On Route To Gibraltar, UK

Photo 1 from lunch with Cruise Director Rick Spath.

Last evening when we returned to the room we received a nice letter that is sent to all World Cruisers from our World Cruise Hostess; Anne Marie Falvey. We receive a letter on most sea days and also on some evenings when we are in port. In these letters, Anne Marie recaps events that have taken place on the ship and also highlights upcoming events. The letters are very well written and we appreciate the time and effort that goes into writing them. This is Anne Marie’s first year as the World Cruise Hostess and she has performed admirably in this position. We have enjoyed our conversations with her and the dinner and lunch that we had with her and the Assistant Cruise Director. They both used to perform on the ship as part of Repertory at Sea which was a small group of actors/actresses (usually two male and two females) who would perform thirty to forty-five minute plays on the ship. Anne Marie has written several of the events that have been put on during the course of the cruise and she has utilized her background in theatre very effectively.


We enjoyed another good nights sleep last evening as we sail to our next port of call in Gibraltar, United Kingdom. It is hard to believe that today is the start of May. In less than one week we will be leaving this wonderful ship as our World Cruise adventure comes to an end. There is no question that this years world cruise has been outstanding and has exceeded our expectations. We have made memories that will last a lifetime.

This morning we woke early. Yes, Keith was the first passenger arriving at the Fitness Center and was followed by Anne Marie about forty-five minutes later. Regulars such as Mary and John also worked out. Keith spoke with John for a little while when he first arrived and then spoke with Mary during part of the workout. The center was not very crowded. During our workout there was one other person working out whom we have seen from time to time in the center. We learned from him that he has lost 50 lbs. during the World Cruise. Keith asked him if he planned to lose the weight and he said yes. He finds that he can eat great items, such as plenty of fish, and between the good food and working out quite a bit he succeeded in reaching his goal.

The food on the ship is wonderful so for those who want to eat very healthy food it is easy to do just that so one can lose weight on the ship if this is something that they desire by eating healthy, and utilizing the Fitness Center and/or walking on the Promenade Deck and talking other walks in port and taking advantage of the other fitness related classes and other activities offered on board the ship.

The food portions are reasonable sizes and clearly the focus is on quality rather than quantity for each food item. Each recipe is prepared with high quality food ingredients and the presentation of the food items is what you would expect from a five star restaurant. At the same time, one can indulge in those items that they enjoy and they can order as much as they want.

For us, we do approach eating differently on a World Cruise than we would on say a twelve-day cruise. We can’t say enough about the flexibility of the Main Dining Room. If there is a particular item that one would like to eat the key is to order it 24 hours in advance although some items can be ordered the same day. Given the number of passengers that are served each day, it is amazing the amount of flexibility in the dining room.

After our workout we each got a nice cup of coffee at the Lido Café. We spoke with fellow passengers John and Linda for a while. They are wonderful people who we first met on last years World Cruise and we are so very happy that we have had the opportunity to sail with them again.

We enjoyed another fantastic breakfast in our room. During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge, he noted that the outside temperature was 63 degrees Fahrenheit and that we were traveling at 11.8 knots per hour with two of six engines in use. We were on track to reach our next port of call; Gibraltar, United Kingdom on schedule tomorrow morning. Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “The more you say the less people will remember.” Another great thought of the day and one that makes perfect sense. We enjoy these thoughts of the day.

Today is a sea day so we enjoyed many nice activities throughout the daytime and evening hours.

Keith attended the Rap With The Rabbi Session while Anne Marie did some packing. The session with the Rabbi was wonderful. It was nicely attended and the discussion was very interesting.

Afterwards, there were two very interesting lectures.

Dr. Jay Wolff gave the first presentation, which was another wonderful lecture. The topic of today’s presentation was “Guernica, a Town and a Painting.” This was a very enjoyable presentation. Dr. Wolff’s next presentation will be on the Vikings.

The next presentation was given by Political journalist and author Ken Walsh who presented “Escapes from the White House: Presidential Hideaways, Homes and Retreats. Mr. Walsh talked about the locations that many of the Presidents utilized over the years. He talked about George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and the current George Bush. His next presentation will cover the 2008 Presidential Election.

Anne Marie also did additional packing in the morning and has several bags packed. This will make it easier to finish the packing towards the end of the cruise.

The four of us met Cruise Director Rick Spath for lunch in the Main Dining Room. This is our third lunch with Rick during the course of the World Cruise. We truly appreciate Rick taking the time out of his busy scheduled to meet with us and we appreciate all that he does. He is an outstanding Cruise Director and has gone out of his way to make this an outstanding cruise for us. We look forward to sailing with Rick again.

We took care of a few other items this afternoon. We had been holding pictures from the photo studio in a folder since the beginning of the World Cruise and today we selected those that we wanted to purchase.

Before dinner this evening the four of us attended a cocktail reception given by our travel consortium that our travel specialist is affiliated with. This is the last of the receptions that the travel consortium will be hosting during this world cruise. We enjoyed these events and the opportunity to converse with many of our fellow passengers.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. We had pre-ordered Beef Wellington which was one of the few times that we did not have fish during the course of this World Cruise Adventure. Our daughter enjoyed Black Bass, which we had pre-ordered for her. Dinner was outstanding. The food, service and ambience were wonderful. We can’t say enough about how good the dining experience is on Crystal. We applaud all that Crystal does in this area of the cruise.


Keith & Anne

Valencia, Spain

NOTE:

Pictures

Picture 1: Restaurant Submarino. This is part of the L'OCeanograpfic (separate building) which includes a restaurant on the lower level which provides views of an aquarium.

Picture 2 from the Dolphin Show.

Picture 3 of the old town area.

Picture 4 from last evening of our headwaiter Peter.

Picture 5 from last evenings Captains Welcome Reception of Jennifer and Gui dancing.

This last segment of the World Cruise has fewer passengers than the other segments. At the Captain’s Welcome Reception last evening, Captain Glenn noted that there are 598 passengers on boards with a crew of 645. While we think this is a perfect time of the year to visit the Mediterranean, sometimes passengers want to wait until either later in May or for the summer to arrive before traveling here. We remember that during last years World Cruise when we essentially had two segments in the Mediterranean that at least for one of the segments that the ship was not very full.

When the Captain introduced his senior officers last evening he noted the importance of team work and in terms of team noted that on the Crystal ship that team stands for “Together Everyone Achieves More”. For us, when Keith worked fulltime he used to say that the results of a team was far greater than the results that were achieved when the same people worked as individuals.

Today we arrived to Valencia, Spain. This was a maiden port of call for Crystal Cruises and also our first time visiting this city. Valencia is Spain’s third largest city. It is located in a major farming region as the land is very fertile Valencia also benefits from very nice weather and is well known for its outdoor living and for its nightlife. Sports enthusiasts enjoy the outdoors for golf, tennis, cycling and diving.

The Romans founded Valencia in 138 BC. Eventually it was conquered by the Moors, taken over by El Cid and overtime retaken by the Moors.

We awoke early this morning and began our day with our daily workout as we normally do. Keith was the first to arrive to the Fitness Center and worked out on the Elliptical Machine. Anne Marie slept in this morning since we had an early shore excursion. John and Mary worked out as well and Keith spoke with Mary for a portion of his workout.

We had an early breakfast in our room and then we got ready for our shore excursion.

During Captain Glenn’s morning announcement from the bridge he noted that the weather forecast called for a beautiful day in Velencia. The Captain’s thought for the day was “Sometimes silence is golden when you can’t think about a good answer.”

In the morning, all four of us took the complimentary shore excursion offered to all passengers. Crystal offered this excursion at two different times today. This excursion was called Panoramic Valencia & L’Oceanographic Aquarium. We traveled from the pier to the downtown city center where we viewed many of the buildings in this historic section of town.

Afterwards, we drove to the City of Arts and Sciences This facility contains an opera house and performing arts center, a science museum, an IMAX cinema/planetarium, several restaurants and an oceanographic park.

We then visited the L’Oceanografic. The aquarium is the largest in Europe and is actually the third largest in the entire world. The aquarium is divided into two major sections. One section is comprised of fish and invertebrates and the second section is comprised of marine mammals.

The L’Oceanografic contains more than 45,000 examples of 500 different marine species. It has extensive underwater areas featuring sharks, beluga whales, walruses, sea lions, penguins and manta rays.

We saw a dolphin show and we walked several areas of the aquarium where we saw many species of fish, penguins, turtles, beluga whale and other sea creatures.

The areas of the city that we saw were amazing. We were very impressed with both the old town area and the new areas of the center. The newer areas had a feel of other areas we visited during the World Cruise such as Sydney with the opera house in this city having a look similar to that of Sydney.

This is a city that we highly recommend visiting. Our only regret is that we didn’t have more time in this wonderful city and we would encourage Crystal to not only return here but to consider an overnight in this city.

Since many of the tours were scheduled to arrive back at the ship in the afternoon, the dining hours were extended in the Main Dining Room. We pre-ordered nice salad entrees to the dining room so that when we got back to the ship for lunch that they were ready for us. We enjoyed a very nice lunch.

This evening the four of us dined in the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with the Rabbi and his lovely wife. We enjoyed a lovely meal and a wonderful conversation and had a great time.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Valencia, Spain

NOTE:

Picture 1 from our visit to the Bridge Yesterday. The four of us with Cruise Director Rick Spath.

Picture 2 from our visit to the Bridge yesterday with a picture of Captain Glenn.

Picture 3 from last nights dinner at Silk Road.

We did enjoy another wonderful sleep as we sail to Valencia, Spain. The seas did become moderately rough which we realized when we woke up this morning. Once again, Keith was the first guest to arrive at the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine. Anne Marie arrived a little while later and worked out on the Treadmill. Other regulars such as John and Mary also worked out. While we were working out, the winds were around 40 miles per hour so we could feel the ship rocking a bit.

After our workout we stopped by the Lido Café for a cup of coffee. We spoke with a few of the passengers and we were all saying what a great comedian Mike Goddard is. He has a great sense of humor, and his humor is extremely funny without the need to go over the top. We really look forward to his other shows and just like last year enjoy talking with him.

We also spoke with a few of the Lido Deck Stewards, including Clark. Clark has a wonderful sense of humor. We always kids with him about his ability to fly all around the ship just like Superman. He is pictured in Crystal’s World Atlas which is the nicely done brochure published annually by Crystal listing the pricing and itinerary for each of the voyages and providing a wealth of information about the experience of cruising with Crystal.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our stateroom.

Today is a sea day with a full day and evening of activities.

During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge, he noted that we were in an area of the sea that typically had high winds. The good news is that these winds would calm down in a couple of hours, which was the case. We are traveling at around 13 knots per hour and using two of six engines. The Captain’s thought of the day we “We can try many ways to get away from darkness but none is more effective than turning on the light.”

We attended the Rap with the Rabbi to start off the morning activities. This session was well attended and we thoroughly enjoyed today’s discussion. There should be another one or possibly two sessions before the World Cruise ends.

After the Rap we attended a lecture given by Destination Lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff. The topic of today’s presentation was “The Crusades: Faith and Blood”. Once again, Dr. Wolff gave a wonderful lecture that was both informative and very insightful. We continue to be amazed at Dr. Wolff’s ability to cover a diverse set of subjects. He is wonderful to listen to.

Following Dr. Wolff’s presentation we attended another lecture given by political journalist and author Ken Walsh. The topic of this presentation was “Air Force One: a History of the Presidents and their Planes.” Ken Walsh is the Chief White House Correspondent for U.S News & World Report. He appears regularly on a variety of television networks including NBC, MSNBC, FOX, CNN, ABC, the History Channel and C-Span. We enjoyed this presentation and look forward to the additional presentations that Mr. Walsh will give including one on this years Presidential Election. Our daughter and son-in-law joined us for this lecture and enjoyed it as well.

We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room. We ate with Jim and Judy a wonderful World Cruise couple whom we first met last year. We enjoyed a great conversation with them as we always do.

This afternoon we spent some time with our daughter and son-in-law.

We also received a copy of the invitation that is going out to all of the members of the crew for a crew party that we are jointly sponsoring with eighteen other passengers on the cruise. We were one of the sponsors last year (there were about sixteen of us last year) and were happy to be a sponsor this year. The part will begin at 11:00 PM on the evening of May 2nd and will last until 2:00 AM. We will also attend the party and probably stay for about an hour. The party will include lots of food, drink and also music and dancing and the room will be nicely decorated and there should be some party favors. We are happy to be a part of this as it is another way for us to thank the crew for all they have done to make this a wonderful World Cruise. The crew has been amazing and we appreciate all that they have done to make this an amazing journey, which will last a lifetime. Our thanks to each and every member of Crystal for all that they do.

Before dinner we attended Captain Glenn’s Welcome Reception. We had a wonderful time at the reception. This evening is one of two formals on the ship and it was nice to see everyone dressed up in their formal attire.

After the reception we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. We are enjoying our four-person table in the Main Dining Room. The food, service, conversation and overall ambience in the dining room is a delight.

After dinner we attended the production show of Million Dollar Musicals which is a salute to the silver screen.

Keith & Anne Marie

Monte Carlo Day 2

NOTE: Pictures

Picture 1 from last nights evening dinner in Main Dining Room.

Picture 2, 3 & 4 from visit to Oceanographic Museum & Aquarium.

Picture 5 from our walk around Monte Carlo.

Pciture 6 of the Grand Casino.

Picture 7 from car located near route of the upcoming Grand Prix.

As we mentioned, this is our third visit to this port of call and each visit involved an overnight stay. While it’s nice to visit areas of the world for the very first time it’s also nice to go back to places that we have previously visited. The advantage of the latter is that we know exactly what we want to see and it was also nice. This was certainly the case for Monte Carlo and since we are very familiar with this city we could take our daughter and son-in-law to those places that we thought they would enjoy.

Weather can also be another factor contributing to ones enjoyment of a particular port of call. For example, cloudy, damp or rainy weather can certainly diminish ones enjoyment of a port of call. The first time we visited Monte Carlo it was on a very hot, and humid day in the middle of the summer when this port of call was literally filled with tourists. We found it tiring to walk for long periods of time and the streets were full of tourists so we had only an average opinion of this port. A few years later we had the opportunity to visit this port in the fall when the weather was picture perfect, with moderate temperatures, and we had the added benefit of far fewer tourists. Saying that we had a wonderful time was an understatement as we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Just like on our last visit, we have had a glorious time this past day and one half. The weather was perfect, there were far fewer tourists than in the summer, and all of this added to our enjoyment of this port of call.

Our original plan was to spend a portion of our time in Monte Carlo and then we thought that we might visit Nice or Eze since the original itinerary had us arriving here by 10:AM. However, the time was pushed back a couple of hours to accommodate our midnight departure from Rome given the World Cruise Event, so in the end we decided to spend all of our time here. (More on this in a moment) Yesterday, we focused on walking around to the major sites in the city from the beautiful gardens, to the Place, to the Cathedral, to the Casino, while taking in the beautiful views of the city and the ocean that surrounds this beautiful port of call. The streets near the Palace have the look of Disneyworld. All one needs is Disney music playing in the background, and one would think that they have been transported to either Disney World or Disney Land.

We enjoyed another nice sleep last evening. The view of the city at night is always spectacular. We have a beautiful view of an enormous yacht and it looked even more impressive all lit up. We have been told that close to 75-crew work on this ship for a private owner. To us, it is close in size to one of the Seabourn triplets.

Several passengers went off the ship last evening, either to the casino, or for dinner or for drinks. We prefer the ships food too much to consider eating off the ship. For us, this is five star food and the quality of the food, the wonderful service and the excellent ambience of the dining room is preferable over eating on land while in port. As we had mentioned we had ordered a special entrée and it was outstanding. Wow might be a better word to describe it.

We awoke early this morning and began our day with a workout in the Fitness Center. Once again Keith was the first in the Center and enjoyed a great workout on the Elliptical Machine. Anne Marie arrived a little while later and worked out on the Treadmill. John and Mary also worked out. As we were finishing our workout there were only two other passengers still there besides Mary.

After our workout we stopped by the Lido Café to get some coffee to take back to the room. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room. Our new butler has been wonderful and we appreciate all that he has done for us.

We met our daughter and son-in-law at 9:15 AM to continue seeing this wonderful port of call. One of the major reasons we decided not to venture out of this city is because we wanted to visit the Oceanographic Museum & Aquarium. This museum was founded in 1910 by Prince Albert I. It is located right adjacent to the sea. The interior of the building is beautiful, particularly the area of the museum. We saw a very impressive assortment of fish; many of which we have not seen before. We enjoyed a glorious morning in Monte Carlo.

We went back to the ship and had lunch in the Main Dining Room. Lunch was wonderful. We had our Salad Entrees and the kids enjoyed a variety of items. After lunch, we went back on shore and continued to walk around this lovely town. We walked to an area that we had not walked to in our previous stays which was adjacent to the shoreline.

Our ship left Monte Carlo at 6:00 PM. A major highlight for all four of us is that we had the opportunity to go to the bridge for the sail-away. This is certainly one of the nicest ports to observe from the bridge. We had a wonderful time and greatly appreciate the opportunity to be on the bridge for this sailaway.

Afterwards, we all went to the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. This was the first opportunity for our daughter and son-in-law to dine there. Being lovers of sushi, they greatly enjoyed this restaurant, as do Mom and Dad. We all enjoyed the fabulous sushi served in this restaurant. Dad has been much more adventurous with the sushi/sashimi, Mom stays with the sushi. Like Keith, Jennifer and Gui also enjoy the sashimi along with the sushi. We plan to go back to Silk Road a couple of more times before we disembark the ship in Southampton.

After dinner, we went to a World Cruise Event which was called Shaken 007 Stirred wich was a show in honor of of his 88th birthday and 57th year in Her Majesty’s Secret Service. We greatly enjoyed the show.

After the show, we saw comedian Mike Goddard who we first saw on last years World Cruise. We enjoyed his show and he had us in stitches.

Tomorrow is a sea day.

Keith & Anne

Monte Carlo, Monaco

NOTE: Pictures are from las evenings World Cruise Shore Side Event

Picture 1 of of our table minus Keith who took the picture and one other guest who was not seated at the time Keith took the picture.

Picture 2 of the four of us.

Picture 3 and 4 of some of the entertainers at last nights event.

We had a wonderful time, last evening at the World Cruise Shore Side event, which was held in Rome. We left the ship at around 5:00 PM for the drive into Rome. We arrived at the Complesso Monumentale di Santo Spirto in Saxia which is a monumental complex of the Holy Spirit in Saxia. It is located within walking distance of St. Peter’s Square and the Vatican. As we mentioned yesterday, Santo Spirito in Saxia is indeed one of Rome’s oldest historical monuments. It dates back to AD 747. The complex was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 1198. It was expanded between 1471 and 1478.

After we arrived, we were welcomed at the entrance to the building by some of the officers and staff from the ship including the Captain, the Hotel Director, the Cruise Director, and the World Cruise Hostess.

A children’s choir entertained us during the cocktail hour. The building was just beautiful and words cannot describe the magnificent interior of this historical site. At around 7:00 PM we entered another area where we were seated for dinner. During the dinner music was played by a white harp’s quartet and after dinner we were entertained by two tenors and one soprano, along with a pianist. The tables accommodated ten people. We sat with John and Linda, Jim and Judy, our daughter and son-in law and two World Cruise passengers who are traveling solo. We were so glad to share this experience with such wonderful people and were also fortunate to have a table right near the stage where the entertainers performed.

The dinner included artichoke flan in a mini puff pastry, cavatelli short pasta with a vegetable caponata and grated ricotta cheese, beef tenderloin with aromatic herbs and seasonal vegetables, and a grand marnier semifreddo with orange sauce.

This was a wonderful evening. The venue was spectacular and it amazes us how Crystal is able to locate such unique venues such as this one. We spoke with the Crystal person from the Los Angeles Office who is responsible for Crystal’s land programs which includes the shore excursions, the pre and post hotels, along with items such as these events. He was telling us how he selected this venue. We know that we will remember this event for the rest of our lives.

When we arrived back to the ship there was live music and various wines and champagnes and moist towels for all of us. It was a nice close to a very classic evening and we appreciate these extra touches.

We left the port at 12:00 Midnight. Our ship arrived to Monte Carlo, Monaco at approximately 1:00 PM today. This is our third visit to Monte Carlo and this will also be our third overnight in this port of call. We have enjoyed our stays in this city as we find there is much to do and it is an easy city to get around by foot.

Monaco is an ancient principality, which today is headed by Prince Albert II. Monaco is not very large and is a nice place to walk around. It is well known for its famous grand Casino.

Despite the fact that we went to sleep later than usual, Keith woke up relatively early and enjoyed a nice workout in the Fitness Center. Other regulars such as John and Mary also worked out. Keith ended up working out on the Elliptical Machine for two hours. He continues to rack up those miles. Anne Marie slept a little later and Keith brought back coffee for her. After the workout we had a very nice breakfast in our room.

We then took a nice long walk on the promenade deck. While we were walking, we listened to Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge. The captain noted that the outside temperature was 61 degrees Fahrenheit and that we were cruising at 19 knots per hour. Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “More people could learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them.”

We met our daughter and son-in-law for lunch a little before Noon and we ate in the Main Dining Room. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch.

The ship arrived in Monte Carlo at 1:00 PM. The ship provided a complimentary shuttle that ran from the pier over to the Monte Carlo Grand Casino. We disembarked the ship as soon as the local authorities cleared the ship.

We walked for almost three hours. We visited the area outside the Palace, then we went into the Cathedral, and then over to the gardens, and then we walked all the way over the Casino. They have a Grand Prix race on May 10 an and May 11 and many of the grandstands are already set up and there is temporary fencing in place along many of the sidewalks in preparation of this race. The weather was quite nice and there were lots of people out and about. Outside the Casino we saw many beautiful cars.

This evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room. We have moved over to the table next to the two person window table that we have sat at for the first seven segments of the World Cruise and now have a table for four. We have our same headwaiter, Peter, senior waiter Pablo and waiter Layla. We had ordered a special entrée for the table for this evening and it was wonderful.

Our daughter and son-in-law are taking the complimentary shuttle over to the casino this evening so that they can see this area of town at night when everything is all lit up. We did this when we were last here in the fall of 2005.

Keith & Anne Marie

Rome/Civitavecchia, Italy

This morning we arrived to the Port of Civitavecchia, Italy, which is the gateway port for Rome. We have visited this port many times over the years most recently on last years World Cruise. It is located about ninety minutes from Rome via motor vehicle. Trains are also available from this port city into downtown Rome.

While most people who begin or end a trip at this port think of Rome and area to see near this port of call is where the Etruscan people lived. A few years ago when we stayed in Rome as part of a pre-cruise hotel program with Crystal on the way to the ship we took a tour which included a visit to an Etruscan underground grave site. As we understand, the Etruscan’s believed in life after death and it is through this grave site that historians learned about the Etruscan’s and of their way of life.

Today marks the end of the seventh segment of the World Cruise so a number of passengers disembarked the ship this morning. During the course of this segment we have sailed from Mumbai, India to Rome/Civitavecchia, Italy and have traveled a total distance of 4,640 nautical miles or the equivalent of 5,336 land miles.

At the same time, today also begins the eighth and final leg of the 2008 World Cruise. During this final segment of the World Cruise the ship will begin in Civitavecchia, Italy and will stop in Monte Carlo, Monaco (overnight); Valencia, Spain; Gibraltar, United Kingdom; Lisbon, Portugal; La Coruna, Spain, and end in Southampton, United Kingdom. The stops in Valencia and La Coruna, Spain are maiden calls for Crystal Cruises.

Our daughter and son-in-law join us for this final segment of the World Cruise. They arrived in Rome two days ago and stayed in the Crystal Cruise pre-cruise hotel in Rome.

Our son is still attending college, otherwise we would have had him join us on this cruise as well. We look forward to seeing our son in just a few weeks as we miss him a great deal and we look forward to having him join us on a future cruise. Each of our children has been on fourteen cruises and the last time we all sailed together was in 2003.

We awoke early this morning as we normally do. We enjoyed another very nice sleep on board the ship and we believe we arrived in port by around 3:00 AM. Keith was the first to arrive to the Fitness Center and enjoyed a wonderful workout on the Elliptical Machine, Anne Marie did our laundry and then Keith assisted her after he finished his workout. Keith spoke with fellow passenger John and talked about this evenings World Cruise Event and then spoke with Mary for a portion of the workout.

For the first time this cruise, we decided to enjoy a nice breakfast in the Main Dining Room. Anne Marie enjoyed eggs benedict while Keith enjoyed matzah brie which is a nice breakfast dish which can be enjoyed anytime during the year but is one that many people have during Passover. We sat at the same area that we sit in during the evening (one table from our table in the evening) so that we could have our same Senior Waiter Pablo and Waiter Layla. We spoke with them for awhile and also spoke with our Head Waiter, Peter.

After breakfast we took a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck. The weather was gorgeous. It was sunny and we wore light jackets so it was a delight to walk. From the ship we could see buses and cars arriving for those passengers disembarking the ship this morning. There are several other passenger cruise ships in port today so the port was certainly busy.

Since our daughter and son-in-law were joining us today and because this evening is a World Cruise Shore Side event, we stayed on the ship to wait for them. Our daughter Jennifer and son-in-law Gui arrived to the ship a little after 12:00 Noon. Jennifer has sailed once each on the Crystal Harmony and the Crystal Symphony and Gui has sailed once on the Crystal Harmony. This is their first time on the Crystal Serenity. We had lunch with them in the Main Dining Room and spent time with them walking around the ship until their room was ready.

This evening we are all going to the World Cruise Shore Side Event. We will post details about this event tomorrow. The event is being held at the Complesso Monumentale di Santo Spirto in Saxia which is a monumental complex of the Holy Spirit in Saxia. It is located within walking distance of St. Peter’s Square and the Vatican. Santo Spirito in Saxia is indeed one of Rome’s oldest historical monuments. It dates back to AD 747. The complex was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 1198. It was expanded between 1471 and 1478.

Crystal Cruises is the first cruise line to host an event at this highly acclaimed historical site. We are looking forward to this wonderful event and look forward to sharing what we experience with all of you.

This is the second time in as many years that we have sailed in the Mediterranean in April and just want to note that it is a perfect time to visit this area of the world. We have also sailed here in late September/early October, which is another great time to sail. We prefer both of these time frames relative to the summer when we have also visited the Mediterranean. We find the weather to me much nicer as you don’t encounter the humidity and the high temperatures of the summer, while at the same time there are less tourists visiting this port of call in April. For many we realize that sometimes the summer is the only option for getting away, but for those whose schedule is flexible we prefer Fall or Spring over the Summer.

Keith & Anne Marie

Naples, Italy

NOTE:

Pictures 1,2, and 3 are from our tour of Pompeii.

Picture 4. "Whatta" Lemon. One of the largest lemons we have seen.

Picture 5. A view of Naples.

Last evening, before we went to sleep we enjoyed the breathtaking views of the coast of Italy as we sailed to Naples, Italy. The views from the ship were spectacular as we saw beautiful mountains and coastline, many of which were all lit up. This is another beautiful part of the world with beautiful views in both the daytime and evening hours.

Today we arrived in Naples, Italy. We have visited this port of call several times; most recently on last years World Cruise. Naples is a large city and is one of Italy’s gateway ports to several different tourist sites. This includes Pompeii, Herculaneum, the Isle of Capri and the Amalfi Coastal Drive.

The pier is located about ten minutes walking distance to the center of the city. Today is Liberation Day, which is a national holiday in Italy. Naples has many distinctions and we learned that a famous recipe was developed in this city. In the year 1889, Naples Chef Raffaele Esposito is credited as being the inventor of Pizza Margherita. He was asked to prepare a special meal for the Italian Queen Margherita and he made a pizza with tomato and mozzarella and his wife is came up with the idea to add basil in honor of Italy’s red, white and green flag. Sounds yummy!

We awoke early this morning and enjoyed a nice workout in the Fitness Center. Keith was the first passenger to arrive at the center and he enjoyed a wonderful workout on the Elliptical Machine. Anne Marie also enjoyed a great workout on the Treadmill. Fellow guests Mary and John also worked out while we were there and during our workout all four of us were the only ones working out. This is a committed group of four who always are there each day.

After our workout we stopped by the Lido Café to get a cup of coffee and spoke with John’s lovely wife Linda. A little while later we After enjoyed a nice breakfast in our room as we watched the ship arrive in Naples. We arrived in port a few minutes ahead of schedule.

When we finished breakfast we got ready for our early morning shore excursion. We took the complimentary shore excursion of Pompeii, which was provided, to all passengers on this segment of the World Cruise by Crystal. We first visited Pompeii in the late 1990’s and most recently we visited Pompeii last year as one of the World Cruise evening events was held there.

Pompeii is an amazing place to visit and in 76AD Pompeii suffered a catastrophic event caused by the eruption of Mount Veseuvius. Pompeii used to be a major port and a central location for this area of the world. However, all of this changed when a huge portion of the bay was filled with debris following the volcanic explosion.

We boarded buses and we were taken on a twenty-minute drive over to Pompeii. During our drive, the tour guide pointed out various sites along the way to this historical site and told us about the history of Pompeii. Once inside the site, we walked with our tour guide and visited several locations within Pompeii. The excavations that have taken place in Pompeii are amazing and allows the visitors to walk along streets that are still intact and to view a variety of buildings that included temples, law courts, mansions, private homes and other buildings that were a part of this magnificent area.

Pompeii once was home to as many as 20,000 people and historians have various estimates as to how many people perished as soon as the volcanic ash poured down on this city.

On our way back from Pompeii to the ship the tour guide shared lots of other information concerning Naples and Italy and also talked about various other items including food from cheeses to pizza. Again, yummy!

Our tour and our tour guide were wonderful. There is so much to see that one could spend days at Pompeii.

We want to share an interesting observation about Pompeii. This city is over 2,000 years old but what we saw today shows how advanced these people were in the design and construction of the city. In many ways, this city was much more advanced than other places of the world of today in places such as Africa and portions of the Middle East and Asia that we have visited on our two World Cruises.

Once we arrived back on the ship, we enjoyed a very nice lunch in the Main Dining Room. We had pre-ordered Salad Entrees for lunch.

We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on the ship and finalized plans for the upcoming eight and final segment of the World Cruise. Today is the final full day of this segment of the World Cruise.

Before dinner we attended the Friday evening Sabbath Services.

This evening we dined in the Main Dining Room. We each enjoyed a wonderful meal. Keith enjoyed Broiled Fresh Atlantic Salmon Fillet and Anne Marie enjoyed the Kosher Chicken as the main entrees. We also enjoyed plenty of vegetables with these entrees along with a wonderfully prepared salad and fresh fruit following dinner.

Tomorrow morning we arrive in Civitavecchia which is the gateway port that serves Rome, Italy. The downtown city of Rome is about a ninety minute drive from this port of call.


Keith & Anne Marie