Last evening we attended the Crystal Society Reception before dinner where complementary hors doeuvres and drinks were served. Once you complete your first cruise with Crystal Cruises you become a member of the Crystal Society. As a Crystal Society member, you receive discounts when you book new cruises and as you complete a pre-determined number of cruises you also achieve milestones based on the number of completed cruises. As you reach certain milestone levels, you receive various additional benefits from upgrades to on board credits to special dinners to a free cruise.
The Crystal Society Reception is for all of the past Crystal Cruisers. At the reception those Crystal Society Members who are celebrating major milestones on the cruise are recognized by having their name(s) mentioned. At the same time they recognize those on the cruise who have completed a very high number of cruises by talking about each of those people, what Crystal means to them, and presenting them with a large bouquet of flowers. Either the Crystal Society Hostess or Crystal Society Host recognize the Crystal Society Members.
There are normally two receptions; one before those in Main (early) seating and one for those in late seating.
Last evening one couple who have cruised on 195 voyages were recognizes and one solo woman who has sailed on 125 voyages was recognized in the earlier session and two other people were recognized in the second session.
This was the first time we had heard Crystal Society Host, Eduardo Molina, do the honors of recognizing selected Crystal Society guests as he was promoted to this position around the time we disembarked this past March. He did a great job as the host last evening and was eloquent in his delivery.
These are three photos from the Crystal Society Reception.
Anne Marie with Reverend Rod Broker and his lovely wife Doris. We first met them almost five years ago.
Afterwards, we dined in the Crystal Main Dining Room. The dinner theme was french night and the menu included many different french items. Often, on French Night, we dine in one of the Specialty Restaurants since many times French Night is on a Formal Night and we find the specialty restaurants to be fairly quiet on those evenings. However, with formal nights on other evenings of the cruise such as Christmas Day and New Years Eve and since we really enjoy our Senior Waiter we dined in the Main Dining Room.
These are the menus from last evening.
We had looked at the menu the night before and we try to avoid the very rich entrees given how long we are on the ship. We spoke with our Headwaiter, Giuseppe, and pre-ordered with him Branzini which is considered a Mediterranean Fish and sometimes is known as Mediterranean Sea Bass. We also started with salad and we each had a starch and steamed vegetables. Anne Marie had sherbet and Keith had mixed berries for dessert.
The only down-side to the evening was moving the clocks forward one hour after we got back to our stateroom as we sail into yet another new time zone.
We slept well last night and we began the morning as we do each and every morning. Keith woke up first and worked out and a little while after getting back to the room it was Anne Marie's turn.
Today, is the second consecutive sea day as we sail to St.Lucia.
There were a couple of lectures in the morning and Keith attended both of them and Anne Marie attended the second one.
The first one was given by lecturer Jamie Metzel whose topic was "Frenemies" Are China and India destined for war and conflict? A portion of what was covered dove-tailed with what another frequent Crystal lecturer also presents and time will tell how this will all turn out. In the end, both China and India are in need of a vast array of resources from oil to water so they can either compete for these or work collaboratively.
The second lecture was given by Ambassador Marc Ginsburg whose topic was "treacherous Triangle: Syria, Turkey and Israel." He started by talking about the history of Turkey as it related to the early 20th century and where we are today with the relationship between these three countries along with the relationship of Turkey, Israel and the USA. The Ambassador does provide some very interesting insights into these issues including what is taking place this very moment. With the emphasis on the current USA politics, the last few months there has been a lot less coverage of the developments in places such as Syria so we found this talk to be very informative.
There was a special Neuvo Latino Luncheon Buffet on the Lido Deck featuring many delicacies from the Latino countries of Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. We decided to just have a salad entree in the Crystal Main Dining Room since we will be eating more than we normally do this evening.
We spoke for a little while with the Sommelier, Jiro, who we had for the entire 2010 World Cruise and who we also saw earlier this year.
Anne Marie walked in the afternoon and also sat out by the pool. Keith changed it up a bit and first went to the Fitness Center to run on the treadmill. Although it was a bit windy he played Paddle Tennis later than normal so he ended up playing with a different crowd than he normally plays with. It was a good way to get to know other passengers.
Yesterday, we had received an invitation to join some of our fellow guests at the Captain's Quarters this evening for cocktails at 5:15 PM. Unfortunately, we had to decline as this evening we will be going to the Vintage Room with three other couples at 7:00 PM which features the pairing of an array of food items with specific wines.
We will post all about our Vintage Room experience tomorrow.
The Crystal Society Reception is for all of the past Crystal Cruisers. At the reception those Crystal Society Members who are celebrating major milestones on the cruise are recognized by having their name(s) mentioned. At the same time they recognize those on the cruise who have completed a very high number of cruises by talking about each of those people, what Crystal means to them, and presenting them with a large bouquet of flowers. Either the Crystal Society Hostess or Crystal Society Host recognize the Crystal Society Members.
There are normally two receptions; one before those in Main (early) seating and one for those in late seating.
Last evening one couple who have cruised on 195 voyages were recognizes and one solo woman who has sailed on 125 voyages was recognized in the earlier session and two other people were recognized in the second session.
This was the first time we had heard Crystal Society Host, Eduardo Molina, do the honors of recognizing selected Crystal Society guests as he was promoted to this position around the time we disembarked this past March. He did a great job as the host last evening and was eloquent in his delivery.
These are three photos from the Crystal Society Reception.
Anne Marie with Reverend Rod Broker and his lovely wife Doris. We first met them almost five years ago.
Afterwards, we dined in the Crystal Main Dining Room. The dinner theme was french night and the menu included many different french items. Often, on French Night, we dine in one of the Specialty Restaurants since many times French Night is on a Formal Night and we find the specialty restaurants to be fairly quiet on those evenings. However, with formal nights on other evenings of the cruise such as Christmas Day and New Years Eve and since we really enjoy our Senior Waiter we dined in the Main Dining Room.
These are the menus from last evening.
We had looked at the menu the night before and we try to avoid the very rich entrees given how long we are on the ship. We spoke with our Headwaiter, Giuseppe, and pre-ordered with him Branzini which is considered a Mediterranean Fish and sometimes is known as Mediterranean Sea Bass. We also started with salad and we each had a starch and steamed vegetables. Anne Marie had sherbet and Keith had mixed berries for dessert.
The only down-side to the evening was moving the clocks forward one hour after we got back to our stateroom as we sail into yet another new time zone.
We slept well last night and we began the morning as we do each and every morning. Keith woke up first and worked out and a little while after getting back to the room it was Anne Marie's turn.
Today, is the second consecutive sea day as we sail to St.Lucia.
There were a couple of lectures in the morning and Keith attended both of them and Anne Marie attended the second one.
The first one was given by lecturer Jamie Metzel whose topic was "Frenemies" Are China and India destined for war and conflict? A portion of what was covered dove-tailed with what another frequent Crystal lecturer also presents and time will tell how this will all turn out. In the end, both China and India are in need of a vast array of resources from oil to water so they can either compete for these or work collaboratively.
The second lecture was given by Ambassador Marc Ginsburg whose topic was "treacherous Triangle: Syria, Turkey and Israel." He started by talking about the history of Turkey as it related to the early 20th century and where we are today with the relationship between these three countries along with the relationship of Turkey, Israel and the USA. The Ambassador does provide some very interesting insights into these issues including what is taking place this very moment. With the emphasis on the current USA politics, the last few months there has been a lot less coverage of the developments in places such as Syria so we found this talk to be very informative.
There was a special Neuvo Latino Luncheon Buffet on the Lido Deck featuring many delicacies from the Latino countries of Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. We decided to just have a salad entree in the Crystal Main Dining Room since we will be eating more than we normally do this evening.
We spoke for a little while with the Sommelier, Jiro, who we had for the entire 2010 World Cruise and who we also saw earlier this year.
Anne Marie walked in the afternoon and also sat out by the pool. Keith changed it up a bit and first went to the Fitness Center to run on the treadmill. Although it was a bit windy he played Paddle Tennis later than normal so he ended up playing with a different crowd than he normally plays with. It was a good way to get to know other passengers.
Yesterday, we had received an invitation to join some of our fellow guests at the Captain's Quarters this evening for cocktails at 5:15 PM. Unfortunately, we had to decline as this evening we will be going to the Vintage Room with three other couples at 7:00 PM which features the pairing of an array of food items with specific wines.
We will post all about our Vintage Room experience tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT OF THE DAY.........
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Keith and Anne Marie
Your description of events and programs are always so interesting. Does Crystal count by the day or by the cruise for Crystal Society Recognition?
ReplyDeleteMary thank you so very much for the nice comments.
ReplyDeleteCrystal counts by the voyage for the milestones.
Keith and Anne Marie