DAY 81 - CRUISING THE GULF OF TONKIN

Thoroughly Enjoyed Last Evening's Dinner At The Crystal Dining Room. ✔Enjoyed Another Wonderful Day At Sea ✔


We thought we would begin with some additional photos from yesterday's excursion on the Junk Boat.

 The seas were quite rough and their small boat was being bounced all around.

After we posted yesterday afternoon, Keith ran into fellow guest Mike and they decided to play Paddle Tennis and a few other people eventually joined in.  Keith began playing with a fleece and two long sleeve workout shirts underneath, but after awhile he played without the fleece.


Fellow guest Mike on Keith's left and Richard on Keith's right.

Keith talking with new Fitness Director Julie.

Last night was orange night and everyone joined in.

We enjoyed last nights dinner in the Crystal Dining Room and these are the dinner menus.

We had a surprise visit to our table after our first course arrived.  We enjoyed dinner with Cruise Director Rick Spath and we were so very glad he had time to join us for dinner.

We often say that we begin our meal with a salad and while that is our first course our meal each evening starts with a glass of wine when we toast our love for one another.  Then we each have one dinner roll (no butter) before our salads arrive.

Last night we added one twist to the mix by ordering appetizers that arrived a few minutes after we toasted.

One of the other Headwaiters (Frantz) had recommended that we try the Hamachi Crudo with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lime, Fresh Pomegranate, Cracked Pepper, Toasted Pine Nuts and Pink Sea Salt.  This is thinly sliced Tuna Sashimi accompanied by all of these ingredients.  Keith took the recommendation and ordered this appetizer and Anne Marie had a Chicken Consomme.

Keith was glad that Franz recommended the appetizer as he would not have tried it without the recommendation and was glad he did.

Our next course was Salad and it was the "Augusto Caesar Salad" as our Headwaiter Augusto made a very tasty Caesar Salad for us table-side.  All three of us enjoyed the Salad and it was another huge success thanks to Augusto.

Our third course was Seared Sea Scallops and Jumbo Prawns.  It was absolutely delicious and the overall taste was enhanced with the Asparagus Ravioli, Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomato-Alfredo Sauce which accompanied it.  The Asparagus Ravioli had just an amazing taste.  Coincidentally all three of us ordered the same entree.

Rick Spath needed to leave right before dessert to get ready for the evening entertainment.  For our fourth and final course we enjoyed some cake which we had ordered the night before.

After dinner we ran into friends Buddy and Lynn so we spoke with them about what they did in Vietnam yesterday.  We sat on a couch in the Crystal Cove in close proximity to the reception desk.  They each had a massage at an extremely low price.  They also went on a Junk Cruise which they booked right at the pier.  They were the only Westerners on that particular cruise.  Some other guests eventually stopped by and sat with us including Paula who has been taking the spin class and Heather and Tommy who we know very well from not only this but previous cruises.

We ran into some guests who also went to the night market which is set up in the afternoon.  It is very extensive and the prices for items are quite cheap.  The popular items seemed to be pearls on a strand.  Many paid in the $5.00 per strand price for the pearls.  We have no idea what they look like or if they were even real but it was fun to hear all the stories of what some guests purchased at the market.

We slept very well last evening as we sailed the Gulf Of Tonkin over to the next and final port of call for this third segment of the World Cruise; Hong Kong.  The seas were very calm.

The only bad news is that we set the clocks forward one hour before going to sleep last evening as we will do several times between now and the end of this adventure.  It made it a little more challenging waking up this morning.  In spite of this, Keith was still up and out and back up to the Fitness Center around the same time that he has worked out throughout the cruise.  He enjoyed a nice long workout and fellow guest Brian arrived about half-way through Keith's workout.  Brian and his daughter along with one other couple who we know made the trek on a private tour over to Hanoi yesterday.  The drive was around three and one half hours in each direction and they toured the city for a little over three hours.

After Keith's workout, he stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee.  The Lido Deck Stewards told Keith that it was on the colder side outside and they were right when Keith walked outside for less than a minute.  Of course, it was dark outside and we were cruising.

Anne Marie got in her one hour workout on the Treadmill this morning as it was too cool for her to walk outside on the Promenade Deck.

Afterwards, we enjoyed breakfast in our room as we watched the final Daily Morning Show of this third segment of the World Cruise with hosts Rick Spath and Elise Ivy.  As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed the show and the humor of Rick and Elise.

One of the items that Rick and Elise mentioned is that in the afternoon that lecturerKen Rees will be hosting a Veterans' Get-Together.  Each Veteran will get to introduce themselves including the branch of the Military they served in.  Just like there are get togethers for say those guest traveling solo this will provide another nice opportunity for guests with similar backgrounds to get to know one another.  This program is rolling out on both the Symphony and the Serenity at the end of the World Cruise but since there are various veterans on board the ship including some who served in Vietnam it was decided to go ahead and roll this program out right now on the Serenity.

During Captain Glenn's talk from the bridge this morning he shared with all of us his thought for the day which goes as follows.

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time, they just have the heart."

There was lots happening around the ship today as this was not only a sea day but the last sea day of this voyage.

There were three lectures on the schedule. The first one was given by Ken Rees which covered Hog Kong and included its history of how it developed into a major trading powerhouse.  Ken Walsh presented the President's and their Hideaways and in the afternoon Professor Adrian Kerry spoke about the Chinese and their exploration of the world.

There were lots of other activities including several fitness classes, bridge lessons, Spanish, golf and computer classes. two movies and in total over fifty different activities were offered throughout the morning and afternoon hours.

On top of this there was the lavish American Classic Buffet which was offered on the Lido Deck around the indoor swimming pool.  Talk about an extensive buffet.  This buffet had it all and just about anything you can think of related to American classic food items was available on this buffet.  This is just an amazing buffet and one that is normally offered once per cruise.

In between the lectures, Keith was able to attend the last Spin Class of this voyage and it was another great workout.  The participants in most of these classes on this voyage have been really good making it easier for the instructor to run it on more of an advanced level and to push everyone very hard.  You know when the class is challenging when there are times that you are not quite sure you can make it through the entire class but in the end you do.  All of the participants today's class will be leaving the ship in Hong Kong.  There was one gent who was not there today so we are not sure about his plans.

We also had our last Team Trivia of this voyage.  We did answer thirteen of fifteen questions correctly but we actually ended up moving from second to fourth place.  Win or lose, we have had a great time and have a fun team.

In the afternoon we had lunch and we each had Salad Entrees.

Anne Marie also worked out for another hour in the afternoon while Keith read, and wrote and then later in the day met with friend Bob.  Anne Marie also finished moving clothing that we brought for the cold weather from a piece of luggage we have had under the bed to the closet and we packed some items that we just won't need with far less ports where we can expect warm weather.

Later this evening we will attend the Captain's Reception and we will also host a dinner at Prego with six friends.  We will post all about this tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Hong Kong and that includes the first of two overnights.  Guests leaving the ship on this voyage will have all day tomorrow to visit Hong Kong and then will depart the ship the following morning.  Likewise, guests joining the ship for Segment four will join the ship on the afternoon of our second day in Hong Kong and we will be overnighted that night so all guests can explore Hong Kong the following day.

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

“It is not living that matters, but living rightly.” - Socrates

Keith and Anne Marie