DAY 114 - DAY 108 CRYSTAL SERENITY

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.
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The Palm Court features a live band and dancing.

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The Crystal Plaza was all decorated for the Balloon Drop closing out the World Cruise.

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These are the menus from Waterside

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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.

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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.

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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.

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This is where we traveled.

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Our next voyage goes from Monte Carlo to Venice.
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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

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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.

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This is the daily Reflections Program today.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith
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