DAY 20 DAY14 SERENITY

HOLA FROM - MALLORCA, SPAIN

Hola as Crystal Serenity is now in Spain.

Unfortunately neither the dinner menus or the daily Reflections program are available for posting.

Before dinner last evening we attended the Captain's Quarters Reception hosted by Captain Giske.  As each person enters the Captain's Quarters they are greeted by Captain Giske and Crystal Society Hostess Alissa.
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Several officers were on-hand.  We spoke with Shore Excursions Manager Storme Brown for quite awhile.  It was so good to catch up with Storme.  She is a consummate professional and a wonderful person.

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We enjoyed dinner at the Crystal Dining Room.  We were taken wonderful care of by Head Waiter Augusto, Senior Waiter Lylian and Waiter Michael.  Lylian is going on a well deserved holiday at the end of this cruise.  

We began with an appetizer which was a wild mushroom tart.  It was very tasty.  Next course was salads and we each had mushroom salads.  The highlight of the meal was the Broiled Fresh Swordfish. We would say this might have been one if not the best one we have ever had.  It was very moist and tasty and cooked to perfection.  Anne Marie had the one on the menu and Keith had asked the day before to have it butterfly style.  

The entree that Anne Marie had is on the left side and Keith's is on the right side.  They ended up giving Keith a double order of the Swordfish.

We slept while as we are sailing to our last port of call of this cruise and our first stop of the cruise in Spain; Palma de Mallorca Spain.

We began the day as we always do.  A workout for Keith.  Breakfast in the room.  A nice long walk for the two of us inside the ship.  While walking we took a photo of pastries that are in the Bistro for the early go-to coffee bar between 6:30 & 9:00 AM.  Between 9:00 & 11:30 Am there is a late risers breakfast with several items available. 

Later in the morning Keith met with one of the crew officers while Anne Marie worked on our packing.  No we are not leaving the ship.  We will be moving up one deck on  the next cruise.

​With a noon arrival to today’s port of call this morning had lots of enrichment activities on the schedule.  This included two lectures; Destination Lectures Martin Lee spoke about Barcelona which is fitting as we visit the first of several ports-of-call in Spain. World Affairs Lecturer Shelby Coffey who was on the previous cruise spoke about Crimes of Passion.  

The Lido Cafe opened for lunch 30 minutes earlier than usual to accommodate those who were on tours or wanted to explore Palma de Mallorca on there own.
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​We decided to not go into Palma de Mallorca because of medication that Anne Marie is on for a disease.  The medication lowers her resistance which is why we avoid group tours.  We didn't find a private tour and with some guests sick we decided to avoid the shuttle.  

We thought we would share some information about the city.
 
This city has a population of 400,000 people and is rich in monuments. It was founded by the Roman 2,100 years ago.  
 
Major highlights include:
 
Catedral Le Seu; which is one of Spain’s most outstanding Gothic Structure. Work began in 1229 and completed in 1601.  
 
Palau de l’Almudaina; originally an Islamic Fort it was converted to a residence for Mallorcan Monarches in the early 1300s by King James II of Majorca.
 
Museo Diocesano; the museum offers a historical tour of Christianity for this island.
 
Museo de Mallorca.  This 45+ year museum includes prehistoric artifacts, Moorish ceramics, medieval and and Baroque paintings.

We enjoyed our afternoon on-board Serenity. We began with lunch at the Lido Cafe.  Because of the arrival time to port the Cafe opened 30 minutes earlier tan usual and was the busiest we have seen it.  Many people on the cruise have been having lunch at the Crystal Dining Room but  dined at the Lido Cafe in order to take tours and/or explore the city on their own.  Afterwards, we both walked together on the Promenade Deck.  Keith met one person for Paddle Tennis and played singles for quite awhile.  While on our walk we saw a ferry in port, the Ida Cruise ship and the arrival of the NCL Epic cruise ship. The temperature was in the high 70's (F), sunny and very pleasant.

This evening Serenity will set sail for the final port of call in Barcelona, Spain where many guests will disembark, in-transit guest such as ourselves will remain on-board (about 125) and newly embarking guests will board.  We should arrive around 4:00 AM.

Anne Marie & Keith