Live From Miami

We enjoyed our first full day in Miami, Florida.

We are staying at the Four Seasons Hotel. This is the same Hotel that Crystal cruises will use for those guests arriving in Miami prior to the World Cruise. On the evening before the start of the World Cruise there will be a World Cruise Gala held for those guests taking the full world cruise. We will not be able to attend since we will already be on the ship.

We last stayed here in January, 2007. We enjoy the area and the fact that it is quite safe to walk around day or night. With less demand for travel the Hotel offered some very competitive rates at the time we made the booking.

What we did not learn until our drive here yesterday is that the Four Seasons hotel is in the tallest building in downtown Miami. Soon that will not be the case with a completion of another new building that will be even taller. This building not only contains the Hotel which occupies a portion of the floors, it also contains several floors of condominiums. The building does not seem too tall when you are here but when the driver pointed it out to us as he showed us the Miami sky line we would see that it was indeed tall.

Keith woke up quite early as he normally does but Anne Marie also was awake fairly early as we were looking forward to enjoying a nice day in Miami on New Years Eve. We had breakfast at the hotel. Today was a day to purchase some items that we needed for this voyage that we were unable to take with us on the plane. As we had a fair number of items to purchase and our legs as our transportation we made a few trips back and forth to the full service pharmacy and also to the food store. It was so nice to get out and about and the weather was gorgeous. It was in the 60's in the morning, with a high of almost 80 degrees this afternoon. This is a beautiful time to visit Southern Florida which is why this time of year is known as the season or when the snow birds arrive for a portion of the year from cooler climates up North.

In addition to running errands in the afternoon we also went on another very nice and long walk and had a wonderful time. For those of you familiar with Miami we walked over to the Intercontinental Hotel and then over to Bayside which has several restaurants and stores. There is also an outdoor area and this evening there will be fireworks. With a large celebration planned there were many outdoor vendors selling food and a band was already playing music.

Tomorrow we plan to again walk in that direction and then walk across the bridge over to the Miami Cruise Ship Terminal.

One item that we observed is that very few of the motorists yield to pedestrians. Even when the traffic light turns green and the sign is flashing with the pedestrian walking signal, those on foot must be very careful and be on the lookout for motorists who feel that they have the right of way at all times. We quickly learned to be very observant when crossing the street and not only looking both ways but doing it several times until we cross the street. We did observe on motorist who did yield the right of way to us and other pedestrians but it turned out that the vehicle had California rather than Florida license plates.

This evening we enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner at the Oceanaire Seafood Room. Since it was located about 10 minutes from the Hotel we walked to and from the Hotel. Keith had made reservations for this evening a couple of weeks ago. As we are not late night people we had dinner reservations at 6:00 PM as we plan to watch the New Years Eve festivities from the television in our Hotel. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and on the way back to the Hotel we observed the beautiful blue moon.

We want to wish all of you a very safe, healthy and Happy New Year.

Tomorrow brings in not yet another new year but also a new decade.

As we reflect upon the year and the new year, it is a time when we think about all our friends and family. The friendships include those who we have known for quite some time along with our new friendships from our new community. This brings us to our thought of the day.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"Remember, the greatest gift is not found in the store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends."

Happy New Year

Keith and Anne Marie

Welcome To Miami

We awoke very early this morning with great anticipation for the start of our World Cruise adventure.

We were picked up at our home by two vehicles arranged by Crystal Cruises. This included a Town Car for us and an Executive Van for our luggage. The vehicles arrived 15 minutes prior to the designated pickup time, as we expected. The drivers were very professional. We then made the 45 minute trip over to the airport to check in for the first of our two flights.

As we first drove up to the airport we saw a very long security line but that was for other airlines in another area of the terminal. In no time we checked in for our flight. With all of the luggage, a few people around us asked if we were moving. Keith explained that Anne Marie likes to take a lot of shoes with her for long weekend trips.

The World Cruise fare includes air and all our flights are first class. So, we were fortunate that we could get on a security line that was for business and first class passengers. The line was longer than the norm, particularly because of the time we boarded. We think that is due to passenger's being advised to arrive to the airport earlier than normal. We would say that going through security was no different than normal. They did run Keith's carry on bag through the security x-ray machines twice but that was not unexpected given all of the electronic related gear that we have brought with us for this adventure. We also saw a special dog that was apparently being utilized to look for explosives.

The good news is that both of our flights were on time. Given the weather conditions at both airports we expected to have some delays.

After we landed at Miami International Airport we were met there by the personnel from the ground transportation company who with the help of an airport porter ably helped us collect our luggage and escorted us to the vehicles for our drive over to the Hotel.

We were last to Miami in early 2007 and we immediately noticed a difference. The last time we were here we couldn't get over the number of cranes were set up in the downtown area and the number of large buildings were being constructed. This time we did not see even one crane.

We checked into the hotel very quickly and were pleased that we received a nice upgrade. After getting settled we took a nice walk and then enjoyed a nice dinner back at the hotel.

We then did some unpacking. We did notice that airport security went through our bag that is essentially devoted to cosmetics and other toiletry items. They had gone through several of the items. Again, this is understandable given the current environment.

We will spend five nights in Miami before we board the Crystal Serenity. Our daughter and son-in-law will arrive on January 1 and our son and his fiancé will arrive on January 3, the day before we board the ship.

We are excited to be in Miami and to have the day of traveling behind us. Tomorrow we need to pick up some personal care items that we were unable to take with us on the plane. This will be our first ever New Years Eve in Miami.

The forecast for tomorrow is 80 degrees.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step"

Keith and Anne Marie

Ready Or Not, Here We Go

It is hard to believe that after many months of planning that our journey will begin tomorrow. We look forward to exploring new areas of the world and returning to those locations that we have previously visited.

We are both humbled and at the same time very excited to have the opportunity to sail on the 2010 Crystal Cruises World Cruise. Arrangements have been made by Crystal Cruises to take us from our home to the airport where we will fly to Miami, Florida and then from the Miami Airport over to the Hotel where we will stay prior to boarding the Crystal Serenity on January 4. Our journey begins with the seven day cruise which we will enjoy with our son and his fiancé and our daughter and our son-in-law before the World Cruise begins.

As you can imagine, we have spent countless hours preparing for this journey. In order to keep us as organized as possible, we created spreadsheets and several of those “to do” lists.

For example, we prepared a list of all items to pack, a detailed itinerary which included information about each day of the voyage, each port we will visit and all of the shore excursions we have signed up for. We also created a checklist detailing each and every item that we needed to take care of prior to the start of our journey.

When it came to packing we considered clothing needed on board the ship and in port. While the majority of stops along the way include places where the weather should be relatively warm, we also had to prepare for those stops near the Black Sea where the weather will likely be on the cool side. As we all know the added complexity is that weather is often unpredictable year over year or even from day-t0-day adding another challenge when trying to pack for so many days. Hopefully, we are well prepared for this adventure.

Our luggage is all packed and we are talking about “a lot” of luggage. This includes daytime clothing to wear on the ship and in port, clothing for our daily workouts in the fitness center, along with evening attire. In total, there will be 22 formal nights, 36 informal nights (essentially semi formal) and 57 casual nights. For now,we will keep the exact number of pieces of luggage we are taking a secret except to say that we are taking quite a bit of luggage with us. The picture that we posted purposely makes it challenging to count up the luggage. Just in case you are wondering, those two bears on top of the luggage are not traveling with us.

Items needed for the cruise simply add up very quickly. For example, given the length of this voyage we are taking an entire suitcase almost exclusively devoted to personal care and cosmetic related items and we also are taking a good deal of wire hangers with us to maximize closet space. The good news is that very few if any of these items will return home with us. We are also taking gifts for some of the members of the crew.

We have completed almost all of the items on our “to do” lists, except for the final set of items.

In September, we obtained visas for those countries where visas needed to be secured ahead of time. Once on board the ship Crystal will also obtain the other visas required for this trip which include; Tanzania, Seychelles, Maldives, Oman, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and South Africa.

We read extensively about each and every port we will visit along the way. We have not only reviewed all of the shore excursions offered by Crystal Cruises, but we have already reserved all of the ones that we are most interested in taking during the course of this cruise. In many ports we will take excursions offered by Crystal Cruises, while in other ports we will visit sites on our own. Once on board the ship, we expect to make some changes to this list, after consulting with personnel from the shore excursion department.

We have made sure that our vaccinations were all in order. We received the regular flu shot in early September and were fortunate to each receive the H1N1 Vaccination in early December.

Crystal has an extensive library on board the ship but we usually also take some books with us. However this time around we decided to each make use of audio books which we plan to listen to while we workout in the fitness center so we put a sufficient number of these books on Keith's iPhone and on Anne Marie's iTouch. We can also supplement the audio books with some books from the library.

Before we begin this journey, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation to both family and friends for all of the wonderful encouragement, and well wishes, you have given to each of us. We will miss all of you more than you know.

We also was to add special thanks to our wonderful travel specialist, Lynn Segal, for all of her help as we prepared for the World Cruise. As you can imagine, there are many more items that require close coordination and followup for a voyage of considerable length. Lynn was always there for us working diligently on each and every item and we appreciate her dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm.

Lynn and her husband Allen will be joining us on the portion of this voyage that goes between Mumbai and Dubai. They will be the hosts for those guests traveling on this voyage who booked through travel specialists around the world who are affiliated with the same travel consortium that Lynn and her travel agency are also affiliated with. We look forward to their arrival in Mumbai and in sharing a portion of this experience with the two of them.

We are also very appreciative and thankful for all of the assistance that various personnel from Crystal Cruises have provided to us over the past several months as we prepared for this journey. They are truly professional in every way possible.

It is our hope that through this Blog that each of you will feel part of this 115 day journey on board the Crystal Serenity. Please feel free to post comments on our Blog and we will do our best to keep the Blog up-to-date each and every day. You can just post them at the end of the most recent entry.

We would love to hear from you.

It's time. Let the journey begin.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.”

Keith And Anne Marie

Welcome Aboard The Crystal Serenity

As we mentioned, there are many public rooms throughout the ship to enjoy during our time on the Crystal Serenity. Some of the public areas on board the Crystal Serenity include:

The Main Dining Room along with the Silk Road and Prego Specialty Restaurants, The Bistro, The Lido Café, The Trident Grill & Ice Cream Bar, Tastes and the Vintage Room.

The Main Dining Room serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. There is open seating for breakfast and lunch and two seating's for dinner, with assigned tables.

Silk Road serves wonderfully prepared Japanese Cuisine. In addition to table service, there is
a sushi bar offering the opportunity for passengers to watch the sushi chefs work their magic preparing scrumptious and delectable sushi and sashimi.

Prego serves outstanding Italian Cuisine, in a beautifully decorated restaurant. In addition to regular menu items, each evening features some specialties from the chef.

The Bistro is another popular venue providing late morning and afternoon snacks along with various coffees, teas and other beverages. Guests will visit Bistro to get a beverage to go on their way to various daytime activities or they will choose to stay for a beverage and/or light snack while they enjoy conversations with others or just to view the scenery or to read from one of the tables.

The Lido Café provides a very nice variety of buffet style breakfasts and lunches. From time to time there will be themed lunches served in this café.

The Trident Grill serves a late risers breakfast and also lunch. Lunch includes items such as burgers, hot dogs and tuna melts. There is also an ice cream/frozen yogurt counter.

Tastes is yet another dining venue providing table side service where one can enjoy a late risers breakfast or a lunch daily. Dinner is also served on selected evenings throughout each voyage and the attire for breakfast, lunch and dinner is casual.

The Vintage Room can be booked for parties or by individuals who, in turn, are seated with other passengers, for a very special dining experience. Each dinner course is paired with a special wine. There is a cover charge for the dinner. Thank goodness guests only have to walk back to their room and not worry about driving home after enjoying this dining experience.

Two swimming pools and two outdoor whirlpools are available for use along with a beautiful wrap-around promenade deck which can be used for walking or jogging. There is also shuffleboard, table tennis, two full size paddle tennis courts, and even a golf driving range and putting green.

A fitness center that has a nice variety of exercise equipment including tread mills, elliptical and stair master machines, stationary bikes, along with free weights and several different weight lifting machines. There is also an exercise studio which provides yoga, Pilate's and other low and high impact exercise classes. We try to utilize the fitness center each day of the voyage and you will be hearing more about this throughout the voyage. A spa is available which provides various services from massages, to facials and other treatments along with a salon offering hair cuts and hair coloring along with other hair treatments. There are also complimentary sauna and steam rooms.

A cinema room that can accommodate approximately 200 guests and is used to show movies each afternoon and evening and is also used for selected lectures, and religious services.

A casino where passengers can play various games of chance including blackjack, craps, poker and roulette along with slot and video poker machines.

Several lounges are available throughout the ship where drinks are served and many of these lounges provide live music for listening and dancing pleasure each and every evening. A computer facility offers plenty of computers for passengers use along with a variety of computer related training classes covering many interesting topics. Those taking the full World Cruise even have the opportunity to take a college accredited computer course.

A library providing fiction and non-fiction books and various reference books, DVDs, Cd's, board games, audio tapes and some magazines and newspapers. An extensive medical center is staffed with a full time doctor and several registered nurses.

Three shops which carry an assortment of jewelry, sundries and clothing. There is also a trunk show store which is changed once per voyage featuring designer jewelry of a particular jeweler who is on board to answer questions about the jewelry. On some sailings the jewelry featured is representative of an area of the world in which the ship is sailing. There is a photo shop displaying and selling pictures taken by the ship photographers during the course of the cruise and also performs other photo related services and carries some items for sale such as cameras, batteries and photo albums.

The main lobby level includes reception and concierge desks providing various services similar to those available at a full service Hotel. A cruise sales consultant desk is nearby offering assistance for booking future cruises allowing passengers to take advantage of receiving on board booking discounts for all cruises booked during their voyage. There is also a shore excursion area which facilitates the booking of group and private shore excursions and has information about the various ports of call. There is also a Crystal Society desk providing assistance for those passengers who have previously sailed with Crystal. Several other public rooms are available throughout the ship that are used for a variety of activities such as bingo, trivia, religious services, lectures, bridge, memoir writing, music classes, choir, art classes, and many other activities that are scheduled throughout the day.

There is also an excellent variety of entertainment including elaborate shows featuring singing and dancing, vocalists, musicians and comedians. We plan to share a great deal of information with you about the various shipboard activities throughout the course of our World Cruise adventure.

We arrive in Miami on December 30 where we will spend a few days until it is time to board the ship on January 4 for the seven day voyage. The World Cruise commences on the evening of January 10 with a Bon Voyage Gala at a hotel in Miami and passengers will board the ship the following day on January 11. Since we will already be on the Crystal Serenity we will be unable to attend the Gala. However, we believe there will be a special dinner for those World Cruise passengers already on board the ship.

Some passengers will sail the entire world cruise, while others will sail on one or more of the seven individual voyages.

There are several passengers who we know from previous World Cruises and other sailings with Crystal Cruises who will be on this sailing and we look forward to sailing with them again. At the same time, we look forward to meeting fellow passenger's who we have not yet sailed with before. We also look forward to seeing and spending time with the friendly crew, many of whom we have come to know so very well from our previous cruises. We plan to post again a day or so before we begin this adventure.

Stay tuned....

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

“Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.”

Keith and Anne Marie

Our Home For 115 Glorious Days

The Crystal Serenity will serve as our home for our entire Voyage.

The ship was commissioned in December of 2000 and entered service in June of 2003. Our first sailing on-board the Serenity was in September of 2005.

The Serenity is a mid-size ship. At almost 69,000 tons it is capable of carrying as many as 1,100 passengers and a 650 person crew. For us, it is the perfect size ship, particularly for long duration voyages such as the World Cruise. The ship has a total of thirteen decks (13), ten of which are used by the guests. The number of passengers that one will find on board the ship does vary from cruise to cruise. As Crystal carries the most solo passengers of any luxury cruise line, even when the ship is at full passenger capacity it never feels full.

There are approximately 550 staterooms to choose from varying in size and amenities which are located on five different passenger decks. There are several very spacious public rooms located throughout the ship allowing Crystal to offer a very diverse set of programs simultaneously which provided the guests with lots of choices throughout the day and evening hours, particularly on sea days.

This includes:

A diverse set of classes related to fitness, arts and crafts, music, dance, language, computers, bridge, golf, along with a few other specialty classes.

A comprehensive lecture program including lectures on politics, government, world events, sports, medicine, destinations, books, theatre, movies, art, and a wide range of other topics. Religious talks/discussions given by the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant Clergy along with worship services.

Organized games including social and competitive bridge, table tennis, paddle tennis, team trivia, and other get-togethers such as needlepoint, walking, and even chorus rehearsals.

A nice set of entertainment programs including afternoon and evening movies, production shows, comedians, musicians, and singers, along with live music to listen or dance to and late evening Karaoke. On sea days it is not unusual to see close to seventy different activities offered throughout the morning, afternoon and evening hours.

In addition to all of the space available inside the ship, there is much to do on open decks of the ship. This includes swimming (one outdoor and one indoor pool), whirlpools, shuffleboard, table tennis, a golf putting and driving range, and paddle tennis. There is a wrap-around promenade deck which can be used by passengers for a leisurely walk or for jogging, or to just to stand and take in all of the scenery around the ship. There are other places on deck in which to enjoy the scenery, to read, or play a board or card game from the comfort of a chair.

In our next post, we will provide some additional details about the features of this beautiful cruise ship.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"Travel is ninety percent anticipation and ten percent recollection."

Keith and Anne Marie

World Cruise 2010 - Let The Countdown Begin

Welcome aboard our 2010 World Cruise Blog. To say we are very excited about this voyage is an understatement. We hope that through this blog you will feel apart of this journey as we share our thoughts, experiences, and observations with each of you.

Directly preceding the World Cruise we sail on a seven day round-trip Miami cruise of the Caribbean. We are very excited to be joined on this seven-day voyage by our daughter and son-in-law, and by our son and his fiancee. We sail on the Crystal Serenity on both voyages and stay in the same room the entire time so we will not have to repack between cruises.

The seven day cruise will include stops at ports-of-call located at Grand Turk, Grand Cayman and Key West, Florida. We will also enjoy three full days at sea.

At the conclusion of the seven day cruise the ship will arrive back to Miami and later that evening we will depart from the Port of Miami as we begin the start of the World Cruise.

This year's World Cruise Voyage is appropriately named “Exploration of Ancient Empires” given the extraordinary number of places we will visit that played a significant role in shaping the ancient history of the world.

As shown on the map, this journey begins in Miami, Florida and takes us to ports-of-call located in North and South America, Africa, Asia, The Middle East and Europe. The World Cruise takes us to 45 ports of call, in 29 different countries, over the span of 108 days. This journey concludes in Southampton, England. Our adventure includes visits to several ports of call for the very first time including seven maiden ports of call visits for Crystal Cruises. Admittedly, there are a few ports on this itinerary that early on we were a bit apprehensive about visiting due to world events, political instability, and international relationships. However, upon further thought and reflection we decided we would benefit greatly from seeing these places first hand and literally through our own eyes. Certainly this is one of the many benefits of travel. We plan to share our thoughts on these ports before, during, and after each visit.

The World Cruise includes 49 days at sea sailing the Atlantic, Caribbean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Mozambique Channel, the Arabian, Red, Black and Mediterranean Seas, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, the Sea of Crete, and the English Channel. We will also transit the Suez Canal and cross the Equator not once, but twice. We will spend 59 days on land including overnight stays at nine different ports of call. They are: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Capetown, South Africa (two overnights); Abu Dhabi, UAE; Dubai, UAE (two overnights); Safaga, Egypt; Athens, Greece; Odessa, Ukraine; Istanbul, Turkey; and Barcelona, Spain.

The World Cruise consists of seven major voyages: each of varying lengths.

Voyage I, Tropical Rhythms, 15 Days. Starting in Miami, Florida we cruise the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea on our way to Caribbean Islands in St Lucia and Barbados and then onto Devil’s Island, French Guiana. We then cruise the Atlantic Ocean, crossing the Equator and stoping in Fortaleza, Brazil and will conclude this voyage in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Voyage II, Southerly Sojourn 14 Days. From Rio de Janeiro, we sail southward to Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay and then will cruise the South Atlantic Ocean for seven consecutive days over to Cape Town, South Africa.

Voyage III, Safaris & Saris, 21 Days. After two overnights in Cape Town we will stop in additional ports in Africa including Port Elizabeth and Durban, South Africa, Zanzibar, Tanzania; and Mombassa, Kenya, which will be followed by a stop in the Seychelles Islands. We will then cross the Equator with visits to Male, Maldives and Cochin and Mumbai, India.

Voyage IV, Middle East Mystique, 13 Days. Beginning in Mumbai, we will visit several Middle Eastern ports of call in Muscat, Oman; Bandar Abbas, Iran; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Manama, Bahrain; along with Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, UAE.

Voyage V, Modern & Ancient Marvels, 19 Days. After our second overnight in Dubai we will visit Khasab, Oman, Al Fujairah, UAE; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Aqaba, Jordan; Safaga/Luxor and Alexandria/Cairo, Egypt; Ashdod, Israel, concluding this voyage in Athens, Greece.

Voyage VI, Black Sea Intrigue, 14 Days. After staying overnight in Athens, we will visit Odessa and Yalta, Ukraine; Sochi, Russia; Istanbul, Turkey and then visit three ports-of-call in Italy; Sicily, Naples and Chitavecchia/Rome.

Voyage VII, European Reflections, 12 Days. During this final leg of the World Cruise we will visit Barcelona, Spain, Gibraltar, United Kingdom, Lisbon, Portugal, Bilbao, Spain and La Rochelle, France before we conclude this adventure and disembark the ship in Southampton, England.

Between the seven day Caribbean Cruise and the World Cruise we will sail on the Crystal Serenity for a total of 115 days.

On the right hand side of the home page you will see some maps in addition to links to various sites. The first map shows the routing of the Caribbean Cruise and the second map shows the World Cruise Route. Directly below each map you will see the itinerary for each of these two voyages. Finally, a third map highlights in solid blue, places around the world we have previously visited or will visit during this upcoming adventure.

We've listed some additional web sites. This includes links showing live views from the Crystal Serenity, one showing the respective times for various cities around the world. and a link to
the Cruise Critic Crystal Forum Board which is "A Community of People who Love to Cruise."

This years World Cruise also marks the 20th Anniversary of Crystal Cruises.

We hope that you enjoy this Blog and we plan to keep it updated on a daily basis after we board the ship. Please keep in mind that many times it will not be possible for us to reread what we have written, so forgive us for any typos, grammatical mistakes, or any other errors because there just is not enough time in the day to catch all of this. Be assured though, that what we write for this Blog comes from our heart and represents our first hand feelings, thoughts and observations about all that we experience throughout our journey.

We will provide a couple of additional updates over the next few days about the Crystal Serenity, along with a final update the day preceding the start of our journey. During our pre-cruise stay in Miami we also plan to post, so please continue to check this site from time-to-time for updates.

Stay tuned.......................

We plan to share a thought of the day each time we post.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Keith and Anne Marie