After waking up this morning we went over to the Lido Café for breakfast. There was one other couple in the café (one of the regulars) so we spoke with them as we had our breakfast. We talked about how much we each enjoyed yesterdays port of call.
For those of you who have some flexibility in your vacation schedules, we would highly recommend visiting the Mediterranean around this time of the year. While the temperatures are a little cooler and you might wear either a light jacket or a light sweater in port the benefits are tremendous. Simply put, the ports are not very crowded and you don’t have the hot humid temperature that you encounter during the heat of the summer months. Another nice time to visit this areas is in the late Fall time frame as we did in the Fall of 2005.
After breakfast, we went up to the fitness center for our daily workout. We spoke with a couple of our fellow passengers who we have come to know quite well during our time on the ship as we worked out on the machines.
After we worked out, Anne Marie started to do some packing. We don’t want everything to wait until the last segment of the cruise and given all of the clothes that we brought with us for this trip it is easy to start putting some away. Add to this the fact that some items that we took with us were either for the very cold climates (Antarctica) and the very warm climates (Africa) there were a number of items that we could easily pack as they will definitely not be needed for the remainder of our journey.
While Anne Marie packed, Keith ran some errands. This included picking up our passports as they will be required tomorrow morning when we dock in Tunisia. Tomorrow morning there is a mandatory Tunisian immigration inspection upon our arrival at Gabes. As part of this inspection each passenger will be asked to meet with the local representatives and will need their passport in hand for this inspection. This is only the second port of call where we needed to go through this type of inspection.
Speaking of ports of call, we wanted to share other examples of how helpful the Crystal Cruises staff has been to us. The other day we mentioned to the on-board cruise sales consultant how little we knew about Navplion, Greece. While he had not been there before either, he mentioned he had done a good deal of research on the internet and he would be happy to give us a copy of some information he printed off. Well, sure enough, when we arrived back at our stateroom later in the evening we received a nice packet of information.
Later in the morning we went to a special event that was held for those booked on either multiple segments of the World Cruise or the full World Cruise. These events are called Sea Legs and today’s event was called Salamat! As part of the event, there was a show put on by several of the Philippine crewmembers. The show was wonderful and we thought this was the best of the Sea Legs events we have attended. At the end they also included a slideshow that showed many of the crewmembers from the Philippines along with their family members. It was all very touching.
After this event, it was time for Team Trivia. Today we correctly answered ten of fifteen questions. We then went to lunch with another couple in the main dining room
Anne Marie signed up at the last minute for the free slot tournament in the Casino. She came in third place and won a gift. She also picked up a needlepoint kit that is given out during the course of each cruise.
At the same time, Keith met with the Shore Excursion manager to learn more about various ports of calls that are on other itineraries that we are considering for future cruising. The shore excursion manager is very well traveled and readily shared a good deal of knowledge about the places we are considering visiting in the future.
Later in the afternoon Keith met up with some of our fellow passengers to play doubles table tennis. Keith has played with all of these passengers on various segments of the cruise and two of the passengers Keith has played with on past cruises. It was very enjoyable and the sports director also joined us a little bit later.
Before dinner, we went to the Friday night services which are held in the Hollywood Theatre.
After the services, it was time for dinner in the Main Dining Room. This evening’s attire was formal so everyone was all dressed up. Most men were in their tuxedos or dark suits and the women were in formal dresses or other formal attire. Last night we had asked the headwaiter if they could prepare for us a special order of swordfish so we enjoyed that this evening as our entrée.
Because this is a fairly lightly loaded segment, there was on Crystal Society reception rather than two. Usually, there is one for the early seating at 5:30 PM and one for the late seating at 7:45 PM. This evenings reception was held at 7:45 PM so passenger’s from both the early and late seating could attend. After the reception ended, we sat with two other couples and chatted for another hour.
Believe it or not starting around 2:00 PM this afternoon the seas were a little bit choppier than they have been and by later in the evening they had become fairy rough. In general we have really had calm seas except for the first evening out of Miami, and the first evening out of Cape Town, South Africa so we feel very fortunate to have sailed in relatively calm seas.
Keith & Anne Marie
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