En Route To Cape Town - Day 28

NOTE:

Picture 1 Executive Chef Franz Weiss

Picture 3 Lido Deck Steward Nat

Picture 4 Silk Road Waiter Darely

Picture 5 Dining Room Waiter Therese

Picture 6 Lido Deck Steward Michael

Picture 8 Lido Deck Steward Jeffrey

Picture 9 Anne Marie with Lido Deck Steward Richie and Silk Road Walter Water

Picture 12 Sweet Potatoes (Yummy)

Pictures Last Two Pictures (17/18) From Last Evening’s Dinner at Prego

Wow! Once again we enjoyed an amazing day on the Crystal Serenity. We had another wonderful, and we do mean wonderful, evening on the ship last night.

We began the evening when we went to the Crystal Cove at 5:30 PM for a pre-dinner drink. Complimentary drinks were being offer to everyone before dinner. We sat with two other couples plus one other passenger traveling solo and we enjoyed a nice drink and a very nice conversation. We all talked about our plans for Cape Town.

We then dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with one other couple, their traveling companion, and one other woman traveling solo. Everyone had a wonderful time. The food was just delicious, the service was terrific along with the overall ambience of the dining room and we all had a wonderful conversation. Since it was formal night on the ship, many of the passenger’s were having dinner in the Main Dining Room so very few of the tables were in use. We could have talked for another ten hours and not run out of things to say. Rossi, was once again our waiter for the evening and was outstanding as he always is.

As we said the food was delicious. Some of our dining companions began with an appetizer. We also each enjoyed a small appetizer that was especially created by the chef last evening. Each night the chef creates a different appetizer for everyone to taste. We enjoyed a salad that we always have there that we sort of created which is not on the menu and most everyone else had it as well. We keep saying that they need to add it to the menu and maybe name it Antonio’s mixed salad in honor of the Maitre d’ of the two specialty restaurants. The two of us had the same entrée, which was Broiled Fresh Striped Bass alla Livornese. The entrée is accompanied with sautéed baby leaf spinach, fresh tomato, black olives, capers, celery, thyme and white wine and is topped with eggplant puree. Some of the other entrees that were ordered by our table companions included roasted rack of baby lamb with fresh herbs, osso buco cremolata (Veal Shanks), and a pasta special for the evening. We each had a nice fruit plate for dinner and others had some of the infamous desserts on the menu such as the Prego sampler which includes tastes from three dessert; orange panna cotta, tiramisu, and a flourless chocolate cake.

After dinner we all went up the Palm Court for the Captain’s Farewell Reception. During the reception one of the employees received the employee of the month award and it was someone who works behind the scenes in the kitchen preparing many of the wonderful soups served on board the ship. In addition to being entertained by one of the bands, the World Cruise Choir performed. The choir performs on each of the World Cruises and is comprised of both full World Cruise passenger’s and other passengers who are on one or more legs of the World Cruise. The choir sang three songs for all of us and they were marvelous. They meet on most sea days and they will continue to perform. This adds to a very nice feeling of community and family on the ship.

From the reception we all went to the showroom to see the Production Show called Curtain Call, which is our favorite of the Production Shows. The songs are memorable and by the end of the show we were dancing and clapping our hands to the music and to the songs. The costumes are just spectacular and we never tire from seeing this show.

This was truly another very special and memorable evening for us and we are having such a wonderful time on this years World Cruise.

During the Captain’s Reception we learned that approximately eighty passengers will be departing the ship in Cape Town. We will have a nice number of passengers joining us and expect that we will have around 625-650 passengers on the next leg of the cruise, which is about 200 more passengers than we now have. However, with several passengers participating in various overland programs such as Safaris the number of passengers on board the ship for the few days of the next leg will be less than this number. The ship can easily accommodate many more passengers and even at full capacity as was the case on the seven-day cruise before the start of the World Cruise it still never feels crowded.

The seas were calmer last evening and Captain Glenn noted that they would continue to improve with each passing hour.

Keith awoke fairly early this morning but with his daily workout fairly limited for him this was late. The good news is that we do not have to deal with anymore of those time changes. When he arrived to the Center, fellow passengers John and Brian were already well into their workouts on the Elliptical Machine, with Keith’s favorite Elliptical Machine sitting idle. L The Executive Chef was also working out. Keith did what has become his normal routine working out with the various weights. Keith chatted and had a very nice conversation with fellow passenger Brian before finishing in the center. Afterwards, Keith returned to the Lido Café to get some coffee. He said hello to fellow passenger Linda and to one other passenger and was helped by Earl, one of the Lido Deck Stewards.

Around the time that Keith returned to the room, Anne Marie began her morning workout on the Treadmill. Like Keith, when she finished her workout she brought some coffee back to the room from the Lido Café.

As we normally do, we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the room while we watched the Crystal Daily Morning Program. One of the guests on the ship happened to be Dr. Fosenfeld who has a weekly call on FOX called House Calls. Rick Spath and Stacey Huston interviewed him. He mentioned that he thought this was the best cruise ship with the best service he has ever been on and that he has sailed with many cruise lines and on many ships. He also mentioned that he thought that the show from last evening was the very best show he has ever seen on any cruise line or cruise ship. He takes around one vacation per year and took this cruise because of all of the sea days. He mentioned that if he sits down for a minute that someone from the crew will come up to him within a minute to ask what they can do for him.

At one point Rick asked the audience a question and Keith called in. The question was what are the top three things that everyone can do to prevent a hear attack.

The doctor gave Keith a 100% noting that he was three for three and then provided several additional thoughts highlighting the importance of life style changes that are key to heart attack prevention.

During Captain Glenn’s daily morning talk from the ship he noted that we will arrive to Cape Town four hours late due to the impact of the weather/sea conditions.

The Captain’s Thought of the Day was very appropriate given this morning’s Crystal Morning Program. “The best exercise for the heart is to reach down and to lift people up.”

We agree with the Captain 100%

We also began to fill out the Quality Assurance Program Survey for this leg of the World Cruise. We always take the time to fill out the survey because we do know from prior experience that the results are taken very seriously and that all of the comments are indeed read by several of the key officers on board the ship and many folks in the Crystal Los Angeles Office. Over the years we have seen changes that have been brought about because of the survey results. At the very start of the Cruise we remember that Cruise Director Rick Spath mentioned that anyone with a suggestion for an area to be improved should be sure to let him or Stacey or others from the Crystal team know and they too have already made some adjustments and tweaks to the program based on feedback and suggestions from several of our fellow passengers. In our opinion Crystal does not just “talk the talk” but they “walk the walk”. They take constructive feedback very seriously and we appreciate that very much.

For a few days we lost some of the Satellite Broadcasts of various news programs from around the world given the area of the world we were sailing, but with each passing day some of them are returning to the screen along with some new ones from nearby countries/continents.

Keith’s ankle and foot has far less swelling that it did when we first injured it. Today, he will finish off the anti-inflammatory medicine that the doctor prescribed for him. He is taking it a day at a time and hoping that with each passing day it will bring him closer to being fully recovered. Yes, he can’t wait to get back to being able to exercise on the elliptical machine and not having any pain in the area where the injury occurred. He hopes to do a fair amount of walking in Cape Town.

Today is another busy day on the ship with lots of activities and entertainment throughout the day and evening hours. Three lectures are on the program today along with three (yes three) shows for all of the passengers to enjoy.

Dr Jay Wolff kicked off the first of the three presentations. The title of his presentation was “The Washing of the Spears. The British had arrived in South Africa at the start of the 19^th Century. They ultimately came into conflict with the militant Zulo. During this presentation Dr. Wolff spoke about the story of the Zulo War. Dr. Wolff is an outstanding speaker. He is able to convey a vast amount of information while at the same time presenting it as part of a story. How he remembers all of the details including dates and names of people and regions without any notes is truly amazing. We learned a great deal from today’s presentation as we do each and every time Dr. Wolff presents. We enjoyed a very nice conversation with Dr. Wolff’s wife, Carol, before the start of Dr. Wolff’s presentaition.

Ambassador Tony Leon whose presentation was titled “The 2010 World Cup” gave the other presentation of the morning. He talked about what the FIFA World Cup means to both South Africa and the entire continent. It is certainly a major event that will take place in just a few month. This is the Ambassador’s first voyage as a presenter with Crystal and based on the discussions we have had with many of our fellow passengers they agree that he has been an outstanding presenter. He is an excellent presenter. Keith spoke with him and his wife before today’s presentation and shared some thoughts with them about Soccer in the USA.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Today a magnificent lunch was set up on the Lido Deck and was the Crystal American Classic Buffet. We think today was an appropriate date for this buffet since today represents another tradition for the America with the annual Super Bowl. We sat with friends John and Linda at a nice pool right adjacent to the indoor pool and enjoyed a terrific conversation as we also enjoyed a wonderful lunch. We made ourselves a very nice salad entrée.

The third and final presentation of the day was given by Medal of Honor recipient Leo Thorsness and was appropriately named for all that he did while serving in Vietnam. It is hard to imagine all that he and all of the other POW’s went through. His and other similar experiences are a reminder to each of us to persevere in all that we do and to appreciate our friends and our family members and to be thankful for all that we have.

In the afternoon, Keith did some additional reading and writing and then sat with a couple of our fellow passenger’s in their continuing efforts to discuss and solve the major problems of the world. Anne Marie walked on the promenade deck for an hour and took care of a few errands.

Throughout the day there were numerous activities too numerous to list. On top of this, Crystal had three different shows for all of us to enjoy.

At 5:15 PM we attended the first of the three entertainment programs with another performance by Internationally Acclaimed Virtuoso Pianist, Philip Wojciechowski.

We then enjoyed a fabulous dinner in the Main Dining Room.

After dinner four different acts were performed in the second of the three shows. This included performances by the dynamic dance duo of Curtis Collins and Beverly Durand, a performance by Flautist Clare Langan, a sensational soprano by vocalist Fiona Jessica Wilson and a trumpet virtuoso by musician Gary Guthman.

We did not attend the third and final show which was performed by Comedian Frank King with a special performance by the vocal quartet “Sounds of the Serenity”.

If that was not enough entertainment, the Super Bowl was shown live on the Crystal Serenity with coverage beginning at 1:00 AM and kickoff beginning at approximately 1:25 AM. Passengers could watch the show in either the comfort of their stateroom or at the Hollywood Theatre with hot dogs, popcorn, and soft drinks provided. We plan to watch the game when it is shown on rerun throughout the day.

We have all enjoyed all of the wonderful days at sea. The seven sea days have gone by so very fast with so much to do on the ship. Tomorrow, we arrive at Cape Town.

TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY….

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

Keith and Anne Marie