DAY 38 - EN ROUTE TO NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONA

Wonderful Time At Dinner Last Evening ✔  Another Wonderful Day At Sea ✔   


Margie, had commented that she remembered how much we enjoyed the Hawaiian fish last year and she is absolutely correct.  Last year while in Honolulu, the Prego Specialty Restaurant Chef was able to obtain Opah.  We happened to eat in Prego that evening and it was one if not the most delicious fish entrees we had ever had.  It was not only the fish but the way it was prepared.  We liked it so much that when we learned during dinner that the other half of the fish fillet would be served the next evening as one of the two additional entree items not on the regular menu we quickly made a reservation for the next evening to have the fish entree again.  


If any of you has questions or other comments we love to read each and every comment that is made on the Blog.

Before dinner last evening, we sat with friends Linda and John.  We first met John and Linda in 2007 and have sailed with them several times since then.  It is always wonderful to see them.


Anne Marie with friend John

Friends John and Linda

We enjoyed another wonderful dinner in the Crystal Dining Room.  These are the dinner menus.

We began our meal with an appetizer.  Keith had Tuna Taretar which was prepared by our Headwaiter Augusto.  Augusto makes a great Tuna Taretar as it is not overpowering with the ingredients that he adds to the Tuna.  Keith really enjoyed it.  He would never had it anywhere but on the ship.

We each enjoyed a salad and for our entree.  Anne Marie had a selected chunch field green salad and Keith had his standing salad order.


Anne Marie's Selected Crunch Field Green Salad

We each had the Fresh Broiled Hawaiian Snapper.


Anne Marie had the Almond Snowball with Berry Compote sugar free dessert.

Last evening on our bed was two letters.

One letter was from Hotel Director Josef Lumetsberger with a comment card that guests could utilize to provide comments about our World Cruise experience.   Feedback doesn’t need to be limited to suggestions for improvement but can also be in the way of reinforcing those items that guests are very happy about. We think the card is a great idea.

The other letter was from World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy with some information about the upcoming iPad training courses as well as some up coming events. Elise's letter began with the words "Good evening World Cruise Family,"

There is no question that this is the feeling on board the ship as we often say we are sailing with our extended Crystal Cruises Family which for us includes both crew and fellow guests.

Both of these letters add a very nice touch to the overall cruising experience and are very much appreciated.

We slept well last night.  Keith was up early and enjoyed a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center.   About half way through his workout Brian began his workout and John began his workout a little while before Keith finished up.  When Keith had coffee in the Lido Cafe he spoke with John's wife Linda.


While working out, Keith watched a repeat of one of the lectures he had missed by Celebrity Lecturer Harm de Blij.  We have seen many lectures given by Harm over the years as he is a very popular lecturer and usually lectures on one or more legs of each World Cruise.  He spoke about Geography and its importance with respect to National Security.  He made several important points which included that it is no longer a required course at most Universities including Harvard and that in the United States we have too experts in this field.  HIs other point is that understanding world-wide geography is key in several areas including understanding what countries such as China are trying to achieve long-term and that it is also key in our decision making process.  Two stations on the television are being dedicated to show reruns of past lectures and this is very helpful should we miss any of the live lectures.


This leads to another item we have mentioned from time to time and that is the number of activities that are offered each and everyday.  Yesterday Keith was speaking with two fellow World Cruisers who are taking their first World Cruise with Crystal Cruises all agreed that it is amazing how many activities are offered each sea day and that on the World Cruise these activities are stepped up two-fold or more.  For example, there is a memoir writing class for those who would like to learn to write their memoir which might be a very nice way to pass down information to their family to carry on for many generations to come.  Or, someone might want to take the college credited computer course.  Or for those who want to take Pilates on the World Cruise they are offered three times in the morning.  Believe it or not, sometimes, we need a port day, just to take a rest from all of the wonderful activities that are available to us.


We had breakfast in our room and we watched the daily morning show as we enjoyed our breakfast.  Rick and Elise interviewed, James Coughlin, who is the Shore Excursion Manager.  One of the items that the spoke about is something that we learned from James a couple of years ago which is that when he began his career with Crystal it was a chef and then a few years later he moved over to the Shore Excursion group and then ultimately moved up to the Manager position. This is just one of so many examples of members of the crew who have moved up  into increasing areas of responsibility. For example, many of the members of the shore excursion group originally were hired into other positions such as one member who came from the bar staff and another member who was a stewardess. Crystal prides themselves in having such a high retention rate and this is one of the major reasons for such a high rate.  They also spoke about our upcoming ports of call and how interesting the shore excursions should be in Asia.  As James said in the Mediterranean in the summer time the local tour guides are working non-stop with so many cruise ships in port each day whereas in Asia, three are far less cruise ships and this adds to the enthusiasm of the local tour guides since they conduct far less tours.


At 10:00 AM we attended a lecture given by Rob Warne about Japan's Perfect Storm which included the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Melt-Down which took place last year.


At 11:00 AM, We attended a lecture given by Harm de Blij spoke about foreign policy and domestic priorities at a time of recession.  Harm really makes one think and he provides a wealth of information about the challenges that we face around the world.


We then had Team Trivia.  We had an average score and we fell a little further behind the first place team.  We are having a nice time playing on the team.


There was a Grand Gala Buffet for lunch.  Rather than dine at the Buffet we each enjoyed a nice salad entree.


After lunch, Keith played Paddle Tennis for a few hours while Anne Marie worked out.  In the afternoon Keith sat with Bob while Anne Marie sat out at the pool.


We will go to a later dinner this evening.


We enjoyed another fascinating day today as we continue to make our way to Noumea, New Caledona.


TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” – Thomas Jefferson

Keith and Anne Marie