En Route To Cochin, India - Day 46

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25

NOTE: We included pictures of dessert from yesterday’s American Buffet, one picture of the deserts from Purim, and a few pictures from the World Game Awards Ceremony.

We also wanted to note how fun the Purim Celebration was yesterday. The Rabbi and his wife did a wonderful job pulling this together. It was well attended by guests of all faiths. It was a very fun event. The Rabbi also performed a couple of funny songs with the help of the musicians. While he does the Rap With The Rabbi, which has nothing to do with Rap, yesterday he did do a Rap and the words that he sang were hilarious. He also did one other song that was equally a hit.

Before dinner last evening we attended the closing of the World Cruise Events. Keith was awarded three medals and we all had a very nice time. At the end of the ceremony several of he passengers performed a line dance that they had rehearsed, the lead Crystal Male and Female Vocalists sang, and the Crystal Dancers did a nice dance for all of us. It was a wonderful ceremony that captivated several sea days of camaraderie between the passengers and the crew.

One of the nice aspects about the World Games is that all of these events are on top of all of the other activities that are offered each day on this ship including there lectures, all of the various classes, and all of the other program. With so much to do it makes all of those sea days go even faster than normal. There was clearly many more activities to choose from each day and even some tough choices to make.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal in the Main Dining Room last evening. We had looked over the menu yesterday morning and decided to pre-order some items. We began with a Caesar Salad, which was superbly prepared tableside by our Headwaiter Augusto. For our entrée, we each enjoyed Swordfish, which was accompanied by new potatoes and grilled vegetables. We also enjoyed a bowl of steamed vegetables which we have each evening as a standing order. Afterwards, we enjoyed berries as our dessert and Anne Marie enjoyed a cup of decaffeinated coffee.

After dinner we attended a show, which featured Piano Showman David Howarth who played a variety of music from Boch to Boogie-Woogie and Mozart to Mack the Knife. He was wonderful. This was his first performance with Crystal and we are quite sure that he will be back again. We sat in the first row so we could watch him and by the end of the show most other guests and ourselves gave him a standing ovation. He is a wonderful pianist who played a nice wide range of music that also appeals to a wife variety of age groups.

Keith awoke a little earlier than usual this morning to begin another wonderful day with a workout in the fitness center. Each day his ankle is getting better. He worked out on the stationary bicycle for almost ninety minutes and did some weight lifting as well. Eventually a few of the other regulars were there and Keith spoke with friend John for a few minutes. As usual, he stopped by the Lido Café for coffee and he spoke with Lido Deck Steward Ross for a little while.

Likewise, Anne Marie worked out around the time that Keith arrived back to the room on the Treadmill and after her workout Lido Deck Steward assisted her with some coffee that she brought back to the room.

We enjoyed a very nice breakfast as we watched the Daily Morning Show with Cruise Director Rick Spath and World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston. They provided some additional insight as they normally do on how things sometimes come together. For example, they mentioned how a few weeks ago that lead female dancer Beverly Durant suggested that for the close of the World Games that they see if they could pull together some passengers to dance a line dance as part of the closing ceremony. The idea was great so Beverly ran with it with some assistance from Stacey. Keith also called into the show to answer correctly one of the Trivia questions.

During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge we learned that we would cross the Equator about around 10:30 AM local ships time. He said we should be prepared to hold on tight as we would feel the bump as we pass over the Equator. J At the point of his talk we were heading North East direction at a speed of 19.5 knots per hour and we were ahead of schedule to arrive in Cochin, India on Saturday.

Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “Generosity is giving more than you can and pride is taking less than you need.

We had another wonderful day on the ship. We began our day by attending Rap With The Rabbi. Today much of the discussion focused on Passover.

We attended the final lecture given by special interest lecturer Roman Pryjomko who presented “Rediscovering the Lost Art of Good Governance.” The focus on the lecture was that people around the world countries are feeling increasingly distanced and disillusioned with their governments inability to make a difference to issues that really matter. He discussed the key principles, characteristics and benefits of good governance and why they matter today both nationally and globally.

Later in the morning destination lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff gave a presentation and talk. Dr. Wolff presented “Taj Mahal – A Teardrop in Time.” The focus of today’s presentation was how the emperor Shah Jahan created one of the most beautiful buildings in the world; the Taj Mahal.

We once again enjoyed another nice lunch at the Lido Café. We each enjoyed a delicious salad entrée.

Before we forget we learned today that we are now once again receiving CNN after having not been able to get this station for a couple of weeks given the satellite location of the ship.

After lunch we attended the forth lecture given by enrichment lecturer Barbara Rinella. Today’s’ presentation was titled “Remember – A Sister is for Life!” Do you have a sister? Is she the pretty one? In today’s presentation Barbara Rinella dramatized Lisa See’s fascinating new novel, Shanghai Girls. The focus of this book is on the relationship of two sisters living in Shanghai in 1937 when Shanghai was the “Paris of Asia.”

Later in the afternoon Anne Marie took a nice walk on the Promenade Deck while Keith wrote, read and then chatted with some fellow passengers.

Before dinner, we attended the Production Show titled Standing Room Only with Crystal Lead Vocalists Tara Khaler and Dennis Dubbin and the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers. It is so nice that some of the production shows have been offered earlier in the day and like last night that some of the other shows have been offered between the early and the late seating’s. Since we are early to rise and somewhat early to bed this schedule maximizes the shows and other performances that we will attend.

Following this show we will have the pleasure of dining at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant with the Cruise Director and World Cruise Hostess.

This evening is Liar’s Club featuring some of the best that enjoy doing this. We hope to be able to stay up late enough to attend. This is how they are featured in the program.

Rabinical Liar Morrie Hershman, Literate Liar Barbara Rinella, Journalistic Liar, Ken Rees, and Story-Telling Liar Dr. Jay Wolff.

We do have one additional challenge this evening. We also must set the clocks forward thirty minutes for our arrival to India. India is one of the few places in the world that goes with this thirty-minute interval versus the one hour change. In this manner, rather than having half the country on one time zone and the other half on another time zone everyone in the country remains on the same time zone.

TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY…..

“A smile is the shortest distance between two people.”

Keith and Anne Marie