Wonderful Dinner At Silk Road With Stacey Huston Director Of Loyalty Programs and Activities Hostess Mari Suzuki✔ Another Wonderful Day At Sea ✔
Last evening we had the pleasure of dining at Silk Road with Stacy Huston who from 2009 thru 2011 was the World Cruise Hostess and who is now Director Of Crystal Cruises Loyalty Programs and also other times of the year an Assistant Cruise Director along with Activities Hostess Mari Suzuki.
Stacey will be on the cruise until we reach Honolulu so we were very fortunate that she could join us for dinner.
On Left Stacey and Keith and on Right Anne Marie and Mari
Before we post about dinner, we these are the menus from the Crystal Dining Room.
We ordered lots of sashimi, various Nobu Specials and Sushi Rolls and enjoyed them before we even ordered our entrees. Believe it or not there was another Nobu Special that Keith didn't get a photo have that we enjoyed as well.
Keith had the Hot Soba Noodles and added steamed scallops for his entree and Anne Marie had the Nobu box which included a sampler of Beef, Cod and Rock Shrimp. Keith had some fruit for dessert and Anne Marie had a decaffeinated cappuccino. Keith did have a rainbow cookie back at the room. Thanks again to Ricki and David.
We dined for close to three hours and we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with lots of laughs. For those of you who have dined with Crystal Cruises this was the first time that when we arrived to the restaurant that no passengers were at the Sushi Bar and for the entire evening only two sat there. The restaurant was fairly busy. Our waiter was Anthony who has been our waiter on most evenings that we have dined at Silk Road and someone who we have known for many years.
We also enjoyed two wines which paired very well with the meal. One was a Cabernet from Spain that we have had several times on this cruise. It is one of those wines that is priced very reasonably and one would think is a much pricier wine. We also began with a Sauvignon Blanc.
All we can say is that as usual the food was terrific as was the service and ambience and our dining companions. It was a fun night and we really appreciate Stacey and Mari joining us for dinner.
When we got back to our room, the good news is that we set the clock back another hour as we sail into another new time zone. The was also a very nice letter from the World Cruise Hostess which was sent out to those guests taking the full World Cruise with some very good information about upcoming events, as well as the two shore side events that will take place later on in the cruise. The letter also provided information on the iPad training classes for those who need training for their new iPad.
As usual, Keith was up early and enjoyed a nice workout at the Fitness Center and Anne Marie also worked out. We had breakfast in our room as we got ready for another wonderful sea day. While having our breakfast, we watched the daily morning show feature Cruise Director, Rick Spath, and World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy. Speaking of workouts and also of the daily morning show, Keith was mentioned on yesterday's show for not only the length of his morning workouts but also the time he starts working out.
Each day they also have someone taking video around the ship and they show highlights. The last few days we have been in some of these highlights. Some people ask us from time to time if any children take the full World Cruise. This year there are at least two. Brian's daughter who is 12 is taking the cruise and two years ago Brian took his son. Another person had their very young daughter (around 4) on the World Cruise with them.
One of the programs that was featured in the morning was Ocean Views which is offered from time to time on Crystal Cruises that features a discussion/debate about various topics. This new program began last year. This session was moderated by Harm de Blij and featured Rob Warne, Pat Brady and Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain. This was the first time that each audience member was furnished with interactive keypads so that we could vote on a variety of questions/topics. We had about 30 seconds to vote and then the results were revealed. It provided a great way to provide feedback and to see what others thought. We really enjoy Ocean Views because more than one view is given on a variety of topics and we really enjoyed being able to not only provide feedback but to get a sense of what others thought. The focus of today's discussion was on a range of issues such as whether or not the USA should have taken our troops out of Russia to views on China and Russia. There were some questions that the panel didn't discuss that we voted on such as who we thought would win the Republican Nominate for President and the Political Party preference (Democratic, Republican and Independents) preference of those in the audience.
Brett Bullock, Vice President of Entertainment/Enrichment Program for Crystal Cruises kicked off this program.
From Left to Right, Major General (Retired) Pat Brady, former Ambassador to Afghanistan Wendy Chamberlain and Rob Warne.
Harm de Blij Moderated the discussion.
We had team trivia again today as this was the second team trivia game of this voyage. We finished in second place today.
As we do almost everyday we had a salad entree for lunch. We ate at the Lido Cafe and sat outside.
In the afternoon, Keith played some paddle tennis and Anne Marie worked out for another hour. Keith then met friend Bob and Anne Marie sat our for awhile on our verandah. Weather was quite nice.
As we have mentioned, there are so many activities on board the ship and too many to mention here. We will just highlight a few.
Todays activities included yoga, pilates, stretching, sit to be fit, and several other fitness classes. There was a golf clinic as well as spanish, music and art classes. There were classes on bridge from beginning to advanced and then duplicate bridge for the serious players. There was another lecture in the afternoon and two movies and basic computer courses offered plus the college credit course. In all, there were 50 plus activities offered and that doesn't even include the activity of eating!
One of the biggest challenges is deciding what to do each and everyday. We wish we could do more and more.
This evening we dine in the Crystal Dining Room. We will post more about this tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” – George Harrison
Keith had the Hot Soba Noodles and added steamed scallops for his entree and Anne Marie had the Nobu box which included a sampler of Beef, Cod and Rock Shrimp. Keith had some fruit for dessert and Anne Marie had a decaffeinated cappuccino. Keith did have a rainbow cookie back at the room. Thanks again to Ricki and David.
We dined for close to three hours and we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with lots of laughs. For those of you who have dined with Crystal Cruises this was the first time that when we arrived to the restaurant that no passengers were at the Sushi Bar and for the entire evening only two sat there. The restaurant was fairly busy. Our waiter was Anthony who has been our waiter on most evenings that we have dined at Silk Road and someone who we have known for many years.
We also enjoyed two wines which paired very well with the meal. One was a Cabernet from Spain that we have had several times on this cruise. It is one of those wines that is priced very reasonably and one would think is a much pricier wine. We also began with a Sauvignon Blanc.
All we can say is that as usual the food was terrific as was the service and ambience and our dining companions. It was a fun night and we really appreciate Stacey and Mari joining us for dinner.
When we got back to our room, the good news is that we set the clock back another hour as we sail into another new time zone. The was also a very nice letter from the World Cruise Hostess which was sent out to those guests taking the full World Cruise with some very good information about upcoming events, as well as the two shore side events that will take place later on in the cruise. The letter also provided information on the iPad training classes for those who need training for their new iPad.
As usual, Keith was up early and enjoyed a nice workout at the Fitness Center and Anne Marie also worked out. We had breakfast in our room as we got ready for another wonderful sea day. While having our breakfast, we watched the daily morning show feature Cruise Director, Rick Spath, and World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy. Speaking of workouts and also of the daily morning show, Keith was mentioned on yesterday's show for not only the length of his morning workouts but also the time he starts working out.
Each day they also have someone taking video around the ship and they show highlights. The last few days we have been in some of these highlights. Some people ask us from time to time if any children take the full World Cruise. This year there are at least two. Brian's daughter who is 12 is taking the cruise and two years ago Brian took his son. Another person had their very young daughter (around 4) on the World Cruise with them.
Speaking of breakfast we wanted to mention how much we are enjoying Rao. As a butler he is responsible for several rooms and how many will vary by voyage based on overall occupancy. He has around ten rooms on this voyage plus some additional responsibilities. We have a lot of fun speaking with Rao. He has a great sense of humor so we have enjoyed quite a few laughs with him. It amazes us how he can not only be on top of everything for us but for all of the other rooms. He also is very observant and picks up on those little details about each room he supports and it really adds to the overall level of service. He is terrific.
We had started this yesterday and finished up taking care of the distribution of some gifts that we had brought on board the ship when we first boarded for many of the Lido Deck Stewards and some other selected crew members who we have come to know very well over the years.
Today, both NFL football games were shown on the television. These require that Crystal Cruises receive a special feed to televise the game and, yes, there is a cost for them to televise this for us. The games were shown on the stateroom televisions but also were shown in the Stardust Club Lounge on a big screen TV and popcorn and hotdogs were served and bar service was available. We watched a portion of both games.
Today, both NFL football games were shown on the television. These require that Crystal Cruises receive a special feed to televise the game and, yes, there is a cost for them to televise this for us. The games were shown on the stateroom televisions but also were shown in the Stardust Club Lounge on a big screen TV and popcorn and hotdogs were served and bar service was available. We watched a portion of both games.
Brett Bullock, Vice President of Entertainment/Enrichment Program for Crystal Cruises kicked off this program.
From Left to Right, Major General (Retired) Pat Brady, former Ambassador to Afghanistan Wendy Chamberlain and Rob Warne.
Harm de Blij Moderated the discussion.
We had team trivia again today as this was the second team trivia game of this voyage. We finished in second place today.
As we do almost everyday we had a salad entree for lunch. We ate at the Lido Cafe and sat outside.
In the afternoon, Keith played some paddle tennis and Anne Marie worked out for another hour. Keith then met friend Bob and Anne Marie sat our for awhile on our verandah. Weather was quite nice.
As we have mentioned, there are so many activities on board the ship and too many to mention here. We will just highlight a few.
Todays activities included yoga, pilates, stretching, sit to be fit, and several other fitness classes. There was a golf clinic as well as spanish, music and art classes. There were classes on bridge from beginning to advanced and then duplicate bridge for the serious players. There was another lecture in the afternoon and two movies and basic computer courses offered plus the college credit course. In all, there were 50 plus activities offered and that doesn't even include the activity of eating!
One of the biggest challenges is deciding what to do each and everyday. We wish we could do more and more.
This evening we dine in the Crystal Dining Room. We will post more about this tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
Keith and Anne Marie
Keith, would you be able to post some examples of the team trivia questions? Test us vigilant readers! :o) By the way, your dedication to working out is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI found your report that there are 2 children on board very interesting. As a former teacher/administrator I think it is wonderful for these little people to have this great opportunity. I follow a blog on the HAL WC and it has been reported that there is one eight year old traveling with her parents and a tutor. Dos Brian's son have a tutor traveling with him? What remarkable memories these children will have.
ReplyDelete