A Look At What Is Happening Today:
Enjoyed Our Day At St. Maarten ✔ A Fun Afternoon On The Serenity ✔ Exclusive Vintage Room Dinner This Evening ✔
Although we dined in Prego last evening, these are the menus from the Crystal Dining Room.
Enjoyed Our Day At St. Maarten ✔ A Fun Afternoon On The Serenity ✔ Exclusive Vintage Room Dinner This Evening ✔
Although we dined in Prego last evening, these are the menus from the Crystal Dining Room.
Before dinner, we had friends, Ricki and David and Dave and Gary to our room for pre-dinner Canapés and Champagne. Rao organized all of this for us. We enjoyed caviar, a mixed seafood tray of lobster, shrimp and crab, vegetables, pigs 'n a blanket, and a couple of other items. It was a great way to begin the evening.
Anne Marie with Rao.
This is the selection of items for the six of us to enjoy.
From L-R Anne Marie, Gary, and Dave
From L-R David, Gary, Dave, Ricki, with Keith and Anne Marie
All six of us then walked over to the Prego Specialty Restaurant to have a very nice Italian dinner.
From L-R Standing (Mario Head Waiter Prego, Dave, David, Gary and Keith) Seated Anne Marie and Keith)
From L-R Standing (Specialty Restaurant Maitre d', Mario, Head Waiter Prego, Dave, Keith and David) Seated Anne Marie and Ricki)
We both had the Caesar Salad.
We each had one of the two additional entrees. This was a swordfish with a dark pasta. The swordfish was cooked just right and the dark pasta really went well with it. The pesto and the lemon sauce added a lot of flavor to the entree.
We had a wonderful evening with Ricki, David, Dave and Gary. We never ran out of conversation and it was so nice to be together with everyone. It was a great evening.
Originally the itinerary called for the Serenity to stay anchored of St. Barth's until close midnight. However, with very little distance between St. Barth's and our next Port Of Call in St. Maarten the Captain informed all of the guest that we would sail at 5:00 AM.
Keith ran a little late getting started this morning. He still managed to get in a 90 minute workout on the elliptical machine. By the time he left, friend John began his workout and for about a minute all of the Elliptical Machines were occupied which was a first at that time of the morning.
An example of the high level of service and the attention to detail happened at the Lido Cafe this morning. Keith arrived to the Lido Cafe about fifteen minutes later then he has been arriving since boarding the ship since he also got the laundry started. When he arrived he noticed that the table where he has been sitting had a napkin opened up on the table just the way Keith lays it out where he puts his reading glasses and iPad. There was also creamer set out in the spot that Keith normally lays it out. One of the Lido Deck Stewards, Rozano, had noticed that Keith was not yet there and put this out for him. With so many guests who go to the Lido Cafe each and everyday this is just one of so many examples of attention to detail and high levels of service that are performed each and everyday by the crew of this ship.
Anne Marie also walked on the Promenade Deck for one hour and then we had breakfast in our room as we got ready for today's visit to St. Maarten. Today, marks our sixth consecutive port day.
Before going ashore Keith ran into Crystal Dining Room Maitre d' Leo Assmair. They chatted for a minute or two. Leo just arrived to the ship and is using the next few days to prepare for the start of the World Cruise. Presently, Mario Gallo is the Maitre d' for the Crystal Dining Room until the end of this voyage. Mario will be back on the Crystal Symphony about a week after this voyage ends.
It has been well over fifteen years since we last visited St. Maarten and that was before all of the damage that it suffered as a result of a hurricane which led to the destruction of some of the area near the pier and in other places of the island.
Anne Marie with Rao.
This is the selection of items for the six of us to enjoy.
From L-R Anne Marie, Gary, and Dave
From L-R David, Gary, Dave, Ricki, with Keith and Anne Marie
All six of us then walked over to the Prego Specialty Restaurant to have a very nice Italian dinner.
From L-R Standing (Mario Head Waiter Prego, Dave, David, Gary and Keith) Seated Anne Marie and Keith)
From L-R Standing (Specialty Restaurant Maitre d', Mario, Head Waiter Prego, Dave, Keith and David) Seated Anne Marie and Ricki)
We both had the Caesar Salad.
We each had one of the two additional entrees. This was a swordfish with a dark pasta. The swordfish was cooked just right and the dark pasta really went well with it. The pesto and the lemon sauce added a lot of flavor to the entree.
Keith had a fruit plate for dessert and Anne Marie had a Gelato.
Originally the itinerary called for the Serenity to stay anchored of St. Barth's until close midnight. However, with very little distance between St. Barth's and our next Port Of Call in St. Maarten the Captain informed all of the guest that we would sail at 5:00 AM.
Keith ran a little late getting started this morning. He still managed to get in a 90 minute workout on the elliptical machine. By the time he left, friend John began his workout and for about a minute all of the Elliptical Machines were occupied which was a first at that time of the morning.
An example of the high level of service and the attention to detail happened at the Lido Cafe this morning. Keith arrived to the Lido Cafe about fifteen minutes later then he has been arriving since boarding the ship since he also got the laundry started. When he arrived he noticed that the table where he has been sitting had a napkin opened up on the table just the way Keith lays it out where he puts his reading glasses and iPad. There was also creamer set out in the spot that Keith normally lays it out. One of the Lido Deck Stewards, Rozano, had noticed that Keith was not yet there and put this out for him. With so many guests who go to the Lido Cafe each and everyday this is just one of so many examples of attention to detail and high levels of service that are performed each and everyday by the crew of this ship.
Anne Marie also walked on the Promenade Deck for one hour and then we had breakfast in our room as we got ready for today's visit to St. Maarten. Today, marks our sixth consecutive port day.
Before going ashore Keith ran into Crystal Dining Room Maitre d' Leo Assmair. They chatted for a minute or two. Leo just arrived to the ship and is using the next few days to prepare for the start of the World Cruise. Presently, Mario Gallo is the Maitre d' for the Crystal Dining Room until the end of this voyage. Mario will be back on the Crystal Symphony about a week after this voyage ends.
It has been well over fifteen years since we last visited St. Maarten and that was before all of the damage that it suffered as a result of a hurricane which led to the destruction of some of the area near the pier and in other places of the island.
A portion of the Island is under the sovereignty of France with
the remainder of the Island under the sovereignty of the Netherlands. The major economic driver for this
Island is indeed tourism.
We went into town shortly after the ship was cleared this morning. It is about a five minute walk from the gangway to the area near the cruise ship terminal which has some small shops. From there your option is to take a water taxi into town, or a taxi by road or to take about a 15 minute walk. We chose to walk. When we first arrived into town many of the shops were closed but a few minutes later most shops began to open.
For those who know what they want in the way of goods such as electronics and jewelry shopping here can be quite good. For items such as designer jewelry you can save around 5 to 15 percent depending on what you purchase and the amount you are spending. Again, the key is to know what you want and to know prices that you can purchase the same items at home. We did look in some shops and the sales people were very helpful and not pushy as you sometimes find in other ports of call or other places around the world.
We walked around for about two hours before starting to walk back to the ship. As we walked back to the ship we saw many familiar people including guests as well as crew who had some time off.
The weather was quite good with sunny skies. It was on the humid side though making it seem quite a bit hotter then it really was.
There were three other ships in port. Next to us was the Carnival Victory which was also with us in St. Lucia. There was also the Wind Surf and the Star Clipper.
This is a photo of a portion of the main downtown street earlier in the morning.
This is a side street off the main street in the downtown area.
We walked along the beach for a little while. It was quite sunny and picturesque and the water was very blue and very clear.
Anne Marie enjoying a light hearted moment.
We walked by the Courthouse which was first constructed in 1793 and also a Church.
As we completed our walk, we returned home to the Crystal Serenity.
We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe. It was not very busy so we spoke with several of the staff who work this area.
Although it was quite humid, Keith still managed to get in a lot of Paddle Tennis in the afternoon and Anne Marie walked for awhile. Keith played with several guests who he has played with before and it is really a nice group of people who are playing. Everyone is having fun and no one is taking it too seriously.
We went into town shortly after the ship was cleared this morning. It is about a five minute walk from the gangway to the area near the cruise ship terminal which has some small shops. From there your option is to take a water taxi into town, or a taxi by road or to take about a 15 minute walk. We chose to walk. When we first arrived into town many of the shops were closed but a few minutes later most shops began to open.
For those who know what they want in the way of goods such as electronics and jewelry shopping here can be quite good. For items such as designer jewelry you can save around 5 to 15 percent depending on what you purchase and the amount you are spending. Again, the key is to know what you want and to know prices that you can purchase the same items at home. We did look in some shops and the sales people were very helpful and not pushy as you sometimes find in other ports of call or other places around the world.
We walked around for about two hours before starting to walk back to the ship. As we walked back to the ship we saw many familiar people including guests as well as crew who had some time off.
The weather was quite good with sunny skies. It was on the humid side though making it seem quite a bit hotter then it really was.
There were three other ships in port. Next to us was the Carnival Victory which was also with us in St. Lucia. There was also the Wind Surf and the Star Clipper.
This is a photo of a portion of the main downtown street earlier in the morning.
This is a side street off the main street in the downtown area.
We walked along the beach for a little while. It was quite sunny and picturesque and the water was very blue and very clear.
Anne Marie enjoying a light hearted moment.
We walked by the Courthouse which was first constructed in 1793 and also a Church.
As we completed our walk, we returned home to the Crystal Serenity.
We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe. It was not very busy so we spoke with several of the staff who work this area.
Although it was quite humid, Keith still managed to get in a lot of Paddle Tennis in the afternoon and Anne Marie walked for awhile. Keith played with several guests who he has played with before and it is really a nice group of people who are playing. Everyone is having fun and no one is taking it too seriously.
This evening we are participating in an Exclusive Vintage Room experience. We will post about this tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” -
George Eliot
Keith and Anne Marie
I am really enjoying your blog this year. I especially lie the Q and A section. Many of the questions are exactly what I want to ask. Than you so much for separating it all out and answering each questions. I can't believe that you haven't started the WC yet. Any idea how many full World Cruisers there will be?
ReplyDeleteLove mom's black dress too. Dad you need to hand over the camera more so you can be in more pictures! ;)
ReplyDelete