Walvis Bay, Namibia

We arrived to Walvis Bay, Namibia this morning. This is our first time in Africa.

Last evening we moved the clocks forward one additional hour before we went to sleep so we were a little tired when we awoke this morning. We had breakfast in the Lido Café and then we went to the Fitness Center to work out.

Our ship was cleared at around 9:00 AM by the local authorities and we proceeded onto shore about 30 minutes later. We did not have an excursion planned for this port of call, rather, preferring to just take a long walk on our own. After getting off the ship we headed in the direction of the Lagoon of Walvis Bay where we saw lots of beautiful pelicans and flamingos and other birds. We then continued for quite awhile and passed by several large homes with very nice landscaping. The homes were all immaculate. We then went in a different direction heading towards the local town where we walked around for awhile and went into a local grocery market just to get a feel as to what types of products are consumed in this town. We ended up walking for almost three hours. The overall temperature was great for walking and after all of the time we have had a sea it was nice to walk on land.

When we arrived back on the ship we got washed up and had Lunch in the Main Dining Room. We each had wonderful salad entrees. This afternoon we took advantage of some quiet time on the ship to take care of a variety of items from the wash to some paperwork.

Before dinner this evening we attended a chorus concert performed by passenger’s on the ship. We know some of those who sang and they did a wonderful job. From time to time they practice throughout the segment. This evening concert was a medley of Beatles songs.

We had a wonderful dinner. The food, service, ambience and conversation was all wonderful.

Tomorrow we will have a nice day at sea as we cruise towards Cape Town, South Africa.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Walvis Bay, Namibia Day 2

This morning we woke early and had breakfast in the Lido Café. There were very few passenger’s eating breakfast at this hour so it is usually a great time for us to enjoy a very quiet breakfast. After breakfast we went to the Fitness Center for our daily workout. Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill while Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine.

Late in the morning, Anne Marie went to the salon for a haircut. Keith went to a lecture given by Nigel West whose topic was titled “The Special Relationship: The White House and Ten Downing Street”. After the presentation, Keith and Anne Marie played in the Table Tennis, Mixed Doubles World Games. Anne Marie and Keith each won Gold Medals in the tournament! At Noon, we also had a special Team Trivia which was part of the World Cruise Games. Our team did not win a medal but had a great time playing in today’s event as we do all of the other games.

For Lunch we went to the Main Dining Room and today was the Grand Gala Buffet. This buffet has so many outstanding foods from various appetizers, entrees, deserts, breads and salads, which are all wonderfully presented. There are so many items to choose from. We created our own salad, which we really enjoyed. We have really been good about having nice large salads for lunch each day knowing that we are on this cruise ship for such a long time.

In the afternoon Anne Marie sat out by the pool. At the last minute Keith decided to enter the Crystal Family Triathlon. Each team was composed of one passenger and one crewmember. Keith was matched up with Adi Schutzeneder the Head Sommelier. In the first event each passenger had to cycle for two miles and each crewmember has to cycle for two miles as well. In the second event each passenger had to power walk around the Promenade Deck and then touch the hand of the crewmember who had to power walk around the Promenade Deck. Then the crewmember had to touch the hand of the passenger who had to do a second power walk lap around the Promenade Deck, who, in turn, had to touch the hand for the crewmember who had to complete their second power walk lap around the Promenade Deck. The final event involved each crewmember swimming eight laps (eight lengths) of the swimming pool. This was made more challenging by the fact that the ship is moving which creates lots of waves in the pool. Each of these three events were timed and the scores of each team were totaled. In the end, the team of Keith and Adi finished in second place only twenty-six seconds behind the first place team. So, Keith and Adi finished with a silver medal in this event, which was the final event of the games.

This evening we attended the medals and closing ceremony for these games where Anne Marie and Keith were each awarded her Gold Medasl for table tennis and Keith was awarded his Silver medal for the Triathlon. In total, we won three gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals. More importantly, we had lots of fun no matter how we did in the games and we met many passengers who we had not met before and also got to know others that we had met during the cruise even more. And, it made the days at sea go by so quickly. It also gave us an opportunity to talk with Dorothy Hamill and Tracy Evans. They were very nice and very personable and only had nice words to say to us.

This evening we enjoyed a very nice dinner in the main dining room.

After dinner, we attended two wonderful shows. The first show was presented by our Cruise Director, Gary Hunter, who si also a Ventriloquist and we really enjoyed his show. After this show, we saw another show presented in a different venue, which was given by comedian Jon Courtenay. We enjoyed this show as well

Tomorrow morning we will arrive in Walvis Bay, Namibia the first of several ports of call that we will visit in Africa.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Walvis Bay Day 1

Today is the first of two sea days as we cruise to Walvis Bay, Namibia. This will be our first time to this area of the world.

We began our day as we do most days by getting up early and having our breakfast in the Lido Café. Since we moved the clocks forward yet another hour before going to sleep last evening, there were very few passenger’s having breakfast at this hour as most were sleeping in. After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center. Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill and Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine. We find this routine works very well for us as we get our exercise done the first thing the morning before we get busy with other activities.

In yesterdays putting tournament two of the gentlemen from our dining room table places first and third in this event respectively. We were happy for them.

As this is a sea day many activities were planned for the passenger’s. There were more World Cruise Games and today there were also some crew games. For the crew, this included tug-a-war & slippery pole games. We enjoyed watching the crew play these games and they certainly had a lot of fun as well.

This morning we attended two lectures. The first was given by Ambassador Bob Goodwin who discussed some of his experiences participating on trips to foreign countries with some of the Presidential administrations that he was a part of. The second presentation was given by Dr. Art Ulene titled “Eat What You Love Without Gaining Weight”. Dr Ulene provided some really good sound advice on preventing weight gain along with excellent advice with regard to good eating habits. We thoroughly enjoyed both of these very interesting presentations. At Noon we attended Team Trivia. Our team did better today as we finished in a tie for second place.

After Team Trivia we had lunch in the main dining room. We each enjoyed a nicely prepared salad entrée.

This afternoon Anne Marie attended a presentation given by an independent Gemologist titled, “All the Other Gemstones You Love
Later in the afternoon we enjoyed the continuation with the world cruise games by watching some of the crew events. There were several different crew teams that competed in the Fug of War with a team of waiters finally winning the competition. This is the third year in a row that they have won and it was clear that carrying all of the dishes has added to their muscles. At the end of the event, Captain Otto and Cruise Director Gary Hunter squared off in the Slippery Pole competition and we have a picture on this Blog of the both of them. Unfortunately, by the time this event ended it was too late for Keith to compete in the mixed doubles shuffleboard games. Tomorrow, there will be a few final games that we will compete in such as a special trivia game and mixed doubles table tennis.

Tonight was another formal night. We decided to eat in Silk Road rather than in the Main Dining Room since we had never eaten there during a Formal evening. On formal nights many of the officers also dine in the specialty restaurants so we thought it would be nice to eat there just to change things up a bit. Once again, we enjoyed a truly outstanding meal.

Tomorrow we will enjoy another day at Sea before we arrive in Walvis Bay, Namibia on Wednesday morning. After still another day of sea on Thursday we will arrive in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday morning.

Keith & Anne Marie

St. Helena

We woke up early this morning and went to the Lido Café for breakfast. There were many more passenger’s eating breakfast as there were several morning shore excursions. After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center for about an hour. Keith worked out on both the Elliptical and Treadmill and Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill.

This is a port where we needed to tender from the ship over to the Island. We were very fortunate that the weather was great as there are some days where it is not possible to tender due to gusty winds. We went over to shore at around 9:30 AM. Up until recently only six cruise ships would visit this port of call per year, but last year about twelve ships visited this Island. There are no airports so the only way to visit the island is by boat or cruise ship.

As we mentioned, this Islands major role in history was to serve as the place where the British exiled Napoleon for the rest of his life. Napoleon arrived on October 14, 1815 where he lived until his death on May 5, 1821. Originally, he was buried here but his body was exhumed on October 15, 1840 and was moved to its current resting place in Paris, France.

We walked around the small town area for about an hour and a half. We walked by a fort, a church, some lovely flower gardens and some small shops. We were struck with the friendliness of the people as many of them said hello to us as we walked around town. Clearly, this is a very simple island and that is the way that most residents would like to keep it.

After enjoying our time here, we took a tender back to the ship. We took care of our laundry and then we went to lunch in the Main Dining Room.

This afternoon many of the children from the local school came on board to sing for us. They ranged in age from children who attend elementary and middle school to those who attended junior and senior high school. We enjoyed their songs and each one told a tale of the Island. The audience warmly received the children and after their little concert they were treated to a variety of snacks including cookies and ice cream.

Later in the afternoon one game of the World Games was held which brought out many of the golfers on board the ship. A series of five putting greens were set up in the main lobby. While Keith does not golf he does enjoy miniature golf and he ended up with a total of 16 strokes which while not one of the better scores was somewhere in the middle so he was pleased and had fun socializing with our fellow passenger’s and crew.

This evening we went by ourselves to the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. As usual, the food, service and ambience were wonderful so we had an excellent time.

We will now be at sea for two more days and look forward to all of the activities that have been planned for us. This evening we will once again set the clocks forward by an additional hour.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To St. Helena, Day 5

This morning we woke up fairly early and had breakfast in the Lido Café. There were very few passengers in the café given that we had turned the clocks forward one hour last evening and many people were sleeping in. this morning. After another wonderful breakfast we went to the Fitness Center to workout. As usual, Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill while Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine.

Later in the morning we attended a lecture given by Intelligence Historian Nigel West about Honeytraps, Coercion, and Blackmail during the Cold War.” The lecture was quite interesting We have been very pleased with the lectures that have been given on board the World Cruise. Crystal Cruises has brought on board a great diverse group of lecturers for each segment of the World Cruise who has given informative and energetic presentations.

After this lecture, we sat out in a shady spot on the open deck to read until it was time to w Team Trivia. Today, we finished towards the middle of the teams having correctly answered eleven of fifteen questions.

Following the Team Trivia, we went to Lunch and ate in the Lido Café. For the first time on this ship the lunch buffet was cuisine from the Philippines. This morning at breakfast many of the Lido Staff who are from the Philippines told us about the lunch as they are very proud of their heritage including their cuisine. So, we knew we should go by the buffet to try some of this cuisine and we are glad that we did.

After lunch it was time for Keith to play Men’s doubles table tennis and Keith and his teammate won the bronze medal. Keith now has one three medals and Anne Marie has won one. We are enjoying the games because it provides a nice opportunity to meet new passengers and to enjoy games with those that we already know.

A highlight of the day was the World Cruise Games Awards Ceremony this evening. Keith received a Gold Medal for coming in first place in Men’s Basketball Competition and a Bronze Medal for coming in third place in today’s men’s doubles table tennis and Anne Marie received a Bronze Medal for coming in third place in the Woman’s Basketball Competition. As was the case at the first ceremony they called up the winners one at a time for their respective competition and then Tracy Evans and Dorothy Hamill presented the awards. Each winner received a Medal and a Certificate. Many fellow passengers were on hard to applaud for the winners. It has added to the excitement for everyone this week. In our eyes, each and every passenger has been a winner throughout the week regardless of whether or not they placed in the competition. As we mentioned, it has been fun just to participate in these events as it provided a wonderful opportunity to converse with our fellow passenger’s.

We had a nice dinner in the Main Dining Room. After dinner we attended a reception at the Captain’s quarters that was given for some selected passenger’s. This provided yet another good opportunity to speak with the Captain, other Crystal Personnel some of our fellow passenger’s. Light snacks and drinks were served.

Tomorrow morning we will arrive in St. Helena. After five days at sea it will be nice to spend some time on land.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To St. Helena Day 4

After waking up this morning we went to breakfast in the Lido Café. We had a very nice breakfast and talked to another couple doing the full world cruise and then another passenger who we talk to often jointed us for breakfast as well. We talked about the nice event that was held last evening which was a 1960’s party. As we mentioned yesterday the band played several songs from the 1960’s and a few by our favorite 1960’s group. We had a good time dancing to the music. The Cruise Director, Gary Hunter, and the World Cruise Hostess, Krista Pope, entertained the group and this was followed by music performed by the Crystal Cruises Orchestra, skits performed by the some of the Repertory at Sea Actors, and dancing performed by the Crystal Cruises Dancers. It was a lot of fun.

After Breakfast we went to the Fitness Center where Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill and Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine for an hour and then we did some weightlifting on the machines.

The seas continue to be fairly calm today. However, due to our location we now get very limited satellite reception. We are picking up just one news channel and the other stations are in house programming provided by Crystal. Very few ships sail where we are now sailing but it has been a delightful crossing. We should reach St. Helena this coming Sunday morning at around 7:00 AM. This evening we will once again move the clocks forward as we move into yet another new time zone.

There are a few more World Cruise games taking place today with additional ones planned for tomorrow. Today, Keith played doubles shuffleboard. The team that he was on did not qualify for any awards but Keith had a wonderful time playing and conversing with many of the fellow passenger’s who were participating in these games. Tomorrow evening, there will be another awards ceremony, which will include our awards from yesterdays Basketball competition.

We have really gotten to now several people quite well now as we have been on this ship for over forty days. With that said, everyday it seems that we meet other new passenger’s; some of whom are on this specific segment while others are on multiple segments or the entire World Cruise We find participating in the many activities offered throughout the day to be a very good way to meet new passenger’s and to keep up with those who we have already met.

This morning we attended two lectures. Destination lecturer Bernard Stonehouse discussed the Island of St. Helena. His lecture was very interesting and he provided a good deal of information about this port of call. It’s fame came from being the location where Napoleon had been exiled to.

Later in the morning, we attended a lecture given by Dr. Art Ulene . The subject of the lecture was “Living with Stress without Getting Sick.” The audience participated in this lecture and Dr. Ulene provided a good deal of solid information on techniques to use to relieve stress and the correlation between stress and ones health.

Following Dr. Art Ulene’s lecture we went to team trivia. Today was a good day for our team as we finished in a tie for second place. After trivia we had lunch in the Lido Café. We each had a very nice salad. After lunch we ran a few errands and then we went to the Men’s doubles Shuffleboard competition.

We wanted to mention that the games are for all passengers. The participation has been quite high. In addition, the crew has been having their own games as well and the results of been mentioned on the daily morning television program that Crystal produces for the ship.

Today, we received an invitation for tomorrow evening to join a some other passenger’s for cocktails in the Captain’s Quarters tomorrow evening. We will write more about that tomorrow.

We had another wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. The service and food were both excellent along with the wonderful conversation with our fellow passengers.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To St. Helena Day 3

Today has been another wonderful day on board the Crystal Serenity. Those who have cruised often have come to appreciate the wonderful days spent on board a cruise ship while it is at sea. Crystal Cruises does an outstanding job of planning a diverse set of activities for its passenger’s during sea days. Each of our sea days on-board the Crystal Serenity has a very diverse set of activities to keep everyone happy.

We began our morning as we have almost every other morning. After waking up we had breakfast in the Lido Café. There was only one other couple eating breakfast while we were there. Many passenger’s seemed to be sleeping in this morning given that we moved the clock forward one additional hour before gong to bed last evening. After a wonderful breakfast, we went over to the Fitness Center for our morning workout. Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill while Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine.

At 9:30 AM Keith participated in the Men’s Basketball Tournament and after several rounds of foul shooting won first place and will receive a Gold Medal at tomorrow evenings Award Ceremony.

Then at 11:00 AM it was time for the Women’s Basketball Tournament and the good news is that Anne Marie won Bronze Medal so she will receive her Medal tomorrow evening as well.

After Women’s Basketball it was time for Team Trivia. Today was not a good game for our team as we finished in next to last place for today’s game. But, we still had a wonderful time as we always do. Following trivia we had lunch with most of our teammates in the Main Dining Room. We then went to an open house on the ship to see the different category of staterooms.

Later in the afternoon, we went to see the lecture given by Olympic Medalist Tracy Evans. Tracy Evans is a three-time Olympian in the 1994, 1998 and 2002 Olympic games. She competed in the sport of Freestyle Skiing/Aerials. Tracy competed on the World Cup circuit for ten years. We enjoyed her lecture.

This evening we dined in Silk Road with another couple who we first met in the Fall of 2005 on this ship. They had previously sailed on the 2005 Full World Cruise and are also on the full World Cruise with us. They are from the United Kingdom and we truly enjoy their company. We enjoyed the wonderful food wonderful and conversation with them.

Following dinner we attended a cocktail party for the World Cruisers. The theme for the party was the 1960’s and we had a fun time at this event. There were lots of songs from the 1960’s to dance to, including a couple of songs from our favorite 1960’s bands.

Tomorrow is another day at sea as we continue to sail towards St. Helena. We look forward to all of the activities that are scheduled throughout the day and evening hours.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To St. Helena Day 2

Today has been another fun and exciting day on the Crystal Serenity. There have been so many fun activities throughout the day and we have enjoyed each and everyone of them.

We awoke early this morning as we normally do and we went to the Lido Café for Breakfast. The Lido Café serves a variety of breakfast items which works perfect for us. After breakfas,t we worked out in the Fitness Center. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the Elliptical machine. We also each worked out on the weight machines.

Later in the morning, we went to see Dorothy Hamill speak. We arrived early in order to get a seat in the front and had the opportunity to speak with Dorothy for a few minutes. Dorothy Hamill was nineteen years old when she won her Gold Medal at the 1976 Winder Games in Innsbruck, Austria. In many ways, it only seems like yesterday when we were watching the Olympics on Television and seeing her win the Gold Medal. At that time, we would never have dreamed that we would be sailing on a World Cruise and have the opportunity to meet her on board the Crystal Serenity.

We enjoyed her talk, which also included a series of videotapes. She talked about how important ice-skating was in her life starting at the time she was a very young girl through her illustrious career. At the end of her lecture we were able to get another picture with her and also talked with her for a few minutes more. She is a very warm and friendly individual.

At 11:00 AM we went to an event called Sea Legs. This is an event that is held for anyone who is sailing on multiple cruises segments Today’s event, involved a competition amongst the crew and then a second competition that also included some passenger’s. It was a lot of fun and we laughed quite a bit. As part of the competition each team had to make a bed, set a dining room table and fill wine glasses with the high standards that Crystal expects for their respective staff. Our take-away from this event was to really appreciate the level of effort, attention to detail, and special care that goes into each of these activities by the personnel who perform these important tasks.

At 12:15 it was time for Team Trivia. The questions were rather challenging and our team finished in third place.

Keith was entered in the table tennis World Cruise games, which began at 1:30 so this time for lunch we ate in the Lido Café so that we would be finished in time for the table tennis tournament. We each made our on salad entrée, which was nice.

At 1:30 it was time for the men’s table tennis tournament. Other than playing for less than five minutes the other day, Keith had not practiced at all since we have been on this cruise. Keith ended up winning several games and only lost one game which was for a gold or silver metal and he won his final game which was for a bronze medal.

At 3:30 PM Anne Marie played in the Solitaire competition, which was held in the Computer University. They will announce the finalists/winners after all of the games have been played.

At 5:15 PM we attended the World Cruise Game Ceremony called the Thrill of Victory Medals Ceremony where Keith received a Bronze Award from the Table Tennis Tournament. At this event they gave out the metals from those events that occurred over the past two days and just like the Olympics they played the national anthem. Dorothy Hamill and Tracy Evans presented the metals. Keith enjoyed getting kisses from each of them. ☺

We had a very nice dinner in the main dining room with our tablemates. We each had a wonderful salad, an entrée of delicious swordfish and various steamed vegetables and other cooked vegetables and fruit for our desert. We all were discussing how much we have enjoyed the World Cruise. It has clearly exceeded all of our expectations and we are thankful for this wonderful experience.

This evening we will forward our clocks another hour as we pass through another time zone. We expect tomorrow to be another fun-filled day.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To St. Helena Day 1

We just wanted to start off by commenting about last nights festivities. Many of the passenger’s who are participating in the World Cruise Games participated in last evenings opening ceremony. Each of us marched with a crewmember who was holding a flag of a country. We enjoyed doing this and participating in the ceremony. The ceremony was held on open deck. It included singing and dancing by the Crystal entertainers along with brief speeches given by the Captain and the Cruise Director. The two Olympians who are on board were also introduced. They are: Tracy Evans and Dorothy Hamill. Tracy Evans is a three=time Olympian in the sport of Freestyle/Skiing/Aerials. Dorothy Hamill won the Gold Medal in 1976. A highlight for us last evening was getting the opportunity to speak with Dorothy Hamill for a few minutes after the close of the opening ceremony since we had followed her quite closely during the 1976 Olympics. Also, for most of our marriage Anne Marie wore a hairstyle similar to that of Dorothy Hamill’s. We also got the opportunity to briefly talk with Dr Art Ulene and told him how much we enjoyed his lecture from the other day.

Last night directly after dinner we attended a cocktail party associated with the Travel Consortium that our travel specialist is affiliated with. There were less passenger’s there than at the previous two cocktail parties but we had a nice time talking with a few of the passenger’s and talking with the person from the travel consortium headquarters. In addition, the Hotel Manager was in attendance, Josef Matt, and we talked with him for quite a while. From time to time we have seen him in the Fitness Center when we have gone back an extra time in the afternoon and he remembered us from the center. We enjoyed our conversation with him. We also spoke with guest lecturer Nigel West for a long time and enjoyed that conversation a great deal as well. He is a renowned military historian, specializing in intelligence, counterintelligence and security issues.

This morning we woke up fairly early as we have a number of activities that we plan to attend today. When we arrived at the Lido Café there were only two other passenger’s there and one other passenger arrived when we were mid-way through breakfast. As usual, we received outstanding service from the Lido Staff. They are wonderful and go out of their way to make breakfast so very enjoyable for us. When we arrived at the Fitness Center, it was a little busier than usual but we had no problem using the equipment. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill for one hour while Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine for the same amount of time.

Later in the morning Keith participated in the first of the games he signed up for; Shuffleboard. Keith has not played Shuffleboard in several years. His game ended in a tie and then Keith lost in overtime but had a great time playing and chatting with several of the other players.

Keith also went to a lecture given by Bob Goodwin titled “The White House, Camp David and Air Force One.” He is a former United States Ambassador to New Zealand and has worked in several different Presidential Administrations.

At 12:00 Noon we went to Team Trivia. The questions were quite challenging today. We ended up finishing in a tie for third place. Following Team Trivia we went to lunch with several members of our Trivia Team to the main dining room.

This afternoon Anne Marie participated in the Table Tennis Competition for women. Anne Marie played well since she hasn’t played in Table Tennis for some quite time but lost her game. \

Before dinner this evening we attended a Crystal Society Cocktail Party. This party is for those passenger’s who have previously cruised with Crystal. Once a passenger completes their first cruise with Crystal they automatically become a Crystal Society Member. As a member of the Crystal Society one can realize various discounts for future cruises along with other milestone benefits based on the number of cruises completed to date. As usually, the reception provided a wonderful opportunity to talk with several of our fellow passenger’s.

This evening’s attire was Formal and, once again, we enjoyed seeing everyone dressed up for the evening.

Tomorrow, there will be many activities as we enjoy our second of five consecutive days at sea as we cruise towards St. Helena.

We'd love to hear from you so please feel free to post your comments on our blog.

Keith & Anne Marie

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Day 2

This morning we woke early and had breakfast in the Lido Café. There were a fair number of our fellow passenger’s at breakfast as many tours are operating today.

We spoke with several passengers’ who went to the Carnaval last evening. The consensus was positive, but there was a range of opinion. One couple thought it was the best experience of this kind that they had ever experienced, even better than the Rose Bowl or a Super Bowl. Another couple thought it was a very special evening. Yet, another couple said it was OK but would pass on it if they had the opportunity to do it again. They all agree that the security in the stadium was quite good. Everyone did say that it was very hot in the stadium. We are so very happy that the majority of those who attended enjoyed it as much as they did and we are happy to hear that the security inside the stadium was very effective.

After breakfast we each worked out in the Fitness Center with Anne Marie working out on the treadmill and Keith working out on the Elliptical machine. We each used the weight machines as well. Keith also got a haircut on board the ship.

As we mentioned with enjoyed the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant last evening. You will see a picture on today’s’ Blog from last evening. We are with the headwaiter of the restaurant Willie. We first met Willie on this ship in the fall of 2005. He always goes out of his way ot make us feel very welcome each time we dine at Silk Road. We also see him each morning, as he is one of a couple of headwaiters assigned to the Lido Café during the morning hours. Several of the staff from Silk Road also work in the Lido Café during the daytime along with Willie.

We spent the rest of the day on board the Serenity. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the main dining room and we also took a nice walk on the Promenade Deck and also caught up on some reading and other activities. We also noticed some different ships in port today so we walked around to see which ships were in port. One ship we took a look at from the outside is one of the Sea Dream ships. It is even smaller than the Seabourn Pride which we went on last fall. This ship has a passenger capacity of around 94 passenger’s and a crew of a similar size.

In the late afternoon there was a Farewell Rio Sail Away Party as the Crystal Serenity departed Rio. They served complimentary caipirinhas during the sail away party.

This evening we enjoyed dinner in the main dining room. We each had swordfish this evening, which we had ordered, in advance with our headwaiter, Peter, the other evening. The fish along with all of the other food was delicious.

After dinner, we went to a cocktail party, which was sponsored by the travel consortium, Signature, that our travel specialist is associated with. It provided us with a nice opportunity to converse with our fellow passenger’s who are booked through TA’s on this cruise who are also associated with that particular consortium. We had a nice time at the cocktail party.

At 10:15 PM we gathered with many of our fellow passenger’s for the opening ceremony of the World Cruise Games. All participating athletes were invited to participate in the festivities and were asked to wear the shirt we were given the other day. As they say, “let the games begin!”

Tomorrow, is the first day of five consecutive days at sea so the nice thing about these games is that it keeps many passenger’s busy during this time frame and just adds to the excitement on the ship. Our approach to the games we entered is to have a fun time. We will not lose any sleep in terms of whether we win or not. We will just enjoy!

On Sunday, February 25 we arrive in the next port of call, which is St Helena, which is part of the United Kingdom. This is the Island where Napoleon was exiled after his defeat at Waterloo.

Keith & Anne Marie

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Day 1

We woke up early this morning so that we could have breakfast and then view Rio de Janeiro as we arrived this morning. The ship arrived in port at approximately 9:30 AM. While it was fairly windy on the open deck, the view of Rio was quite spectacular as we started our approach to this port of call. This is the first time that Anne Marie has been to this port of call and the second time that Keith has visited here as he was here several years ago on business.

When we docked a the cruise ship terminal there were several other cruise ships in port. This included The World which is the cruise ship where which is essentially has condominium ownership, The Seabourn Pride, The Celebrity Summit, The Holland Princendam (sp), a Costa ship and one other ship whose cruise line we were not familiar with.

Unfortunately, our tour excursion was canceled due to the fact that the tour could not meet all of Crystal Cruises security standards. We believe this is because the tour involved a visit to Favelas where there were concerns about providing sufficient security in this area. There were no other tours that we were interested in replacing this one with.

After arriving in port, we went to the Fitness Center to work out and then took care of some errands on the ship. We then had lunch in the main dining room. After lunch, we departed the ship and we took a complimentary shuttle provided by Crystal Cruises, which dropped us off downtown at the Sofitel Copacabana Hotel. The Hotel is directly across the street from a very nice beach area and there is quite a bit of shopping right nearby. We were warned several times to be very careful given the high crime rate in Rio.

On our way to the Hotel we drove by the stadium and grandstands, which will be utilized for Carnaval and we also passed by several floats. The streets are busy. The Carnaval related activities began last evening and this evening and tomorrow evening are the major events.

When we arrived back to the cruise ship terminal we walked over to the Seabourn Pride. We have sailed on this ship twice; most recently this past Fall from Copenhagen, Denmark over to London, England. We saw a person outside from the Seabourn Crew who we recognized and who also remember us. This ship is one of the smallest cruise ships and only carries 200 passengers. We were glad that we were able to stop by to see the ship since it was getting ready to leave shortly after we stopped by.

This evening several passengers will be attending Carnaval. We decided to pass on this and we look forward to hearing all about it from them sometime tomorrow. As we understand they will arrive to the Carnaval at around 8:00 PM and can stay anywhere’s from around three-to-seven hours. We decided to pass on this for several reasons including the cost (almost $700.00 per person), the large crowds and other factors related to the crowds. However, if we had decided to go we would have done this through Crystal as they provide transportation both ways and added security. While there can be problems in any city around the world, there are some added security issues in this city due to its history of crime and the fact that there is heightened crime given all of the tourists that are in town for the Carnaval.

In addition to the seven cruise ships; all Hotels in Rio have been fully booked for over six months.

This evening we went to the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant by ourselves to enjoy a quiet dinner and to celebrate Valentine’s Day since on the actual holiday we went to the Tango Show instead of enjoying a quiet dinner by ourselves. We had a wonderful time as we always do with wonderful food, great ambiance along with the wonderful service which is provided throughout the meal.

Tomorrow we will be in Rio until late tomorrow afternoon when it is time for the ship to leave port.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Day 2

Today, we spent another full day at sea on our way to Rio de Janeiro. Our ship will arrive in Rio about two hours later than planned tomorrow morning due to the high winds from yesterday.

We had breakfast in the Lido Café and, like yesterday, it was not very crowded. After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center. Once again, Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine for about an hour. Keith also worked out on the weight machines.

After breakfast, we signed up for the passenger Olympics that will be held during the upcoming sea days. We each received a nice shirt to wear during the games. Keith signed up for a variety of the table tennis and shuffleboard games and for basketball and for the walking relay. Anne Marie signed up for table tennis, basketball, shuffleboard, and for solitaire. It should be a lot of fun.

We then caught a portion of the lecture given by Smithsonian Theme Lecturer David Aguilar titled “What About Pluto?” We thoroughly enjoyed the lecture and plan to go to the next lecture that Mr. Aguilar gives sometime during the cruise.

We then went to the next lecture that was given by Dr. Art Ulene. As you may recall, Dr. Ulene appeared several time each week on NBC’s Today Program for thirty years. This is his first time lecturing on board Crystal Cruises and his lecture was wonderful. The title of today’s lecture was “Add Life to Your Years: Dr Art Ulene’s Prescription for Vitality.” He covered twenty-one recommendations in support of this topic. Dr. Ulene will give two more lectures on this segment of the World Cruise and we plan to attend these lectures. We were very impressed with what he had to say.

Following Dr. Ulene’s lecture we went to team trivia. Our team finished in a tie for second place. After lunch, we had lunch in the main dining room with one other couple from our trivia team.

Before dinner this evening we went to see the play given as part of the Repertory Theatre at Sea. The name of today’s play was Beau Jest a comedy by James Sherman. The play was quite humorous. We really enjoyed it as we have the other plays we have seen on board the Serenity that are part of the Repertory Theatre at Sea.

Once again, we enjoyed dinner in the main dining room. We ate with one other couple. The service was wonderful, the food very tasty and the presentation of each entrée was outstanding. We have a wonderful senior waiter, waiter and headwaiter.

Last evening, we learned that our tour for tomorrow in Rio was canceled, as the tour did not meet the security standards of Crystal Cruises. While we were disappointed to learn of the cancellation, we are glad that Crystal scrutinizes each tour and we obviously concur with the decision to cancel the excursion. After speaking with representatives at the shore excursion desk, our plan at this point is to take the complimentary shuttle provided by Crystal into Rio sometime in the afternoon.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Day 1

Last evening we set our clocks forward one hour due to the time zone change. We woke up fairly early this morning and had breakfast in the Lido Café. Once again the folks on the Lido Deck have rotated so we now have other staff assisting us in the morning. We know many of them from previous sailings and from seeing them in other areas of the Lido Deck. Essentially, there are three teams and they rotate every segment. Currently, we’re on the third segment of the World Cruise so next time around we will have the staff in the Café who assisted us on the first segment. They are all so very nice. Most of the staff on the Lido Stewards are from the Philippines and typically they work about nine months straight and then go home for two months. They are such outstanding individuals. They have a tremendous work ethic and are genuinely very caring and nice people who go out of their way to make each passenger feel special. We enjoy talking with them and learning more about them, their life at home and about their families.

After breakfast we worked out in the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine for a little over an hour and Anne Marie did likewise on the treadmill.

The ship is about two-thirds full and between that and the time zone change there were not many people in either the Lido Café or the Fitness Center while we were in each venue.

Later in the morning we attended a lecture given by best selling biographer and Time magazine’s diplomatic correspondent, Christopher Ogden. He has lectured on Crystal for almost ten years. He has written several books including Life of the Party, which is a biography of Pamela Harriman. This book was on the New York Times bestseller list for five months and also became a television movie. He has also written other books including a biography on Margaret Thatcher. Today’s lecture was titled “The US and Latin America: Not Such Good Neighbors”. We enjoyed the lecture and it certainly gave us lots to talk and think about.

Crystal offers a wonderful lecture program throughout the year and expands on the number of lectures offered during the world cruise. We look forward to these and other lectures over the course of the cruise.

After this lecture we attended Team Trivia. As this was the first day of the third segment, new trivia teams were added. Our team finished in a tie for second place today and is only one answer behind the top team. So, we are off to a good start. We had a wonderful lunch in the main dining room with some of our fellow Team Trivia teammates and two other couples.

This afternoon Keith went back to the Fitness Center to lift weights while Anne Marie went to needlepoint to pick up a needlepoint kit.

This morning during Christopher Ogden’s lecture the seas were quite choppy and it was very windy. It has been better this afternoon.

This evening is the first Formal night of this segment so we kicked off the night with the Captain’s Formal Welcome Reception. This reception provides a wonderful opportunity to talk with fellow passenger’s, to greet the captain and to also hear him welcome all passengers to the ship for this segment of the world cruise. At the reception we took a picture with Rosano and Earl from the Lido Staff who showed us to a table at the reception. The other picture shows Captain Otto.

Following the reception we had dinner in the main dining room. As one of our tablemate couples is on the overnight shore excursion there were four of us at dinner this evening. As we’ve mentioned before, we really enjoy the formal nights as most of the men are in tuxedos or white dinner jackets with the remainder in dark suits and the women are in formal dresses or other formal outfits. Everyone looked so wonderful this evening all dressed up.

Tomorrow we will have another day at sea as the Crystal Serenity cruises northward to Rio. We will arrive in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday morning.

During this segment of the world cruise Crystal will host their version of the Olympics for passengers and crew. It will be held on the sea days when we make our way from South America over to Africa. There are two former Olympic Medalists on the cruise They are: Dorothy Hamill and Tracy Evans. We will share more information about the Olympic games and the former Olympians when the games commence.

As we mentioned, we enjoy reading your posts, so we welcome those of you who would like to post on the Blog.

We wish everyone a wonderful weekend.

Keith & Anne Marie

Buenos Aires, Argentina Day 2

Last night we left the ship at around 9:30 PM for our trip to a Tango show. Our drive over to the Tango took about 45 minutes. On our way, the tour guide pointed out a variety of famous sites and also explained the history of the city and the Argentinean Tango.

The Tango show that we saw was performed at La Ventana. When we arrived at the venue we were seated at tables and our table was located fairly close to the stage.

All of the guests for this particular show were from Crystal and we would estimate that there were about 120 guests in attendance. The performance was wonderful and included Tango dancing performed by four couples. There was also a female vocalist who impersonated Evita, and a male vocalist. There were seven musicians who played music for both the vocalists and the dancers. There were also other musicians who played folk music and one man who also danced and performed for us. The show ended around midnight. Interestingly enough, another performance was held directly after ours for another crowd. Everyone we spoke with enjoyed the show and we were all happy that we had chosen to attend this show.

This morning we woke up a little later than we usually do since we had gotten back to the ship so late last night. After having breakfast in the Lido Café and working out in the Fitness Center we took the complimentary bus provided by Crystal back into town.

We walked around and we saw the Teatro Colon, which is one of the top five Opera Houses in the World. It was inaugurated in 1908 and since that time some of the most famous opera singers have performed there.

We also saw the Obelisco whose shape is similar to that of the Washington Monument. This landmark was built in 1936 at the spot where the very first national flag was raised. It is 221 feet tall.

Before returning to the bus, we walked along various streets around the city and enjoyed the wonderful city atmosphere. After returning back to the ship we had lunch in the main dining room with another couple who we had sat with at dinner during the last segment of the World Cruise.
Buenos Aires is a great city and as we mentioned yesterday, the people who we spoke with during our time here were all very friendly and helpful to us.

Our only regret is that we did not have time to have dinner at a local restaurant during our stay here. While we had received some wonderful recommendations for dinner, given the hour we needed to be back on the ship to meet our tour for last nights Tango show, there just wasn’t enough time to make the show if we tried to eat in town.

This evening and all day tomorrow we will be at sea as we make our way towards Rio de Janeiro.

This evening we went to the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant with one of the two couples from our dinner table. The other couple will be off the ship for the next three nights visiting Iguazu Falls, which is a famous and fascinating waterfall where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay intersect. They will meet back up with the ship in a few days while we are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We look forward to hearing all about their time in this beautiful location.

Keith & Anne Marie

Buenos Aires, Argentina Day 1

We arrived in Buenos Aires at about 5:30 AM this morning. This is the port of call where the second segment of the World Cruise ends, and the third segment begins. Over 500 passengers disembarked the ship at this port with about 200 new passenger’s embarking the ship. In total, the ship will carry about 620 passengers during this segment of the World Cruise.

We woke up early this morning so that we could give our best wishes to those passengers who we got to know during the cruise who were disembarking the ship. We ate breakfast in the Lido Café. After finishing our meal and extending our best wishes to several passengers we got ready to disembark the ship so that we could walk around Buenos Aires.

We visited this wonderful and beautiful city this time in 2005. To us, Buenos Aires is very cosmopolitan and has many characteristics similar to other charming cities that one can visit within Europe. We like seeing the architecture of the beautiful buildings and the people are very friendly and out-going.

Buenos Aires has a population of approximately eleven million people. It has wonderful restaurants, museums, and a European-influenced architecture.

We took a complimentary shuttle provided by Crystal from the cruise ship terminal over to Florida Street. We walked on this street and along other adjacent areas for most of the morning. There was much to see, very friendly people to talk with and the weather was wonderful.

When we arrived back to the ship, we had lunch in the main dining room and then after taking care of a few items we worked out in the Fitness Center and we took a nice walk on the ships Promenade Deck. We also ran into our headwaiter from the first two segments of the cruise, Bruno, and wished him our best as he goes on vacation. He will return to the ship while we are still on the World Cruise as headwaiter of Prego, which is the Italian Specialty Restaurant on-board, the Crystal Serenity.

This evening we dined at our new dinner table. We have a new waiter, senior waiter and headwaiter. Our headwaiter is Peter who some refer to as tall Peter. When we last sailed this ship, he was our headwaiter and we enjoy him a great deal. We sat with our new tablemates and had a great time talking with them. We are looking forward to dining with them during this segment of the World Cruise.

Later this evening we will go to a Tango. We will leave the ship around 9:30 PM and will let you all know about it when we post tomorrow.

We wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine’s Day.

Keith & Anne Marie

Montevideo, Uruguay

This morning we arrived at Montevideo, Uruguay.

Last evening we set our clocks forward one hour due to the time zone change in this port of call. At the same time, we woke up fairly early, as we needed to meet our tour at 8:10 AM this morning

We had breakfast in the Lido Café as we do each morning.

The shore excursion that we went on was a complimentary shore excursion provide by Crystal Cruises. Each segment of the World Cruise includes one complimentary excursion for both full World Cruisers and those passenger’s booked on individual segments. The excursion was called “A Day at the Races”.

After we disembarked the ship, we were taken on a thirty-minute drive by bus where we arrived at the Hippodrome. We drove through various areas of Montevideo on our way to the Hippodrome, which is a horse racing track. This facility was recently refurbished. Before we entered the facility we were given two tickets each to use to bet on the two horse races. Passengers could also purchase more tickets inside the track if they were interested in placing additional bets. We were shown around the facility. There were a variety of areas to sit at and this event was for Crystal Cruises only. We were offered various drinks including soft drinks, water, wine and champagne and then were offered various appetizers. Later in the program a variety of cooked foods were served such as chicken and beef. Ample time was provided for each person to place their bets and we saw two races.

Five horses competed in the first race and six horses competed in the second race. We weren’t given much information to determine our bets other than the name of the horse, the jockey and the trainer. We had the choice to bet either for the horse to win, place or show. So, in the end Keith took the logical approach, which was to base our selections on names of horses that we liked best. ☺ We are happy to say that this strategy worked as we picked a winning horse in the second race. At the completion of the horse race a couple of awards were given out and speeches were given by our cruise director and one of the dignitaries who was in attendance from the local government.


In terms of Montevideo it is Uruguay’s only large city. This city represents almost half of the entire population for Uruguay and is one of South Americas major seaports. It is home for much of the South Atlantic fishing fleet.

After arriving back to the ship from our tour, we had lunch in the Crystal Dining Room with two other couples who we spent the excursion with.

After lunch, we took a walk on the Promenade Deck and then later in the afternoon Keith worked out in the Fitness Center.

This evening we went to the Silk Road Japanese Specialty restaurant where we dined with Ambassador Peck and his wife Ann. The food and the conversation were outstanding We are sorry that the Ambassador and Ann will be disembarking the ship tomorrow morning in Buenos Aires and we look forward to sailing with them at some point in the future. They are both wonderful people.

Tomorrow morning we will arrive in Buenos Aires at 5:00 AM. We will have all day in Buenos Aires tomorrow and will also be there overnight. Tomorrow morning many of the passenger’s will be leaving the cruise ship while in the afternoon new passengers will be arriving to begin the next segment of the cruise. This will be a busy day for the crew, as they need to get ready for the new passengers who will be embarking the ship. At the same time, some from the crew will be going on their vacations while other crewmembers will be joining the ship at this port of call.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Montevideo, Uruguay

We thought we’d start off by providing a few more details about last evening’s event. In between all of the wonderful dinner courses that were served to us, the entertainers performed a variety of acts from singing, to dancing, to juggling. Each of the dinner courses from the appetizers to the entrée to the desert to even the rolls were outstanding and each was prepared with special care. The effort that went into the planning of this event was unbelievable. We had a wonderful time and all of the passenger’s we spoke with afterwards echoed similar comments as well. We also enjoyed the conversation of our tablemates including the assistant Hotel Director who also sat at our table. It provided a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the crew and for us to provide comments (all positive) about our experiences on board the Crystal Serenity. We were also very fortunate to having been assigned to a table directly in front of the stage. And finally, we were very fortunate to have been assigned to a table with two other wonderful couples. As we learned, the Maitre d’ from the Crystal Dining Room was responsible for coordinating the table assignments and this is another example showing the thoughtfulness that goes into coordinating all of this. This was truly a memorable evening for us.

This morning we woke to clear skies. As has become our regular routine, we had breakfast in the Lido Café this morning. As we have mentioned, the Lido staff are wonderful. They always have a big smile on their faces, are very attentive with most of them knowing our names and knowing what we enjoy for breakfast and they are so very helpful and considerate to each and every passenger. At last nights dinner, we complemented the Lido staff to the assistant Hotel Director and she mentioned that this is a particular position that many on the crew try to attain. We also made sure to complement others from the staff around the ship who have significantly added to our adventure.

After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill while Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine. We really enjoy the routing of working out in the fitness center. Now that we are once again sailing in warmer climates, we plan to augment our work out by walking more on the promenade deck in the afternoons. Keith also lifted some weights while Anne Marie did some stretching exercises.

There are many activities on the schedule for today since this is a sea day. This will be the last sea day for those passenger’s on this segment who will be disembarking in Bueno Aires in two days.

We caught up on a variety of items after working out in the morning. At Noon we went to team trivia. Today is the Birthday for one of our team members and when we saw her as we were getting coffee this morning on the Lido Café we ended up leading a rendition of Happy Birthday and as we looked up passengers and crew all around us had joined in as well.

Today’s trivia was the last one for this specific segment. Our team did very well placing towards the top for today’s questions. Overall, we didn’t win for this segment but there is always next time. ☺ We had a wonderful time playing and that is what counts.

After trivia we had lunch in the main dining room. At the same time there was the American Classic Luncheon Buffet held around the Neptune Pool area. This classic buffet includes a whole range of food starting with various starters such as Cajun seafood gumbo, crisp coleslaw, mixed greens, Waldorf salad, carrot raisin salad and potato salad. There were a variety of barbeque items from baby back ribs, to beef ribs, to blackened fresh fish, to southern fried chicken.

If you are still hungry then there are a variety of other items from prime rib to chicken potpie to roast turkey to New Orleans Jambalaya. There are also baked potatoes, casseroles, baked beans, Texas style Chile, corn fritters, corn on the cob and many other food items. There was also Cobb salad, Caesar salad, grilled chicken, avocados, hard-boiled eggs, blue cheese and a variety of breads to choose from.

Are you ready for desert? There was chocolate fudge turtle cake, key lime pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, bread pudding, New York cheesecake, lemon bars, brownies, macaroons, crème caramel, chocolate pudding and apple pie. And the list goes on and on and on.

Given that we are cruising for such a long time, we purposely passed on this wonderful buffet and we each enjoyed a wonderful salad entrée in the main dining room.

This evening is the final formal for this segment of the cruise. The formal evening was kicked off with a Captain’s farewell reception. We had a great time at the reception as it provides another wonderful opportunity to sit with other passenger’s and to also hear from the captain. After the reception we went to dinner. It is always nice to see the men dressed primarily in tuxedos or dark suits and the women dressed primarily in long gowns and cocktail dresses. Hopefully, the tradition of formal nights will continue on most cruise lines for years to come as we really enjoy these evenings.

Tomorrow morning we arrive in Montevideo, Uruguay and then the following day we arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Keith & Anne Marie

Puerto Madryn, Argentina

This morning we arrived in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. This city is located along the southern coast of Argentina. Today’s weather was very nice with temperatures ranging between the low and mid 80’s.

As is the case each day, we woke early and had breakfast at the Lido Café. The café was much busier than normal as many of our fellow passenger’s were up early as they were booked on a variety of tours. Most of the tours were to see various forms of wildlife.

After breakfast we worked out in the Fitness Center. Since many passengers either were booked on tours or were just going to see this port on their own, there were very few people in the Fitness Center. After our workout we changed. We did not book an excursion for this port of call, but rather we decided just to walk around on our own. We walked up the main street for about 1 mile. There was a fairly large beach on the left hand side of the sidewalk and across the street from the beach area were some hotels, apartments, stores and restaurants. As we began our walk back to the ship we walked in a few shops, also went to a small multi-level shopping mall and we also walked around a supermarket.

We got back to the ship a couple of hours after visiting the port and then we went to lunch in the main dining room. After lunch Keith walked around the ship while Anne Marie wrote some letters.

This afternoon we went to the Crystal Hollywood Theatre to see the Movie: An Inconvenient Truth. This documentary presents Al Gore’s campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide. We are glad that we had the opportunity to see the movie as we had not gotten the chance to see it at home during its showing at the movie theatres.

This evening we attended a special event for those passenger’s on the full world cruise event. It began at 6:30 PM with cocktails and was called “Under the Big Top Dinner”. For those guests not on the full world cruise, Crystal offered a selection of complimentary wines in the Crystal Dining Room this evening. Each passenger was assigned a table number. At around 7:15 PM our table was called and we were escorted to out table. We sat with two other wonderful couples who we know very well along with the assistant to the Hotel Director. The food was wonderful along with the entertainment. It was truly a wonderful evening.

Tomorrow, we will be at sea before arriving to our next port of call on Tuesday.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Today we enjoyed a wonderful day at sea as the Crystal Serenity cruises to Puerto Madryn, Argentina. While cool on deck, the seas have been mostly calm. Beginning tomorrow, we will be visiting ports of call with warmer temperatures. In preparation for the change in weather, we put away selected clothing that we had brought for the cold weather elements in the Southern Areas of South America.

We woke up early this morning and had a quiet breakfast in the Lido Café as we normally do on most mornings. The Lido Staff is wonderful. Most of the Lido Staff know our names and they go out of their way to make our morning breakfast a wonderful experience each and every day. For example, normally they do not put the bananas out until around 7:45 AM to keep them fresh but they know that we usually arrive around 7:00 AM so every morning there is a banana on our favorite table. And they know what type of coffee that each of us prefers and they have that ready for us just about the time we sit down to eat.

After breakfast we worked out at the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine, while Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill. Afterwards, Keith worked out on the weight machines. We also spent another 45 minute in the Fitness Center in the afternoon.

After the morning workout, Anne Marie went to her Piano lesson. This was the final piano lesson for this segment of the World Cruise. At 10:00 AM we both attended the final lecture that Ambassador Peck will give during this segment of the World Cruise. The topic of this presentation is “Thinking About Our World. An Effort to Provoke Thoughts, Not People.” “Pcck’s Postulates. “The Four Keys to Total Understanding of International Relations.” “You know them, but may not have considered their implications.” It was a wonderful lecture and designed to make each person in the audience think about the world from a slightly different perspective. We will be dining with Ambassador Peck and his wife Ann the night before they disembark this segment of the World Cruise.

At 12:00 Noon we had team trivia and let’s just say this was not one of our finer performances. Following Team Trivia we went to lunch in the main dining room. Today was the Grand Gala Buffet, which is held one time per cruise segment. It is a wonderful buffet with a large variety of appetizers, breads, salads, entrees, fruits, and deserts. The amount of hours that go into preparing for this gala has to be vast. Before the gala, we ran into our senior waiter, Patricia, and our assistant waiter, Tolga. The senior waiter on Crystal is analogous to a waiter on most cruise ships and the waiter on Crystal is analogous to an assistant waiter on most cruise ships. When we also refer to a headwater, this position is responsible for several senior waiters and waiters and their associated tables. On some cruise lines this might be analogous with the responsibilities of an assistant Maitre d’. Our headwaiter’s name is Bruno and we will miss him when he departs the ship for a well-deserved vacation at the end of this segment. He is very friendly and outgoing and extremely professional. He is also very well informed about the food served in the dining room and always makes wonderful suggestions. We have learned a great deal from him.

This evening we had a wonderful dinner. The night before we had asked our headwaiter Bruno to prepare a special seafood entrée for us and we really enjoyed it. Our headwaiter has gone out of his way to make each and every meal very enjoyable by offering to make special meals for us.

This evening we went to a variety show after dinner. It starred a guitarist, Fabio Zino and then our cruise director Gary Hunter. One of Gary’s many talents is being a Ventriloquist and we thoroughly enjoyed his show tonight. We had last seen him perform his Ventriloquist act when we sailed on this ship in the Mediterranean in the Fall of 2005. He is very talented and overall an outstanding cruise director.

We look forward to visiting Puerto Madryn, Argentina in the morning.

Keith & Anne Marie

Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

After five wonderful days at sea, we arrived at Port Stanley of the Falkland Islands at approximately 8:00 AM this morning.

Although the Falkland’s consist of approximately 700 Falkland Islands, there are two main inhabited islands. The Falkland Islands are most known for the war in 1982 when an Argentina force invaded the Falklands. Only about 3,000 people live on the two main islands. The major economic drivers are tourism and fishing. About three cruise ships visit the Falklands during the tourism season, starting in November and ending in March.

The town of Stanley is the capital of the Falklands. A dedicated tender took the passenger’s on our tour over to the island at 11:00 AM this morning. Our tour was called the Sparrow Cove Penguin Exploration. After we disembarked the tender we traveled about 30 to 45 minutes in four-wheel drive vehicles to a spot on the island where we would then spend about 90 minutes viewing the penguins. Our trip was literally over rugged terrain as there were no roads. We viewed an extremely large number of penguins, mostly a colony of nearly 1,600 Centoo Penguins along with a small colony of King Penguins. There were several hundred penguins, mostly baby penguins. The adult penguins gather food during the daytime and early afternoon hours and by around 3:00 PM are feeding the baby penguins.

Thank goodness that we dressed properly for this excursion with The North Face Jackets, sweaters, gloves, waterproof pants and gloves as it was very cold and windy. When we first disembarked the tenders it started to rain but by the time we began viewing the penguins the rain had stopped. However, about half way through the penguin viewing ice and sleet started to come down for a little while.

Since our tour did not leave until 11:00 AM, after having breakfast we worked out in the Fitness Center this morning for over an hour. There were very few people working out this morning since various tours were running throughout the day so this turned out to be a perfect time to use the center.

After returning to the ship, we ate in the venue called Tastes. We each had a seafood salad. After lunch we headed to the laundry room to wash our shoes and pants since each had gotten somewhat muddy from the excursion. Many of our fellow passengers did likewise.

Since this is the last very cold area of the World Cruise we will pack up those items that we purposely brought with us for the areas of South America that are quite cold in order to create additional room in our closet. As we had North towards places such as Buenos Aires and to Rio De Janeiro, the weather will become quite hot.

This evening we had a wonderful dinner in the main dining room. We ordered a special entrée of Sea Bass. It was wonderful and we really appreciate the enthusiasm of our head waiter, Bruno.

Tomorrow we will enjoy another sea day and all of the activities while at sea.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Port Stanley Faukland Islands

This morning we woke up to relatively calm seas and to clear skies as we make our way over to Port Stanley, which is part of the Falkland Islands. We will arrive in Port Stanley sometime tomorrow. By the time we arrive, we will have been at sea for five consecutive days.

We woke up early and had a wonderful breakfast in the Lido Café. We really enjoy this venue for breakfast as it provides a nice opportunity to look out on the open seas and to get an early start to the morning activities. The Lido Staff are outstanding and each morning several members of the Lido Staff assist us with our breakfast items and each of them knows not only our names but what we enjoy in the way of breakfast items. The headwaiter for the Lido Café, Willie, is also the headwaiter in Silk Road. Last evening, Anne Marie commented to him that she thought that Silk Road had the best coffee on board the ship, so this morning two of those special cups of coffee were brought over to our table, without us asking for them. Now, that is outstanding service and more importantly is a fine example of the Crystal crew going out of their way to make the cruising experience a delight for their passenger’s.

After breakfast, we went over to the Fitness Center. This time the Fitness Center was busier than it had been. It was nice to see so many passengers’ working out. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill for 35 minutes and then spent the remaining hour working out on most of the weight machines. Keith worked out on the Elliptical machine for an hour and then worked out on one of the weight machines. During the workout on the treadmill/elliptical, we each watched television on our respective television monitors. We watches some news in order to keep up with both national and world events and we also watched the morning Crystal Cruises show starring Krista Pope (World Cruise Hostess) and Gary Hunter (Crystal Serenity Cruise Director).

After working out, Anne Marie practiced on the Piano while Keith did some writing and some reading.

We had trivia this morning and our team tied for first place. We had fourteen of fifteen questions correct, our best total of this segment of the World Cruise. After lunch, all but two couples from our trivia team went to lunch together.

There are plenty of activities on today’s schedule to keep everyone busy. By the way for those of you who have never cruised or who have not cruised on Crystal, each evening we receive in our staterooms a daily program featuring the following days activities and the program featured by Crystal Cruises is called Reflections. It usually provides a nice write-up on the next days port of call for a sea day information on the waters that we are sailing. It also provides a detailed listing of the activities scheduled for the following day and also provides some other useful information. Today is filled with activities ranging from Spanish and French lessons, to various Fitness Classes, to Religious related activities, to various levels of Bridge Classes, to Movies, to Lectures, to Needlepoint and other related Arts and Crafts activities, to a variety of other activities. In general, those who have cruised often enjoy the sea days as it provides a nice opportunity to participate on a diverse set of activities and to take full advantage of the ship.

This evenings attire is formal attire and will be kicked off with a Crystal Society Reception for those passenger’s who have cruised Crystal before. The reception is held in the Palm Court, which provides a nice venue for dancing, and for observing the seas from a seated area all around this very large room. On this particular sailing, close to 90% of all passenger’s have cruised with Crystal Cruises on at least one prior voyage. Crystal cruises has a very loyal following and works diligently to build a strong on-going relationship with each of its passenger’s. In general, they do not know the word no and they go out of their way to make each passenger feel very special. We sat with a lovely couple who we had first sat with at the World Cruise Gala and two other couples joined us at the reception.

Following the Crystal Society Reception, we went to dinner in the main restaurant where we dined with one other couple. The headwaiter made us a wonderful Caesar Salad and we each had fish this evening. We have been ordering fish or other types of seafood each evening and have really enjoyed how each of these entrees are prepared. At the end of dinner, we the headwaiter showed us tomorrow evenings menu and we asked the headwaiter to order sea bass for each of us which was not on the menu. Our headwaiter, Bruno, has gone out of his way to offer to have the kitchen prepare special requests for us and we are most appreciative to have these additional choices to consider.

We decided to pass on the shows this evening in order to use the laundry machines. We thought this would be a night where the machines were free, and we were correct.

Tomorrow morning we will depart the ship at approximately 11:00 AM by tender for our shore excursion. We are looking forward to visiting the Falkland Islands as this is our first visit to this port of call.

Today is our daughter Jennifer’s birthday and we wish Jennifer a very Happy Birthday.

Keith & Anne Marie

Sailing Antarctica - En Route To Elephant Island

More on last evening. After dinner, Anne Marie went to the Crystal show called El Amor de Argentina. She enjoyed the show and it included a variety of Argentinean music and dancing. Her favorite part of the show was a spoof on Dancing With The Stars. This included four crewmembers and two professional dancers. Each professional dancer danced two times, thus creating four dancing couples. All four couples did a wonderful job and they each danced a Tango. Of particular note were the third and the forth couples. The third couple was Captain Otto and one of the professional dancers and they did a variety of dance moves including the dance professional leaping onto the Captain’s shoulders. The forth couple included the Cruise Director, Gary Hunter, dressed as a woman, and he was with a male professional dancer. When Gary first appeared it was difficult to precisely know which crewmember it was. He did several elaborate moves with the professional dancer, including Gary being spun around several times. It was definitely a highlight of the evening. Each morning, there is a 30-minute television talk show hosted by Krista Pope, the World Cruise Hostess, and Gary Hunter and they spent a portion of the program discussing all of the preparation that went into his dance including his costume and all of the practicing that went into the dance. One passenger called in to say it was the most memorable performance they had seen in all of their cruising. Gary is a wonderful cruise director and we are very happy that he is on-board for the full world cruise.

This morning we woke early and when we looked out our verandah we saw snow on the balcony. This is the first time it has ever snowed on any cruise we have taken. While having breakfast in the Lido Café we could see large snowflakes all around us. We also observed a variety of icebergs in the ocean of varying sizes and shapes throughout the morning. Following breakfast we worked out in the Fitness Center. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill while Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine.

The captain announced that due to the poor weather conditions that the ship would sail directly towards Elephant Island for our cruise around this island starting at 5:00 PM rather than the original plan of 7:00 PM. As it turned out when we passed by this island visibility was poor so we could not see land.

As is the case with all sea days there are many activities planned for today. Anne Marie went to her Piano Class at 9:00 AM while Keith read and then Keith attended a lecture given by journalist Ken Rees; title “Operation Falklands – A Close Run Thing”. It deals with the British/Argentinean 1982 conflict in the Falkland Islands based on reporter Ken Ress’ experiences while covering this war. Almost 1,000 individuals died in this war and the total cost of this war was approximately two billion dollars. He also discussed the impact that this war had on the Falkland Islands, post war, and also provided a description of today’s environment in this area of the world. We are scheduled to tender off Port Stanley this coming Friday although all of this is dependent on weather conditions. Should weather conditions hold up we are scheduled to take an excursion, which will include the viewing of sparrows and penguins at this port of call.

Later in the morning we had Team Trivia. The good news is that we tied with a few other teams for first place for today’s game. After Team Trivia we ate lunch in the main dining room.

Before dinner we went to see the Repertory Theatre At Sea titled The Frog Prince. This play was written by Playwright David Mamet who gave a new and quirky spin to the classic story of a Prince who is turned into a frog and needs the kiss of a Fair Maiden to turn him back to a Prince. Repertory Theatre At Sea is unique to Crystal and is offered from time to time on Crystal’s Cruise Ships. It involves actors (usually three or four) who perform a short play. We really enjoyed the Repertory Theatre At sea.

This evening we went to Silk Road, the Japanese Specialty Restaurant with three other couples. One of the couples is on the first two segments of the World Cruise and the other two couples are on the entire World Cruise. We had a wonderful time at dinner with wonderful food and wonderful conversation. As we have mentioned, Nobu was developed by world renowned Chef Nobu who has restaurants in some of the major cities around the world. The food served in this restaurant is outstanding, along with the terrific service provided by the entire staff who works there.

Keith & Anne Marie

Antarctica Day 3

We woke early this morning to cloudy skies and to fog. We went to breakfast at the Lido Café. It was not too busy as many passenger’s appeared to be sleeping in this morning. By the time we arrived at the Fitness Center, the fog had cleared and we had good visibility. This was a prelude to a wonderful treat that awaited us as our ship made its way toward Deception Island, which is part of Antarctica.

As we worked out, various wildlife of the sea could be seen from the ship so we had a perfect view in which to observe our friends from the sea. We saw several whales, which were just a couple hundred feet from the ship. About 30 minutes later we saw hundreds upon hundreds of penguins as their heads bobbed up and down in the ocean. The naturalist explained that it does not get better than this. Off the bow of the ship towards the beach area there were literally thousands of penguins. Formal attire for our ocean friends was certainly the attire for the day. ☺ Between yesterdays perfect weather coupled with what we observed this morning we consider ourselves quite fortunate. Antarctica has truly exceeded all of our expectations. It is truly a wonderland and a place that we would highly recommend cruising to.

In addition to sailing near Deception Island, we also cruised by the South Shetland Islands in the Bransfield Strait.

As the ship began to cruise to its next destination we took part in other activities during the morning. Anne Marie attended her piano class while Keith read and wrote and then we each worked out for another 30 minutes on the treadmill until it was tine to attend the second in a series of lectures given by Ambassador Edward Peck. The title of this mornings lecture was “Thinking About Our World: An Effort to Provoke Thoughts, Not People.” “The shock of foreign cultures – especially ours, different peoples can see exactly the same thing differently”. Several of the points of the presentation could easily be applied to a book that Keith is currently reading. We sat next to Ambassador Pecks’ wife, Ann, and enjoyed talking with her prior to the lecture. Following the lecture, it was time for team trivia. There are close to twenty trivia teams. Our team finished in a tie for second place today. After trivia, we went to the main dining room for lunch with most of our trivia teammates. Once again, we each had our usual; a salad entrée.

This afternoon we walked around the ship, and we took in the beautiful and magical scenery of Antarctica. As this is a sea day there was a diverse set of activities for the passenger’s to enjoy. This included a lecture on the television and film industry, music instruction, a movie, needlepoint, a world cruise quilting project, duplicate bridge, social bridge, a computer course, a French class, a Spanish class, afternoon tea, yoga for beginners, a rehearsal for those in the Chorus, an organized afternoon walk on the promenade deck, along with complimentary hot chocolate with dark Bacardi rum served on the outer decks for one hour. By the way, Mr. Bacardi and his wife are passenger’s for a couple of segments of the World Cruise.

The highlight of the day began at around 2:30 PM when we went up to the Palm Court, which is on Deck 12 looking over the bow (front or forward) of the ship and one deck below the uppermost deck. From this vantage point we saw beautiful scenery and the most whales we’ve ever seen at one time. As we moved fairly close to an enormous iceberg, we observed three whales on the port (left side). About 30 minutes later we saw approximately 10 whales at the bow of the ship. Keith was able to get a picture of two of them. We once again were treated to sunny skies while we had the opportunity to view this pristine area. And to think that we are seeing just a small portion of Antarctica. Again, for those of you who are avid cruisers, we highly recommend this part of the world for a cruise.

While we observed all of the beauty around us today’s daily tea in the Palm Court included a variety of chocolate deserts. We passed on the goodies and Keith had green tea while Anne Marie enjoyed a cup of coffee.

This evening we had a wonderful dinner in the main dining room. The headwaiter always asks us if we want something special for dinner so when he asked the other night we asked for swordfish for the two of us this evening and it was wonderful. Overall, we have been very pleased with the quality and diversity of the meals served in the main dining room. For dinner, we have almost exclusively had fish or some other type of seafood each evening and have really enjoyed it. Tomorrow evening we will be dining in Silk Road with one of the two couples from our dining room table along with two other couples. We still have not dined at Prego which is the Italian Specialty Restaurant.

Keith & Anne Marie