DAY 97 - DAY 91 CRYSTAL SERENITY

ON THE ROAD TO ASCENSION ISLAND.

Emily thank you so much for your very nice comments.

​Gilly thank you for your comments and we hope that one day you will be able to experience St. Helena.

These are the menus from Waterside from last evening.

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We deviated from our pre-dinner  drink last evening because of a special dinner we attended.  The dinner was in honor of our 100th Crystal Society Milestone dinner which was held for us at The Vintage Room.  When one achieves 100 Milestones Crystal Cruises arranges a Private Dinner at the Vintage Room Dinner along with with a few additional amenities.

The dinner was organized by Crystal Society Hostess Alissa with consultation with Captain Birger, the Head Sommelier Jiri, and the Executive Chef Werner and a couple of other lead chefs.  Alissa asked for our input on the food portion of the menu.

We could invite up to 14 people including ourselves.  We kept this number to 8 people including the two of us, the Captain, the Cruise Director, the Executive Housekeeper, the Restaurant Manager, the Future Sales Consultant and the Crystal Society Hostess.  Each person who attended is very special to us.

We each received a Platinum and Diamond Society Pin. 

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When we opened the door to leave our room, we were pleasantly surprised to find Butler Rao waiting for us.  Rao was very kind to  escort us to the Vintage  Room where we were greeted by everyone.  

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The photos do not do justice to the food.  

We enjoyed:

Lobster & Caviar

Kingklip Fillet

Butternut Ravioli

Grilled Wagyu Beef  

Selection of Artisanal Cheeses

The final course was Warm Valrhona Chocolate Soup with Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  Executive Chef Werner Brenner and Pastry Chef Harald Neufang entered the Vintage Room after the waiters placed the special dessert in front of each person.  Yes that was gold in the soup.  

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The wine was equally amazing.  

We began with Charles Heidsieck Champagne and Captain Birger and Crystal Society Hostess Alissa toasted us.

The White Wine which was an amazing Burgundy; Etienne Sauzet, Chassagne-Montrachet, "Les Enceigneres" was paired with the first two courses.  

​We enjoyed two Red Wines with the Wagyu Beef.  The first was from the "old world" which was Chateau Lascombes, Second Growth, Margaux, Bordeaux, France 2010 and the second one was from the "new world" which was a Ravana Cabernet Sauvignon, Revana Family Vineyards, Napa Valley, California 2009.  

A dessert wine of Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese Grand Cuvee No. 1, Burgenland, Austria 2003 was paired with the Artisanal Cheeses.

The final pairing was a red Henschke, Shiraz, "Keyneton Euphonium," Barossa Valley Australia 2010 wine which accompanied the Warm Valrhona Chocolate Soup.

It is hard to believe that we have reached this milestone.  We remember our first cruise with Crystal Cruises on-board the former Crystal Harmony (the first ship of the fleet) in 2002. We sailed Alaska and it was in celebration of a major Wedding Anniversary Milestone.  We brought our son, daughter and future son-in-law with us. In very short order we were Crystalized. We sailed the following year with our children on Crystal Symphony from Dover, England to Roen, France.  This was followed in 2004 with a sailing on Crystal Symphony by ourselves.  In 2005, two years after the debut of Crystal Serenity, we took our longest cruise up until that point sailing on two back-to-back cruises from Rome, Italy to Athens, Greece.  It was on that cruise that we decided to book World Cruise 2007 to celebrate another major milestone Wedding Anniversary.  By the end of the 2007 World Cruise Crystal became our go-to cruise line.  We have enjoyed many World Cruises and other special cruises since then. We consider the wonderful Crystal crew on both Symphony and Serenity and the many Crystal  Cruises team members on land to be part of our extended Crystal family. We feel way about many fellow guests who became friends.
 
We have celebrated numerous special events sailing with Crystal including anniversaries, and birthdays.  Our  son and daughter have sailed with us on five Crystal Cruises, and our son-in-law and daughter in-law have sailed on four and three Crystal Cruises respectively.  Most recently, in 2017 we took our family including three of the four grandchildren (our fourth grandchild was born seven months later) on Crystal Serenity where we not only celebrated our 40thwedding anniversary but we renewed our wedding vows.  
 
We have grown a great deal from these travels.  This includes visits to many places around the world. It also includes what we have learned on-board the vessels from lecturers and other enrichment activities, sailing with crew and fellow cruisers from around the world, the extensive entertainment as well as  learning more about cuisine and wine.  
 
We pinch  ourselves each and everyday never having dreamed when we first married that we would have this opportunity.  We take none of it for granted and we are humbled by these experiences.  
 
We have made many memories from our travels which will last a lifetime and last evenings dinner is one of those events that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. 
 
We believe in pursuing ones passion and that includes hobbies, helping others, giving back to community.  

One of several passions we enjoy is travel and we are fortunate to have found a cruise line that is the precise fit for us. 
 
We have made many memories from our travels which will last a lifetime and last evenings dinner is one of those events that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. 

Upon arrival back to our room there was  a beautiful vase containing long stem roses on the coffee table from Crystal Society along with flowers and chocolate from a dear friend.

A few minutes later one of the stewardesses came by with the gifts that were presented to us last evening by Crystal Society Hostess Alissa.

  After the second consecutive late night we certainly slept well last evening.  

In spite of this we were up regular time and began this morning as we always do starting with an early morning workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast in our room.

Anne Marie had personal training with Fitness Director Charlotte and Keith took an indoor cycling class taught by Fitness Director Melanie.  We both walked afterwards.  

There was lots on today's program including a special announcemnt.

The program included two morning and one afternoon lecture.  

Robert Caskie spoke about the Anglo Boer War between 1899 and 1902.  Later in the morning Ambassador Tony Leon spoke about Africa and America and it reenforced what we learned the other day in a talk by another lecturer.  It dove into the issue of the active role that China is playing in Africa in terms of large economic investment and the delivery of infrastructure throughout Africa while the United States is shrinking its presence in Africa both economically and in its involvement.  As  we mentioned  the other day  this is a topic that does not get very much attention back home and is something of a concern in the years to come.

In the afternoon Professor David Drewry spoke about the geological forces that have shaped the African continent over hundreds of millions of years.

Keith was able to play Paddle Tennis in the morning shortly before we had lunch at Marketplace.  The afternoon included more Paddle Tennis for Keith and a walk for Anne Marie.

One of the highlights for the afternoon was at 1:00 PM ships time when Cruise Director Rick, Future Sales Consultant Paula Jean and Captain Birger announced the World Cruise 2022 itinerary at the Galaxy Lounge.  Anne Marie went to the talk while Keith  played Paddle Tennis.

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This evening we will be attending the Crystal Society Party followed by dinner at Umi Uma.  More about this tomorrow.

This is the daily  Reflections Program for today.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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