There was a sail-away party as we left St. Lucia late yesterday afternoon. Complimentary rum punch was served.
Last evening, we were back in the the Crystal Main Dining Room. This is last nights dinner menu.
Before dinner we posted in the Crystal Cove for a photo.
On this voyage we are dining more at the Crystal Dining Room than we normally do on a 14 day sailing. As the adventure moves forward we will change things up as we dine a little more at some of the specialty restaurants.
We really enjoy our Senior Waiter, Jijo, who was our Senior Waiter from January thru Mid-March of this year and he will be going on a well deserved holiday on January 18 after we arrive to Los Angeles so that is another reason we will be dining at the Crystal Dining Room more often than usual.
We also wanted to note how much we are enjoying, Pierre, our Sommelier. We had him on one of five legs earlier this year. We find him to be not only very knowledgeable about wine but also his passion for wine comes out each and every day. We also like how he pours the wine (not too much and not too little) and he is always observant and always seems to know when to check if we need more wine poured. Sometimes the Sommeliers do not rotate from cruise to cruise (that was the case in 2010 when we had the same Sommelier the entire time) and sometimes they rotate each and every cruise. The Head Sommelier makes that decision. We learned that we will have a different Sommelier on the next leg of this adventure but that is good too because you get new perspectives. Pierre is also going on Holiday starting January 18 in Los Angeles.
It's also been a special treat having Giuseppe as our Headwaiter. We have had Giuseppe on many voyages along with many of the other outstanding Headwaiters. Maybe one day we will shock Giuseppe by having some dessert that he makes for others and always offer to make for us such as Cherries Jubilee or Crepes Suzette. That would make his day.
We began our dinner with salads. Keith had a salad that he has on most evenings and Anne Marie had a Heart of Boston Lettuce sale with Marinated Apple-Celery Salad,Sliced Mango, and Caramelized Pecan Nuts.
For our entree we each had the Seared Fresh Ahi Tuna Steak. We do eat a lot of fish on board the ship and we usually select one that is fresh. We both really enjoyed the Tuna Steak. The sesame crust really added to the taste of the Tuna Steak.
Anne Marie had sherbet for dessert and Keith had mixed berries.
Afterwards, we spoke with several passengers including Dave.
We slept well last evening as we sailed to our next port of call in Antigua. Keith was the first one up and there was a little more movement on the ship than usual but he was easily able to make his way up to the Fitness Center. While he worked out, he watched a lecture that was given by Sports Physician, Dr. Jordan Metzl who spoke about a guide to recognizing and preventing knee pain for athletes of any age. When he spoke the other day he was the fourth of four lectures that day and we couldn't attend it as it was at 4:30 PM that afternoon. It's nice that the lectures are recorded and shown on the television.
Keith enjoyed both the topic and his presentation style. He is a very good speaker and he was able to succinctly present the information in a manner that was easy to understand without speaking over the head of the audience.
There were several takeaways from the talk. Three major takeaways were as follows:
1) The knee receives tremendous force that is many times one body weight. One of the ways to minimize this impact is to be conscious of ones weight.
2) If you sense knee pain be sure to see a physician so that they can determine the cause and then develop a joint game plan to address it. Often, they can not only address the problem but also address what the underlining cause of the knee issue. For example, it might relate to ones feet and how they walk. There are times that they may send you for physical therapy and from the therapist you can learn exercises to do at home.
3) Strengthening the knee muscles either pro-actively to prevent problems or after the fact to address a knee problem are very effective. About 8 years ago Keith had a knee problem where it was aching quite a bit and that is exactly what his physician recommended. Keith would use various weight lifting machines which over a one year period strengthened his knee and the pain went away.
Doctor Metzl is coming out with a book so we will try to look for it.
Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck and around the time she got back we enjoyed breakfast in the room.
We arrived to Antigua at around 8:00 AM and we walked off the ship at 9:00 AM.
There was a small local band playing Caribbean music.
We first visited St. John's Cathedral which was built in 1681.
Our next stop was to the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.
We then walked up and down several other streets. People were setting up little tables to sell a variety of goods and we walked in and out of some small shops. Unlike St. Lucia where it was difficult to walk around town because of limited sidewalks and lots of pedestrians and motor vehicles.
On our way back to the pier we stopped in a few shops, including one of the jewelry shops where we spoke with the Crystal on board shopper, Chris, who helped us with some questions. Keith had actually spoken with him earlier in the morning to get some advice. We have sailed with him on a couple of other voyages and have found his advice to be very sound. Today, we just looked at the jewelry but it was good to know that should we have been interested in something that we could get some help from Chris.
We stopped to take a few photos of the beautiful Crystal Serenity as well as a local ice cream and chocolate parlor. Here we thought we were in Antigua. Australia comes later on the World Cruise!
The view from the front of the Crystal Serenity sporting her new exterior look from her dry-dock in May.
We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe and in the afternoon Keith played paddle tennis. Afterwards, he spoke with some fellow passengers and also read and wrote and Anne Marie took a one hour walk on the Promenade Deck and then sat out by the pool.
Each day, Anne Marie is also working on needlepoint. On each Crystal Cruise Voyage a complimentary needlepoint kit is given out (there is a selection of kits to choose from) so Anne Marie has been working on her first kit throughout this voyage.
Once again, the weather was in the low 80's. It was a beautiful day other than around thirty minutes of a very slight drizzle.
This evening we will be dining in the Crystal Main Dining Room. Early seating dinner normally begins at 6:00 PM, and we normally arrive at that time. However, since it is only the two of us dining and we want to stay up to welcome the New Year we let our Senior Waiter, Headwaiter, and the Maitre d' know last evening that we will arrive between 6:30 and 6:45 PM. That will still provide plenty of time for dinner and allow the waitstaff to easily be able to get the table ready for the 8:30 PM late seating.
We wanted to take a moment to wish each of you a very safe, healthy and Happy New Year. Let's bring on 2012.
Last evening, we were back in the the Crystal Main Dining Room. This is last nights dinner menu.
Before dinner we posted in the Crystal Cove for a photo.
On this voyage we are dining more at the Crystal Dining Room than we normally do on a 14 day sailing. As the adventure moves forward we will change things up as we dine a little more at some of the specialty restaurants.
We really enjoy our Senior Waiter, Jijo, who was our Senior Waiter from January thru Mid-March of this year and he will be going on a well deserved holiday on January 18 after we arrive to Los Angeles so that is another reason we will be dining at the Crystal Dining Room more often than usual.
We also wanted to note how much we are enjoying, Pierre, our Sommelier. We had him on one of five legs earlier this year. We find him to be not only very knowledgeable about wine but also his passion for wine comes out each and every day. We also like how he pours the wine (not too much and not too little) and he is always observant and always seems to know when to check if we need more wine poured. Sometimes the Sommeliers do not rotate from cruise to cruise (that was the case in 2010 when we had the same Sommelier the entire time) and sometimes they rotate each and every cruise. The Head Sommelier makes that decision. We learned that we will have a different Sommelier on the next leg of this adventure but that is good too because you get new perspectives. Pierre is also going on Holiday starting January 18 in Los Angeles.
It's also been a special treat having Giuseppe as our Headwaiter. We have had Giuseppe on many voyages along with many of the other outstanding Headwaiters. Maybe one day we will shock Giuseppe by having some dessert that he makes for others and always offer to make for us such as Cherries Jubilee or Crepes Suzette. That would make his day.
We began our dinner with salads. Keith had a salad that he has on most evenings and Anne Marie had a Heart of Boston Lettuce sale with Marinated Apple-Celery Salad,Sliced Mango, and Caramelized Pecan Nuts.
For our entree we each had the Seared Fresh Ahi Tuna Steak. We do eat a lot of fish on board the ship and we usually select one that is fresh. We both really enjoyed the Tuna Steak. The sesame crust really added to the taste of the Tuna Steak.
Anne Marie had sherbet for dessert and Keith had mixed berries.
Afterwards, we spoke with several passengers including Dave.
We slept well last evening as we sailed to our next port of call in Antigua. Keith was the first one up and there was a little more movement on the ship than usual but he was easily able to make his way up to the Fitness Center. While he worked out, he watched a lecture that was given by Sports Physician, Dr. Jordan Metzl who spoke about a guide to recognizing and preventing knee pain for athletes of any age. When he spoke the other day he was the fourth of four lectures that day and we couldn't attend it as it was at 4:30 PM that afternoon. It's nice that the lectures are recorded and shown on the television.
Keith enjoyed both the topic and his presentation style. He is a very good speaker and he was able to succinctly present the information in a manner that was easy to understand without speaking over the head of the audience.
There were several takeaways from the talk. Three major takeaways were as follows:
1) The knee receives tremendous force that is many times one body weight. One of the ways to minimize this impact is to be conscious of ones weight.
2) If you sense knee pain be sure to see a physician so that they can determine the cause and then develop a joint game plan to address it. Often, they can not only address the problem but also address what the underlining cause of the knee issue. For example, it might relate to ones feet and how they walk. There are times that they may send you for physical therapy and from the therapist you can learn exercises to do at home.
3) Strengthening the knee muscles either pro-actively to prevent problems or after the fact to address a knee problem are very effective. About 8 years ago Keith had a knee problem where it was aching quite a bit and that is exactly what his physician recommended. Keith would use various weight lifting machines which over a one year period strengthened his knee and the pain went away.
Doctor Metzl is coming out with a book so we will try to look for it.
Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck and around the time she got back we enjoyed breakfast in the room.
We arrived to Antigua at around 8:00 AM and we walked off the ship at 9:00 AM.
There was a small local band playing Caribbean music.
We first visited St. John's Cathedral which was built in 1681.
Our next stop was to the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.
We then walked up and down several other streets. People were setting up little tables to sell a variety of goods and we walked in and out of some small shops. Unlike St. Lucia where it was difficult to walk around town because of limited sidewalks and lots of pedestrians and motor vehicles.
On our way back to the pier we stopped in a few shops, including one of the jewelry shops where we spoke with the Crystal on board shopper, Chris, who helped us with some questions. Keith had actually spoken with him earlier in the morning to get some advice. We have sailed with him on a couple of other voyages and have found his advice to be very sound. Today, we just looked at the jewelry but it was good to know that should we have been interested in something that we could get some help from Chris.
We stopped to take a few photos of the beautiful Crystal Serenity as well as a local ice cream and chocolate parlor. Here we thought we were in Antigua. Australia comes later on the World Cruise!
The view from the front of the Crystal Serenity sporting her new exterior look from her dry-dock in May.
We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe and in the afternoon Keith played paddle tennis. Afterwards, he spoke with some fellow passengers and also read and wrote and Anne Marie took a one hour walk on the Promenade Deck and then sat out by the pool.
Each day, Anne Marie is also working on needlepoint. On each Crystal Cruise Voyage a complimentary needlepoint kit is given out (there is a selection of kits to choose from) so Anne Marie has been working on her first kit throughout this voyage.
Once again, the weather was in the low 80's. It was a beautiful day other than around thirty minutes of a very slight drizzle.
This evening we will be dining in the Crystal Main Dining Room. Early seating dinner normally begins at 6:00 PM, and we normally arrive at that time. However, since it is only the two of us dining and we want to stay up to welcome the New Year we let our Senior Waiter, Headwaiter, and the Maitre d' know last evening that we will arrive between 6:30 and 6:45 PM. That will still provide plenty of time for dinner and allow the waitstaff to easily be able to get the table ready for the 8:30 PM late seating.
We wanted to take a moment to wish each of you a very safe, healthy and Happy New Year. Let's bring on 2012.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
“Travel teaches toleration.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Keith and Anne Marie
Happy and Healthy New Year, Anne Marie and Keith! Thanks for the wonderful photos of the New Year's party, Crystal really knows how to throw a festive event! You both look smashing in your formal wear, and your gown is so elegant, Anne Marie!
ReplyDeleteWe can't wait to see you!
love,
Ricki and David
Happy, Happy New Year to you two. What a fabulous party y'all had. The balloons.........Oh my!!
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous! Love hearing about each day.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
May the New Year be a great one..........filled with good health, good times, good friends.
Love you both,
Patti