DAY 31 - CRUISING TO HONOLULU

We each received an iPad   ✔ Wonderful Time At Last Evening's Captain's Welcome Aboard
Reception ✔  Delicious Gala Welcome Dinner ✔ Another Wonderful Day At  Sea As We Sail To Honolulu ✔

We wanted to begin by noting that we are amazed at how many people we know on this voyage.  This includes guests who are not only sailing on the full world cruise but also guests who are on one or more legs of the cruise.  There are some people who we first met in 2007 who we haven't seen since.  This all adds to the family spirit on board the ship.

Last night was the first formal night of the 2012 World Cruise as was the Captain's Welcome Reception and the Captain's Welcome Dinner.

We attended the Captain's Welcome Reception before dinner.  We spoke with several passengers and we enjoyed Captain Glenn's talk.  Captain Glenn noted that if you want to have a great time that you will and if you don't want to have a good time you won't have a good time.  We share Captain Glenn's enthusiasm for having a great cruise and his passion for focusing on the positives.

Captain Glenn also noted that we have approximately 600 crew members on board the ship and with a little over 600 passengers that is essentially a one-to-one ratio of crew members to guests which is amazing.

Captain Glenn

Afterwards,we dined in the Crystal Main Dining Room.

There were lots of wonderful items to choose from on the menu which follows.

We each began our meal with salads. Anne Marie had the Captain's Salad and Keith had his standing order salad.

Captain's Salad

We each had the Broiled Fresh Main Lobster Entree.  Keith also ordered a small portion of the Halibut and enjoyed that as well.  Sometimes Halibut can be on the drier side depending on the cut of the Halibut and how it is prepared and this one was very tasty and Keith enjoyed it.

Of course we also enjoyed those steamed vegetables along with the additional asparagus.

Then we came to dessert.  Anne Marie had the Sugar Free Mocha Cream Puff and Keith had mixed berries.  Keith had a little more of the wonderful Rainbow Cookies from Ricki and David back in our room.

Keith's Mixed Berries

After dinner we went to the Captain's Reception for those in the late seating.  The reason we did that was to see many guests who we might not run into on a daily basis as they are in the late seating.  We didn't have anything to drink there but just went from section to section.  We saw friends Bob and Glo along with several other guests and crew.

The good news is that we set our clocks back on hour as we sail into yet another new time zone.  It is always a pleasure sailing East to West.

This morning was like old times.  About a third into Keith's workout he was joined by Brian and then when he was about 75% into his workout friend John began working out.  Throughout the 2010 World Cruise you could find three of the four elliptical machines in use early in the morning with the three of them working out.  A little later when Keith went to the Lido Cafe he sat at a table next to John's wife and our friend, Linda, and they talked for a while.  We first met John and Linda early on during our first World Cruise in 2007 and since that time have sailed with them several times.  They are wonderful people and a joy to see.

A short time after Keith got back to the room Anne Marie got in her one hour morning workout and then we had breakfast in our room.

While eating breakfast we watched the daily morning show with hosts Cruise Director Rick Spath and World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy.  During the introduction shots Keith was in the video with the co-hosts which was taken yesterday.

They asked four trivia questions using a new format and Keith called in and correctly answered the first trivia question.  Anne Marie knew the answer to the next one but we purposely didn't call in since we had already won a prize.

We enjoyed another wonderful day at sea as we continue to sail West to Honolulu.  Today, also seemed like party day but more on that in a minute.

During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge he noted that the weather has improved with warmer temperatures than this time yesterday.  Captain Glenn’s Thought Of The Day for today was.

“A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.”

We sat with Cruise Director Rick Spath for a little while this morning at the Bistro.

We enjoyed three lectures today which is part of what we really enjoy about the Crystal Cruses enrichment program.

Long time lecturer with Crystal Cruises Dr. Harm de Blij spoke about geographic literacy and national security and what all of this means.  Whether you agree or disagree with him, he is a fascinating speaker and we have learned a great deal from him over the years.  The other morning lecture was given by Retired Major General Pat Brady who spoke about leadership.  In the afternoon, Dr. Bill Bendel spoke about the skies of the northern hemisphere and this included a discussion of the origin of constellations and who named them and how many there are and where they are positioned in the sky.

In between all of this we attended the first of three parties.  At 11:45 AM there was a World Cruise Party for those taking the full World Cruise to provide an opportunity for a meet and greet type of party.  While Bloody Mary's and Mimosas were served we passed on those drinks as it was a bit too early in the morning for us to drink.

Once again, Keith turned the tables one of the Crystal Cruises photographers.

From L-R Bob, Glo, Sandy, Anne Marie, and Heather

Cruise Director, Rick Spath, and World Cruise Hostess, Elise Ivy gave a great overview of the World Cruise.

The big surprise came when Elise Ivy announced is that in lieu of receiving some selected gifts at home, that as she spoke housekeeping was delivering to each full World Cruisers room an iPad.  There was lots of excitement and cheers.  All we can say is wow, what a wonderful gift.  When we got back to our room they were on our bed.

We also got a very nice case for the iPads.

Afterwards we enjoyed a nice lunch.

Our afternoon also included a workout by Anne Marie and Keith also got together with friend Bob.

Back to the subject of parties.

This evening there will be a party from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM that is hosted by Crystal Cruises for those people who signed up for this event from Cruise Critic.  We will then dine in the Crystal Dining Room and then at 7:45 PM the travel consortium that our travel specialist belongs to is hosting a party as well.  We will post all about this tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY...

 “We all have the power to give away love, to love other people.  And if we do so, we change the kind of person we are, and we change the kind of world we live in.”  - Harold Kushner

Keith and Anne Marie