Greencastle & Londonderry, UK

Weather was gorgeous yesterday afternoon so Keith got in several games of Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie enjoyed a nice walk on the outdoor wrap-around Promenade Deck.
 


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

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

Last evening we dined at Waterside. It was another wonderful dining experience. Although Waterside is not considered a Specialty Restaurant we love dining there. Menus change daily and although items are repeated on subsequent voyages there is enough to choose from to avoid repetition plus there are some items we are very happy to repeat.

We were in the great hands of Restaurant Manager Paolo, Senior Head Waiter, Jacque, Senior Waiter Enver, Sommelier Isabel, and Waiter Edson.

The Sommelier’s rotate to a different section of Waterside each cruise and this is the first time we have had Isabel as she is fairly new to this position.


People ask what does each position in Waterside do? Heck if we know. LOL. 
 
The Restaurant Manager oversees Waterside also performing Maître d’ Functions there and oversees the waitstaff team at the other restaurants including Marketplace, Beefbar, Osteria and Umi Uma.
 
The Senior Head Waiter like a Head Waiter is responsible for a section of Waterside including the waiters. Often, they stop by the tables to greet guests, provide direction to the waitstaff team, help out the waiters and no task is too small whether that is filling water glasses, removing dishes, resetting a table. Often, they are the one who cut the cheese if someone orders from the cheese menu. If food is not to the liking of the guest the Head Waiter will get involved and they also are involved with special requests.
 
The one Senior Head Waiter also has other responsibilities and one of them is to schedule the waiters for breakfast and lunch coverage of Marketplace, The Afternoon Tea, and the Supper Club when offered on selected formal nights. They also provide education to the Waterside waiters, and this includes discussing the items on the menu for that evening’s dinner. 

The Senior Waiter is responsible for a group of tables including taking all orders, answering questions for the guest about menu items, overseeing the waiter/junior waiter, ensuring that each order comes out together so that some guest courses come out while some are waiting. 
 
The Waiters and Junior Waiters spend a lot of time in the Galley and bring out each course to the waiters’ station. They might be involved in coming to the table with the basket of rolls, butter, filling water glasses, serving a course or part of a course and clearing tables.
 
The Sommelier will answer guests’ questions about wine, will serve the wine, and for certain bottles of wine that are part of the connoisseur list might decant the wine if it is needed to enhance the wine. They also serve other drinks such as spirits.

​
It is very apparent that the waitstaff in Waterside and all the restaurants work like a team. If someone from another section of any of the dining venue notices that a guest needs assistance they will help. This applies to Headwaiters as well. They will clear and reset tables or help serve the course and fill water glasses.
 
There is a saying that the sum of a team working together is far more effective than individuals not working together. This is shown in all the dining venues where the waitstaff including the waiters, headwaiters and sommeliers all work together as one team. I refer to this as Team Crystal, or Team Crytal Symphony or Team Crystal Serenity.
​

Food was great. Keith had the Dover Sole again and this time it was Senior Waiter Enver who worked his magic to debone the Sole or is that Dover Sole. LOL.

While Enver is experienced at doing this procedure it was the first time he performed it for Keith.

 
For those who want to know about the special butter it was nori (seaweed) and toasted sesame seeds. 
 

This is today's daily Reflections Program.

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

Today we are anchored off Greencastle, Ireland which is a commercial fishing port. It got its name from the castle in the area. The castle got its name from the green freestone used to build it.
 
Greencastle is located twenty miles from Derry (Londonderry). where some of the shore excursions went. One option to get over to Derry is via the ferry which runs often. 
 
Many major attractions are in Londonderry including the Derry City Walls, Museum of Free Derry & Tower Museum and the Peace Bridge.
 
In Greencastle, the Inishowen Maritime Museum can be found and is both a museum and a planetarium. 
 
Complimentary shuttle service would have been offered between Greencastle and downtown Derry and the drive is around forty minutes each way depending on traffic.
 
You noticed the word “would”.
​
 
At around 8:15 AM Captain Vincent spoke from the bridge. He noted between the wind and the current we could not hold our position making it unsafe to run the tender service. The Captain noted that the forecast called for stronger wind as the day went along. About 45 minutes later the Captain made a second announcement mentioning this and noting that we are heading to our next port of call and would do so at slower speeds. This provides a better ride than if we were traveling at higher speeds. The Captain also said he would be down in the public area should anyone have any questions.  
 
In the end, safety is always the number one priority.  So today has become a sea day.
 
Photos below before we left Greencastle.

---

In typical Crystal fashion today was transformed from a port to a sea day with lots of activities offered.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith