New York City, NY

Emily thank you for your comments about Butlers. We have seen all from the backgrounds you mentioned and believe that the best ones come within. This involves going directly from Waterside to the position of Butler or going from Waterside to one or more of the three additional restaurants and then to Butler. This allows them to come into the position knowing the Crystal culture, how food and beverage works which is key to the position and to learn first-hand from the Senior Head Butler, Head Butler and their colleagues. When Crystal restarted there was a need to hire some from the outside as they grew the number of butlers with the conversion of regular rooms to Suites and with providing a butler for each suite/room.
 


Yesterday the weather changes were quite interesting when I arrived to the Paddle Tennis Court. We began with fog, clouds, strong wind and it felt cool. Fog lifted, windy and cloudy and still cool. Sun came out, less wind and warm.  Made for a great couple of hours of non-stop Paddle Tennis with some people I’ve played with for years and a couple just on this sailing and one for the first time today. Lots of great execise along with some good laughs.

​Waterside Dinner Menu from last evening.

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For the second cruise in a row, we made an exception. What could it be? We dined in Waterside.
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Entertainment included a Comedy Club followed by Icons in Concert. If you are debarking today the finale was getting your luggage packed and put outside.

During yesterday’s noon talk from the bridge Captain Vincent said we should pass the Statue of Liberty around 6:15 PM and he was spot on. Unlike last voyage when we arrived in the morning during daylight and the following day departed as the sun was starting to set, this time it was dark but lit up between the Statue of Liberty and the moon above. It felt like some type of symbol that the torch from the statue was reaching towards the moon. At the moment we thought about it that we would not be here if not for our family members who took a chance to come to America for a better life.
 

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We added photos of the Galaxy Lounge and The Lounge. Galaxy with two screens up front and set on a television station was ready for those guests leaving the ship today who wanted to wait in the lounge for their debarkation number to be called to depart the ship. As public announcements are not made in suites and staterooms and around the ship this is a perfect place to wait unless someone wants to wait in their rooms. The Lounge was all set as this is where those embarking the ship will be checked in with a photo take if a fairly recent one is not on file.
 

Celebrating Keith's Milestone: Joining the 70-Year-Old Club in 2025

 
Well today Keith officially hit the big 7-0! That's right, I’ve joined the exclusive club of 70-year-olds who were born in the same year I was. Who would've thought we'd both get here without a map or a GPS?

It's amazing how much has changed since then! Back in our day, we had rotary phones just for local calls. Making a long-distance call? That would definitely get you in big trouble with your parents!

Back in the day, your TV lineup was a whopping ten to twelve channels, and some local stations decided to take a go to sleep in the middle of the night. Televisions featured that classic black-and-white look, and if you missed your favorite show, well, tough luck! There was no magical recording gadget available to us.

Picture the excitement of having a TV with a record player in some homes.
 
Remember when TVs had tubes? It was so exciting to take them in for a replacement when they went bad! Do you remember going to the local store to do that?

Back then, when folks hit the road for vacation they did so in their cars. Forget air-conditioning. Our version of cool air was cranking down the windows. No seat belts.

We could give many more examples. Today’s younger generation would look like us as if we were born when dinosaurs were on the move. 

It is fitting to be in New York City today. Keith a Long Island native would occasionally escape to the city with his parents, brother and Nana to visit family or catch a Yankees game in the Bronx. The twist? When Keith attended his first few Yankees games, Anne Marie was just a stone's throw away from the stadium. Her gad was an assistant district attorney at the Bronx Courthouse so living nearby was kind of a big deal. Who knew baseball and legal matters could be neighbors?  


Picture this: almost twenty years to the date after Keith made his grand entrance to the world, he invited Anne Marie to a party. Little did they know, this was their first "friend date". Back then, we were in the same class, forming a study group with one other brave soul. Her name was Dawn. Funny how life has a way of throwing a party when you least expect it. Even though we were dorm neighbors the year before and that year, it took a class to kickstart our friendship. Fast forward to 2025, we're still going strong, visiting New York City and cruising the high seas on our favorite cruise line, doing what we love most—sailing the world by cruise ship.  

We were off the ship very early. Before going through USA immigration one of the local people who represents Crystal asked us if we had our luggage and I said this is what we wore the entire time. LOL. We felt bad because when we left immigration and exited a woman was yelling into her phone that she left luggage and that she was not allowed to return which is correct. We hope that it all worked out for her, and she is not the first time in our history of cruising that this has happened to.
 
 We enjoyed a very long walk stopping in several iconic sites including St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Studio, NBC Studio, Central Park and we went back for another slice of Pizza.  Fun just reminiscing about New York and even the first time we met in the city over December holiday break of our Junior Year in 1975 before we started to date and as they say the rest is history.
 
Cheers
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This is our route for this sixth and final voyage of our adventure.

Cheers, 

Anne Marie & Keith