Once again, we enjoyed a good nights sleep last evening. We find it easy to sleep at night with the slight rocking of the ship.
We awoke early this morning and started the day with our daily workout. Keith was the first one who arrived at the Fitness Center. A short while later Anne Marie arrived and John also arrived around the same time. A little while later Mary arrived so, once again, the four regulars were working out at the same time. Keith worked out the entire time on the Elliptical Machine and continues to rack up those miles. Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. As he frequently does, Keith enjoyed a wonderful talk with Mary. They each spoke about what we had seen in Brunei and also talked about several of the upcoming ports of call.
After our workout, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room.
Today and tomorrow are sea days as we cruise to our next port of call in Hong Kong. This will be a very big turnover stop for the ship, as many passengers will be getting off the ship at this port of call. This includes those passengers who have been on for one or more segments of the World Cruise. There are several passengers who go on the ship for half of the World Cruise; either the first four or the last four World Cruise segments. Since the end of this segment marks the conclusion of the forth of eight World Cruise segments, many passengers who booked the first half of the World Cruise will be disembarking the ship in Hong Kong.
At the same time, many new passengers will be boarding the ship and this next segment is all sold out.
Several members of the crew who we know so well from our current and previous sailings will be leaving the ship in Hong Kong. These includes two very dear crew members who work at the Reception Desk, Franz and Nina and one of the Senior Waiters in the Main Dining Room, Dragan, whose station area we normally try to sit at during lunchtime. Some of the Lido Deck Stewards will be leaving in Hong Kong as well. We will miss them all and look forward to seeing them again.
Since today is a sea day, there were many activities planned throughout the day. Today is also the final day for the World Cruise Games.
We wanted to mention yesterdays thought of the day for the Captain. It is “Behind every good man is a good woman”. When we attended the reception in the Captain’s quarters last evening, many of us recounted this quote. Speaking of the thought of the day, we really appreciate these thoughts and have mentioned to the Captain how much we appreciate them.
During this mornings talk, Captain Glenn noted that we were sailing in the South China Sea and that we were cruising at 20 knots per hour. The morning temperature was 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Captain Glenn’s thought of the day is “If you want to see the moon look at the bright side of it.”
This morning we participated in the mixed doubles table tennis tournament. As it turned out we were teamed together and we came in third place, (we lost in overtime or else we would have advanced to the final) so we won the Bronze Award. ☺
Later in the morning there was the Mid-way Mixer for all passengers on the cruise. This marked the half-way point for the World Cruise. We think that the half-way point is actually tomorrow but nevertheless it is amazing how quickly each and every day goes. There was lots of great entertainment along with drinks being served. The music was wonderful so even though we were in our athletic shoes, we still danced to one of the songs.
This segment of the World Cruise has gone by very quickly which is incredible when one considers the vast number of sea days. Of course, this is an area that sets Crystal apart from every cruise line in our opinion. There are so many wonderful activities to attend from the World Games, to the lectures, to the classes, to the evening entertainment, to the sports programs, to the art and music related activities that in a blink of an eye each day starts and comes to a conclusion. We applaud Crystal for their enrichment programs, which allow us to get exposure to a variety of interesting areas.
At 12:00 Noon it was time for Team Trivia and today was the Trivia World Game. The top three teams from today’s event received a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal respectively. Unfortunately, this was not one of our better days so no medals for our team.
We enjoyed a wonderful lunch today. We each had a delicious salad entrée.
Speaking of lunch, yesterday, we mentioned the dinner menu so we thought today we would briefly touch on the luncheon menu. There are a variety of venues for lunch.
The main dining room serves lunch from 12:00 Noon to 1:30 PM. They usually offer four or more appetizers and salads, three or more soups, and a couple of pasta specials which are available either as an appetizer or as a main fare item. There are five or more main fares, which are available as an entrée. On today’s menu this included a salad entrée of grille venison tenderloin and garden vegetable salad, a potato and wrapped shrimp salad, a king klip fillet seafood entrée, Viennese veal goulash and a hamburger or cheeseburger. You can also order a variety of other items and many times we will substitute a different entrée salad or we might make some slight changes to the entrée salad on the menu. You can also order a variety of side orders from vegetables, to pasta. And, don’t forget dessert. ☺ There are many desserts that can be ordered. Our dessert is always fruit but for example on the menu today is Coconut Tart a la mode, Sugar free sundae of sugar free blueberry crumble with sugar free vanilla ice cream, low-carb yogurt fruit terrine, vanilla/strawberry or chocolate chip ice cream, freshly frozen non fat rum coconut or raspberry yogurt, refreshing banana sherbet and an assortment of fruit in season and lastly international cheeses served with crackers and biscuits. At the same time other types of meals are available in the dining room from Kosher Meals, to low sodium meals.
Another option for lunch is the Lido Café. The Lido Café serves a large array of cold and hot items buffet style. There are so many food items to choose from and this venue provides a nice casual lunch and is also good for those who are in a hurry.
Lunch is also served at Tastes, which offers lunch and dinner in a casual atmosphere with table service, around the Neptune Pool from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
There is The Trident Grill where you can order hamburgers, cheeseburgers, wraps and other snacks from 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
There is also the Bistro, which services a variety of Bistro snacks, tarts and pastries from 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM and where you can also order a variety of hot and cold beverages. Many of the sommeliers work in the Bistro so if someone wants to pre-order a bottle of wine for dinner or to get some advice on wine this is a great place to stop by to get some advice. It is also a wonderful place to meet up with friends or to sit and read a book or a newspaper or magazine.
Many times there are special luncheons such as buffets. Today was one of those days. Today was a luncheon buffet featuring traditional German and Australian Fare.
Later in the afternoon, there is also the Afternoon Tea where one can order a variety of teas and also enjoy some special treats.
This evening marks the conclusion of the World Cruise Games. At 5:00 PM the closing medal ceremony was held. Keith received a Gold Medal for coming in first place in the men’s doubles table tennis tournament and Keith and Anne Marie each received a Bronze medal for finishing in third places in the mixed doubles table tennis tournament. In total, Keith received two gold medals; one silver medal and one bronze medal and Anne Marie received one bronze medal so our room has lots of medals along with certificates from these events. Win or lose we had a great time playing and getting to know many of our fellow passengers.
After the awards ceremony, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room.
Keith & Anne Marie
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