SEA DAY

Sea Days Are Absolutely Fantastic!

A final view before we left Akureyri, Iceland. Our first time here and a lovely town.

Dinner menu from Waterside from last evening where we had dinner.

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We enjoyed another wonderful dinner at Waterside last evening. Food delicious. Dining venue special. Service impeccable. Let's not forget the wine.

We enjoyed so many wonderful conversations last evening. Cruise Director Russ Grieve came by. We met Russ for the first time on the morning the 2024 Holiday Cruise ended in early January of 2025 on Serenity, and this is the first time we are sailing with him. We chatted with some fellow guests who came by our table to say hello to us and with several members of the Waterside team. We enjoy a nice leisurely dinner and we were there for two and one-half hours.  

​Waterside was relatively quiet with guests dining at other venues such as Osteria, Uma Uma, Beefbar and even in their suites/guest rooms.

The only downside to last evening was forwarding the clocks forward before going to sleep. A third world problem for sure. LOL.
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Sea Days Are Absolutely Fantastic!

We were ready for the first sea days of this cruise. Sea days are an absolute delight, and with Crystal they are truly exceptional.

There are so many activities that trying to do them all would take most people two to three days. Sometimes I wish we could slow down the clock to fit in more sea day activities into one day.

On port intensive cruises or on cruises where you have several consecutive ports many times we would yearn for a sea day to relax and change things up. There is all sorts of activities including enrichment that is a lot of fun for many of us. This includes enrichment activities like fitness, computer (and the computers at computer university are terrific ones) bridge, golf, dance, and art classes. But it does not end there. There activities inside and outside the ship, and of course, we can't forget about the food. LOL. As the evening approaches there are lots of entertainment options from live music, including dance, performances and an evening move. Similarly there are several dining choices and several lounges to visit for a drink, some with live music and an opportunity for a nice casual or even serious conversation.

For us the favorite part is enjoying all of this with fellow guests and the amazing members of team Crystal Serenity the same way we enjoy it when sailing Crystal Symphony with the extraordinary member of Team Crystal Symphony and fellow guests.

Today's program included three lectures; first one about the conflict in Ukraine, second one about climate change and third one about the story of Siegfried & Roy. Other activities included fitness classes, beginners,  intermediate and duplicate and social bridge, a golf clinic, computer university talks, team trivia, dance classes, Odyssey Art at Sea class, and a  photography class. There were other classes about spa and salon products. There was a morning Catholic Mass and an early Evening Interdenominational Protestant Service along with various get togethers. Then let's not forget the food between early morning, morning and late risers breakfast, lunch in various venues, and an afternoon tea. For those who enjoy sports/workouts there is Paddle Tennis, Pickleball, Table Tennis (ping pong), Golf, the Promenade Deck to walk, run or just take in the lovely views, the Pool, and the Fitness Center which is open 24 hours a day. In addition there is the library, the cinema where a movie is shown in the afternoon and a different one is shown two times in the evening.

The program continues into the evening and late evening hours with live music in various lounges, dancing, shows, and even Karaoke Night. And for those who enjoy gambling the Le Casino De Monte- Carlo was open during portions of the daytime and into the evening.  

​And if you like to shop that is available too.

It was a bit nippy outside as one would expect. After all, we are not sailing the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. We are sailing towards the North Cape and that means cooler weather. It was also overcast.  Rather than walking outside on the Promenade Deck we made us of the indoor track or should we say walking area and for us that is many Deck 6 where you can walk full circle and in our case full circles to get those steps in.  Keith also did this earlier this morning. Tomorrow early morning it will be back to the Fitness Center which some people refer to as a gym.  

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​Last evening we spoke about Crystal Serenity being a village and the major difference of this village is that we do not stay in one spot and travel the world.  

We love traveling the world and seeing similarities and difference in people, culture and customs and its geography. 
 
For example, as we enjoy the scenery from the ship, we see mountains or as they call them in Iceland Fjall. They are beautiful but without trees whereas in another part of the world you might see a mountain with lots of trees on them.

​In the case of Iceland, you see few trees because of a combination of the early settlers who removed them, and due to other factors such as its harsh climate and volcanic activity.

 
This time of year, there is plenty of sunlight to be seen. If we were sailing in June we might have 24 hours of sunlight, this month the amount of sunlight is decreasing but we still had over 17 hours of it. Return here for the Winter solstice, and on December 21 you might have only four to five hours of daylight. 

For those who don’t travel we can sometimes forget about how diverse the world is and it is not the same throughout.
 
The crew reenforces all of this as they represent something like fifty different nationalities and it is always special to learn about their home cities, towns and villages and their home countries where they were born or where they live today. 

For those of you interested in the weather as of 12:00 Noon when Captain Birger spoke from the bridge the outside temperature along with the sea temperature was 48 degrees Fahrenheit and this is expected to decrease over the coming hours.  

And with colder weather in mind, we changed our jackets to something heavier and very much Crystal. LOL.

Cheers, 

Anne Marie and Keith