New iPads will be deployed to each room during this voyage. One was place in our room today. We cropped out the top portion which show names, room number and it also has home key, mail, etc. Some photos and short video from playing Paddle Tennis yesterday afternoon. Before dinner we met with Arlene and Gil who we are sailing with for the first time, and they are a lovely couple. Then it was dinner at Waterside. All we can say is bravo. The service, cuisine and dining venue are a wow. Rather than doing a typical end of cruise show, last evening featured two different performances. At 6:30 PM in Palm Court vocalist Annette Manhuyod accompanied on the piano by Mark Manhuyod performed a special tribute to Broadway Hit Songs. Annette has a brilliant voice. At 9:45 pm, James Fox who has-been on-stage with Crystal for several years performed My Live: The Music of Bill Joel. He is always sensational. Today is turn around day. This is the end of the first cruise and the start of the second cruise. Ninety-eight guests are continuing to the next voyage and are in-transit and the remaining guests are leaving the ship to go home or to do other travel. While we will leave the ship in Southampton at the end of this cruise some guess who boarded in Marseille will stay on. In-transit guests can stay on or go off the ship today as they would in any port. They are encouraged to attend the 5:30 PM muster drill but are not required to do so. Today is the day that Captain Vincent Tallard is the new Captain for Crystal Serenity. He has been on-board observing and performing various duties in preparation for today. The Captain began his career on various vessels and private yachts, and earned his class on license in 2007 and has commanded numerous cruise and expedition ships on all seven seas. Captain Birger Vorland returns home. It has been a pleasure sailing with Captain Birger who we have sailed with numerous times on World Cruises, on the first of two cruises of the Northwest Passage which Captain Birger commanded and on several other cruises with the last being in November of 2021. The captain is highly trained and experienced, keep both crew and guests safe, is a wonderful communicator and an all-around very nice person. A couple of photos as we were making our way to the port of Lisbon. Keith went off the ship early while Anne Marie walked the Promenade Deck. The could see one another. It was a fairly long walk to exit the port terminal and then Keith took a route we have walked often towards the downtown area. There is a lot of construction and portions of the road are new from our last visit. Weather was perfect as it was 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We enjoyed our traditional Cobb Salad today to begin the next cruise. Today's Reflections follows.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith
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Last night was the second and final formal night of the cruise. We dined at Waterside. In addition to dining at one of the specialty and alternative restaurants guests could sign up to attend the Supper Club which includes entertainment and dancing. The Supper Club menu features some of the items from the Waterside Menu and guests mainly sit at four person tables. We have dined at the Supper Club a couple of times on previous cruises. Dinner at Waterside was excellent. Cruise Director Rick Spath joined us. We didn't take photos of all items and were very pleased with the choice of items and the cuisine we each ordered. The good news was setting the clocks back last evening. Today we anchored off Portimao, Portugal. We decided to stay on-board Serenity as there are friends who will be leaving tomorrow and we wanted to spend time with them. Between seeing friends, walking the promenade deck, and playing paddle tennis we also made room for dining. One of the butlers is from this area who was our butler for the first two Bahama Cruises and Keith got to meet his mother and other family members as he was touring them around the ship. Another senior member got to board today and so nice he didn't have to fly to the ship. We wanted to add some photos of the new signage on some of the doors, the early risers breakfast at Marketplace and a couple of photos of the spa waiting room. Some photos of the Fitness Center. Today's Daily Refections Program Cheers,
Anne Marie & Keith Before we forget new lounge chairs on the back of the guest decks. Most cruise lines do not have these cozy spots as often they have large suites with verandahs. Often sitting here in these cozy areas and enjoying the views one feels like they are on a private yacht. For those of you like Keith who enjoy the Fitness Center we are posting photos. Almost all of the equipment is the same as before with a few new stand alone weights, one or two new machines and new television at the front of the center. We had a glass of wine in our room before dinner and Butler Rao brought some appetizers. These are prepared for each suite and are alternated each day. They include a variety of items including fruit, desserts in this case shrimp and biscuit and humus. Before dinner we listened to Carlos Rayan play guitar and sing in the Crystal Cove. We have seen Carlos perform with Crystal starting in 2019. We returned to Waterside for dinner and will be dining there over the next three days. We always enjoy the food, service and ambience of the dining venue. While there are specialty restaurants, Waterside is also very special to us where we have enjoyed so many memorable meals at dinner and when we first started cruising Crystal we would eat breakfast there and for the first several cruises enjoy lunch as well. At 9:00 pm the theme of the show was Come Dance With Me which featured Bruce Hammond along with the four Ambassador Hosts where guests could dance to various Frank Sinatra Classics. Last night was white night so we wore some white clothing. Most guests have sailed Crystal before so many wore something white or even all white clothing. At 10:00 pm they had the Crystal White Dress Party at the Crystal Plaza. Today is our first and only sea day of the cruise, although with arrivals around noon in a couple of ports we had morning sea days. The morning and afternoon program featured 35 different activities. As in the past, there were three lectures. World Events Lecturer, Stephen Cole, spoke about Putin who he met twice. Celebrity Bruce McGill was on at 11:00 AM and the afternoon included a talk given by Destination Lecturer George Munro on Lisbon. Other activities included indoor cycling, golf class, beginners bridge, computer class, a class on how to take selfies, dancing, duplicate and social bridge, and watercolors just to name a few. For those wondering if the Mozart Tea would return the answer is yes. This evening is a formal night. In addition to this combined we walked, played Paddle Tennis, spoke with fellow guests and members of the crew. Somehow we ate. LOL. Keith went for a massage and we are enjoying an amazing day on-board Crystal Serenity. The daily Reflections program follows. Cheers,
Anne Marie & Keith We enjoyed a great Afternoon and evening on Serenity. Keith played paddle tennis for several hours and Anne Marie took a long walk on the Promenade Deck. It was hot, hot, hot on the court and Keith came back as if he took a shower. We enjoyed a quiet dinner in our room with the Senior Vice President of Crystal Global Marketing, Jacqueline Barney. Last nights featured entertainment started with vocalist Bruce Hammond at 9:00 PM in the Palm Court. The venue was perfect for him as he was accompanied by Stephen Roberts on Piano. This performance also allows guests dining early who don’t want to stay up for a very late show to consider going for the 9:00 PM show. At 9:45 PM in the Galaxy Lounge the very talented entertainment team performed Icons In Concert. The seas were very calm this morning. We felt like we were sailing in a lake and have experienced this on occasion when at sea. We both had our hair done in the new salon. The salon and spa are exquisite and contemporary. Service terrific with a great staff. Very friendly and professional. Loved the music and some of the songs on their playlist Keith would use to teach indoor cycling classes at home when he used to teach fitness classes. Another attribute that is so very Crystal is teamwork and that is evident at all times including on the Paddle Tennis courts this morning. The team was drying the court and also adding netting above on the side near the pool and they will do likewise in the coming days in the area where we sit waiting to play. It takes a team and Team Crystal is amazing. Keith ended up playing Paddle Tennis with friends for about 2 hours and Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck. We arrived to Malaga, Spain at noon today. We have visited here many times and it is a lovely city. All you do is walk across the street from where Serenity is docked. We need to each have our hair cut. We have been to Malaga several times starting on World Cruise 2007. We arrived ahead of the 12:00 Noon scheduled arrival time. Keith ended up not taking the shuttle and walking to the city center. It was humid and Keith thought maybe should have taken the shuttle. Anne Marie walked the shady side of the Promenade Deck. Malaga is located in Southern Spain and has a population of 600,000. It is the sixth largest city of Spain. Highlights include: Museo Picasso Malaga a museum which opened in 2003 and has 285 works donated by the Picasso family. Gibralfaro; the castle was built in 929 CE by And-al-Rahman III. Alcazaba Fortress which was build by the Hammundid dynasty in the early 11th century. Catedral de la Encarnacion which is a Roman Catholic Church built in Renaissance Architecture. It was constructed over a long period between 1528 and 1782. Centro de Ar Today's daily reflections program and map of Malaga. This evening is White Night.
Before dinner we enjoyed some canapés and wine in our suite. Each afternoon the butlers offer a selection of canapés which changes day-to-day to those in the suites. This is the first time we had this since boarding. We dined at Tastes for the first time of this cruise with friend Victoria and her daughter Chloe. We had a great time. Tastes has an array of tapas representing different regions of the world. We ordered taps while Victoria and Chloe ordered tapas for themselves so we could share ours and they could share what they ordered. Before becoming Silk which served Asian cuisine Tastes was on Serenity. The major differences between the new Tastes and the original one is three-fold. There are some new items that we have not had before, although the former Tastes would update its menu every few months removing some items and adding in new ones. The menu is now subdivided reflecting what they consider to be appetizers on the left side of the menu and the right side includes items they consider to be entrees. For example, salad on the left side of the menu and steak on the right side. The menu is now two sided hard copy and on a card stock versus paper which was rolled up. Typically people share three-to-four appetizers and four-to-six of the entrees. Last evening's entertainment included a comedy performance by comedian Martin Beaumont in the Galaxy Lounge and a 10:30 pm performance of Sweet Soul Music in the Stardust Lounge. The city has a rich history of Roman ruins. Originally, we had a private tour featuring the ruins but we decided to cancel the tour. Keith went off by himself soon after we docked and Anne Marie went to the salon to get pampered for a pedicure/manicure. The other day Keith asked the Shore Excursion team if maps of the local area could be provided for guests going ashore based on feedback her received from fellow guests. The plan is to provide this information in the future including a map and highlights. Since this is not yet ready the shore excursion manager said they could provide maps used in the past which is precisely what they are now doing. This is terrific. Keith walked for quite a while with map in hand. The part of the city he saw features beautiful architecture on the facades of its buildings and blends new with old. Everywhere he went they were cleaning the street. Many streets have separate pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes. People were friendly. While we have been to Spain several times it was on three back-to-back Serenity cruises totaling 21 days in September and October of 2018 when we visited several ports in Spain which we didn't see on prior trips and saw the beauty and uniqueness of each city. Today's Reflections. We will post about this afternoon tomorrow.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith First we wanted to give a shout-out to the Fitness Director who was here for the 2020 World Cruise and to Antonio. For years Antonio who is the brother of Benjamin has worked in the Fitness, Salon and Spa area wiping down equipment, putting out towels & water, and making sure there is a sufficient amount of sanitizer wipes available for use by the guests. He is an example of the finest about the Crystal crew as is his brother. The sun came out after posting yesterday so Keith was able to play Paddle Tennis for quite a while with guests he has played with on prior cruise and some he first met on this cruise. We had a drink with a couple who only booked this cruise a couple of weeks ago who we first met on the 2007 World Cruise. Anne Marie met them a week or so into that cruise in the laundry room and as they say the rest is history. Over the years we sailed with them on many voyages and enjoyed many meals with them. Dinner was back at Waterside. We were taken excellent care of by Senior Waiter Ayhan who we have also known for many years. Ayhan is from Turkey, married with a young boy. Our waiter is Stephen and Sommelier Mariglen. Our sommelier studied and was certified as a Sommelier at home while waiting for the return of Crystal. He knows his wine very well. All three are on top of everything and are very warm and caring. We also enjoy some great laughs with them. Waterside and all the restaurants are led by Leo who is Restaurant Manager whom we have known for close to to twenty years and is a consummate professional. Our Head Waiter who is also the Senior Head Waiter for Waterside is Jaques and is very professional, caring, and thoughtful and also a consummate professional. First photo is of DJ Emotion who played 1960's and 1970's music in the Cove before we ate. Today's Reflections. Breakfast hours at Marketplace and photos of continental breakfast. With an arrival of 11:30 AM we enjoyed the morning and began with a nice walk on the outdoor promenade deck. When we first sailed Serenity in 2005 we really enjoyed this deck just as we did on Symphony. The difference is the location of the lifeboats as they are tucked away on Serenity. The deck is nice and wide. We have enjoyed arrivals and sail-aways from this location.
Afterwards, it was Paddle Tennis for Keith for over two hours with Carmella, Sam, Leon, Maria and Brian. Lots of fun and always some good laughs. Captain Birger spoke from the bridge and said we would arrive later than 11:30 due to some congestion in the port due to the fast ferry. This port is known for its resorts and in the daytime for its beautiful beaches and at night for one big party island. The shuttle is about a 30 minute ride and we will make the afternoon a sea day. Cheers Anne Marie and Keith We docked in Barcelona at around 6:30 PM last evening. There were several evening tours offered for guests including dinner in the Gothic Quarter, an opera performance, a Flamenco show with tapas dinner and a tour of Barcelona. We enjoyed a terrific dinner with two special people organized by our wonderful butler Rao. Appetizers alone could have been the dinner. Rao brought up some of the newer butlers before our guests arrived to show them the set-up as part of their instruction. We knew many of them as they were in other roles on the ship over the past several years. We had pre-ordered the chateaubriand an vegetables and the guests ordered appetizer and salad. As it turned out everyone had caesar salad and the two of us had the prawn appetizer. And then there was the wine. The featured entertainment was a performance by The Crystal Showband & Friends Our first visit to Barcelona was during a pre-cruise stay in 1997. Since that time, we have visited many times and most recently in 2018 and 2019. It’s a vibrant city with lots to do and see. We appreciate the architecture of the buildings, its people, history and walking Las Rambles and adjacent streets in the downtown area. Although not in the forecast the morning had on and off rain and at one point downtown it was pouring. Highs of only high 70's which is much different than back home. Some of you have been asking about the on-board Stores. We visited them yesterday but didn't take photos while inside. These are photos we took from the outside each store. More merchandize arrived in Lisbon. Hubert Jewelers returned and the location for the watch shop is the same. The high rollers room was converted back to a store. In the early days it was used for art that was part of the art auction. Then it became a store selling Crystal logo items. Then the high rollers room and now back to a store selling Crystal Logo and beachwear. Captain's Choice the larger store is organized very similar to before except many of the brands have changed, at least for now. The rest the day was spent enjoying Crystal Serenity and there is much to enjoy throughout the ship.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith We dined last night at Osteria d”Ovidio where we had dined the first night. We had the same waiter Corrado who is from Italy. He took a lot of time to explain each course on the menu. Each time he brought a course to the table he explained each ingredient. The restaurant has cuisine from Northern and Southern Italy and Corrado explained the difference between each region. The food is delicious. The wine we had was also fantastic and the Head Sommelier and two other Sommelier’s agreed. Keith picked out the wine. Corrado also explained the tasting menus. There are two tasting menus representing Northern and Southern Italy. They include the same items which are on the ala carte menu. There is no charge for the tasting menu but it can be enhanced by pairing each course with wine for $68.00 per person. Afterwards, we attended the Captain’s Welcome and Crystal Society Party. One guest was honored for her 100th cruise and two other guests were recognized for 137 cruises. This is our 118th. Entertainment included at 10:00 pm showing of Rock, Pop & Mania featuring the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers and the Crystal Showband under the direction of Raphael Derkson. This was followed by dancing with the Showband, vocalist Karin Kovacova and DJ Emotion. Later in the night we knew we were back at sea with the fairly strong sea swells. We were swaying but as she always does Serenity does very well in these situations. At 8:00 AM Captain Birger gave us an update from the bridge noting that the forecast for last evening called for winds of 35 knots but the actual winds were double this level and at time 20 feet high seas. He said we should have relatively calm seas in three to four hours. Great news! Our room is fairly mid-ship. Not arriving until 5:00 PM the day featured many activities of a typical Crystal day at sea Three lecture topics covering the news business as an anchorman by World Cruise lecturer Stephen Cole and a talk on Barcelona given by Destination Lecturer Dr. George Munno. and a talk given by Celebrity Speaker Bruce McGill who we have seen speak on Crystal several times. Bruce has appeared in hundreds of movies and in a television series.
We won't go through all of the activities but there was enough to keep one busy for several days. This included a range of activities including fitness and health, movies, team trivia, bridge, a talk on gemstones by the very knowledgeable Huber Gesser, Computer Class with Tim Grey, and Odyssey at Sea by the owner who we know very well Linda Perlmutter. In Captain Birger's talk from the bridge he updated those who were not awake this morning and said weather conditions would continue to improve. We will arrive to the port entrance around 5:30 PM and wait for an MSC and believe a couple of Celebrity ships to leave and then make our way to the port. We should be docked and gangway out by 7:00 PM. Originally, we were to depart tomorrow at 5:00 PM but that has been extended to 6:00 pm to allow more time for guests to enjoy Barcelona. It was too windy to play Paddle Tennis so we walked inside the ship in the afternoon and spoke with fellow guests and members of the extraordinary Crystal Serenity crew. Cheers Anne Marie & Keith We've enjoyed another great 24 hours on-board Crystal Serenity. For dinner we dined at Umi Uma. We have enjoyed Nobu cuisine since the time we boarded Serenity in 2005. We remember back then and over the next few years that some guests were reluctant to go thinking everything served was Sashimi and some didn't know what to order. On occasion some would ask if they could join us for dinner there so we could help guide them through the menu. In time, most guests would dine there and realize there was a great variety of items to choose from the menu. Keith was first exposed to sushi and sashimi on Crystal Harmony and also on a business trip to Tokyo where he just gave it all a try. Our return to Umi Uma was amazing. The food was better than ever. The entire wait staff and sommelier team has returned except for only one waiter. We were in the best of hands between Head Waiter Sigi, Waiter Renato and Sommelier Adrian and when it became busy Ruel helped out as well. Last night's featured entertainment was appropriately Marco Romano an accomplished Italian Vocalist. In addition, there were many other options including two showings of the movie Moving On, dancing to live music, music in the Crystal Cove including pianist Stephen Roberts , Violinist Nadi Matlunina and guitarist Carlos Rayan who we have known since World Cruise 2019, The Avenue Saloon featured pianist and singer Joel Spree and a Karaoke Party in Pulse with DJ Emotion. After enjoying breakfast and walking we took the tender over to Calvi Corsica, France. The weather was overcast, breezy making it feel cool with very little humidity. Unlike yesterday, the sea swells were relatively calm. This was the first time Anne Marie was in a tender since 2019 as we didn't get off the tenders on all of the Bahama Salinas. However, she was in zodiacs several times when we sailed Endeavor circumnavigating Iceland. We enjoyed walking around the town. It's mainly restaurant, cafes, shops, small hotels along with a few places to visit. It was nice just to take in the sites and smell the roses. We ended up speaking with Avenue Saloon Pianist/Vocalist Joel Spire and his lovely wife. After enjoying a wonderful lunch Keith returned to playing Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie enjoyed a nice walk on the Promenade Deck and we enjoyed time talking to fellow guests and crew.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith The last 24 hours have been superb. Being back home with Crystal is as good as before and even better. We dined in Waterside last evening and the food was superb. Anne Marie tried a new dessert recently created. Keyword is yummy. After dinner the evening entertainment featured Comedian John Joseph in the Galaxy Showroom. John combines comedy, music and improv so you get it all with him in one fantastic show. Cruise Director Rick Smith shared a photo with everyone. How often do you see a Captain helping someone with their luggage? On Crystal you do. When Cruise Director Rick Spath arrived to the ship for the dry-dock he was not only met at the pier by Captain Birger, but the Captain was kind enough to help Rick with his luggage. Yes, teamwork at its finest and who better to set this example for the team than the Captain of Crystal Serenity Captain Birger Vorland. Kudos to the Captain. This is the Crystal we know. Bravo. Rick also mentioned that when the crew left Serenity in 2022 in Bimini that he said good bye to them as they went ashore and everyone had tears in their eyes of sadness. When much of the crew returned to Serenity in Italy he waited for them to welcome them and they had tears in their eyes of happiness. While we were not on the final sailing of Serenity we had tears and sadness and when we boarded on July 31 our tears turned to happiness. Rick also mentioned that when the crew left Serenity in 2022 in Bimini that he said good bye to them as they went ashore and everyone had tears in their eyes of sadness. When much of the crew returned to Serenity in Italy he waited for them to welcome them and they had tears in their eyes of happiness. While we were not on the final sailing of Serenity we had tears and sadness and when we boarded on July 31 our tears turned to happiness. We sailed for our next port-of-call Portofino, Italy around 11:00 PM. We have visited this beautiful area of Italy several times and the last time was in 2015 on a very special milestone birthday for Anne Marie. Anne Marie is half Italian, so it was fitting to be in this area in 2015. In fact, first time was our first cruise on Serenity in 2005 when we did a back-to-back cruise. We tendered ashore and saw our four table-mates and spontaneously found someone to take us over to Santa Margarita and he waited for us to take us back after we walked around and had lunch. Two photos from 2005 included. See if you can figure out which ones. LOL. Keith went over there by myself today. Getting into the tender you really bumped around with strong sea swells. When we proceeded the tender would go up and down and make that big noise as it hit the water over and over. It calmed down close to shore. The return was much calmer. Several guests who went ashore early were on walking tours. Keith walked for quite a while visiting sites that we enjoy. He took several photos of the clock tower as this is a photo he likes to use for Blogs and other travel write-ups. One nice the aspect of Portofino we enjoy is it is small and doesn’t get overrun with tourists. Things are mainly as they were which we love. We enjoyed the rest of the day on board Serenity. Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck for the second time. Keith played Paddle Tennis for a couple of hours and we enjoyed conversations with crew and guests.
Some pages from the daily program Reflections follow. Apologies if they are difficult to read. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith |
BloggersKeith & Anne Marie love traveling by cruise ship and have sailed the equivalent of several years traveling the world. ArchivesItinerary
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