En Route TO Christchurch, New Zealand

Happy Valentines Day from New Zealand. Since we are one day ahead of most time zones it is already Valentines Day here. It is hard to believe that it was only last year when we were celebrating Valentines Day while in Buenos Aires, Argentina during last years World Cruise.

Last evening we sat on the verandah for the sail away from Auckland. We enjoyed this beautiful city and we enjoyed the spectacular views of this city during the sail away. We spoke with a couple who we know quite well who are in an adjacent room next to us on the ship during the sail away and we all agreed that this is a very beautiful area of the world.. We look forward to returning again.

This morning we woke up early to begin our day and were the first ones in the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the elliptical machine for the entire time while Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. Mary was on the treadmill in between us so we both spoke with her during the workout. We enjoyed hearing about what Mary and Stan did during the time we were in Auckland and likewise we told Mary about our time in this lovely city.

For the first time during the cruise, all of the elliptical machines were in use towards the end of our workout. It seems that some younger passengers (in terms of biological age) came onto the ship in Auckland, which probably explains why all the elliptical machines were being used.

We enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the Lido Café. In particular, the fruit was delicious especially the bananas and the grapefruit as new fruit has been brought on board. And we enjoyed wonderful tasting blueberries last evening and other delicious fruit during the day such as strawberries and raspberries. The café was not to busy since today is a sea day and some passengers were sleeping in a little later.

When we got back to the room, we decided to do some laundry and it is a good thing we started early as before not too long all of the machines were in use. It was good to get this out of the way. Many of the passengers who embarked in Auckland had flown in several days before the cruise began and evidently had accumulated lots of laundry to be washed.

During the Captain’s daily report he mentioned that we were making good progress as we cruise towards the next port of call. We are moving at a very nice clip. The Captain’s thought of the day is “It’s not so much what you do but what others do because of you.”

Today is a busy day in terms of activities. Keith attended the Rap with the Rabbi while Anne Marie finished the laundry. We had a terrific discussion during this mornings session.

Other lectures in the morning included Dr. Wolff who presented “Aborigines and Explorers” which was a talk about a people older than time who inhabited a vast and almost empty continent. Dr. Wolff is truly an exceptional lecturer and we have enjoyed all of his presentations.

Later in the morning, Rob Warne, Diplomat, Professor of International Relations and CEO presented “New Zealand: A Young Nation assumes an international Role”. He presented a wealth of information about New Zealand and during the course of this segment of the cruise will be giving three additional presentations.

We enjoyed a very nice lunch with another couple who we first met on last years world cruise.

Before dinner, we attended the Captain’s Welcome Reception and had a wonderful time. Afterwards, we attended dinner in the Main Dining Room. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner made even more special since today is Valentine’s Day.

The Captain Announced that on February 18 at approximately 4:00 PM we will be in the same area at sea as the former Crystal Harmony which was the first ship in the Crystal Fleet. We are looking forward to seeing the ship which we last sailed on in 2002.

Tomorrow, we will visit our next port of call, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Keith & Anne Marie

Auckland-The City of Sails

Last evening Anne Marie attended the farewell show for the conclusion of the second segment of the World Cruise. She thought that the show was very good.

Many of the crew that we spoke with last evening was planning to spend time in Auckland after their shifts ended last evening, while others were planning to go ashore this morning. They were all looking forward to enjoying the city. There are many restaurants and other venues located in close proximity to where we are docked, which is at the Prince’s Wharf in downtown Auckland.

This morning those who will be leaving the ship disembarked. We have met some very nice passengers who are leaving us and we look forward to sailing with them again. This segment of the World Cruise sold out quickly as it is an extremely popular itinerary. There will be about 50 more passengers on board the ship for this segment compared to the previous segment.

During this second segment of the World Cruise we sailed from Papeete, Tahiti to Auckland, New Zealand. We cruise a total of 3,295 Nautical Miles or the equivalent of 3,789 land miles.

Today marks the start of Segment 3 of the World Cruise. During this segment we sail from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia. We stop in several ports along the way located in New Zealand and Australia.

Once again, we woke up quite early and began our day with our daily workout in the Fitness Center. There were very few passengers in the Fitness Center since many are departing the ship this morning while others chose to sleep in a little later this morning.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the Lido Café. We spoke with the headwaiter from Prego who also works in the Lido Café and he is going back home today. He will be back in April and we look forward to seeing him again.

This morning we took our second shore excursion since arriving in Auckland. This one was called Maori Heritage Walk. We were taken by bus to the top of Mt. Eden, which is the highest volcanic mountain in Auckland. Just as we did yesterday when we visited here we took in 360-degree views of this beautiful city. We then descended down the mountain by foot as our tour guide pointed out many areas as we descended to lower levels along the mountain. He told us a great deal about the history of the Maori people who lived here We then took a short refreshment break before we continued our walk through the Domain and then we arrived at the University of Auckland. During our walk we also went by the High Court, the Old Government House, and the former post office, now Auckland’s new railway station. The tour actually took two hours longer than the original schedule, which provided an opportunity to learn more about the area and to see some additional sites.

During the welcome talk that was given by the tour guide, which included a talk in the Maori language, we were asked to select someone from the group to introduce our tour group and to provide some background. As it turned out, Keith was selected to give the talk.

Our tour guide was outstanding and during the course of the tour we also had the opportunity to meet his wife during the refreshment break and one of his sons accompanied the tour in its entirety. We also met his cousin as we were leaving the Auckland University.

We are very fortunate to have spent almost two full days in this very beautiful city and it is clear to us why they refer to Auckland as the City of Sails. It is a very unique city from its two harbors, to being surrounded on all sides by water, to its lush greenery, to its 48 volcanoes, to its rolling hills, to its very diverse population, to its wonderful restaurants specializing in seafood, to the diversity and enthusiasm of its residents.

By the time we got back to the ship, it was too late to go to the Main Dining Room for lunch and several of the other dining venues were closed, so we ordered room service and enjoyed a very nice lunch in our room. The weather was wonderful today, which added to our enjoyment of this beautiful city. We wanted to mention, once again, that we thought that Auckland is one of the most beautiful cities we have ever visited.

Before dinner there was a lifeboat drill for all of the new passengers embarking the ship in Auckland. We enjoyed a very nice dinner in the Main Dining Room.


We also spoke with our daughter and our son earlier today and it was great to hear their wonderful voices. This is a very big week for both of them.

As part of our son’s college major, tomorrow evening he and a college student partner are in charge of the entire dinner that is being served at his college’s restaurant, which should be attended by approximately 100 patrons. They had to do all of the planning for this dinner from developing the menu, to deciding on the food, to coordinating the execution of the meal and developing the dinner’s theme, to signing up the students to attend. If all 100 patrons show up that would fill every seat at every table at the restaurant. We wish him all the best as he has worked so very hard in coordinating all aspects of this dinner as part of this class.

Also, this weekend, our daughter is running in her cities marathon and we wish her all the best as she runs in her very first marathon. We know she has worked so very hard in preparing for this event. Her husband, our dear son-in-law, also had trained equally hard for this event but injured his knee in a soccer sports related accident, which prevents him from running in this marathon.

We wish we could be with our son and our daughter and son-in-law this week and we wish them the very best and will be thinking about them as we do each and every day.

We will be at sea all day tomorrow as we sail to Christ Church, New Zealand.

Keith & Anne Marie

Auckland, New Zealand

We had an early tour this morning so we got up a little extra earlier to work out at the Fitness Center. As I was walking up the steps to the Fitness Center, I saw a very familiar face from the night crew that works so very hard to clean all of the common areas of the ship during the late night hours. We enjoyed a chuckle since I often see him near the same area each and every morning. In some ways, it reminded me of the movie Ground Hog Day starring Bill Murray as on most days we say hello to each other and wish each other a very nice day. Sometimes, we chat for a few minutes. All of the members of the night crew work so very hard and are very pleasant just like the rest of the wonderful crew on board this ship.

Some of the other regulars had the same thought. Mary was already on the treadmill when Keith arrived and after a little while Anne Marie, John and another regular Marv were also working out. Between the five of us we utilized two elliptical machines, two treadmills and one stationary bicycle. We enjoyed a very nice workout and before we finished we could see the lights from shore as we were making our way to Auckland, New Zealand.

We enjoyed a quiet breakfast in the Lido Café. We spoke to a few other passengers who were also there and took in the beauty of New Zealand, as we got closer to land. We are very excited to be visiting this area of the world for our very first time. We arrived in port at about 7:30 AM. The weather was about 65 degrees when we first docked.

We listened to the Captain’s daily report and he said that some rain showers were in the forecast today. His thought for the day was “Sometimes it is far better to be 80 years young than 40 years old”. We truly believe this. Just last evening we were talking with a very nice couple that we first met last year. The man is 91 years young and his wife is 87 years young. Each and every morning they walk on the treadmill and in the afternoon they take a long walk on the promenade deck. They have a very positive outlook on life, a passion for cruising, a dedication to friends and family, and they truly are role models for those around them. They do, in fact, act younger than many people we know who are half their age. We look forward to seeing them each day throughout this voyage.

I can list many other examples of this on our current cruise. We know another couple that probably dance each and every dance during the various receptions held in the Palm Court. Yet , we have known other people over the years who are probably half their biological age who would not be able to keep up with them.

Several passengers that we spoke with have visited here multiple times, yet were still looking forward to seeing all of the ports of call on our voyage. That speaks very well for this area of the world.

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city and it is located between the Taman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is also known as the “City of Sails” as it boasts more boats per capita than any city in the world. It is also one of the few cities in the world to have Harbors on two separate bodies of water. The city offers many outdoor activities for both residents and tourists. Amazingly, one out of every three residents of New Zealand’s lives in Auckland. Auckland also has the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere, which is the Sky Tower.

We had a wonderful time in Auckland. It is by far one of the nicest and most beautiful cities we have ever visited. It has many nice characteristics similar to San Francisco and other Pacific Northwest cities and some of the charm that we have seen in some selected cities around the world. It did rain a few times today but just for a very short time and we were fortunate to be inside most of the time when it rained.

This morning we took a complimentary tour offered by Crystal for all passengers on this sailing, regardless of whether they are sailing on one segment, multiple segments or the full World Cruise. The tour was called Auckland Acquaintance. Our tour included a drive all they way to the top of Mt. Eden, which is one of more than 60 dormant volcanoes in this area. We also enjoyed a cultural performance, which included singing and dancing at the Auckland Museum and we spent an hour touring this very nice museum. We also drove by other areas which included Victorian buildings which have been converted to charming boutiques and to very nice specialty stores, and we also passed by other areas such as a rose garden, various beaches, where we also had a beautiful view of the harbor and various beaches and cliffs. We also crossed the Auckland Harbor Bridge, which provided beautiful views of the surrounding area. This was a perfect tour for us in order to get a very nice overview of this beautiful city.

When we arrived back to the ship we enjoyed a very nice lunch in the main dining room. Afterwards we took a walk for a couple of hours around this beautiful city. We walked around a wonderful park called Albert Park that had beautiful floral displays and some very unique trees. We also walked up several different streets. We also walked by Auckland University. We found this city to be charming and the locals to be extremely helpful and friendly.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. The food and service were wonderful.

This evening the ship is staying in Auckland. Those passengers whose cruise is ending will depart the ship tomorrow; approximately 300 passengers. At the same time a new group of passengers will be joining the ship tomorrow.

We have another shore excursion planned for tomorrow.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Auckland, New Zealand

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

En Route To Auckland, New Zealand

En Route To Auckland, New Zealand

We wanted to share a little more about last evenings World Cruise Event. The theme of the event was Casablanca. Each of the passengers was assigned to a table for dinner. We sat with two other couples that we knew well. It is amazing how Crystal does the table assignments. The Head Concierge hosted our table. We had a wonderful table right by the stage. We all enjoyed a wonderful conversation throughout evening. Before dinner and then between each course musicians, dances and singers entertained us. Behind the stage was a screen where parts of the movie Casablanca were playing.

The food was wonderful. The appetizer was a Dungeness Crab Falafel. The soup was a Moroccan Spice Pumpkin Soup served inside one half of an acorn squash. The main course was a Lamb Pastilla and a Cumin Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Chop. The dessert was a trio sampler, which were a Fig and Honey Crème Brulee, a Rosewater Almond Tartlet and Cinnamon Ice Cream. And the amazing part of the meal was that it contained no calories. Just kidding! ☺

We also enjoyed wine that was served throughout the meal. Before the meal we all met in another room (Palm Court) for pre-dinner drinks. When our table number was called, we found out who our fellow table mates would be including the member of the crew hosting our table. We were then escorted to our table.

It was an amazing and enchanting evening!

We awoke early this morning and we worked out in the Fitness Center. Once again Keith was the first one in the Center and about thirty minutes later Anne Marie began her workout. There were far less passengers in the center when we worked out probably because today and tomorrow are sea days.

We enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the Lido Café and towards the end of our meal a couple of other passenger’s joined us for breakfast. We posted a picture of Anne Marie with one of the Lido Deck Stewards, Clark, who helps us each morning. He is wonderful!

During the captain’s daily report he said that the weather would be nice and his thought for the day is “You only get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.” This is very true in our opinion.

We went to several activities this morning. At 9:00 AM we attended the Rap with the Rabbi. The Rabbi had invited Scott Ritter to speak with the group. A number of good questions were raised during this session and Scott Ritter provided lots of good feedback in response to these questions.

Later in the morning we attended a lecture presented by Destination Lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff. The title of his presentation was “In Celebration of Kiwis.”. After Dr Wolff’s presentation we attended a presentation given by Jane Bryant Quinn titled “Good Investments and Bad Ones and How to Tell the Difference.” We found both of these presentations to be quite informative.

For lunch we ate in the Main Dining Room and today was a Sunday Jazz Brunch Buffet. We posted a picture from one of the many food tables set up as part of this buffet. Rather than eating the buffet items, we each ordered a nice salad entrée. We sat at the table we normally sit at during the evening and had our same senior waiter and headwaiter.

We enjoyed a wonderful walk on the Promenade Deck this afternoon.

Before dinner, we attended a reception in one of the penthouse rooms hosted by a very nice couple that we first got to know on last years World Cruise. Champagne and a variety of Hors D’oeuvres were served.

We dined in Prego this evening with another very nice couple who we first met on last years World Cruise.

Keith & Anne Marie

Fiji Islands

After we posted our Blog last evening, Anne Marie went to the evening show with John and Linda, which was called Black Tie, and featured an Australian Vocal and Instrumental Group. The group included two brothers who sang. In turn, they were accompanied by each of their wives with one wife playing the piano while the other one played the cello. They sang a variety of songs from various plays along with other songs and their performance was teriffic.

We began today with our daily workout in the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the elliptical machine and Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill. A few of the regulars were working out including Mary and John. Keith and Mary talked for a while about yesterday’s activities and also about the excursions that are offered today. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunrise that we could see through the windows of the Fitness Center. We concluded our workout with some stretching exercises.

We decided to have breakfast in our room this morning rather than the Lido Café. The butler brought us breakfast at 7:00 AM. We enjoyed a very nice breakfast and while we ate we had a very nice view of land as we made our way today’s port of call.

We arrived n Lautoka, Fiji at around 8:30 AM. This is our first time to Fiji. Since yesterday late afternoon we have seen a variety of small to medium size islands as we made our way to Fiji.

Fiji is located to the east of the International Dateline. Fiji is composed of several islands. The town that we docked at, Lautoka, has a population of approximately 45,000 people. It is located on the western shores of Viti Levu, the largest of Fiji’s 300 idyllic islands. It is Fiji’s second largest town and second major seaport. Not too far from the pier where the ship was docked are fields upon fields of lush sugar cane, traditional villages and an orchid wonderland. Sugar is considered king of this town. Another major item that is exported from this area is wood chips.

After we docked, we departed the ship at approximately 9:00 AM. The pier is located around two miles from town. Crystal provided complimentary shuttle service that operated between the pier the downtown area. There was not too much to the downtown area. We visited one supermarket to get a feel as the foods that the locals consume. There were many types of red meat and poultry along with a variety of cold and frozen items and a variety of other packaged and canned items. We walked by a few other stores and then decided to go back to the ship.

Once, back on the ship we took a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck. During our walk, the crew was conducting their weekly lifeboat drill. As we walked around the deck we saw many familiar faces from the crew who were at their assigned spots on this deck.

Later in the day we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the main dining room.

This evening we attended a special on board event that was for those passengers on the full world cruise. Given the size of the group there was an early and late seating and we were assigned to the early seating which was a requested preference. Our invitation looked like a passport and we were invited to Bogart’s Bash. Yes, Bogart as in actor Humphrey Bogart and the request was from the Casablancan Authority. ☺ The event started off with pre-dinner cocktails in the Palm Court and dinner commenced at 5:30 PM in the area around the indoor pool. There were assigned tables for dinner. All of the wait staff from the Silk Road and Prego Specialty Restaurants was on hand to serve during this event along with many other crewmembers. A great deal of effort goes into preparing for this event. For much of the day a stage was erected for the entertainment. For those passengers not on the full World Cruise, Crystal provided them with a nice selection of complimentary house wines in the Main Dining Room.

We had a wonderful time this evening and we greatly appreciate all of the planning and effort that went into this event.

We now have two days at sea as we cruise to Auckland, New Zealand. We are very excited to be visiting New Zealand for the very first time. We have a couple of shore excursions planned fro Auckland.

Keith & Anne Marie