We wanted to begin by saying Happy Easter.
Late yesterday afternoon, after we posted Anne Marie attended the Easter Vigil Mass. Keith had gone with Anne Marie the previous Sunday for Palm Sunday but didn't make it this time around.
Although we dined at Prego last evening, these are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room.
Last evening we dined at Prego to celebrate Bob and Glo's 50th Milestone Cruise. Crystal Cruises has an infinity like program for guests and as a certain number of cruises are completed the guest(s) are entitled to certain milestone awards. They might include shipboard credit, an upgrade from a standard cabin to a penthouse cabin up to a certain number of days or even a free cruise up to a certain length. The 50th milestone is a major milestone as it does include a complimentary voyage and also a special milestone dinner. We were very honored to be invited to Bob and Glo's Milestone dinner.
Bob and Glo each received Platinum Crystal Society Pins
Bob and Glo also invited Rabbi Morrie and his lovely wife Gerri, and Ken Rees and his lovely wife Lynn. Vice Captain Ragnar and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque Brown host the dinner.
Bob and Glo had pre-ordered a couple of items for the table. This included Bruschetta and also Eggplant Parmigiana. These were very special treats. Matzoh was also served and the Rabbi, Gerri and Keith had some of that.
We each went with a salad for our next course with Anne Marie having the Caesar Salad and Keith having his standing order salad.
We each had the Halibut as our entree which was one of the additional two entree for the evening and Keith had his standing order of vegetables. The Halibut was delicious and was accompanied by a very tasty cheese sauce.
For dessert Anne Marie had the Chocolate Gelato and Keith had Spumoni Ice Cream.
We were also served a white, and red wine and we had a champagne toast towards the end of the meal. Jaque Brown presented Bob and Glo with Platinum Crystal Society Pins marking this special milestone. We especially enjoyed the white and red wines. We will need to ask Sommelier Christian to write out the names of
We are very blessed to have Bob and Glo as friends and we are also blessed to enjoy friendships with Ken and Lynn and Morrie and Geri. We also enjoy the family feeling on the ship with many of the crew members including Vice Captain Ragnar and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque.
One interesting item that some at the table picked up on. There were four lefties out of the ten of us at the table. That has got to be above the overall average of lefties. Coincidentally each of the four couples had one lefty; Keith, Bob, Ken and Gerri.
Last night marked the seventh time that we moved the clocks forward during this segment of the World Cruise. The good news is that we just have to forward the clocks on more hour prior to our arrival to the West Coast and that is scheduled for the evening of the 14th when we depart Ketchikan, Alaska.
We enjoyed another nice sleep last evening. Some of our fellow guests are sleeping quite well but some are having a more difficult time falling asleep with the many time zone differences we have had. Possibly because we are getting up early each day that is making it easy to get to sleep.
We began the morning as we do each and every day. Keith was up first and enjoyed another great workout at the Fitness Center and a short while later it was Anne Marie's turn to workout. While Keith was sitting in the Lido Cafe one of the Lido Deck Stewards came by with an Easter Basket filled with candy and wished Keith a Happy Easter. Later on, he came back and switched out the Easter Baskets by placing an even larger basket on the table Keith was sitting at. Keith wished all of the Lido Deck Stewards he ran into a very Happy Easter.
As part of Easter Day, there was an Easter Basket Hunt. This is directly from Reflections, the daily program. Crystal Serenity's "Easter Bunny" has hidden five Easter baskets (with prizes) around the ship (in public rooms only). Half of the basket is visible and you can search for them anytime before 12 Noon. Once all the baskets have been found, the Reception Desk will be notified, so you should consider checking with them before beginning your hunt. If you find one, please inform the Reception Desk.
Keith went down to the Crystal Cove to pick up a copy of one of the newspapers and he spotted a beautiful array of Easter Candy set beautifully on a table directly outside the Crystal Dining Room.
We enjoyed our breakfast that Rao set up for us. Since today was a port day there was no Daily Morning Show so we got ready for our visit to Dutch Harbor. When Rao arrived with our breakfast, he gave us a very nice Easter Basket. We also gave Rao a present we had bought for him and also gave presents to our Stewardess, our Assistant Stewardess and to another Stewardess who takes care of room in an area adjacent to the ones that our own Stewardess takes care of.
The gifts we gave included the candies (visible in the photo which were on top of a gift that we also purchased for the two Stewardesses and the Assistant Stewardess and Butler.
A short while after breakfast we attended the Mandatory United States Customs and Border Control Inspection.
There were not many personnel on board so we waited about 15 minutes in line. We spoke with Dance Instructor, Beverly Durand, for almost the entire time which made the time go by fairly quickly. We were asked a couple of questions and then the inspector took our customs card.
We did not book a tour for Dutch Harbor. While Dutch Harbor is the eleventh largest city in Alaska it really pales by comparison to most United States cities as it only has a population totaling around 4,000 people. There is no true shore operator here and the tour is essentially put on by the locals and thus there was only one tour offered today.
Although we have visited Alaska numerous time our visit to Dutch Harbor and our upcoming visit to Kodiak represent our first visits to each port of call.
Vans were provided to take guests to and from town. We decided to walk and it took about 35 minutes. It was fairly cold and we had to walk on the shoulder of the road but it was a delight to walk to and from the town. We saw more eagles than we have seen in any of our previous Alaskan Cruises and we saw seals and many ducks. It was very picturesque.
The visitor center was closed and the Museum was not open when we were there but the beauty of the scenery made for a perfect day. We went into a store that carried a lot of Alaskan gear as well as other items. This was one of the places where the shuttle dropped guests off.
When we got back to the gangway, other guests were getting off the ship and they could tell we were a bit cold as Keith's nose was all red and he was slurring his words a bit. However, about 10 minutes after we got back to the ship we warmed up.
This was one of the roads we walked on as we walked from the ship towards town.
This is the local airport. We saw a small jet take off from the airport right above us as we walked into town.
This cab was stopped since the jet was taking off from the airport and flew directly above the road.
We spotted this eagle. Interesting area for the nest.
Another Eagle.
Interesting Sign.
Once back on the ship we enjoyed lunch and we each had a salad entree.
We then walked around the ship and spoke to several fellow guests and crew. Later in the day Anne Marie walked and Keith met up with friend Bob.
We also spoke with our daughter and our son.
It will be nice not to have to move the clock forward this evening
This evening we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room after being away the past two nights.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......
"Keep things on your trip in perspective, and you'll be amazed at the perspective you gain on things back home while you're away...One's little world is put into perspective by the bigger world out there." - Gail Rubin Bereny
Looks like Dutch Harbor has grown up a little bit since I was there 30 years ago. Ketchikan should also be fantastic for watching bald eagles, especially if the cannery is operating (if it is still there).
ReplyDeleteJeff & Suzanne