Today, we continue to cruise towards Auckland, New Zealand and are on schedule to reach this port of call by tomorrow morning. The seas are a bit choppier, but not enough to be bothersome.
It was a little more challenging getting up this morning as we had moved the clocks forward by one hour last evening. Nevertheless, we were up by 5:00 AM and began our day in the Fitness Center. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill and Keith worked out on the elliptical machine. A few of the regulars also worked out, including John and Mary. Keith had a wonderful conversation with Mary during a good portion of the workout. The center was not too busy.
After our workout, we went to the Lido Café for breakfast. It was a little less crowded than normal since some passengers were likely sleeping a little later since we moved the clocks forward one hour last evening. We enjoyed a great breakfast and one other passenger joined us for breakfast. We also spoke with some of the passengers who always sit at a table adjacent to the table we sit at.
The Lido Deck Stewards continue to be outstanding and we are very appreciative for all that they do to make our voyage so wonderful. There are three teams of Lido Deck Stewards who work on the Lido deck and each team is composed of four individuals who are truly amazing. They are so very attentive and they seem to remember everything from what type of coffee each of drinks to many of the items we like to eat in the morning on a regular basis. Each day they make our breakfast so very special. We wish we could take them all home with us. ☺
Since today is the last day at sea for this voyage, there are lots of activities planned throughout the day. There are many lectures throughout the day and afternoon hours and many other activities including language classes, art classes, various fitness classes, movies, computer classes, and many other activities to choose from. Crystal does an outstanding job in this area.
During the Captain’s daily morning talk he clarified why we set the clocks back on hour last evening. This is due to the fact that New Zealand observes daylight savings times through the third Sunday of March, whereas when we visited the last port of call, Fiji, they were not on daylight savings times. The Captain’s thought of the day is “A mile is the shortest distance between to people.” We will continue to travel at around 20 knots per hour in order to reach New Zealand on time.
This morning we attended a lecture given by destination lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff titled “Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey.” He discussed Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton who sailed from New Zealand on his expedition to reach the South Pole, but instead sailed into legend. He discussed what he accomplished during this journey. It was quite a courageous journey and, once again, Dr Wolff gave an outstanding presentation.
Later in the morning Scott Ritter, the former United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector, gave a presentation titled “Iraqi Endgame.” This was the third and final presentation given by Scott Ritter and like the others it would the information that Mr. Ritter provided was very informative and stimulated a great deal of discussion. He also took questions from the audience.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the main dining room. At the same time there was the Crystal American Classic Buffet featured on the Lido Deck.
This afternoon we attended a Classical Concert with Internationally Acclaimed Virtuoso Pianist Hyperion Knight. He has given several concerts throughout this segment of the World Cruise and we also saw him perform during last years World Cruise. In addition to appearing regularly with orchestras across the United States, he has been a featured entertainer at Manhattan’s Rainbow Room and Essex House. He played to a packed audience this afternoon and we thoroughly enjoyed his concert.
The attire for this evening was formal. We attended the Captain’s Farewell Reception prior to dinner where we danced and also enjoyed conversation with several of our fellow passenger’s. The Captain’s birthday is tomorrow so we sang Happy Birthday to him. At the reception they also recognized the employee of the month which was a crew member who ahs been with Crystal for twelve years.
We then enjoyed a delicious dinner in the main dining room. We always look forward to the formal evenings around on the ship. At a time when some cruise lines have gone to less formal attire on the ships such as country club casual, we are very happy that Crystal Cruises continues the tradition of formal attire. We believe that this adds to the overall ambience throughout the ship.
After dinner we decided to go to the second Captain’s Farewell Reception as it provided a wonderful opportunity to talk with some passenger’s who we don’t always see during the daytime since they have late seating. We also had the opportunity to view a very pretty sunset. Right before the sunset you could see a green sparkle just for a split second before it set. How beautiful!
Tomorrow our adventure continues as we visit New Zealand for our very first time. We can’t wait!
Keith & Anne Marie
