En Route To Muscat, Oman - Day 53

NOTE: We’ve included two pictures from last evening; one of us and one of our friends Lynn and Allen. Lynn is also our wonderful Travel Specialist.

We had an outstanding time last evening as we enjoyed another formal evening on the ship. It is always so very special to see everyone dressed up in his or her formal attire. At a time when some cruise lines are going with less formal and more casual attire, we are glad that Crystal Cruises continues with the tradition of formal evenings. It just adds to the overall ambience on the ship at night. Just as a nice white table cloth or fine china or lit candles can add to the dining experience, we think seeing everyone dressed up just makes the evening experience very enjoyable and memorable when we cruise.

Before dinner we met our friends Lynn and Allen for a pre-dinner drink. As we mentioned, complimentary drinks were provided in all lounges, which was a nice touch for everyone. Lynn is also our travel specialist and we have enjoyed a nice friendship with Lynn and Allen as well. We sailed with them in 2008 and are so glad that they are on this leg of the World Cruise with us.

We both enjoyed a delicious dinner in the Main Dining Room. We each had the Broiled Halibut Fillet for our entrées. We both also had a nice salad and of course fresh fruit for our dessert. We also spoke with the Headwaiter and ordered a few special items for this evening since we are having guests to our table for dinner tonight.

Afterwards, we attended the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception. Since there are less guests on this voyage, there was one Captain’s Party for all guests. It was a great party and we sat with about eight other people. Captain Glenn talked about the excitement of cruising to some very unique ports of call during this leg of the World Cruise and the one that follows this leg. During this leg the ports of call in Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain are the first time that Crystal has visited these areas and very few guests or crew we have spoken with have visited Abu Dhabi of the UAE before.

The good news is that before we retired last evening that we set the clocks back one hour and later this evening we will set the clocks back another thirty minutes. After having moved the clocks forward it was nice to be able to get some time back.

When we arrived back to our room we received some details about the first of the two World Cruise land events that will be held. Our first World Cruise event will be held in Abu Dhabi on March 11, 2010. We will provide more details on that date but the venue looks to be quite special and very unique.

Anne Marie also received a head covering that (shayla) which will likely come in handy in some of the Middle East Ports we are visiting.

We also received an inventory form that we will fill out noting any alcohol that we have in our room (champagne, white wine, red wine, beer and spirits) as this will be removed from our room for our visits to Bandar Abbas and Kuwait City. We visit one port on March 6 and the other port on March 8 and if we want to have any of the alcohol back in our room on March 7 we have to let the butler know for those rooms with Butlers or the Stewardess know for those rooms without a Butler. Otherwise, all of the alcohol will be held during this period.

Once again, we began today as we do each day with a nice workout in the Fitness Center. Keith began his workout at around 5:00 AM and worked out on the elliptical machine. He was the first one to arrive to the Center and fellow passenger Brian arrived a few minutes later. About thirty minutes later fellow passenger John also arrived. During his workout we watched a lecture given the previous day and also caught up with some news from around the world via CNN. Eventually, quite a few other passengers were also working out.

After his workout, Keith stopped by the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room. Keith spoke with Lido Deck Stewards Brian, Ross and Clark for a few minutes. Keith also did some laundry when he got back to the room.

Afterwards, it was Anne Marie’s turn and she worked out for an hour on the Treadmill. Like Keith, she stopped by the Fitness Center for some coffee, which she brought back to the room.

We enjoyed our breakfast in our room while we watched the Crystal Cruises Morning Show. We each had a nice bowl of oatmeal, and some fresh fruit. We find this is a nice way to start the day.

During the Morning Show it was mentioned that in Iran that if women are sunbathing on the ship that they not stay by the railing so they are not seen by those on shore. This is just all good common sense that is no big deal for guest or crew to follow.

During the Captain’s morning talk from the Bridge he noted that the closest land to the ship was Pakistan, which was 240 miles in distance. Before not too long we will be closer to Oman.

Captain Glenn’s thought of the day is “Seeing is different from being told.”

There were lots of lectures on today’s program.

The first lecture was given by Special Interest Lecturer Adrian Kerr who presented Persepolis – The splendor of the Ancient Persian’s ceremonial capital. He talked about Cyrus and how he united the Persians and Medes in 550BC. Cyrus went on to conquer the major powers of the Middle East, Lydia, Susa and then Babylon. This allowed him to create the Acheamenid Empire which lasted for over two hundred years.

Celebrity Lecturer Samuel Lewis who presented Iran and Israel gave the second lecture. He talked about their relationship from secret allies to bitter enemies. He also discussed threats of preemptive bombing of nuclear sites amid chilling calls for the elimination of the Jewish State and what the options are to the current situation and whether or not war is inevitable.

We had lunch at the Lido Café. Today there was a special theme where various Indian cuisine specialties were featured and there was also complimentary Indian Beer served. We each enjoyed our salad entrees.

Special Interest Lecturer Colonel Roland Guidry who talked about the 1980 Military Mission to rescue those Americans held hostage in Tehran gave the third lecture. Colonel Guidry was a C-130 squadron commander and he was actually one of the pilots on the first aircraft to land in the desert on that rescue mission. He is an inductee to the Air Commando Hall of Fame. He provided a firsthand account of America’s first brush with the militant Islam and certainly one of the most daring, difficult, and complicated military rescue missions ever attempted.

We find the lecture program on this cruise to be amazing. For us, this is part of the enrichment of being able to visit so many unique ports and these lectures immensely add to our education of the areas of the world we have the opportunity to visit.

This afternoon Anne Marie took another nice walk on the Promenade Deck and also sat by the pool. Keith read, wrote, walked and spoke with some fellow passengers.

This evening we will be dining in the Main Dining Room. The Cruise Sales Consultant ,Jamie Brown, and the Shore Excursions Manager, James Coughlan, will be dining with us.

We will also attend the evening entertainment which features a tribute to “The Rat Pack”.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..

“The art of being wise is to know what to overlook.”

Keith and Anne Marie