A VIDEO - BACKGROUND & THOUGHTS

A VIDEO FROM OUR LAST CRUISE

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Earlier this year, while sailing Crystal Serenity we had the opportunity to participate in a video created for Crystal Cruises by Celebrity Chef Jon Ashton & his team which we are sharing with you.  

Starting with our first Crystal cruise we have enjoyed many celebrations on-board Crystal Harmony, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity.  The first Crystal cruise was a 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration on Crystal Harmony with daughter Jennifer, son Eric and soon to be son-in-law Gui.

Other celebrations included Birthdays for ourselves and family members, Wedding Anniversaries, Mother's Day, the Engagement of our son and daughter in-law, and other special occasions including the renewal of our Wedding Vows to celebrate forty years of marriage with family and friends in attendance.

CELEBRATIONS

It was fitting the video was about celebration and love.  
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Full Disclosure.

In mid-February Celebrity Chef Jon Ashton reached out to inquire if we were interested in participating in the video.  After meeting in late February, we agreed and we were video'd  in early March.  

The day was meant to be an example of how one can celebrate on-board a Crystal vessel but was scripted so for better or worse Anne Marie didn't get to keep the necklace.  LOL.  

It includes some of the activities we do regularly including workouts at the Fitness Center and Paddle Tennis for Keith & Walks and Yoga for Anne Marie along with joint walks on and off the ship.  

Some interviews were done individually.  When you get to the part where we share our thoughts about one-another we saw this ourselves for the first time after the video was released.  We had no idea what each of us said about the other.  Our thoughts come from the heart.  Although somewhat personal we were happy to be candid and this is something in the years to come our children can continue to enjoy and when the grandchildren are older they can see and listen to our thoughts.

Additional Disclosures.  

Our daily breakfast does not include Champagne nor Pastries.  It does include cereal and fruit.  

It's probably obvious but that is not Anne Marie getting a massage.  LOL.  

For us the entire cruise was a celebration rather than a one-day surprise for Anne Marie.  However, Keith    does enjoy planning surprises for Anne Marie and this cruise was no exception as he had a couple of surprises in-store for Anne Marie.
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We enjoyed lots of good laughs while the video was shot.   If only we had the outtakes from the filming.  There were many of them and "many" is an understatement.  LOL.

After seeing the video Keith said "It's a good thing I selected a non-acting professor for my career.  Otherwise we would not have sufficient resources to cruise"  He went on..."A career in acting would have been hopeless.  We all have talents but acting is not mine."  LOL but very true.   

After filming was complete, or so we thought, you will see us dancing with Celebrity Chef Jon Ashton on-stage.  Jon is from Liverpool and knows Keith loves The Beatles.  In fact, all three of us enjoy the music of The Beatles.  Jon had the band play a few Beatles songs.  Keith and Jon did some Karaoke (first time for Keith) but thankfully his singing is not in the video.  We all danced on stage to songs of The Beatles. More on this after you watch the video.  
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Keith was already on-stage with Jon when Anne Marie made a unique entrance.

Lesson Number One.  

​Do not underestimate the height of a stage, particularly while wearing high-heals and a full length dress.  Unfortunately, Anne Marie's foot didn't make it onto the stage and she ended up making a dramatic entrance by falling onto the stage.  Ouch!!  This is why towards the end of the video Keith is seen looking down at Anne Marie's shoes.  Thankfully, she was fine.  No bruises or worse broken bones.  

We are including a short video which one of the videographers took using  Keith's iPhone along with a few photos.  One of those photos captures Keith and Jon assisting Anne Marie moments after she made her dramatic entrance.

Look for daily posts starting December 26.

The site we use to host the blog is having trouble with the RSS feed so it is not operational right now.  Once the trip begins our routine is to post Blog updates late in the afternoon local time.

Happy Holidays.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith

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