DAY 13 - DAY 7 SERENITY

LAND AHOY - WELCOME TO HAWAII

Steve...we are glad that you are enjoying our Blog.  Yes, we do pre-order the Sports Drinks for Keith.  When on land and working out he drinks this sports drink.

Doris...we are also glad that you are enjoying the Blog and we thank you for your warm wishes.

​Sophie... thank you so much for your nice thoughts.

Thelma...thank you so much.  Cruise Director Gary Hunter is on holiday now and will return for the start of the World Cruise.  He and Cruise Director Rick Spath will each do a portion of the World Cruise.  

Carol... thank you for the nice comments and you are correct the wrong word was mentioned in the earlier post.  We have just corrected it.  Unfortunately, there is not enough time in the day for us to proofread what is written so there will be grammar and spelling and other mistakes.

Ctjon.... thank you for your very nice comments and we will hit the next milestone during this adventure.

We wanted to note that after we posted there was a late rain shower.  The good news is it didn't last very long and Keith was already finished playing paddle tennis.

Before dinner we returned to the Avenue Saloon for a pre-dinner drink.  Keith had one of the specialty Gin & Tonic drinks with cucumber.  Very healthy.  Maybe?
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We returned to Waterside for another dinner.  We both started with Tiger Prawns.  It was accompanied by a very tasty and spicy Chili-Fig Jam.  Technically it should be called Tiger Prawn as it contained one Tiger Prawn but it was accompanied with other seafood.

We each asked for a salad appetizer size of the salad that comes as an entree.

Keith had a salmon entree and Anne Marie had Cordon Bleu which was very tasty.  It was prepared differently than Anne Marie has made it as it was fried.

We didn't go to the Production Show called Curtain Call since we have seen it numerous times.  

Last evening at 10:30 PM was the White Night Extravaganza.  This began in February of this year when both Symphony and Serenity were in Sydney together.  On each voyage there is one White Extravaganza Night.  Think of it as a mixer where there is live music and dancing.  The Crystal Plaza is decorated in white.  Guests are encourage to wear something white.  Specialty drinks are available fitting the theme of the night.  Decorations are put up early in the morning.

In one of the photos you will note the violinist performing and this was before dinner at the Crystal Cove.  Over the past couple of years Crystal's entertainment has evolved.  Some nights instead of a pianist performing a couple of times at the Crystal Cove other entertainers will perform.  The other change is more entertainment on some evening's providing more choice.  The violinist performing last evening performed at the Supper Club. Last night she used an electric violin.  She moved around on the floor as she played the violin. It was very uplifting.

We both slept well and began our regular morning routine with a visit to the fitness center by Keith, breakfast in our room before we both walked together inside the ship.

While we were walking the Stardust Lounge was open.  It is being used in the daytime for a Bridge Group which is on board.  We took a look well before the Bridge Group met.  The new tables are used for multiple purposes such as Bridge and for the Supper Club.

While we were there we saw Nat who we have known for many years and also our children know from their previous Crystal Cruises.  Nat is a very special person who we are always happy to see.  

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After we finished our walk we sat down in the Crystal Cove to let the attendants finish up cleaning our room.  We spoke with a few people which made the time go by in a blink of an eye.

With an arrival time of Noon, the morning hours included several enrichment programs.  Destination Lecturer Jim Rowe spoke about the beliefs and practices of early Hawaiians and Polynesians.  

The restaurants opened early to accommodate tours.  Waterside was open at 11:30 AM and Marketplace at 11:00 AM for lunch.  

We ate lunch at 11:00 AM.  After lunch we walked on the Lido Cafe and avoided being on the first couple of tenders as we knew it would be crowded.  We left the ship at 12:20.

We last visited Maui on-board Crystal Symphony in May of this year.  Our first visit was with our children on a land vacation in 1998 when we spent a week on this island.  
 
Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It covers 727 square miles and is the seventeenth larges island in the United States.
 
The island has lots of natural beauty.  It is a major tourist destination for those visiting Hawaii and has several hotels and restaurants on the Island.  There are several popular outdoor activities including Golf and Tennis.  ​​

It was more crowded than our last visit as that was in the off season, on a Sunday and in the morning.  Many people visit Hawaii this time of year as they are off for the holidays.

We walked for a couple of hours.  The temperature was 85 degrees (F) and with the humidity it felt much hotter than that.  We have a list of items to purchase that we need for the extended time we are on Serenity.  We know of a Longs Pharmacy which we have walked to on previous visits.  However given its distance and knowing that we needed liquid items our plan was to get them tomorrow in Honolulu.  Thanks to Siri we found a food market and purchased most of the items we need.  We will get the rest tomorrow.

When we returned to the ship we read and wrote.

We have dinner plans at the Silk which is the new Asian Restaurant on Serenity replacing the former Tastes.

Aloha,

​Anne Marie & Keith