DAY 21 - DAY 15 SERENITY

FOURTH SEA DAY ON OUR WAY TO MEXICO 

Marge...We are not sure why you are not seeing the updates on our Blog.  We would recommend clearing your browsing history on your browser.

Thelma...Once again thank you for your comments and for keeping up with our Blog.

Brad...Thank you for your kind comments and for the suggestion about downloading movies from Netflix prior to the sailing.

We had mentioned that an Afternoon Tea is offered daily  from 3:30 PM to 4:30 with the exception of the day of embarkation.

One of the favorites is the the Mozart Tea. This tea features an amazing array of pastries.  The Mozart Tea is a tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with waitstaff in attire from that time period.  They enjoyed tea, amazing the dessert while conversing and listening to music performed by Scott Mitchel on the piano and Viktoria Stryzhak on the Violin.

We stopped by to take a look as we had not been to a tea since the Palm Court received its recent makeover.  Everything looked amazing and we could smell the aroma from the cakes and pastries.  Almost all of the seats were occupied.

These are the dinner menus from Waterside from last evening which we have added as a PDF.

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We returned to the Captain's Quarters last evening.  Although we are above the 90th milestone level our visit was a celebration of our 90th Crystal Milestone.  

At certain milestone levels guests achieve certain benefits including on board credit, an upgrade in accommodations, Crystal Society pins, up to a 12 day free cruise, and recognition dinners.  This is our third recognition dinner at the Captain's Quarters having celebrated our 50th and 75th milestones previously.

Crystal Society Host Jacco Schrijver coordinated this celebration with Captain Birger and the Captain hosted the celebration.

Including ourselves there were eight people there making this an intimate dinner celebration.  

This dinner is another example of a team effort.  Butler Jijo took the lead serving the meal with one to two butlers present at any given time clearing plates, coming around with rolls and assisting in other areas.  

As each course was served seven other butlers were present placing the specific course we were about to eat on the table.  In addition to Jijo the Butlers assisting with the meal were: Senior Head Butler Engin, Senior Butler Jaison, Butlers Damian, Frederick, John, Jose and Pavel.   They are all consummate professionals who we adore.

Head Sommelier Tilmar explained each of the wines that we had and poured the first glass of each wine and also poured the champagne when we first arrived.

The dinner included:

Beet Root Cured Salmon & Poached Lobster with Horseradish, Mango & Poached Lobster

Cream of Jerusalem artichoke.

A choice of Chilean Seabass or Duo of Beef

White Chocolate Mousse.

We began with Champagne and had three wines all from California based on where we are sailing.

At a couple of Vintage Rooms we have hosted we have had a couple of wines poured at once to compare.  One time it was two cabernet wines from the same vineyard, same year with the one difference being the type of barrel they were placed in.  One other time did a comparison of California and Bordeaux wines.  We would go around the table for each person to say which wine they preferred more.  When we got the main course Head Sommelier Tilmar had selected two red wines from the same California Vineyard produced in the same year and placed in similar barrels with the difference being the mix in grapes.  It was fun to compare each wine with one another.

We enjoyed an amazing celebration with wonderful people, delicious food, exquisite wine and terrific conversation with lots of good laughs.  

The two chefs who oversaw the preparation of the food came up towards the end of the evening with all of the Butlers. We thanked the two chefs for preparing an incredible meal.  We also thanked the Butlers and told them we love them.  We adore the crew as many of you know.  We have known many of the butlers for several years.   Yes, they are part of our extended Crystal Family.

When we left our room to go up one floor to the Captain's Quarters, Butler Jaison was waiting for us outside our room to escort us to the Quarters. This was a very nice touch.

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As we left the Captain's Quarters, Butler Jijo and Jaison were waiting for us.  Jaison even reminded us to set the clocks forward.  

The only downside to the evening is that when it was time to go to sleep we needed to forward the clock by one hour to Pacific Standard Time.

We slept while as we continue to sail east.  The seas were relatively calm.  In spite of the time change, Keith was up at his usual time and began with a workout. Anne Marie was up early and we enjoyed coffee in our room prior to  breakfast.

Jaison brought breakfast which we enjoyed in our room as we began to get ready for another fun-filled day on-board Serenity.  Following is the Reflections Daily Program for today.

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Today's program included lots of activities for the guests starting at 7:30 AM and going until 6:00 PM.  There were two morning lectures with destination lecturer Jim Rowe speaking about Mexico and its culture, custom, lore and lifestyle.  Mexico was chosen for this talk since we are stopping at Ensanada for four hours before we arrive the following day to Los Angeles.  The second take was given by Jon Bailey and covered West Side Story and The Music Man.

We both walked together inside the ship for one hour before the lectures began.  We ran into some guests who we know as well as some of the crew.  It is hard to believe that this voyage is coming to a close in a couple of days.

We walked Deck 6 which includes The Bistro, Shops, Galaxy Theatre, Hollywood Theatre and The Casino.  We took some photos of the Casino.  The walls and ceiling received were painted with an entirely new color during dry dock and new artwork was added to the wall outside the Casino.

During the course of the day we had lunch at Marketplace, Anne Marie walked and Keith played a couple of hours of Paddle Tennis.  Other than some rain in two ports we have been very fortunate with the weather. Normally at the current location of the ship seas might be choppy with rain.  This is not the case and we even had some sunshine this afternoon.

This evening we dine at Prego for the second time of this voyage.

​Anne Marie & Keith