WELCOME TO ST. BARTH'S - DAY 14

A Look At What Is Happening Today:

All Day In Port At St Barth's ✔  Lunch With World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy ✔ A Leisurely Afternoon On The Ship ✔  Dinner  ✔ Dinner With Rick, David, Dave and Gary ✔

Before dinner last evening, we went to the Avenue Saloon to enjoy a glass of wine.

We also stopped by the Vintage Room to meet with the Head Sommelier Bart for a few minutes.

Afterwards, we stopped by the photo studio to purchase a couple of photos which included a photo taken before boarding the ship and also one with the Captain at the Captain's Welcome Reception.

We then dined at the Crystal Dining Room and the theme of the dinner was French Night.

When you arrive to the dining room each place setting includes a charger plate as part of French Night.

The evening attire was informal around the ship.

We enjoyed a couple of special items that Head Waiter, Igor, arranged for us.  We asked Igor to make us a Caesar Salad since we enjoyed it so much when he made it for us the other night.  

Having the salad prepared table side is a very nice touch and one that you do not experience too often at a land based anymore.  While Igor was preparing the salad, we talked with him about a wide range of topics.  While we have had Igor before as a Head Waiter we had not realized he started on the Crystal Serenity during her inaugural voyage in 1993.  We also spoke about his days on the Crystal Symphony and some of the staff that is on that ship today who we all know so very well.

The final result was a perfectly prepared Caesar Salad.  It was very tasty and as was the case the other evening we really enjoyed the taste of the dressing as it did not overpower the salad.

We then had Veal Scaloppini with pasta which Igor had special ordered for us.  It was also accompanied by a brown sauce.  We also had a side order of vegetables which were mainly asparagus and brussel sprouts which are not shown in this photo.  

For dessert Keith had mixed berries and Anne Marie had a sugar free Vanilla Profiteroles with Fudge Sauce.  She enjoyed this dessert.  Keith did have some dessert later in the evening which was a couple of the delicious rainbow cookies that friends Ricki and David had given to Keith.

Following dinner we attended the Crystal Society Party.  Once you complete your first Crystal Cruise you automatically become a Crystal Society Member. With many first time Crystal Cruisers on this sailing and approximately 580 Crystal Society Members there was one party rather then two at 7:45 PM.  This was perfect as the turnout worked great for one party.  

This party is in recognition of those guests who have sailed Crystal Cruises.

We walked through the receiving line and we were greeted by the Crystal Society Hostess Jaque Brown and the Captain.  We chatted and posed for a photo.  We then spoke with the Hotel Director.  As we made our way further into the room we saw friends Ricki and David and we went with them and another couple.

As part of last evenings recognition Jaque Brown made three presentations recognizing people with over 100 sailings with Crystal Cruises.  This included one woman who sails often on both the Symphony and the Serenity.  A couple who we know very well was also recognized.  A woman who we sat with last year at the World Cruise Gala that was held on board the ship was recognized.  Her name is Joy and when she was introduced and as she didn't just walk to the stage but literally danced her way to the front where Jaque was standing with a gentlemen.  After her presentation they danced back to where she had been sitting.  What is truly remarkable is that she is 98 years "young".

Jaque also recognized a few people celebrating milestones and we were one of them.

(Crystal Soceity Hostess Jaque Brown Introducing Some Guests Celebrating Major Milestones)

(Cruise Director Rick Spath Making Some Opening Remarks)

After the reception, we chatted for about fifteen minutes with Jaque Brown and with the Head Of Housekeeping, Elena.

We were fairly tired from staying up late the night before so we didn't attend the evening production show.  Instead, we went back to our room and we got in a little extra sleep before it was time to begin another wonderful day on board the Crystal Serenity.

Keith was up early and back in the Fitness Center for his early morning workout.  After his workout, Anne Marie also walked the Promenade Deck for an hour.  We had breakfast in the room and got ready for our visit to St. Barth's.

St. Barth's is located to the southeast of St. Maarten.  

St. Barth's is a relatively small island with a population of under 10,000 people.  Tourism also drives the economy of St. Barth's.

We took the first tender over to the Island.  The tender was bumpy as we got on and off of it at the ships tender pier and at the tender pier in town, but it was much less of a challenge then yesterday.

The crew stood at the entrance ready to assist guests getting into the tender.

A view of the Crystal Serenity shortly after our tender pulled away.  You can see the area where the tender ships are located.  

The ride over to the Island took a little over ten minutes.  We enjoyed the scenery as we approached the island.  We saw lots of Yachts, and beautiful scenery.

St. Barth's is definitely a place for the rich and famous.  If you visit some of their beautiful beaches you will likely see someone famous.  It has some very nice looking yachts, and high end stores.

As we have done in other ports we utilized the map provided to us so that we could visit some of the attractions of the area.

As we walked it was very clear that this town is very French.  Many of the signs for stores and cafes as well as other signage was in French and several of the people we met spoke French but also good English.

It was also very French with dogs not on leashes and we also had to be very careful that we didn't step in anything as we walked which is another sign of very French.

We had to be very careful as we walked as the width of the streets was not wide.  Thankfully most cars were relatively small.  Some streets were flat while others were inclined.

We passed several cafes where both locals and tourists were enjoying breakfast and/or beverage.

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the scenery.  There were times when we walked by the water.  We saw some very interesting looking trees.

We also took in the beautiful scenery.

We visited the Stone Anglican Church.  It is a relatively small church inside. The church dates to 1855.

We visited the museum which is called the Musee Municipal de Saint-Barth.  It includes history related to the French, Swedish and British periods of occupation and items are very nicely displayed.

We also visited the Town Hall which is located inside this Hotel.

This is a view of the Crystal Serenity from the Island.

During the course of our walk we also stopped and looked into some of the stores.  We found the locals to be very friendly.

This is not your typical Caribbean Island and one that is just very relaxing to walk and so very beautiful. We were the only cruise ship visiting here for part of the day which also made it quite nice.  Later in the day, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator arrived and anchored.

It would be a nice place to visit for those who want to enjoy a nice quiet time on land at a beautiful island in the Caribbean.

Shortly before lunch we were able to talk with our daughter, Jennifer, and 16 month old (well young) grand son Andre via Facetime which was great.  Crystal Society Hostess Jacque Brown, Cruise Director Rick Spath, and Friend Ricki were able to talk with Jennifer and see Andre as they passed by while we were on Facetime.  

We met World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy for lunch at the Crystal Dining Room.  Elise arrived to the ship yesterday to prepare for the upcoming World Cruise.  Towards the end of this voyage she will fly to Miami to attend the World Cruise Gala and then will join the ship again the following morning for the start of the World Cruise.  It was great to continue our conversation with Elise as we had not seen her since the end of World Cruise 2012.  We look forward to sharing this wonderful experience with her.

In the afternoon, Keith was able to play several games of Paddle Tennis for over two hours.   There are about 8 to 10 fellow guests who  have been up to the courts along with Keith on a regular basis and Keith has enjoyed playing with them.  It's a very nice/congenial group of guests.  The good news is that unlike the past few days none of the games were interrupted due to rain.  It was nice and sunny all day.

Anne Marie was able to get in another nice long walk on the Promenade Deck.  While Anne Marie is walking she is listing to audio books that we placed on her iPhone before the start of this voyage.

This evening we are having friends Ricki, David, Dave and Gary over to our room for some pre-dinner champagne and canapés and then the six of us will dine in Prego.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” - Mother Teresa

Keith and Anne Marie