FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010
NOTE: We have included a picture taken when we dined at Silk Road with Cruise Director Rick Spath and World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston.
Someone asked how many people are involved with the planning of the World Cruise program. While we are not 100% sure as to how many people are involved what we do know is that the planning is extensive and involves a good deal more planning than the typical voyage. We also know that much effort goes into the planning and that it includes meetings held during the summer before the start of the World Cruise which includes the Cruise Director, the World Cruise Hostess, and others from the ship working in conjunction with various personnel who work at the Crystal Cruises Los Angeles Office. Also, that the planning continues beyond that time frame. Once on the ship, the planning continues and many personnel will play an active role throughout the cruise whether its pulling together scenery for some of the special events to writing music or whatever else is required. Additional personnel help with the events. For example, the backup bandleader who is currently playing the drums for the Crystal Orchestra coordinated the World Games. We appreciate all of the efforts that go into this and making one World Cruise unique from the other one. There is also a special events coordinator on the ship and others that assist him.
In addition, planning for other aspects of the World Cruise starts even sooner. For example, there will be two events held on land and those sites are likely secured eighteen months or more in advance of the event and then much planning goes into each of those events.
We are now ten and one half hours ahead of those of you on the East Coast. When it is evening on the ship it is morning back home. When it is the morning on the ship, it is evening back home. We believe this will be the largest variance in time that we will have during the course of this adventure.
We wanted to begin today’s post with some comments about last evening.
Before dinner, we attended the one hour Matinee Production performance of the Crystal Cruises Show Standing Room Only. This included the lead vocalists, the Crystal Ensemble of singers and dancers who were all accompanied by the Galaxy Orchestra. We find that each time we see this show we enjoy it even more. We love the dancing, the music, the singing and the costumes that are worn by each of the performers.
We had a wonderful dinner at Silk Road and were joined by our Cruise Director Rick Spath and our World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston. We first sailed with Rick Spath in 2008 and this is our first sailing with Stacey Huston. They are both very positive individuals who have been on top of everything throughout this World Cruise. We appreciate their professionalism as we also appreciate their friendliness, warmth and sense of humor. They are true professionals.
We had planned to go to the Liar’s Club but after successfully avoiding getting a cold that some have gotten over the past few weeks Keith’s throat began to feel sore last evening so we decided it would be best to get some rest.
After we arrived back to the room we moved the clocks forwarded thirty minutes in preparation for our arrival to India on Saturday morning.
Today is our last day at sea before we arrive to our next port of call in Cochin, India. We have had an amazing time at sea between all of the on board activities and the entertainment and the World Cruise Games. It seems that all of the sea days have gone by in a blink of an eye.
Since Keith has a cold he skipped this mornings workout at the Fitness Center and slept a little later getting up at 6:15 AM, which is early for most but definitely is sleeping in for Keith. He stopped by the Lido Café to bring back some coffee.
Anne Marie left a few minutes later and she worked out for an hour on the treadmill and brought back coffee to the room.
We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the morning and during breakfast we watched the Crystal Cruises Morning Show hosted by our Cruise Director and World Cruise Hostess. We were pleased to hear that throughout the day and evening hours that tomorrow the Liar’s Club event will be broadcast so we will be able to catch this.
We learned that there would be a local show on the ship at 9:00 PM, as we will not be leaving until 10:00 PM. From time to time local shows are brought on board the ship, which is quite nice.
During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge he noted that we are on schedule for arrival to Cochin, India. The weather outlook continues to be quite good with smooth seas and nice weather ahead of us. The Captain’s Thought for the Day was “A man who can’t dance thinks the band is no good.”
This morning featured two lectures.
Lecturer John Hare who presented “A first in Desert Travel gave the first lecture.” He talked about a six week 450 mile trek around magnificent Lake Turkan and a crossing of the mighty river Orno.
Destination Lecturer Ken Rees gave the second lecture of the morning and he presented “From Ghandhi to Gucii – The Story of Modent India.”. As part of this presentation, Ken Rees talked about the remarkable transition from Partition to Prosperity and he also discussed what to see and do in Cochin, Goa and Mumbai.
We wanted to share a couple of interesting statistics from Ken Rees’ talk. India covers 2.4% of the land mass of the world but comprises 15% of the population of the world. In very short order India’s economy will be larger than that of the United Kingdom, France and Italy and it is projected that by 2050 that its economy may surpass that of the United States and be second to China’s.
Keith took a nice walk on the Promenade Deck in the morning to get some fresh air and to get a little bit of exercise since he took the day off from the Fitness Center. Keith walked with a fellow passenger and they enjoyed a nice talk. The weather was perfect.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Lido Café. Today’s lunch featured Phillipine Specialities and also included complimentary beer. The Lido Deck Stewards take a lot of pride in this lunch at it features so many nice foods that represent their homeland.
Speaking of lunch, we forgot to mention that yesterday Father Will joined us for lunch at the Lido Café and we enjoyed a wonderful talk with him. One of the really nice aspects of this adventure is having the opportunity to exchange thoughts and have discussions with a wide range of people on board the ship so it was once again a pleasure to sit with Father Will for lunch as we did several weeks ago. Likewise, the Rabbi and his wife will be joining us for dinner tomorrow evening in the Main Dining Room.
This afternoon Keith took another walk and I also spoke with some of our fellow passengers. Anne Marie also walked and we enjoyed a nice walk on the promenade deck and all sat out for a while by the pool.
This evening we will dine in the Main Dining Room and we will post more about dinner when we post tomorrow.
TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY….
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.”
Keith and Anne Marie
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