NOTE: We included a picture from last night’s party where we sat with friends John and Linda and Bob and Glo. We also included pictures taken before this evenings formal dinner.
We wanted to start off by saying that we had a wonderful time last evening.
We thoroughly enjoyed dinner in the Main Dining Room. We had the Broiled Fillet of Fresh Local Dorade as our entrée and it was outstanding.
After dinner, we attended a sail away party up at the Palm Court. We sat with friends John and Linda, Bob and Glo, and the Crystal Society Hostess Jacque Brown along with another couple joined us towards the end of the party. We all enjoyed a wonderful conversation. The orchestra was great and there was dancing and complimentary drinks provided to everyone. We viewed some of the famous landmarks as we left Rio.
We also wanted to mention that yesterday we gave our best wishes to Herbert who is the Food & Beverage Manager. Herbert will be off for a while and then will be on the Symphony later in the year as he swings between both ships. He said that we would see him on the Symphony in November and we look forward to that. At the same time we chatted with the Food & Beverage Manager Walter who we saw yesterday who is the regular Food & Beverage Manager on this ship. The responsibilities in this position are major as they include all of the bars and lounges, the galley’s, all of the dining rooms and other restaurants and even the butlers. Over the years we have treasured our talks with both Walter and Victor.
We have received some questions from many of you about various subjects so from time to time we will touch on them. One question is what happens to the passenger’s when one is continuing no the ship from one voyage to the next. In general, with the exception of a voyage arriving to the USA, if you are arriving to a port outside the USA to end and then start a new voyage it is a normal day for that passenger’s continuing on. You can stay on the ship or go off the ship like a normal port day. With Crystal, you receive new passenger key cards the day before the morning of embarkation at which time you are asked to begin using them. The difference is in the USA ports. When arriving back at a USA port all passengers must go through customs and immigration and the process varies not only by port of call (eg, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, etc.) but also sometimes can vary from voyage to voyage for the same port with Miami being an example of that. In many instances those passengers who are staying on for the next voyage will meet in a designated room as they too are required to go through a mandatory inspection. You will be given your passport and carry with you the blue customs declaration form. These passengers will be taken off the ship and then wait in a designated area until all passengers have gone through this process and all other passengers who are leaving the ship and not returning for another voyage are off the ship. The amount of time all of this takes can easily vary from voyage to voyage. At the same time other factors can impact all of this such as on our seven-day voyage when we arrived in Key West, Florida (our first USA port) the day before this cruise ended in Florida so the ship was technically cleared at that point. In any event, in general for ports outside the USA the entire process is fairly transparent to those passengers staying on for the next voyage versus the process for that takes place when the ship return to a port in the USA.
Finally, those passengers’ who remain on the voyage for the next voyage are referred to as being in-transit during the turnaround day for the ship.
We are also asked about the ports of call on this voyage. We began in Rio and have stops at Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Cape Town. This cruise includes ten sea days, eight of which will be consecutive. Let’s hope is plenty of sushi and lots of bananas, blueberries and strawberries. J
This morning Keith woke up early and once again enjoyed a wonderful workout on the Elliptical Machine. Keith was the first to arrive and about thirty minutes later Brian arrived and then John arrived about fifteen minutes after that. By the time Keith finished up there were six of us working out which is the most people for that time of day. Of course, as more passengers join the ship on the next set of voyages that number will increase. Keith also worked out on the weight lifting machines. As she continues to do Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill for one hour.
Today was a wonderful day at sea as we sail from Rio to Montevideo, Uruguay.
We enjoyed another pleasant breakfast in our room. After breakfast we took care of a few items and then we attended two truly outstanding lectures.
During the morning show, we learned that the Super Bowl would be shown in all staterooms and in one of the public rooms at 1:00 AM ships time. Thank goodness it will be rerun over the following 24 hours because we will not be up at that hour.
Speaking of time, Keith learned from one of the other butlers that we will have five evenings during the crossing when the time is forwarded a total of five hours. In some ways it might be better to just do this all at once and just not have any activities one morning until noon. J
We listened to Captain Glenn’s morning announcement from the navigation bridge. Captain Glenn noted that we were ahead of schedule so we will likely slow down a little later in the day. The outside temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit and there was essentially no wind. The weather forecast calls for good weather. Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was, “Always remember, where you go, there you are.” J
Special Interest Lecturer Rex Ziak who presented “A Legacy of Exploration gave the first lecture. As part of this talk, he talked about how the ancient Greeks mapped the world as they knew it and how early sailors made corrections to these maps for more than 300 years until finally in 1728 a superstar named James Cook is born. Rex Ziak has to be one if not the most charismatic speakers we have heard on all of our Crystal sailings.
Destination Lecturer Ken Rees gave the second presentation of the morning. The topic of today’s talk wsa “The Full Monty – Welcome to Uruguay. South America’s Friendliest Country.” This presentation covered the fascinating story of tie Uruguay and included the rare archive film which showed how Montevideo offered a grandstand view of the sinking of the Graf Spee, the pride of the German Namy. This was also another excellent presentation like all of the others we have heard thus far from Ken Rees. We have thoroughly enjoyed each and every presentation given by Ken Rees.
In the afternoon, special interest lecturer Dr. Herb Keyser presented the presentation, which was titled “The Lives and Music of Geniuses of American Music – Al Jolson. While we were on the Los Angeles to Hong Kong sailing on board the Crystal Symphony last March Dr Herb Keyser was also an on board lecturer and he has a wealth of knowledge that he is able to share through these presentations.
In the afternoon, Keith continued to play Paddle Tennis and continues to make progress each and every day. Keith’s partner for the last two sets was the Maitre d’ from the Specialty Restaurants and they played some great games together. While Keith was playing Paddle Tennis, Anne Marie took another nice walk on the Promenade Deck.
This evening was formal night on the ship. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room.
After dinner, we attended the Captain’s Welcome Formal Reception, which was hosted by Captain Glenn Edvardsen. In September of 1998 Glenn was first promoted to Captain of the former Crystal Harmony making him the youngest captain in Crystal’s Fleet. In the year 2000 Glenn joined the Crystal Symphony as Captain and in August of 2003, Glenn joined the Crystal Serenity as Captain.
Before we share today’s thought of the day we wanted to once again say that we are so very thankful that we have the opportunity to see first hand those areas of the world that our parent’s could only dream of seeing, while at the same time experiencing all of this by being on the beautiful Crystal Serenity. Over the years we have learned the importance of seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty and looking at the positive side of each and every situation. Even through those challenging times we feel that we are being tested and that through adversary those times will make us well rounded and well grounded and more appreciative of all of the other times that we will experience during our lifetime. With this in mind, we wanted to share another thought related to focusing on all that is good.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“A pessimist see only the dark side of the clouds and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all – he’s walking on them.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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