This morning is our first of two sea days as we cruise to Darwin, Australia. We enjoyed a good night sleep last evening and awoke early to begin our day. We worked out in the Fitness Center. Once again, Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine and Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill. Mary and John worked out as well but otherwise very few passengers were working out while we were there. While there seem to be younger passengers on this segment of the World Cruise, we suspect that some of them might be up late at night and then go over to the Fitness Center during either the late morning or afternoon hour. Keith spoke with Mary during his workout.
We then stopped at the Lido Café to get some coffee to take back to the room with us until our breakfast was delivered. We spoke with our butler for a while and learned that he and a senior waiter who we try to sit with for most of our lunches live near each other in Serbia. They are both wonderful and are truly the consummate professionals.
Keith got a haircut at 8:00 AM. He had the same hairstylist cut his hair who cut it the first time and plans to continue to have her cut his hair for the remainder of the cruise. Speaking of the salon, the daughter of the original owner who started these salons is on the cruise for two segments of the World Cruise along with her husband. We met them both on the Africa segment of last years World Cruise. They are two very nice people and Anne Marie spoke with the daughter the other night.
During Captain Glenn’s morning announcement he noted that yesterday when we sailed in and out of Cairns that there was only six feet of water below the keel of the ship. His thought of the day is “It’s better to ask twice than lose your way once.” Another solid thought.
Since today is a sea day there were lots of activities throughout the day. Today was also the second day of the World Cruise Games.
We attended Destination Lecturer Dr. Wolff’s lecture on Mysteries of the Sea. He shared stories of ghost ships, whole crews who have vanished and planes and vessels that have disappeared without a trace. He continues to amaze us with his ability to share lots of information in story form.
We then attended a lecture given by Cathy Rigby. We enjoyed our conversation with she and her husband last evening. They were very easy to talk with. She is a two time Olympic gymnast. She also has performed extensively in plays and earned a Tony nomination for starring in Peter Pan. She talked about her family life as a child and into her teenage and young adult years. She talked about the importance of setting concrete goals, working hard and trusting ones instincts. She also talked about her eating disorder and how she was eventually able to overcome it. All in all she gave an extremely well organized, informative, and motivating presentation.
At noon we attended Team Trivia. We ended up getting only ten of fifteen answers correct so this was not one of our team’s finest days. But, there is always tomorrow. ☺
Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in our room. We did this so that Keith would have time to make it to the 1:30 PM men’s singles table tennis game.
This afternoon Keith competed in the Men’s Table Tennis. He won his first game. On the next round he was matched against Mr. T. Some of you who have cruised on Crystal before probably know that Mr. T plays lots of table tennis and paddle tennis. Keith lost a close on 21-18 and Mr. T won his next couple of games and was the Gold Winner.
The weather this afternoon was outstanding. The forecast was for clods for most of the day but the afternoon was nice and sunny with very little to almost no winds.
Tonight was another formal night on-board the ship. Since there are four formal nights on this cruise there was not a reception this evening as there are three receptions on each segment for formal night. We made plans ahead of time to dine with Stan and Mary at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. We had a fabulous time. Stan and Mary are truly remarkable and wonderful people and we always enjoy talking with them. We enjoyed wonderful cuisine, in a delightful venue, and equally wonderful conversation.
This evening we set the time back thirty (yes thirty) minutes before we go to sleep. We believe this is the first time we’ve ever set the clock back, or forward for that matter, by only thirty minutes. We guess there is a first time for everything. ☺
Keith & Anne Marie
