Blog Archives

New York City, NY

9/30/2025

Thank you Deborah. Good news is we are on until October 14.

We remember back in those years after we booked a cruise(s) on-board stopping by to look at the map to find the cities and countries we would be visiting on each of the cruises booked. These days we can just look at a map on the Crystal website or in many cases visualize them based on our own travel experiences but there was something very special about this map. On our walks around the ship when it is too cold or rainy to walk outside, we think back to all the times we would stop by and stand looking at this map.

Before dinner we chatted with two very nice couples who we speak with on most evenings who sit in an area of the Crystal Plaza we used to sit in on voyages through the first part of 2020. While waiting for the dining venue to open, we spoke with one lovely couple who we met on this cruise along with another Ida and one other lovely couple who we met on previous cruises. We will miss them since they debark today. One of the aspects of cruising we enjoy are the people who one meet while cruising. This is something very unique about traveling and cruising.

Waterside Dinner Menu from last evening.

We normally don’t go to Waterside the last evening of the cruise, but we did last night. On the next cruise we won’t be there as often as usual, so we wanted to spend more time dining there.

Dinner was great. This included the delicious cuisine, professional and personal service, along with the beautiful dining venue. We thank the wonderful waitstaff for making last night another outstanding dining experience.

In case you wanted to know the special butter was Roasted Pepper.

Once again, with milder weather Keith was able to enjoy an early morning walk after a visit to the Fitness Center. This included walking outdoors on the Promenade Deck, the Pool Deck, and the top outdoor deck. Some say New York City never sleeps and as Keith was walking he was thinking the same.

We decided to walk over to the High Line a place we have not visited before. It is about one mile from the port and is a former elevated railway line on Manhattan’s west side that has been transformed into a popular public park and tourist destination.

This railway was constructed in the 1930s. After it was decommissioned in the 1980s it fell into disrepair. In the early 2000s a plan was developed to convert this area to a park and by 2009 some sections of the High Line were opened.

Today is the end of the Reykjavik to New York City Cruise and the start of the next cruise.

Since we are in a USA port this very quickly this is how the process works for those of us staying on-board and continuing to the next cruise. We are in-transit guests. Before new guests can embark the ship must get to a zero count. This means that in addition to those guests whose cruise ended today who must be off the ship by 10:00 AM, those guests staying on-board who do not have plans for the day must be off the ship by 10:00AM as well. After the zero count is achieved and local authorities clear the ship than in-transit guests may reboard. We are given a card per person which says in-transit so the port authorities know we are not newly embarking guests, and we were asked to bring our passports with us.

As we were leaving the ship we saw Front Office Managers Marco and Ariella. Ariella has just been promoted and will swing between both ships providing relief to the two permanent Front Office Managers when they are on Holiday.

Today, we wanted to give a big shoutout to Captain Vincent and to those who are part of the deck department. This voyage included many stops and of special note is for five consecutive ports we anchored. One of those five was unplanned as a cargo ship was docked where we should have been. All of this adds complexity. This includes being able to put the ship in a position where it can stay in place which can be very tricky given weather conditions such as wind and the sea swells. This also involves running tender service to and from the ship and getting guests on and off the ship. On a related note others are key to this as well including security who has a presence at the tender landing, shore excursions who has to be sure the get the group tours on the tenders at the appropriate time and Food & Beverage who has a couple of people at the tender landing with water for guests. All of this involves an operation that starts well before we are anchored, continues with the first tender taking some personnel over to the tender landing, and continues until the last tender is back and in its rightful place. In short, this is very different from being docked. We thank each and every member of the crew for all of this including keeping us all safe as we tendered to and from each tender landing.

Today we embark on the first of two back-to-back New York City round trips aboard the Crystal Serenity, wrapping up our journey on October 14. These segments are like twins, so you might think we're stuck in a Groundhog Day loop. Fear not, dear friends! While the ports are identical, the experiences will keep us on our toes!

This is our route for this sixth voyage of our adventure.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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New York City, NY

9/29/2025

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Yesterday afternoon brought on Paddle Tennis for two and one-half hours and other then one game it was non-stop playing. Last series was amazing but one of the teams had to win. LOL

Waterside menu from last evening

We returned to Waterside for another lovely dinner last evening.

We have enjoyed Waterside more than ever since the restart of new Crystal. We do enjoy the specialty restaurants but as mentioned for us they are special, so we prefer dining at each one once per cruise unless we receive an invitation.

We appreciate the diversity in the appetizers, salads and entrées and between the food, the lovely dining venue and the exceptional waitstaff we have a great time.

We thank the extraordinary team led by Restaurant Manager Paolo, with a supporting cast of Senior Head Waiter Jacques, Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson, Sommelier Dusan and Junior Waiter Silvio.

Senior Head Waiter Jacques did the honors of the Dover Sole.

And in case you wanted to know, the special butter was horseradish butter.

The evening entertainment included comedian Ton Daro and a performance by James Fox featuring the songs of Bill Joel Leo Sayer, The Eagles, Elton John and other artists. Bravo

A photo from an early morning walk on the Pool Deck one hour after a workout in the Fitness Center. Second consecutive day with nice weather to walk outside.

We landed in the Big Apple this morning, where we'll be crashing until tomorrow evening. When it comes to cruising, some arrivals and departures are unforgettable and sailing in and out of Manhattan is one of them. There's something truly unique about spotting the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline and thinking of all the immigrants who made their grand entrance to the United States of America.

Many of us were born in the U.S., thanks to our ancestors who hopped over here seeking happiness and a better spot to raise their families. Arrivals and departures are unforgettable and sailing in and out of Manhattan is definitely one of them. There's something truly unique about spotting the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline and thinking of all the immigrants who made their grand entrance to the United States of America. Many of us were born in the U.S., thanks to our ancestors who hopped over here seeking happiness and a better spot to raise their families.

Today is the last full day of this cruise. Some guests will depart today rather than tomorrow due to commitments and to do this they have to debark this morning.

One of the things we decided to do and yesterday just made the appointment for today was to get our influenza and Covid-19 vaccines. They were not available when we began this adventure, and we know it will be a busy time when we arrive home, so we thought let’s just do this today. We picked a location that was near other points of interest including Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Modern Art and Radio City Music Hall. Also nearby is a pizzeria which we wanted to check out. We find the best way to get around the city is by foot or by subway but for this trek foot is what we did.

After the mission was accomplished, we went for New York Pizza, then over to Rockefeller Center and the adjoining area and then picked up some items.

Today's Daily Reflections.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Boston, Mass. & A SEA DAY

9/28/2025

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We wanted to say a few things about Boston, Massachusetts.

Boston was founded in 1630. It went from a fishing village to a lively port. In addition to fishing, shipping was a major driver of activity.
In terms of history, several key events that were a catalyst to the Revolutionary War occurred here. This included the Boston Massacre of 1770, the Boston Tea Party of 1773, Paul Rever’s Midnight Ride (The British Are Coming) of 1775 and the Battle of Bunker Hill and Sige of Boston of 1775.

Boston has a long history of immigrants. While we often think of the Irish who settled in Boston, many people arrived from Russia and Italy including those of the Jewish Faith who were fleeing from persecution. Others would come from Eastern and Southern Europe, and Chinese, Portuguese and people from the West Indian Communities. This continued in the 2000s with many arriving from Latin America. All of this has added to the diversity of this city.

On past trips we have walked the Freedom Trail a few times and, on this trail, you pass by the Paul Revere House. We have also visited Beacon Hill and Quincy Market. There is Boson Common which might be the oldest public park in the USA.

Similar to some cities around the USA Boston is known as a sports city between Baseball, Basketball, Football and Hockey.

As someone who grew up in New York Keith remembers many of the rivalries that existed. Although he enjoyed the Knicks of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s as far back as he can remember Keith loved the Boston Celtics.

On one of our visits to Boston on Crystal Symphony we toured the TD Garden and Fenway Park and, on another day, we visited the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library.

There is so much to this historic city.

We wanted to digress about yesterday. I don’t think we’ve ever been on-board for either a US Coast-Guard visit to the ship nor for the US Public Health Services Inspection of the ship and both took place yesterday. It was expected that sometime soon this would take place with Serenity returning to the USA, but no advance warning is provided. Similar inspections take place in other countries such as Canada and Australia.

On top of this the morning also began with an immigration inspection of all guests as part of arriving to our first port-of-call in the USA with immigration officials arriving as soon as we docked.

Add to this that some guests were ending their cruise in Boston rather than New York City.

Add to this that like us some guests had visitors on-board.

The USA Coast Guard inspection is very thorough evaluating safety equipment, operational procedure, crew training for emergencies such as fires and evacuations along with hull and machinery integrity. As part of the Coast Guard review a drill was held and very extensive such as crew raft(s) opened. Questions are asked to crew members to test their knowledge of what to do in case of an emergency and this can include any crew member including those on first contracts.

At the same time the Health Services inspection was conducted and this is extremely thorough. Just like an inspection on land or a home inspection it is not unusual to find something not in compliance. Remember, it’s not like an inspection is taking place with the ship not in operation. They are inspecting when food operations are on-going such as guests having breakfast and/or lunch.

All of this takes a team effort. You could see smiles on many faces when members of the crew learned later in the day that Serenity received a perfect score on the Public Health Inspection and that the Safety related inspections went very well.

Congratulations to team Serenity and to team Crystal.

Waterside dinner menu

Last evening we returned to Waterside and were joined with friends Dave and Gary who visited the ship.

Food was great and in case you wanted to know the special butter was Sun Dried Butter. Many thanks to Senior Head Waiter Jacque for arranging for special orders of Veal Parmigiana and Kosher Chicken.

Crystal is one of the cruise lines that allow visitors. It is capacity controlled in each port and Crystal has a visitor program where you can submit a visitor request to obtain approval.

The evening entertainment was The Liar's Club.

Today's Daily Reflections

After an early morning workout at the Fitness Center, for the first time since we boarded, Keith walked outside the entire time spending time on the pool deck and the promenade deck. Weather was nice, no wind, and we were docked as this was way before our 6:00 am departure.

As it turned out we departed around 5:45 am and Keith went back outside and walked the promenade deck. Like clockwork as we had made our way out of the port, Keith saw another cruise ship on the way into port.

It reminded him of the flights at Logan Airport yesterday as he observed from the aft (back) of the ship. There was the constant landing of aircraft. Sometimes you would see one aircraft landing while other times two arriving at the same time landing on two different runways.

Today we wanted to recognize the members of IT on the ship and on land. When Crystal restarted it required IT on land to build entirely new systems for so many areas including reservations, the Crystal website, billing, on board billing and so many other tools used on land and at sea to manage the operations of Crystal. This is why enhancements continue to be made because it is all new.

IT systems on the ship require collaboration between IT on land, IT on the vessels and with outside vendors including Satellite.

Crystal staffs the Computer University with members of the IT department. The Computer University is open 24 hours every day and staffed with technology concierges between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm. Some cruise lines including some luxury cruise lines do not staff similar facilities or if they do they provide less hours.

These are the go to people for guests to seek help with their devices including smart phones, tables and computer devices and even smart watches. They do their utmost best to educate the guests on how to utilize the internet for their communication needs and also how to access on line items such as daily reflections programs, folio and menus.

Just like at home sometimes an issue comes up that is device specific that can’t be solved. I am reminded that as someone who used apple products sometimes if I can’t figure out a resolution at home and I contact Apple technical support that on occasion they can’t solve the problem even when speaking with a supervisor. Sometimes they have to refer it to their own systems people looking for trends of a similar problem.

Then there are the two IT officers on the ship who deal with an array of technical items and if there is a technical issue with the on board IT systems they would either resolve them, or refer the item and/or work with the land based IT group for its resolution. Aside from the on board systems that we might think of relating to the internet, there are the other communication systems that they are involved with and also other devices including restarting the various screens found around the ship that show the position of the ship or the daily reflections program or other items plus they are involved with other items such as addressing television issues in guest rooms including the remote control or router issues throughout the ship.

We all have become much more dependent on a variety of devices at home and when we travel. At home there can be challenges with one’s internet provider, cable provider, streaming provider but at sea the challenges can be far greater as the ship doesn’t stay in one position and sometimes the challenges can be with the satellite provider or even the weather and where the ship is sailing.

Many thanks to the professionals from IT and on land for all they do.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Boston, Mass.

9/27/2025

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Boston: Where the American Revolution Kicked Off with a Bang!

Before dinner we attended the Captain Reception and Crystal Society Party.

Waterside Dinner Menu.

Following this event, we were off to Waterside for dinner Once again, we had a lovely dinner.

Once again, we had a lovely dinner. We were taken care of by the outstanding Waterside Food and Beverage Team. We so very much appreciate their attention to detail, professionalism and warmth. The warmth always comes through along with caring and it shows throughout the ship. Unlike some places whether it is on another cruise line or at a hotel or restaurants on land the service is human coming from the heart rather than robotic. We prefer the former. As we do every evening we enjoy conversing with this wonderful team along with lots of laughs

It was a formal night, and the food was in step of the evening.

In case you wanted to know, the special butter was a new one. It was Red Beets and Shallots.

Serenity touched down in Boston this morning, right on time at 7:00 AM! We went through a mandatory immigration since this is our first time in a USA port. We were assigned group numbers and those on tours in the morning were in the earlier groups along with those who were debarking early today. Although the cruise ends in New York City some guests left today either because they live in Boston or were staying over to visit friends and/or family.

Our last adventure in Boston was back in September 2016, as our Northwest Passage Epic Voyage was wrapping up. Our love for American history is just one of the many reasons we're thrilled to be back in Boston. During our 2016 visit, we had an amazing time exploring the Freedom Trail on a self-guided tour. Later that morning, we were delighted to meet up with our friends Dave and Gary, who picked us up downtown. We will dine with them this evening at Waterside and are meeting them this morning to run a few errands. We last caught up with Dave and Gary earlier this year during the 2024 Holiday Cruise, and we're so excited they could join us again today!

Over the next few weeks, we'll be returning to Boston for the final two cruises, and we've got an exciting tour lined up for the first visit. Can't wait!

We included a video of Logan Airport as we were making our way to our docking position.

Today's Daily Reflections.

Reflections Editor & Contributors

We want to give a shout-out to the Reflections Editor. Each day we receive a daily Reflections Program which we read cover to cover. It comes hard copy the night before the date of the edition and it is also available soft copy to read while on board on a tablet in each suite/stateroom or to read while on board on one’s computer or a smart device.

It contains lots of valuable information including:

Daytime and Evening activities.
Evening entertainment including shows, parties, names and times of movies, performers at the Crystal Cove, Palm Court, Avenue Saloon and Pulse including the times of the entertainment along with operating times for the Le Casino De Monte-Carlo
Port information including times of a shuttle if one is provided, distance from the downtown area, local currency, a brief writeup about the port, times for each of the Crystal Destination Excursions and the local port representative contact and phone number in the event of an emergency while ashore.

Names of guests celebrating a birthday or a wedding anniversary.

Dining hour times for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the respective dining venues and times of operation for other areas including reception, concierge, shore excursion desk, fitness center, library, medical center, photo shop, computer university, stores and future cruise & loyalty managers.

Other items are highlighted such as face-to-face meetings with local authorities in selected ports, and change of time.

Arrival and departure time, dress code for the evening, arrival time and departure time for each port and the weather forecast.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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SEA DAY

9/26/2025

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Waterside Dinner from last evening.

Last evening we returned to Waterside for another fabulous dinner. Have we mentioned how much we enjoy Waterside?

We are in such wonderful hands between Restaurant Manager Paolo, Head Waiter Jacque, Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson, Junior Waiter Silvio, and Sommelier Dusan.

They are warm and friendly, professional and experienced and they do not miss a beat. We enjoy lots of laughs with them.

The food and the wine are not bad either. LOL. Actually the food and wine is superb.

Last evening’s entertainment included vocalist Tenna Torres who was accompanied by the Crystal showband.

The good news is before we went to sleep we turned the time back. Yea.

Today's Daily Reflections and Waterside Lunch Menu

Today is the final sea day of this voyage but we still have more days to go on this voyage plus more to come. It’s funny when people first cruise they just want port days and think they will be bored on sea days. Guess what. Port days are great, but sea days are very special too. Sea days provide lots of time to enjoy the ship and lots of opportunity to learn including from the lectures.

For those who like to shop several shops can be found on-board Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony.

This includes Facets which features jewelry from Jeweler Hubert, Apropos featuring women's and men's clothing as well as Cosmetics and Sundries, another shop featuring watches,

We are enjoying another wonderful day at sea.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Halifax, Canada

9/25/2025

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For us, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity are the perfect size ocean vessels. We find them not too large, not too small but the optimal size. This includes a variety of choices of venue, the number of programs that can be scheduled simultaneously, the ability to find some quiet areas inside and outside the ship where you feel like you are on a yacht and the ability to walk inside and outside the ship.

As background, we have sailed ocean vessels ranging from 200 to 2700 guests.

Yesterday afternoon was an example of that. In the afternoon we tried walking on the wrap around promenade deck a great feature of both ships. While some cruise ships have this area many no longer do. While most ships have a top deck to walk the downside can be the weather including the heat of the sun. The promenade deck offers the ability to walk on the left to be in the shade or on the right. Also, often one side of the ship is warmer than the other side and sometimes one side is less windy than the other side.

It was too cold and too windy for us to walk the promenade deck, so we shifted to the backup plan (LOL) which was to walk inside on Deck 6. After walking for a while we ran into two ladies who we know very well, and we started to walk with them with one of us walking with one lady and the other one with the other lady. Eventually, Anne Marie took a break, and Keith continued the walk and by the time we finished I had walked one hour and forty minutes.

So regardless of the weather elements Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony offer us the ability to enjoy long walks which we very much enjoy and we also have the Fitness Center in addition to this.

This is the menu from Waterside.

Last evening we dined at Beefbar with friend Patty. We had a wonderful time enjoying great conversation and food, the lovely venue and outstanding service.

Classical Concert featuring Showband Pianist Emmanuel Rodulfo in the Palm Court followed by a performance of the Production Show Icons In Concert in the Galaxy Lounge

Today's Daily Reflection Program.

This morning, we anchored off Halifax. On past visits we have always docked.

Halifax is the capital of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia with a population over a half million residents.

It was originally inhabited by the Mi’kmaq People. By the early 1600s, the French established the colony of Acadia.

In the early 18th century, it was a French fishing station. By 1713 Halifax became a British settlement and was settled by 2,500 settlers mostly from England and it was incorporated as a city in 1842.

After the American Revolution Halifax became a military anchor for the remaining British North American colonies following the establishment of the United States. It was one of the most fortified places outside of Europe for the British army. It’s dockyard and defenses were taken over by the Canadian government in 1906.

During World War I and World War II, Halifax was Canada’s largest and most important naval base.

Some of the attractions within the city include walking the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk, visiting the Maritime Museum, the Halifax Citadel and the Halifax Public Gardens. Peggy’s Cove is outside the city and a popular place to visit.

Today was the best weather day since boarding on August 14. It was sunny. No wind. Nice temperature.

I took the tender with three other cruising friends. Next to me was the pilot so we enjoyed a very nice conversation with him on the tender, and I walked next to him until we got to the terminal area. Very nice man and he explained why he had us anchor where we did.

It was nice to revisit Halifax and to enjoy a very long walk.

Upon arrival to the tender pier for the return there were two three Canadian local port security personnel. I think there was confusion as he asked me for my passport. Then he said he wasn’t sure I could take the tender where Crystal guests were debarking. I was very polite but in my head I was saying between the passport question and the maybe you’ll have to wait until later to go back to the ship “are you kidding me”? LOL.

Today we want to give a shout out to the Housekeeping Laundry Department

On most of the full World Cruises we were on, the guests had an opportunity to get a behind the look at areas of the ship that one normally does not see. One of the areas were some of the members of housekeeping perform very important jobs including, washing and drying of towels, bed linen, table cloths, guest clothes that are send for cleaning; pressing of a range of items from guest clothing and I assume crew uniforms and other linens and dry cleaning.

This is done in institutional washers and dryer and other equipment. The quantity of items is amazing and then there is the need to keep track of all of the clothing, so it is properly returned to the correct person.

I think about all of the bath towels we use throughout the day and multiply it by the number of guest rooms. Then add in the bed linens when they are changed. Truly amazing.

There is also one tailor whose primary job is to take care of the tailoring of the crew uniforms although on occasion they might assist with tailoring/alterations for a guest.

Bravo to this team who works tirelessly on all of this.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Sydney Nova Scotia, CS

9/24/2025

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This is the Waterside Dinner Menu

We dined at Waterside for the third consecutive night where we had another wonderful meal. Before we had dinner we spoke with several very nice guests in the Crystal Plaza area and outside the dining venue and this continued after dinner.

Dinner was great between the delicious cuisine, amazing service, and the dining venue plus let's not forget about the wine. LOL.

Entertainment after dinner included the Crystal Showband followed by White Night. The vast majority of people were wearing white as part of the theme of the evening.

If you remember the other day we turned the clocks back ninety minutes prior to going to sleep. Guess what? What you ask? What time is it. Well, last night we turned the clocks back another thirty minutes. Yea.

This morning we arrived at our next port of call, Sydney. Now if you are thinking of Sydney, Australia and the iconic Sydney Opera House think again. We are speaking about Sydney, Canada.

What both of these cities have in common is that each got their names in honor of Thomas Townshend, 1stViscount Sydney who was the British Home Secretary at the time. Sydney, Canada was founded in 1785 and Sydney, Australia received its name in 1788.

Sydney, Nova Scotia is an historic port city. It is known for its Celtic heritage and for its beautiful scenery.

Its history extends to the United States. During the revolution John Paul Jones set sail to this area to free hundreds of American prisoners working in coal minds.

Following the American Revolution, its original settlers included soldiers and British Loyalists who moved there.

It was transformed to an industrial center because of its rich coal fields. Its population is 31,000 people.

Major attractions include:

Cossit House built 1787 making it one of the oldest residences in Sydney.

St. Patrick’s Church built in 1828 and now a museum.

Louisbourg which was a settlement established by the French in 1713. Restoration of the fortress and town began in 1961 and is still on-going.

Sydney, Highland Village and Cape Breton Museums.

Went over for a short time. Including Serenity four ships in port. This is the time of year when sailing Canada and New England is popular.

Today I want to give a shout out to the professionals of the Medical Center. While each of us travels and hope we do not need any medical attention for illnesses or injuries just like on land things happen. The medical centers have an array of equipment to address a wide range of medical issues.

Each Crystal ship has one doctor and two nurses on each voyage. They are experienced, knowledgeable, caring, and thorough.

While the office hours are 8:00 am to 11:00 am and 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the medical team responds to medical issues such as emergencies 7x24.

We have the equivalent of sailing with Crystal for four years and have needed medical attention over the years for illnesses and injuries. We can’t say enough for all the medical team has done to address any issues we have had including following up with us to be sure we are getting better and to answer any questions we may have.

So today we give a big thank you to the men and women of the medical centers on-board Crystal ships.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Corner Brook, New Foundland

9/23/2025

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Let’s begin with yesterday. A word that could be the name of a song. LOL.

We took the tender over to L’Anse aux Meadows yesterday late morning. The area is in Newfoundland, Canada. As mentioned, this area is home to a 1000-year-old archaeological site of L’Anse aux Meadows. In 1978, it was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Norse site is located on the northernmost tip of the Northen tip of Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

It was only discovered in 1960 which is amazing. This site contains the remains of 8 buildings.

The tender dropped us off at a very small pier. The walk over to the site was not too far but guests could also take a bus over to visit the site.

It was a beautiful day. It felt like a Fall Day and guess what it was the first day of Autumn.

This was our first time here and once again we thank Crystal for taking us to remote places like this that we would likely not see on our own.

Happy Jewish New Year.

On the World Cruise, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Holiday Cruise a Rabbi will be on board each Crystal Ocean Vessel.

This is the case on this voyage and yesterday at 6:00 PM Rabbi Aaron Rosenberg conducted the evening service for Rosh Hashanah. Since he is also on board he conducts the Friday night Sabath Service. When a Rabbi is not on board than often a guest steps forward to conduct the Friday night Sabath Service.

On the World Cruise, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Holiday Cruise a Rabbi will be on board each Crystal Ocean Vessel.

This is the case on this voyage and yesterday at 6:00 PM Rabbi Aaron Rosenberg conducted the evening service for Rosh Hashanah. Since he is also on board he conducts the Friday night Sabath Service. When a Rabbi is not on board than often a guest steps forward to conduct the Friday night Sabath Service.

Dinner menu from Waterside.

We dined in Waterside last evening for the second of three consecutive nights.

As mentioned, while Waterside is not a specialty restaurant due to its size and expansive menus which change daily, for us it is truly special.

The cuisine is delicious along with the presentation of so many of the items served here. It’s a beautiful dining venue and we love its style with tablecloths and very nice table settings.

Then there is the service. The waitstaff teams are fabulous and we have a tremendous team. Remember, team is great than the sum of individuals who are not part of a team. At Crystal it is all about teamwork.

Everyone is very attentive and if something needs to be done it’s done whether that is Restaurant Manager Paolo or Head Waiter Jacques lending a hand or hands to provide support and assistance to the Senior Waiters, Waiters and/or Sommeliers.

If we ask something of Senior Waiter Enver often the response is “my Crystal pleasure”. It is not just words but someone who genuinely wants to make everything as special as possible.

We feel the same way about Waiter Edson and Sommelier Dusan.

Then there are all the little touches that add to the evening. This includes a waiter or waiters escorting you to your table, possibly taking your photo, assisting you with your chair, and placing the napkin on your lap.

In very short time, your Senior Waiter brings over the menu, a waiter fills your water glass, and a waiter brings over the butter and a basket of rolls/bread and in a classy way and good for health asks you which roll you would like and with tongs places it on your plate.

The Sommelier comes by the table to find out if you need assistance with a drink such as wine.

After the order is taken, we enjoy a toast as we do each evening toasting our love for one another and then we break bread.

Each course is served beautifully.

And then after we enjoy each course the Senior Waiter or Waiter comes by with the most important menu and that is the dessert menu and in our case a cheese menu for me. On most nights the waiter will also come around with cookies.

The Sommelier might ask you if you want an after-dinner drink.

Often it is the two of us and usually we dine for about two hours enjoying conversations between ourselves, sometimes other guests and with the waitstaff team and we do enjoy some good laughs as well.

Bon Appetit.

Last evening featured Crystal's newest production show called Club Nights A Journey of Music & Dance from a Country Music Club to a London Pub and more featuring the music of the English Rock Band, The Who.

This is today's Daily Reflections Program.

Today we anchored off Corner Brook, Canada. Originally, we were supposed to dock. We believe this changed as there was a freighter at the cruise port. It was a short tender ride, and it was just me and one guest. The guest who Keith met for the first time, and decided to walk together. A shuttle was available to take guests to and from town but given the walk was only fifteen minutes we decided to let our feet do the walking. The weather forecast was wrong calling for rain in the mid-afternoon because at 9:00 AM it was raining.

The downtown area was charming but relatively small.

The city is located on the west coast of Newfoundland and in the Bay of Islands. This city is endeared by those who enjoy outdoor activities.

Major attractions include:

Captain Cook National Historic Site.

Corner Brook Stream Trail which is 1.5 mile in length.

Marble Mountain which is the largest ski resort in Atlantic Canada but is popular in the summer due to its beautiful scenery.

Gros Morne National Park which is located north of this city and shows the effect of glacial action on an area of the earth’s exposed matle rock.

The city was first surveyed by Captain James Cook in 1767.

Its population totals 31,100 residents.

All in all it was a nice visit. One of the many things we like about Crystal are the people and we have met several guests for the very first time on this cruise and saw others we know from prior cruises and today was another example of meeting a very nice person.

Another venue which we want to discuss today can be found on Deck 6 and is The Lounge. It is in the same footprint occupied by the former casino.

Since its rollout when Crystal restarted its uses have evolved.

Bridge is held in the Lounge with tables for bridge players to take classes and play bridge. When not in use for bridge these tables can be used for other card games.

There are tables that guests can use for other games.

There are a couple of long tables that are used for puzzles.

There are many chairs spread across the lounge that can easily be used for conversations with one or more people. We have used this area to get together with others.

Sometimes, The Lounge is used for televised events such as sporting events.

We see people there often including in the early morning hours where a guest or more might go by there with a cup of coffee and spread out to read a book or magazine or use their computer or just to relax.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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L'anse Aux Meadows, CA

9/22/2025

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Captain Vincent gave us an update from the bridge at 12:00 noon yesterday. I believe he said the wind was at 35 knots. He noted that the weather would continue to remain the same until late this evening.

It was great that there were five different NFL Football games broadcast not only on guests Televisions but also in public areas and with three TV’s in our room we could watch two games simultaneously. LOL

Below is the Waterside Dinner Menu from last evening.

The winds and sea wells continued as we made our way to dinner and continued through dinner but once seated it was not bothersome. The good news is this is what we expected as part of the crossing and it could have been far worse, so we are very fortunate. Over dinner we talked about how the Pilgrims arrived in much smaller vessels and how others have done the same or at least in vessels far less luxurious than being on a beautiful and luxurious cruise ship.

Last evening we dined at Waterside with friend Ida. It is always interesting how we make cruising friends. Over the years it has happened many ways from pre cruise hotel and pre cruise group tours or transfers, to on-board tours, to even the laundry room. Keith met Ida and her late husband at the hotel that was used for the pre and post Endeavor stays in Reykjavik. We had just concluded our cruise, and they were getting ready to start their cruise. In 2021, we both got to know them when we walked on the Promenade Deck and inside the ship. Last year, we saw Ida again and here we are back together on this cruise.

One of the benefits of sailing with Crystal is that with a small fleet this increases your odds that you will know fellow guests when you cruise and that you will see many of the crew you know from previous cruises. And this is truly one of the attributes of cruising which is the ability to get to know others compared to staying on land other than an extended land tour but even then you may never see the people from that tour again.

Dinner was wonderful with great conversation, superb service and outstanding cuisine.

Many thanks to the wonderful waitstaff team.

When the entrees came it was ironic that we all had ordered the same entrée but didn’t realize it at the time. What was it? Turkey. So we said Happy Thanksgiving.

And in case you wanted to know the special butter was Pesto Butter.

The entertainment originally included three shows. Due to the sea swells the first one was at 8:45 PM called Sweet Soul Music had to be cancelled for the safety of all, particularly the dancers. 9:30 PM featured Andrei Cavassi and the final show was at 10:15 PM in the Avenue Saloon called Late Night Jazz Club.

This is todays daily Reflections Program.

Today we anchored off L’Anse Aux Meadows, Canada. This is not a town. Rather it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a national historic site. It is in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is the only authenticated Norse settlement in North America. It confirms Viking presence in North America in the 11th century.

Crystal offered one tour appropriately called The Great Viking Experience with three different start times.

Today we wanted to recognize the ships Florist.

The Florist on-board Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony is one person operation. The florist prepares floral arrangements for selected suites and for several areas around the ship including Deck 5 where the Crystal Plaza is located and the Vintage Room on Deck 7. She also takes care of the living wall found on Deck 12 in Beefbar. All of this adds to the beauty of the ship. She also creates the bouquets and boutonnieres for those individuals and couples recognized with a special milestone at the Crystal Society Parties and for guests who order them such as for a special occasion.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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SEA DAY

9/21/2025

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This is the Waterside Menu from last evening.

Last evening we dined at the Umi Uma Japanese Specialty Restaurant.

Umi Uma is the Japanese Specialty Restaurant inspired by Chef Nobu. It incorporates Japanese cuisine with ingredients that is part of his background when he was a chef in Lima, Peru.

We loved the cuisine from the moment we tasted it on our first Crystal Serenity cruise in the Autumn of 2005. At that point it was called Silk Road and was only on the Crystal Serenity to later be rolled out to Crystal Symphony.

The experience for us is amazing between the wonderful waitstaff team, the chefs including the Sushi Chefs, the beautiful venue which was enhanced in 2023 when the interior was largely made over and of course the sushi, sashimi and the amazing appetizers, entrees and desserts not to mention the drink offerings.

Although we love the cuisine and the overall experience, we often go one time a cruise unless we were invited to go there. For us this keeps it special and we absolutely look forward to the dining experience at Nobu on each voyage.

We left our anchor position a couple of hours after the planned departure which Captain Vincent had communicated to the guests and crew. This was to avoid bad weather. When we left at around 7:00 pm the seas there was very little ship movement. Thank you Captain Vincent and to the navigation team for keeping us safe and to other members of the team for tying things down including outdoor furniture on the decks located on the stern.

We stayed up much later than we normally do as we attended a special function. Shortly after going to the function and on our way, there was quite a bit of ship movement, but we have gotten used to this over the years. Yes, it has a feeling of having a few drinks, but you just walk carefully as we did down several steps as we made it to the deck that we needed to get to. Both of us did take the elevator back to our room to be on the safe side. We also placed some wine on one of the couches just to be on the safe side. The good news was the time change. For one of the few times, we not only turned back the clock, but we turned it back ninety minutes rather than one hour. Yea. Yea. Yea.

Below please find today's daly Reflections.

Today is another sea day which is wonderful. This cruise certainly has a nice mix of sea days and ports which many guests who have sailed Crystal often enjoy.

As usual lots of activities on today’s sea day. This included three lectures: One on Canada including its culture, customs, lore and lifestyle. This was followed by a talk by journalist Kay Burley who spoke about her life in news. The final talk was on the rapid rise of AI.

When you board the ship on embarkation day and walk up the gangway if you are returning to Crystal, you will hear the words welcome home. The next time you walk up the gangway whether this is your first or one of many cruises you will hear the words welcome home. When you arrive to the tender landing from ashore and have your room card swiped simultaneously you will hear the words welcome home. When you leave the ship whether docked, anchored, on a port stop or when you debark at the end of the cruise one of the phrases you will hear is have a nice day.

With all of this in mind today we wanted to give a shout out to the security team who keeps us safe. Some might think it is an enormous group. It is not. Yet, they have a presence around the ship. When in port they are at the area where you will leave the ship and return. If we have an overnight in port, at least one person is covering it throughout the night and until the early morning hours. When we are anchored a member of the security team will go on the first tender ashore with some other members from team Serenity or team Symphony and they will be there when you get off the tender and one or two personnel will be there when you arrive back to take the tender.

If security is not done by the local authorities when we are docked, then the security team will take care of this when arriving back from port as they do when one arrives back by tender when anchored.

On board the ship you can find one or more members walking the ship and they certainly do things behind the scenes whether that is dealing with a security issue.

This is a very professional small group of personnel who take their jobs seriously while being very friendly and attentive to Crystal guests doing their jobs exceptionally well.

We thank them for keeping all of us including guests, crew and the ship very safe at all times.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Qaqortoq, Greenland

9/20/2025

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The seas continued to be relatively calm yesterday afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, there was some rain and although it stopped there was not enough time for it to evaporate to play Paddle Tennis. During Captain Vincent’s talk from the bridge at noon, he said that by 10:00 PM as we were off the Southern portion of Greenland it could become very windy but since the winds would be coming behind the stern of the ship we should not feel much in the way of movement of the ship.

We attended a meet and great that I organized for those on-board who are members of Cruise Critic at the Palm Court. I had been sent to our home some small items from Cruise Critic and had a random drawing for them.

Waterside Dinner Menu from last evening.

Last evening we dined at Waterside with friend Patty. The service continues to be outstanding and we enjoyed a delicious meal, great conversation all in this beautiful dining venue.

In case you wanted to know the special butter was peppery lavender and herbs.

The evening entertainment included two shows. The first one began at 8:45 pm and was a Spotlight Show performing Rock n’ Pop Mania performed by the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers, the Lead Vocalists and The Crystal Showband.

This was followed at 9:30 pm with a show featuring Andrei Cavassi accompanied by the Crystal Showband.

Today's Daily Reflections.

Come On In To Qaqortoq, Greenland's Best Kept Secret (Shh!)

This morning, we anchored off Qaqortoq, Greenland. We have been to Greenland on two prior occasions. The first time was on Crystal Symphony which was Crystal’s maiden port of call visit to Nuuk, Greenland. On the 2016 Northwest Passage Cruise we revisited Nuuk and had stops at two other locations in Greenland but on one of these there was so much ice we could only see the location from the ship along with the ice. The concern at the time is we could enter the port to dock but could we get out. As they say better safe than sorry.

Qaqortoq is the largest down in South Greenland. It is known for its natural beauty including dramatic landscape, its icebergs and the Tasersuag lake.

Qaqortoq was founded in 1775 and is a gateway allowing for the exploration of the fjords and icebergs.

Its population is 3,000 residents.

As an example of the popularity of the icebergs, Crystal offered several departures for guests to view the icebergs by Zodiac and several other departures to view them by Garga Boat. Another tour to get a sense of the tradition of this area was offered twice. The first of the remaining two tours involve a visit to the Great Greenland Tanning Facility and the second one was A Taste of Greenland.

The good news is that the ship was able to hold its position making tendering possible and the ship was clearly close to schedule. For those on the zodiac and garga boats those tours were cancelled by the tour operator for safety reasons. In addition to rain, it was windy. Better to be safe than sorry.

If not for the rain, we would have gone over and both of us have waterproof jackets and pants and hiking shoes but decided to stay on Serenity instead.

Today we want to talk about the Promenade Wrap-Around Deck.

The Promenade Decks on Crystal ships are not very common as many ships do not offer a full wrap-around deck often putting suites in the back of the ships.

After sailing Harmony and Symphony our first cruise on Serenity was September of 2005 on two back-to-back Mediterranean cruises. We had a blast and one of the features we loved about all Crystal ships is the wrap-around promenade deck. On Serenity it doesn’t have the lifeboats above giving it the feel of being more open.

In 2005 we were already thinking about 2007 which would be a milestone wedding anniversary for us. We wanted to do something special and were thinking of an extended cruise of 30 to 60 days. Up until our 24 days on Serenity our longest cruise was 18 days and most of our cruises were 7 to 12 days given work commitments. While on board we were introduced to a couple through mutual friends who had completed the 2005 World Cruise a few months earlier. After hearing all about it and experiencing Serenity, we decided that this would be a perfect vessel for a World Cruise and one of the selling points was the Promenade Deck.

We viewed the special wrap-around deck as a deck to take long walks together, for me to run, to chat with other guests, to get lots of panoramic views from the port, starboard, bow and stern of the ship, to get fresh outside air and to enjoy peaceful time.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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SEA DAY

9/19/2025

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John...Yes it is indeed a wonderful world.

Last evening began with the Captain's Welcome Reception hosted by Captain Vincent.

This is the Waterside Dinner Menu where we dined.

We dined at Waterside. They also offered the first of two Supper Clubs of this voyage.

We were in excellent hands with the wonderful Waterside team. This included Restaurant Manager Paolo, Senior Head Waiter Jacque, Head Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson, Junior Waiter Chhuana, and Sommelier Dusan.

The dinner was delicious with many favorites including Caviar and Fresh Cold-Water Lobster. Other items included Fresh Normandy Oysters, Butternut Squash Soup, Slow-Roasted Black Angus Beef Tenderloin, along with several other items across the Crystal Classics and Contemporary Cuisine Menus.

Evening entertainment included soaring sounds of Wales’ leading String Quartet.

Great news is that we turned the clocks back one hour before going to sleep. Yea.

Today's daily Reflections Program.

Today being a sea day had lots of activities for the guest to enjoy.

Two lectures:

Greenland a nature lover's paradise.

The rapid rise of AI Part 1.

We wanted to give a shout out to the front desk.

This includes the concierge, reception and shore excursion personnel. If you are facing the front of this area, We will go from left to right.

There is a Chief Concierge and Concierge. They have many responsibilities. This includes coordinating the Crystal private and group transfers and between the ship and the airport and to a Crystal post hotel, addressing room assignments for the Ambassador Hosts and land-based entertainers and any changes in room assignment for guests once on-board the ship. Like a concierge at a hotel, they can assist with items such as restaurants in port, booking a taxi for you or other related items. The desk is manned from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm daily.

The reception desk. The personnel at the desk handle lots of responsibilities. They are there to answer a wide range of questions from the guests and to ensure that any guest issues are addressed by the respective departments on board the ship. If a guest needs smaller bills of currency, they take care of this. If passports need to be collected, they take care of this as well as returning the passports to the guest. If you want to recognize staff with a gratuity and charge it to your shipboard account, you can obtain forms from them as well as return completed forms to them. Have a question about the name of a staff member they can help you with this. Need more luggage tags or need to change them to a different tag they take care of this. They pretty much must know a lot about everything. They are manned early in the morning to late in the evening. If the operator is helping a guest, the call will forward to them for assistance.

Speaking of the operator in addition to answering questions, assisting a guest to connect to a suite/room of another guest or reaching a member of the crew they help with all of this and more. Need a reservation at a specialty restaurant you can dial the operator who can help you with this.

The shore excursion team coordinates all Crystal tours including group and private tours. They will assist guests booking, changing or cancelling tours once on the ship and answer questions about the tours and giving recommendations. They print out all the tickets for the tours which guests receive the first day they are on board or when a new tour is booked. The day of arrival to a port they are very busy. A member of the team will be in the Stardust Lounge where guests on tours arrive. At the appointed time that a tour leaves they will announce this and the escort which is normally from another department will have a sign and lead the guests to either the bus or to the tender vessel. In port there will be one or more members from this team outside the terminal who will direct the guests to their respective buses. If the ship is anchored there will be someone from the team inside the ships on Deck 4 where you pick up the tender keeping in close contact with another member who is in Stardust letting them know when the tender is ready for those on the tour to catch. One or two members from the team will be at the tender pier in port so that guests debarking the tender know where to go. Member of this team also coordinate with the tour operator, and should guests encounter issues with the tour that follow-up takes place. Even if you are not booked on a Crystal tour the members of this team are very helpful including answering questions for the guests or if you have a private excursion letting you know when you exit the terminal where the private tour vehicles or the guides might be located or even directing you into town if you have no tour planned.

We have only covered some of the responsibilities that the members of the Concierge team, Reception Desk, Shore Excursion Team and Operator have.

We find each member of these teams to be very helpful as is the Crystal way. Truly exceptional.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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SEA DAY

9/18/2025

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Back to yesterday. Although the weather was nippy in the morning it did warm to 50 degrees, and it was sunny. It’s not often sunny in Reykjavik so this was very nice for those debarking and embarking and for the in-transit guests as well.

With the start of this cruise, we enjoyed a Cobb Salad for lunch with a flute of champagne toasting this wonderful adventure and our love for each other

Dinner menu from Waterside last evening.

Before leaving port last evening Captain Vincent spoke from the bridge and noted that the forecast outlook looked very good for the our first and second sea days before we get to Greenland.

Last evening, we enjoyed dinner at Osteria d’Ovidio with one other person. We enjoyed a delightful dinner with superb cuisine and service and a beautiful dining venue and great conversation with lots of laughs.

Today is the first of two sea days. As I’ve mentioned sea days are always special and a great way to start the cruise as well. There were three lectures. This included a talk about the Vikings, A talk about Greenland culture, customs, lore and lifestyle and a talk about backstage at the White House.

Following is today's Daily Reflections Program

Today we wanted to discuss another venue on the ship, The Bistro.

When we sailed Crystal for the very first time and after sailing several other cruise lines, one of the many venues we had not experienced before was The Bistro. It's a place where we would go to sit and have coffee in the morning either by ourselves or others, get a to-go cup of coffee or water to take to the first morning lecture, have some fruit in the afternoon as a light snack as back then we would dine at 8:30 PM.

We often talk about Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity having the feel of living in a small village and this is an example of that. Often, when we sat at the Bistro we would visit with others who we met on-board for the first time and in succeeding years others we knew from prior cruises. We would also chat with the staff, primarily the Sommeliers, who work at the Bistro.

The Bistro on Serenity was redone as part of the restart in 2023 and it is very inviting and beautiful.

We are enjoying a wonderful day on-board Crystal Serenity providing another opportunity to enjoy the ship and conversations with the crew and guests.
njoying a very lovely sea day on-board Crystal Serenity.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Reykjavik, Iceland

9/17/2025

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On this cruise with the weather, we don’t always see the Crystal towel on the lounge chair, but we did yesterday and today.

Speaking of the weather we woke up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Good news is the high will be 50 degrees Fahrenheit compared to lows between tomorrow this Saturday all the way down to 34 with highs low to mid 40’s.

Dinner menu from last evening at Waterside.

We enjoyed another wonderful meal which we decided to have in our suite. We began with appetizers and dinner was from the Waterside menu.

Switching gears, we wanted to mention that there is lots of artwork are on the walls around the ship. This is a portion of the artwork on Decks 6 and & of Crystal Serenity which is primarily near the Lounge. There is more that is very challenging to photograph so I am only including ones that are didn’t reflect light.

I included the model of Crystal Harmony as to us the ship is a work of art. Also, for many of us this was the first Crystal ship we sailed so that is special as well.

This morning our voyage ended, and the next one starts today which will take us from Reykjavik, Iceland to Manhattan, New York City.

Several guests are staying on and one of the reasons is to avoid flights back to the United States and of course to keep enjoying Crystal Serenity.

We wanted to say how much we have enjoyed all the towns, cities and countries since boarding Crystal Serenity on August 14. We have found the locals to be very friendly and helpful, the places safe, and so much natural beauty. Sometimes when cruise itineraries are published some will say they are not exciting or interesting, but we continue to find many itineraries that are very appealing to us and the ones on this trip fit the bill for sure.

For those arriving today they will check-in on the ship on deck 5.

This is our route for this fourth voyage of our adventure.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Reykjavik, Iceland

9/16/2025

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Back To Reykjavik, Iceland

John thank you for your comments. We often have those meals in our suite but before this we would go to Marketplace. Your cruise will be wonderful and it will be here before you know it.

These are the dinner menus from Waterside where we ate last evening.

Last evening we returned to Waterside for another outstanding dinner. We appreciate all the choices on each Waterside menu, and the ability to order certain items not on the menu each night such as salmon, chicken, steak, Caesar salad, and matzah ball soup. Also, in certain cases items can be changed up such asking for items to be removed from a salad or asking for a fish to be grilled rather than fried.

We were in the excellent hands of Restaurant Manager Paolo, Head Waiter Jacques, Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson, Junior Waiter Chunna,and Sommelier Isabel.

Another wonderful dinner.

In case you were wondering the special butter was Mustard and Tarragon.

Today's Daily Reflections.

This morning, we rolled back into Reykjavik, Iceland, the place where our adventure began when we hopped aboard Serenity just over thirty days ago on August 14. We arrived at 7:00 am. We'll be in this wonderful city all day today, and until 7:00 PM local time tomorrow evening. Our next thrilling chapter kicks off tomorrow with a North Atlantic crossing from Reykjavik. Buckle up! We say this as you never know what is in store for you when you cross the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

Reykjavik is the Capital of Iceland and located on the coast of Iceland. It is also the largest city in Iceland and the world’s most northern most capital.

The city was formed by volcanic eruptions and settled by the Vikings. The area is a land of volcanoes, hot springs, glaciers and northern lights. The population of Reykjavik is 240,000 residents and this figure represents 60% of the total population of Iceland.

It is a beautiful city and there are several areas where you can enjoy beautiful views of the sea. There are many places to visit whether that is the Hallgrimskrikja church which does offer those grand views, or one could take a forty-five minute drive over to the famous Blue Lagoon spa near the village of Grindavik.

One other ship is in port with us today. Those guests who boarded in the UK and are leaving tomorrow needed to go through immigration starting at 7:30 AM today. They were called by group number. For those of us who had been on for a while and not leaving tomorrow this was not required.

The cruise port ran shuttles every 30 minutes and we took the first one which dropped us off downtown near the Harpa Concert Hall.

We walked for about ninety minutes revisiting sites we have seen last September before boarding Crystal Symphony as well as last month. We dressed in three layers of clothing above our waist which was perfect given the temperature, wind and wind chill factor. No rain which made it even better.

There are so many nice things to say about all the ports we have visited and one of them is that we feel very safe which can’t be said everywhere around the world.

We will enjoy the rest of today on-board Crystal Serenity.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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SEA DAY

9/15/2025

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After lunch yesterday, Keith decided to go out again in Seyjdisfjorour. Many thanks for the suggestion from Crystal Future Cruise & Loyalty Manger Daniele and Senior Head Butler Rao and for encouragement from Anne Marie for me to hike up to the bridge by the amazing waterfall. Mind you, Kieth is not a fan of heights, but it was well worth it. And he knows for many this is not considered high b for me…. LOL. Leaving the ship, it was very windy and cooler than the morning. However, as hemade my way across the way and started the hike the wind was mild, and it felt far less cool.

There are two paths to get up and down. Keith chose the windy one for the hike up to the bridge. As he got near the bridge I saw many crew members. The views were amazing as was the sound of the waterfall.

A big thank you to the crew members who offered to take my photo without me asking and for the offer of assistance while climbing down. Keith hiked down on my own and rather than walking down the way he came up which would have been much easier if he hiked down using the path that didn’t wind so it was very steep and moist and if you were not careful you would end up on your rear end.

What a wonderful world it is.

One item of note is the city population totals 648 people, so we had more guests and crew than the town population. The town is so beautiful situated at the most innermost point of the Seydisfjordur fjord which is how it got its name. Amazing.

Although not a large town between both walks and exercise on the ship I ended the day with close to 12 miles and over 28,000 steps and that excludes the time, I had to recharge the iWatch as the iWatch was exhausted and needed a rest and a charge. LOL.

Waterside menu from last evening.

Last evening we dined with one other person in our suite. Senior Head Butler Rao organized everything.

Great food. Great company. Great Conversation.

Many thanks to Rao for making last evening very special for the three of us.

The evening entertainment included Just John & Paul - The Revolution Show.

Today is the final sea day of this cruise.

Tomorrow, we arrive back to Reykjavik, Iceland for an overnight before the cruise ends the following day and a new one begins.

As usual, today featured more activities than you could possibly do in two or three days, let alone one day. There were three lectures on diverse subjects; Icelandic Volcanos & Vikings, Shop Talk With The World Affairs Lecturer followed by a Q&A and In The Wake of the Whale.

A sea day provides guests with time to consider booking another Crystal cruise while still on-board the ship. Of course, this can be done on any of the other days prior to the day of debarkation. With this in mind, we wanted to talk about the benefits of booking a cruise on board as well as the Crystal Society Program.

Old Crystal used to have one person designated as the Crystal Future Sales Consultant and another person designated as the Crystal Society Host/Hostess.

New Crystal has combined this position and kept two crew members performing these functions with the title of Future Cruise & Loyalty Managers. For the guest the benefit is having two people performing these functions rather than one allowing for either no wait times or very little waiting time to book a cruise or to seek information or help about the Crystal Milestone Program.

These managers also schedule the Milestone Dinners and other Crytal Society Dinners and are involved with the invites that go to guests to attend the reception(s) at the Captains Quarters.

Since we boarded the Daniele Puma and Andrew Triplow have been on board performing these functions. You will see them on both ships during the year.

Let’s start with booking a cruise.  If you have a cruise in mind to book while on-board or need help selecting an itinerary, they can help you with this. They are both very knowledgeable about the itinerary as well as the accommodations. If your question cannot be answered immediately, they will follow up to get you an answer.

If you have a specific voyage(s) to book they can book that for you including booking your accommodation. They have access to the same reservation system used by Crystal team members in the reservation offices. If you book with them you should have your credit card with you as this is needed for them to process your deposit which is the same amount as if you booked at home. If you have a Travel Agent for your current voyage and want to retain them then your booking will also be sent to them. Should you want to use another Travel Agent you can provide them with the relevant information.

The benefit of booking on-board is that you realize an additional 2.5% savings off the full fare of your cruise.  Let’s say you want to realize this savings, but you are not sure which cruise to book. You can make an open booking for $1,000.00 per booking for two people. Then when you are ready to book this open booking can be applied to your booking and you will receive 2.5% off the cruise fare.

As a Crystal Society member, you also receive another 2.5% off the cruise fare and should you book a back-to-back cruise you often realize an additional 5% savings.

This takes us to Crystal Society. Once you complete your first Crystal Cruise you are a Crystal Society Member. Just like many hotels and airlines, Crystal has an affinity program for there guests. Depending on the length of the cruise you receive one or two milestones per cruise. As you complete certain milestones you become eligible to use the milestone on the subsequent voyage(s). Depending on the milestone you could be eligible for on board credits, an onboard recognition dinner, credit towards a private transfer, unlimited visits to the specialty restaurants with no fee (based on availability), category upgrades up to 12 days for certain categories of accommodation, a substantial Crystal Society Credit for savings off the cruise fare, selected Crystal Society Pins, a dinner in the Captain’s Quarters, and a private Vintage Room Dinner.

Sometimes people forget that this milestone program exists or to use their milestones. While on board you can ask one of the two managers about the program and about your unused milestone(s).

They have office hours at their respective desks located on Deck 5 and this includes morning and afternoon office hours.

This is today's Daily Reflections

It's been another wonderful day on-board Crystal Serenity and there is more to go.

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Seydisfjordur, Iceland

9/14/2025

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Thank you Emily for your comment from yesterday.

Overall, we had very nice weather yesterday while in port. This included in the morning when we walked around town and, in the afternoon, when I was able to play Paddle Tennis again. In fact, the sun came out which was terrific. I played for the entire time and once again Elizabeth played along with others.

Before departing Torshavn Farow Islands, Captain Vincent spoke from the bridge and said we should have very nice seas unlike the night before on our way to our next port of call in Iceland.

We've included a short video as we departed with the music playing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. This followed What A Wonderful World.

Waterside Dinner menu from last evening.

We returned to Waterside for another wonderful dinner. We were in great hands between Restaurant Manager Paolo, Head Waiter Jacques, Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson and Sommelier Isabel.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner. When we had looked at the menu for Friday evening, we saw that they had Wiener Schnitzel so we asked if we could have it last night and the answer was a resounding yes, my pleasure. Anne Marie had it per the menu and Keith had it as Schnitzel a la Holstein which has a sunny side fried egg on top. Both were delicious.

In case you wanted to know the special butter was walnut and rosemary.

We wish we could name all the people who mainly work behind the scenes preparing these wonderful meals. The Food & Beverage team is led by Food & Beverage Manager Svein and in the galley. As with any restaurant, the required ingredients must be on-hand, and menus set for each day. prepping for dinner begins hours prior to the first guest walking into the dining room. The team is led by Executive Chef Remy Vercelli and Executive Pastry Chef Johannes Ferreira.

In addition to Remy and Johannes the galley includes an amazing group of people who form a team including assistants and dishwashers, bakers, pastry chefs, salad chefs, specialized cooks who prepare appetizers, entrees including fish and beef.

Food is prepped. Food is cooked. Food is plated.

Each dish is made in accordance with what a guest requests and that can include how they want their entrée cooked or an item(s) added or removed to what is on the menu. Other factors can include changes due to food allergies.
Within the kitchen there are other kitchens within the galley including preparation of kosher meals on kosher plates and even what is referred to the cold kitchen that prepares a variety of meals including room service.

Even when Waterside is closed for lunch the galley is preparing food for other areas including The Bistro and Marketplace for lunch and for Breakfast at Waterside, room service, The Bistro and Marketplace and other areas.

If there is a Vintage Room lunch or dinner the galley is preparing each of the elaborate courses that are served.

Everything must be done while maintain cleanliness and hygiene standards.

While on Deck 5 of each ship, all of this is done even when the ship is sailing and that might include in rough seas.

All this also requires very close coordination between the Galley and the Waitstaff team so that each person sitting at the same table receives each course at the same time and for cooked items at the right temperature so that hot items come out hot and not cold.

Kudos to the Food & Beverage Team.

Great news. Before going to sleep last evening we turned the clocks back one hour. Yes.

Today's Daily Reflections.

We anchored off Seydisfjordur in the morning. We visited this area on board the former Crystal Endeavor in August of 2021 when we sailed R/T around Iceland. On our first visit we chose to go on a zodiac to view its beautiful landscape.

We anchored off Seydisfjordur around 9:00 AM this morning. We visited this area on board the former Crystal Endeavor in August of 2021 when we sailed R/T around Iceland. On our first visit we chose to go on a zodiac to view its beautiful landscape.

Seydisfjordur is a small town in East Iceland. It is in proximity of a narrow fjord and is surrounded by steep mountains and waterfalls. It’s a quiet town, having a population of 700 residents.

It became known as a trading center in 1848. This happened when demand increased for the silver fish found in the sea called herring. During this period the colorful wooden buildings that are associated with this town were first built.

This town was used by the Allied forces in World War II.

Crystal offered six different tours and three were repeated due to demand.

Enjoyed a very nice walk around the beautiful town. Went to the one and only church called Seydisfjardarkira JA, simply known as the “Blue Church”. Weather was much better than expected.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Torshavn, Faeroe, Islands

9/13/2025

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Before leaving Kirkwall, Scotland Captain Vincent spoke from the bridge and let us know that we would have strong winds and sea swells on our way to our next port of call. We made sure everything was secure in our room.

The Captain was correct. Last night provided some interesting moments. At times as you made it around the ship you felt like you had a drink or two because as the ship leaned slightly left you walked towards the left and as the ship leaned towards the right you started veering towards the right. If you were stopped and asked to walk a straight line, it was off to jail for you. Mama Mia.

There were times when seated that you felt like you were on a roller coaster.

In all seriousness we felt very safe and want to give a shoutout to the crew including everyone in Food & Beverage, Housekeeping and all throughout the ship who had to perform their work and do it very carefully. You are truly amazing.

Dinner Menu from Waterside.

Last evening we returned to Umi Uma and dined with friend Victoria Rutledge and her daughter Chloe. We last sailed with Victoria August of last year and have also sailed with Chloe.

We had a fab time at Umi Uma between the wonderful conversations, food, service and this lovely venue.

We have enjoyed this dining venue starting the first time we sailed Crystal Serenity in September of 2005 when it was called Silk Road. There is a wonderful variety of food. For those who enjoy Sashimi and Sush there is a lot to choose from. At the same time, for those who prefer other item the is fish/seafood, beef, chicken, salad, soup, rice and the list goes on. And be sure to save room for dessert. The inclusive wines are quite good, plus there is Japanese beer, and saki too.

We have enjoyed this dining venue starting the first time we sailed Crystal Serenity in September of 2005 when it was called Silk Road. There is a wonderful variety of food. For those who enjoy Sashimi and Sush there is a lot to choose from. At the same time, for those who prefer other item the is fish/seafood, beef, chicken, salad, soup, rice and the list goes on. And be sure to save room for dessert. The inclusive wines are quite good, plus there is saki too.

Last night included entertainment by the Crystal Showband with Violinist Adriana Vladimirova and Vocalist Annette Manhuyod. This was followed by the White Pary. The White Party is offered on one evening of most cruises. Think of it as a mixer. It includes live music and dancing with the Crystal Showband on hand along by the Ambassador Hosts and is hosted by Cruise Director Russ. DJ Emotion was also on hand. On White Night many guests wear something white.

Following is today's Daily Reflections Program.

This morning, we arrived at Tórshavn which is located on Streymoy Island and is the Capital City of the Faroe Islands. In case you were interested, the Faroe Islands consist of eighteen major islands and a total of seven hundred seventy-nine islands, islets, and skerries. Seventeen of the eighteen islands are inhabited.

The Vikings were the first to arrive to the Faroe Islands. It is believed to be one of the world’s first and smallest capitals.

Torshavn is known for its old town. On our first visit to this area, we took a Crystal Tour, and we remember those turf-roofed houses that one can see on this island.

Places to visit include:

Tingaines which is the historical old town.

Tjodsavnid which is the national museum for the Faroe Islands.

Letisvatin known as the floating lake as it looks like it sits above the ocean.

Vestmanna Sea Bird Cliffs whose length is four miles.

We both had a very nice time in this charming town.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Kirkwall, UK

9/12/2025

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After posting Keith was able to play several Paddle Tennis Games. Somewhat windy and cool but sunny, so it made for great games. Only four of us, including Elizabeth Latkis so we played the entire time. Great exercise, lots, and lots of laughs.

Before dinner last evening, we attended the Captains Welcome and Crystal Society Party. It was very well attended. A great opportunity to converse with fellow guests and officers and senior staff.

Captain Vincent welcomed everyone and recognized Crystal Serenity Employee of the month

It was a very nice event and Future Cruise & Loyalty Manager Daniele Puma mentioned that there are 90 first time Crystal Cruisers on-board and did two presentations recognizing Crystal Society members with special milestones. On of them first sailed with Crystal in 2011, loves to dance, has won several dance contests and when introduced danced with dance instructor Gabor.

Waterside Dinner Menu where we dined last evening.

Last evening we dined at Waterside for the second consecutive night. It was formal night, and the Waterside menu featured many items that are traditionally on the menu for formal night.

This included Caviar, Halibut and Maine Lobster. In case you were interested, the special butter was Basil Pesto.

There was also a Supper Club and with one formal night for this cruise it is offered once on this cruise. It features entertainment and dining at four person tables. It was fully booked last evening with 104 guests signed up.

Shortly after being seated, a couple who we first met in 2008 came to our table. We remembered the first time they met us was the last segment of World Cruise 2008 when we had our daughter and son-in-law on board. We were at nearby tables. Since that time, we sailed with them on some voyages, although the last time was ten years ago. This is what we love about Crystal. On every voyage you see people you know, including from past cruises and it’s like you sailed with them yesterday.

A special show for was performed in the Galaxy Lounge at 9:30 PM called just John and Paul. Yes, two of the four lads from The Beatles.

Today we wanted to mention the pool deck which located on Deck 12. It has several lounge chairs, tables with chairs located on each side and additional tables located closer to the doors leading to the deck, the jacuzzi and the swimming pool. Inside includes Marketplace serving breakfast and lunch buffets, Beefbar serving lunch and dinner, The Trident Grill serving a late-risers breakfast and lunch featuring grilled items and the very popular Scoops Ice Cream bar. Palm Court is also located on this deck at the bow (forward) of the ship performing panoramic views and is used for dancing, team trivia, parties and for people to enjoy a good book, casual conversation, and a drink when the bar is in the evening.

We'll let you in on our little secret, Keith has never been in the swimming pool nor the jacuzzi. Anne Marie has been in the pool a few times and a number of years ago used to sit out by the pool.

Keith does get onto the pool deck. When it is windy early morning but not too cold he walks that deck going round and round after a workout in the Fitness Center. If not windy, he walks the Promenade Deck.

We have enjoyed some events out on the deck as well, including the crew tug a war events held as part of the World Cruise Game and several sail-away parties.

Today's Daily Reflections

Today we are at Kirkwall, Scotland which is the largest town in Orkney and located north of mainland Scotland.

We arrived to Kirkwall last evening during dinner after another ship left this position. Captain Vincent said the benefit to anchoring was so that guests could enjoy a calm night on board without ship movement and he was right. Tender operations began at 7:00 AM.

Its name comes means Church on the bay. The first settlement was established by the Norsemen in the 11thcentury. Its population has risen from 6,000 in 2001 to 10,000 residents today.

The town has several houses dating back to the 17th and 18th century. Crystal offered ten shore excursions including one available in the morning and the afternoon which was a walking tour of Kirkwall.

Its attractions include:

St. Magnus Cathedral known as the light of the north.

Skara Brae a Neolithic village uncovered after a storm in 1850.

Bisop’s & Earl’s Palace Ruins

Orkney Distillery,

Ring of Brodgar a Neolithic treasure dating back to around 2,500-2000 BC.

Scapa Flow one of Britain’s most historic bodies of water.

Keith took a tender over to Kirkwall. It was a chilly summer day overcast, cool, windy, some rain, and the wind chill factor made it feel close to freezing.

The benefit of tendering versus being docked is the tender dropped guests off right in town whereas if you are docked you would need a shuttle for a drive into town.

Keith took the main street of the town. It is narrow so for cars going in opposite directions one would have to pullover.

Along the way there were many beautiful buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th century. Eventually, he arrived to the St. Magnus Cathedral. Its façade is beautiful. The church was founded in 1137. As he looked around, he thought to myself if only the walls could talk. He tried to envision what life was like back then and the voices of the people who attended the church and lived in this town.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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Sea Day

9/11/2025

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Breaking news. Keith went into town in the afternoon. For those of you who know Keith he normally would go into town early to walk around while it is quiet.

Keith took the shuttle into town. We were told that these would be port provided shuttles, so you never know what to expect. To our surprise there were two or more of them. Very nice double decker buses with seatbelts. At the port and where we were dropped off downtown there were two men wearing red vests so easily identifiable. Very orderly and well organized.

To get out of the port you go up a road whose lanes are regular size. Once up the hill the road turns windy and is the width of it is narrow so when the bus is going one way and a car the other way someone needs to pull over.

The town was about 15 minutes away. The first ten minutes involved the winding roads in a rural area. Once in town we drove another five minutes passing lots of stores, homes, restaurants, pubs, churches, and schools. The town was lovely and very nice to see.

Dinner Menu from Waterside from last evening where we dined.

We returned to Waterside for another wonderful dinner. We were in great hands between Restaurant Manager Paolo, Head Waiter Jacques, Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson and Sommelier Isabel.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner in Waterside. Others had the same idea as we did as it was very busy.

There were two shows in the evening. We had Comedian Mark Palmer at 8:30 and A Journey of Music and Dance from a Country Music Club to a London Pub which is the new show. We think this is why many people went to Waterside for dinner. All good.

This is today's daily Reflections Program.

Excluding the unplanned sea day, today is the first of two sea days of this voyage. Sea days are always special and that is the case today.

The program had lots to do and as I say more than you could do in one day. You would need three days to do it all. There were three lectures. First one was about Faroe Islands followed by a talk about All about the leaks in the government. The afternoon featured a talk about the Vikings.

We wanted to also acknowledge that today is the anniversary of September 11, 2011.This was a very sad event. It is hard to believe it is now twenty-four years after that the terrorist attack and all that changed after that day. For many of us, it was our Pearl Harbor and just as those of us who were alive when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated and remember precisely where we were when we heard the fateful news, we remember where we were on September 11, 2001. In my case,

In 2016 the Northwest Passage Cruise ended in Manhattan with an overnight. On the day of arrival, wewalked to and from the 911 Memorial. During the walk, we passed the elementary school which was nearby the Twin Towers where children would be playing outside and surely would have heard a tremendous boom as the first of the two towers were hit by a plane. Today, children are around thirty years old.

We will join in today with a moment of silence.

Anne Marie & Keith

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ICELAND TO NEW YORK ADVENTURE

On-Board Crystal Serenity

Mid-AUGUST TO Mid-OCTOBER 2025

New York City, NY

New York City, NY

Boston, Mass. & A SEA DAY

Boston, Mass.

Boston: Where the American Revolution Kicked Off with a Bang!

SEA DAY

Halifax, Canada

Sydney Nova Scotia, CS

Corner Brook, New Foundland

L'anse Aux Meadows, CA

SEA DAY

Qaqortoq, Greenland

Come On In To Qaqortoq, Greenland's Best Kept Secret (Shh!)

SEA DAY

SEA DAY

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland

Back To Reykjavik, Iceland

SEA DAY

Seydisfjordur, Iceland

Torshavn, Faeroe, Islands

Kirkwall, UK

Sea Day

Bloggers
Keith & Anne Marie
love traveling by cruise ship as we have cruised on 150+ cruises including sailing on ten world cruises, including all seven continents.

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Categories

Copyright © 2026 Follow Our Trips

ICELAND TO NEW YORK ADVENTURE On-Board Crystal Serenity​​Mid-AUGUST TO Mid-OCTOBER 2025​

Boston: Where the American Revolution Kicked Off with a Bang! ​

​Come On In To Qaqortoq, Greenland's Best Kept Secret (Shh!)

Back To Reykjavik, Iceland

BloggersKeith & Anne Marie love traveling by cruise ship as we have cruised on 150+ cruises including sailing on ten world cruises, including all seven continents. ​​

Archives

Categories

Copyright © 2026 Follow Our Trips

ICELAND TO NEW YORK ADVENTURE

On-Board Crystal Serenity

Mid-AUGUST TO Mid-OCTOBER 2025

Boston: Where the American Revolution Kicked Off with a Bang!

Come On In To Qaqortoq, Greenland's Best Kept Secret (Shh!)

Bloggers
Keith & Anne Marie
love traveling by cruise ship as we have cruised on 150+ cruises including sailing on ten world cruises, including all seven continents.