WELCOME TO TORTOLA - DAY 10

A Look At What Is Happening Today:

Enjoyed A Wonderful Dinner With Cruise Director Rick Spath and Assistant Cruise Director Scott Mitchel ✔  Enjoyed The Production Show Rocket Man✔  Visited Our First Port Of Call Of This Cruise Tortalo  ✔ 

We enjoyed a wonderful evening on the ship last night.

Evening Attire: Informal

We dined in the Crystal Dining Room with Cruise Director Rick Spath and Assistant Cruise Director Scott Mitchel.  It was so very nice of Rick and Scott to join us.

These are the dinner menus from last evening in the Crystal Dining Room.

The Head Sommelier had recommended that we ask Jiri our Sommelier for the Quinta da Revolta, Reserva, Douro Valley, Portugal 2009 red wine which is one of the wines on the inclusive list and Keith really enjoyed the wine.  Anne Marie had the Santa Rita Chardonnay as she normally prefers white wine.

We had special ordered most of the items with our Head Waiter Igor.  

We began the meal with a Caesar Salad that Igor made for us table-side.

The salad was perfect.  The dressing was not overpowering so you tasted the flavor of the salad, croutons and the cheese.

Our next course was a pasta that Igor also prepared for us. Igor had recommended the type of pasta along with the sauce and it was very tasty.    

Our entree featured a Chateaubriand which was prepared medium rare, was tender and very tasty.  It was was accompanied by vegetables.

For dessert Anne Marie had a sugar free cheese cake and Keith tried some.  This was another sugar free dessert that was very tasty and one would never know it is sugar free.

We enjoyed the company of Rick and Scott for close to two hours and had a terrific time with both of them.

Shortly after dinner, we attended the Production Show titled Rocket Man, starring Jonathan Kane.  This show featured many of the songs made famous by Elton John.  The Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers were also part of the show.  The music was terrific and the show was very upbeat.  This show rolled out shortly after last years World Cruise and this was our first time seeing it.  We loved it as we do enjoy Elton John and if you closed your eyes it was easy to imagine you were at a concert featuring Elton John.  Jonathan Kane also looked very much like Elton John on the stage.  It was very well done.  We think this is a wonderful addition to the evening program.  

When we got back to the room the dresses, pants and men's sports jacket that we had altered earlier in the day were all in the room. It is amazing how quick all of this was done for us.

We enjoyed another good night sleep and the gentle rocking of the ship makes it so very easy for us to fall asleep.

Keith was up bright and early and began his day as he always does in the Fitness Center.  He put in a nice workout.  He was able to catch up with some new programs as well as catch the last half of a movie that he had not yet seen before.

Afterwards, he stopped by the Lido Cafe to enjoy some coffee and he continued reading a book on his Kindle.  He also brought back a cup for Anne Marie which in the carry out cup you see on the table.  

Anne Marie took a long walk on the Promenade Deck.  We enjoyed our breakfast in the room and then got ready for the first port of call on this adventure which was our visit to Tortola of the British Virgin Islands.  This is our first visit to Tortola.  

The size of this island is about 26 square miles with a population of around 25,000 inhabitants.  The port is located just a few minutes from the downtown area.  

Tortola is known for its beautiful beaches having some of the nicest beaches in all of the world.

There was one other ship docked in port called the AIDAluna which we are not familiar with.  We were told it is part of a German Cruise Line.

Originally, we did have a shore excursion booked which was a trek but we decided to pass on this one.  The good news is that there was a wait list for this excursion so two other people were able to take this tour.  On this first 12 day voyage we do not have any excursions booked.  Many involve activities such as snorkeling which we do not do.  On the World Cruise we have a substantial number of Crystal Cruises Shore Excursions booked as well as some private tours.

We first walked around the town and stopped off in one of the shops that was recommended because all of the items sold there are actually made in the Caribbean.  We took the advice that Cruise Director Rick Spath gave at the end of the show last night and that was to go out onto the island and away from the town to see the beauty of this island.  Rick was absolutely correct because the charm is getting several miles from town.

We then spoke with one of the agents near the pier  and arranged for a private tour to take us  to several key areas of the island including some mountains so that we could get pretty views of the island, and over to a couple of beaches.

Our tour guide was named Billy The Kid; a very popular Caribbean name.  He did a very nice job answering all of our questions.  There are 23 islands that comprise the British Virgin Islands.  Major jobs are in tourism, banking and fishing and agriculture.  Rum is also made here and they have a fair amount of cattle.  According to "The Kid" anyone who wants a job can work.  A few choose to be lazy and do not work.  

This was one of the views we had from Belle View Mountain.  The  ship in the front is the other ship that was docked with us and you can see the nose of the Crystal Serenity behind that ship.

Please keep in mind it was hazy today due to dust from an active volcano that is about 200 miles from this island.

During our drive we passed a mural that had several drawings describing life on the island.  These are two of those drawings. We drove very slowly and "The Kid" gave us the history of each painting and they are about real people who lived in this town.

Some of the pretty and lush landscape of this island.

The Crystal Serenity is on the right side.  You can see the haze.

A view of one of the beaches.

Our drive included many pretty views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and we got out of the vehicle several times.  The Caribbean Sea looked fairy calm while the Atlantic Ocean looked to have some rough seas.  We could see St. Thomas and St. John from certain vantage points on the island.

Between November and May is the cruise ship season for visitors to this island.  They limit the number of ships visiting at once to two ships.  They receive around 5 to 7 ships a day in contrast to certain islands that can receive that many in one single day.

The locals who we spoke with were extremely polite and courteous  and in many ways reminded us of the kindness we have been shown on previous visits to Bermuda.  

"The Kid" even drove us to his house and he pointed to the other nearby homes where his parents, grand parents and other siblings live.

Ferries are provided to take locals between the British Virgin Islands and there is no charge for their use.  You can also take a ferry to other Islands such as St. Thomas where he said many locals go for shopping.

We had a very nice time and the weather temperature was perfect.

We had lunch outside at the Lido Cafe.  It was actually a little windy but it was very nice to sit outside.  We spoke with several of the Lido Deck Stewards.

By the start of the World Cruise many of the crew members will be getting new uniforms.  Some are already wearing them.  This photo shows the new uniform that Nat who is one of the Lido Deck Stewards is wearing for the position he is performing for this voyage.  The Lido Deck Steward rotate between one of four areas every one or two voyages. Silk Road Head Waiter Sigi who also manages this area of the Lido Cafe with Head Waiter Mario of Prego is on the right with Nat. During this voyage Nat is taking and serving drink orders.

In the afternoon, Keith played tennis and Anne Marie was able to walk for another hour.  One of the people Keith played with was on one of the legs of last years World Cruise.

This evening we will have friends Ricki and David to our room for pre-dinner canapés and champagne and we will dine together in Silk Road.  Following dinner we will attend a party that Crystal Cruises is hosting for members from Cruise Critic who are on board the ship  We will post all about this tomorrow.

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

“Word’s may show a man’s wit but action his meaning.” -  Benjamin Franklin

Keith and Anne Marie