NOTE: Today’s picture is from last evening at Silk Road.
Wonderful is the best way to describe our dinner last evening with friends Bob and Glo. We had a wonderful time dining at Silk Road. We enjoyed a delightful conversation while at the same time we enjoyed a scrumptious meal with outstanding service along with the ambience of the dining room. Our waiter for the evening was Alberto who we had spoken with earlier in the day. We began our meal by sharing a platter of sushi that included lots of sashimi. We certainly had a nice variety of items on the platter and none of us were hungry after enjoying all of these delicacies. J We also enjoyed a particular Sushi Roll that Alberto had pre-ordered for our table. We all had salad followed by a very tasty entree. It was a fun evening and part of what makes the cruising experience with Crystal so wonderful.
This morning we woke fairly early. Once again, Keith was the first passenger to arrive at the Fitness Center for his morning workout. He worked out on the Elliptical Machine for quite a while and then did some weight lifting. His leg muscles were a bit stiff as he is getting used to playing paddle tennis and has a somewhat sore callous on the bottom of one of his feet. About halfway through his workout two of the other passengers who are also the early morning regulars began working out on the elliptical machines.
On his way up to the Fitness Center Keith said hello to some members from the night crew who each evening are busy cleaning the interior and the exterior of the ship. When Keith sees them they are cleaning the stairwells including vacuuming the carpet and cleaning and shining the handrails and the elevators. At the time of Keith’s workout they usually are cleaning the outside deck including the floor to ceiling windows that are in front of the Fitness Center. Today, they also had a couple of members of the night crew thoroughly cleaning each mirror in the Fitness Center.
The night crew represents some of the unsung heroes of Crystal who do a remarkable job keeping the ship looking clean. Afterwards, Keith stopped by the Lido Café where he spoke with some of the Lido Deck Stewards and brought some coffee back with him to the room. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill for one hour and also enjoys getting her workout done in the morning. While working out she listens to one of the many books that we loaded on her iTouch prior to the cruise. Speaking of books, we are seeing more and more passengers with Kindles on this voyage compared to previous voyages. In the coming years we expect to see a great percentage of the Kindles or Kindle like technology used by more and more people. In fact, at the Four Seasons Miami Hotel they provided Kindles for guests that were pre-loaded with various books.
We both enjoyed a nice breakfast back at our room before getting ready for another nice day on board the Crystal Serenity.
During Captain Glenn’s daily morning talk he noted that early tomorrow morning we would be crossing the Equator. The temperature at 9:00 AM was 84 degrees Fahrenheit or 29 degrees Celsius. We were sailing a little over 150 land miles off the coast of Brazil.
Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was:
“A fine is a tax for doing wrong, but a tax is a fine for doing well.”
A nice variety of lectures were presented today. The first of the lectures was given by Tanis and Marin Jordan who presented “Expedition Surinam, French Guiana and Brazil – Into the unknown in more ways than one.” Later in the morning General Nick Halley presented “the Origins of the War Against Radical Islam. Special interest lecturer Bill Toone who presented “Marriage and other unusual relationships – The biology of sex”, gave the final lecture of the day in the afternoon. This presentation defined the primal drive behind reproduction, as well as its impact on our natural resources and our future.
We wanted to mention that part of the community spirit that takes place during the World Cruise is that Crystal brings on board three members of the Clergy for this adventure. This includes Jewish Clergy Rabbi Morris Hershman, Catholic Clergy Msgr. Wilbur Davis and Protestent Clergy Reverund Edward Voosen. This is our third World Cruise sailing with Rabbi Hershman and our second World Cruise sailing with Msgr. Davis. There is something very special about the celebration of several of the Holidays on board the ship such as Passover, Palm Sunday, Good Friday during the time we are sailing in the Middle East including celebrating others holidays such as Purim. It provides a nice opportunity for those of various faiths to share a common experience and to increase their knowledge of the various religious faiths. For example, we would say that one third of those attending the Rap With The Rabbi sessions are of non-Jewish faiths which truly adds to the experience.
This morning one of the activities that Anne Marie attended was a Computer Class. A nice variety of one-hour computer classes are scheduled on this voyage from very basic classes to the more advanced. This includes ten different classes: Using E-Mail Outlook, Dynamite Power-Point Presentations, Basic Files & Folders, Perfecting People of Pictures, Basic World Processing, Cloning, Basic Spreadsheet, Working With Scenery Photographs, ten Terrific Tools Using Windows 7, and Moving Objects Among Pictures. At the same time there is a much more advanced course being offered. For those taking the World Cruise they can sign up for a College Course that thoroughly covers a different topic on each of the seven legs of the World Cruise. They will actually receive college credit with the successful completion of the course. For those on one leg or a few legs of the World Cruise they can also sign up for the course, as it is not essential to have completed any of the individual sessions prior to taking the next one. In others words, there are no prerequisites for taking one or more of the advanced classes and each one is a stand-alone.
Anne Marie enjoyed the course she took today. She will easily be able to apply what she learned today. She also learned that on the succeeding voyages they would add additional higher-level courses.
We enjoyed a nice lunch and once again dined at the Lido Café. For those of you familiar with the Lido Café we sat outside in the area that is at the back (aft) of the ship. A few minutes after we sat down Captain Glenn who was joined for lunch by another officer came outside for lunch as well. We all remarked that it was like being on a private yacht as the only people outside were the four of us.
During the course of the cruise we will vary our lunches between the Lido Café, which serves buffet style lunches, and the Main Dining Room. There are many other dining options. There is The Bistro, which has a variety of luncheon items, The Trident Grill where there are hotdogs, burgers, pizza, wraps and several other items, Tastes that features table service and offers a variety of items and there is always room service. We prefer having a salad entrée whether it is in the Main Dining Room, The Lido Café or in Tastes.
When we first arrived to the Lido Café several familiar faces greeted us. During the breakfast and afternoon hours the Lido Café is staffed with personnel including Lido Deck Stewards, Specialty Restaurant staff and some wait staff from the Main Dining Room. We spoke with Sigi who is the Headwaiter for Silk Road, Therese who is our Waiter in the Main Dining Room, Antonio who is the Maitre d’ for the Specialty Restaurants and a couple of the Lido Deck Stewards. Ruel who is a Lido Deck Steward came up to us while we were getting our meal to ask if we wanted our regular distilled and sparkling water and by the time we had gotten to the end of the line Ruel and Therese carried our trays out for us. When we finished lunch we spoke with several of the other Deck Stewards who are either working the Lido Café, Tastes/The Trident Grill area or the area by the outdoor Swimming Pool. This included: Clark (Superman to us), Nathaniel (better know to most guests as Nat), Ritchie, Rosanno, Ross, Rey, and Johnny. In total, there are sixteen different Deck Stewards working in different areas of the ship. At night you will see some assisting in the Main Dining Room with drinks or some working in the lounges and the showroom. These are extraordinary individuals many who we have known for years. They quickly remember many of our preferences including types of food we enjoy, to types of non-alcoholic to other beverages such as the type of wine we prefer. We enjoy talking to them and learning about their home life and their families. They are all part of the feeling of family that we find throughout the ship.
We have a personal belief, which is that in the end it is the people who make a business or any product successful. For example you can take the most modern cruise ship but if you operate it with the wrong people it can easily be a failure. On the other hand, the right people can make a slightly older ship a huge success. This is analogous with computer software vs. computer hardware. With all things being relatively equal, the computer software is most critical.
This afternoon Anne Marie took another long walk on the Lido Deck. Keith did some additional weight lifting in the Fitness Center, his home away from home, and then spent some time with a fellow passenger trying to solve the problems confronting the world J.
This evening we will have cocktails at Captain Glenn’s quarters with some of our fellow passengers. Afterwards, we will dine in the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with Herbert Doppler who is the Hotel Director of the Serenity. We will tell you more about our evening when we Blog tomorrow.
This evenings entertainment also features internationally acclaimed virtuoso pianist Hyperion Knight. Over the years we have thoroughly enjoyed his concerts on board the Crystal Serenity. He stopped by our table last evening. We had seen him practicing in the music room, which is located near the specialty restaurants and learned from him that he practices for hours each and every day. They say that practice makes perfect and this is obviously very true.
TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY…….
“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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