Today, we have a full day at sea as we cruise towards Durban, South Africa. The waves were fairly choppy last evening and also they have been very choppy today so the boat rocked more today than at anytime since we boarded the ship in Miami, Florida. With that said, we did quite well and did not feel sea sick.
We awoke this morning and had breakfast in the Lido Café. There were very few passengers in the café while we had our breakfast. The Lido Stewards who assisted us were mainly those who helped us in the café on the first segment of the World Cruise plus a few personnel who boarded the ship since the first segment. One of the stewards who helped us was Ray who was so very helpful during the first segment of the World Cruise and who we have seen in other venues throughout the cruise. We enjoyed our breakfast and then we went over to the Fitness Center for our daily workout. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine. While Anne Marie continued on the treadmill, Keith worked out on some of the weight machines. It was a little busier than normal but we had no problem utilizing the machines.
Afterwards we went back to the Lido Café so that Anne Marie could have a cup of coffee. We thought that we would sit there for a while to talk with fellow passengers and the Lido Staff. By that time there were quite a few more passengers having breakfast. We saw Anthony who also works in Silk Road behind the buffet counter and spoke with him. He has been our waiter in Silk Road several times that we have dined there. We spoke with Willie who is also the headwaiter in Silk Road. We spoke with Nat who we have known from other sailings and who has assisted us throughout the cruise on the Lido Deck. Nat (pronounced Nate) always has the friendliest smile and takes good care of us. We have posted a picture showing Jun (sounds like June) on the left side and Ross on the right side. They were assigned to the Lido Cafe on the last segment of the World Cruise nad were outstanding. We also saw our senior waiter from the Dining Room (Meika) and our waiter from the Dining Room (Andrew) and also chatted with them for a while. They are both wonderful and they have done much to make the dining room experience wonderful for us.
We have been trying to keep up with the news of the day while we are on this adventure. Each day we get to summaries of news sent to our stateroom. One is a summary from the New York Times and the other is called the New York Times Digest. Each summary is about eight pages long. Also, from time to time we catch up with some news from the television. Keith listened to some news while working out on the elliptical machine this morning. We do miss many of the news shows that we get from home along with reading full editions of newspapers while we are home but that will all have to wait for now.
Later in the morning Anne Marie went by the needlepoint area to pick up her complimentary needlepoint kit. Later in the morning, we went over to Team Trivia for the first round of this new segment of the World Cruise. The questions were quite challenging. Afterwards, we went over to the Asian Buffet just to say hello to a few of the Lido Stewards and then afterwards we went to the dining room. We each enjoyed another wonderful salad entrée.
After lunch, we walked around for a little while and we ran into our Cruise Director, Gary Hunter, who we spoke with for awhile. He is an outstanding Cruise Director.
Overall, the ship has been on the quiet side. We understand there are approximately 80 passengers on a variety of the Safari Tours and when they are back there will be around 800 passengers on the ship. This is probably an optimal level of passenger’s as it provides a nice ratio between passengers and crew.
In the early evening we attended the Captain’s Formal Welcome Reception. This was our forth-welcome reception of the world cruise and as usual we enjoyed the reception. It provides a nice time to sit and talk with fellow passenger’s, to listen and dance to the Crystal band, and to listen to the Captain of the Crystal Serenity, Captain Otto.
After this reception we had a wonderful dinner in the main dining room. We ate with the couple that joined the ship in Cape Town. We thoroughly enjoyed the food, service and the conversation.
Tomorrow morning we arrive in Durban, South Africa. They are forecasting a partly cloudy day with some sunshine. As long as it does not rain while we are on tour we will be happy.
Keith & Anne Marie
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