DAY 34 - WELCOME TO HONOLULU

Wonderful Dinner In The Crystal Dining Roomi✔   Another Wonderful Day At Sea ✔  We See 
Land  ✔ 

We wanted to note that with each passing day we continue to run into some guests for the very first time and most of these are guests who we know from previous sailings who joined the ship in Los Angeles and this includes guests doing one leg of the World Cruise or multiple legs or the entire World Cruise.  The same goes for the crew.  We have run into several crew members who joined the ship in Los Angeles.  With that said, yesterday Keith was in the Crystal Cove (main lobby area) and he looks up and sees Crew Member Ronnie.  For those of you who have sailed on this ship Ronnie used to be the Librarian and then a few years ago became the Operator.  Keith asked, Ronnie when did you board the ship and Ronnie said he's been on the ship since December.  Keith said "where have you been"?  He learned from Ronnie that currently he is working in the Engine Room in some type of relief position but will return to his Operator position.  One of the items that we enjoy about Crystal relates to this very item.  Crystal Cruises has one if not the highest employee retention rate of any cruise line and often you will see various members of the crew move up from one position to the next.  This could be someone moving from a waiter position to a specialty restaurant waiter position or say to a butler position.  Or it could be someone moving from a stewardess, to the front desk, to a concierge and then onto a Crystal Society position.  It's so nice to see the crew members move laterally or be promoted into new positions.  

We were asked if we could post examples of the Team Trivia questions.  Rather than doing that each day, we'll just post a couple of examples now and explain hot the Team Trivia works.  Each game has a total of 15 questions.  The last question is always  to write down the name of the song based on the notes that Pianist John Mentis will play.  The questions touch on many different topics.  They may included sports, geography, politics, american and/or world history, the arts, books/authors, and a wide range of other topics.  Here is an example of one of the questions asked yesterday.

What year did Mother Teresa win the Noble Peace Prize?

The answer: 1979


We enjoyed dinner in the Crystal Dining Room last evening.  It was great to be back to our table and taken care of by the wonderful waitstaff that we enjoy in the dining room.  We spoke for awhile with not only our senior waiter and waiter but also headwaiter, Augusto, and Maitre d' Leo.  

These were the dinner menus.

Before dinner, we listened to John Mentis play on the Piano.  John has performed on each of the World Cruises for Crystal Cruises.  

We began our meal with a salad.  Keith had his standing order salad and Anne Marie had a Farmer's Vegetable Salad.

We each had Broiled Salmon Fillet for our entrees and a side order of vegetables.  The salmon is one of a few entree choices that is available on most evening in the Crystal Dining Room.

Keith had mixed berries for dessert and Anne Marie had the Sugar Free Chocolate Profiteroles.

Anne Marie also had a decaffeinated Cappuccino.

Back at the room, Keith did have another rainbow cookie and each time he has these cookies he thinks of the visit we had in Miami with our friends Ricki and David.  Ricki.....Keith has done such a wonderful job eating the cookies that believe it or not there are around three or four remaining to be eaten.  


We each enjoyed our morning workouts at the Fitness Center.  As usual Keith worked out first and then it was Anne Marie's turn.  Keith put in even a longer workout than usual because he will likely not workout tomorrow morning as we have an early morning excursion.  More on that later.


 Keith took a photo of Anne Marie on the Treadmill yesterday.

After our workouts, we each enjoyed breakfast in the room and watched the daily morning show.  During the show, Cruise Director, Rick Spath and World Cruise Hostess, Elise Ivy spoke about some of the highlights for today and tomorrow.  They also had Assistant Cruise Director, Scott Mitchell on the show to talk about some of Scott's major responsibilities.  One of those responsibilities includes developing the entire daily schedule for the times of each activity.  


We went to the first Rap With The Rabbi session of this World Cruise.  On World Cruises and on Jewish Holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and Chanukah (plus the Holiday cruise even if Chanukah does not fall on that cruise) a Rabbi is on board the ship.  The Rabbi for this years World Cruise is Rabbi Morrie who has been on many of the World Cruises and is popular with both guests and crew.  Usually, every other sea day, there will be a Rap With The Rabbi.  Often people from various faiths attend.  We discuss a wide range of topics and it provides a nice forum to learn from the Rabbi while also exchanging our own views. We want to mention that on the World Cruise and certain holidays a Minister is also on the ship.  On top of this throughout the year Catholic Clergy are on the cruise.  On the World Cruise you have the consistency of having the same Minister, Rabbi and Catholic Priest on for the full duration of the cruise and this consistency adds to the community feeling and spirit on board the ship.


There were three lectures today; two in the morning and one in the afternoon.  Dr. Gavid McLean spoke about the story of Hawaii.  This was followed by Rob Warne who spoke about the demise of Osama bin Laden.  Keith went to Rob Warne's lecture while Anne Marie took care of some other items.


At noon, we attended Team Trivia. We had a solid score and are only a few points behind the leading team.  We had lunch outside at the Lido Cafe.


In the afternoon, Celebrity Lecturer Bruce McGill presented "Divas, Directors and Drama....Oh My!  Bruce McGill was also a lecturer on the 2011 World Cruise which was the first time we heard him lecture. He is known as being the actor that many people have never heard of yet he has been in hundreds of films.  He was in Animal House and was the character on a moter cycle.


Keith managed to get in tennis this afternoon.  The weather was in the 80's and the best we've had since leaving Los Angeles.  Anne Marie got in her walk as well.


Later today we will take a three hour shore excursion and then we will dine at Prego with Bob and Glo. We also want to note that tomorrow morning we have an excursion that begins at 7:15 AM local time. So, we have a very busy two days in Hawaii.


After a few days at sea, both guests and crew are ready for land including this very nice overnight in Honolulu.


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

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Hellen Keller

Keith and Anne Marie