Merry ChristmasThanks to those of you who are providing comments which are very much appreciated. We were asked about providing copies of Reflections on the blog. We will try at some point but right now it is too time consuming between the Blog and other posts that we are doing. These are the dinner menus from last evening at Waterside where we dined. After we posted we had a video call with our Son, Daughter-In-Law, and Grandchildren Jackson and Preston. It was so nice to be able to video with both families yesterday. Before dinner we went to the Avenue Saloon for a pre-dinner drink. Bartender Dennis took good care of us. From there we went to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party. About twenty guests were in attendance for the party. Officers in attendance included Food & Beverage Manager Sven and new Food & Beverage Manager Jasper, Hotel Director Scott Peterson, Cruise Director Rick and Cruise Sales Consultant Jaque. These are the specialty Gin & Tonic and Manhattan Drink Menus. Afterwards we had dinner at Waterside. Since we have boarded Serenity we have had all of our dinners at Waterside with the exception of the Supper Club Dinner. Later in the cruise we plan to go to each of the other restaurants. We enjoyed dinner. We didn't see an appetizer that interested us so we had two courses. We took the Salad Entree and asked for it without the fish as our starter salad. We had the Halibut Entree. The fish was very tasty. While it added to the presentation there was a lot of sauce accompanying the fish. Outside Waterside the entire day has been a Gingerbread House and lots of cookies. Later in the evening there were two performances of a special holiday show shown in the Galaxy Lounge. We attended the first one at 7:45 PM and it was close to a full house. The show included the Crystal Ensemble of Dancers and Singers and several of the entertainers who are on-board for just this voyage. The show was upbeat and we enjoyed it. We slept well last evening as we continue to sail to Hawaii. We have been fortunate with the weather and sea conditions and enjoyed the gentle rocking of the ship. While yesterday Keith could have worked out the elliptical machine for hours today was one of those days that he listed his time on the elliptical to less than 30 minutes. Afterwards, Keith walked inside the ship for an hour. In the spirit of Christmas these are photos from around the ship of the Christmas Decorations. We enjoyed breakfast in our room. We checked out the on-demand movies for the first time of this cruise and noticed that they have several Christmas movies. Thanks to Santa Claus (Anne Marie) we have a new addition to the family. Yes, a Crystal Serenity Bear. On the left is Boris and on the right is Woody. Between last night and today there have been lots of Holiday activities on board Serenity. As mentioned we attended the Holiday show last evening. Late yesterday afternoon there was an after Channukah Celebration and Champagne Reception. At 11:00 PM Christmas Eve Mass was held and there was an Interdenominational Service. Today featured the arrival of Santa Claus at 11:15 at the Palm Court. We stopped by and there were lots of children and parents/grandparents enjoying the event. Santa gave out gifts to the children. There was a Holiday Grand Gala Buffet Event at Noon. There has been the usual wide array of activities through the day. The lectures included: Talk by Jim Rowe about Hawaii. He covered natural highlights and culture of the Hawaiian Islands. World Affairs Lecturers Rober Schrire presented "The End of American Dream?" In the afternoon Special Interest Lecturer Michael Bishay presented Courtroom Drama: Who is my Mother: This Christmas is like no other!" We enjoyed a nice long walk in the morning and we spoke with many guests and members of Team Serenity. It truly felt like Christmas everywhere we walked around the ship. We stopped by to see the wonderful Holiday Grand Gala foods created by the galley team. Many items are a work of art. While the food looked delicious, we had lunch at Marketplace. This afternoon Keith played Paddle Tennis and Anne Marie walked for an hour, we met with some fellow guests and we watched a movie on the television. This evening we return to Waterside for dinner. Following dinner we will attend the Crystal Society Reception. This is the menu from today's Holiday Grand Gala Buffet. It's been a great day and more will follow this evening. Another holiday gift is that later this evening we will get to turn the clocks back one hour.
Anne Marie & Keith
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ON THE ROAD (SEA) TO HAWAII - SECOND SEA DAY NOTE: TODAY'S POST IS BEING UPDATED LIVE THROUGHOUT THE DAY. These are the dinner menus from last evening. Menus from last evening at Waterside. We enjoyed dinner at the Stardust Supper Club. This is an option on Black Tie Optional evenings and on cruises with more than two BTO nights it is offered on the first and the final BTO nights of the voyage. Reservations are required. They can accommodate approximately 100 people. One dinner per BTO night. It starts at 6:30 PM and doors close at 6:30 PM. The menu features an abbreviated menu from that offered at Waterside. This is the menu from last night. Before dinner when we were at the Avenue Saloon where we spoke with Bartender Dennis and a couple members of the bar staff. Dennis made a miniature chair for Anne Marie. A short while later guests Petra and Tom came up to us as they recognized us from previous Blogs. We were enjoying our conversation when we learned that they were going to the Supper Club. A short while later we asked if they were dining with anyone as all the tables are for four and they said they were not. Keith asked them if the would like to join us and they did. We had a fabulous time dining with them. Everything about the Supper Club was lovely and it is very well organized. The door opened at 6:15 PM and the line began to queue starting at 5:50 PM. As we entered F&B Mangers Sven verified that we were on the list and welcome us along with the new F&B Manger who has been hired to take the late Walter's place. Staff holding trays of flutes of Champagne asked if we wanted one which we did and as we continued we were greeted by Hotel Director Scott Peterson and other members of the team. We had a choice of whatever tables were open and we took one that was closest to the dance floor. Dinner menus were on the table and the table was beautiful. It is a little tight with lots of glassware already in place so we were careful placing our flutes of champagne on the table. Rolled up paper menus were on the table. We were asked what beverage we wanted to begin with and while a couple wines were on the menu others were available. At one point someone came to ask if we were ready to order and we will needed to look over the menus. We did order. We chose the White Sturgeon Caviar as the appetizer. It was served with traditional condiments. We had the second course of Cream of Cauliflower Soup. For the main course we had the Fresh Cold Water Lobster which is a favorite of Anne Marie's. When she was growing up her Italian Nana who along with her Grandfather who lived with her family prepared Maine Lobster on Christmas. Having lobster is a reminder of the special dinner that she and her family would have one time each year. The fourth and final course was dessert which was a Valrhona Chocolate and Berry Gateau cake. We each tried a small portion of it. We have never been to a Supper Club on land so we have nothing to compare this to. We thought it compared to some of the special and elegant World Cruise dinners that we have enjoyed over the years. There seemed to be music throughout the evening. At times it was just background music with one or two people performing allowing for conversation during each course. One entertainer played the violin and also sang. At other points you had an entire band on the stage performing between courses. It was a wow. The food was quite good. They came around with rolls a couple of times. The Caviar was delicious and it was served with all the condiments. The soup was very tasty and was so good we didn't have it all. Lobster was one of the tastiest lobster entrees we have had on land or at sea. The dessert was delicious and again we had a small portion of it. We are on for a very long time so we are being careful with how much food we eat. Although we have not been to a Supper Club before we have seen them as part of movies. It did have the look and feel of those movies and what a Supper Club would be like back in the day. If the club featured only cuisine or only entertainment in each case we would give it five stars. At the same time everything was perfect including the beauty of the venue, the look of the table along with the outstanding service. Crystal has done an amazing job rolling this out. Good news. When we arrived back to our room we set the clocks backward by one hour as we are sailing into a new time zone. Later on in the voyage we will be moving the clocks forward but for now it is nice to move them back an hour. We wanted to mention that the location of the new Seabreeze PH and PS suites are easy to spot on Deck 10. They are located on port and starboard sides towards the stern (back) and bow (forward) of the deck. They are easy to spot because there is lighting across from the rooms. We both enjoyed a good nights sleep as we continue to sail west towards Hawaii. The seas were relatively calm but sufficient sea swells that the gentle rocking of the ship makes it easy to fall asleep. The wine also helps. LOL. Today is the second of four days as we sail to Hawaii. Keith made a visit to the Fitness Center and worked outdoor an hour. For those of you who workout there are the days where the workout is a challenge but you can easily get through it and other days where each minute feels like an hour. Today was the former. We enjoyed breakfast in the room. Afterwards, we went on a very long walk inside the ship. A couple of times we stopped to talk with someone including Captain Birger. Interestingly, fewer guest were up and about which was surprising to us given that we turned back the clocks last evening. After the walk we walked up to Silk to look at the changes that have been met and Keith saw someone from indoor cycling who he had also met on another cruise. We sat with her and her husband. They are from Australia and it was nice talking with them. This is one of the things we enjoy about cruising to meet people from around the world. They will be returning for the final segment of the World Cruise. When we returned to our room "it was starting to look a lot like Christmas". Today there were three lectures on the program.
At 10:00 AM Jon Bailey continued where he left off yesterday by covering the third composer, Irving Berlin, and spoke about one of the Christmas' most beloved songs; White Christmas. It was a very interesting lecture and there was audience participation when everyone sang together. He has a few additional talks coming up including talks covering West Side Story and the Music Man and about life at the time in the late 1950's and another talk on Hamilton. It is Christmas Day in Australia so we had a video call with our Daughter, Son-In-Law, Grandson and Granddaughter. Our Granddaughter was playing with the toys we sent for her. We enjoyed a terrific afternoon beginning with lunch at Marketplace. Anne Marie took a long walk and Keith played Paddle Tennis. Outside weather was overcast with some wind and the temperature was mid-60’s (F) We will catch the other lectures on the Television as they are all recorded and we can view them on-demand. FIRST SEA DAY OF THIS ADVENTURE - |
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