DAY 2 - CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

We Are Now Settled on the Crystal Serenity Ship ✔   Enjoyed Our first Full Day on the Ship. ✔ Keith Worked Out For The First Time On This Cruise✔ This Evening Is The First Formal Night Of The Cruise ✔

Our daughter noticed in the photos we posted yesterday that each of us was wearing a teal shirt (Keith) and jacket (Anne Marie) which is the Crystal Color.

We departed Miami at approximately 9:00 PM last evening.  We had views of the Miami Skyline.

We are now sailing towards our first port-of-call Cozumel  We slept very well last evening.  We do find that the gentle rocking of the ship helps us to fall asleep.  After all, we all have a little "baby" in each of us.

As we have mentioned, this is a Holiday Voyage with the celebration of Chanukah, Christmas and New Years occurring on this single voyage.  We wanted to include some photos that we have started to take around the ship of some of the decorations.  We will include more as we make our way around the ship.

Santa Claus outside The Bistro

Gingerbread House outside the Main Crystal Dining Room. As we left the restaurant last evening trays of Christmas Cookies were arranged around the Gingerbread House.

A nice Christmas Display outside the Hollywood (Movie) Theatre.

Across the way from the Hollywood Theatre Santa Claus delivering gifts.

There are even Christmas Carolers On Board The Ship adding to the spirit of the Season and the spirit of Christmas.

We also wanted to mention that there are many children and families on board the ship which truly adds to the festive holiday spirit on board the Crystal Serenity.

We were very pleased to get all of our luggage unpacked yesterday and most things put away.  As we mentioned we took a lot of luggage with us. Keith had joked that it was mainly because of Anne Marie's shoes, but when he was helping with the packing he began to realize that he was right to some extent.  It seemed that each and every bag he opened had shoes upon shoes and at one of those challenging points when it seemed that we had run out of space in the closet he asked "did you take a pair of shoes for each and every outfit you brought with you?".  Well, it wasn't as bad as all of that but it made for a good laugh. Of course, Keith brought not one but two paddle tennis rackets and quite a bit of under armour workout shirts and pants.  Keith made a similar comment when it came to all of the toiletries and cosmetics when he asked "what do you do with all of those darn cosmetics?"  "You could open up a store on the ship."  Well, it wasn't that bad but..........LOL

As he normally does, Keith awoke very early and he walked up to the Fitness Center for his morning workout.  The walk took a minute or so as he just has to walk partially down one of the corridors and up three flights of steps.  Yes, while Anne Marie packed a lot of shoes Keith took a few different workout shoes.

The only people in the Fitness Center at that hour was Keith and two of the night crew who clean the center.  Keith enjoyed a ninety minute workout on the Elliptical Machine as he caught up with news and sports on the television monitor.

Afterwards, he did a couple of washes from all of the laundry we had from our six night stay in Miami.

In between the laundry, Keith was able to get some coffee.  He sat up at the Lido Cafe and as he had coffee he spoke with four of the Lido Deck Stewards who he knows very well from prior cruises.  this included Benjamin and Alvin.  The Lido Deck Stewards work in team of approximately four people.  One team works the Lido Cafe, another team works the Pool area, and another team works another dining venue called Tastes which serves breakfast, lunch and on many evenings a casual dinner.  The folks from this team all came on board the Serenity either the other day in St. Marteen or just yesterday in Miami.  They replaces other Lido Deck Stewards who are now home for a well deserved Holiday.

The Christmas Decorations were also on display on this deck and as you can see no one else was there other than Keith and the Lido Deck Stewards and a couple of members of the night cleaning crew.

A short while later, Anne Marie, awoke, and she walked for one hour.

We enjoyed breakfast in the room which was served by Rao.  We typically have breakfast in the room so that we can have some quiet time and get ready to begin the day.

As we mentioned today is a sea day. Normally, we would attend the three lectures that were offered today but with this being our first full day on board the ship and knowing we have plenty of sea days to look forward to we skipped the lectures and will catch them on the television set as each one is replayed.

We took care of a couple of items after breakfast.  This included turning in some paperwork at the front desk, meeting with the Cruise Sales Consultant, Paul Jean, and speaking with Crystal Society Host, Eduardo Molina.  When we were on board the Serenity earlier this year Eduardo had just been promoted to this position.

There was a mandatory lifeboat drill for passengers such as ourselves who just embarked the ship.

On our way to the lifeboat drill we stopped off to visit Santa Claus.

Our muster station is easy to remember as it is in the Casino.

Later in the morning, we attended a Cruise Critic party that is sponsored by Crystal Cruises if ten or more people sign up and that was the case.  Often, these parties are held at night but with so many evening activities scheduled for this week that was not possible.  The party was held at 11:45 AM.  While drinks were served, we passed on that as it is too early for us.  We had a nice turnout and several of the officers and senior staff attended.  This included the Hotel Director,  Food & Beverage Manager, Crystal Society Host and Cruise Sales Consultant, Head Housekeeper, Bar Manager and a few others.

After the party, we enjoyed our first lunch on the ship.  There was an Asia Buffet on the Lido Deck where we had lunch.

At 2:00 PM, Keith had planned to take his first spin class of this cruise. The class had been rescheduled from this morning to this afternoon.  Keith showed up for the class but everyone else who had registered for the class didn't make it so it was just Keith and the instructor.  Keith ended up cycling by himself for a portion of the class time and hopefully next time around more people will attend.

In the afternoon, we finished getting everything in place in our room and it's a good feeling to now be fully settled in.  No more packing and unpacking for quite awhile.

Weather is nice outside and the seas have been calm.  All good news!

This evening is the first formal night of the cruise.  Before the formal night there will be a Captain's Welcome Reception.  We will post more about this tomorrow.

We thoroughly have enjoyed our first "full" day on-board the Crystal Serenity and look forward to each and every day with great anticipation.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.......

“Look the world straight in the eye.”  -  Helen Keller


Keith and Anne Marie