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Greetings From London Crystal has allowed us to sail all seven continents of the world, and circumnavigate the globe. We have visited 310 or more ports of call on our Crystal sailings and 72 countries. We have sailed Oceans, Bays, Seas, and Rivers. On our just concluded cruise we visited the countries of the Netherlands and Belgium for the first time. We also visited ports Oban, Isles of Man, Amsterdam, and Zeebrugge for the very first time. All our Crystal cruises have allowed us to enjoy pre and/or post cruise cities/towns as we have done on this cruise. This was our second pre-cruise visit to Reykjavik in addition to transiting this port on three other occasions.We have also enjoyed countless pre and post cruise visits to London on several Crystal Cruises as we are doing now. Crystal has also allowed us to enrich our knowledge of places and cultures around the world through lectures covering destinations, geography and geopolitics, politics, and history and through many group and private shore excursions they offer. Our lives have also been enriched by learning from the crew about their home countries including customs. We have to say our two completed voyages on-board Symphony had for us what we consider to be great ports. We think this says a lot because of the challenges of securing ports later in the process due to the restart of Crystal. For us, we enjoy a combination of visiting ports for the first time as well as visiting ports multiple times. We find when we revisit ports we can go back to certain sites and also visit new sites and we recognize there is so much to see in certain areas of the world that one can not possibly see on one, two or more visits. Today was our final day in London for this trip and we visited many sites by foot. From the Rosewood Hotel we headed towards the Victoria Embankment on the River Thames. We walked along the river over to Westminster and viewed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and other landmarks. We walked on Horse Guards Rd passing by the beautiful St. Jame's Park and other landmarks on our way towards Soho on a mission to find a particular French Bakery with a pastry in mind for Anne Marie. We also visited Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus, the Theater District, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Covent Gardens. We walked up and down various side-streets often finding places of interest. Although overcast and a bit cool, we had a great time covering this area by foot and stopping at several different sites. The history that London offers is amazing and as we walk areas we think back to al the history of this great city from the good and bad times including peace and war. We look forward to our next adventure with Crystal and the next set of places we will visit. Photos follow. With one set after these collages.     Photos from a nearby park and area surrounding it on our final walk of London. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith 
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Greetings From London Today's weather started with cool temperature but the good news no rain and sunny skies. Our morning destination was Buckingham Palace. We did do a tour during the evening in 2004 while visiting with Anne Marie's late sister and her husband who lived in Scotland and met us for a few days in London. We walked several other nearby areas. In the afternoon we walked for several miles including a visit to Covent Garden. There are many more restaurants and stores than we remember but the last time we visited this area was quite a while ago as we didn’t get there on more recent visits. We'll let the photos do the talking.    London is a very vibrant city and a fun one to take in all around yourself while walking.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Greetings From London We arrived to London shortly after noon on a ride that took much longer than usual due to the weather. We are staying at the Rosewood Hotel in London. We have varied where we stay on most London visits as there are so many wonderful hotels to choose from. Several functions for Crystal are performed at the A&K office in London and we visited there for a few hours shortly after arriving to our hotel. In spite of some rain showers we managed to walk to and from the A&K offices and also go out for another walk after a quick stop to the hotel. We wanted to share a few additional thoughts from our cruises on Serenity in August and our just completed cruises on Symphony this month and I can best sum this up by starting with Crystal. Did we say how much we enjoyed our cruises on Crystal Symphony this month and Crystal Serenity last month? There is so much to enjoy and love about new Crystal. We were asked yesterday, what do we like about new Crystal? Answer is simple we love the total package. We often say if you liked old Crystal you will find that new Crystal brought back all that we liked about old Crystal and then enhanced it so it is better than ever. To us this includes: Many new suites and combining the different ones under fewer categories to make it easier to choose from. Having solo rooms that are the same size as double rooms. Updating some of the public rooms including Umi Uma, Osteria, The Spa/Salon. The Lounge. On our recent cruises on both ships, we have seen them utilized a lot more than last year plus they now have bridge and for those who wanted casinos they are coming soon. Upgrading the cuisine including Waterside, rolling out Osteria, bringing back Tastes and soon to be Beefbar. From all I have read and looking at the Beefbar menus this is an upgrade to Tastes. As to Waterside to me the cuisine, service and the beautiful dining venues are very similar to specialty restaurants with the difference being the number of guests served and the diversity of cuisine. Enhancing the Crystal website including adding stories and making the website more interesting to view and providing other capabilities such as easier ways to sort and find cruises. Bringing back the amazing crew with 85%+ returning. Unlike anywhere else we have sailed, they are experienced, charming, welcoming, friendly, and professional. Let me add to this they are not “robotic”. And showing the willingness to invest and grow the product. We have lots to look forward to. Now back to the Symphony cruise. In spite of the very strong winds as we made it into the Port Of Dover, we arrived on time and for many of us we couldn’t feel the impact of the winds but they were very strong for sure and if you went outside you would know. In fact, the winds were so strong it was a big challenge for the local port to put up the bridge between the ship and the cruise terminal. We had a lot of help as we departed the ship. We did have a Crystal private transfer where you meet at the Crystal Plaza 15 minutes before you depart. We got down there earlier and saw Captain Nenad, Hotel Director Herbert, Dr. Soto and a few minutes later Cruise Director Raphael who was pinch hitting for a few days. Butler Jaison, and new Concierge Thomas and Concierge Sasha were with us as we departed ship and claimed luggage and then Sasha and the driver got us out to the SUV. Everyone’s help was appreciated as it was still windy with some rain. I know, welcome to England. Thanks to the weather and an accident on one of the major roads that drive from Dover to London became a three hour and 20-minute drive as many more vehicles were in London due to the problem on one of the major roads. The saying about the last mile was very true as I could have walked that last mile in 25% of the time it took to drive it. One thing for sure while we had some rain on the Symphony cruises and some rain on the Serenity cruises is that on-board each ship it is total sunshine and to Anne Marie and myself better than ever. As We mentioned in an earlier post, is it perfect? Well, who is and what is? But to us it is truly outstanding including all of the attention to detail and all of the care that has done into new Crystal from the leaders of A&K/Crystal and from both land-based teams and from the on-board teams across both ships. We remind myself that they didn’t buy a company. They bought two ships, a name, and a customer database. Most everything else had to be built from the ground floor including systems, itineraries and all that goes into creating them, supplier arrangements for food, beverages and other supplies, upgrades to the ship, new dining venue, hiring of land-based personnel, securing offices for them, and the list goes on and on and on. In short creating a new company and even with the benefit of having people who knew how things worked on the ships there was so much to create from the bottom floor. And add to this the skepticism that some former guests had, others who never sailed Crystal along with vendors and others including travel consortiums and travel agents, etc. new Crystal was able to bring the ships back to life the year following the purchase. To me it is remarkable and since the relaunch of the company and the two ships with each passing day, week, and month they are enhancing many of the components that together make Crystal so very special.  Today was cooler than yesterday in London and we had on and off rain. Ironically, when in Vancouver prior to a last month's Alaska cruise on Serenity, we purchased waterproof jackets and inserts at the same store we purchased some items for the Crystal 2016 Northwest Passage Cruise. Enjoyed a walk over to the London theatre district at Strand and to adjoining areas. In the afternoon, we decided to visit the British Museum. We have visited this museum often but usually when it opens. Do you think anyone was there? We think half of London was there. Then as we queued on line the gentleman asked do you have tickets? We said no but he said you could go in anyway. A short while later another gentleman asked doe we have tickets? Anne Marie said no and that we are old. Old. Are you kidding me Keith thought to himself? He let us proceed. In spite of the enormous crowds we made our way to exhibits we were most interested in and enjoyed the visit. Weather outlook for tomorrow looks great so we will enjoy several outdoor areas of London.   Cheers,
Anne Marie & Keith Greetings From Crystal Symphony On the last night of the cruise the past few years we started a tradition to enjoy the evening from our room. Thank you, Head Butler Jaison, for taking excellent care of us over eighteen days.   We departed our last port of call yesterday late afternoon on our way to Dover where the cruise ends. We didn't get the start of What a Wonderful World but turn up your volume. What a Wonderful World. What a Wonderful Cruise Line Crystal is. These are the dinner menus from Waterside. Fantasia. Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity each have a room for young children. It can be used by families on their own and is also used when there are enough children on-board to have one or more Junior Activity Directors.  Throughout this voyage we have shared photos of various venues on board Symphony. The venues found on Symphony and Serenity have many similarities including their names other than venues such as Starlite (Symphony) and Stardust (Serenity) and Jade (Symphony) and Pulse (Serenity). There are differences in the layouts and size of some of the venues as well. Another difference is Symphony has 12 decks and Serenity has 13 decks. What is common between the two ships is significant including an experienced and extraordinary crew who are warm, charming, friendly, and professional. We want to give another shout-out to the deck hands and to housekeeping, and other parts of the hotel including food & beverage for always keeping the ship looking as spotless as possible given guest traffic and in fine working order. Keith walks the ship early in the morning and even at that hour furniture is in its proper position and the ship is sparkling while at the same time the night crew is still working on cleaning the public rooms and is literally on hands and knees cleaning flooring and areas of the carpet on the floors and on the staircases. In those early hours the decks are being washed off. It takes a team effort. The crew represents around 50 different nationalities who work together regardless of their position. Can you imagine if countries from around the world adopted that same approach of working together? Maybe someday. We have said this before but Crystal Symphony looks much younger than its actual age because of the investment that has gone into the ship and because of the time and effort that goes into maintaining her each and every day and literally 7x24. Other areas that are common include an amazing dining experience between the cuisine, service, and the beautiful dining venues. Cuisine has been upgraded by new Crystal including the Italian Specialty restaurant Osteria, cuisine served in Waterside, offerings in Marketplace and even the canapes served in the lounges and in the suites. Enrichment and entertainment continue to also be strong strengths of Crystal. Success takes a team and success takes strong leadership. On board each Crystal ship you have Senior Officers, Junior Officers, Senior Staff and Crew who are focused on the safety of the ship for crew and guests, for keeping the ship in great working and who are focused on making the guest experience so very special. When Crystal emerged from bankruptcy 85%+ of the staff returned to both ships. This says a lot about Crystal, the crew, and the guests. At the same time those on land for Crystal have a nice mix of seasoned Crystal employees combined with many seasoned personnel from A&K and other areas of the cruise industry and some land-based areas. More recently some members of former Crystal have returned in land-based functions that directly support service and food and drink on board the ships as well as some people from outside of old Crystal. It is a magical recipe for success. We have enjoyed an amazing time on Crystal Symphony as we did on our last Crystal Symphony voyage in 2018. We adore the ship, the new public areas and the new suite we stayed in, and most importantly the amazing team of very talented and caring people who are part of the Crystal Symphony Team. They have made us feel very welcome from the moment we arrive to the Port of Reykjavik, Iceland where we were greeted by some members of the team and from the moment, we boarded Serenity and throughout the cruise. They have touched each of our hearts in many ways. It has also been a pleasure being reunited with guests who we have sailed with before, while meeting several guests for the very first time.   We are including two photos of the Crystal Symphony Senior Officers as Cruise Director Raphael came on board the last week of the cruise to lend a hand.    We included a collage of four photos with three crew members; two of Jessie who is the lead person in the Computer University; Daniele who is the Future Cruise & Loyalty Manager and Mario the Specialty Restaurant Maître d’ who also swings up as Restaurant Manager when Remi goes on Holiday. We have known all three for many years. Jessie from his time on both Serenity and Symphony. Daniele, starting in 2007when he was at the Reception Desk, then Concierge, then Assistant to Hotel Director, then Future Cruise Sales Consultant and now in his current position. Mario as Head Waiter, then Senior Head Waiter, then swinging up to relieve Leo as Maître d’, then swinging between ships as Maître d’, then swinging between Maître d’ and Specialty Maître d’ on Serenity and now in his present position. So why two photos of Jessie? One of the photos is from outside the Computer University when we would both wave to Jessie and he would wave to us each time we would pass by when we walked inside the ship when the weather was not conducive to walk outside on the Promenade Deck. All three are warm & friendly, caring, and professional. Like so many members of team Symphony & Serenity they are part of our extended Crystal Family and the number one reason we love and sail with Crystal, and why we can’t wait to sail again and again. This morning we disembarked Crystal Symphony and were drive from the Port Of Dover to the Rosewood Hotel for a four night post cruise stay in London. We enjoyed our final meal (breakfast) on-board Crystal Symphony. We had a glorious time and words cannot express how much we have enjoyed these two cruises both on and off Symphony and the care that we have been shown by the members of Team Crystal Symphony. When we last sailed Symphony in 2018 we loved it so much we added a cruise for 2019 in addition to one we had booked for 2020. Unfortunately, first one was canceled due to surgery for Anne Marie and the second one old Crystal cancelled due to Covid-19. We plan to return to Symphony in less time than we waited this time around and maybe we will add another cruise so we can return sooner rather than later. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Today's Daily Reflections for those getting off in Dover. More tomorrow about what we did today.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Greetings from Crystal Symphony. Let's begin with the Palm Court. The Palm Court is a beautiful lounge found on both Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity. It serves several functions. It is used for Captains/Crystal Society reception on Serenity and other cocktail parties on Symphony and Serenity, and get-togethers, enjoying a beverage, dancing, afternoon tea, stretch and Pilates on Symphony. Guests also use the lounge to see panoramic views of the sea and shoreline, for selected port arrivals and departures and for other viewings such as when transiting the Panama Canal.  Last evening, we attended the Captains Reception and Crystal Society Party before dinner. This was held in Starlite Club. Captain Nenad thanked the guests for being on the sailing and recognized all the countries that the guests were from. Like Daniel Puma did on the last crise, Future Cruise & Loyalty Manager Maria Lopez recognized a couple with 60 cruises, other milestones on this cruise and those with the most sailings to date who were on-board this cruise. The turnout was very good, and we enjoyed chatting with fellow cruisers and members of team Symphony. It was noted there are 97 first time Crystal cruisers on board. Cruise Director Raphael spoke about last evening's entertainment.  Following is the Waterside Dinner menu where we dined last evening. We were invited to attend dinner at Waterside and didn't take any photos. Sorry. We thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful dinner between non-stop conversation with lots of laughs, outstanding cuisine and a beautiful dining venue. You hear us saying beautiful dining venue and it truly is. This includes lovely tables with tablecloths and a traditional table setting. There were many excellent choices on the menu including caviar, and a cream soup of selected Italian mushrooms served in an Oregano Bread Cup. Although there were other choices three of our table-mates enjoyed the soup, and Keith and one other person had the caviar. After we had salad, or some other second course, it was time for the entree and that was split again with three people including Keith having the fresh Turbot Fillet and two others including Anne Marie having the Veal Marsala. A range of desserts were enjoyed by all. Keith had the cheese and as he has done before, he asked Senior Waiter Hannah to surprise him with the selections. Great news. Before going to sleep we set the clocks back one hour. We needed that extra hour for sure.  Bellow is today's Daily Reflections Program. We anchored off Guernsey this morning and tender service began taking guests to and from Guernsey.
Since today is the last full day of the cruise and we have been to this charming area several times in the past we decided to stay on-board to pack and to visit with fellow guests and members of Team Symphony. More tomorrow. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Posting early today to enjoy the ship for the rest of the day. Yesterday morning we received Nordic Water to the suite and this is being rolled out to all suites and staterooms on Symphony. It had already been rolled out to Serenity. The butlers will fill the containers with the water and seal them. This will replace the use of the large bottles and small bottles of water will still be available.  Yesterday, we visited Normandy including the sacred ground of Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. A major reason for booking this cruise was a return to Normandy on the 80th Anniversary of Operation Overlord. This was a major turning point in the War and defeat of Germany. We wanted to pay our respects to those brave military personnel who gave their lives along with everyone else involved with this landing. Our first and only prior visit was with our family on our second Crystal Cruise and first Crystal Symphony Cruise in 2023. Keith had done lots of reading about World War II and the Greatest Generation over the last several months. This included read a relatively new book called The Light of Battle about Dwight David Eisenhower with a large portion of the book devoted to Project Overlord. I also read some other books published on World War 2 and President Franklin Roosevelt. We had a great day and a great tour. Max was our tour guide. He was born in Normandy and spent a good deal of his life living here. We prepared for it to rain and had waterproof raincoats with us and that is what the forecast called for 24 hours earlier. Upon leaving the port we had a few drops on the windshield but no other rain beyond that. The morning was overcast and windy but by afternoon the sun came out and the wind speed was minimal. This is an area where weather can change anytime with weather systems colliding with one another. Max spent considerable time explaining what took place at Utah beach versus Omaha beach on D-Day and on the day after it. He also covered what caused the different results.Some of the reasons which made the Omaha Beach a major challenge causing significant loss of life included many more obstacles planted by the Germans in the water, strong winds and rough seas, the hills that the German soldiers were on, and a significant number of fortified German Bunkers on top of those hills. When we approached the Omaha Beach area the tide was quite high and covering almost all of the beach area. He also provided some stories about individuals as we made stops to less well known places. This included a stop at a church where two American (Rober Wright and Kenneth Moore) saved many people from the USA and even some Germans. The background on this is just like many others who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day these two men who were medics landed off target. They ended up finding this area where several American and some German soldiers were injured. They brought the wounded into the church. There was also a very young boy. When German soldiers arrived at the Church, they learned from the wounded German soldiers that the two American medics were helping to save lives. Rather than taking them as prisoners or killing them the left the two American medics with additional medical supplies. The American medics saved many lives that day. Kenneth Moore would die the follow year due to an illness. Robert Wright would visit the town from time-to-time and kept up with the young boy who became a young man in time. Half of Robert Wright's ashes are buried at the church cemetery. We are glad we had the opportunity to visit this sacred ground at the beaches and the American Cemetery to show our respect and to think of the brave soldiers who fought during World War 2 in Europe and the Pacific. As we walked the American Cemetery we read some of the names on the tombstones. It is a reminder that each of the people who died during the war, including the six million jews, are not a statistic. Each was a person and that is something we never should forget. As part of the 80th Anniversary there were, photo signs of American, British, Canadian and French war heroes were displayed at various sites in honor of each of them. As to Omaha Beach, more soldiers died in other conflicts such as the Battle of the Bulge. However, Omaha Beach was very different with the number of soldiers who lost their lives in a very concentrated area. The seas turned the color of red with so many casualties. Our tour guide mentioned that a recent analysis of the sand showed that 3% of it was medal reflecting the remnants from that day that still are at this area. There is so much more that we can say about yesterday but we will stop now.      This is the dinner menu from Waterside. While we ate dinner last night we reflected on our visit to Normandy.  Today's Daily Reflections. Today we left Rouen at the scheduled time of 9:00 am. With an early morning departure today was pretty much as sea day and that is reflected in the enrichment offered. This included three lectures covering, The English Channel: Bridge or Divider, Age is Just a number: How to Live Longer and Well and Peering Into The Future Using Maps: The Rise of the Rest.
We wanted to note that the second lecture on age is given by Holocaust Survivor Dr Erica Miller who turns 92 shortly and she has dedicated her life to help others. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Greetings from Crystal Symphony  Today, we will change things up by posting very early. This is because we have a full day planned to get to and from and visiting Normandy. Tomorrow we will share with you our experience as we revisit Normandy for the second time. Yesterday afternoon we saileda river as we made our way to Rouen.  Another special venue on-board Crystal Symphony and Harmony is the library. It's a place where you can sit and read a book, or take out books to read and/or board games to play, pick up a word game, or on selected sailings pick up tickets to see a show performed by a magician. Making it very special is that it is staffed with a librarian who can help you find an item or put you on a waiting list for a book and who is very knowledgeable and helpful. In our early days of cruising Crystal we can remember booking a cruise on board or considering a cruise and stopping by the library to look through travel books to start reading about the places on the itinerary.  Dinner menu from last evening at Waterside where we dined. Dinner was amazing. Outstanding cuisine, service, and dining venue. We thank our wonderful waitstaff team for being so warm, kind, and professional. This includes Head Waiter Eva, Senior Waiter Hannah, Waiter Abhishek, and Sommelier Sanella along with a big thank you to Restaurant Manager Remi, Senior Head Waiter Bojan, and Head Sommelier Goran. We also want to thank recognize the many members of Food & Beverage and Housekeeping who work behind the scenes. This includes members from galley who work tirelessly preparing delicious meals from prepping to cooking, those who clean all the dishes, utensils, and glassware and those involved from Housekeeping keeping the dining venues looking spotless and washing and pressing the tablecloths. This takes a team effort across multiple departments, and you all are simply the best. As to dinner, we each enjoyed Wienerschnitzel for our entrees. Keith had his with a fried egg on top. Each entrée was accompanied with traditional sides.  As for today, one of the major reasons for booking this cruise was a return to Normandy on the 80th anniversary year of Operation Overlord to pay our respects and to remember each person who made the ultimate sacrifice.
We have a tour starting this morning (September 23 ships time) and will post about it on Tuesday, September 24. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Greetings From Crystal Symphony. Posting early as we have a busy afternoon. We also had time yesterday to get over to the local town about 15 minutes from the port. It has a nice beach and many shops. It was fairly busy with locals and in the summer months when tourists visit the number of people triples from what we saw on our visit. The weather was terrific as we took a long walk. On our visit to Belgium will be remembered for its history and architecture. In addition, we got to see and will remember its Belgium waffles, candy, fries, and beer. They certainly offer more possible toppings for the waffles than I could have imagined.   Like the Avenue Saloon, we have lots of wonderful memories of the Hollywood Theatre. The Theatre can be used for a diverse set of activities. Each evening a full-length movie is shown and the following day the same movie is shown in the afternoon. Then this is repeated with a different movie shown in the evening. In our early years of cruising Crystal on some afternoons and evenings we would watch a movie there. On some days a lecture is given in this venue, often in the afternoon on a sea day when one or two other lectures are given in the morning in a different venue. Each morning a Catholic Mass takes place in the Hollywood Theatre with a start time that varies based on where the ship is sailing. On certain cruises such as one or more segments of the World Cruise there has been a Protestant Service offered. Every Friday night there is a Sabbath Service, and this is followed by a kiddush with wine, challah and some other food. On Jewish holidays such as the High Holy Days of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, on the Holiday Cruise and Passover and often on the World Cruise a Rabbi is on board and for all but the Passover Seder the services are conducted in the Hollywood Theatre. Over the years we have attended services on both ships  Last evening we dined at Waterside and this is the dinner menu. In the photo below you will notice we took photos of both sides of a wine bottle. This is one of the Heidi Barrett wine's on-board Crystal Symphony called All Greet Things. It is on the Connoisseurs' wine list. The back of the bottle has a quote from Winston Churchill. "All great things are simple and can be expressed in a single word freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope." We thought a quote from Winston Churchill fit in with this cruise since we will be revisiting Normandy on September 23. At the same time, we are reminded about all of the challenges that the Greatest Generation faced and very much appreciate this itinerary including the special speakers Crystal has on board covering topics related to World War II including D-Day and the Holocaust and the opportunity to visit places on this itinerary whose people were greatly impacted during the War and those who made great sacrifices for a greater good. Several members from Waterside below.    Last evening was also White Night. There is one White Night Party per cruise which is held in the Crystal Plaza. We think of it as a themed mixer with music, dance, themed drinks and canapés. Often guests wear something white in keeping with the theme but that is purely optional. In addition to the White Night Party, there was a comedian who performed.  Today's Daily Reflections Today, we are scheduled to arrive to Rouen, France at 6:00 pm and stay for two overnights. This will provide sufficient time for those such as us to visit Normandy tomorrow or in our case to revisit Normandy. With an arrival in the evening, today was a sea day with lots of activities on the program. This included three lectures two, of which, focused on World War II. These talks covered: Births, Marriages and Deaths which shaped the British Royal Family, Living Fearlessly a Holocaust Survivor’s Story, and D-Day 80th Anniversary Panel Discussion. Other enrichment programs included Odyssey at Sea, Fitness, Bridge, Golf, Computer, Creative Media and Dance Classes, Team Trivia, Duplicate and Social Bridge, Health Seminars, along with some other activities I haven’t listed. As usual, let us not forget the time for food. Greetings from Crystal Symphony The Galaxy Lounge is a big part of Crystal’s enrichment and entertainment program across Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity. Over the years we have seen many lectures and evening performance in this lounge as well as attending various question and answer sessions. Sometimes the lounge is used for other purposes such as face-to-face sessions with local authorities with passports in hand.  It takes a Crystal Village and Teamwork The other day we mentioned when Keith walks the ship in the early hours that I see the incredible members of the night team cleaning every nook and cranny of the ship. This includes all public spaces including rooms, stairwells, steps, outside and inside of elevators, restrooms, and countless other items. They not only clean everything but between the night crew and members of other teams including Food & Beverage everything is put in its proper place. Take the tables and chairs in public rooms. Everything is lined up perfectly as you will see in these three photos. Likewise, as I walk the open decks the same thing is true including around the pool. During the day on the promenade deck there is a lot of care being taken to maintain it as well. It includes washing the outdoor decks, but it doesn’t stop there. For example, since we boarded some areas have been touched out with white paint. At the same time, we seen the deck hands removing the varnish on the railing on the promenade deck by hand with sandpaper in preparation for a new coating of varnish to be applied to the rails. All of this allows each vessel to look pristine and many years younger in age. All of this is truly amazing and reflects attention to detail, strong teamwork and a lot of care and another reason why we enjoy sailing with Crystal.  This a Special D-Day sailing as we will have overnights in Rouen, France providing the opportunity to visit Normandy. As part of this voyage there were two speakers in the afternoon, retired Commander Robert Bradshaw who spoke about the lessons of War. Later George Luz Junior who spoke about Through my father’s eyes. He spoke about his father and other members of Easy Company who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day and were also part of Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. You can see the lectures in person or on the Crystal TV so we watched each one from our room.  Last evening's Waterside Dinner Menu. We were invited to dine at Umi Uma by a Senior Officer.  This is today's Daily Reflections Program. Crystal Symphony arrived to the port of Zeebrugge this morning which is about 30 minutes from the city of Bruges. The entire historic center of Bruges has been designated as a UNESCO world heritage site. Like Amsterdam, Bruges is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North. Bruges has a rich history, and its medieval architecture is mostly intact. Between the 12th and 15th century Bruges was one of the world's chief commercial cities. This came about after the port was developed and land connections provided the ability to allow for trade.  We have more photos from yesterday which we will share tomorrow.
Tomorrow is largely a sea day as we will arrive to Rouen, France at 6:00 pm for two overnights. The following day we have a tour planned for Normandy. Our only prior visit to Normandy was in the summer of 2003 when we arrived to Rouen, France on-board Crystal Symphony. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith We have many wonderful memories of the Avenue Saloon on Crystal Symphony Serenity including going by ourselves, with cruising friends, with family to enjoy beverage, conversation and/or music. On our second cruise on board Symphony in 2004, almost each evening we would go to the Avenue Saloon at around 7:30 pm with two couples who we met the first and second days of the cruise respectively each night. This was back in the day when we had late night dining at 8:30 PM.   Waterside dinner menu from last evening where we dined.  Our Senior Waiter and Waiter Hannah and Abhiskek.  Ross Martin who returned to Crystal to working in corporate and oversees service, food and beverage on board the ships.  Since 2002, Crystal has made it possible for us to visit a significant number of cities and countries throughout the word including sailing each of the seven continents and to see each of these places through our own eyes. Yesterday, was an example of this. Yesterday’s tour of Amsterdam was amazing. It was our first visit to this great city. We had a terrific tour guide, Kaleigh. She has lived in the Netherlands for ten years and her fiancée was born there. She is from the USA having lived in New Orleans until Katrina struck and then moved to Colorado. She has a Master’s in Art History. We started at the Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Enoga or Song whose congregation is Orthodox. It opened in 1675. Its structure is unique as its height is enormous. It was supposed to be used for deportation of the Jews, but the Nazis were talked out of this. They were able to conceal Jewish ritual items for the deported Jews in the sanctuary ceiling and attic floor. During our visit we also learned all about its history and about the impact World War II had on the Jewish Population. Sadly, most of the Jewish population died in the Holocaus as was the case in many European countries. As we walked the city there are markers outside many of the homes where the Jewish people who lost their lives lived. It is very impactful seeing the names of the individuals, the year they were born, when where and how they died. It is not only impactful but very respectful. We spent several more hours seeing walking around several blocks of Amsterdam including learning about its history. Like any city, one could spend months here and not see it all. We were impressed to learn that all new businesses must be local. For example, while there are places such as USA food chains in the city no longer can new ones go up. Even new local stores must be local and not tourist shops. Evidently, they are also looking for ways to balance the amount of tourism with the enjoyment of the city by the locals. This is not all that different than other places around the worlds are dealing with such as Venice, Bar Harbor, Maine and Charleston, South Carolina. When it was time to have something to eat, we opted to get French fries at what the tour guide said was the best place to get a French Fries in the city. They make them from scratch, and after we placed the order we waited for them until they were fully cooked. There are several choices of toppings but our tour guide recommended two of them. One is a mayonnaise which we slected but unlike the type of mayonnaise we would get back in the USA. The other topping is a sauce containing various ingredients mixed with peanuts. It is topped with onions. They come in three sizes; small, medium and large. Our tour guide recommended that Anne Marie and I share a medium one and she was right. Later, we went to a bakery where a traditional cookie is made which is two cookies with a filing inside forming a cookie sandwich. We visited several churches, saw many different homes, visited museums, visited an historical complex for single women, and learned all about the history of the city including its architecture. We learned that taxes are based not on the height of the buildings but on their width, so some places are very narrow. It was analogous to a country we once visited where homes are not taxed if they don’t have a roof showing or where homes are not subject to tax if not completed. Some buildings are tilted as their foundation is on wood and the water below them has resulted in the wood deteriorating. We learned about the remembrance of the dead which commemorates all war casualties since the start of World War II. Traditionally the main ceremonies occur in Amsterdam, and it is a true two minutes of silence where pretty much everything comes to a halt. In many areas people come together and gather around a monument and listen to speeches and lay down flowers to commemorate the dead. We were struck with the importance of this so that the youngest generation learns of what happened, so they never forget. The number of bicycles you see is in Amsterdam staggering. There are around one million people who live in Amsterdam and there are one million eight hundred thousand bicycles. Laws are enforced for those in automobiles and their speed is restricted. We have plans to return next year to this very interesting city and have a good idea what we will see the next time in addition to a visit inside the Anne Frank Museum/House. We did stop by and saw the outside and expanded our understanding and learned about other issues impacting the country from the war including starvation that took place as the war was winding down. This issue I already knew was not isolated to the Netherlands and why President Truman enlisted the help from former President Herbert Hoover who had expertise in this area to help provide relief all over Europe as the scarcity of food was a big issue. There is so much more we saw and learned about, and we could write pages upon pages about this. However, this alone is quite long.    Today's Daily Reflections. We are enjoying a wonderful day on-board Crystal Symphony and tomorrow we look forward to a tour as part of our first visit to Belgium.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith |
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