DAY 77 - DAY 71 CRYSTAL SERENITY

ON THE ROAD TO TAOLANARO - MADAGASCAR

Jonathan.... we are glad that you are enjoying the Blog.  We would say that we tend to dress a little dressier on the Crystal Casual nights than many guests do.  With that said some guests do dress up like we do on Crystal Casual nights particularly at Waterside.  There is a lot of flexibility in the dress which we find works well.  Wishing you our very best.

Last evening we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Palm Court.

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These are dining menus from Waterside.

We dined at the Silk Asian Restaurant with friends Larry and Monica Rowe.

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​Before leaving port, Captain Giske Spoke from the Bridge and advised that the weather forecast on the day we arrive to Madagascar calls for no rain.  

As we were leaving port we listened to a beautiful song that is dear to our heart.  (No it was not a song by The Beatles) but if you guessed them you might've been right.

The song that is dear to our heart is What A Wonderful World sung by Louis Armstrong.  This song is played on most departures from ports of call.

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We had an outstanding dinner between the delicious cuisine, the conversation, the service and the wonderful ambience of the Silk Dining Venue.

We began with Tempura Prawn Salad with fruit with each of us getting our own salads.

Our next course was Dim Sum Sampler of Scallops Schumai - Truffled Wild Mushroom - Duck which we shared.  We also had one piece each of the Spring Roll Of the Day.

We shared three entree items; Kung Pao Chicken, Mongolian Style Lamb Chops and Our Signature Stir-Fry Beef Tenderloin along with some Fried Rice and Seasonal Chinese Vegetables.  The seasonal vegetables change daily.

Our final course was a Fruit Plate.

Keith had Chinese Beer while Anne Marie had a small portion of an Austrian White Wine.

The good news is we turned the clocks back another hour when before we went to sleep.  We had completely forgotten about this until we arrived back to our room and looked up at the Television and saw it on the screen.  YES!!!  LOL.

We slept well as we always seem to do.  Between the rocking of the ship, a full day of activity, the comfortable mattress and maybe the wine/beer we fall asleep easily.  

We began the day with an early morning workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast in our room.  Keith had personal training with Fitness Director Melanie.  She worked him hard.  For those of you who take the HIIT class Keith subs from time-to-time he has some good exercises from the personal training that he plans to incorporate into the classes.  You'll love it.  LOL.

While Keith was at Personal Training, Anne Marie walked.  Keith met up with Anne Marie and continued the walk she was on.  From there we had an appointment to attend to.  Afterwards Keith was off to Paddle Tennis.  He ended up playing three sets of singles Paddle Tennis with a gent who is on this segment of the World Cruise whom Keith met at the start of this segment.  It was not only hot but it was humid with the sun out and after one set it was time for a rest.  Thankfully the sun went behind clouds or maybe the clouds went in front of the sun.  Either way this provided relief for them to carry out the last two sets.

The daily program had lots of activities.

There were three interesting lectures.

Ken Rees spoke about Madagascar highlighting things to do and the unique wildlife. Almost all of Madagascar’s reptile and amphibian species, half of its birds and all of its lemurs are found only on Madagascar and nowhere else on Earth.
 
Dr Robert Freedman spoke about the United States and Asia and the key issues and challenges we face including issues of trade with China and issues with North Korea.

Dr. Khalid Sheikh spoke about ways to keep the heart happy and that includes a positive attitude which we agree whole heartedly (HEARTedly) with him.

The morning went by quickly and we enjoyed lunch at Marketplace making salad entrees for each of us.  We add protein to the salad.  Each day there is chicken to choose from which is prepared differently from day-to-day.  Other times we have salmon or Turkey on those days when it is being carved. 

After lunch Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie walked.  We caught up with the lectures and also read and wrote and spoke with fellow guests and members of the crew.

This is the daily Reflections Daily Program from today.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

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