WELCOME TO SORRENTO, ITALY We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon with friends Rob & Jim. We sailed on the 2015 World Cruise with the two of them, saw them at our home and when we visited Serenity last year while the ship was in Sydney. They joined the ship in Cape Town. These are the dinner menus from Waterside. We all dined at the Umi Uma Japanese Specialty Restaurant. We were seated by Head Waiter Ruel and in the wonderful hands of Waiter Albert and Sommelier Jay. Everything is perfect. We began with a couple of items we pre-ordered for the table. Each couple ordered their own sushi and sashimi. We also enjoyed soup and salad and a few other items. Everything was terrific including delicious food, impeccable service and the wonderful venue We slept well as we sailed to our next port of call in Sorrento, Italy. Keith was up first and enjoyed a workout at the Fitness Center before we had coffee and breakfast in our room. We then got ready to go ashore. We anchored off Sorrento on-schedule. Sorrento is a town that has lots of shopping, cafes/restaurants and hotels. On a few prior visits we have enjoyed lunch in-town including Pizza. Its overall population is 17,000 people. Local attractions of Sorrento include: Duomo which Sorrento's Cathedral whose original structure was built in the 15th century. Museo Correale which holds collections of painters from the 17th and 18th centuries. Villa Comunale which is the largest park in Sorrento sitting on a cliff overlooking the entire bay. Chiesa di San Francesco which was founded in the 8th century as a place of private worship. Overtime this changed and in the 14th century was turned into a church. Piazza di Tasso which was constructed in 1866 and is a large square surrounded by historical buildings, restaurants, outdoor cafes and other pastel buildings. There are many places to visit from Sorrento. In fact, when Anne Marie’s sister was alive she and her husband used to use Sorrento as a home base to visit other areas. Some of the places easily visited from this town include: Capri, The Ruins of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Amalfi Coast. We have been to Sorrento many times. We have also visited some of the places we mentioned from this charming town and also from Naples. On some occasions we have had two days because of overnights allowing us to sightsee one day and to enjoy the town including having lunches and taking long walks on the second day. In 2014 while our son Eric and daughter-in-law Kara were on board for a cruise with us we took them on a tour of the Amalfi Coast. We enjoyed it so much we decided to do another tour of the Coast. We made arrangements with Crystal Cruises for a private tour. We took the tender from the ship over to the tender drop-off in Sorrento where we were met by our driver and tour guide. Our tour guide was Maria. The other day we had Anna. Very easy for "Anne Marie" to remember both names. Although it was raining for a good portion of the day, we enjoyed the beauty of the coast before arriving to the town of Ravello. Ravello has only 2,500 residents. Because of its scenic location it is a popular stop for tourists. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, starting in 1997. Ravello was founded in the 5thCentury. Between 839 and 1200 it was an important trading power in the Mediterranean. By the 12thcernury it has 25,000 inhabitants. We also visited the town of Amalfi. We continued with a drive to the town of Positano. Positano was a key location for both the Greeks and the Phoenicians on their travels to western areas. It was a popular site for rich Romans during the Roman Empire to build grand villas. IT became a wealthy market port between the 15h and 17thcenturies. By the end of the 17thcentury the town fell on poor times and many people left and emigrated mostly to America. Although a poor fishing village in the first half of the 20thcentury, by the 1950’s it began to attract tourists. Its popularity increased after John Steinbeck published his essay about Positano in Harper’s Bazaar in May of 1953. He called it a dream place. Our next stop was to the Hotel San Pietro where we had lunch at Restaurant Zass. The hotel began in 1934 when its owner rented his house to tourists hoping to turn it into a hotel. Restaurant Zass is a Michelin Restaurant. It offers stunning views of the Amalfi Coast. This was one of the most amazing restaurants we have ever dined at. The food was spectacular as was the service and the views were amazing. Our tour ended where we began at Sorrento. This was an amazing day. This is the daily Reflections Program from today. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith
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WELOME TO CIVITAVECCHIA, ITALY We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon and Bartender Dennis took excellent care of us as he did on the Holiday Cruise and the seven day California Cruise. Last evening was the Crystal White Extravaganza so we wore something white. These are the dinner menus from Waterside. We enjoyed dinner at Waterside. Head Waiter Augusto made Keith Tuna Tartare which he enjoyed for his appetizer while Anne Marie had the Barbecue Tiger Shrimp. We both had a mixed salad for our second course. For our entree we both went with Salmon. The featured entertainment was Mind-Reader Marc Paul who performed two shows. We slept well as the ship sailed to our next port of call in Civitivecchia. The Mediterranean Sea was calm and we just had the gentle rocking of the ship. We began our day as we always do with an early morning workout for Keith followed by Coffee and Breakfast in our room. Keith had a Personal Training Class with Fitness Director Melanie. Afterwards we both walked together. The Fitness Center was relatively quiet. We were last to Civitivecchia when we boarded Serenity last September for three back-to-back cruises. We have been here several times before. This is the port that serves Rome. We didn't make any plans for today as we have been to Rome several times including last September when we stayed five nights before our cruise began. It is a ninety minute drive to this port. Civitavecchia was founded by Emperor Trajan in the 2nd century. Today Civitavecchia is a major port for Passenger Cruise ships The port entrance changed around 2015. Prior to the change you could take the port shuttle to the entrance which was located by the old fort. It is no longer practical to walk from the ship to the entrance which is located quite a bit further from the old entrance and further from other areas such as the train station which people use to get to Rome. When you take the port shuttle and are dropped off there are lots of people trying to sell you tours and also there is a bus that for a fee takes you to the train station. Shortly before we were leaving the ship, Captain Birger spoke to everyone from the Bridge. He mentioned that in five to ten minutes the gangway would be closed. Evidently the local port authority needed us to move 100 feet from our original docking location. This is because we were blocking the flight path that was being used for the Prime Minister of Italy to land. As it turned out he landed at the fort. Once the ship was moved we took the shuttle to the port gate. From there we walked for a little while. After returning from the city we enjoyed the rest of the day on Serenity. We had lunch at Marketplace and afterwards Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie walked. Keith was fortunate as it had rained right before lunch but stopped while we were eating. A member of the crew was called up to dry the court off. As Keith left the court he saw a helicopter flying relatively low and think it might have been dispatched to pick up the Prime Minister. Tomorrow we have a full day tour. Today's daily Reflections Program Follows. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith WELCOME TO LIVORNO, ITALY We wanted to begin with the rest of yesterday’s tour. After leaving Sestri Levante we had an unplanned visit to Camogli. This is one of the advantages of doing a private tour which we did through Crystal Cruises. We were able to adjust the schedule. Camogli is another small village. On the way to this village we took the coastal route and enjoyed wonderful scenery as we went through other small towns/villages and also enjoyed the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea. After walking around this lovely town we continued on the coastal route back to Genoa. As we got close to Genoa we got onto the highway and eventually made our way to Ristorante Zeffirino. This is an intimate restaurant with very personalized service, lot of attention to detail and delicious food. We began with a complimentary appetizer of three types of potatoes and a small piece of anchovy. We learned during our tour that Anchovies are one of the local fish that is readily available in this area. We shared a salad which was prepared table-side with mixed greens, tomatoes, mozarello, and pine nuts/walnuts with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Anne Marie had Ravioli filled with lobster in a saffron sauce. Keith had blu-fin tuna crusted with sesame seed and lightly cooked. Everything was delicious including the bread. The Manager came out often including taking our order and bringing out some of the courses and at the end of the meal he introduced to his Uncle who used to be the Chef/Owner. Before dinner we attended the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party. These are the dinner menus from Waterside where we dined. We returned to Waterside last evening for the first of two consecutive evening's. We had three courses; The Octopus Ceviche appetizer for Keith and Chicken Consommé for Anne Marie. We both had Spinach Salads. Anne Marie had the Sautéed Tiger Prawns and Keith had the Chicken Breast for our entrees. We also enjoyed a lovely wine that friends Ashley and Kelly gave us as a gift when they visited us along with friends Patty and Michael when Serenity was in port in early January in San Francisco. . It was a wonderful Cabernet from California. We have a new waitstaff. Augusto continues as our Head Waiter. Our Sommelier is Mehti who we had on the Holiday Cruise. We have Kirsten as our Senior Waiter. We have gotten to know her during the past couple of months during lunch at Marketplace. Kirstin is from South Africa. Roland is our Waiter and he is from the Netherlands. Senior Waiter, Kasa, who we had for the two cruises before the start of the World Cruise stopped by our table to say hello. Kasa just returned from his well deserved holiday at home in Turkey. Even though we have a full cruise we would say that Waterside was the quietest it has been since we boarded the ship. Go figure. LOL. The entertainment featured two performances by vocalist Jacqui Scott. She was on our last cruise and makes regular appearances on Crystal Ocean Vessels. We greatly enjoy listening to her sing. We slept very well as we sailed to our next port of call of Livorno, Italy. Keith was up first and began the day with a workout at the Fitness Center. This was followed by coffee and breakfast in our room. We arrived to Livorno by the scheduled time of 7:00 AM. Major highlights of Livorno include: Nuova Venezia which was built in the 17thcentury. It consists of canals connecting warehouses and the homes of merchants. Mercato Centrale which is an open air market dating back to the 119th century,still in existence, with 34 shops and 230 stalls. Museo Provinciale di Storia Naturale del Meditteraneo which is an 18thcentury Villa. Since 1980 it has been a Museum of Natural History. Although there are sites to visit in Livorno such as the ones mentioned, it is also a gateway to several places including Florence, Lucca and Pisa. When we visited Livorno last September we took a Crystal Cruises private tour and spent the day in Florence. Following are some photos from our most recent visit to Florence. On previous trips we have visited Lucca and also visited Pisa several times. We have also spent time visiting the sites in Livorno. Since this cruise and the following two cruises have very few sea days we decided to make today a sea day. Keith took an Indoor Cycling Class which was taught by Fitness Director Charlotte. Keith and only one other guest took the class. Today's program included several enrichment activities including a talk given by Destination Lecturer Marcus Sherwood about Rome and Sorrento which are our next ports of call. We spent the rest of the day enjoying a peaceful day on-board Serenity. This included walks inside and outside the ship, paddle tennis for Keith and lunch at Waterside. We also caught up with reading and writing and getting prepared for our next tour when we arrived to Sorrento in a couple of days. Following is the daily Reflections program. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith WELCOME TO GENOA Thank you so much Doris. The good news is there is more to come. Eileen, thank you for your comments and we are glad you are enjoying the Blog. Catherine, it's been good to be away from Winter for this entire adventure. Thank you Patricia. Keith has fruit almost every night for dessert. Anne Marie usually has a decaf. cappuccino coffee and in the specialty restaurants one or two of the very small desserts they bring to the table. Jonathan thank you for your comments about the Blog. It does take quite a bit of time to keep it up to date. Yes, Crystal does create so many special events. It is amazing. We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Plaza. There was a mandatory muster drill for all newly embarking guests at 5:00 PM. There are 850 guests who joined the ship in Monte Carlo. As we sat at the Plaza some guests were still arriving and checking in. With a midnight departure some guests were arriving into the evening. For guests arriving after the muster drill took place a second one was scheduled for 8:00 PM. These are the dinner menus from Waterside. We dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. We intentionally booked Prego for the first night of this cruise knowing that Waterside would be very busy and hoping that Prego would not be so busy. Our decision was spot-on as many of the newly arriving guests chose Waterside. Prego was not too busy for most of the evening. We enjoyed a leisurely meal. The menu has gone back to the original menu. We began with a Creamy Crab Tower which was followed by Caesar salad. Anne Marie had Veal for her entree and Keith had Bronzino Fish. Everything was perfect including the cuisine, service and overall ambience of the dining venue. While some nights are going to be very busy this one was not given that it was the first night of the cruise. We departed last evening at Midnight for our next port of call at Genoa, Italy. We began the day as usual. This included a workout at the Fitness Center for Keithfollowed by coffee and breakfast in our room. We arrived to Genoa by 8:00 AM. We wanted to note during this ten-day cruise we sail from Genoa to Venice, Italy. This is a port intensive cruise with only one sea day. We will make portions of the port days sea days. On port intensive cruises Crystal Cruises still provides enrichment including lectures. For example, at 5:00 PM today destination lecturer Marcus will discuss things to do in Livorno, Italy including visit to Florence, Pisa and Lucca. Today's schedule also included other activities including: Two Fitness Classes, Social Bridge, Seminars on wellness, Complimentary Dance lesson, Golf Clinic and other items on the program including an afternoon movie. We arrived to Genoa on-schedule. We last visited Genoa last October. Our first visit was on the 2008 World Cruise. The city has close to 600,000 residents. Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. He has one of the longest and prestigious maritime histories in all of Italy. Highlights of Genoa include: Via Garibaldi Palazzo dei Rolli which is a group of palaces and mansions and is a UNESCO site. Aquarium which is the largest aquarium in Italy and one of the largest in all of Europe. Basilica di Santa Maria di Castello which is a Romanesque church erected before 900 CE. Piazza Raffaele de Ferrari which is the main square of Genoa. Museo di Palazzo Reale which is the Royal Palace of Genoa. Spianata Castelletto which is a residential quarters of Genoa situated in north-western area. Today we enjoyed a private tour that we arranged with Crystal Cruises. Our tour began at 8:30 AM. We were mat by our tour guide Anna and our driver. They are both from Genoa or as spelled in Italy Genova. We were driven to the village of Rapallo, Italy. We drove along the highway and must have gone through 30+ mountains due to all of the mountains. Rapallo is located in the Ligura region and has 30,000 inhabitants. It was settled in 8th century BC. Many of the villas are built into the hills that rise behind the city protecting them from strong winds from the north. Following our visit to Rapallo we were driven to the village of Sestri Levante. It is located 35 miles south of Genoa and is located on the Mediterranean Sea. It used to be a quiet fishing village and has also become a favorite of Italians as a place to visit over Holiday. We took the coastal road to get there. It was beautiful. While at Sestri Levante we saw the destruction to many vessels from the Hurricane that hit in mid-October of 2018. We were in Lisbon on the last night of our cruise last year when high winds were expected in Lisbon and the hurricane was hitting this region. This is certainly an exception as Hurricane's normally do not hit this region as they become Hurricane's in the Ocean. Instead of going directly back to Genoa we were able to add in another village of Camogli. We took the coastal route to get there. It was another beautiful drive and a lovely village. From there we enjoyed lunch at Ristorante Zeffirino. We will post about Camogli and Lunch tomorrow. All in all we had a great day and tour. Anne Marie with Tour Guide Anna Photos from Rapallo, Italy Photos from Sestri Levante Photos from Genoa. We are enjoying the rest of the day on-board Crystal Serenity. This is todays' daily Reflections Program. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith DAY 3 MONTE CARLO Jen, there are no fees for the Fitness Classes. There are fees for personal training. Thank you Gilly. The World Cruise has gone by quickly. It is similar to life in general. Each voyage is unique as we expect this one to be. We are glad that you have caught up with the blog and thank you for the good wishes. Bob & Jeannie, thank you for your comments about yesterday's visit to these charming areas. It was nice to see both places and revisit one of them for the second time. Thank you for your kind wishes about the next voyage. We wanted to begin by saying how much we enjoyed our visit to both Antibes. Antibes is a historic town. We visited it last October on Serenity for the first time. The difference is that yesterday was a Sunday and the town was bustling with locals and those living nearby. On Sunday’s visit the local market was open as were stores and restaurants. While people talk about the market in Nice we enjoyed the one at Antibes even more. While it is not as large as the one in Nice we thought the quality of the vegetables/fruits/cheese and other items sold was much better than Nice. The views of the French Riviera are wonderful from this town. Saint Paul De-Jence.is one of the oldest medieval towns of the French Riviera. We thought it was one of the loveliest places that we have visited. It is charming and quaint and is enhanced by all of the art galleries, cafes, stores and its side streets and it too offers beautiful views. On our last trip we visited Nice and the charming village of Eze. There is certainly lots to do using Monte Carlo as a base. On top of this we also love Monte Carlo. We didn’t mention that when Jerome picked us up he took us on the route that the Formula One Race Cars go during the Grand Prix. While we went to the Grand Prix in 2015 and had terrific seats you can only see a portion of the race track because the race runs on city street. Since it was Sunday morning we benefited from absolutely no other cars driving the route at the time we did. This is an example that when one returns to many areas around the world there is so much to see and more than one can see on one or more visits. Last evening was the final night of World Cruise 2019. We began the evening with a pre-dinner drink at the Palm Court. The Palm Court features a live band and dancing. The Crystal Plaza was all decorated for the Balloon Drop closing out the World Cruise. These are the menus from Waterside We enjoyed a fabulous meal. We began with appetizers. Soup for Anne Marie and Tuna and Scallops for Keith. We enjoyed salad for our next course followed by Salmon for our entree. Sommelier Donovan picked out the red wine and we were touched when he brought up one of his own bottles for us to enjoy. This is part of what makes Crystal Cruises so unique. It is all about the wonderful people. Waterside was far less crowded than we thought it would be for the final night of the World Cruise. When we arrived back to the room last evening, a copy of the final 2019 World Cruise Video (thumb drive) was waiting for us. We look forward to viewing it with family and friends and in the years to come. The 2019 World Cruise ended this morning. It has been an amazing World Cruise. We covered a lot of geography sailing from California to New Zealand, to Australia, over to Africa before arriving to Europe. We have shared this experience with our fellow guests and the amazing members of Team Serenity. The crew, officers and staff have been amazing and in the end it is these people who make cruising so very special for us. Thank you all. You are a wonderful team. A World Cruise is very special as the Crystal program which in our humble opinion is the best we have experienced on any other cruise line is augmented with even more activities. If only there were 72 hours in each day to allow us to do it all. LOL. We always say the World Cruise program is Crystal enrichment/entertainment on "steroids". Some of the highlights include: An amazing Word Cruise 2019 kickoff cocktail party when the President & CEO of Crystal Cruises Tom Wolber, welcomed everyone. We enjoyed a special World Cruise Gala Dinner. We were honored to sit at the table hosted by Tom Wolber. The festivites continued with a special evening performance. The next day included the USC Marching Band performing for all of us and the Balloon & Confetti Drop. As we traveled from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand one of the highlights was the World Games. It provided an opportunity to get to know many fellow guests. We will never forget the closing ceremony with the spectacular dance routine performed flawlessly by the talents Curtis and Beverly. There were special performances created on-board the ship by the very talented entertainment department including Adventures in Pago Pago, Mardi Gras Jazz Spectacular, and St Patrick's Evening Spectacular. While we were unable to attend the World Cruise shore-side events in Auckland and Walvis Bay we enjoyed hearing how special they were from many who attended. There was Waffles on the Bridge and a Behind the Scenes tour of the crew area, and the World Cruise Video Viewing Party. Adding icing to the cake was the wonderful annual Serenity POPs performance with Casino Royale de Monaco as the theme. Congratulations to Assistant Cruise Director Raphael and the entire entertainment team. We enjoyed the food and wine themed voyage and getting to meet and know Chef Jon Ashton. Speaking of food, the Food & Beverage Team has been amazing keeping menus fresh at Waterside and adding new creations to the menus at Silk, Prego as well as an additional item every few nights at Umi Uma. The wine was terrific and we appreciate that local wine and beer was brought on-board at various stops. We also appreciate the creative drinks that were made by the bartenders. Thank you to the Head Sommelier and all of the Sommeliers for sharing your knowledge about wine with us. There were the special Sunday Jazz and Grand Gala Buffets. The evening entertainment was spectacular and kudos to the entertainment team. There was something for everyone. We appreciate all of the live music at the lounges and how they kept changing it up. Holidays were celebrated including Purim, St Patrick's Day, and Valentine's Day. There was a White Night Extravaganza Party on each segment of the World Cruise. We arrived to most ports not only on time but often early and most importantly safely. The Captain's carefully navigated us around storms and poor weather conditions. The Hotel Directors/Food & Beverage Managers and the Executive Chef and Pastry Chef were kept on top of all aspects of the cuisine. Sometimes there can be challenges if food supply orders do not arrive on-time or do not meet the quality of Crystal Cruises and the on-board team worked around these issues. The same is true for beverages. The wait staff and the rest of the food and beverage team did an amazing job. Only recently was open dining implemented at Waterside yet if you did not know this you would think it has been in-place for years. The two new restaurants were only in operation for a short time before the World Cruise began and they are a success. The ship always looks beautiful because of the hard work and care that goes into maintaining it. This includes housekeeping who keeps the ship looking beautiful inside to the engineering department that keeps everything working to the people responsible for maintaining the mechanical systems and the outside of the ship. This includes electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, and so many other personnel. Thank you to the personnel who do the lighting, sound and other technical requirements for the shows and lecturers and the television shows produced by the ship. Thank you to all of the Lido Deck Stewards who are amazing. Always friendly and are just very nice people all-around who do their utmost to make everyone feel special. Thank you to the security department who kept us safe on the ship and in port and at the tender pier locations on land. While in Africa they had added duties watching closely from the Promenade Deck. When the ship arrived in each port and when landing cards and other related items needed to be done the clearance department was on top of everything allowing the ship to be cleared expeditiously. The front office personnel including those at the reception desk and the concierge have been amazing as has the shore excursion group. The fitness center, salon and spa personnel whom we have met have been terrific and full of energy. The communications have been great such as the daily Reflections Program. Thank you to the IT and Computer University groups. Overall the internet has been very good. The accounting group has been on top of everything and we appreciate the ease of reading the bills from our shipboard account. Personnel in the various stores have been very helpful and friendly. Thanks to the operators for answering the phones in a timely manner, the folks in the Computer University for always being so helpful and all of the people who work behind the scenes from the night crew to the folks who work in other areas such as the ships laundry and all of the people who work in the galley and the engine room and in all of the other areas of the ship. The Butler team has also been amazing as have the stewardesses. Thank you to the wonderful future Sales Consultant and to the Crystal Society Host/Hostess. On board bookings have been timely and accurate thanks to the very helpful future sales consultant. The same goes for the celebration of our 100th Crystal Society Milestone on the World Cruise and our 95th Milestone before the start of the World Cruise by the respective Crystal Society Host/Hostess. Thank you to the World Cruise Hostess, Stacey, to the many people on land including Land Programs, On-Board Guest Services, Reservations, Sales & Marketing, Ocean Operations, and the countless number of people who have contributed to the success of the World Cruise. Thank you to the Senior Officers including both Captains, both Hotel Directors, both Cruise Directors, both Chief Engineers and both Medical Doctors and all of the other people are are part of your team. In the end it is the team that makes the difference and the collective team of Crystal Serenity is outstanding. In business many of us learned that an effective team is much stronger than the sum of people working by themselves. This is demonstrated each and everyday since we boarded Crystal Serenity in late December. This is where we traveled. Our next voyage goes from Monte Carlo to Venice. We slept well and began our day with a workout for Keith. When Keith went downstairs very early this morning to pick up something at the reception desk he saw three couples sitting at the Crystal Cove. They were waiting to be escorted off the ship for what appeared to be very early flights out of Nice. Before we got ready to explore Monte Carlo we enjoyed coffee and breakfast in our room. This was the view from our room at 6:30 AM We have been to Monte Carlo numerous times starting with our family in 1998. Today we revisited some of the sites we have seen before and enjoyed a lovely walk. It is a terrific area to walk with beautiful views and we might add probably one of the safest areas in the world with a police force of something like one officer to ten people. As we left the ship, World Cruise Hostess and Friend Stacey Huston was at the gangway to say farewells to those leaving the World Cruise today. Stacey has done an amazing job throughout the World Cruise. Once ashore we sailed hello to Assistant Shore Excursion Manager, Erin. We proceeded on a multi-hour walk. We made our way to The Rock which is 203 foot tall overlooking Monte Carlo's Bay and the Mediterranean Sea. We could see Crystal Serenity from several vantage points. We stopped by the Palais du Prince which is the official residence of the Prince of Monaco. We made our way to the Musee Océanographique. We have been inside on two prior occasions. We walked the Jardin Exotique with its views of the surrounding area and exotic garden. We went inside the Cathedral where Princess Grace and Prince Rainer lay in rest. We walked up and down the quaint streets near the Palais de Prince. We then proceeded towards the downtown area and walked up and down several streets. We also walked by an areas with various car dealerships. While it was a bit chilly it was a sunny day and we had a terrific time walking the area. There is one photo of Keith outside the Musee Océanographique posing next to the Yellow Submarine. Yes, remember we all live in a Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. During our walk we saw some familiar guests and as we got closer to the ship we ran into Fitness Directors Melanie and Charlotte. Once on the ship, we enjoyed lunch at Marketplace. We are enjoying the rest of the day on the ship as we post including a long walk. Although the World Cruise has ended we have more to look forward to. This is the daily Reflections Program today. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith WELCOME TO MONTE CARLO - DAY 2 Karin, thank you so much for your comments and we are glad you are enjoying the Blog. Bob...We are thrilled that you and Julie will be on this next cruise. We know that you both had plans to be on much sooner but thankfully you are boarding tomorrow. It will be great for you to sail with your son and daughter-in-law. I hope we both see you and get to meet your family. Best to you both. We began last evening with a visit to the Avenue Saloon for a pre-dinner drink. These are the menus from Waterside. We enjoyed dinner at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. We had three courses and the food was delicious. After dinner we attended the Serenity POPS 2019 concert. The POPS concert has been a long-standing tradition of the culmination of the World Cruise. Assistant Cruise Director and former Bandmaster Raphael is very involved with putting this together with input from several on-board musicians. The on-board musicians participate in this performance, along with musicians who are on-board for this voyage. This is augmented with some land based musicians who were brought on the other day along with Acrobats. Others involved included Dancers Curtis & Beverly. It is a team effort. The theme of the shows changes each year and this year's performance was called Casino Royale De Monaco which is very appropriate to where the World Cruise ends. The music included songs by Elvis Presley, The Rat Pack along with songs from James Bond that were originally sung by Paul McCartney and Wings (Live & Let Die) and by Adele (Skyfall). Before the show began the guests could play games at the Casino for prizes. Keith played Black Jack. Six hands were dealt and the guest with the most chips won. Keith was the lucky winner and selected one of several stuffed animals. We were up later than usual and we slept well as we were docked at the Quay Rainer III cruise ship terminal. We began the day as you are accustomed to with an early morning workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast in our room. We then got ready for a tour which Keith organized. Since our first visit in 1998 we have been to Monaco numerous time. Our most recent visit was in October 2018. Monte Carlo has a population of 28,700 and it is a place where the rich live. Those who work their commute from areas outside of Monte Carlo. It is a playground for the rich and the famous. Major Highlights Include: Grand Casino which first opened its doors in 1863. In order to enter the casino one needs a Passport, must be 18 years or older and must adhere to the dress code. Hotel de Paris was opened in 1863 and is located closely to the famous Place du Casino. The Rock is a 203 foot tall promontory overlooking Monte Carlo's Port. It is the oldest of Monaco's area and includes the Palais of Prince, Cathedral and Oceanographic Museum. Palais du Prince is the official residence of the Prince of Monaco and was funded in 1191. Cathedra which was dedicated to St. Nicholas and was built between 1875 and 1903. Many people visit because this is the site where Grace Kelly how became princess of Monaco is buried. Musee Océanographique was founded in 1910 by Prince Albert. The museum includes over 4,000 species of fish. Jardin Exotique is a botanical garden which opened to the public in 1933. It contains several unique species of cacti and other succulent plants. We have visited each of these sites numerous times on our previous visits. When we visited in 2018 we took a private tour which Keith arranged to visit Eze and Nice. We enjoyed the tour so much we arranged with the same tour company to take us on a tour for today. Today's tour focused on Saint Paul De Jence and Antibes. We were met at the port by tour guide Jerome who was our tour guide last September. Jerome and the other co-owner of the tour company Anthony are the tour guides. There used to be more people but after the tragic killings in Nice a few years ago tourism slumped badly. Starting last year demand has increased and it likely won't be long until additional guides are hired. We first visited Antibes which is a historic town, a modern town, a town offering a multitude of events, a town offering enjoyment and leisure, sports activities and nature all rolled into one. It is located between Cannes and Nice. It is known for its old town and for its beauty and wonderful views including the beautiful yachts. Highlights include: The Yachts of the "Billionaires' Wharf". The Pre-des-Pecheurs Promenade which hosts an evening market. The narrow historic streets. The ancient Chateau Grimaldi which is now the Picasso Museum. The parish of Le Safranier with its narrow streets and flowers. We then visit Saint Paul De-Jence is one of the oldest medieval towns of the French Riviera. It is a perfectly preserved medieval village located on a hillside. It is one of the most beautiful towns we have ever been to. We also had lunch there. It is well known for its modern and contemporary art museums and galleries and for its artiste who have lived there. On our way back to the ship Jerome took us on the winding road that Princess Grace had her catastrophic accident on resulting in her death. The road has amazing views. All in all we had an amazing tour and day. This is today's daily Reflections Program. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith |
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