NOTE:
Picture one from the World Cruise Chorus composed mainly of passengers and the singers from Full Sail.
Picture two from this evenings dinner with John and Linda.
Pictures three and four from our day in La Curana, Spain
This morning we arrived to La Coruna, Spain. This is our first visit to this port of call. The ship docked at the Muelle Transalantico pier. This is Crystal’s maiden voyage to this port of call.
There are several Spanish cities that claim they were founded by Hercules, and La Coruna is one of them. There are various sites to see in this area. This include The Plaza Maria Pita which is a square named after Maria Pita, who was key in helping to prevent Francis Drake from setting fire to this city in 1507. Another site is The Castle of San Anton whose construction began in 1587. The Tower of Hercules is the only Roman working lighthouse in the world and it was built in the 2nd Century AD. Finally, there is The Iglesia de Santa Maria which is a Romansque church that dates beck to the 12th Century.
Everyone we spoke with enjoyed Tommy Tune’s show last evening. He is a wonderful entertainer and it was wonderful that he appeared towards the end of the World Cruise. His performance was certainly one of the highlights in terms of entertainment.
When we got back to our room last evening we each received a gift on our bed along with a card. Keith received Tiffany silver cufflinks with an emblem of the 2008 World Cruise on them and Anne Marie received a Tiffany silver charm necklace. During the course of the World Cruise we have also received some other gifts to commemorate places that we have sailed to and these will be sent to our home.
It is hard to believe that today marks the last port of call that we will be visiting during World Cruise 2008 and that tomorrow is our last sea day before we disembark the ship in Southampton, England on Wednesday. This has been an amazing adventure.
We awoke early this morning after enjoying a nice sleep last evening. While Keith enjoys getting up early, today was a little more challenging. Maybe the body is saying it’s time to sleep-in or that it’s time to take a day off from our daily workout. We’ll see what we end up doing tomorrow. ☺
Keith was the first to arrive at the Fitness Center. A little while later Mary joined him, then a few minutes after that Anne Marie and John arrived to the Center. We certainly have been a dedicated group. Last evening we had sat at the Captains Reception with a very nice couple and the man had remarked to Keith how dedicated we have been with the center and that it would have been nice if a clip was included in the World Cruise Video showing us working out. Keith mentioned this to everyone this morning and we all agreed that we should have asked someone to come up and take a video of all of us. It’s been fun working out with the same folks each morning since we first boarded the ship in mid-January.
Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine and Anne Marie enjoyed her workout on the Treadmill. Keith and Mary spoke for a portion of the workout and also watched a show that Crystal shows on one of the television stations which is a behind the scenes look at the Food and Beverage Department. While we have had tours before of the kitchen galley and last year toured the crew area, it was amazing to see all that goes into this area. This includes determining the food suppliers who are used for all of the food, to actually ordering the food and ensuring that it arrives on time to the quality inspection of all food items, to the storage, cleaning and eventual preparation of all of the food to the serving of the food by the dining room personnel. The show was excellent and truly provided a great behind the scenes look at all that is involved in the food and beverage areas. There was another show that gave a behind the scenes look at the entertainment area.
After our workout we stopped by the Lido Café for a cup of coffee and we spoke with John and his wife Linda for a little while. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice breakfast in our room.
The ship docked in Coruna ahead of schedule at around 7:00 AM. We met our daughter and son-in-law at 9:30 AM and then we walked off the ship and into town. No shuttle was needed at the distance to the downtown area was only 100 meters.
During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge he mentioned that the temperature was 59 degrees Fahrenheit and that the forecast was for a beautiful day. As usual, his forecast was correct. Captain Glenn’s thought for the day was “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” This is another great thought and one that we all can do.
We walked around the town for about three hours and visited a few of the sites such as The Plaza Maria Pita and The Tower of Hercules. We walked over six miles all around the town. We saw many shops, boutiques, cafes, restaurants, and pastry shops, along with the opera house. We also walked around a small park like area that had beautiful rose bushes. Before we boarded the ship we walked along the water. It was a delightful day.
Overall, we enjoyed Valencia more than this port and we also enjoyed Cadiz on last years World Cruise more than this port, but nevertheless, we still had a nice time.
We enjoyed a nice lunch back on the ship in the afternoon. We ate in the Main Dining Room and our daughter and son-in-law ate food from the Lido Café and from the Trident Grill. They spent the afternoon by the pool.
We did some additional packing this afternoon and took care of a few other errands around the ship.
Before dinner there was a Cinco de Mayo Sail-Away Party. There have been so many parties during the course of this World Cruise Adventure for all of the passengers, which have been wonderful. There is another one planned for tomorrow evening after the evening entertainment.
We originally planned to dine in the Main Dining Room this evening but our daughter and son-in-law enjoyed Prego so much that we decided to go back to Prego to enjoy the wonderful Italian cuisine and the wonderful ambience of this restaurant. This was our last meal in Prego during this World Cruise. We have enjoyed our meals in Prego during this World Cruise. John and Linda joined us for dinner and we had a delightful dinner with them. They are a wonderful couple and we feel blessed to have sailed with them on both the 2007 and 2008 World Cruises.
After dinner, we attended the Word Cruise Choir who sang several songs for all of us.
Tomorrow is our last day at sea as we are sailing to the disembarkation port at Southampton.
Keith & Anne Marie
