Rouen

Greetings From Crystal Symphony.

Posting early as we have a busy afternoon.

​We also had time yesterday to get over to the local town about 15 minutes from the port. It has a nice beach and many shops. It was fairly busy with locals and in the summer months when tourists visit the number of people triples from what we saw on our visit. The weather was terrific as we took a long walk.

On our visit to Belgium will be remembered for its history and architecture. In addition, we got to see and will remember its Belgium waffles, candy, fries, and beer. They certainly offer more possible toppings for the waffles than I could have imagined.  

​Like the Avenue Saloon, we have lots of wonderful memories of the Hollywood Theatre. The Theatre can be used for a diverse set of activities.
 
Each evening a full-length movie is shown and the following day the same movie is shown in the afternoon.  Then this is repeated with a different movie shown in the evening. In our early years of cruising Crystal on some afternoons and evenings we would watch a movie there.
 
On some days a lecture is given in this venue, often in the afternoon on a sea day when one or two other lectures are given in the morning in a different venue.
 
Each morning a Catholic Mass takes place in the Hollywood Theatre with a start time that varies based on where the ship is sailing.  On certain cruises such as one or more segments of the World Cruise there has been a Protestant Service offered.  Every Friday night there is a Sabbath Service, and this is followed by a kiddush with wine, challah and some other food.  On Jewish holidays such as the High Holy Days of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, on the Holiday Cruise and Passover and often on the World Cruise a Rabbi is on board and for all but the Passover Seder the services are conducted in the Hollywood Theatre. Over the years we have attended services on both ships 
 
 

Last evening we dined at Waterside and this is the dinner menu.

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In the photo below you will notice we took photos of both sides of a wine bottle.

This is one of the Heidi Barrett wine's on-board Crystal Symphony called All Greet Things. It is on the Connoisseurs' wine list.


The back of the bottle has a quote from Winston Churchill.


"All great things are simple and can be expressed in a single word freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope."


We thought a quote from Winston Churchill fit in with  this cruise since we will be revisiting Normandy on September 23.


At the same time, we are reminded about all of the challenges that the Greatest Generation faced and very much appreciate this itinerary including the special speakers Crystal has on board covering topics related to World War II including D-Day and the Holocaust and the opportunity to visit places on this itinerary whose people were greatly impacted during the War and those who made great sacrifices for a greater good.

Several members from Waterside below.

Last evening was also White Night.  There is one White Night Party per cruise which is held in the Crystal Plaza. We think of it as a themed mixer with music, dance, themed drinks and canapés.  Often guests wear something white in keeping with the theme but that is purely optional.

In addition to the White Night Party, there was a comedian who performed.

Today's Daily Reflections

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Today, we are scheduled to arrive to Rouen, France at 6:00 pm and stay for two overnights.  This will provide sufficient time for those such as us to visit Normandy tomorrow or in our case to revisit Normandy.
 
With an arrival in the evening, today was a sea day with lots of activities on the program.  This included three lectures two, of which, focused on World War II. These talks covered: 
 
Births, Marriages and Deaths which shaped the British Royal Family, Living Fearlessly a Holocaust Survivor’s Story, and D-Day 80th Anniversary Panel Discussion.
 
Other enrichment programs included Odyssey at Sea, Fitness, Bridge, Golf, Computer, Creative Media and Dance Classes, Team Trivia, Duplicate and Social Bridge, Health Seminars, along with some other activities I haven’t listed.  
 
As usual, let us not forget the time for food.