NOTE: We’ve included some additional pictures from our visit to the animal reserve in Durban, South Africa.
Also, a few pictures from dinner last evening in our room and one picture of the guests that were in our room when we got back last evening, courtesy of our stewardess and assistant stewardess. J
We also included a few pictures of the World Game shirts that each passenger who signs up receives. We thought this was the best color and the design in the back of the shirt was the best one yet. We tried to show both the front and the back side of the shirt in these two pictures.
Today is the first of three consecutive sea days as we cruise towards our next port-of-call; Zanzibar, Tanzania.
We wanted to mention that we truly enjoyed our time in South Africa since we first arrived in Cape Town. While we mentioned that South Africa has many challenges (don’t we all)with respect to race issues and immigration our impression is that they are working through these issues and that time will tell how successful they are. The county does have so many natural resources and a diverse population and hopefully all of this will contribute to their successful future. We need to all remember that they went through a significant and positive change and they just need to work through a variety of issues. The good news is that we met many people who are positive about all of this including some passengers on this cruise who live in South Africa.
Once again, we enjoyed a nice time on the ship yesterday afternoon and evening.
Before dinner, we attended the sail-away party was we bid a fond farewell from not only Durban but also from South Africa. We enjoyed music, which was performed by the Crystal Sextet, and also complimentary French sparkling wine was provided. We spoke with some of the passenger’s along with other members from the enrichment staff. Those who we spoke with either enjoyed the organized tours or their time in the area on their own.
It is not often that Cruise Ships visit Durban so there was also a large group of local dancers who danced on the pier for the passengers. Crystal’s first Maiden Port of Call was to Durban just a few years ago and we have even seen changes since we first arrived here in 2007. We will be in many ports of call where we will either be the only cruise ship or there will just be one other.
We also spoke with our friend Mary who has just returned from an overland Safari shore excursion that she escorted for Crystal and she had a fabulous time. Crystal offered a wide range of overland tours which provides the best opportunity to see wildlife as you go out in the early morning and early evening hours.
We also attended a show by multi-talented entertainer Craig Richards. The Crystal Cruises “Sounds of Serenity” singers performed as the opening act. Craig Richard is hailed as one of the youngest and finest contemporary saxophonists. We believe he is twenty-five years young. For those of you familiar with Kenny G he also specializes in a tribute to the music played by him. He played several instruments as he played well known songs by Kenny G, Ray Charles, Josh Groban and some other artists. He also sang a couple of songs. He was terrific. We sat with Rabbie Morrie and his wife Gerri and with Destination Lecturer Ken Rees and his wife Lynne.
There was open seating in the Main Dining Room and a special Valentine’s Day Dinner. In celebration of Valentine’s Day the desserts included “Be My Valentine” which was Vahlrona Chocolate Mousse Heart, Sugar Dough Cookie and Raspberry Sauce and there was also “The Queen’s Club” which was White Chocolate Chip Bread & Butter Pudding, Vanilla Sauce Anglaise and Cookies’n’ Cream Ice Cream. Of course there are no calories from either of these delectable desserts. J
As we mentioned we decided to order dinner to our room. We ordered a variety of items from the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant and the butler, Alexander, took care of everything.
We got back to the room a few minutes before dinner and we noticed that the stewardess and assistant stewardess had left a couple of visitors (two towel animals) on the foot of the bed and two valentine sweets.
A few minutes later, Alexander arrived with our dinner and he set a perfect table. He is always so meticulous and we always appreciate that he is always on top of things. Many times if we forgot an item he reminds us. For example, he’ll notice that it might be time to send a bottle of wine down to the Main Dining Room and he’ll ask us if we have a bottle that we want to send down. He has worked for Crystal for many years now and is length of service with Crystal is the second most of any butler so he truly has a great deal of knowledge on a variety of items from the ports of call to the foods to culture around the world and so forth.
Dinner from Silk Road was outstanding. Everything from the sushi and the sashimi, to the soup entrée to the fruit plate was very tasty.
We pre-ordered our favorites ahead of time which included sushi, sashimi and for our entrée we had Hot Suba Noodles served with a broth and instead of getting Tempura which normally accompanies the soup we asked for a few Scallops instead. We also ended the meal with a chilled tropical fruit plate. The meal was wonderful and it was nice to enjoy a nice relaxing meal together.
Last evening also marked the kickoff of the 2010 World Games on the ship with the opening ceremony for this event. The event included the two Olympian Medalists who are on the ship and both crew and passenger’s have the opportunity to participate in the event.
We awoke early this morning for another wonderful day at sea. Keith arrived to the Fitness Center early and worked out on the stationary bicycle. Fellow passenger Brian was already working out when Keith arrived. A few minutes later John also arrived and Keith spoke with him after the workout. As he normally does, Keith stopped by the Lido Café following his workout to bring back some coffee to the room. Raymond, Ross and Earl were continuing to set the buffet up with the help of others and Keith spoke with each of them for a few minutes.
Anne Marie worked out for an hour on the Treadmill and also stopped by the Lido Café to bring back some coffee to the room as well.
Afterwards, we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast in the comfort of our room. J While enjoying breakfast we enjoyed watching the Daily Morning Show with Cruise Director Rick Spath and World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston. Keith called in for one of the trivia questions but had an incorrect answer. During the show, they showed some video and pictures from some of the tours and of course video from on board the ship including last nights opening ceremony of the World Games.
It was also mentioned that where possible we will see some coverage of the Winter Olympics but they can only show what the Satellite Footprint allows.
Finally, they noted that sometimes the Immigration process will change for a particular port of call as was the case yesterday. As recently as 24 hours before we arrived Immigration had said that all passengers would have to present their passports thus the need for each of us to pick up our passport only for them to change it on the spot when Immigration said they only need to see some selected passengers passports. It’s similar to what we experienced in Miami where one time the process works one way, the next time it works another way and sometimes within a one-hour period the process changes.
During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge he noted that we had entered the Mozambique Channel, that the outside temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit and that there was just a little breeze outside.
Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “What you did yesterday is who you are but what you do tomorrow is what you will become.”
Some passenger’s didn’t seem to understand this one but we did.
We began the morning by attending Rap with the Rabbi. As usual it was a very good session. Today we spent a good deal of the session talking about superstitions and learned quite a bit about their role in the religion and in various other customs.
After the session with the Rabbi, we participated in the mandatory Guest and Crew Lifeboat Drill. This is the first time there has ever been a joint drill. We all went to our muster stations. The crew also went to various stations to be checked in The reality is that if there was an emergency most of the crew would be at other designated areas with the exception of those crew who are assigned to the life boats. We did not need to bring our life jackets to this drill. Captain Glenn reiterated those steps that Crystal has/is taken as we are sailing in these areas with problems with the pirates. He also noted that in the event that the ship needed to take evasive action that they would do their best to communicate that to us ahead of time so we could be sure to secure ourselves. Either way, should evasive action be taken guests should go inside and either sit down or hold onto something secure. On top of this the ship is taken other precautionary methods that were not covered with us for obvious reasons.
Keith was talking with a crew member before the drill about safety and it is very clear that the number one priority for the crew of this vessel is safety at all times. They each have responsibilities and they each need to be trained in a variety of items because after all any of them could be in the last group to get off the ship in an emergency. This is no different than the flight attendants on an airplane. In the end, safety is their number one priority and that was evident in the US Airways crash landing in the Hudson River in 2009. If not for the attendants, some passengers in the back rows may not even have survived that landing as the back area of the aircraft was flooding.
At 11:00 AM Keith attended a lecture given by former United States Texas Senator Phil Gramm. Because of the lifeboat drill, the Men’s Shuffleboard was moved from 10:0 AM to the time of this lecture so Keith passed on Shuffleboard.
Former Senator Gramm will give two talks. Today’s talk focused on his view how we got to the current recession and his second talk will be his views on how the economy will rebound.
Anne Marie took a one-hour walk on the Promenade Deck during the talk as she had table tennis in the afternoon and wanted to get her walk in.
We had lunch up on the Lido Deck and today was a special buffet that was set up around the Indoor Pool. The theme for today’s buffet was the Sun Buffet or also called Flavors of the Mediterranean. This Buffet featured an extensive menu of dishes from all around the Mediterranean. We each made ourselves a nice salad entrée.
Anne Marie participated in the ladies single table tennis tournament and she came in third so she won a bronze medal. J and then afterwards she sat out by the pool.
Keith read, and wrote and then met with some fellow passenger’s. Today’s discussion was the economy.
This evening featured lots of entertainment. Before dinner, there was a string due of Rafael and Monika who were also accompanied by the Galaxy Orchestra. Between the early and late dinner seating’s the featured performed was Juggler Mark Nizer. At 10:30 PM there was a Mardi Gras “Dixieland Jam” with the Galaxy Orchestra and other performers. At the same time there were many other activities such as two venues offering live music and dancing and the movie Amelia about famed aviator Amelia Earhart.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..
“We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of on a regret.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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