DAY 94 - DAY 88 CRYSTAL SERENITY

ON THE ROAD AGAIN TO ST. HELENA - DAY TWO OF THREE DAYS AT SEA

​Catherine yes....somehow a  young boy who started out as a  New York Yankees fan through the bad and good times was/is also a Boston Celtic fan.  Keith always loved those teams that focused on team ball starting with the part of the Bill Russell era  that Keith remembers to John Havlicek, then Dave Cowens and to the Larry Bird  era to their last championship team to the present.  

We began last evening by attending a cocktail party that was hosted by our Travel Agent, Gerri, for the Travel Agency that we book our cruises with.  Gerri is on the left in the second photo wearing the green necklace.  Anne Marie is with  friend Jocelyn in the second photo.  We met Jocelyn and her husband Bob at the World Cruise Gala in 2007 at the Four Seasons Hotel  on  the eve of our  first  World Cruise and have sailed with them many times.

We had a full house as a lot of guests on our cruise book with our the agency we use.  Gerri did a terrific job hosting the event including giving  a very nice welcome address after everyone had arrived.

​

---

These are the menus from Waterside.

We dined at Waterside.  There are many nights when it is difficult to make a  choice and this was the  case  last evening. Which of the two appetizers which sound wonderful should we have?  As it turned out Anne Marie selected one of them which was the Freshly Baked Lobster Strudel and Keith selected the other one which was the Charred Cod.  Each of us were pleased with our selections.

As we do from time-to-time, we both had a small version without meat of the Salad Entree for our appetizer salad.  

We both had the Halibut for our entree.  The sauce which accompanied it was flavorful.

All in all we had a lovely meal with outstanding  service from the terrific waitstaff team of Head Waiter Augusto, Senior Waiter Claudia and Waiter Yiuraj.  We very much appreciate Restaurant Manger Leo who like a conductor of an orchestra keeps everything in the dining venue flowing extremely well.

​Waiter Yiuraj is in the photo with Anne Marie.

St Patrick's Day was celebrated last evening rather than the night before as there was the World Cruise shore-side event that evening plus it was a day in port and the need to have the face-to-face meetings with immigration.  

The  featured entertainment included two showings of a show developed for this voyage as a tribute to the beautiful music and dance of Ireland.

The Avenue Saloon was turned into a St. Patrick's night with song, music, drink and even fish and chips as part of the celebration.

At 11:00 PM the DJ in the Pulse played Irish themed Dance Music.

​

---

As part of the celebration we got another benefit which was a time change.  Yes, we turned back the clocks by one hour before going to sleep.  ​We will benefit from two additional changes of the  clock but payback time will come when we forward the clock on three separate occasions before the  final  segment of World Cruise 2019 comes  to a conclusion.

​

---

We slept very well as we are sailing  to St. Helena.  You can barely feel that we are at sea.  Keith was up first and enjoyed  a nice workout at the Fitness Center.  After his exercise he  spent more time stretching as he  was  trying to realize some of the benefits  from yesterday's massage which  was addressing some knots of his muscles.  Well some might be an  understatement.  Hopefully  those rooms are sound-proof because if they weren't someone might have heard Keith in a bit of pain as  those knots  were being worked on.  LOL, but it's true.

We also enjoyed coffee and breakfast In our room as we got ready for another wonderful day on-board Serenity. Following breakfast  we  went on one of those one hour walks on the inside of the ship.  During our walk we always run into many people we know.  

Today was filled with lots of enrichment and other activities.  

Three lectures:

Tim Severin  gave the first of a two part lecture on The Brendon Voyage.  World Affairs Lecturer spoke about Donald True.  In the afternoon  Joshue Young gave a talk on the a behind  the scenes look at the entertainment business with emphasis on actors John Travolta, Clint Eastwood, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Woody Harrelson and one other person that we will just leave out.

Speaking of lectures before dinner last evening we watched the lecture given by Tony Leon.  As we mentioned he had been opposition leader to two  President's in South Africa.  He is  a  dynamic and charismatic  speaker and  we enjoyed his first lecture of the cruise as we have the previous ones he has given.  He spent a good deal of time discussing the upcoming election for a new South African President as well as discussing previous President's starting with Nelson Mandela.  He spoke about challenges and issues for the government.  The country has  so many natural resources and so much potential that  it will be interesting to watch how they deal with their existing challenges over the coming years.  We have mentioned this a couple of times already but in our own  country there is far less news on these topics so we greatly appreciate these talks given on  the ship on topics that are relevant to the area of the world we are sailing.  We also enjoy seeing coverage while on the ship by television stations that we get such as the BBC.  For us travel is discovery and this is all part of the experience. 

Keith was able to get  in  more Paddle Tennis in the morning and Anne Marie while Anne Marie worked on her second knitting project.

In the afternoon even though this is not a wine and food themed cruise, Head Sommelier conducted a complimentary wine tasting event at Waterside.

We enjoyed lunch at Marketplace.  After lunch it was back to the Paddle Tennis courts for Keith and  a walk for Anne Marie.

Sea days are a great  time to engage with others and to enjoy all of the amenities of the ship and that is what plan on doing for the rest of the day.

Below you will find the daily Reflections Program.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith