DAY 85 - CRUISING THE EAST CHINA SEA

Excellent Time At Silk Road Last Evening With Friends Bob And Glo ✔ Another Very Enjoyable Day At Sea ✔ 

We wanted to begin with a few more photos that we took on the last day in Hong Kong

Although we dined at Silk Road last evening, these are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room.

Before dinner, we had friends Bob and Glo to our room for some canapes, wine and quiet conversation.  It was nice to catch up with Bob and Glo and to hear about their recent tours and to also share what we have done the past few days in Hong Kong.

Rao took care of organizing all of this for us including Canapes and the Wine.

We ordered a few canapes including pigs in a blanket, caviar, vegetables, cheese, chips and nuts and enjoyed some Chardonnay wine as we toasted the start of the evening and the continuation of the World Cruise.

Afterwards, we dined at Silk Road.

Our Waiter was Alberto.  We were seated by Headwaiter Sigi.  Sigi and Alberto surprised us by letting us know that Alberto had pre-ordered several special Nobu items for us.  We began the meal with some of these items before we ordered anything additional.

The food was fantastic as was the service and it was so enjoyable to share the evening with Bob and Glo.   Surprisingly, given that this evening is a formal night there were relatively few guests dining in Silk Road last evening.  We arrived at 7:30 PM for dinner and normally between 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM is a peak time for guests to arrive but by 7:45 PM only around five or six tables were occupied for the remainder of the time we dined.

This was one of the Nobu Specials that we enjoyed.  The next course was a lettuce wrap which we did not get a photo of.

These are three different Nobu Specials and we ate them from right to left.

This was another Nobu Special which is Lobster Tempura.  Keith also ordered some tuna and salmon sashimi but we didn't get a photo of that either.

 For our entree we had Hot Nobu Noodles with some scallops added to the soup.  Always delicious.

Later in the evening the four of us ended up in the Crystal Cove and several people were down there enjoying conversation and the live music.  We didn't get to sleep until after midnight.

Last evening we departed Hong Kong at around 10:00 PM and we are sailing to our next port of call in Xiamen, China.  We slept very well and, once again, had not trouble falling asleep and sleeping through the night.

Keith decided to still get up fairly early for his morning workout in the Fitness Center.  By the time he finished there were about five other guests working out.

After his workout, he enjoyed some coffee in the Lido Cafe.  He spoke with Lido Deck Stewards Alvin and Glenn and another interesting moment occurred.

OK.  As to the moments.......Keith wasn't sure if it was April 1 or maybe he was actually sleeping since he had gone to sleep so late.

A little while later when Keith was up at the Cafe and getting his coffee a guest spoke with Lido Deck Steward Alvin and asked him the following question.  "Do you like being at sea?"  Keith guesses she was just trying to make pleasant chit-chat with Alvin but two seconds later before Alvin could answer the question with a yes, which he eventually did, she quickly said, "I guess if you are here you must like working at sea.  Keith was thinking this might fall into the category of questions that are long-standing cruise jokes such as "What time is the Midnight Buffet?

Anne Marie slept in this morning so instead of working out before breakfast, she worked out after breakfast.

We did enjoy breakfast in our room and after three days in Hong Kong it was nice to enjoy the sea day starting with the Daily Morning Show hosted by Cruise Director Rick Spath and World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy.  Thanks to Anne Marie, we did call in for one of the Trivia Questions and answered the question correctly.

It was nice to have a sea day after several days in port.  There are only five sea days on this segment.

There were two lectures today and that included Destination Lecturer Ken Rees talking about China's history and also providing lots of solid and very interesting information about our upcoming ports of call in Xiamen and Shanghai.  In the afternoon, Celebrity Lecturer, Jim Brochu gave a wonderful presentation on James Cagney.

While Anne Marie was working out Keith was able to get a hold of our daughter, Jennifer, and spoke with her for awhile.  He was unable to reach our son, Eric, but we will try to catch up with in soon.  Speaking of our family, this is a recent photo of our Grand Baby Andre.  Jennifer sends us lots of photos as well as some videos.

Keith also managed to take a Spin (indoor cycling) Class which was the first one for this segment of the cruise.  The participants were all new as those from the last set of classes are no longer on the ship.

 While Keith was taking his class Bob, Glo and Christie were also working out.  When Anne Marie finished her workout she took some photos.

Bob and Christie

Glo working hard on the Elliptical Machine

The Crew Had A Crew Fire and Safety Drill as they do each week.  This did not involved the guests.

From L-R another stewardess who has been a big help to us even though she doesn't take care of our room (Viktoria) and our Stewardess Sneha

Some of the Members of the Crystal Crew

After the class, we attended a Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle Party which was held up at the Palm Court.  As we have mentioned, if ten or more guests from Cruise Critic register for this party, then Crystal Cruises hosts a party for all of those who have registered.  It is always a very nice touch.  We had a very nice turnout of Cruise Critic Members and several officers came to the party including Captain Glenn, Cruise Director Rick, Hotel Director Josef and Food And Beverage Manager Victor.

Keith with Food And Beverage Manager Victor

Celeste with Captain Glenn

Pat flanked by Cruise Director Rick Spath and Celebrity Entertainer Jim Brochu

Becky with Jim Brochu

Hotel Director Josef From L-R Peggy, Rudy, Shirley, and Elaine.

At Noon we had Team Trivia. Our team answered correctly eleven of fifteen questions and the two first place teams answered thirteen of fifteen questions so for the first of the five team trivia games which will be held this segments we are two behind the leading teams.

Keith had hoped to play Paddle Tennis this afternoon, but it was just too windy and cold for him. He met with Bob.  At the same time, Anne Marie worked out for an hour.

At 3:00 PM Keith attended a special talk that was given by the Shore Excursion group about our upcoming visit to Beijing and at 3:30 PM Anne Marie picked up our Passports as this will be needed for tomorrow as we go through China Immigration.

This evening we will attend the Captain's Welcome Party and then we will dine in the Crystal Dining Room.  We will post more about this tomorrow.

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

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” -  Confucious

Keith and Anne Marie