A Look At What Is Happening Today:
Enjoyed A Great Day In Grand Turk ✔
Before dinner last evening we listened to pianist Thomas Daniels and we chatted with him for a little while. We have been fortunate to have been on sailing with Tom from time to time on both ships and enjoy listening to him play the piano.
This photo was taken in the Crystal Plaza which is adjacent to the Crystal Cove where Thomas was playing the piano.
Last evening we had a great time at dinner as we were back in the Crystal Dining Room. The theme for the dinner was the Captain's Gala Dinner and this was the second and final formal night of this 12 day cruise. These were the menus.
We were joined for dinner by Cruise Director, Rick Spath. We had a great time and really appreciate Rick taking time from his busy schedule to join us for dinner.
We each had the Lobster Tails for our entree. They were very tasty and you would never know they were previously frozen.
For dessert it was a sugar-free swan dessert for Anne Marie
For Keith it was fruit. Our Senior Waiter Jijo ended up bringing three types of mixed berries for Keith and he enjoyed them all.
Before we left, we let Jijo and Head Waiter Igor know that we won't be at the Dining Room this evening as we are going to dinner with friends and reminded them that tomorrow evening we won't be there either since we will be attending the on board World Cruise Gala dinner. We will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for the start of the World Cruise.
After dinner, we attended the Captain's final party of this cruise. Two parties were held last evening with the first one being held at 5:15 PM and the second one being held at 7:45 PM.
We walked through the receiving line and we were first greeted by Captain Birger Vorland and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque Brown. Hotel Director Josef Lumetsberger and Cruise Director Rick Spath were also greeted us.
The party was well attended and we stayed with Ricki and David and Activities Hostess Urara Kakada.
Captain Birger spoke for a couple of minutes noting the speed in which the cruise has gone by and wished those leaving the ship in Miami very safe travels and also noted that the crew looks forward to welcoming the guests back on future cruises with Crystal Cruises.
The captain also recognized the Crystal Serenity Employee of the month. The employee has been with Crystal Cruises for approximately 14 years. As Employee of the month, the crew member received a certificate signed by the Captain and Vice Captain, a congratulatory letter from, Greg Michel, President of Crystal Cruises, a gift certificate for the shops, dinner at one of the specialty restaurants for two, and a monetary award. Once a year, an employee is also recognized as the employee of the year of the Crystal Serenity and the same awards are given out on the Crystal Symphony.
Anne Marie with Ricki and Urara Kakada.
When we arrived back to our room, the stewardess had set our television to the channel showing that we should move our clocks back one hour as we are sailing into a new time zone and she had our roommates all settled down for the evening.
We slept well as we sailed to Grand Turk.
Keith was up early and by now you know what he did. Yes, he worked out at the Fitness Center and a short while later Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck.
Given the time zone change the Lido Cafe was not as busy as Keith had expected with only a couple of guests there. Since it was quiet, Keith had time to chat with Lido Deck Stewards Max, Rozano and Benjamin and also with Head Waiter Sigi.
On his return back to the room, he chatted with a member of the night crew. For those of you who followed our blog last year, this was the crew member who sometimes assisted Keith with creamer for his coffee last year. This member of the crew will be going home after the ship arrives to Miami after being on the ship for eight months. The good news is that he will have four months off before he returned to the ship in May.
We enjoyed breakfast in our room a little earlier then usual since we were arriving at Grand Turk at 8:00 AM.
This is our third visit to Grand Turk. We first visited this island in January of 2010 when our children and son and daughter in law accompanied us on a cruise before the start of the 2010 World Cruise and we were here again a little over one year ago. When we last visited the island we took a private tour around the island to visit several of its sites. It was very chilly during our first visit and last year as well as this time around the weather was very nice.
One the other end of the Island is this Light House.
Relatively close to the Light House is a former United States Naval Facility which was established in 1954 and later closed and turned over to the local government in 1980.
This is a replica of the Friendship 7 Space Capsule which carried Astronaut John Glenn and was launched on February 20, 1962 and landed in the water off Grand Turk.
Grand Turk is part of TUrks and Caicos which consist of a group of 30 islands of which six are inhabited. This island is six miles in length and at its widest point only 1 mile wide.
It is a very pretty island. At the cruise ship dock is a beautiful beach where many people spend the day. There is also a nice set of stores which were built by one of the other cruise lines and then leased out to the various stores.
We were off the ship early. One other cruise ship, Carnival Freedom was in port with us.
As you walk from the Gangway, you walk up the pier with the two cruise ships on each side of the pier.
There are several nice areas along the beach with lots of lounge chairs. At first no one was on the beach but as the morning unfolded several cruise ship passengers occupied the chairs to enjoy the beach area.
As you walk the beach area there is an area set up for Volleyball.
There is some nice foliage near the beach.
We ventured outside the port and walked for awhile on a sidewalk along the beach area. There is a place where you can rent 4x4's, golf carts and bicycles. As we made it back to the port, we stopped off at several of the stores at the port. They range from your typical jewelry stores such as Diamonds International to Effy Jewelers. We also walked into some one of a kind stores. There is also a large swimming pool and other places such as a Margaritaville. In many ways the area next the cruise ship terminal is similar to those private islands that some cruise lines share.
After we arrived back on ship we took care of a few items. We enjoyed lunch in the Lido Cafe. With such nice weather we sat outside.
In the afternoon, Keith played paddle tennis for close to four hours. There have been a really nice group of guests on this cruise who play tennis and many of them played today. Anne Marie took a nice walk and also got together with Ricki and David.
This is the last port-of-call on this 12 day voyage.
This evening we have several get-togethers plus dinner and we will post all about that tomorrow.
Before dinner last evening we listened to pianist Thomas Daniels and we chatted with him for a little while. We have been fortunate to have been on sailing with Tom from time to time on both ships and enjoy listening to him play the piano.
This photo was taken in the Crystal Plaza which is adjacent to the Crystal Cove where Thomas was playing the piano.
Last evening we had a great time at dinner as we were back in the Crystal Dining Room. The theme for the dinner was the Captain's Gala Dinner and this was the second and final formal night of this 12 day cruise. These were the menus.
We were joined for dinner by Cruise Director, Rick Spath. We had a great time and really appreciate Rick taking time from his busy schedule to join us for dinner.
We each began our meal with oxtail soup and then we each had a salad. Keith had his standing order salad and Anne Marie had the Captain's Salad.
We each had the Lobster Tails for our entree. They were very tasty and you would never know they were previously frozen.
For dessert it was a sugar-free swan dessert for Anne Marie
After dinner, we attended the Captain's final party of this cruise. Two parties were held last evening with the first one being held at 5:15 PM and the second one being held at 7:45 PM.
We walked through the receiving line and we were first greeted by Captain Birger Vorland and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque Brown. Hotel Director Josef Lumetsberger and Cruise Director Rick Spath were also greeted us.
The party was well attended and we stayed with Ricki and David and Activities Hostess Urara Kakada.
Captain Birger spoke for a couple of minutes noting the speed in which the cruise has gone by and wished those leaving the ship in Miami very safe travels and also noted that the crew looks forward to welcoming the guests back on future cruises with Crystal Cruises.
The captain also recognized the Crystal Serenity Employee of the month. The employee has been with Crystal Cruises for approximately 14 years. As Employee of the month, the crew member received a certificate signed by the Captain and Vice Captain, a congratulatory letter from, Greg Michel, President of Crystal Cruises, a gift certificate for the shops, dinner at one of the specialty restaurants for two, and a monetary award. Once a year, an employee is also recognized as the employee of the year of the Crystal Serenity and the same awards are given out on the Crystal Symphony.
Anne Marie with Ricki and Urara Kakada.
When we arrived back to our room, the stewardess had set our television to the channel showing that we should move our clocks back one hour as we are sailing into a new time zone and she had our roommates all settled down for the evening.
Keith was up early and by now you know what he did. Yes, he worked out at the Fitness Center and a short while later Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck.
Given the time zone change the Lido Cafe was not as busy as Keith had expected with only a couple of guests there. Since it was quiet, Keith had time to chat with Lido Deck Stewards Max, Rozano and Benjamin and also with Head Waiter Sigi.
On his return back to the room, he chatted with a member of the night crew. For those of you who followed our blog last year, this was the crew member who sometimes assisted Keith with creamer for his coffee last year. This member of the crew will be going home after the ship arrives to Miami after being on the ship for eight months. The good news is that he will have four months off before he returned to the ship in May.
We enjoyed breakfast in our room a little earlier then usual since we were arriving at Grand Turk at 8:00 AM.
This is our third visit to Grand Turk. We first visited this island in January of 2010 when our children and son and daughter in law accompanied us on a cruise before the start of the 2010 World Cruise and we were here again a little over one year ago. When we last visited the island we took a private tour around the island to visit several of its sites. It was very chilly during our first visit and last year as well as this time around the weather was very nice.
One the other end of the Island is this Light House.
Relatively close to the Light House is a former United States Naval Facility which was established in 1954 and later closed and turned over to the local government in 1980.
This is a replica of the Friendship 7 Space Capsule which carried Astronaut John Glenn and was launched on February 20, 1962 and landed in the water off Grand Turk.
Grand Turk is part of TUrks and Caicos which consist of a group of 30 islands of which six are inhabited. This island is six miles in length and at its widest point only 1 mile wide.
It is a very pretty island. At the cruise ship dock is a beautiful beach where many people spend the day. There is also a nice set of stores which were built by one of the other cruise lines and then leased out to the various stores.
We were off the ship early. One other cruise ship, Carnival Freedom was in port with us.
As you walk from the Gangway, you walk up the pier with the two cruise ships on each side of the pier.
There are several nice areas along the beach with lots of lounge chairs. At first no one was on the beach but as the morning unfolded several cruise ship passengers occupied the chairs to enjoy the beach area.
As you walk the beach area there is an area set up for Volleyball.
There is some nice foliage near the beach.
We ventured outside the port and walked for awhile on a sidewalk along the beach area. There is a place where you can rent 4x4's, golf carts and bicycles. As we made it back to the port, we stopped off at several of the stores at the port. They range from your typical jewelry stores such as Diamonds International to Effy Jewelers. We also walked into some one of a kind stores. There is also a large swimming pool and other places such as a Margaritaville. In many ways the area next the cruise ship terminal is similar to those private islands that some cruise lines share.
After we arrived back on ship we took care of a few items. We enjoyed lunch in the Lido Cafe. With such nice weather we sat outside.
In the afternoon, Keith played paddle tennis for close to four hours. There have been a really nice group of guests on this cruise who play tennis and many of them played today. Anne Marie took a nice walk and also got together with Ricki and David.
This is the last port-of-call on this 12 day voyage.
This evening we have several get-togethers plus dinner and we will post all about that tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............
“Face your deficiencies and
acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach your patience,
sweetness, and insight.” - Helen Keller
Keith and Anne Marie
Keith and Anne Marie,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thank you so much for sharing your journey and I do appreciate the details you share about the ports of call and on board events.
Your formal attire always appears flawless and the blue gown Anne Marie wore the Captains Gala formal night dinner is just exquisite. Is there a cleaning service on board that can handle evening gowns or perhaps steam them (material dependent of course) if required or just necessary from the packing? I do pack my own dresses in plastic when I travel which works for the most part. Do you use any particular packing methods to keep your gowns looking their best, because they definitley look amazing!!!
Thank you for taking questions.
Ann
I love mom's dress and gold clutch. So pretty!
ReplyDelete