Today is the first of three full sea days as we cruise towards Cochin, India, our first port of call in India.
We enjoyed a good night sleep last evening and woke up at our usual time this morning. When Keith arrived at the Fitness Center there was a gentleman who is on this segment of the cruise already working out on one of the Elliptical Machines who said “I got up here before the runner”. He was amazed that he arrived before Keith did. He is a nice man and had spoken with Keith just yesterday to ask how long we worked out each day and how it looks as if Keith is running while working out on the Elliptical Machine.
With the overnight tours all back on the ship all of our regulars were back at the Fitness Center this morning. All those who we have spoken with about the overnight shore excursion programs had nothing but positive feedback about their respective experiences on those overland programs.
Even with all of the “regulars” back, the center was not very busy and we both enjoyed a very nice workout.
After our workout we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room. We also filled out various port of entry forms in preparation for our arrival in India. There are some countries that we visit where each passenger must fill out some forms for our entry into a particular country and India is one of them. India was also one of three countries where we needed to obtain visas before we began our trip. The other was Vietnam along with Australia but for Australia we were able to obtain an electronic form via the internet rather than requiring a traditional visa. There are a few other countries where Crystal will obtain visas
During this mornings talk from the bridge, Captain Glenn shared his thought of the day which was “If you want to feel rich, always count the things that you have that money can’t buy.”
Yesterday, a fellow passenger asked Keith if he would like to play table tennis at 9:00 AM today so Keith went to play table tennis. The ship has two table tennis tables. Keith played with two fellow passengers and one of the entertainers (piano player) on board this segment of the cruise. They ended up playing for two hours.
Anne Marie attended the 10:00 AM lecture given by Dr. Jay Wolff. His lecture was titled “Riding the Monsoon – Sheba to Mailbar.” She thought the lecture was excellent.
We both attended the lecture given by Author and Book Reviewer Robert Adams who gave a presentation on the book Asylum, by Patrick McGrath. We first heard Robert Adams speak on last years World Cruise and he speaks with great passion about those books and authors that he talks about. He is a wonderful lecturer and we are very fortunate to have him on board for this segment of the World Cruise.
There were so many other activities scheduled throughout the day and afternoon hours. This included various computer courses, music classes, dancing classes, language classes and a a nice set of fitness related classes. There was also team trivia, a rehearsal for passengers who sing in the World Cruise Choir, a Golf Clinic, Complimentary Gaming Lessons taught by the Casino Staff, a couple of Movies (Kite Runner in the afternoon and The Golden Compass in the evening), various levels of Bridge Classes and then Bridge games, a Scrapbook Class, a Memoir Writing class, and several other activities too numerous to list.
This evening before dinner was a reception for those members of the Crystal Society. Once you sail with Crystal one time you automatically become a member of Crystal Society. There are two receptions; one for those who have early seating dining (main seating) and those who dine late. For those in the early seating, the reception begins at 5:15 PM and lasts until 6:00 PM and for those who dine late, the later reception begins at 7:45 PM and ends at 8:30 PM. During the reception, a variety of beverages are offered including wine, champagne, and mixed drinks along with beverages served without alcohol. Waiters also come around serving a variety of Hors D’oeuvres. There is also live music and dancing. There are eight Ambassador Hosts on board the ship who are in attendance and primarily dance with those women traveling solo. During the Crystal Society receptions, a variety of Crystal Society members are recognized for having reached a significant milestone in the total number of cruises taken with Crystal. For those with significant milestones, there names are not only mentioned but they are called up and presented with flowers and are photographed with some of the officers including the Captain. One of the World Cruisers on our sailing was recently recognized for having taken their 200th cruise with Crystal and is the only member of the Crystal Society who has taken 200 or more Crystal Cruises.
Tonight is the second formal night on this segment of the cruise.
Today, we are posting before dinner as we have an engagement this evening.
Before we go to sleep this evening, we will set our clocks back one hour as we sail into another time zone. It is so much easier to set the clocks back and we are so very fortunate that on this entire cruise that we set the clock back most times and very few times have we needed to set it forward.
Keith & Anne Marie
