We had a wonderful time at last night World Cruise Event. As we had mentioned, the theme for the event was Roman Holiday. The event began with pre-dinner cocktails in the Palm Court, which is the same room, which is used for the various receptions that we attend. The reception provided a nice opportunity to socialize with several of our World Cruise passengers who we have come to know so very well since we began our journey in January starting in Los Angeles. Various drinks were available including a couple of Italian drinks and guests could order any type of drink that they wanted.
Each of us received a card earlier in the day, noting the number of the table we were assigned to. When it was time to be seated for dinner, one by one, each table number was called. At that point our host escorted us to our table for the evening.
We sat with two other couples who we first met on last years World Cruise. One of the couples we had dined with just the night before and we greatly enjoy their company. The other couple is our next-door neighbor on the ship and we have a tradition of sitting with this couple along with a few other fellow passengers at just about each and every Captain’s Welcome, Captains Farewell, and Crystal Society Reception. We also sat with this couple and met them for the very first time at last years World Cruise Gala that kicked off the 2007 World Cruise. We also greatly enjoy seeing them at all of these events.
Our host for the evening was the person in charge of IT on the ship.
We were escorted to an area that was set up around the indoor pool. The pool was covered with a wooden platform, which was used as a stage for this evening’s entertainment. Before the meal began, and then between courses we were treated to a magical evening of world class entertainment by a variety of performers including entertainers from Crystal along with entertainers who are on the ship for a portion of this segment of the World Cruise. The Crystal musicians played live music.
We enjoyed a wonderful meal.
We started off with an antipasti of beef, stuffed with prosciutto and sweet melon, followed b a delicious roasted vegetable soup with olive crostini, which was followed by a delicious entrée consisting of a reosemary baked veal chop, tartufo risotto, fresh with asparagus, with cherry tomatoes. For dessert we were served white peach tiramisu, limoncella pana cotta and hazelnut-ricotta semifreddo.
Wine was served throughout the meal along with water and coffee and in keeping with the theme for the event Limoncello was served.
Lots of thought and effort go into the planning of this event and we applaud Crystal for making this a special evening that we will cherish for years to come.
Afterwards, we attended the evening show, which included a juggler and a comedian. We stayed for most of this show. For those who are not on the World Cruise, complimentary pre-dinner cocktails were available in many of the lounges and complimentary selected wines were served in the Main Dining Room during dinner.
This morning Keith woke up very early this morning as he had an item that he was dealing with at home for us. As a result, Keith was easily the first passenger to arrive at the center. In fact, he was there so early we won’t mention the precise time ☺. He worked out on the Elliptical Machine for a little over two hours. As he was alone in the center for most of the time, he watched the Pennsylvania Primary results. He spoke with John and Mary for a few minutes.
Afterwards, he went to the Lido Café to bring coffee back to the room for both Anne Marie and himself. Anne Marie worked out later in the morning. Keith spoke with several of the Lido Stewards this morning. They had been up very late having cleaned up after the event. We can’t say enough how wonderful and hardworking these folks are. We greatly appreciate all that they do to make our journey such a pleasant adventure.
Today is a sea day so there are lots of activities throughout the day, afternoon and evening. Since today is the last sea day for this segment of the World Cruise there was a tremendous number of lectures given by several wonderful speakers.
We then enjoyed a very nice breakfast served in our room. After breakfast we got ready for today’s activities.
We attended a wonderful lecture given by destination lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff. The topic of his presentation was “Caesar’s Rome – Corruption and Grandeur”. Once again Dr. Wolff hit a home run with his presentation. He is an amazing speaker as he provides lots of interesting information that is presented in a manner that is very easy to follow. We applaud Dr. Wolff for the effort that goes into preparing and delivering these wonderful presentations and we have learned so very much from him during the entire World Cruise.
We attended two other presentations in the morning. We listed to diplomat Tex Harris and the topic of his presentation was “Terrorism, Pakistan and Statecraft: The Future Challenge.” He gave a very interesting presentation and we greatly appreciate the thoughts that he has shared during each of these presentations.
We then listened to Ambassador Marc Ginsberg who gave a wonderful presentation on a topic called “Atomic Ayatollahs: Iran, the U.S., Israel and the Bomb”. Again, this was also a terrific presentation. Ambassador Ginsberg is a very charismatic speaker and we have learned so very much from him regarding many of the key issues in the Middle East; particularly those involving Israel, Iraq and Iran. The focus of today’s presentation was Iran and the challenges that Iran presents to the Middle East.
Following these presentations we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room. Today, was the Grand Gala Buffet which is always a very popular event and one that is very well attended.
In the afternoon, we attended a panel discussion, which included Ambassador Marc Ginsberg, Retired Brigadier General Nick Halley, and American Diplomat Tex Harris. For us, this was the highlight of the day. This panel took questions from the audience and for most questions each of the three speakers shared their views. There were occasions where there was agreement on a particular item but as expected there were times when the speakers expressed different opinions on a particular subject. These are very challenging and complex issues and for some issues there is no right or wrong or precise approach to a particular item. Many times solid discussion, with opposing views, can lead to an optimal solution. We applaud Crystal for being able to feature all three of these speakers on one segment of the cruise. We have certainly learned a great deal from each of them, during their respective individual talks and during today’s panel discussion.
Later in the afternoon, there was yet another speaker when Sports Psychology Expert Stanley Teitelbaum, Ph.D. gave a presentation titled :The Psyche of the Athelete and the Need for Hero’s.”
This evening was the final formal night on this segment of the World Cruise and as part of this evening there was a Captain’s Formal Reception.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner this evening. The food on the ship continues to be outstanding.
Tomorrow, we will arrive to our next port of call in Catania/Sicily, Italy.
This evening we set our clocks back one hour as we sail into a new time zone. This means an extra hour of sleep. ☺
Keith & Anne Marie
