A Look At What Is Happening Today:
Transit Of The Panama Canal ✔
Indoor Cycling & Yoga✔ Dinner At Crystal Dining Room ✔
Before dinner last evening we attended the Crystal Society Reception which is in honor of those guests who have sailed on Crystal Cruises one or more times. Three people were honored for sailing on 100 or more cruises.
We sat at the bar and spoke with several fellow guests and some crew members.
From L-R Anne Marie, Lynn and Guest Relations Officer Urara Tsuda Nakada. Anne Marie and Urara were in their Crystal (teal) Colors.
Keith had a matching (teal) Tie.
Before dinner last evening we attended the Crystal Society Reception which is in honor of those guests who have sailed on Crystal Cruises one or more times. Three people were honored for sailing on 100 or more cruises.
We sat at the bar and spoke with several fellow guests and some crew members.
From L-R Anne Marie, Lynn and Guest Relations Officer Urara Tsuda Nakada. Anne Marie and Urara were in their Crystal (teal) Colors.
Keith had a matching (teal) Tie.
Although we dined in Prego last evening, these are the menus from the Crystal Dining Room. The theme of last nights menu was French Night.
French night is one of the more popular dinner menus so Prego was less crowded then it has been on other nights.
As we mentioned yesterday, we had organized last nights dinner at Prego. We invited friends Bill and Sandra and Jim and Judy who we first sailed with on the 2007 World Cruise and Lynn and Buddy who we first met on the 2011 World Cruise. The last time we sailed with Jim and Judy was in 2008 so it's nice to sail with them again and it was very nice for Lynn, Buddy, Jim and Judy to meet one another.
Clockwise Anne Marie, Bill, Sandra, Buddy, Lynn, Jim, Judy and Keith.
We had spoken with Prego Head Waiter, Mario, the other day and ordered a couple of special appetizer items for this evening since we were dining with a larger group.
One of the items included Eggplant Parmigiana.
We also had Grilled Shrimp and Lobster Tail as an appetizer. The portion size was perfect.
Eggplant Parmigiana. We have had this a few times on the ship, and it was the best yet. It was very tasty and the sauce was not overpowering.
Keith also had a salad and then the two of us had one of the additional entrees which was Swordfish but we did not get a photo of the entree. The size of this was also nice. It was served on top of some spinach gnocchi and was topped with some mixed greens. It was delicious.
The executive chef of Prego, Christian, came out to the table and we thanked him for preparing an extraordinary meal. Christian just came back from Holiday for the start of the World Cruise.
We did sleep well as we sailed for the Panama Canal. Keith's spin class from earlier in the afternoon probably helped him to easily fall asleep as it was a fairly demanding class.
Keith woke up early and enjoyed his workout in the Fitness Center.
Afterwards, he went to the Lido Cafe for some coffee. The Cafe was much busier then normal as many guests were already up early since today we transited the Panama Canal. Keith spoke with a few of the guests.
He also spoke with Lido Deck Steward, Michael, who will begin his holiday tomorrow afternoon.
Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck.
After our walk we had breakfast in our room. We had breakfast a little earlier then usual since Anne Marie had a hair appointment for 8:00 AM this morning.
At 9:00 AM, there was another Spin Class which Keith took.
We have transited the Panama Canal several times and always find it to be fascinating. Since we have transited it many times we mixed viewing the canal with other activities on the ship. Often people will view the canal for just the first hour forgetting that there is still much to see the rest of the day so we chose to view it at different times of the day.
As we transited the Canal, Edgar Paulk, an official Panama Canal narrator spoke about the history and the geography of both the region and the canal. Some fun facts that were noted in the daily program:
- Workers came from 97 countries to work on the Canal.
- The island of Barbados supplied the most workers.
- The maximum draft of the Panama Canal is 39.5 feet and the draft of the Serenity is 24.6 feet.
- The most common commodity moving through the Canal is grain.
- The United States is the biggest user of the Canal.
-It takes 52 millions gallons of water to transit a ship.
First photo is from the port side of the ship at around 6:15 AM.
This photo was taken around 7:00 AM.
To the left of our Butler Rao, Jonathan.
Some of the workers hitching a ride.
On the right, Ian, the ships Photo Manager with one of the other photographers taking photos of the Crystal Serenity on land.
Cables have been tied to the Crystal Serenity.
Crew Area.
Later in the morning, Keith took another Spin (indoor cycling class) while Anne Marie was get a cut in the Salon. Only three people took the class today partly because some likely wanted to spend the time enjoying the transit of the Canal while others were likely a little tired from yesterday afternoons class.
Keith also met up with a fellow guest who is also taking the iMovie Class to compare notes on what we have learned.
There were also other activities taking place. One of these was a lecture given by Dr. Jay Wolff about Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. We caught the talk on the television later in the day.
We had lunch in the Lido Cafe where we also could enjoy the views of the Canal from the ship.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie walked for an hour. As each hour passed, it was getting hotter outside. Anne Marie also took the Yoga Class and Keith met with our good friend Bob.
This evening we will dine in the Crystal Dining Room and tomorrow we have a private tour of Panama City which we booked through Crystal Cruises both of which we will Blog about tomorrow.
French night is one of the more popular dinner menus so Prego was less crowded then it has been on other nights.
As we mentioned yesterday, we had organized last nights dinner at Prego. We invited friends Bill and Sandra and Jim and Judy who we first sailed with on the 2007 World Cruise and Lynn and Buddy who we first met on the 2011 World Cruise. The last time we sailed with Jim and Judy was in 2008 so it's nice to sail with them again and it was very nice for Lynn, Buddy, Jim and Judy to meet one another.
Clockwise Anne Marie, Bill, Sandra, Buddy, Lynn, Jim, Judy and Keith.
We had spoken with Prego Head Waiter, Mario, the other day and ordered a couple of special appetizer items for this evening since we were dining with a larger group.
One of the items included Eggplant Parmigiana.
We also had Grilled Shrimp and Lobster Tail as an appetizer. The portion size was perfect.
Eggplant Parmigiana. We have had this a few times on the ship, and it was the best yet. It was very tasty and the sauce was not overpowering.
Keith also had a salad and then the two of us had one of the additional entrees which was Swordfish but we did not get a photo of the entree. The size of this was also nice. It was served on top of some spinach gnocchi and was topped with some mixed greens. It was delicious.
The executive chef of Prego, Christian, came out to the table and we thanked him for preparing an extraordinary meal. Christian just came back from Holiday for the start of the World Cruise.
We did sleep well as we sailed for the Panama Canal. Keith's spin class from earlier in the afternoon probably helped him to easily fall asleep as it was a fairly demanding class.
Keith woke up early and enjoyed his workout in the Fitness Center.
Afterwards, he went to the Lido Cafe for some coffee. The Cafe was much busier then normal as many guests were already up early since today we transited the Panama Canal. Keith spoke with a few of the guests.
He also spoke with Lido Deck Steward, Michael, who will begin his holiday tomorrow afternoon.
Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck.
After our walk we had breakfast in our room. We had breakfast a little earlier then usual since Anne Marie had a hair appointment for 8:00 AM this morning.
At 9:00 AM, there was another Spin Class which Keith took.
We have transited the Panama Canal several times and always find it to be fascinating. Since we have transited it many times we mixed viewing the canal with other activities on the ship. Often people will view the canal for just the first hour forgetting that there is still much to see the rest of the day so we chose to view it at different times of the day.
As we transited the Canal, Edgar Paulk, an official Panama Canal narrator spoke about the history and the geography of both the region and the canal. Some fun facts that were noted in the daily program:
- Workers came from 97 countries to work on the Canal.
- The island of Barbados supplied the most workers.
- The maximum draft of the Panama Canal is 39.5 feet and the draft of the Serenity is 24.6 feet.
- The most common commodity moving through the Canal is grain.
- The United States is the biggest user of the Canal.
-It takes 52 millions gallons of water to transit a ship.
First photo is from the port side of the ship at around 6:15 AM.
This photo was taken around 7:00 AM.
To the left of our Butler Rao, Jonathan.
Some of the workers hitching a ride.
On the right, Ian, the ships Photo Manager with one of the other photographers taking photos of the Crystal Serenity on land.
Cables have been tied to the Crystal Serenity.
Crew Area.
Later in the morning, Keith took another Spin (indoor cycling class) while Anne Marie was get a cut in the Salon. Only three people took the class today partly because some likely wanted to spend the time enjoying the transit of the Canal while others were likely a little tired from yesterday afternoons class.
Keith also met up with a fellow guest who is also taking the iMovie Class to compare notes on what we have learned.
There were also other activities taking place. One of these was a lecture given by Dr. Jay Wolff about Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. We caught the talk on the television later in the day.
We had lunch in the Lido Cafe where we also could enjoy the views of the Canal from the ship.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie walked for an hour. As each hour passed, it was getting hotter outside. Anne Marie also took the Yoga Class and Keith met with our good friend Bob.
This evening we will dine in the Crystal Dining Room and tomorrow we have a private tour of Panama City which we booked through Crystal Cruises both of which we will Blog about tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE
DAY............
Keith and Anne Marie
Keith and Anne Marie
Keith--your photos captured the Panama Canal as though we were with you! They tell the story as it is and are just the best shots. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy the adventure once again. Rosemary and Lee
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith & Anne Marie, love the teal formal duds--great pix.
ReplyDelete