Last evening was the final night of Chanukah.
We set sail from Cartagena, Colombia at 5:00 PM yesterday afternoon.
As we mentioned, Keith took a Spin Class (indoor cycling) late in the afternoon. After not having done Spin for a couple of weeks, he was glad to be back on the cycle. The instructor pushed the class more than others that Keith has taken previously on the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony Cruise Ships while at the same time providing lots of encouragement. To those following this blog from Keith's Spin Class at home he misses all of you including our wonderful instructor.
Thank goodness for the technology available to us so we can stay in touch with family and friends including exchanging photos.
This photo is of our Grand Baby Andre that our daughter Jennifer sent to us.
This is a photo of the newest addition to the family, Gand Puppy Kylie, a Golden Retriever puppy that joined our son and daughter in laws family (Eric and Kara) just the other day.
Last evening we enjoyed dinner in the Crystal Main Dining Room. These are the dinner menus.
Before dinner we spoke with one of our fellow passengers and listened to pianist Bruce Johnson.
Anne Marie enjoyed a Red and Green Caesar Salad for the first course.
We both had the Broiled Fresh Canadian Salmon. It was a very nice cut and was very moist.
We also shared a half a portion of the Broiled Filet of Fresh Lemon Soul.
Are you starting to get the impression that like fish?
We always have a very large portion of steamed vegetables. Keith has most of them and Anne Marie has some. This evening the large bowl was overflowing. The chef in the kitchen must think this is for a table of 12.
As we were leaving Cartogena, Captain Okland mentioned that a few hours after we left the port that we would be heading into very windy weather. We each took Bonine just to be on the safe side. The good news is that the seas were much smoother than we expected.
We also wanted to note that when we returned to our room there was a Quality Assurance Program survey to be filled out towards the end of the cruise. For those of you who have sailed with Crystal before about four months ago they moved from a paper copy survey which was filled out on the ship by the guests to an on line survey that the guests receive and fill out on line after they return home. The on line survey takes less time to fill out than the longer paper one and by filling it in at home it provides time to reflect on the cruise and also allows Crystal to obtain feedback on the entire guest experience including the disembarkation process when passengers leave the ship on the last morning of the cruise and also about the cruise air and/or post hotel experience should passengers have used air and/or hotel via Crystal. For those, like ourselves, who are taking consecutive cruises, also known as back to back cruises, we will complete the on line survey one time after we are home at the end of this four month voyage. However, in order to solicit some immediate feedback from guest such as ourselves, we were asked to rate a total of nineteen items about the cruise, in addition to asking our written feedback in three additional areas.
Today is a day at sea as we sail to our next port of Call in St. Lucia.
Sea days can be quite busy on the ship with 50 or more activities offered during the daytime and afternoon hours. At time you can literally go from one activity to the next which we did this morning.
Keith worked out first at the Fitness Center. Afterwards, he enjoyed coffee in the Lido Cafe. There are still no "early bird" passengers up there as there normally are even at that hour. It is just Keith, some of the Lido Cafe Deck Stewards setting up the breakfast buffet and someone from the night crew keeping the cafe spotless. We thought a couple of photos might show how quiet it is at that time of the day.
Keith enjoyed his coffee while he spoke with a couple of members of the crew.
Anne Marie worked out a little while later.
Today, we each had breakfast at different times as Keith had an 8:00 AM haircut. So, Keith had breakfast at 7:00 AM and then Anne Marie had breakfast at 9:00 AM.
After Keith got his haircut, he attended another Spin Class. There are four spin classes being offered on this voyage and they are offered mainly on Sea Days so that is why today's class was held the day after the class Keith took yesterday. The class was taught by the other fitness instructor and today's class was mainly about speed with lots of sprints asking the cyclists to go at around 90% of their maximum capacity.
After class Keith quickly changed and then we attended the second of the lectures given by South African Ambassador to three South American countries Tony Leon. He spoke about different kinds of leadership of many leaders. As we had mentioned, Ambassador Leon is a fascinating lecturer as he is both a dynamic and charismatic speaker and also has vast depth in his subject matter and many interesting experiences to share. This presentation really makes you think of our leaders and how people view them while they are in office and then years later when there is time to reflect on their accomplishments.
We had lunch at the Lido Cafe and we each enjoyed a salad entree. We chatted with some of our fellow passengers and were taken care of by those wonderful Lido Deck Stewards.
In the afternoon Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck and then she sat out at the pool. Keith needed to take care of some items including following up on some shore excursions and then later on he enjoyed a nice get together with some fellow passengers.
There was also an open house that showed rooms of all categories except for the largest room on the ship.
Category C Deluxe Stateroom
Category C Deluxe Stateroom
Category B Deluxe Stateroom with Verandah
Category B Deluxe Stateroom with Verandah
Deluxe Stateroom On Penthouse Floor with Verandah
Deluxe Stateroom On Penthouse Floor with Verandah
PH Category
PH Category
PH Category
PH Category
PS Category
PS Category
PS Category
PS Category
This evening we dine in the Crystal Dining Room and we will attend a Crystal Society Reception for those who have completed one or more Crystal Cruises and we will post more about that tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT OF THE DAY.........
“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” – Sir James Dewar
Keith and Anne Marie
Thanks for sharing the pic of your grandson. He is a cutie and I know you both must miss him so much. I also liked seeing the cabins on the ship. Very interesting. Thanks for a nice blog post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith & Ann Marie, nice family pix (Grandson & Grandpup). The spin cycles look new are they different (do u prefer) Crystal's cycles over home gyms?. Thanks also, for the pix of Crystal's different suites. Keith, Anne Marie, what digital camera do u use? Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Wes.
ReplyDeleteThe spin cycles on board the ship are the true spin cycles. At home I use the ones that are not the spin trademark cycles which I prefer because they show you precisely information such as RPM's, Resistance, Distance, WATS and Miles.
Inside the ship we mainly use a point and shoot Pentax Camera. However for the photos of the various rooms we used the Nikon D7000 DLSR with a wide angle lens. For photos on land we primarily also use the NIkon D7000.
Happy Holidays.
Keith and (Anne Marie)