NOTE: Pictures are mainly from this morning’s tour. A couple of pictures of the theatre, and a couple of pictures from the market and a picture at one of the beaches. Also a picture of the two of us at the Crystal Cove Lounge. We just stopped by to take a picture. No drinks for us. J
We wanted to say once again that our hearts and prayers go out to the citizens and others at Haiti who has been devastated by the horrific earthquake. Our thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of those who were impacted. Just like other tragedies in life all of this puts into perspective what is really important and what is trivial. This is just another reason why we focus on that glass being half full and not half empty.
Once again, we wanted to mention how much we enjoyed last evening’s production show that we saw before dinner. It is nice that some of these shows will be offered as matinees during the world cruise as well as being offered during the evening on other days for those passengers who enjoy the later shows.
After a couple of days dining in other restaurants it was also nice to get back to the Main Dining Room. We each enjoyed a nice salad, cod fish, lots of veggies J and we ended our meal with fresh fruit. We spoke with
Maitre d’ Leo for a while and enjoyed a wonderful conversation with him. He has been with Crystal for approximately 19 years and has worked on each of the ships that are/were part of the Crystal fleet. There are several others in the Main Dining Room or in other areas of the ship who have worked for Crystal a very long time. This says a great deal about Crystal and truly adds to Crystal having a 6 Star crew in our humble opinion who is second to none. In our opinion the service levels are actually better relative to those luxury ships sailing with far fewer passengers yet you have the diversity of activities and entertainment that can be provided by a mid-size ship.
We also chatted with our Head Waiter and also another Head Waiter (Mario) who we know very well. Mario now rotates from time to time so on some voyages you may see him as the Matitre d’ while on other voyages you may see him as a Senior Head Waiter or a Head Waiter. Mario likes to run and the other day he ran the equivalent of a Marathon. Wow! Yes, he is on the thin side like Keith. We also enjoyed a very nice chat with our Senior Waiter and Waiter. Each one of them will have sometime to go into port today. We found ourselves giving parental advice to our Waiter, Therese, reminding her to be sure to go with a group, which she had already planned to do and to not wear any jewelry. After all, our Senior Waiter and Waiter are around our own children’s ages so it’s hard not to give advice from time to time. J
We are truly enjoying the start of the World Cruise. One thing we decided to do is to go out of our way to talk with passengers who we have sailed with on prior voyages but for a variety of reasons in the past we had never really struck up a conversation with except to just say hello. This has been very nice and it’s allowed us to learn more about other passengers who we knew very little about. After all, for us learning, whether that is visiting ports of call, or hearing about the backgrounds of others, is all part of the learning process.
While we did not do this on purpose, since we are doing a few activities that we have not done in the past such as Keith playing paddleball it has introduced us to some other passengers who we might not have really gotten to know. This is one of the reasons we also look forward to the World Cruise Games, which we will explain more when they occur as they provide another nice opportunity to get to know others. At the same time we have spent a good deal of time with others who we have sailed with on prior cruises who have become good friends with us. As we have said in the past, the ship quickly becomes a community and during a long voyage you really come to see and experience first hand that community feeling.
This morning we got up early as we always do. Keith had even more energy than usual and was up at the Fitness Center quite early. Keith was alone in the Fitness Center and when he was just about ready to finish his workout another passenger arrived which gives you the sense that it was quite early in the morning. As we had a fairly early tour Anne Marie did not do a morning workout but instead worked out in the afternoon.
We enjoyed a nice breakfast in our room as we normally do and we chatted with Butler Alexander. As Alexander has previously visited this port of call he shared with us some additional information about this port of call.
Today marked our first visit to the port city of Fortaleza, Brazil.
The translation of the name of this city is “fortress”.
Settlers from Portugal first settled this area in 1603. In 1637 the Portuguese were driven away by the Tabajara Indians and then later by the Dutch. The Portuguese gained control of this area again in 1654 at which time they named this area Fortaleza.
The city became prosperous in the 1800’s and became known for its ranching and as a major port for the hinterland.
Today, this city has over two million residents. It is one of the major commercial centers for the Northeast Region of Brazil. Fortaleza is a major fishing port in Brazil. It has also become a major tourist destination for Brazil.
The highest elevation of this city is 69 feet. The spoken language is Portuguese and the currency is the Brazilian Real.
We docked at Cia Docas De Ceara, Praca Amigos de Marinha at Porto Mucuripe in Fortaleza at approximately 7:30 AM. Crystal offered a complimentary shuttle from the pier to Mercado Central which is better known as the shopping district area of Fortaleza. The pier is located approximately thirty minutes from the shopping district.
We took the complimentary shore excursion offered by Crystal called the Sights of Fortaleza. It included stops at the city’s premier square, located at the heart of the commercial district. We also saw the new Gothic styled Se Cathedral with its very impressive stained windows. Throughout the tour the guide pointed out a variety of buildings and also provided lots of valuable background information about this city. Our tour also included a visit to the handicraft market that is actually housed inside a former prison. Our tour concluded with a nice drive along the coastal road to Fortaleza’s residential district via the prominent English Bridge. This was probably the nicest area that we saw during the tour.
Some key points from the tour guide and from what we observed;
-This area is the second largest exporter of cashews in the world and this represents one of the two major industries for this area along with tourism.
-The local residents drink a lot of coconut water as coconuts are abundant throughout the region.
-While not as prevalent as say Santiago, Chili, there was lots of graffiti on the facades of many buildings. Also, several areas were littered with garbage.
-A major food item is fish/seafood. We did pass a fish market.
-Hammocks are indeed popular with the residents with the average home having eight hammocks that are used indoors and outdoors. However, we did not ask how many residents live in the average home.
-There was a lot of traffic throughout most of the city and we saw many poor areas during our tour.
-Eighty-five percent of the seats at the theater we visited are free to the public on a first come basis.
We arrived back to the ship a little past Noon and we enjoyed another lunch at the Lido Café. Once again, ate outdoors.
During the afternoon, Anne Marie took a very long walk around the promenade deck and Keith played racketball. After a few years of some of the passengers suggesting Keith give this game a shot, he is very happy to be playing it. This goes to show you that it is good to try new things. He probably overdid it as he played for almost two and one half hours but enjoyed every minute of it. J
At 5:00 PM we attended another matinee show featuring star of stage and screen Marty Brill and Comedy Pianist Dale Gonyea.
Marty Brill appeared on television having co-starred on the Dick New Dick Van Dyke Showf or three seasons, and had a recurring role on All in the Family for two year. He also appeared on the Johnny Carson show 37 times. He has also appeared on the big screen in several movies and also toured with Barbra Stresisand, Shirley McLaine, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Tom Jones and Wayne Newton. Dale Gonyea has written several songs for Disney and the Los Angeles Times proclaimed him “heir to the piano-comedy throne” during the run of his sol theater piece, “A Twelve O’Clock Guy in a Nine O’Clock Town.”
After the show we enjoyed another delectable dinner in the Main Dining Room. As usual the food, service and overall ambience was wonderful.
Following dinner we attended a World Cruise function which included cocktails, dancing and live entertainment. The name of it was Oba Oba Samba Social.
We certainly had a full day of activities on and off the ship. This evening we set the clocks forward another hour as we sail into a new time zone with our next port of call being Rio.
TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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