A Look At What Is Happening Today:
Final Day In Buenos Aires ✔ Dinner At Crystal Dining Room ✔
We wanted to begin with a few more photos from yesterday.
This is a small chapel that is at the entrance way to the Recoleta.
This is a new feature at the office that is also located near the entranceway of the Recoleta. A family who has a Mausoleum at Recoleta made a donation about a year ago so that all of the manual records could be added to a computer system. One can now go to a computer terminal and either type in the name of a person who they are looking for the location of the Mausoleum or they could do a search. For example, they could search under several different categories such as politician or artist to find a list of people and then search from there to find what they are looking for.
Old and New. Until recently the Mausoleum on the right side looked like the one to its left which was in disarray. Often, repairs are needed to the older Mausoleum's or a major facelift.
As you walk around the Recoleta you get the feeling that this is a city to remember the dead.
The Mausoleum's range from some that are very simple to others that tell the life story of some of the deceased.
Before dinner last night we walked around the ship. We ran into some guests who just boarded in Buenos Aires yesterday. There will be a net increase of about 150 guests on this third segment of the World Cruise.
While we were sitting at a spot on the Lido Deck, Jamie Brown, who is responsible for Crystal Cruises On Board Guest Services Group and the Quality Assurance Program saw us and we welcomed Jamie on board the ship. Jamie boarded the ship today and will be on for this segment of the World Cruise. We have known Jamie for several years as she served in two capacities on board the ship; Crystal Society Hostess and On Board Booking Consultant before moving to her current position in Los Angeles. We have dinner plans with Jamie for tomorrow evening. She also introduce us to the person responsible for Technical Services on board both Crystal Ships who is on board for the next few days as one of his responsibilities includes the upcoming work that will be done when the Crystal Serenity is in dry-dock this coming November for a couple of weeks.
Although we did not dine in the Crystal Dining Room these were the dinner menus from last evening. The theme of the dinner menu was Bon Voyage.
Since we had another overnight last evening, a local show was brought on board. This is the Entertainment Program from last evening.
Once or twice a World Cruise we have dinner in our room and that is exactly what we did last evening. For us, last night was Pizza, Beer and Movie night as we enjoyed watching a movie in our room along with Pizza and Beer.
We each began with a nice salad.
We had the La Fin Du Monde Beer which is also known as "end of the world".
Rao brought our next course which was Pizza.
Keith had the "all inclusive" pizza.
Anne Marie enjoyed the cheese pizza.
For dessert, Anne Marie had some Gelato and Keith had Popcorn.
We really enjoyed the meal and it was nice to enjoy a movie and to make it "Pizza Night".
We slept very well last evening as we remained docked in Buenos Aires.
Keith was back up bright and early and began his day in the Fitness Center with a good workout on the Elliptical Machine. He followed this up with weight lifting. There were many more people up early at the Fitness Center with some of them having just joined the ship. Possibly they were there earlier due to jet lag and/or early shore excursions.
Afterwards, Keith enjoyed coffee in the Lido Cafe as he read and wrote. Two Lido Deck Stewards, Nat and Benjamin rotated back over to the Cafe from other areas of the Lido Deck while Liebert, Ray and Darwin will remain in the Cafe for this 12 day voyage.
Lido Deck Steward - Nat
Lido Deck Steward - Liebert
Lido Deck Steward - Benjamin
A short while later Anne Marie walked for one hour and then we had breakfast back in the room.
With two days of touring along with the wonderful shore side event, we decided not to go back into the city for a third consecutive day. Rather, in the morning we took the shuttle from the ship over to the Cruise Ship terminal and browsed the stores that are located there.
Before we did that we went down to the Crystal Plaza and Anne Marie did some needlepoint and Keith followed up on a couple of items and then we both spoke with some fellow guests and crew.
As mentioned, we then took the cruise ship terminal over to the cruise terminal to walk around that area where some stores were located. On our way back to the terminal we were the only guests on that terminal. The terminal where we were is not connected to where we are docked so for all three days the shuttle has to get out to the main road and drive about one-half miles to get to another port entrance to enter that area. All of a sudden there was a traffic jam and we could see smoke coming from the entrance. As it turned out there were people trying to block the area, and they had lit on fire several different tires that were blocking traffic and the area. There were a lot of police there but not sure what if anything they were doing. The good news is that our shuttle bus maneuvered around all of this although it seemed to come within inches of one of the tires burning and Anne Marie could see us being on the news should the bus have hit the tire. Good news is we made it into the entrance and within a minute or two were back on board the ship.
Keith worked out after we got back and Anne Marie took care of some items around the room.
We had lunch in the Lido Cafe and each made another one of those wonderful salad entrees we enjoy for lunch.
In the afternoon, Keith played Paddle Tennis for a couple of hours. The weather was on the warmer side but that was great. It as nice to play Paddle Tennis without the gusty winds, nor the rain, nor the cool temperatures.
Anne Marie walked for another hour, worked on needle point and enjoyed the afternoon.
Today the ship remained docked in Buenos Aires until our planned departure of 6:00 PM.
We have enjoyed our time in Buenos Aires. It is a beautiful city that we enjoy very much including the passion and kindness of the people, the beauty of the architecture, as well as the customs and traditions of this city and the country.
As a tourist there are some items to be aware of and even some of them apply to those who live their based on what we learned over our time here. This includes being very careful when being out and about in this city when it comes to crime. This means be aware of your surroundings as you walk the city and/or go place to place. Leave valuables on the ship and this is one of those cities where we did not take our best camera with us and Keith wore a travel wallet around his neck. Also, if needing a taxi be careful which taxi you use and often it is better to have someone such as at a Hotel or Restaurant call a taxi for you. We want to note that we would recommend being careful in many other places around the world including areas in our own country but just wanted to note this.
The change that we did see from a few years ago relates to the black market for United States currency. In certain tourist areas such as Florida Avenue on every street corner there are people offering to exchange Pesos for USA currency at 7 Pesos for 1 USA dollar versus the official rate of 5 Pesos for 1 USA dollar. Evidently, this started when the Argentina Government put in some regulations with respect to exchange rates and who could accept USA dollars and how the exchange rates would work. We do not profess to know all of the particulars and in the end people have to decide what they want to do but we would not advise exchanging money on the streets and dealing in the black market for many reasons. This includes our belief in not supporting a black market but also who is to say that the money you are receiving is not counterfeit and who is to say that someone is not waiting to then rob you. We certainly want no part in all of this.
Later this afternoon we will attend another Quality Assurance Program where our feedback will be solicited using the remote hand held devices.
Before dinner this evening we will attend the mandatory muster (lifeboat drill). This one is mandatory for not only those guests who embarked the ship in Buenos Aires but for all guests.
Afterwards, we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.
This evening we will set the clocks forward one hour as we will be sailing back to Montevideo.
We wanted to begin with a few more photos from yesterday.
This is a small chapel that is at the entrance way to the Recoleta.
This is a new feature at the office that is also located near the entranceway of the Recoleta. A family who has a Mausoleum at Recoleta made a donation about a year ago so that all of the manual records could be added to a computer system. One can now go to a computer terminal and either type in the name of a person who they are looking for the location of the Mausoleum or they could do a search. For example, they could search under several different categories such as politician or artist to find a list of people and then search from there to find what they are looking for.
Old and New. Until recently the Mausoleum on the right side looked like the one to its left which was in disarray. Often, repairs are needed to the older Mausoleum's or a major facelift.
As you walk around the Recoleta you get the feeling that this is a city to remember the dead.
The Mausoleum's range from some that are very simple to others that tell the life story of some of the deceased.
Before dinner last night we walked around the ship. We ran into some guests who just boarded in Buenos Aires yesterday. There will be a net increase of about 150 guests on this third segment of the World Cruise.
While we were sitting at a spot on the Lido Deck, Jamie Brown, who is responsible for Crystal Cruises On Board Guest Services Group and the Quality Assurance Program saw us and we welcomed Jamie on board the ship. Jamie boarded the ship today and will be on for this segment of the World Cruise. We have known Jamie for several years as she served in two capacities on board the ship; Crystal Society Hostess and On Board Booking Consultant before moving to her current position in Los Angeles. We have dinner plans with Jamie for tomorrow evening. She also introduce us to the person responsible for Technical Services on board both Crystal Ships who is on board for the next few days as one of his responsibilities includes the upcoming work that will be done when the Crystal Serenity is in dry-dock this coming November for a couple of weeks.
Although we did not dine in the Crystal Dining Room these were the dinner menus from last evening. The theme of the dinner menu was Bon Voyage.
Since we had another overnight last evening, a local show was brought on board. This is the Entertainment Program from last evening.
Once or twice a World Cruise we have dinner in our room and that is exactly what we did last evening. For us, last night was Pizza, Beer and Movie night as we enjoyed watching a movie in our room along with Pizza and Beer.
We each began with a nice salad.
We had the La Fin Du Monde Beer which is also known as "end of the world".
Rao brought our next course which was Pizza.
Keith had the "all inclusive" pizza.
Anne Marie enjoyed the cheese pizza.
For dessert, Anne Marie had some Gelato and Keith had Popcorn.
We really enjoyed the meal and it was nice to enjoy a movie and to make it "Pizza Night".
We slept very well last evening as we remained docked in Buenos Aires.
Keith was back up bright and early and began his day in the Fitness Center with a good workout on the Elliptical Machine. He followed this up with weight lifting. There were many more people up early at the Fitness Center with some of them having just joined the ship. Possibly they were there earlier due to jet lag and/or early shore excursions.
Afterwards, Keith enjoyed coffee in the Lido Cafe as he read and wrote. Two Lido Deck Stewards, Nat and Benjamin rotated back over to the Cafe from other areas of the Lido Deck while Liebert, Ray and Darwin will remain in the Cafe for this 12 day voyage.
Lido Deck Steward - Nat
Lido Deck Steward - Liebert
Lido Deck Steward - Benjamin
A short while later Anne Marie walked for one hour and then we had breakfast back in the room.
With two days of touring along with the wonderful shore side event, we decided not to go back into the city for a third consecutive day. Rather, in the morning we took the shuttle from the ship over to the Cruise Ship terminal and browsed the stores that are located there.
As mentioned, we then took the cruise ship terminal over to the cruise terminal to walk around that area where some stores were located. On our way back to the terminal we were the only guests on that terminal. The terminal where we were is not connected to where we are docked so for all three days the shuttle has to get out to the main road and drive about one-half miles to get to another port entrance to enter that area. All of a sudden there was a traffic jam and we could see smoke coming from the entrance. As it turned out there were people trying to block the area, and they had lit on fire several different tires that were blocking traffic and the area. There were a lot of police there but not sure what if anything they were doing. The good news is that our shuttle bus maneuvered around all of this although it seemed to come within inches of one of the tires burning and Anne Marie could see us being on the news should the bus have hit the tire. Good news is we made it into the entrance and within a minute or two were back on board the ship.
Keith worked out after we got back and Anne Marie took care of some items around the room.
We had lunch in the Lido Cafe and each made another one of those wonderful salad entrees we enjoy for lunch.
In the afternoon, Keith played Paddle Tennis for a couple of hours. The weather was on the warmer side but that was great. It as nice to play Paddle Tennis without the gusty winds, nor the rain, nor the cool temperatures.
Anne Marie walked for another hour, worked on needle point and enjoyed the afternoon.
Today the ship remained docked in Buenos Aires until our planned departure of 6:00 PM.
We have enjoyed our time in Buenos Aires. It is a beautiful city that we enjoy very much including the passion and kindness of the people, the beauty of the architecture, as well as the customs and traditions of this city and the country.
As a tourist there are some items to be aware of and even some of them apply to those who live their based on what we learned over our time here. This includes being very careful when being out and about in this city when it comes to crime. This means be aware of your surroundings as you walk the city and/or go place to place. Leave valuables on the ship and this is one of those cities where we did not take our best camera with us and Keith wore a travel wallet around his neck. Also, if needing a taxi be careful which taxi you use and often it is better to have someone such as at a Hotel or Restaurant call a taxi for you. We want to note that we would recommend being careful in many other places around the world including areas in our own country but just wanted to note this.
The change that we did see from a few years ago relates to the black market for United States currency. In certain tourist areas such as Florida Avenue on every street corner there are people offering to exchange Pesos for USA currency at 7 Pesos for 1 USA dollar versus the official rate of 5 Pesos for 1 USA dollar. Evidently, this started when the Argentina Government put in some regulations with respect to exchange rates and who could accept USA dollars and how the exchange rates would work. We do not profess to know all of the particulars and in the end people have to decide what they want to do but we would not advise exchanging money on the streets and dealing in the black market for many reasons. This includes our belief in not supporting a black market but also who is to say that the money you are receiving is not counterfeit and who is to say that someone is not waiting to then rob you. We certainly want no part in all of this.
Later this afternoon we will attend another Quality Assurance Program where our feedback will be solicited using the remote hand held devices.
Before dinner this evening we will attend the mandatory muster (lifeboat drill). This one is mandatory for not only those guests who embarked the ship in Buenos Aires but for all guests.
Afterwards, we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.
This evening we will set the clocks forward one hour as we will be sailing back to Montevideo.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of
happiness.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Keith and Anne Marie
Interested to hear, what movie did you watch?
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, I appreciate the effort and time you put into your blog and pictures. I look forward to reading it every day.
The picture of the La Fin Du Monde Beer brought back memories of our Antarctic Discovery Cruise on the Symphony in 2011.
ReplyDeleteYour daily blog is amazing and helps us get through the throes of our late winter this year. It also has inspired us to book the 2015 World Cruise on the Serenity. We are so excited! Thanks!