Cape Town - Day 31

NOTE: We have included a picture of our Head Waiter, Augusto, making us Caesar Salad last evening, not to be mistaken with Steak Tar Tar. J

We have also included a couple of pictures of us from last evening taken in front of the fountain.

We have also included a few pictures from today.

Please note that the map that we have included for this third leg of the World Cruise was the original map and does include to ports that we will not stop at; Seychelles and Maldives. As we mentioned, due to issues surrounding the Pirates the ship will take a different route and, as such, will bypass these two ports.

We wanted to mention once again how much we enjoyed time we spent in Cape Town yesterday, especially our tour of Robben Island. We were so very fortunate to have had such nice weather. Many times the weather in Cape Town can go back and forth from nice to very windy or cloudy or rainy several times throughout the day. The views we had of Table Mountain were spectacular, probably the best one can get. It is not often that one can see the entire mountain as we did.

Our tour of Robben Island included people of many different nationalities. While there were some Americans on the tour many more people were from other countries. This included tourists from places such as the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Spain, South Africa and a few other countries and we did have the opportunity to talk with some of them. This adds tremendously to the enrichment we gain from our travels.

We did want to note that while we are seeing the very nice areas of Cape Town this country still faces several thorny issues including those related to race. Hopefully, time will help to ease and heal many of these issues as we have seen in our own county. While South America continues to make progress there are clearly very large pockets of poor people in this country including Cape Town and there is also areas of high crime and violence.

As we mentioned at the start of this adventure, when we travel as tourists we realize that in our short stays we do not see the entire picture of any place we visit so we must always keep that in perspective.

Last evening, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room with some additional laughs. Our Head Waiter happened to be at the front entrance as we arrived and he mentioned to us that tonight he was making us Caesar Salad. Yes, the real Caesar Salad rather than Steak Tar Tar. We must say that Augusto made an outstanding Caesar Salad, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We also each had the seafood entrée which was delicious. It was fresh caught Table Bay King Clip, which we have had on a couple of previous cruises with Crystal and it was just terrific. We love the diversity of the entrees that are offered in the Main Dining Room and it is always enjoyable to try all of the various seafood entrees that we are able to have throughout the voyage.

We also had the opportunity to meet our Senior Waiter (Pedja’s) girlfriend who just came back on board, as she is a waiter in another area of the Dining Room. She has that perfect smile and the two of them are adorable together.

Today is the first full day following the start of the third leg of the World Cruise.

We depart Cape Town at 6:00 PM today. Our next stop will be at Port Elizabeth, which is a maiden port of call for Crystal. From there we continue to Durban. After three additional days at sea will have stops at Zanzibar and Mombasa. We will then enjoy seven consecutive days at sea on route to Cochin, Marmagao and Mumbai, India. This is a very long leg of the World Cruise totaling 21 days with several days at sea.

We do have several port excursions planned in most of these ports because these are mainly places that are more conducive to organized tours rather than walking around on our own. Some of these ports we have been to before while others will be new ports of call for us.

With so many days at sea, this leg of the cruise will include a very special program known on board the ship as the World Games which provides both guests and members of the crew with the opportunity to participate in a wide range of games where medals (Gold, Silver and Bronze) are awarded to the top three finishers of each event. We will provide more details on this when the opening ceremony is held on February 14 and the games begin on February 15. It really doesn’t matter whether one wins or loses. It is all about the spirit of these events. Unfortunately, there are some events that Keith will not be able to participate in this time around but he will do what he can do.

Keith awoke early this morning for the start of another outstanding day on the Crystal Serenity. Today, he was once again the first passenger at the Fitness Center although since being injured does not arrive quite as early as he used to. Fellow passenger Brian is on safari and fellow passenger John took a well-deserved day off from his workout. A couple of days after Keith injured himself a passenger who has now departed the ship in Cape Town advised him that as soon as he felt up to it he should start to use one of the two straight up tall stationary bicycles and that he would be able to keep the ankle straight and utilize the right leg to do more of the work. This passenger was a former athlete and had gone through some similar injuries, Keith’s injury. From time to time Keith has stared at those two bikes but decided to wait. In fact, one day word somehow got back to Anne Marie that Keith was looking at one of the bicycles and she quickly told Keith “no way”. L This morning without even planning to do so he ended up on the bicycle and went twenty minutes. Interestingly enough he has been feeling more pain in the bone of the ankle when at night when he tries to sleep which he thinks is due in part due to most of the swelling having gone down. The good news is he was able to do exactly as the other passenger had told him and he enjoyed a very nice twenty minute workout on the bicycle. So, tomorrow his plan is to do a 45 minute workout. J

Anne Marie did her one-hour workout in the Fitness Center on the Treadmill. Both Keith and Anne Marie brought back coffee from the Fitness Center after working out.

On the start of each voyage, the teams of Lido Deck Stewards rotate between one of three main areas; the Lido Deck Café, the Pool area, and the Tastes and Trident Grill areas. This gives them a change and also recognized that each area has different work schedules including start and finish times. At the same time, these folks also have other responsibilities with some helping serve drinks at the shows and others helping out in the Main Dining Room or at the various receptions. So, one will see these wonderful folks at different venues depending which rotation they assigned to along with any additional responsibilities.

As we say often, these folks represent the heart of the ship. They have tremendous interaction with so many passengers and are some of the nicest, most helpful and kindest people you will ever will meet. We have such fun with each of them, as do many of the passengers. For example, there is Nat who we have known for quite a long time. When you talk with him at the end he will clasp his hands together and as he puts them towards the side of his face he will box slightly. He will call Anne Marie, Momma. And he has a baby face making him look much younger than he likely is. There is Clark who is also known as Superman. He always has kind words, a smile, and a wonderful outlook on life. He is also a great paddle tennis player. J In fact, he has such a happy face that one year his picture was in the Crystal Cruises Annual Atlas and is sometimes in the daily Crystal Cruises Daily Program; Reflections. We can go on and on and on about each one of them which we will be sure to from time to time.

When Keith went by the Lido Café Lido Deck Steward Earl was there so we are not sure if he is doing another rotation there or if he was just helping out. We first met Earl in 2005 and after our first order he remembered the soft drink and also the type of water that each of us enjoyed at one of the evening shows along with the type of wine (a different one for each of us) that we prefer at the various receptions held throughout the cruise.

Keith also spoke with Ross who we have known since 2005 as well who always has that kind word. Many times when you see Ross he also puts the thumb up in the air in a very warm manner. Ross is another wonderful man who we so greatly appreciate.

Many times we are asked how one cruise line compares to another cruise line. Our initial response is that each cruise line has their own niche and in general they all have nice attributes that those who sail them often prefer. We have been blessed and fortunate to have sailed on some of the other luxury cruise lines and thought that they were quite good and each had their areas of strengths.

For us while we have positive thoughts about many of the cruise lines including those that Crystal competes with there are several reasons why in the end Crystal has become our favorite of all of the cruise lines that we have sailed with to date.

The first is the crew. While we have received polished service on some of the other cruise lines, from our very first Crystal cruise we quickly noticed that something was different where the service was not just polished but the crew went out of their way to recognize and learn about each passenger and to treat them all as individuals and how quickly they learned passenger preferences. In time, these folks have become extended family members not just to us but also to many of the passengers who come on board the ship, which to us is amazing. What we have come to recognize is that the crew who have stayed on over the years love their work, adore the passengers and the bond that they have developed amongst themselves. While in some businesses on land one will observe a separation if you will between management and non-management, and on some cruise lines you see a similar separation between officer and non-officers or for that matter between nationalities, this is not the way that the folks on Crystal operate. Rather you see cohesiveness amongst the crew and many of the crew looking out for each other no matter what their position is. And, this is not a show for the passengers but rather it is genuine. We realize how challenging the work is to begin with because essentially even thought they get some time off in many ways it is like working 7 by 24 since one is away from home. Yet, so many of the crew has been with Crystal for not one, two or even a handful of years but for 7, or 10 or more years. To us that says a great deal about the philosophy of the company from top to bottom. For us the crew is analogous to the software. You can take the most modern and equipped ship and with the wrong crew this will adversely impact the overall passenger experience. On the other hand you can take an older ship and with the right crew you can have the best experience. For us, it is the crew throughout the ship that makes the true difference.

Similarly, Crystal is one of the few businesses that does not seem to know the word no. They do go out of their way to please each guest and to accommodate as much of their needs as possible within reason. We have always found Crystal to be fair and that they have seen them do the right thing time after time.

We also enjoy the wonderful Crystal cuisine and just as importantly their flexibility. If you provide 24 hours notice to the dining room staff they can prepare almost any item you desire assuming the ingredients are available. Add to this the fact that on most evenings if you ask to change something up (say the way the seafood is cooked) or say asking them to prepare a salad that is not featured on the menu, etc. they will gladly do this for you. It may take a little extra time but they are happy to please.

Another area that we thoroughly enjoy is the overall enrichment and entertainment program. For us, no other cruise line comes close to Crystal in this area. We especially like that with few exceptions that most of those who come onto the ship as part of these programs make themselves very accessible to the guests during other hours of the day for a chat, coffee, lunch or even dinner. Related to this is that in the end the results from the passenger survey given out towards the end of the cruise have a large factor as to whether or not these folks will be invited back to perform or lecture on future Crystal Cruises. We have become good friends with both entertainers and lecturers who we first met through Crystal and whom we have met on other Crystal cruises.

Finally, for us we greatly enjoy the layout of both Crystal ships. To us the Crystal Serenity is the perfect ship for a long cruise such a World Cruise. For us, it is not too large and it is not too small which are both very important considerations for a long cruise. Just as we think the size of the ship can be very important for certain itineraries we think this is even more important for a cruise of this length. Even small touches are very important. For example, we love the promenade deck on the Crystal Serenity. It is wide enough so that multiple passengers can walk or even run side by side, is not cluttered with any furniture and is a true wrap-around-promenade deck so it is good for so many people including those in a wheelchair. Unlike many of the larger ships that are now putting large verandahs on the back of each deck, Crystal does not do this. So, what you will find is that on the back of most decks is an area where passengers can sit outside and read or just have a very quiet talk as if it is their private area. We think that is a very thoughtful design.

We also enjoy all of the public rooms on the ship. It is true that the staterooms on Crystal are smaller than those found on some of Crystal’s competitors. For us, we prefer it that way as we like to spend most of our waking time in the public rooms and on Crystal ships you will find a greater percentage of room in the public areas. For us, we think it is analogous to ones home. Over the years we would say that we would rather have bedrooms of more moderate size but a larger family room because that is where our family spent more of its time during the waking hours of the day and night. For us, we really enjoy the fact that there are many venues that we can go to and some unique ones that are not found on many cruise ships. One example would be the movie theatre, which is used to show two movies a day (one some special theme cruises even three movies) and is also used for selective lectures and also can be used for services. Or there is The Bristro which we think of as we do for a community that has a coffee shop where members of the community (in our case the ship) can meet up with others to talk and to enjoy a light meal or coffee, tea or other beverage, or they can go there just to enjoy sitting by themselves or to read a book. We have not found such a venue on other cruise lines that is like this one.

Again, we think there is something that each cruise line has to offer and we think that anyone who can go on any cruise on any cruise line is very fortunate as most people around the world will never have this opportunity. We also think that it is so wonderful that unlike the airlines that the cruise lines are mainly different from one another so that each person who does want to cruise can select on that best fits their needs including their respective age at the time of the sailing and their specific circumstances. We just wanted to share some of our thoughts on why we truly have enjoyed each one of our sailings with Crystal.

In the end for us it is the service, the fine cuisine, the outstanding crew, the unique entertainment and enrichment programs, the characteristics of the ship and most importantly the “attention to detail” and Crystal Cruises willingness to try new and varied approaches and their openness to change that makes Crystal so special for us and in our opinion second to none.

With that in mind, let’s get back to highlights from today.

We enjoyed a very relaxing breakfast in our room. We spoke with Alexander for a few minutes and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. We learned from Alexander that he lives very close back home to our Senior Dining Room Waiter. As they say, this is a small world.

Before we went over to the waterfront area we stopped by the Main Dining Room to try to find our headwaiter to order Salmon for this evening since in lieu of the fish that is one menu. The dining room had just closed but we were able to catch another of the headwaiters who ably assisted us. Another example of what we are talking about is that while we have never had this headwaiter, he knew our names.

We had originally thought we would take the Hop On – Hop Off sightseeing bus but given Keith’s ankle we thought we should pass on it. This is something we will plan to do on a future trip to this area as they offer two completely different routes one of which is focused on seeing the various sites of Cape Town and the one that is focused on the Peninsula area.

Instead, we walked around the wharf area and enjoyed the scenery that was all around us. When we first woke up it was pouring outside but about an hour before we left the ship the sun had already come out. While we were at the wharf area the sun was shining and there was very little wind.

On our way to the wharf, Keith sat next to comedian Kenny Smiles who we have seen perform on Crystal voyages on two different occasions. Kenny arrived to the ship yesterday and will do a couple of performances before departing the ship in Kenya. He is quite humorous and does a unique show of comedy along with singing some songs. He is from Whales.

When we got back to the ship we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Lido Café. We attempted to eat outside but it was a bit too windy so we ended up eating inside.

We spoke for a while with the Senior Waiter who we had during the seven-day cruise with the children. His name is Angelius (pronounced like Angeles from Los Angeles). This was his very first time to Cape Town and we were talking about all of the very interesting and unique ports of call we will visit. We asked him if he had a nice time while we were in port in his home country of Brazil and he was telling us that his Mother flew two hours to meet up with him while we were in the port of Fortaleza, Brazil and how proud he was to be able to show her around the ship and of course how nice it was to visit with her. It is so nice when members of the crew’s family can see the ship and meet some of the fellow passengers and crewmembers. On a related note our sommelier’s girlfriend is from Cape Town and while we were in port he had the opportunity to meet her family for the very first time. She works on the ship as well and last year she had the opportunity to meet his family for the first time. When you see the smiles on the crew as they tell you all about this it is so touching and just adds to that warm friendly people that is all around the ship.

Afterwards, Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck and also on the Treadmill in the Fitness Center. Keith read and also wrote and then met up with a couple of passengers in the afternoon for a nice chat.

This evening we will dine at the Main Dining Room.

We departed Cape Town at 6:00 PM as we sail to Elizabeth South Africa which is a Maiden Port Of Call for Crystal Cruises.

TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY….

“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.”

Keith and Anne Marie