DAY 65 - DAY 59 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO ALBANY, AUSTRALIA

Mike, thank you so much for your nice comments.  We agree with you 100% about the grand children and the future.  We have heard similar comments about Emma resembling Anne Marie and Jennifer resembling Keith.

Mike Lee, thank you as well for your nice comments.  When it comes to the Avenue Saloon our experience is how busy it is varies by cruise and time of the evening.  For example, on the Holiday cruise it was not very busy on some of the nights which is unusual for a Holiday Cruise.  However, demographics might have played a role in that.  On the September cruise which we were on with you since it was very port intensive and people had lots of tours that might have played a role in terms of the number of people in the lounges.  We found on that cruise that the Crystal Cove was very quiet before 6:00 PM dinner whereas starting with the December Holiday cruise and continuing to the present cruise it has been very busy starting at 5:00 PM. On this cruise the Avenue Saloon has been fairly quiet when it opens at 5:00 PM but starting at 7:30 PM it has picked up considerably and when the entertainer sings starting at 8:30 PM it has been fairly full.

We began last evening with a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove.

Bartender Afzel was working his magic making a wide range of drinks.  

We enjoyed listening to Pianist Richard Pucci who played two Beatles songs for us; Yesterday and Michelle.

The World Cruise Chorus performed several songs including one song from If I Were A Rich Man.

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These are the dinner menus from Waterside where we dined last evening.

We enjoyed dinner at Waterside.

We both began with Chicken Consommé and had a Spring Green Salad. We also chose the Salmon Fillet and Keith had them add one piece of the Tilapia Filet from another entrée.  Food was wonderful as was the Service.

Once again we had good news when we returned back to the room as we set the clocks back another hour to get on the correct time for our next port of call.  We slept well as we always do when cruising.  We began our day as we normally do with a morning workout for Keith at the Fitness Center.  We had coffee and breakfast in our room as we prepared to go ashore in Albany, Australia.

Albany, Australia is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.  Albany is the oldest colonial settlement in Western Australia.  It is located 259 miles west of Perth. It was founded in 1826 as a military outpost of New South Whales as part of a plan to forestall French Ambitions in this area.

Our first and only visit to Albany was on the 2015 World Cruise and was a maiden port of call stop for Crystal Cruises.  Albany is not pronounced as we would pronounce Albany, New York.  Rather the Al is pronounced like the name Al.

The overall population is 30,000 residents.  

Highlights include:

National Anzac Center which is Australia's foremost museum dedicated to honoring the Anzacs of World War I.

Old Gaol Museum which was established in 1852.  It was initially a cellblock for convinced men.

Museum of the Great Southern and provides information on the natural and social history of the region.

Mt. Clarence offers breathtaking view of King George Sound.

Torndirrup National Park which is known for its wave-carved features.

We went off the ship at 8:00 AM.

Although there is a complimentary shuttle to/from town we decided to walk to town on our own.

The town is charming and was easy to navigate on our own. Albany is home to many churches, restaurants, cafes, stores and other establishments.  

Our second visit to Albany was very much the same as the first one.  Albany has not changed.  It is a charming town.

It was overcast and cooler when we walked off the ship.  We wore our World Cruise vests for the first time.  They have several zippered pockets which we like.  

From the moment we went ashore we felt the warmth and friendliness of the locals beginning with one special attire who greets us at the pier.  We prefer walking so we walked to town instead of taking the complementary shuttle.  We made our way along the coast and onto a pedestrian bridge that takes you over the train tracks.  Shortly after we entered the downtown area we were met by a woman with local tourism who answered a quest for us and provided us with amp of The Amity Trail which we walked for part of our walk.  During the course of the walk we were greeted by other locals including some who worked for local tourism.  

Although it was Monday morning it felt as if it was a weekend.  

The town is charming.  As is the case for many areas of Australia and New Zealand we felt like we were back in the early 1960's or late 1950's in the USA.  You feel safe.  The people are friendly.  There are many one-of-a-kind stores including a candy store.  Ironically, on our way back we ran into a gent who Keith plays tennis with, George and his wife, and he said the same thing.  He said it reminded him of the childhood neighborhood he grew up in during the early 1960's in London.  

We stopped by several churches, walked into two supermarkets, went to a museum which was kind enough to open early for the guests on Serenity.  At the museum we learned not only about the history and the future of this area but the role many locals played in wars including World War I and World War II. We spoke to locals at one of the churches who were selling items outside the church.

We took in the beautiful scenery.  

The town has a wide range of restaurants.  We passed by three Pizza restaurant, a restaurant specializing in Steak, an Indian restaurant, Chinese restaurants along with several others.  There were bakeries, several coffee shops, and many other local establishments.

We walked for quite awhile.  Towards the end of the walk the sun came out and it warmed up.

This is a very special town and one that we expect will keep its charm for many years to come.

We are including two short videos.

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We returned to the Serenity and had lunch at Marketplace where we made our usual salad entree.

We are enjoying the rest of the day on the ship including walking outside for Anne Marie, paddle tennis for Keith and conversing with fellow guests and members of Team Serenity.

The afternoon weather has been wonderful.  The sun came out adding to a picture perfect afternoon.

This is the Reflections Daily Program for today.

Cheers from Down Under.

​Anne Marie & Keith