WELCOME TO KEY WEST, FLORIDA - DAY 92

A Look At What Is Happening Today:

Second Visit To Key West Of The World Cruise✔  Attend World Cruise Video✔  Dinner At The Crystal Dining Room✔ End Of World Cruise 2013 World Cruise Countdown Balloon Drop✔

We had an absolutely wonderful time on the ship last evening.

It began when we attended Captain Okland's Farewell Reception. For us, this was the final farewell reception of this wonderful World Cruise Adventure.  We thanked Captain Okland, Hotel Director Josef, World Cruise Hostess Elise and Cruise Director Gary for making this an outstanding World Cruise as we went through the reception line.

Anne Marie with Assistant Cruise Director Scott Mitchel before we entered the Palm Court where the Receptions are held.

With Crystal Society Hostess Jaque Brown after we entered the Palm Court.

With Hotel Director Josef after we spoke with Captain Okland on the receiving line.

With Lido Deck Steward Rey.

With Four of the Lido Deck Stewards.  Left of Anne Marie Rozzano, and to the right of Anne Marie, Lido Deck Stewards Ross, Martin and Nat.

Afterwards, we spoke with good friends John and Linda in the Crystal Plaza and we also had some photographs taken of us by the one of the ships photographers.

We then dined at the Crystal Dining Room.

These are the dinner menus from last night and the theme of the dinner was the Captain's Gala Dinner.

Our dinner guest was World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy.  Elise first sailed on the 2011 World Cruise as the Pilates Instructor.   In 2012, she was the World Cruise Hostess and again has been the World Cruise Hostess for the 2013 World Cruise.  We really appreciate all that she does to enhance the overall experience of the World Cruise and she has been absolutely outstanding.

A couple of photos with Elise before in the Crystal Plaza shortly before we walked into the Crystal Dining Room for dinner.

For our first course, Keith and Elise had Tuna Tartare which Head Waiter Augusto made for us and Anne Marie had Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail.

For our second course, Keith had his standing order salad and Anne Marie and Elise had the Captain's Salad. Keith's Standing Order Salad.

All thee of us had the Broiled South African Rock Lobster Tail for our entree.  It was very tasty.  

For dessert, Anne Marie and Elise had the sugar-free Rhubarb Cheese Cake and Keith had mixed berries.

After dinner we attended an evening performance that has become a tradition of the World Cruise.   It is the Serenity Pops and they presented "That's Opera".The show was absolutely outstanding.  There were 29 musicians in the orchestra, and several dancers and vocalists.  It doesn't get any better then this and this is a performance that we will remember for the rest of our lives.  Crystal flew in several people from Miami to Barbados to join the ship.  The musicians included the current string quartet that has been performing on the ship plus the string quartet who will be performing when the current group goes on holiday.

The planning of this event begins long before the start of the World Cruise and then throughout the World Cruise the concert is put together.  Galaxy Orchestra Band Leader Raphael Derkson takes the lead to pull this together and works tirelessly to make this an outstanding concert and he is assisted by so many other talented performers.

The concert included the Galaxy Orchestra, The Bellissimo String Quartet, The Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers, Curtis and Beverly, The World Cruise Choir, Land Based Musicians brought on board for this concert, and is led under the Baton of Maestro Bret Bullock who is Vice President of Crystal Cruises Entertainment Department.

There were so many familiar songs that were played wonderfully by the very talented and very professional musicians which included outstanding dancing, singing along with truly amazing choreography.  Songs included The Flower Duet, A Brindisi, Queen of the Night, Phantom of the Opera Medley, The Prayer, Habanera and the Great Italian Medley.

Throughout the show continuing to the end of the show we said Bravo...Bravo.....Bravo......

Dancers Beverly and Curtis in the following two photos.

Lead Singers Mike Harris and Julia Goretsky

Vice President of Crystal Cruises Entertainment Bret Bullock who was the Conductor.

Four of the Crystal Ensemble Singers and Dancers.

Some of the musicians.

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Lead Male Vocalist, Mike Harris.

At the conclusion of the performance. 

Keep in mind that shortly after the show we attended was performed they gave a second performance after that.

Special thanks to the entire Crystal Cruises Entertainment team and to all of the performers and to Bandmaster Rapheal Derkson who oversees the development of this show and works tirelessly to make this the most memorable and entertaining show possible.  There were songs that Rapheal rearranged the songs such as Carmen.  First it was sung the traditional way and then Karen Jeffrey's sang it with a modern take on it.

When we arrived back to our room, there was a final letter from World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy to the World Cruise Family.  She highlighted not only all of the events that have taken place during the World Cruise, but the two for today; The Farewell Balloon Drop and the World Cruise Farewell Balloon Drop.

After a busy day and evening, we both slept very well as we sailed to Key West.

Keith woke early and worked out for the last time on this World Cruise.  He did a shorter workout so that he had time to get all of the workout gear into the Laundry.

After enjoying his workout and changing, he stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee. He spoke with the Lido Deck Stewards who have taken such great care of us.

He brought back coffee for Anne Marie and afterwards she walked for an hour.

We enjoyed breakfast in our room and then we got ready for our final full day on the Crystal Serenity.

We attended the mandatory immigration inspection with the United States Customs and Border Protection Control.  As part of this inspection we each needed our respective passport and stateroom key card.  At the conclusion of this inspection our key/identification card was punched in order to signify to the Custom and Border Protection personnel stationed at the gangway of the ship that we had gone through this inspection. The entire process was very well organized and took about five minutes.

Afterwards, we walked around Key West which was our second visit to Key West during this World Cruise.  This time around we actually went to areas of Key West that we have not walked on prior trips since often we are going to very specific places such as the Harry S. Truman Little White House or the Hemingway House.  During the course of our walk we ran into several people whom we know so well including John, Bob and Glo, Ken and Lynne, Mike and Sandy Jim and BJ, Elise and several other fellow guests. The weather was a delight and it was nice not only be docked in port but not have other cruise ships in port with us as well.


St. Paul's Episcopal Church built in 1832.

We walked along a board walk by the Marina which extended for quite a bit.

On our return back to the ship we saw Band Leader Rapheal Derkson whom as we mentioned oversaw the development of last evening's show.  We told him how much we enjoyed the show.  We agreed that this was a Crystal Cruises type of performance between the song, dance and music.  It was superb.

When we returned back to the ship, we had lunch at the Lido Cafe.  This was our last lunch of this World Cruise and we have enjoyed each of them. We have been taken very good care of by the wonderful Lido Deck Stewards and the wait staff from Prego, Silk Road and those from the Crystal Dining Room that work this dining venue.

In the afternoon, we did more packing and took care of errands around the ship.

Anne Marie walked for close to one hour on the ship.  Keith went off again to walk around Key West.  The weather was exceptional and maybe some of the best weather we have had.  Keith spoke with some guests and also he chatted with Father Will.

Keith walked over to the Aquarium.

He then walked back into town.

On his way back, he took photos of the art work we admired when we were here in January.

Keith took a few additional photos of the beautiful Crystal Serenity.

This evening we will be dining in the Crystal Dining Room.

Afterwards, we will attend the 2013 World Cruise Countdown.

We've enjoyed a glorious day in Key West and back on the Crystal Serenity.

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

“The Constitution does not just protect those whose views we share; it also protects those with whose views we disagree.“ –Ted Kennedy

Keith and Anne Marie

EN ROUTE TO KEY WEST, FLORIDA - DAY 91

A Look At What Is Happening Today:

Several Enrichment Activities ✔  Captain's Farewell Reception ✔  Formal Evening & Dinner At Crystal Dining Room ✔ Serenity POPs Evening Concert ✔

Before dinner last evening we stopped by the Avenue Saloon for a drink and then we also stopped by the Photo Shop.

Although we did not dine at the Crystal Dining Room last evening, these are the dinner menus.

We dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant, with Thomas Mazloum, Crystal Cruises Senior Vice President of Operations.  Thomas' responsibilities are significant and include both the operations and hotel side for the Crystal fleet, port operations, along with several other departments based in Crystal Cruises Corporate Headquarters in Los Angeles.  

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and an equally wonderful conversation with Thomas Mazloum.  We appreciate Thomas taking the time to dine with us.

We did not take photos of the dinner so we will just describe what we had.

Our Waiter for the Evening was Pedja and she was fantastic.  

She described the two additional entrees for the evening and we ended up having both of them; one as an appetizer and the other as our entree.

For our appetizer we had an appetizer portion of the Pasta additional entree which was "home cooked" Pasta accompanied by a very tasty sauce.  It was absolutely delicious.

For our next course we each had a salad with Keith having his standard order salad and Anne Marie having a Caesar Salad.

When Pedja told us the name of the additional seafood entree (can't remember the name) we said what as we had never heard of it.  Then she said it was similar to Mahi Mahi and we said wonderful.  That is exactly what we ordered and it was wonderful.  The fish was cooked perfectly and the items that accompanied it added to its overall favor.  Keith also had a side order of grilled vegetables which he always enjoys.

All in all it was a wonderful evening and we really appreciate Thomas taking time out of his busy schedule to dine with us.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, Thomas was interviewed on the Daily Morning Show by Cruise Director Gary Hunter and World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy.  One of the items that Thomas announced was the itinerary for World Cruise 2016.

Highlights of the Cruise include:

Sailing Round Trip From/To San Francisco.

102 Day World Cruise.

Full World Cruise Gala on-board the Crystal Serenity with an overnight stay in San Francisco to kickoff the cruise.

Visits to several Pacific Ocean Islands on the first segment of the World Cruise several of which Crystal Cruises has not visited for approximately twenty years.

Two Overnights in Sydney.

Overnight in Bali, Indonesia and Port Kelang Malaysia and several stops in Malaysia.

Overnight in Hong Kong.  Two overnight in Shanghai and for the first time segments will end in and begin in Shanghai.

Two overnights in Beijing.

Several stops in Japan and the plan is to actually port in Tokyo.  Visits to Japan during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Cruising not only Glacier Bay but also Cruising Hubbard Glacier.

Preferred docking locations have already been secured in Sydney and Hong Kong.

This looks to be another exciting World Cruise.

This listing shows the details of the preliminary World Cruise 2016 Itinerary.

We slept very well last evening as we continued to sail to Key West, Florida.  The seas were relatively calm and we find it very easy to fall asleep on the ship.

As usual, Keith was up very early and back to the Fitness Center.  He enjoyed a wonderful workout and worked out on the Elliptical Machine and also lifted weights. He caught up on both the news and sports.

After he changed he had coffee at the Lido Cafe.  He was helped by Lido Deck Steward Ross. Before he left he spoke with friend Linda for a little while.

Afterwards, he brought back coffee for Anne Marie.  Anne Marie walked for an hour in the morning as she always does.

Just like clockwork, Rao brought us breakfast a couple of minutes before we watched the Daily Morning Show.  This was the last Daily Morning Show of the World Cruise.

World Cruise Hostess and Cruise Director Gary Hunter enjoying a nice laugh.

Gary presented Elise with an award.

During the show, they showed a video that Arnie one of the technicians had made with some recaps from the World Cruise.

There were several activities on todays' schedule.

There were two lectures.

The first was given by Retired General Tony Zinni and the topic was the MIddle East Peace Process.  We wanted to mention how much we have enjoyed General Zinni's talks.  He has shared a lot of information with us and does it in a very easy to understand manner and we have learned many items that we were not aware of.  He also is able to share both sides of many items which in these days where some prefer to see things from one perspective only depending on their politics we find this refreshing.

The afternoon lecture was given by Dr. John McMichan who spoke about the heart.  His talk included living with coronary artery disease and we can be done to lessen its effects and what help is available.  This is the third time we have sailed with Dr. McMichan we also have very much enjoyed his talks.  He is able to convey a good deal of information and to do this in a manner that is so very easy to understand.  We have learned a great deal from him on several medical topics.

With the World Cruise coming to an end there have been several final classes/activities.  For example, yesterday some of the writings were read out loud from the Memoir Writing Class.  The other night before dinner, the World Cruise Choir sang their final songs of the cruise.  This morning art from this segment of the World Cruise was on display as part of the Odyssey Art at Sea Class.  We visited the display and it was amazing how many items were on display and the quality of all of them.

We continued to pack today as we prepare for this adventure to come to a close on Sunday.

Mid-morning Keith also visited with several friends and crew members.  He spoke with one of the members of the enrichment team who began to get choked up and teary eyed.  Last year, this hit Keith on the last full day of the cruise when they showed the World Cruise Video and he teared up. 

We met good friends Allan and Helen for lunch  As we mentioned in an earlier Blog following post, we first met Allan and Helen on a 2004 Trans-Atlantic Cruise on-board the Crystal Symphony as they were table mates with friends Joan and Mac who we met on a pre-cruise tour the morning of the day we embarked the Crystal Symphony.  Since that cruise, we corresponded with Allan and Helen from home and we have sailed with them on several cruises and we value their friendship.  We had tried to get together for another dinner but we were running out of nights to dine so we were glad that the four of us could get together for lunch at the Crystal Dining Room.

Anne Marie with Helen a few minutes before we went to lunch.

Seated in the Crystal Dining Room with friends Helen and Helen before we ordered lunch.

We both had the Cobb Salad which is the salad we have when we board the ship.  This salad has lots of ingredients including a variety of diced items including Chicken Breast, Avocado, Tomato, Kernel Corn, Green Beans, Yellow Squash, Blue Cheese, Boiled Egg and both Romaine and Iceberg Lettuce.  The salad is a favorite of ours and it is very  flavorful with all of the ingredients. This was one of the items that was featured at the Lido Cafe as well, as today's buffet featured several American Specialties.

We had a terrific conversation with Allan and Helen and never ran out of items to discuss.  We look forward to sailing together again and next time.

This afternoon Keith met up with friend Bob and afterwards read and wrote.  Anne Marie walked for about 30 minutes (she didn't have time for the full one hour walk given what time we finished lunch) and then afterwards attended afternoon Yoga.

This evening we will attend the Captain's Farewell Reception and for us this does represent the final reception of this adventure.

We will be back in the Crystal Dining Room for dinner and afterwards we will attend an evening program which has become one of the traditions of a Crystal Cruises World Cruise.  The evening program is the Serenity Pop's who present "That's Opera.  We will post all about this tomorrow.

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


“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – Epictetus

Keith and Anne Marie

EN ROUTE TO KEY WEST, FLORIDA - DAY 90

A Look At What Is Happening Today:

A Fun Day At Sea ✔  Dinner At Prego ✔  

Before dinner last evening, we met with iMovie Instructors Kerry Millerick and Dina Sterr who wanted to get a copy of the movie that Keith had made as part of the iMovie Class during the first segment of the World Cruise.  It was a pleasure to see them and to give them a copy. Dina also gave us a preview of a movie she made using only photos with the Ken Burns effect.

Afterwards, we had photos taken of us outside on the AFT (back) of the ship.  These are called Ocean View Photos that are taken by the ship Photographers on selected evenings of each cruise.  This is the second time we have had them taken outside and we hope they came out well.  

Last evening was informal night on the ship.  Before dinner we sat in the Crystal Plaza for about 30 minutes.

These are the dinner menus from last evening.

It was nice to be back in the Crystal Dining Room after being away for a couple of nights.  The dining room was fairly busy.

We not only had a wonderful meal but we had a fun time with the wait staff.  Speaking of wait staff, a few weeks ago we learned that our Waiter, Christoff, was being promoted to work at the Reception Desk.  He will start this new assignment after he returns from Holiday.  Over the year we have seen many crew members go from the dining room and also from the position of a stewardess to many other positions of increasing responsibilities.  These first time positions serve them very well as an introduction to Crystal Cruises.  We are very happy for him.

We began the meal with salads.  Anne Marie had the same standing order salad as Keith did.

Head Waiter Augusto made our entree.  It is made with Penne Pasta, Red Tomato Sauce, Lobster, Oregano, Olive Oil and White Wine.  Augusto made them both first and then after he placed Anne Marie's on her plate, he added some additional spices to Keith's entree.  It was delicious and it is an outstanding entree.    It was so very tasty and we just loved the taste of the entree.  Augusto stopped by several times to check up on us and we told him how much we enjoyed this entree.  Like the other Head Waiters, he has a terrific memory and he was saying that he knew that in 2011 we didn't have any of the Pasta entrees in the dining room, and it was in 2012 that if he was making the Pasta for another table that if there was some extra Pasta we would try an appetizer size portion of the Pasta.  This year we've had some type of Pasta entree a few times so we are "branching" out.  

For dessert, Keith had mixed berries and Anne Marie had a Sugar Free Mocha Cream Puff. She gave Keith half of it and we both agreed that you just can't tell it is sugar-free.  Of course, sugar free still means calories but it is a nice alternative and is certainly a very tasty dessert.

We each had wine.  Our Sommelier Jiri had gotten wine from Prego which is the Beinero red wine.  Jiri has tried to vary the wines that he has served us throughout the cruise and we leave it up to him to select them for us.  Anne Marie enjoyed a Chardonnay Wine from California.

We spoke with Maitre d' Leo for awhile and it was nice to catch up with him.

The other day on the tender we met a very nice couple who are traveling with their son and daughter who we believer are around 7 and 9 years young respectively.  They are a very nice family and this is their 12th Crystal Cruises Cruise.  They were on board for one of the segments of last years World Cruise as well.   The children are very well behaved.  Yesterday, was their son's birthday and they celebrated in the Crystal Dining Room.  For us, it was very touching and brings back fond memories of cruises we took when our children were of young ages.   They had Golf Pro John Clark and his lovely wife Pauline join them for dinner, along with the Librarian, the Librarian's husband and the Florist.  The birthday boy had a birthday hat on and when it came time for the birthday cake to be served around ten members of the dining room team, including head waiters Augusto and Tall Peter, sang Happy Birthday to him.  It was all very touching and the ships photographer was present to take photos of the celebration.  These photos will serve especially as a reminder for the children as they get older.

We slept very well last evening as we sailed towards Key West.  The seas were relatively calm.

Keith woke fairly early and enjoyed another good workout at the Fitness Center.  While he worked out on the Elliptical Machine he caught up with the news and watched part of the Miami Heat National Basketball Association game from last evening as well as highlights of that game when their winning streak came to an end.

As he does each day, after he changed he had coffee at the Lido Cafe.  He spoke with friend Linda for awhile. The Lido Deck Stewards took good care of him.  Afterwards, he brought coffee back to the room for Anne Marie.

Anne Marie walked for an hour before it was time for breakfast.  Just like clockwork, there was a knock at the door and it was Rao with our breakfast.  

We watched the Daily Morning Show as we had the breakfast.  Cruise Director Gary Hunter and World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy opened up the show with some information about today and our upcoming arrival to Key West where each passengers will meet with immigration and then they asked a trivia question where they showed part of an actors face and you needed to figure out who the actor was.  At the time they asked the question they also said that guests were welcome to call to mention what they thought about the World Cruise and any of the highlights they cared to mention.  A few guests called and then Keith called.  It wasn't until a few calls later that someone correctly identified the actor.  

As they did with each guest who called into the showGary and Elise asked Keith what he enjoyed most about the World Cruise and Keith took the opportunity to say that this has been another wonderful World Cruise and he thanked Gary, Elise, Hotel Director Josef, and the entire Crystal Serenity Crew for making this another outstanding World Cruise.  Keith also mentioned that one of the highlights was sailing the Amazon River and that it is amazing that we could have sailed so far up the river.  Gary mentioned that when he gets home he will be looking at our Blog and commented about the photos and thoughts on the Blog.  Elise mentioned that her parents keep up with the travels with the Blog.  

Today is the second of three consecutive sea days as we sail to Key West.

As a reminder that the World Cruise is coming to a close, we picked up our Passports at the Front Desk in the morning. This is the first time we have seen our Passports since we boarded the ship on January 4.  In addition, late yesterday we received our travel document information for disembarkation from the ship on Sunday morning after we arrive to Miami, Florida. Rather then do it all at the last minute, we continued to do some packing (Anne Marie is the mastermind of all of this) and have much of our items packed other then what we need for the next few days.

There were a couple of very good lectures on today's program.   The first lecture was given by Tom Faranda and he covered China and his ten year predictions for both China and Asia.  The other lecture was given by Photographer Neil Leifer who is best known for all of his photographs that appeared in Sports Illustrated, Time and Life Magazines.  This time he shared with us the photographs that he took on the part of this segment of the World Cruise that he sailed on and what was interesting is that he took all of these fabulous photographs using just a point-and-shoot camera.

Keith also managed to get in another workout in the Fitness Center before lunch and Anne Marie did some additional packing.

We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe today.  Tomorrow, we will be dining at the Crystal Dining Room with good friends Allan and Helen.  

After lunch, Keith had hoped to play Paddle Tennis but the was some wind and it was overcast so no one turned out.  Maybe, some are packing too.  Keith ended up going back to the Fitness Center for the third and final time of the day.

At the same time, Anne Marie walked for another hour.

Shortly after her walk, Anne Marie took another afternoon Yoga Class which is taught by Yoga instructor Maria Kita.  Keith met up with friend Bob and a few other fellow guests.

This evening we will be dining at Prego and will post more about this tomorrow.

The entertainment for this evening features a LatinClassical Concert with Violeta Barrenna on the Violin and Dimitris Dekavallas on the Guitar.

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


“He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.” – Confucius

Keith and Anne Marie