Monday, March 22, 2010
We enjoyed another wonderful evening on the Crystal Serenity last night.
Last evening was another formal evening on the ship. While some cruise lines are going more casual we really enjoy the formal evenings on the ship. It’s just so nice to see the passengers dressed up in formal attire and to us is one of the many pleasures of cruising with Crystal. Most of the men wore a Tuxedo or Formal Dinner Jacket and the women were in fancy formal outfits. Rather than dining in the Main Dining Room, we dined in the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with one of the Senior Officers on the ship. Dinner was outstanding. We each had a salad that we call by our last name, one of the entrée special, which was Halibut and fruit for our desert. We also enjoyed a special appetizer from the chef. We also enjoyed a wonderful conversation and of course the fabulous service and ambience found in this restaurant and consistently throughout the ship.
After dinner, we attended the Crystal Society Reception. Once again this reception recognized those passengers who have sailed with Crystal Cruises and are celebrating major milestones. Given the number of people on this voyage there is the one reception for both seating’s and before the early seating free cocktails and other beverages were provided in all of the lounges.
Today is yet another day at sea as we sail to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which we will visit tomorrow. This has truly been an extraordinary World Cruise with an opportunity to visit many ancient ports of call. We never would have dreamed that we would visit so many unique and diverse ports and for us this is all been part of our enrichment. On top of that are the extraordinary guest lecturers we have had on board who have provided us with lots of information about areas of the world that we have been sailing.
This morning Keith woke early as he always does and began his day with a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center. When he arrived three of the four elliptical machines were in service but he got a spot on the forth which is the Elliptical Machine he prefers. Afterwards, he stopped by the Lido Café to bring back some coffee to the room. One of the Lido Deck Stewards Clark (alias Superman) helped him with the coffee and they talked for a few minutes as well. A few minutes after Keith arrived back to the room Anne Marie went for her hour-long workout on the Treadmill. Like, Keith she made a stop to the Lido Café for some coffee.
As we do on almost all of the sea days we watched the Daily Morning Show. Keith called in and answered one of the trivia questions correctly.
During Captain Glenn’s morning announcement from the bridge he noted that we were sailing in the Red Sea. At the time of his announcement we had a Navy War Ship sailing off our port side. The ship was a Japanese Ship and around that time a military Helicopter was also circling around us. Captain Glenn shared his daily thought of the day with us, which we think is a wonderful thought. Here goes. “There are tall ships and there are small ships but the best ships are friendships.”
Today, is another busy sea day with lots of enrichment and entertainment and other activities for all of us to enjoy.
There were three lectures today including two morning lectures.
Thomas Lippman presented Roosevelt and the Desert King – Unlikely Allies. Afterwards, Marc Ginsberg presented Iran and the Arab World – Growing Tremors on the Shiite/Sunni Fault Line. These were both outstanding presentations. Clearly there are major challenges to deal with and it is not clear how all of this will play out and what the ideal solutions are.
Afterwards we attended a special World Cruise Event, which was the Annual Block Party. We went into several rooms including the Captain’s Quarters and the bridge. We greatly appreciate all of the effort that went into preparing for this event. The costumes were equally wonderful.
Following the block party we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Lido Café. Today, the theme for the lunch was Middle Eastern Specialties.
After lunch Special Interest Lecturer Dinest D’Souza presented Why they hate us. The lecture examined the real root of Islamic hostility to America and the West. Contrary to the prevailing assumption the anti-Americanism is largely the result of American foreign policy. Dinesh showed that the most intelligent Muslim thinkers fault America and the West for its moral and cultural values that are spreading throughout the world. He offered a practical way to improve America’s image abroad.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie took another long walk on the Promenade Deck while Keith played Paddle Tennis.
We were also asked to pick up our passports this afternoon from the front desk for our visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Special landing cards (entry and exit cards) were inserted in each of the passports for collection by immigration. We had to add a few pieces of information to the cards and the one that was unusual was that it asked for our religion.
Speaking of Saudi Arabia requirements, we filled out the form for the butler so that he could remove all of our wine from our room, as all alcohol needs to be secured and locked up during our visit to Jeddah. It will be returned to us after we leave Jeddah at 6:00 PM tomorrow evening.
This evening we will dine in the Main Dining Room. Before dinner we plan to attend a Classical Guitar Concert by Classical Guitarist Robin Hill. After dinner we plan to attend the featured show, which includes Virtuoso Violinist Nicola Loud and West End Vocalist Robert Meadmore. We will post more about this tomorrow.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..
“You can make your world so much larger simply by acknowledging everyone else’s.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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