We enjoyed our final time on Crystal Serenity yesterday and evening.

Keith ended up getting a treatment at the Fitness Center with a unit which was perfect for the swelling in his ankle. It utilized an air compressor. The chair reclines and you lay all the way back. Each leg fits into a sleeve which goes up above your legs.
 

Before we forget, some of you ask what ice cream is served at the Scoops Ice Cream Bar?  The answer is Gelato.  As to brand it is Bruno Gelato.
 
 

We enjoyed dinner in our room.  A tradition of ours the past several years is to make the last evening Pizza night. Many thanks to Senior Head Butler Rao for organizing another nice dinner with us including pre-dinner canapés. The canapés made for a nice meal. LOL.  

Breakfast was our last meal of the cruise which we  enjoyed  in our room  as we got ready to debark the ship.

Anne Marie had one final visit with Dr. Soto who has taken excellent care of her and Keith.  

We each spoke with several members of the crew and some fellow guests.  

We also saw Max who will become the Front Office Manager. We know Max from Serenity and then Symphony and now he is back with Crystal like so many of those who have returned with more crew members returning.

When the time came to debark, Senior Head Butler Rao came to our room and took our hand luggage down to the gangway where Hotel Director Scott Peterson was waiting to say a final farewell.  Rao went down the terminal area and once the luggage was ready collected it and escorted us outside where Chief Concierge Marco was standing.  We said fond farewells to Marco who along with the showed us where the vehicle was parked and Rao placed the luggage in the vehicle. We then said our final farewells to Rao.

The cruise has been amazing. As many times we have sailed with Crystal (119) the cruise exceeded our expectations.

We will fly home tomorrow.

Stay tuned for another adventure in just a few months with Crystal.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

Some photos from yesterday morning including sunrise. We should have take photos in the afternoon. We learned later in the day that the views were the best of the season.  The views from the ship were spectacular.
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Late in the afternoon, we each saw the doctor.  We're like the walking wounded.  The good news is the Doctor is right here on Deck 5 so no driving is involved.  LOL.  

We enjoyed a wonderful evening on-board Crystal Serenity.

We returned to Tastes where we dined with friend Patty and Carole.  Before we boarded, we invited each of them to dine with us. They hadn't met prior to this sailing.

This is our second time to Tastes since we boarded on July 31. Our first time we dined with Victoria and Chloe.

We tried a combination of items; some of which we had on  the first cruise along with items such as the salmon which we hadn't had before.  

Later in the evening we spent time with our extended Crystal Family; the crew. We love them.  

We were up later than usual but the good news is we set the clocks back one hour prior to going to sleep.  

Over the past couple of days Anne Marie has been doing packing with some assistance from Keith so we don't have much packing to do today.  

Today we are anchored off St. Peter Port, Guernsey a charming town we have visited several times in the past. If not for Keith's ankle the original plan was to take a tender over there.  The good news is a future cruise we have booked includes this port.

Our morning consisted of the following:

Attended, with passports in-hand, mandatory face-to-face inspection with British Immigration Officials.

A medi/pedi for Anne Marie which originally was scheduled on the day we realized was the Bordeaux tour.  A massage which Keith added.  This was followed by a medi/pedi for Keith which like Anne Marie's was originally scheduled for the day of the Bordeaux tour. Full disclosure.....Keith has never had a medi/pedi before and if not for his strained ligament would not have had this. Why? Because he would be on the Paddle Tennis Court.

We are spending the rest of the afternoon packing, visiting with fellow guests and the extraordinary crew.  

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

We wanted to begin with some additional photos from our tour. They include the Chateaux, the Restaurant, and, the Church and the Catacombs.  

Yesterday afternoon, there was an open house and Keith visited some of the open rooms. Classic Aquamarine (former PH)

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Second is Classic Sapphire Verandah Suite (Former PS)

Sapphire Veranda Suite - (New as of 2023)

Aquamarine Veranda Suite (Former Seabreeze)
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Last evening we enjoyed a nice dinner with Cruise Director Rick Spath.

It was a formal night and that is the reason we ate in our room.  We enjoy formal night and the original plan was to dine in Waterside. However, Keith's foot and ankle had swelled from the injury making it very painful to wear shoes and we don't think Keith wearing Crystal slippers would quite fit the definition of formal attire.

The Waterside menu did feature special items we enjoy on formal night including caviar (Keith), mushroom soup (Anne Marie), and lobster which each of us enjoyed.  As usual, we enjoyed outstanding cuisine, food and conversation with lots of laughs.

Although today we are anchored off Saint-Malo, France given Keith is on the injured list (LOL) and two-full days remain until we debark Serenity on the 22nd of September, we stayed on-board.  We each had our hair cut at Aurora Salon and then there was packing to do. 

We will close now and post more tomorrow.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

As mentioned, yesterday we took a private tour arranged by Crystal.  This included a short visit to the UNESCO Classified Village of St. Emilion, followed by lunch at the Michelin two-star restaurant La Table de Pavia.  Then we took an immersion visit by Land Rover through the vineyards to Chateau Tripling Mandot where we enjoyed five tastings of their finest vintages.  We then took a leisurely ride back to Crystal Serenity.

​Our guide was Morgane and Driver was Miguel. They wre both a delight.

They have evolved some of their practices over the last decade. They make use of horses rather than vehicles to tend to the land.  The reason for the pigs is they eat what normally would be disposed of in garbage.  

Most of the grapes are for Cabernet with a section that works well for Merlot.

The location of land is at one if not the highest elevation of the area which can get windy at times and  was a benefit since a challenge this year was mildew on grapes.  They caught it early and the wind helped evaporate the water from the grape vines.

They presented us with a very special wine at the end of the wine tasting.

Last evening, we dined with Daniele Puma who is the Future Cruise and Loyalty Manager along with Emmalee Sassi. We have known Daniele for 15+years when he began his career with Crystal and have watched him progress into higher level positions along the way.

Dinner was wonderful and it was great to spend time with Daniele.  Prior to this cruise the last time we were together was when we debarked Crystal Serenity in early March of 2020 in Sydney, Australia and Daniele was in the cruise ship terminal after leaving Symphony in Singapore and arriving to join Serenity.  Around ten days later the World Cruise ended in Perth due to the COVID-19 Pandemic which impacted cruise lines around the world.

Originally, we planned to dine at Osteria d'Ovidio and when we decided to dine in-suite we each selected appetizers and entrees from this restaurant with salads and dessert from Waterside.  

Afterwards, we enjoyed the sail-away from Bordeaux from a special spot on Crystal Serenity.  

Today, is the only sea day of this cruise although we did enjoy almost a full sea day when we arrived to Bordeaux in the evening.

Keith had a massage followed by a visit with Doctor Soto.  The other day he had some pain to the right of the Achilles while playing Paddle Tennis and played the next day and ankle swelled yesterday.  Thankfully, stretched ligament but this means no more Paddle Tennis till next cruise.  

We are enjoying the rest of the day on-board Serenity.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

Before we begin, we wanted to note how much we enjoy overnights as it provides more time to see more of an area, we visit by Cruise ship. On top of this, two overnights and almost two full days in port are wonderful for the crew. Most can get off the ship and smell the roses and get some fresh air. So happy for the crew when they can have time to relax off the ship. This has been the case the past two days. In fact, some crew were able to take bikes out and there are lots of bike lanes in Bordeaux.
 
 


Keith went out in the afternoon by himself and visited other areas including the beautiful park.  On the way back to the ship I had to wait as they lifted the gangway from Deck 5 to 6 given the lowering of the tides.

We enjoyed dinner back at Waterside. We have enjoyed each dinner at Waterside with delicious cuisine, superb service and excellent presentations and food served at the  proper temperature.

Posting early as we have a full day private tour today.

We will post all about it tomorrow.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner last night, starting with canapés, followed by dinner. Hotel Director Scott joined us.  Senior Head Butler Rao organized everything.  A big thank you to our penthouse attendant Priscila.
 
As we dined, we had breathtaking scenery as we sailed into Bordeaux. There was so much to see.  This continued after dinner as we went out onto the verandah to watch until we were docked right in downtown Bordeaux.  

Given the height of Serenity we had to arrive when the tides were low, and it was interesting to watch as we spun around as part of the approach to where we would dock.  Many cruise ships cannot spin around as Serenity can and we also had a little assist with by a tug-boat.
 

Later in the night was White Dress Party at 10:00 PM.

We wanted to mention how nice our room attendant is; Priscilla.  We posted the photo above but wanted to mention Priscilla again.

We are asked if there is still a Catholic Priest on-board and the answer is yes with Catholic Mass held each morning. Unhosted Sabbath Eve Services are held every Friday at 5:30 PM as they always have been.  On the World Cruise and on Jewish Holidays such as the high holy days, on Passover and on the Holiday Cruise the plan is to have a Rabbi on board.

Bordeaux looks very much like other cities in France which the beautiful architecture of its buildings. It is second to Paris as the country’s most densely populated city. Today, it is best known for its chateaux’s, wonderful cuisine and the wines produced in this region. In fact, over 3,000 wineries are located in relatively short proximity to the city of Bordeaux.

We had thought today we had a private tour which included a visit to a Chateaux. Thank goodness Keith looked at the website of the restaurant we were to eat at and saw it was closed on Thursdays for lunch.  When Keith spoke with the Shore Excursion Manager, Keith realized the tour was Friday rather than Thursday which was the day we requested. Somehow, Keith had mistakenly added it to our excel spreadsheet for today.  Glad this was all sorted out yesterday since our tour doesn't begin until 10:30 AM.  LOL. 

​We walked for several miles around the down area of Bordeaux retracing some of the steps we took on our first visit on the 2007 Crystal Serenity World Cruise. That visit was a Sunday when very few people were out and about in the morning.  We had a wonderful time in this special city.

The World Cruise 2025 Brochure is available at each of the two Future Cruise Consultant & Loyalty Program desks.

We are enjoying a nice afternoon on board Crystal Serenity.
 
Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

Last night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Fernando Barroso de Oliveira who is the Crystal Ambassador.  We had a delightful evening and there was never a pause in the conversation and we enjoyed laughs throughout the evening.  We shared travel experiences with one another and enjoyed getting to know Fernando.  The food was great too as was the service. We were taken great care by Head Waiter Sigi, Waiter Albert, 
​and Sommelier Adrian.  

After all guests were on-board the featured entertainment was James Fox who sang songs Billy Joel, Leo Sayer, The Eagles, Elton John and other artists.

With an arrival to Bordeaux this evening, today was what you might expect a sea day to be the Crystal way.  This included three lectures; destination lecture about Bordeaux by Dr. Kenneth Pearl, a talk on about traveling in space by Astronaut Dr. Jefrey Hoffman and a talk in the afternoon given by Entertainment Lecturer Gregory Sherman appropriately titled Supercalifragilistic!  In total, forty daytime activities and that doesn't include eating which is several activities in itself. LOL. We've included the daily Reflections Program below.

Sea days are always special with Crystal Cruises and today has been no exception. We still fit in time for walks and Paddle Tennis, eating and the enjoyment of the enrichment and conversation with the amazing Crystal Serenity Crew and fellow guests.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

Last evening, we hosted a private Vintage Room. Including us, six people in attended. Food, Wine and Service was amazing. Took photos of most everything but missed the risotto.  Head Sommelier Jiri did a wonderful job as usual and he was assisted by a terrific team. Many thanks for the Executive Chef Werner and Pastry Cef Johann for coming towards the end when we had a special dessert.  We learned so much about the history of each vineyard and the wine which we were to enjoy.  An amazing evening.
 

Some photos from The Trident Grill.

​We were docked by 9:00 AM for the next port-of-call Bilbao Spain.  Crystal provided a shuttle between the cruise terminal and the city center. Bilbao is the capital of the province of Vizcaya, which is situated on the western part of the Basque country.  It is the home of the Guggenheim Museum and from what we learned this is what made this city what it is today.  It attracts visitors from Spain, the rest of Europe and from areas around the world.  This city is also the gateway to the Cantabrico Sea.
 

We continue to have a wonderful time on Crystal Serenity doing all the things we enjoy and being with so many special people; crew and guests.

We enjoyed the rest of the day as we normally do with walks and Paddle Tennis for Keith


Following is today's daily Reflections Program.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

​Last night we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink with Patty a friend of ours.
 

Afterwards, we dined at Waterside.  We enjoyed an amazing dinner. The highlight was the Covino. The presentation was awesome, and the taste of the entrée was truly amazing. One of the best entrees we have ever eaten.  Congratulations to Executive Chef Werner, the wonderful culinary team and to Crystal.  We learned today that this entrée at one time was on Crystal Harmony. A true keeper for sure.

 
The captain’s welcome reception was at 7:45 PM.
 
The only negative was we had to forward the clocks an hour to get on Spain time.  Ugh!  LOL.

New bath products arrived yesterday. Same company but now in hand pumps and in the Aquamarine, Sapphire, Junior CP and CP Suites.

We arrived to Ferrol, Spain on-time. This is our first time visiting this area. You can walk to the edge of town and continue further as we did instead of taking the shuttle bus. Weather was beautiful.  
 

​We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on-board Serenity doing all the things we love to do.

Today's Reflections Daily Program follows.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith
 

​Let’s begin with kindness.  I’ve been playing Paddle Tennis with lots of wonderful people. One of them is a couple who I’ve been playing with for the first time.  
 
In Barcelona they purchased a new Paddle Tennis racquet for the wife who gave her racquet to her husband.  They let many of us try the racquets and I loved it. They told me when we arrived to Lisbon they would look to see if they could find one for me. They went to one place first but the racquets were not like this. They took a taxi to another place just to find this racquet for me.  Kindness also results in other good things. Near the place was a beautiful park Anne Marie and I discovered several years ago and they enjoyed it like we did.  
 
When they got back to the ship, they had the new racquet along with the new one she got in Barcelona and the one she gave to her husband. They said I should pick out whichever one I want.  I was very happy with the new one.  
 
Over the years we have been blessed with sailing with so many nice people including crew, guests and land such as land-based entertainers and enrichment people plus Crystal employees on land.

We have developed friendships with many of them and yesterday was an example of kindness. I offered to pay for the taxi but they wouldn't hear of that.  I thought it would be nice to share this with everyone. 

I already have put the new Paddle Tennis Racquet to good use.
 

Some people ask who are the senior officers presently on-board so we are posting a photo of them and below this is the Daily Reflections Program.

Crystal ran a shuttle between the port and the Oporto Historical District and also offered seven different tours

As you find in Portugal and in selected cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with its Portuguese influence you will see facades of some of the buildings with mosaic tiles including the outside of the train station. And yes, they have some nice bakeries for the lover of tasty desserts including pastries.  
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In addition, we enjoyed the ship between walks, Paddle Tennis for Keith, and nice discussions and great laughs with the crew and fellow guests.

Tablets are being deployed to each room with lots of information guests can utilize plus the ability to read on line newspapers, surf the internet, watch tv channels and movies.  We received it yesterday.

They include menus so we are posting breakfast menus and the lunch menu which changes daily.

This is a list of items available for purchase.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith