Our Day In Moorea

Today our adventure continued with our first visit to Morrea, French Polynesia. We woke early with great anticipation of the beauty that we would see during our first visit to this tropical island.

We began our day as we normally do with a very nice workout in the Fitness Center. Keith worked out the entire time on the elliptical machine while Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. The Fitness Center was not very crowded since we were arriving fairly early in the morning. Since many passengers were booked on a variety of shore excursions beginning as early as 8:00 AM they needed to have an early breakfast in order to be ready for these excursions. For a good portion of our workout there were only four of us in the fitness center; both of us along with Mary and John. A few other passengers arrived a little bit later before we finished our workout.

After our workout, we enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the Lido Café. We had a beautiful view of the ocean as we sat at our table. The Lido Café was fairly crowded since many passengers were enjoying an early breakfast before the start of the tours. We sat with another couple who we know well and a solo traveler joined us midway through our meal.

We spoke with some of the members of the Crystal Staff, as we were finishing up our breakfast including Bruno who is the headwaiter of Prego and Sigi who is the junior headwaiter in Silk Road. Bruno reminded us that he is holding some of that fish for us that we enjoyed on two evenings during the first segment of the cruise. While it has been deep frozen, he recommends that we have it soon so we will be sure to have it on our next visit to Prego on the upcoming segment of the cruise. We also spoke with all of our favorite Lido Deck Stewards. They are all wonderful. During the next segment of the cruise this team will rotate to another area of the Lido Deck and another new team will move over to the café. In all, there are three teams of Lido Deck Stewards who rotate between one of three areas on the Lido Deck. They are all indeed wonderful. We have a belief that in the end it is the people who make any business successful and this clearly applies to our cruising experiences with Crystal. We love the ship, and all of the other aspects of the cruise from the outstanding food to the outstanding activities but in the end it is the wonderful Crystal staff each of the Crystal Ships who we have all come to adore that makes cruising with Crystal a memorable and extraordinary experience. How they remember our names and many of our food and drink preferences is amazing. As an example, each morning that we arrive in the Lido Café they know exactly what type of coffee each of us prefers. They are truly amazing and we sincerely appreciate all that they do for us.

This was our first visit to the Island of Moorea. Moorea is a beautiful island. It is very pristine with beautiful beaches, and hills offering spectacular views of the Island. If you think of a picture perfect postcard of a beautiful island, think of Moorea. We feel so very fortunate to have visited this beautiful place.

It is believed that Moorea first became inhabited in A.D. 1600. Captain James Cook arrived in 1774. In 1847 Moorea became a protectorate of France and by 1860 it became a French Colony.

The Crystal Serenity anchored off the Island of Moorea and began tender service at around 8:00 AM.

Today’s thought of the day from the captain was “Footprints in the sand are not made by sitting down.”

We did not book a shore excursion for today, since we preferred to walk around the island on our own. After breakfast we took a tender over to Morrea. As the tender arrived, some of the locals were in canoes to welcome us to the island while other local sang and played musical instruments for us. There were a variety of vendors selling locally made items. The Island forbids cruise lines from providing shuttle bus service but the locals did provide shuttles to take passengers to the nearby town for shopping. There were also a variety of taxicabs available. While we did not do any shopping, many of the stores in town were selling black pearl jewelry.

Since we preferred to walk we ended up taking a very long walk (five miles roundtrip according to Keith’s iPOD). We ended up walking with the wife of the memoir writer instructor and their son. Last year the instructor and his wife were on board the entire world cruise along with their daughter. We enjoyed a great walk with them along with a very nice conversation. Anne Marie and Maria walked side by side and talked about various places that each of them have visited around the world. Keith and their son walked ahead of Anne Marie and Maria and talked a lot about journalism and world events since their son is a journalist major who recently graduated from college. We walked along a two-lane road with the water and beach area on one side and mountains on the other side with lush vegetation all around us. Neither words nor pictures will do justice in describing the beauty of this island. As we arrived back to where we began our walk, we ran into several passengers who had returned back from town on the complimentary vehicles.

We ate lunch in the main dining room. Keith enjoyed a wonderfully prepared entrée called Swordfish Salade Nicoise “Moderne” and Anne Marie enjoyed a chicken salad entrée.

Today marks the last full day of this first segment of the cruise. Approximately 250 passengers will be disembarking the ship tomorrow mornings with about 290 new passengers coming on board the ship as we begin the second segment of the World Cruise. We said our goodbyes to several passengers who we got to know during this first segment of our adventure. We hope to sail with them again.

Once again, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. We had a wonderful fish (Wahoo) for our dinner entree which is similar to swordfish. After dinner Anne Marie watched this evenings movie in the Hollywood Theatre titled “The Jane Austen Book Club” while Keith caught up on some reading and writing.

Our ship departed Moorea at approximately 5:00 PM and arrived in Papeete, Society Islands, French Polynesia where we will dock overnight at around 7:00 PM.

Keith & Anne Marie

The Island Of Raiatea

We awoke early in the morning and began our day with our daily workout in the Fitness Center. The Fitness Center was less crowded than it is on sea days. Keith spent the entire workout on the elliptical machine and Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. Once again, Keith was on his favorite elliptical machine alongside Mary and enjoyed another nice conversation with her. A few of the other regulars who we have come to know were also working out.

Around the time we sat down to enjoy our meal in the Lido Café for breakfast, there was a downpour of rain. Better in the morning before we reached the port of call. We felt bad for the Lido Deck Stewards who had to dash outside to remove various condiments from all of the outside tables. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and spoke with some fellow passengers who we know quite well who sat at an adjacent table. Midway through our breakfast we were joined by two other passengers who have sat with us most mornings during breakfast.

During the captains report from the bridge at 9:00 AM he noted that rain showers were in the forecast for today and that the temperatures would be in the 80’s. His thought for today is; “Even the weakest star is shining.”

The good news is that it did not rain while we were in port. At times it was quite warm while other times there was a nice breeze.

This morning we arrived at our first port of call known as Raiatea since we left Maui a few days ago We docked at the new cruise ship terminal at Finger Pier, which is located right near the center of town.

This is the first time that we have visited the Island of Raiatea. We did not select a shore excursion for this Island. Our first shore excursion will be a few days from now in Papeete, Tahiti. Our plan was to just take a nice walk after we arrive. Some of todays shore excursions involved snorkeling while at least one excursion provided an overview of this island.

Raiatea is situated very close to another Island called Tahaa. A lagoon separates them. Raiatea is the larger of the two and measures approximately 100 square miles. Raiatea is known for its fishing and for its diving. There is a strong Chinese influence on this island, which can be seen in some of the items that are carried in the food stores and in shops that sell other items.

Ralatea is the second largest Island in the French Polynesian Archipelago, which is known as the Society Islands. It is situated between Bora Bora and Tahiti.

We arrived at Raiatea at approximately 11:00 AM. There was a mandatory immigration inspection for all guests who will be ending their cruise in either Raiatea, Moorea, Papeete, Huahine, or Bora Bora.

As the ship was close to port we went on the top deck to get a good view of the Island. We ran into a few fellow passengers. We also ran into another Anne Mare but this one is spelled with a hyphen. She recognized both of us right away as she was a waiter in the dining room during last years World Cruise. On occasion, she was our waiter for lunch and it was always fun to greet Anne Marie given her first name. She is now an assistant to the Captain and was in her officer’s uniform. We congratulated her on her new assignment and were thrilled to see her. Crystal has a great reputation in the cruise industry for employee retention. From our observations they do have an extremely high retention rate because of how well they treat their employees and because of the advancement opportunities that are available to them based on their overall job performance. All of this adds to the staff having a very positive attitude in the way that they interact with their fellow crewmates and with the passengers.

Before we departed the ship we ate lunch in the main dining room. We each enjoyed a wonderful seafood salad entrée.

After lunch we walked around the town for a couple of hours. There really is not too much to see but it was pleasant to walk by the ocean and view all of the scenery that was around us. During our walk we saw many fellow passengers and crew. We spoke with one passenger who we know quite well from last years World Cruise. We spoke with her over the December holidays when we learned that she would be on this sailing and she learned that we would be on this sailing again. We will plan to make plans to see her for lunch or dinner so we can spend more time talking with her.

We walked by several churches of different denominations. We also walked by several homes and saw some older age children walking home from school. We then walked into some shops. We were surprised that for a small town there were actually two grocery stores selling a variety of items including baked goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and of course frozen, canned and paper products. Some of the packaged products and their manufacturers were recognizable to us although the words were mostly in French. There were some tourist oriented shops and along with other shops including a couple of jewelry stores featuring black Tahitian cultured pearls. When we retuned back to the ship we continued our walk on the Promenade Deck.

Last evening we received a passenger questionnaire, which we will receive towards the end of each segment of the world cruise and which, all passengers receive on each any every cruise. It is used as a means for the passengers to provide feedback on all aspects of the cruise from the shore excursions, to the entertainment, to the food and dining venues, to the employees, to the lecturers and other activities on the ship and so forth. It also provides an opportunity for the passengers to make suggestions for improvements and to highlight those employees who have had a significant positive impact on each passengers cruising experience. This afternoon we filled out most of the questionnaire.

Before dinner we went over to the Avenue Saloon to listen to Pianist John Mentis where they were playing Name That Tune. The Avenue Saloon is a very nice lounge and during the evening hours features John Mentis playing the piano. years world cruise at both team trivia and of course in the Avenue Saloon. Our team finished in second place. Maybe next time we’ll do even better. ☺ We also stopped by to see the display of passenger artwork and have included a picture of some of this work.

We had a wonderful time at dinner. From our table, we had a beautiful view as we cruised past several islands.


Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Raiatea, Society Islands

We have enjoyed another wonderful day at sea as we cruise towards our next port of call at Raitea, Society Islands, French Polynesia. This will be our first visit to this port of call. We are supposed to arrive tomorrow at 11:00 AM and are traveling at a fairly good speed to stay on schedule.

Once again, we awoke early this morning and enjoyed a great workout in the Fitness Center. The center is open 24 hours a day and is staffed for about half that time. Keith began his workout at 5:10 AM (ouch) and Anne Marie arrived just a few minutes later at 5:30 AM. Keith enjoyed a wonderful conversation with Mary as he worked out. It is so nice to be able to just walk up a couple of flights of steps to be able to work out.

After our workout we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the Lido Café. One passenger who is also on the full World Cruise joined us midway through our meal. We also spoke with a few of our fellow passengers as we were leaving. We prefer having breakfast the Lido Café since we can enjoy our breakfast while enjoying the view of the seas from the ship.

Since today is a sea day there were many activities scheduled throughout the day. Additional activities were added to the schedule since this is the last full sea day for this segment of the cruise. In fact, the lectures began at 9:05 AM, whereas the norm is 10:00 AM and were scheduled throughout the morning and the afternoon.

Crystal is well known in the cruise industry for offering many activities at sea and during the World Cruise there are even more activities. Many times there are more than one activity given at the same time that we would consider attending.

We listened to the Captain’s morning talk from the bridge at 9:00 AM and his thought of the day is: “You are what you are when no one is looking.”

We began the morning activities by attending the Rap with the Rabbi. Yesterday, was supposed to be the last Rap with the Rabbi session for this segment but today’s session was one of those activities added to the schedule. We had a great conversation with almost everyone in attendance participating.

We enjoyed another lecture by destination lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff whose topic today was titled “The Great Migration.” The last habitable lands on earth to be populated by mankind were the islands of the Pacific. Where did these people come from who settled these lands, and how did they get to their new homelands.?

For lunch we ate in the main dining room but today’s lunchtime feature was the American Classic Luncheon Buffet on the Lido Deck. This buffet features many traditional American items from Cajun seafood gumbo, to crisp coleslaw, to southern fried chicken, to barbequed beef ribs, to North American Prime Rib, to Roast Turkey, to Chicken Pots Pies, to New Orleans Jambalya, to Boston Baked Beans, to Fried Onion Rings, to Texas Style Chili, to Cobb Salad, to San Francisco Sourdough Bread, to Southern Corn Bread, to New Mexico Flour Tortillas, to Bagels, to Long Island Iced Tea, to Frozen Daiquiris, to Smoothies, to Key Lime, Pumpkin, Apple, and Pecan Pie, to New York Cheesecake, to Grandma’s Apple Pie and so many other items that we would not have room on this Blog to list them all. ☺ The food is all wonderfully displayed and tastes as good as it looks.

We enjoyed a wonderful salad entrée in the main dining room along with great fruit.

This afternoon took a nice walk on the promenade deck. The temperature was nice and there were a few raindrops but that didn’t stop us from walking.

Bernie and Jack, hopefully you are reading this as this is a repeat from last year but instead of involving two of you, it involved another couple we know. While we were walking, we heard a woman call out from a verandah on Deck 8, “Keith, Keith, Keith” and when we looked up we saw a familiar face. She said, Gramme accidentally locked me out on the verandah and he is playing Paddle Tennis. So, Keith went over to the reception desk and gave them the stateroom number so that they could send someone up to unlock the verandah door. So the lesson here is that before you lock the verandah door be sure that you are not locking someone out. ☺

This evening’s attire is formal and before dinner we attended the Captain’s Farewell Reception. The good news is that we will remain on the ship so, for us, this was not a farewell but rather another chance to enjoy a drink, listen to nice music, dance, to converse with many of our fellow passengers and to listen to the captain knowing that we will continue sailing on this wonderful ship.

After the reception, we had dinner in the Main Dining Room. The menu for this evening ws the Captain’s Gala Dinner. The other day we had invited the Rabbi and his lovely wife to join us for dinner. We requested kosher chicken for our dinner entrée and it was wonderful. We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner, with terrific conversation.

Tomorrow we will visit Raiatea, Society Islands, French Polynesia for the very first time.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Raiatea, Society Islands

We slept very well last evening as the sea was relatively calm. We woke early this morning. Keith was the first one in the Fitness Center and Anne Marie and Mary, wife of the computer instructor, arrived about 30 minutes later. We enjoyed a great workout and Keith and Mary talked about many of the ports of call that we will visit during the course of the cruise. We are very much looking forward to visiting so many ports that we will visit for the very first time.

After the workout, we went to the Lido Café for breakfast. Midway through breakfast, two others fellow passengers sat with us and we had a great conversation with each of them. We were all remarking about how much we enjoy the ship and the outstanding service. So far, everything has been outstanding.

When we got back to our room we spoke with the butler for a few minutes. We feel so very fortunate to have a truly outstanding butler, stewardess, and assistant stewardess. They are very personable, very hard working and top notch in the service that they provide.

Today’s quote from the captain. “Even though we come from all over the world, we laugh in the same language”. This is so true.

In the morning, we attended another session of Rap with the Rabbi. These sessions are held every other day on sea days. Today’s session was very well attended and there was a good deal of participation. This will be our last session for this segment of the World Cruise.

We attended another lecture given by Destination Lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff. The topic was “Rally Round The Flag”. We learned that a vocal minority in Hawaii is pushing the view that the last state in will be the first state out. Dr. Wolff is a wonderful speaker and we look forward to his lectures throughout the World Cruise.

Later in the morning, we crossed the equator and, as such, Crystal conducted what is known as the Equator Crossing Ceremony, which involves some of the officers and crew on the ship. It is always a lot of fun. It was a little windy before the ceremony began, but it appears that the ship was turned a bit so it was lots less windy during the ceremony. Complimentary champagne and mimosas were provided to the passengers. It was a little too early in the day for us to have these drinks so we each enjoyed a Perrier instead. ☺

For lunch we dined in the main dining room with our Cruise Director, Rick Spath. This is our first sailing with Rick and we think he is wonderful. He is very friendly and very thoughtful and we feel so very fortunate to be sailing with him. We had a wonderful conversation with him and agreed that we would do this again. The other night when we spoke with him we learned that his first job on a cruise lines was with The Home Lines which happened to be the first cruise line that Keith sailed on as a youngster and one that Anne Marie’s mom sailed on several years later. It was an Italian Cruise Line, which stopped operating many years ago.

Before dinner, we attended a reception held in the Captain’s Quarters with some of our fellow cruisers. We had a great time and it provided a wonderful opportunity to talk with the Captain and to converse with many of our fellow passengers and Officers of the Crystal Serenity.

This evening we dined in the Silk Road Specialty Restaurant with computer instructor, Stan, and his lovely wife, Mary. We first met them on last years World Cruise and they are wonderful people. We enjoyed a great meal and had a wonderful conversation.

Each day we have met many new passengers who we did not know before this cruise as well as talking with those who we knew from last year and from other prior cruises. We continue to enjoy each moment of this adventure.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Raiatea, Society Islands

Throughout most of last evening and well into the middle of this morning the seas had been fairly choppy, In spite of the seas, we enjoyed a good nights sleep last evening. We awoke early and enjoyed a nice workout in the Fitness Center with many of the regulars working out as they normally do. Keith worked out on the elliptical machine and Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and then did some stretching exercises.

Keith was the second person to arrive to the Fitness Center and Anne Marie was the fourth. Also working out was John who we have come to know quite well as he and his wife Linda was on last years World Cruise. The other person working out was Mary, the wife of the computer instructor who we also got to know so very well on last years World Cruise. About fifteen minutes before we finished our workout several other passengers had arrived to the Fitness Center, many of who are regularly up there at this hour of the morning. The seas continued to be quite choppy and there were some rain showers as well.

After our workout, we enjoyed another nice breakfast in the Lido Café. It was less crowded today than has been the case since we boarded the ship in San Pedro as we suspect that some of the passengers were sleeping a little later than normal since today is a sea day. Also, since today is a Sunday various morning services were offered from a Catholic Mass at 8:00 AM to a Protestant Worship Celebration at 9:05 AM. We ended up having breakfast with one passenger, Andrew, who is also on the Full World Cruise. Our breakfast mainly consists of cereal and fruit. We have really enjoyed the various berries from blueberries to strawberries. Since we are on the ship for such a long time, we do try to pace ourselves.

We were supposed to have lunch with the Cruise Director at 12:00 Noon but when we firmed up the date for lunch we had not realized that today was the Grand Gala Buffet, which is a very elaborate luncheon that is set-up outside the main dining room. As a result, we contacted the Cruise Director and rescheduled our lunch for tomorrow.

We took advantage of the day at sea to get our wash done this morning. Crystal provides complimentary self-service washing machines and dryers on the various passenger decks. Since we have boarded the ship we have now washed clothes on two separate occasions and both times there have been very few to any fellow passengers washing their clothes. Since last year we found the machines to be in use much of the day we are not sure if the change this time around is due to the time of day we are doing our wash or if the machines are less crowded on this particular passenger deck or if it is just too early in the cruise to be doing washes. We’ll report back on this again. ☺

Each morning, the captain provides an update at 9:00 AM which include the location of our cruise ship, weather forecast related information along with the location of the sister ship; the Crystal Symphony. This captain also provides a quote of the day, which we have found to be quite meaningful. Here is the quote of the day from today which we thought we would share with you. “It is not who is right, but what is right that counts.” This may seem very simple, but it is so true.

There were many activities offered throughout the ship today since we are at sea today. These activities include fitness classes and sports games, various levels of bridge classes and bridge play, classes for golf, Spanish, dance, computers, and piano, a memoir writing seminar, and so many other activities from a $20 slot tournament, to an art lecture, to silk painting, to yoga, to team trivia and too many other activities too numerous to mention here. In our opinion, Crystal offers more activities than any other cruise line we have sailed on.

We also attended some very nice lectures given today. There was a talk given by conservation biologist Bill Toone titled “Natures’s Passion, A Peek Between Mother Nature’s Sheet”, along with a lecture given by Richard Kahn who is past President of the Academy of Motion Pictures titled “ The Movie: From Nicklelodeon to i-Pod to an Art Lecture given by Art Director and Historian Dr. Cristina-Ashjian.

By mid-morning the seas had become calmer than they had been so that was great news.

Today was also the Grand Gala Buffet, which includes an array of culinary creations from appetizers, to entrees, to breads, to cheese and fruit, to wonderful deserts. The Buffet is set up directly outside the Main Dining Room and will be offered one time each segment. We posted some pictures from today’s buffet to our picture web site so please be sure to visit the site. Also, right on this Blog is a picture of Keith’s lunch.

Before this evenings dinner we attended a World Cruise get-together, which included complimentary drinks and also was organized so that a picture could be taken of each passenger on the Full World Cruise. We will receive a copy of the book later in the voyage, which will include a picture of each person/couple along with the name of each of the World Cruise passenger. Last year, we found the booklet to be very useful in order to help remember the names of our fellow passengers. Those World Cruisers who dine early were in the afternoon session and those who have late dinner were in the evening group session.

Today had dinner again at the Prego Specialty Restaurant. This was because last evening we had enjoyed the fish entrée which was a wonderfully prepared fresh fish that had been brought onto the ship in Maui that by dining at Prego we could enjoy this fish one more time. We had a wonderful time at dinner in a restaurant with wonderful food items outstanding service, along with an excellent dining ambience.

Today, we once again enjoyed an outstanding sea day on board the Crystal Serenity.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Raiatea, Society Islands

Last evening when we arrived back to our room, we each received a nice card along with 2008 World Cruise polo shirts and a nice letter from the World Cruise Hostess. We look forward to wearing our new shirts from time to time throughout the course of the World Cruise.

Last evening and throughout a good portion of today the seas have been a bit choppy reminding us that we are indeed cruising on a cruise ship. We are fortunate that the Crystal Serenity Cruise Ship does very well even in choppy seas.

We now get to enjoy four consecutive sea days as we sail towards Raiatea, Society Islands, French Polynesia. We are looking forward to visiting all of the Pacific Ocean Islands that are on the itinerary for the very first time.

We awoke early this morning as we have done since our adventure began and enjoyed a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the elliptical machine while Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and also on the weight lifting machines. Keith is thinking that all of these workouts must be good for him as the other day a woman passenger asked him if he was either the fitness or sports director. ☺ During our workout, we spoke with some of the regulars who we frequently see in the Fitness Center each and every day.

After our workout we enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the Lido Café. A very nice variety of hot and cold items are offered for breakfast. Mid-way through our breakfast a couple of passengers sat with us as we enjoyed breakfast.

Each of us shared our experiences from Maui. One of the passengers went on a shore excursion, which included a visit to a rain forest along with a long hike, and the other passenger had rented a car and spent the day at a very nice beach. Everyone we spoke with enjoyed Maui. We did confirm that the name of the restaurant we had lunch at on Maui was indeed the Plantation.

We enjoyed several activities on board the ship today. We attended the third session of Rap with the Rabbi today which was very well attended. Today’s discussion was very thought provoking and we really appreciate the thought that the Rabbi puts into organizing these sessions. At the end of the session, we made plans to have dinner with the Rabbi and his lovely in a few days.

We then attended two consecutive lectures which were also very well attended.

The first lecture was given by Biologist Bill Toone whose topic was titled “Our Most Endangered Species: Them..or US?” We enjoyed his presentation.

Captain Scott O’Grady gave the second lecture and the topic of his talk was titled “Return with Honor.” Captain O’Grady is best remembered when an anti-aircraft missile slammed into his F-16 over Bosnia. He then survived in hostile territory for six days before being rescued by the U.S. Marines. He is an outstanding speaker with a wonderful story to tell that focused on his faith along with what is important in life. His talk reminded us to focus on those items that are most important in ones life such as family and friends and to focus on what is good. His talk also reminded us to enjoy each day.

Afterwards, we enjoyed an excellent lunch in the Main Dining Room. We each had a wonderful salad entrée, which was followed by some fresh fruit. At the same time, there was an Asia Café Buffet set up around the Neptune Pool.

This evening attire was formal and it was so nice to see our fellow passengers all dressed up in their evening formal attire. The evening activities began with a Crystal Society Reception, which is held once per voyage. This reception is for all past cruisers of Crystal and we always enjoy this event. Several passengers who have completed a large number of cruises with Crystal were recognized. The reception also includes a nice talk given by Crystal Society Hostess Jamie Brown. We first met Jamie last year.

After the reception, we dined with two other couples at the Prego Specialty Restaurant that serves Italian Cuisine. We met the couple that organized the dinner for the first time on last years World Cruise and this is their ninth consecutive World Cruise. We had a wonderful time at dinner and enjoyed excellent food and a great conversation. We each had fresh fish, which was brought on the ship in Maui for the main course and it was excellent. We also had a very nice salad and fruit for our desert. The service was wonderful and we enjoyed the ambience of this restaurant. We enjoyed the fish so much (it was Opah) that we are going back to Prego again tomorrow so that we can have it again.

Keith & Anne Marie

Maui: Hawaii's Valley Island

Last evening, we posted some additional pictures on our photo web site. Some have previously been posted to this Blog, while others are new. From time-to-time, we will try to add pictures to the photo web site. To view the pictures, just click on the area on the right side of the Blog labeled “Our World Cruise Pictures”.

We enjoyed another delightful evening and a great nights sleep on board the Crystal Serenity as we sailed from Honolulu over to the Island of Maui. The seas were calm. We find that we sleep better on the ship than even at home.

We awoke early in the morning and were one of the first few passengers in the Fitness Center. Keith had his old spot on the elliptical machine next to the wife of the computer instructor. They talked the whole time, as they often did on last years World Cruise. Anne Marie arrived a few minutes later and selected her favorite treadmill. It’s so wonderful to be able to just walk up a couple of decks to the Fitness Center for our morning workout.

By the time we left, we were able to see from the Fitness Center the beautiful island of Maui, a magnificent sunrise, and for quite awhile we also had the opportunity to see two whales who were relatively close to the ship. This is certainly a wonderful way to begin our day.

We enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the Lido Café. As we do often we spoke with several members of the crew who we have come to know quite well over the years from Nat (pronounced Nate) who is from the Philippines and always has a big smile on his face. We spoke with, Tony, our waiter from Prego last evening and also to Bruno who is the headwaiter in Prego. We said hello to some of our favorites from Silk Road from Sigi, the junior headwaiter, to waiters Anthony and Walter.

The ship arrived in Maui on-schedule at around 8:00 AM and anchored off Lahaina, Maui. This is our third visit to Maui. We first visited this beautiful island on a land vacation in October of 1997 where we stayed at the Ritz Carlton and were here again in 2006 as part of a cruise. Maui is one of the most beautiful islands we have visited and today was no exception. The island is lush in greenery and has pretty hills and provides such beautiful views of the ocean. And, then there are the flowers. We adore the beauty of Hawaiian flowers.

We took a tender from the ship over to the Island of Maui. Last month, we received an invitation to lunch from a lovely couple, Jack and Bernice, who we first had the good fortune of meeting on last years World Cruise. There were a total of seven of us from the ship along with our two hosts. Jack and Bernice met us at the pier and after everyone arrived gave us a wonderful tour of the Island as we drove to the restaurant where we would have lunch. We had the opportunity to see the outside of their beautiful condominium. We had a wonderful lunch at a famous restaurant (sorry we can’t remember its name) in the town of Kapalua that overlooked and provided a wonderful view of a beautiful golf course, the ocean and the Island of Molokai. As we’ve mentioned before, when you sail on a world cruise overtime many of your fellow passengers become your extended family, which is how, we feel about Jack and Bernie. They are two wonderful people with a very positive outlook on life.

The ship left Maui at 5:00 PM and at 4:45 PM a sail-away party was held on two outdoor decks, which included live music and complimentary Mai Tais and Blue Hawaiians.

Later in the afternoon, we attended Sabbath Eve Services conducted by our favorite Rabbi. The service was well attended. After services, we ate dinner in the Main Dining Room. Our head waiter made us a special salad at the table.

Today we enjoyed a very special day on a beautiful island with wonderful friends.

Keith & Anne Marie

Our Day In Honolulu

Honolulu, Hawaii

After a great nights sleep, we awoke early this morning and worked out in the Fitness Center. There are several passengers who have now become the regulars in the center at the time we work out. It’s nice to see several passengers at a variety of age groups who work out regularly.

Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine. For a portion of the workout Keith showed the computer instructor who we have come to know so well from last years World Cruise how to use the elliptical machine as he normally uses the treadmill and he did great using the elliptical. At the same time, Anne Marie was on the treadmill next to the computer instructor’s wife. We each enjoyed nice conversations so the time passed by relatively quickly. After finishing our workout, we went to the Lido Café and enjoyed a nice breakfast. It was less crowded than normal. We suspect that some folks took advantage of the late morning arrival to Honolulu to sleep-in a little later. As we were leaving the Lido Café, we could see land from some Island.

After our arrival to Honolulu, we proceeded off the ship to find a couple, Joan and Mac, who were meeting us on the ship today. We had previously made arrangements with Crystal for them to come on board the ship while we were in port. Crystal is one of the only cruise lines that still allows visitors on board the ship as long as approval is received in sufficient time prior to the visit. We first met Joan and Mac on a London to New York City cruise on board the Crystal Symphony in the fall of 2004. Since that time we have kept up with them through frequent e-mails and through occasional telephone conversations. We also had the opportunity to see them in 2006 when we visited San Francisco. We had a wonderful visit with them today, including a very nice lunch in the main dining room, and are so glad to see them. They had sailed on the Crystal Serenity in 2006 and they remembered some of the staff that they saw today and the staff remembered them. They were also able to spend time with our friends Allan and Helen King who are on the World Cruise with us. Our first sailing with Allan and Helen was also from London to New York City in the fall of 2004.

We walked with Joan and Mac over to the main cruise ship terminal called the Clock Tower Terminal so that they could pick up transportation back to where they are staying. The walk over there and back to the Pier was delightful, The weather was wonderful.

During the World Cruises Crystal offers one complimentary shore excursion on each segment for all cruisers. The complimentary excursion for this segment was this afternoon/evening was a Luau. By the time we got back to the ship after saying our goodbyes to Joan and Mac it was too late for us to attend the Luau so we ended up having a very quiet dinner on the ship. We went to Prego, which is a Specialty Restaurant, which serves Italian Cuisine. We had a great waiter who we first met on last years World Cruise. We also had a nice conversation with the head waiter of Prego who was our head waiter in the main dining room last year.

Tomorrow we will arrive in Maui. We have been invited for lunch with a very nice couple who we met on last year World Cruise who is staying there on vacation. Some of our fellow passengers have also been invited for lunch.

We also spoke with our daughter and our son and it was very nice to catch up with each of them. We miss them and send them our love.

Keith & Anne Marie

Cruising To Honolulu

Last evening we got another reprieve as we set the clock back another hour. It is certainly easier to travel in this direction of the world as we have the opportunity to move the clocks backward rather than forward.

We began our day by enjoying another wonderful workout in the Fitness Center. It is so nice to just be able to walk up a couple of flights of steps to begin each day with a workout. Once again, Keith enjoyed a great workout on the elliptical machine while Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. By the time we finished our workout, The Fitness Center was fairly busy.

After our workout, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the Lido Café. We sat with two other passengers who we know.

After breakfast, we attended the second Rap with the Rabbi session that has been held since we first boarded the ship. These sessions will be held throughout the cruise on some of the sea days. Several topics were covered and there was a good deal of thoughtful discussion. As we’ve mentioned previously, given the length of the cruise, overtime you can really realize the sense of community on board the ship and this is one of many activities that adds to this spirit and felling of community.

We then attended a lecture given by destination lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff on Pearly Harbor. He is a wonderful lecturer as he is able to share a wealth of information that is both informative and very interesting to digest. He spoke about what led up to Pear Harbor Attack and the devastation that took place that day. His presentation was very moving to us. Before he began his presentation he asked those passengers who had served in the armed forces during World War II to stand up and we all applauded for them. Dr Wolff will be giving lectures during the course of the entire World Cruise.

After this lecture, Keith took care of a few items while Anne Marie attended another lecture that was given by Tony Alessandra. This lecture is titled: The Platinum Rule: Are You a Director, Thinker, Relater or Socializeer?” Anne Marie thought that the speaker was outstanding. He spoke with lots of passion. Do you know which category each of us would fall into? We’ll save that for another time. ☺

We enjoyed another wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room. The food was wonderful and the service outstanding. We each enjoyed a great salad entrée. The waiter knows that each of us enjoys some fresh fruit following the salad and you should have seen the size of the bowl of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries that they brought out for Keith. If there are no strawberries remaining on the ship by tomorrow morning, we’ll know why. ☺ The fruits was wonderful!

This afternoon we took a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck. Keith utilized his Apple iPOD to track how long we walked which was nice. We love the Promenade Deck. This is one of the few passenger cruise ships still afloat that has a very nice wraparound promenade deck. It provides a great opportunity for those who want to walk or even jog to enjoy this deck. It was so nice to get fresh air and to enjoy the beauty of the ocean as we walked. Partway through our walk another passenger joined us who we know quite well and she stayed with us for the remainder of our walk. The weather was delightful.

Before dinner this evening, we attended a reception hosted by the travel consortium that our TA is affiliated with. There will be one reception on each segment of the World Cruise. We met the TA and her husband who are on this segment of the World Cruise and the reception provided a nice opportunity to socialize with others on the cruise. At the end of the reception, we had a very enjoyable conversation with the Cruise Director.

Following the reception we enjoyed a nice dinner in the main dining room. We love our table and its location in the dining room. After dinner, we spoke with several different passengers and afterwards we ran into the Captain and spoke with him for a few minutes.

We are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu tomorrow morning at approximately 11:00 AM

Keith & Anne Marie

We're On Our Way To Hawaii

Once again, we awoke early in the morning and started our day by working out in the Fitness Center. Keith got up there around 5:30 and was the second person there and Anne Marie arrived a little after 6:00 AM.

Keith had the opportunity to meet the sports director for the very first time this morning and we look forward to participating in some of the sports related activities during the course of the cruise. During our workout, we saw many of the regulars who we have come to know so very well. We find this time around that it is better for us to workout before we go to the Lido Café for breakfast so we hope to go with this routine for the majority of the cruise. Keith ended up staying on the Elliptical Machine for an hour and forty minutes and, once again, went over ten miles. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill for about an hour and then spent some time using some of the weight lifting machines. We know that for port days we’ll probably each spend about an hour in the center but on sea days we try to spend a longer time there.

We are very pleased with the machines. Everything is in great working order and the new treadmills are very nice.

After our workout, we did enjoy a wonderful breakfast in the Lido Café. We sat with a woman who we first met on the first segment of last years World Cruise and also with a man who was on last years full World Cruise who we first met from during team trivia last year and then got to know quite well during late years daily workouts in the fitness center.

Later in the morning we attended two wonderful lectures.

Richard Kahn who is the past President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave the first lecture. The title of his lecture was “And the Nominees Are..”. Mr. Kahn announced this year’s Oscar nominees along with providing an insider’s look at Hollywood’s Night of Nights. He showed memorable moments from various Oscar Ceremonies mainly from the 1970’s and provided insight into the highlights that he shared with us. We will be in Australia for the Oscar’s, which will start at 12:00 Noon Australia time. Mr. Kahn mentioned that the Oscar’s are a big deal in Australia with many businesses closing so that the locals can enjoy watching the show. Once gain, we were very impressed with Mr. Kahn’s talk and his passion for the industry he has worked in for so many years.

The second lecture was given by speaker and celebrity Nancy Dussault and was titled “Nancy Dussault: The Captain’s Daughter, Life on the Stormy Seas of Show Business. She has bee on stage and television. She starred in Too Close For Comfort and had appearances in a variety of television shows. She also sang in various Broadway Shows and was co-host of Good Morning America for two years with David Hartman. She was a wonderful speaker and provided wonderful perspectives of her career and also sang a song for us.

After lunch, we took a nice walk on the Promenade Deck, which is a full wrap-around deck. It was the first time we had walked outside since we boarded the cruise ship. Afterwards, we stopped by to have a very nice conversation with some friends and solved the problems of the world. ☺

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the main dining room, which featured a new menu called California Cuisine. We each enjoyed a great meal, including a wonderfully prepared swordfish entree. After dinner we enjoyed a serenade in the cove by the acappella group, Full Sail which was followed by Dale Kristien, a star of Phantom of the Opera as the feature evening show.

Last evening we received the Full World Cruise Guest List. This year we have full World Cruisers from thirteen different countries. This includes the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Spain, Monaco, Switzerland, Netherlands, Korea, Mexico, Australia, France and China. This diversity is wonderful as it provides a nice opportunity to learn about the world through conversations with so many interesting people. Add to this the crew who come from so many regions around the World.

We had another wonderful day on our World Cruise Adventure.

This evening we turn the clocks back one additional hour as we continue to cruise towards our first port of call in Hawaii.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Honolulu

We woke up earlier than usual this morning since we set the clocks back one hour last evening. Keith arrived at the Fitness Center at around 5:20 AM and Anne Marie made it over there by 6:00 AM. By around 6:30 AM all of the treadmills were in use. Keith worked out on the elliptical for about an hour and forty minutes, while Anne Marie worked out for an hour. We saw a number of the regulars working out along with others that we met for the very first time. Keith enjoyed a nice long conversation with someone who is sailing on the first segment of the World Cruise.

Last evening, we learned that the first segment of the World Cruise has 748 guests with a Crew of 650. That is a wonderful ratio of crew to passengers. Since the ship could accommodate well over 1,000 passengers the ship does not feel full. Since several passengers sail solo usually the ship does not feel full. We did learn that the main seating in the dining room for dinner is full with lots of room in the second seating. Our experience is that the itinerary has a lot to do with which seating is more popular. On voyages that are more port intensive the late seating tends to be more popular so that passengers can spend more time in port and have time when they get back to get ready for dinner. On voyages that have more sea days many times the early seating is busier.

After breakfast, we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the Lido Café. We saw many familiar faces and sat with a woman who we first met on the first segment of last years world cruise. Her husband eventually joined us. They enjoyed the first segment of last years cruise so much that this year they signed up for half of the World Cruise. We will be dining with them in Silk Road this evening.

We heard that our stewardess from last years cruise, Jasmina, is working on the ship so we stopped by the deck she is working on to see her. She remembered us and gave us each a big hug. She had heard from our stewardess that we were back on the ship.

We attended Rap with the Rabbi this morning. The Rabbi was on last years world cruise with his charming wife and we also sailed with them in September. It will be nice to sail with them again. At each session of Rap with the Rabbi he selects a new topic that we will cover and it provides a nice opportunity to share various viewpoints on many different items. Today’s session was very well attended and there was a good deal of participation.

Afterwards, Anne Marie went to the needlepoint session where they hand out a complimentary needlepoint kit and then we both attended a lecture given by Richard Klein who is the past President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His presentation was on the Oscar and offered an insiders look at the organization as it prepares for this year’s Oscar nominations.

Later in the morning we attended a World Cruise Overview presented by the Cruise Director and the World Cruise Hostess. They provided an excellent overview of some of the events that will take place during the course of the cruise. While there will be various events for the World Cruisers it was nice to hear that there will be a number of special events for all those on each segment of the world cruise. We also learned that there are indeed 342 full World Cruisers, which is the most ever for Crystal. At the end of the event, about 100 personnel from many of the departments across the ship marched into the room accompanied by the theme from the Superman The Movie which for us is very appropriate theme as they are all super.

We had a wonderful lunch in the main dining room. In the afternoon Keith tried his luck at a complimentary slot tournament, but was not one of the winners. ☹ He had a wonderful time anyway. ☺

Later in the afternoon we attended a get together with those on the ship who post on Cruise Critic that Keith had organized. We met in the Palm Court during the afternoon tea and Crystal had set up a special section for us and had sent out invitations ahead of time to each of them. It was wonderful to meet those who we had not met before and to also see those that we already know.

This evening we had dinner in the Japanese Specialty Restaurant, Silk Road, with a very nice couple that we first met last year as they did the first segment of last years World Cruise. Since that time we have corresponded with them regularly and this time around they are on the ship for half the World Cruise. The dinner was wonderful. We had several items that were especially made for us by the chef who came out to our table several times.

We are having a wonderful time on our adventure as we sail to our first port of call, Honolulu, Hawaii. We are literally enjoying every minute on the ship.

Keith & Anne Marie

Captain's Welcome

We enjoyed a great nights sleep on board the ship. The seas have been relatively calm. We awoke early today and decided to first go to the Fitness Center for our daily workout and have breakfast afterwards. We did this because we know that during the first few days of the cruise that the Fitness Center can be especially busy. Keith went up to the Center at 6:00 AM and Anne Marie arrived about 15 minutes later. It was like old times. Keith was on the elliptical machine next to Mary, the wife of the computer instructor, just like almost each day of last years World Cruise. We caught up with her about all that each of us have been up to since we last saw her last May. By 7:00 AM there were quite a few passengers in the room, several who we have already seen since the gala along with a few people that we had not gotten a chance to talk with.

All of the treadmills are new. They are outstanding as their screens have many capabilities. The television screen is built right into the treadmills allowing for easy viewing of programs. Anne Marie worked out for one hour on the treadmill while Keith worked out on the elliptical machine for about ninety minutes. We had a wonderful workout.

Afterwards, we went to the Lido Café for our breakfast. There we were greeted by so many of the wonderful crew that we have come to adore. We spoke with Bruno who had been our headwaiter in the dining room for a couple of segments last year. For a portion of the time he is on board he works in one of the specialty restaurants, Prego, as the headwaiter and as part of that job he also works in the Lido Café during the daytime overseeing the staff. He is wonderful and he truly has a passion for his work. He along with the other familiar faces all remembered us. We saw Walter who works in the Silk Road restaurant in the evening as a waiter and during the daytime worked behind the counter in the Lido Café. There was Sigi who has been promoted and oversees the servers in Silk Road in the evening and works the Lido Café in the daytime. There is Nat (pronounced Nate) who is one of the Lido Stewards who also helped us. We love the smile he has on his face each and every day. We also spoke with various fellow passengers and with Mary’s husband, Stan, who teaches the computer class. For those on the entire world cruise they have the opportunity to take a computer class where they can earn college credits. Last year, this was the first time that such a class was offered on any cruise line and some of the world cruisers took this class.

On our way back to our room we ran into Captain Glenn and spoke with him for a couple of minutes. As we mentioned, this is the first time we have sailed with the Captain and he is quite impressive. In September 1998 Captain Glenn became captain of the Crystal Harmony, which was the first of the Crystal ships. In 2000, he also had the opportunity to be the Captain on Crystal’s second ship, the Crystal Symphony. And, in August of 2003 he became the Captain of the Crystal Serenity. We look forward to sailing with him for the entire voyage.

Today is a sea day and we decided that we should get everything in our room organized so we spent a part of the day doing just that. We love our room and its location. It is mid-ship and the staff that takes care of the room is just wonderful.

During the Captain’s morning talk we learned that despite our late departure from the Los Angeles Cruise Ship Terminal last evening that we are expected to arrive in Oahu on time this coming Thursday morning. This is great news ☺

At 10:00 AM we had the lifeboat drill. We are glad that Crystal chose to have the drill today rather than the day we boarded as it was far less disruptive that way. We do take all of this very seriously and we pay close attention to what is covered at the drill. We appreciate all that Crystal does for our well-being.

Keith attended the destination lecture on Hawaii given by destination lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff. Dr Wolff is a retried dentist. He has been retired for twenty years and he has appeared on the History Channel as a commentator. His talk was wonderful. He makes great use of PowerPoint for his presentations and gives a very thoughtful presentation with absolutely no notes.

Afterwards, we saw the grand opening of a new store on board the ship. One of the shops which sells Crystal Logo related items was moved to another area of the ship which had previously been used for art sales and in its place this new store was opened. The new store will be a trunk show, which will feature different jewelry designers who are brought onto the ship. On the current voyage, designer Hubert Gesser is featured. He was on board the ship for one of the segments of last years World Cruise.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the main dining room. We were served by a waiter who we came to know quite well during last years voyage whose name is Dragon. Several times last year we would sit at a table that he had responsibility for.

During the afternoon, we walked all around the ship and spoke with various passengers and staff. Throughout the course of the day we caught up with many from the crew who we had the opportunity to get to know quite well on last years cruise. This included Leo who is the Maitre D’ of the main dining room, along with the Cruise Director, the Hotel Director, the Food and the Food and Beverage Manager. We also spoke with some of the personnel who work at the Front Desk such as Franz and Nina.

We did not participate in team trivia today as we did throughout last years World Cruise. We decided to take a break from it at least for the first segment of the cruise.

Crystal televised today’s NFL Playoff Games in the Stardust Club, which can seat quite a few passengers. They utilized a big screen, and served hot dogs, popcorn, and soft drinks. The game was also available for viewing on the television sets in each stateroom and suite.

This evening we attended the Captain’s Welcome Formal Reception. On each voyage, on the first formal night before dinner this reception is held. We always enjoy these receptions. They provide another nice opportunity to talk with our fellow passenger’s and to hear from the Captain and to talk with some of the other officers of the ship.

After the reception, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the main dining room. The atmosphere throughout the ship can be best described as elegant with the passengers all dressed in formal attire.

This evening we realize one additional benefit as we get to turn the clocks back one hour so we get an extra hour to sleep. ☺

Today has been a wonderful day as we enjoyed our first full day on the ship and our first full day at sea. We are now all settled in on the ship. It almost feels as if we never disembarked the ship in May.

Keith & Anne Marie

Our Journey Begins

Today begins the first day of our journey on the Crystal Serenity. We look forward to visiting so many places for the very first time and sharing our experiences with each of you.

We just wanted to mention again what a wonderful time we had at last evenings World Cruise Gala. Throughout yesterday, there was an excitement in the air. In many ways yesterday felt like a major class reunion since we saw so many familiar faces whom we had the pleasure of sailing with last year. It truly seems like only yesterday that we were disembarking the Crystal Serenity in London in early May at the conclusion of the 2007 World Cruise.

A few of the officers and staff who we spoke with last evening had actually seen us walking around Beverly Hills over the last day or two. So, we guess we must have really done a great deal of walking. A couple of officers had already known our names even though we had not met them before. Evidently, they had looked at last year’s World Cruise Book, which had pictures of each of us, and remembered our names with our pictures. To us, this is truly amazing.

As was the case last year there is a nice diverse group of passengers from all of the United States and from other areas of the World. There are many passengers traveling solo along with others traveling with a spouse or partner. There are first time Crystal cruisers, first time World Cruisers, along with others who have taken a World Cruise previously. At our table last evening, three of our tablemates were traveling solo along with three couples that were each traveling together. We knew the other two couples from last year and one of these couples is on their ninth consecutive World Cruise with Crystal. Again, truly amazing.

Last evening we also spoke with some other personnel who will be on the ship during the World Cruise. We spoke briefly with the Golf Pro and his lovely wife and while Keith is not a golfer his wife remembered that he had done fairly well in last years World Cruise golf putting competition. We also spoke with the person who will teach the Memoir Writing course as he did last year along with his lovely wife. Ernie and Val if you are reading this, we all said how much we will miss the two of you on the voyage and Ernie we look forward to reading your upcoming published book when it is out. Ernie took the memoir writing class last year and was so inspired from this class that he is having his first book published soon. Again, amazing.

There was such excitement at last evenings World Gala that it is difficult to put all of this into words. We are so very fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of this experience and we will cherish every moment of it.

This morning we awoke early and enjoyed our final breakfast at the Hotel. We were one of the first guests in the restaurant and we saw Captain Glenn Edvardsen (Captain Glenn). The Captain was finishing breakfast so that he could proceed over to the ship. We look forward to sailing with Captain Glenn over the next 108 days. He will be on for the duration of the voyage.

Our Cruise Director will be Rick Spath. This will be our first sailing with Rick as our cruise director. He introduced himself to us last evening and we were so very impressed as he had already known who we were and our names.

For the first portion of the World Cruise our Hotel Director will be Josef Lumetsberger. He was the Hotel Director for the second half of last years World Cruise and it was wonderful to speak with him last evening. He has been on board the Crystal Serenity for the past month, and to Los Angeles on Thursday from Cabos San Lucas so that he could attend last evenings Gala. As Hotel Director he has responsibility for the hotel portion of the ship which includes so many areas including the entertainment, food & beverage, the various restaurants, all of the staterooms, the front desk and the shore excursion desk and all of the other hotel related aspects of the ship.

After breakfast we spoke with some fellow World Cruisers and then went back to our room to pack up our remaining items. We have had a wonderful time in Beverly Hills.

We arrived to the Crystal Hospitality room about 45 minutes before we were scheduled to leave the Hotel. At that point we learned that embarkation would be delayed. This was because the ship was delayed by customs earlier today, which caused a delay in the disembarkation process. In the end, rather than leaving the hotel at 11:00 AM as originally scheduled we departed at around 11:45 AM. We boarded the ship at approximately 1:00 PM and were warmly greeted by the Cruise Director and the World Cruise Hostess. Afterwards, we went directly to the main dining room for lunch.

We had a wonderful lunch and then we took care of some items until our room was ready. Anne Marie verified our table assignment for dinner and were very pleased that we were assigned to the table that we had requested prior to the completion of last years World Cruise. Leo, the Matre D’ recognized Anne Marie right away, which was so nice. At the same time, Keith took care of getting our computer configured to utilize the Internet and also took care of making a couple of reservations at Silk Road which is the wonderful Japanese Specialty Restaurant.

At 2:30 PM we went to our room and spend the next several hours unpacking all of our luggage. The good news is that about every 30 minutes one or two pieces of our luggage arrived. At the same time, we met our butler, Alexander, and our Stewardess, Rose, and her assistant.

While we were waiting for our luggage to arrive we had our door open and at one point we could hear musicians, which was the USC Marching Band. There were seventy-five members from the Marching Band on board to entertain us.

Before dinner we took care of a few items at the front desk and it was wonderful to see familiar staff at the desk who all remembered us from last year. As we have walked around the ship we were greeted by many staff that all knew us. We embraced many passengers and staff in big hubs as this was the first time that we saw them since the World Cruise ended in May. We really feel like we are back home being on the ship.

We had a wonderful dinner this evening. We are so very happy with out table and we have a terrific senior water, waiter and headwaiter. We will share more about them over the coming weeks.

We still have more to get our room ready so we will end for now. Today was a wonderful day and we are so very excited to be back on the beautiful Crystal Serenity.

Keith & Anne Marie

World Cruise Gala

We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast at the hotel this morning. We had our favorite server who has worked at the hotel for 30 years. She was telling us all about what it is like when the Golden Globes are held at the hotel. We will miss her when we leave tomorrow morning. We now believe that if we stayed one more week, we would probably have sat at every table in the restaurant and met every server. ☺

After breakfast we stopped by the lobby area and ran into the King’s and chatted with them for a while and then we saw a familiar face, John, from last years World Cruise. We spoke with John for a while and then his wife, Linda, came down. We ended going back to the restaurant to sit with them and one other couple who we also know very well. It didn’t take too long until we saw several other couples who we first met on last years World Cruise. The good news is that we have another 108 days to catch up with everyone.

We also had the opportunity to meet the new World Cruise Hostess. She has a very easy name to remember, Anne Marie. And she spells it the correct way. ☺ We had corresponded with her a few weeks ago and it was so very nice to meet her in person.

At 10:00 this morning we went over to the Crystal Registration Room. We had the option to have the hotel go ahead and pull all of the luggage from our room today that we will not need until we board the ship so we went ahead and did just that. The luggage will be placed on trucks so that it can be loaded on the ship the first thing tomorrow morning. We kept only those pieces that we need to this evening and they will be pulled from our room on Saturday morning.

We also received our assignment for the car that will take over to the cruise ship terminal tomorrow morning. A few cars will depart the Hotel at 10:45 AM but the majority of the departures will commence starting at 11:00 AM with a new group of cars leaving every fifteen minutes until the last group leaves at 12:15 PM. We were very pleased to learn that we are in the first group of cars that leaves starting at 11:00 AM. Since tomorrow is a Saturday we expect the drive over to the Los Angeles Cruise Ship Terminal located in San Pedro will take about one hour.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice lunch and then took our final long walk all around Beverly Hills. We stopped by the shopping mall at Century City to pick up the final items for the cruise and then we walked over to Rodeo Drive. The weather was absolutely delightful and it was fun to stroll around this magical city.

When we arrived back at the Hotel we saw more World Cruisers who we knew from last years cruise. Seeing everyone is similar to going back to a reunion. Everyone is so excited that the World Cruise is now beginning.

This evening we attended the World Cruise Gala, which is the start of the World Cruise. The Gala is a Black Tie Formal Function and began at 7:00 PM with a cocktail reception. The event was hosted by Crystal Cruises President, Greg Michel, and provided a wonderful opportunity to socialize with fellow passengers and with several officers of the Crystal Serenity and other Crystal Cruises’ Executives. At the reception we had the opportunity to speak with the Captain, Cruise Director, Hotel Director along with several Crystal Cruises Executives including Senior Vice President, Thomas Mazloum.

Following the cocktail reception we proceeded to the Beverly Hills Ballroom for an elegant sit-down dinner. During Dinner, we received a very nice welcome from Mr. Michel. There are over 320 full World Cruisers of which 137 have taken a full World Cruise previously. Amazingly, approximately 36 of the cruisers are taking their first cruise with Crystal.

We sat at assigned seats with fellow World Cruisers and a representative from Crystal hosted each table. We knew two couples at our table from last years World Cruise.

Tomorrow our World Cruise Adventure is set to begin, and we look forward to the start of the World Cruise with great anticipation and excitement.

Keith & Anne Marie

The Windy City

No, we did not fly to Chicago. Rather, this morning it was quite windy in Southern California with winds on the hills forecasted at 80 miles per hour. Luckily, it was not so windy in Beverly Hills but nevertheless it was still fairly windy. By the afternoon, the winds had calmed down and we enjoyed a delightful day.

This morning we enjoyed another nice breakfast in the Hotel Restaurant. When we went back down to the hotel lobby area we ran into fellow World Cruisers and friends Allan and Helen King. We first met the King’s in 2004 on a sailing on board the Crystal Symphony from London to New York City. We went back to the restaurant with them to sit and talk while they had breakfast. Another World Cruise couple that we each knew from previous World Cruises joined us as well.

After breakfast, we all stopped by the Crystal desk, which had just opened. We were given color coded tags to place on our luggage which will designate which pieces of luggage should be taken from our room on Saturday morning to be brought over to the ship and which pieces we will carry with us onto the ship. Tomorrow, we will go by the Crystal registration desk to get our car assignments so that we know what time we will be driven over to the ship on Saturday morning.

Afterwards, we walked with Allan and Helen over to the Rodeo Driver area and enjoyed a nice walk with a wonderful conversation. We are all looking forward to the cruise with great anticipation.

On our way back to the Hotel we stopped at the famous cupcake store that we mentioned the other day. This time there was no long line so we were able to walk into the store to look at the famous cupcakes that attract lots of customers. To us, the cupcakes looked like plain old cupcakes, maybe a little oversized, and what is noteworthy is they cost $3.25 each. At that price, we’re not sure why the demand is so high. We guess it’s a fad.

After walking back to the Hotel, we took care of a couple of items before walking over to Century City. We decided to look for the office building that Crystal is located in and have posted a picture showing the office building where their suite is located. We then enjoyed lunch at Westfield.

Later in the afternoon we took a nice walk to the Museum of Tolerance. We are glad that we had the opportunity to visit this very unique museum.


After our visit to the museum we walked back to Wilshire Boulevard and walked into various stores. The good news is that we only looked and did not purchase anything. We enjoyed a nice seafood dinner and then walked back to the hotel.

We enjoyed another nice day in Beverly Hills.

Tomorrow evening is the World Cruise Gala, which is the kickoff to the 2008 World Cruise. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s kickoff event.

Keith & Anne Marie

Here, There, & Everywhere

We have continued to enjoy our time in Beverly Hills as we wait with great anticipation for the start of the World Cruise. Since our arrival, we have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to see the Beverly Hills area and other nearby areas.

Everywhere we have gone we have met so many nice people who live and/or work around here. There is something very magical about California and we suspect that maybe the fantastic weather contributes to the positive outlook and friendliness of the local residents. This is a beautiful area and we have really enjoyed ourselves throughout this week.

On Tuesday, we spent several hours visiting with two friends, Mehrdad and Sonia, who live in Southern California. In the late morning, they met us at the Hotel and then we enjoyed a very nice lunch along with a wonderful conversation with them at a restaurant located in Westwood. Following lunch we drove around some of the nearby areas including UCLA. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice walk with them around Beverly Hills. We had a wonderful time catching up with our friends and look forward to seeing them again. We spent the remainder of the day seeing some other sites nearby the hotel. The weather continued to be wonderful.

On Wednesday morning we enjoyed another nice breakfast at the Hotel. Once again, we had another really nice server and we learned that he has worked at the Hotel for over 27 years. There are three servers who have been with the hotel for 30, 29 and 27 years respectively. Amazing! After breakfast we took a nice long walk through various residential areas located near the Beverly Hills Civic Center.

Later in the morning we met another very special couple, Tom and Deanna, who we first met on a cruise in the fall of 2006. They drove down from Santa Barbara to visit with us and we enjoyed a lovely lunch and wonderful conversation with them at the hotel restaurant. One of the very wonderful aspects of cruising is all of the very nice people who we have sailed with. We are so lucky to have made friends with Tom and Deanna and we thank them for visiting with us. It was great to hear all about their travel adventures since we last saw them. We look forward to sailing with them again.

Afterwards, we ran into two other couples in the Hotel Lobby who we sailed with on last years World Cruise Adventure. It was great to catch up with them and we look forward to visiting with each of them during the World Cruise.

Later in the afternoon we took another nice walk before having dinner.

Tomorrow we look forward to spending another special day in Beverly Hills and seeing others who we met on last years cruise.


Keith & Anne Marie

These Legs Are Made For Walking

This morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Hotel Restaurant. We have found all of the personnel at the restaurant to be very friendly and nice. Our server has been working at the hotel for 30 years and remarked that last night was the first time that the Golden Globes had ever been canceled since the time she began working at the hotel. The hotel was originally fully booked over the weekend and for the first couple of days following the planned award ceremony, but all of this changed when the announcement was made canceling the actors participation in the awards ceremony.

After breakfast we started off on a very long walk. Today was an opportunity for Keith to test out his new device that fits in his athletic shoes that communicates with his iPOD allowing us to keep track of how many miles we walk. We ended up walking almost fourteen miles today.

Our first stop was at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. While the museum is relatively small what we saw was very moving to us. Our visit to the museum reminds us about all of the horror that took place during that era and the many sacrifices that were made for the survival of future generations. It also reminds us to be thankful and appreciative for all that we have and to focus on the positive aspects of our lives.

After our visit to the museum we continued East on Wilshire Blvd. and then north on Fairfax until we reached the Farmers Market. Inside we found butchers, fruit and vegetable markets, bakeries and various eateries. We then proceeded to The Grove, which is an outdoor upscale shopping area. We walked around this area and browsed at few of the shops before enjoying an outdoor lunch. The weather was lovely and we really enjoyed walking around this area.

We then walked over to the Beverly Hills Civic Center. On our way there we passed a variety of hotels including the Four Seasons and Raffles and several beautiful mansions. The Beverly Hills Civic Center is quite impressive from the Library to the Police Station, to the Fire Department to the City Hall. The outside of the Fire Department is one impressive building.

After visiting this area we walked around other areas of Beverly Hills before returning to the hotel to take a little rest. About an hour later, we went back out and walked around Beverly Hills including walking all the way up and then back on Rodeo Drive. We then enjoyed a very nice dinner before returning to the Hotel.

We had another wonderful day in Beverly Hills.

Keith & Anne Marie

Hooray For Hollywod

Hooray for Hollywood!

We’ll tell you more about Hollywood in a moment.

As we mentioned we are staying at the Beverly Hills Hilton. We selected this hotel because Crystal is hosting the World Cruise Gala at the Hotel. This hotel has gone through a substantial renovation. All of the rooms, hallways and many other interior rooms of the hotel have been redone. The location of the hotel has worked out very well.

This evening the Golden Globe Awards was still held at the Hotel, but without the actors present. Instead, those in attendance were from the press.

We enjoyed our first full day in Beverly Hills. We got a good nights sleep last evening and given how early we woke up yesterday morning we probably could have slept through an earthquake. We enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast at the Hotel.

We were supposed to meet some friends who live nearby today for lunch but one of them was ill so they had to cancel lunch with us. Hopefully, we will be able to see them later in the week.

After breakfast, we walked over to Century City, as we needed to pick up a few final items for the cruise. About a minute after entering the Westfield Century City Shopping Center, Anne Marie spotted actor Adam Sandler and his young son. We each said hi to him but we didn’t acknowledge that we knew who he is. he is. Well a minute later we saw him again and this time we did say we knew who he was and asked if we could get a picture of him and Anne Marie. He was happy to do that so Keith got a picture, which we’ve posted, on the Blog. Unfortunately, between the sun and the shade it’s not one of our better photographs, but it will due. So, while we didn’t visit Hollywood today, we felt as though we were In Hollywood.

We enjoyed the rest of the day taking several walks around the area. The weather couldn’t have been better with temperatures in the mid to high 70’s and sunny skies. Many years ago we lived in Northern California and today was a reminder about how wonderful California is with it great weather. The forecast for the rest of the week looks to be equally good so we are pleased with that.

Keith & Anne Marie

Welcome To Los Angeles

Welcome To Los Angeles

Early last evening we received a call from a representative at the Crystal Cruises Los Angeles office who takes care of the airport transfers, advising us that she had confirmed that our private chauffeured transfers were all set for today. We were very impressed with the follow-up call and to us this is yet another fine example of the high level of customer service that Crystal provides to its passengers.

We awoke quite early this morning with great anticipation for the start of our World Cruise Adventure. We will keep the precise time that we woke up our little secret, except to say that we suspect that some of you were just going to sleep at the time we we were getting up. ☺

Our pick-up was scheduled for 5:30 AM (ouch) and at around 5:15 AM we could here the vehicles arriving on our driveway. Crystal arranged for two vehicles to take our assorted luggage along with us from our home to the airport. We rode in a Lincoln Continental, while our luggage followed closely behind us in an executive van. Coincidentally, the driver of the Continental remembered us from last years World Cruise as he had driven us with all of our luggage in a ten-passenger limousine. Our ride over to the airport was actually more comfortable this time around since we did not have any of the luggage in the vehicle with us. Since it was so early in the morning, there was hardly any traffic to speak of so it took us less than an hour until we arrived at the airport.

We quickly checked in at the ticket counter and Keith explained that most of our extra luggage was due, in part, to all of the shoes that Anne Marie brought with her for this trip. This got a chuckle from the ticket agent and from the porter as well. After check-in, we made our way through security and once inside the terminal we stopped to pick up some light breakfast goodies, which we then took with us into the Admiral's Club. We took advantage of the time in the Admiral’s Club to do some reading.

Now for the good news. When we arrived at the gate, the airplane was there, boarding began earlier than scheduled, and we arrived at Los Angles International Airport about twenty minutes ahead of schedule and the gate was ready for our arrival. The flight crew was one of the best we ever had.

After arriving, we were met at baggage claim by the Crystal Representative and the chauffeur. After collecting our bags, we were driven to the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in a Mercedes Sedan while our luggage was taken via van. We settled into our room after our check in and after unpacking we went on a long walk along various streets in Beverly Hills. The weather was delightful so it was perfect walking weather. We picked up some items that we needed for the World Cruise and didn’t want to take with us on the airplane. Later we went back out a second time to have dinner. We each wanted to have something light and simple so we decided to eat at Nate’nAl, which is very well known for its breakfasts. We each had a salad entree. On our return back to the hotel we discovered a new popular trend in Beverly Hills. For the second time we passed an area where about fifty people were waiting in line for this venue. At first we thought it was either a new restaurant or some type of club, but when we took a closer look we discovered that it was a shop selling cupcakes called Sprinkle Cupcakes.

Originally the Beverly Hills Hotel was expecting a full house this evening and tomorrow evening as tomorrow night they were supposed to be hosting the Golden Globe Awards. However, with the continuation of the writer's strike the televised show has been canceled and the hotel has quite a few vacancies this evening.

Today has been a wonderful way to begin our World Cruise Adventure. We are excited to be in Beverly HIlls and look forward to enjoying the next several days in California.

Keith & Anne Marie