Newport, Rhode Island

Before dinner last evening the doorbell rang, and Anne Marie answered the door and Keith could hear Senior Head Butler Rao and then some of the butlers entered and it turned out to be the entire Butler Team. It brought smiles to each of us and it was a big surprise to Keith. They sang Happy Birthday and had a cake for Keith. We love the butlers, and we love the Crystal crew. It made Keith turning 70 OK. LOL. Many thanks to Rao who organized this. 

Dinner menu from last evening at Waterside.

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​Last evening the celebration of Keith's birthday continued with dinner at Osteria D’Ovidio. We enjoy dining at this venue on the first night of the cruise and thought it was ideal for the Birthday Celebration.  

Everything was fantastic and many thanks to the entire Osteria Team including Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Mario, Senior Waiter Praveen, and Sommelier Maurizio.

​Anne Marie had made arrangements with Specialty Restaurant Maitre di for a Birthday Cake, and Mario and some of the waiters arrived to the table with cake and sang Happy Birthday. 
 
It was a wonderful day.
 

Last evening also included a Sail-Away event around the Seahorse Pool on the Pool Deck between 5:45 P and 6:30 PM and later in the evening the shows were the Welcome Variety Showtime. It was a great opportunity to see the talent of the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers, the Showband, Dance Duo Levy and Mona, Violinist Clara Alonso Tofe and Crystal Showband Vocalist Karin Kovacova.
 

​This is today's Daily Reflections.

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We often speak about Paddle Tennis and sometimes Pickleball, so we are including a couple of photos of the courts. Crystal Serenity features two courts which allow players to play either game. The blue lines are for Pickleball including the kitchen and the white lines are for Paddle Tennis other than the blue lines towards the back of the court which are key when someone serves to the other side. Crystal provides racquets and balls for each respective sport.  Crystal Symphony has one court.
 
Keith first began playing Paddle Tennis with our children and their spouses when they joined us for one cruise before we began World Cruise 2010 and have continued ever since. I stared playing Pickleball at home seven months ago and have played a couple of times since we boarded on August 14.
 
Aside from the exercise it has provided a wonderful opportunity to get to know fellow players who we might not have met if not for playing. It also provides a lot of laughs as well. I always tell people just enjoy the game and have fun because most of us can’t remember who won the game a few minutes after it ends.  
 

As the last cruise ended yesterday and the next one started  we wanted to begin by mentioning that for us every cruise has similarities and differences. Unlike the past few cruises since we boarded on August 14 this was a seven-day cruise. The next one will be seven days too. Both start and end in New York City making it easy for those who live locally to cruise without needing to fly. 
 
We know that on each cruise with Crystal on either Symphony or Serenity we are going to be taken care of by the extraordinary crew, dine at beautiful dining venues with outstanding cuisine, service and beauty, experience terrific entertainment and enrichment and sail on beautiful ships with special amenities.
 
We have also found that the length of the cruise, the itinerary including number of days at sea and number of days in port, the overall passenger count, the passenger demographics and even the weather can make each cruise somewhat different from one another. Other factors could simply involve being on-board with some guests who are cruising friends or even making new cruising friends. 
 
Even seven-day cruises have differences if the itinerary is all ports or a mix of ports and sea days. For example, with many people off the ship there are less enrichment programs while on sea days there are many offered. 

Each itinerary does offer the opportunity to meet new guests. On sea days there is opportunity to converse with other on-board the ship and on port intensive cruises there is the opportunity to meet fellow guests on shore excursions, in the daytime at breakfast or before and after dinner.
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On a seven-day cruise with high occupancy it is wise to make your dining reservations for specialty restaurants when the reservation system open six months prior to the start of the cruise.
 
On seven-day cruises there are no formal nights whereas on most eight-day Crystal Cruises there will be one formal night and on the one we just completed with the thirteen nights there was two formal nights. 
 
I have found that it takes a couple of days for things to settle down on a cruise with new guests getting acquainted with the ship and its amenities and all guests getting over traveling to the ship and unpacking and unwinding. On a shorter cruise these two days make up a greater percentage of the cruise than a longer cruise. 
 
Seven day cruises are a great opportunity for guests new to Crystal to try out Crystal to see what they think and many people we meet who are on their first Crystal Cruise end up booking another one, sometimes even longer.
 
Of course, seven day cruises are perfect for those who work full-time or have other commitments at home.
 
For us, we have enjoyed each of our Crystal Cruises making memories which will last a lifetime along with many friendships along the way. We have sailed Crystal on a cruise as short as five days and have sailed on cruises totaling close to six months.
 
Each voyage has been special in its own way and unique for some of the reasons we have mentioned.

Today we anchored off Newport, Rhode Island at 8:00 am. As a reminder this itinerary is the same as the prior one. Whereas the weather was partly sunny last week, today’s weather is warmer but with rain forecasted throughout the day, so we decided to make today a sea day.
 
We covered this last week but will give some highlights about Newport and am including a few photos we took.
 
Newport is a seaside city which has a rich sailing history. For some it was and is a summer resort and is known for its historic mansions including the Breakers. City population is 25,000 residents.
 
In addition to the summer “cottages” the colonial area of Newport also has several historical buildings dating back to the 1600s.
 
Newport’s history dates to its founding in 1639. Because of its harbor, the town quickly became a major seaport of colonial North America.
 
Newport hosted the first U.S. Opens Tournament in both tennis and golf. It also hosted every challenge for the America’s Cup between 1930 and 1983.
 
Newport was also the location for the Summer White Houses for former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Its population is 25,000 residents.
 
Major attractions include:
 
The Bellevue Avenue Mansions
 
Touro Synagogue which is the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America.
 
The Breakers which was the summer “cottage” of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. It was constructed at a cost of $12 million which today is roughly $355 million. This is one very expensive “cottage” with 70 rooms within 138,000 square feet.
 
Cliff Walk whose public access walkway borders the shoreline and allows for views of several estates. 
 
The city includes several museums including one about the history of this city.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith