, and vichyssoise, along with a choice of two salads.

There were lots of entrée choices including a pasta entrée of Tortiglioni Pasta Boscaiola and a salad entrée of Asparagus, Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad.

The main fares entrees included Pan-Fried Fillet of Fresh Corvinia Sea Bass, Veal a la Cordon Bleu, Coq au Vin, or Pink Roasted Rack of Baby Lamb Provencale. In addition to these items some traditional fare items were also offered including Grilled Black Angus Entrecote or Broiled Halibut Fillet.

Several side orders were available including parsienne carrots, petit ratatouille nicoise, gratinated potatoes, sautéed haricots vert, broccoli roes and fettuccine with tomato sauce.

There are also other options including “on the lighter side” that offers items prepared differently from those on the regular menu or additional items. The same goes for vegetarian selections.

The dessert menu included sugar free vanilla profiteroles or sugar free frozen lemon pie.

At the same time various classic desserts were available including French vanilla crème brulee, dark chocolate mousse, apple crumble tart with vanilla ice cream, vanilla, strawberry, rocky road or chocolate ice cream with a variety of toppings, freshly frozen nonfat vanilla yogurt, sherbet, seasonal fruit and homemade pettits fours and truffles.

Are you still hungry? Consider the cheese trolley which includes a variety of cheese which change each and every evening.

While all of these items are very tempting, we typically select a salad, a seafood entrée or some other entrée , a side order of vegetables and a nice bowl of fruit. Of course there are times that we change this up, but we find this works well for us for a long voyage. Otherwise, we would be in the Fitness Center 24 x 7. J

One can also change up some of the items or if they provide 24 hours notice order entirely different items.

After dinner, we attended the Crystal Society Reception, which is for all guest who have completed one or more Crystal Cruise

TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY…

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”

Keith and Anne Marie