En Route To Athens, Greece

Last evening at 12:00 midnight, our ship sailed from Alexandria en route to Athens, Greece. We will be a sea all day today and we will reach Athens tomorrow morning. We have been to Athens, Greece two times previously, most recently when we disembarked the ship in October, 2005.

We awoke early this morning even though we had moved our clocks forward one hour last evening to account for the new time zone that we are once again traveling in. We had breakfast in he Lido Café which was not very busy since many passenger’s were sleeping a bit later this morning given the time zone change and given that several of them had been on full day excursions of Cairo yesterday. After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center as we had throughout the cruise. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine. We were there for about 90 minutes. Like the Lido Café, the Fitness Center was not very busy either.

After breakfast we changed and took care of some errands. Later in the morning we attended a presentation, which was followed by a question and answer session hosted by the President of Crystal Cruises, Gregg Michel and the Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, Thomas Mazloum. They first began with a presentation which was an overview regarding the state of the cruise line. They had a record year in 2006 which was their first record year since 2000. They are the first cruise line to have eliminated trans-fat oils from all of their food items. They completed a refurbishment of the other cruise ship in the fleet; The Crystal Symphony. They have expanded their cruise shore excursion and land packages and have continued to expand their project excellence program. In terms of the future, they continue working on a design for the next ship for the fleet and hope to have the design finalized later this year so that it can go out to bid. They also plan to dry-dock the Crystal Serenity in the Fall of 2008. And, when they have added the third ship to the fleet they hope to go back to Alaska by offering San Francisco to Alaska cruises as they used to. The question and answer session was very productive and both Mr. Michel and Mr. Mazloum were very thoughtful in their answers.

We attended Team Trivia following the Q&A which is the next to last trivia session for this segment of the cruise. At this point we are still in second place for this segment but it is highly doubtful we can do any better. In today’s session we did correctly answer twelve of fifteen questions. Afterwards we enjoyed a nice lunch in the main dining room with two wonderful couples.

In the afternoon, we took care of a few errands including getting utilizing the laundry room. The laundry room was quite busy as others were also utilizing the time at sea to get their laundry washed.

This evening we attended a dinner that we had been invited to with the Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, Thomas Mazloum and his wife, along with two other couples. One of the couples we have gotten to know quite well during the world cruise and the other couple we have met several times before so that was nice. We met for dinner after the second of the two Captain’s Farewell Receptions, which was held this evening. We ate in the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant and had a wonderful dinner and an outstanding conversation with our hosts and tablemates.

Keith & Anne Marie

Alexandria, Egypt

We arrived in Alexandria, Egypt around 5:30 AM this morning and the local authorities cleared the ship by 8:00 AM. The port city of Alexandria is the gateway city for to Cairo. Alexandria is also Egypt’s second largest city and is the primary port for this country. This seaport was named after its founder, Alexander the great and this city served as the capital of Egypt during the reign of Cleopatra.

We awoke early this morning and we enjoyed breakfast in the Lido Café. The café was fairly busy. After breakfast, we worked out in the Fitness Center for about 90 minutes. Anne Marie did her usual workout on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine.

We were originally booked on a complimentary tour provided by Crystal Cruises but decided instead to take the complimentary bus which took us into the city. The streets were quite congested with all types of vehicles. After getting off the bus we walked around for a little while. The surrounding area was quite old and the sidewalks seemed to be in need of repair. Most of the shops were closed but we did walk into a bakery that was one of the nicest bakeries that we have seen in quite along time. It had the look of one of the wonderful bakeries that one sees in New York City. It carried an assortment of cakes, pastries, cookies and breads.

We then took the shuttle back to the cruise ship terminal and walked around an outdoor bazaar. Those working there were very polite and most had an excellent command of the English language. They sold a variety of items from silver jewelry, to leather purses and wallets, to porcelain plates to a variety of wooden items.

The cruise ship terminal is quite nice and the surrounding area looks to be in very nice shape. The weather was great with temperatures in the 70’s.

We had lunch on the ship in the main dining room. We enjoyed a wonderful salad entrée.

This afternoon we took care of some errands on the ship. We then went back out into town with another couple on the shuttle bus provided by Crystal. The city was significantly more crowded than in the morning and the locals were much more aggressive in trying to sell items on the street. When we returned back to the cruise ship terminal we walked around and looked at the various items being sold in a bazaar like setting.

Dinner was open seating in the main dining room meaning that passenger’s could arrive for dinner anytime they pleased from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM. This was done to accommodate those passenger’s who were on full day tours of Cairo. We ate at our regular table with our regular senior waiter and waiter. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and spoke with some fellow passenger’s in the dining room right after our meal.

This evening we will once again move the clocks forward by one hour to accommodate another time zone change. Over the past several days we have moved the clock forward and backward multiple times. The good news is that tomorrow is a sea day.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Alexandria, Egypt

For the first time since we boarded the Crystal Serenity we did not wake up early this morning. As it turned out we accidentally did not set the alarm clock and while we usually wake up before the alarm goes off that was not the case this morning. It was at 8:00 AM that Keith work up and looked at the alarm clock and realized that we had slept quite late. So, this time we begin the Blog by saying that we woke up a little later this morning to begin our day. After we woke up we went to the Lido Café which was more crowded than what we are used to but we still had a wonderful breakfast with great service as is the case each and everyday.

After breakfast, Keith went to the fitness center for his daily workout and ended up working out on the elliptical machine for about 90 minutes and then he lifted weights on the various weight lifting machines. Anne Marie was scheduled to have her haircut in the beauty salon so she met up with Keith after this appointment. She worked ont on the treadmill for about 45 minutes before it was time to get changed and ready for team trivia.

We enjoyed a game of team trivia and so far we are in third place for this segment of the World Cruise. After the team trivia, we had a nice lunch in the Lido Café. After lunch we attended a lecture given by comedian Mike Goddard who discussed recommendations for plays to see in London.

This afternoon we went back to the Fitness Center so that Anne Marie could finish her workout on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the treadmill and also did some more work on the weight lifting machines.

This evening we attended a Passover Seder Dinner. The dinner was held in the Tastes venue, which is on the Lido Deck around the indoor Neptune Pool. Approximately 140 people were in attendance. In addition to the passenger’s, several officers attended including the Captain and we also had the President of Crystal Cruises and the Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations in attendance. The Seder was well done along with a fabulous dinner. The menu included Gefilte Fish, Chicken Broth with Matzo Balls, Roasted Kosher Chicken accompanied by Carrot Tzimmes, Steamed Asparagus, and Oven-Roasted Potatoes, and Raspberry Sherbet with Fresh Strawberries, and Coconut and Hazelnut Macaroons. It was so nice to spend this holiday in this area of the world as we traveled from Israel back to Egypt.

This evening we will move the clocks back one hour as we are sailing back into the time zone for Egypt so the good news is that we will be able to sleep for an additional hour. This time we will make doubly sure that we set the alarm clock for tomorrow morning.

Keith & Anne Marie

Jerusalem, Israel

The size of Israel is just over 8,000 square miles and its dimensions are approximately 280 miles long and only about 30 miles wide. This makes its size comparable to the state of New Jersey. It emerged as a state following the 1948 War of Independence, forming a Jewish homeland from what was then British-controlled Palestine.

We arrived at the Port of Call of Ashdod, Israel at approximately 6:00 AM this morning. This port is Israel’s major industrial and commercial port. Ashdod is a planned community that is built on the golden dunes. While Ashdod is new in many ways it does have ancient roots. It is mentioned in the Old Testament and archaeologists have found ruins that date back 4,000 years ago. Ashdod is the gateway to the historic treasures of Jerusalem and the worldly pleasures of Tel Aviv.

We woke up early this morning so that we would have plenty of time to get ready for our full day shore excursion. We arrived at the Lido Café for breakfast about twenty minutes before the opening time for the cold buffet but everything was set up so we were able to eat at this hour. One of the wonderful Lido Deck Stewards (Clark) who we first met on this ship in the Fall of 2005 made us coffee in the kitchen as we like our coffee made a special way. We can’t say enough about the wonderful Lido Deck Stewards who go out of their way to assist us each and every day. They are so wonderful and it shows every minute of the day. When we first arrived, there was only one other passenger in the Café but before we left there were a few passengers who we have come to know well on the World Cruise who were also getting an early breakfast. Wet spoke with each of them for a few minutes. Each of them has been to Israel before.

After we got back to the stateroom we got ready to go ashore. The ship received it clearance from the local port authorities at 7:45 AM. We met for our shore excursion at 8:15. Our shore excursion was called Eternal Jerusalem. There were 34 people on our tour, including two representatives from Crystal.

When we arrived on the pier we were told that for security reasons we were not allowed to take any pictures while in the port area.

We boarded our bus and we traveled along the Judean Hills. We drove through the fertile Ayalon Valley which was truly spectacular with all of its beauty and majestic hills. After a brief stop for coffee, we arrived at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority. This new museum opened in early 2005 and has essentially replaced the old museum. The exterior of the buildings were beautiful along with the landscaping. The museum is dedicated to documenting the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust period. It emphasizes each victim’s experience through original artifacts, survivor testimonies and personal possessions. Our tour guide did a wonderful job of taking us through the museum and highlighted many important historical points. We spent two hours in the museum and one could spend at least one full day or multiple days in the museum. In addition to the museum there is a Temple and a separate area dedicated to all of the children (1.5 million) who perished during the Holocaust. The entire experience was very moving to us.

We then continued with a drive into Jerusalem. We drove by various landmarks such as Hebrew University, the Knesset, the Israel Museum and the State Supreme High Court.

We then had lunch at one of the hotels where many of the other tours from Crystal also had lunch. Following lunch we made our way to the Old City. Our drive continued past the City of David. Our walking tour of the Old City began at Zion gate and then we entered the Jewish Quarter. We descended to the Lower City to see the Temple Mount and the golden-topped Dome of the Rock. We then proceeded to the Western Wall, which is thought to be closest to where the Holy Ark was kept. We were given some time to visit the wall by ourselves. We had prepared notes ahead of time which each of us left at the wall; Keith on the side of the wall where the men are allowed to pray and Anne Marie on the side of the wall where the women are allowed to pray. This was a very moving experience for the both of us.

We then rode back from this area to Ashdod to rejoin the ship. The tour guide continued to provide very informative information about the sites that we saw along the route back to the ship along with other items including the state of the Israel economy.

After we arrived back on the ship we reflected on the wonderful day we had in Jerusalem, Israel. This is a wonderful country with wonderful people and we were so glad to have the opportunity to tour and visit Jerusalem. We hope that we can come back again on some type of land tour to visit this very special place so that we could spend several days in order to see many of the important sites throughout Israel. For those of you who have not had a chance to visit Israel, we highly recommend it. We felt safe throughout the day.

Crystal’s last visited Israel approximately nine years ago. We remember at the World Cruise Gala in Miami that the President of Crystal had remarked how excited the representatives from Israel were when Crystal confirmed that the Crystal Serenity had added Israel to its World Cruise itinerary.

At 7:30 this evening we had dinner in the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. This evening, Crystal Cruises provided complimentary house wines during the dinner hours in the main dining room and in the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant, the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant and in Tastes which offers a casual dining experience by the indoor pool. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with outstanding service.

Tomorrow we will enjoy a full day at sea as we sail to Alexandria, Egypt.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Ashdod, Israel Day 2

Once again, this morning we woke up early and had breakfast in the Lido Café. This was a perfect venue to sit since we entered the Suez Canal at 6:00 AM this morning. We ate breakfast outside so that we could view both sides of the canal.

One of the sides of the canal was mostly desert other than a few military outposts that we would see from time to time. These small outposts would house one or two men from the military who provide security for the canal. On the other side of the canal we mainly saw lush green landscape that had been irrigated along with a variety of buildings from homes, to hotels, to small towns with mosques. At the aft of the ship we could see some large size ships cruising behind us.

There were areas of the canal that were divided by land and had shipping lanes on both sides. At one point you would see a ship coming the other way which appeared to be on the desert as all you could see was sand on both sides of the ship.

After breakfast, we went to the Fitness Center for our daily workout. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine. Anne Marie continue to feel better and is just about back to normal. We each worked out for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

After our workout, we went back to the Lido Deck and sat outside with a cup of coffee to take in all of the wonderful scenery all around us. It is hard to believe that only two and one half months ago that we were transiting the Panama Canal and a few weeks later that we were cruising around Antarctica. We have been to so many places in major areas of the world in such a short time. This is one of the marvels of cruising. While we don’t see the type of depth that one would see on a land based vacation, on a cruise of this length we are able to visit so many areas of the world in a short period of time without encountering all of the challenges of flying in an airplane. Unlike traveling by car, train, or plane, a good portion of our traveling occurs in the evening hours when we are asleep other than those days when we spend the entire day at sea. Of course, during the sea days we are able to attend lectures, and participate in a whole diverse set of activities.

After spending additional time taking in the scenery around us, later in the morning we attended a special program that was put on for those passengers who are on multiple segments or the full World Cruise. As has been the case with the other programs, we had a great time and it provided yet another opportunity to socialize with our fellow passengers.

Following the program it was time for Team Trivia. Today, we finished in a tie for second place. After the trivia, we had lunch with the same couple that we had lunch with yesterday. We had a wonderful time with them.

This afternoon we walked on the promenade deck so that we could continue to look at the scenery all around us as we continued to transit the Suez Canal. After we went inside we took care of a few errands and then viewed the canal from our room. At one point it looked like it had become foggy but we realized that it was not fog, but a significant sand storm.

Before dinner, we attended a Catholic Mass. We had a wonderful dinner in the dining room. We had pre-ordered our entire meal and had a Caesar Salad, which was prepared by our headwaiter tableside and then we enjoyed a wonderful entrée along with a special desert of Saint Honeré cake. Thanks to Judith for recommending this very special cake to us.

This evening we will turn the clocks forward one hour as we are once again moving into a new time zone.

We are scheduled to arrive in the port of call of Ashdod, Israel in the morning and we are scheduled on a full shore excursion called Eternal Jerusalem. This will be our first time to Israel and we are looking forward to tomorrows visit.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Ashdod, Israel Day 1

A word about Petra. We posted some pictures on our picture web site from yesterdays tour of Petra.

We woke up early this morning since we knew that we had a busy day today. We had our usual breakfast in the Lido Café and it was not as busy today as it has been for most of this segment of the cruise. With some passengers having done two full days of tours over the past two days we suspect that some wanted to sleep in a little later this morning. We spoke to some of our fellow passenger’s about what a wonderful time we all had in Petra yesterday. We also viewed some of the scenery from the ship including seeing the coast of Saudi Arabia. After a nice breakfast, we went to the Fitness Center to workout. Anne Marie is feeling better and should be back to full strength in a couple of days. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill while Keith worked out for an hour on the elliptical machine. We each worked out for about one hour and fifteen minutes.

This morning we attended a couple of lectures. The first lecture was given by Sportswriter and National Public Radio Commentator Frank Deford. The title of his presentation was “The Old Ball game.” This covered how John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants created modern baseball at the turn of the twentieth century. He spoke at length about these two individuals and other ballplayers and managers of their time. He is such a wonderful speaker and we look forward to his next lecture.

The second lecture was given by Crystal Cruises Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, Thomas Mazloum and the Director of Crystal Cruises Land Programs, John Stoll. They spoke about the World Cruise of 2008 along with other upcoming Crystal Adventures. They reviewed many of the shore excursions for this summers sailings of the Baltic and the Mediterranean. One area they emphasized is that Crystal is now offering many overland programs where passenger’s can spend one or more nights on land and then meet up with the ship at another port. They say that these have become very popular with those passenger’s who want to take advantage of the fact that they are already close to various tourist sites but need more time on land to see them. There have been many overland programs offered during this years World Cruise with a fair amount of passengers who has signed up for them. For example, in the Middle East, some passenger’s are on a three-day overland tour of Israel while others are on a four night overland tour of Egypt. When we were in Africa a number of passengers went on a Safari and there were many choices available for them to choose from.

We then went to team trivia which will be the first of two consecutive trivia games since tomorrow is also another sea day. Our team finished in a tie for second place today.

Afterwards, we had lunch in the main dining room. We each had a wonderful salad entrée and enjoyed the fine service in the dining room. We ate with another couple who are doing the last three segments of this World Cruise and who we have sailed with on three previous Crystal cruises. It was fun to talk with them and we also play table tennis with them from time to time.

This afternoon we attended a mandatory Israeli Immigration Inspection that was conducted for all passengers. We were given group cards with a pre-determined appointment time to report one of the main lounges. When we entered the lounge we were given our passport and then we met briefly with the immigration officer. He stamped another card, which we will take with us into Israel, and as we left the lounge we returned our passport back to personnel from Crystal. This is all part of the rigid regulations that are enforced for those visiting Israel. For example, the deadline for reserving tours in this port of call was earlier than was we are accustomed to since the cruise lines must provide the Israeli authorities with a manifest listing those passengers who will be visiting Israel along with what tours they will be on or if they will be on their own. All of this is perfectly understandable given the Middle East situation and we are very supportive of this and all related requirements.

This evening we attended Friday night services before we went to dinner. The attire for this evening was formal and this is the third of four formal nights that are planned for this segment of the World Cruise.

Tomorrow morning we will enter the Suez Canal at 6:00 AM and we wil exit the canal at approximately 6:00 PM.

Keith & Anne Marie

Aqaba, Jordan

We woke up early this morning and had breakfast in the Lido Café. Unlike yesterday, the Café was not too busy even though a fair number of passengers are on full day tours today. Since those passengers who were on yesterday’s tour of Luxor did not arrive back to the ship until around
8:45 PM last evening, and had to eat a late dinner on the ship, we suspect that some decided to sleep in a little later this morning.

The ship arrived to the port of call of Aqaba, Jordan on schedule at 8:00 AM. Aqaba is the waterway to the Red Sea and is a commercial seaport. Aqaba has sandy beaches and coral reefs, which are considered the most pristine on the Red Sea, and Jordan is hoping to preserve them through careful planning. This seaport has several nice hotels, restaurants, and shops and also caters to a tourist market, particularly attracting visitors from other Middle East and European countries.

From the pier one can see Israel and Egypt just across the water. On the opposite side of the pier Saudi Arabia is just across the nearby mountain range.

As we mentioned in yesterday’s Blog, we decided to take a private excursion in this port of call. This is the first time we have booked a private excursion through Crystal. This excursion included a driver along with an English-speaking guide for our tour of Petra. We thought this would be a nice way to see Petra.

We met out on the pier at 8:30 this morning and we left the area about twenty minutes later. Our drive to Petra took approximately one hour and forty-five minutes including a short stop to take some pictures. First we drove through Aqaba, which as we mentioned is a very beautiful seaport. About a mile outside of town the area became quite mountainous in a desert like setting. While the southern portion of Jordan is very much mountainous with desert throughout, the Northern part of Jordan is very green with large forests along with quite a bit of agriculture. On our way to Petra we passed by several small towns.

Petra is a 2,000 year-old concealed city. Petra represents the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious people, who dominated the trade routes of ancient Arabia.

Once we arrived at Petra our exploration began almost immediately. Our tour guide described to us what we would see. We each mounted horses for about a three quarters of a mile ride along a pathway. We then walked with the tour guide as he told us about the history of Petra and pointed out various sites to us along they way. Portions of the pathway contained the original stone. He also pointed out various items on the walls on each side of the pathway. At one point the pathway gets quite narrow and eventually we came to the area where we could see the famous monument, which is the Treasury. The impressive, ornate façade of this temple was carved directly from a sheet of rock. We spent about fifteen minutes walking around the treasury and then we met back up with the guide so he could tell us all about this area along with some of the adjacent areas.

We continued our walk of another couple of miles while passing by an outdoor theatre and various temples and many tombs. Our tour guide is now an archeologist and shared quite a bit of information regarding what they continue to uncover throughout Petra. He was born in this area and he initially lived in a cave with his family. Today, he lives in a nearby village but there are still ten families who live in the caves. There were many local people who work in this area. Some drive horse drawn carriages that take visitors back and forth from the front entranceway through the lost city of Petra. Others take visitors through this enchanted area on horses and camels. Still others sell various arts and crafts. Our guide introduced us to a woman who knew him since he was six years old and also had lived in a cave with her late husband. Recently, she has written a book about being married to a Bedouin and we decided to purchase a copy of this book so that we could learn more about the culture of the Petra Bedouin.

We are truly amazed at what we saw of this ancient city. Later this year the revised list of the Seven Wonders of the World will be released and there is a strong possibility that Petra will make this list. It is truly an amazing place and we will remember this day and what we have seen for the rest of our lives.

Our thanks go out to Nancy who several months ago had highly recommended that we visit this very special place. We highly recommend this tour to anyone who visits this area of the world.

This is the first time that Crystal Cruises has stopped in Jordan in several years. In a few days we will be arriving in the Port of Ashdod, Israel, which will be the first time that Crystal has stopped there in many years as well.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and the information provided by both the tour guide and the driver. We learned not only about Petra but also a great deal about Jordan, its history, people and culture.

After our tour of Petra ended, we drove back to the port of Aqaba. Throughout the drive back to the ship we asked lots of questions about Jordan and the surrounding countries and truly enjoyed our conversation.

After we arrived back on the ship we freshened up and later in the evening we dined in the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant.

We are so very fortunate to have seen Petra and this ranks as one of the most impressive places we have ever visited.

Keith & Anne Marie