THE START OF WORLD CRUISE 2019 - DAY 30 - DAY 24 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WORLD CRUISE 2019 

Realizing that we are moving today to another room (next door to the one we have been in for the first twenty-three days) we had dinner in our room.  Instead of going to one lounge we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink in our room thanks to Butler Jaison.  

We ordered dinner from two of the dining venues.

We began with Sushi & Sashimi and Lobster Tempura as an appetizer from Umi Uma.  It was a wonderful way to begin the meal.  The appetizers were delicious. 

Our next two courses came directly from the menu in Waterside.  We both had the Greek Salad which we enjoyed.  For our main course it was Sautéed Tiger Prawns for Anne Marie and Fresh Grouper for Keith.  These were excellent picks, and we were pleased with the choice each of us made.

The dinner menu from Waterside follows along with photos below it.

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We slept well as Serenity set sail 110 nautical miles from Catalina Island to Los Angeles (San Pedro) where this cruise began.

The day began like most days with Keith enjoying a nice workout at the Fitness Center.  This was followed with Breakfast in our room.  

Today is moving day as we moved from our current room to the one next door.  We were fortunate that we went through immigration when we arrived to San Diego on Friday.  Unlike the last cruise when we arrived to Los Angeles directly after our stop at Mexico we did not have to leave the ship to go through immigration and avoided having to wait in the terminal until they cleared the entire ship.  This would have required the ship getting to a "zero count" where every guest has left the ship before we could go back on the ship.

We used the time to get all of our items ready for the move.  If you remember the day we arrived, we left three full suitcases with clothing to unpack for the World Cruise to avoid having to unpack and pack before moving to the new room.  We plan to unpack those bags in the next three days.

We placed items in laundry baskets and totes.  

Crystal makes it easy to move.  We waited in our room until the guests in the other room had left and the housekeeping team cleaned the room.  We finished packing our items.  We were fortunate that the people leaving the room left before 8:00 AM.  Penthouse Attendant Sladjana and Room Attendant Dushica began cleaning the room as soon as they left.  Once the room was ready Butler Jaison came to our room.  Between Keith, Jaison, Sladjana, and Dushica we moved everything to the new room while Anne Marie cleaned draws and other areas a second time with sanitized wipes.  Head Housekeeper Maria who just returned in San Diego and the Supervisor for this floor came by to check on everything.

The good news is that we will continue to have Sladjana as our Penthouse Attendant.  Dushica will move up to deck 11 just for one cruise as she is going on a well-deserved holiday at home after that.

A couple of photos from outside the ship.  The bridge connects this area to Long Beach.

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Our original plan was to have lunch in the room but since we had everything put away by 10:30 AM we decide to have lunch at Marketplace.

They opened 30 minutes early since World Cruisers began boarding at 11:00 AM. Waterside was closed for lunch as they prepare the dining venue for this evening's festivities.  The other dining venues such as Silk and Trident Grill were open.

We enjoyed our usual salad entrees and with a whole turkey we added that to the entree.  We took photos of Ruel and Richie.  During the evening they are waiters at Umi Uma.

There is a lot on the schedule for this evening which we will post about tomorrow.

Today marked the end of the seven day California Cruise and the start of World Cruise 2019.  The following map shows the routing of the world cruise.

All full World Cruisers boarded the ship today and we also have on-board all those guests who were already on-board staying for either the full World Cruise or for one or more segments of the World Cruise.  All other guests will board the ship on Monday.  We have already seen 30+ guests we know from other voyages.

​A special touch was Captain Giske and the CEO & President of Crystal Cruises Tom Wolber welcome each guest as they entered the ship.

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The World Cruise totals eighty-five days.  It is comprised of four voyages.  Close to 300 guests will be on the full World Cruise with other guests on board for one or more segments.  

Segment 1: Los Angeles to Auckland (21 days)

Segment 2: Auckland to Perth (15 days)

Segment 3: Perth to Cape Town (21 days)

Segment 4: Cape Town to Monte Carlo (26 days)

On the Serenity cruise we will visit ten ports of call for the first time.  They are:

Fanning Islands, Kirbati
Latoka, Fiji
Kangaroo Island, Australia
Busselton, Australia
​Georgetown, Ascension Island
Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain
Koto, Montegro
Pahos, Cyprus
Koper, Slovenia
Souda Bay, Greece

We have many wonderful memories from our previous World Cruises.  Following is a slideshow of photos from some of these cruises.
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This is Crystal Cruises twenty-fourth annual World Cruise and we have been a part of nine of them including eight full World Cruises.  

Let the World Cruise begin.  More tomorrow and in the days to come.

​Anne Marie & Keith