We enjoyed a wonderful Swordfish entree in the Main Dining Room.
We wanted to mention how nice the weather was yesterday. Often the first two days leaving from Los Angeles heading west to Hawaii can be on the cooler side with medium to rough seas. While the first full day had cool weather and we were moving around quite a bit, yesterday brought very nice weather. It was much easier to play Paddle Tennis on the open deck compared to the day before and it was a nice day to be outside.
We enjoyed another wonderful evening on the ship last night.
Originally, we were going to go to Prego by ourselves, but instead we decide to dine in the Main Dining Room. We adore out waiter, senior waiter and headwaiter, plus we liked the seafood entrée.
We started the meal with salads. Keith had a standing order of a very nice salad that he has prepared for him on most evenings and Anne Marie had a salad that was on the menu. We each had the broiled swordfish steak for our entrée. Since this was early in this leg of the cruise the swordfish was fresh rather than frozen and that was exactly what we ordered and it was delicious. The swordfish was accompanied by roasted heirloom potatoes, grilled Portobello mushrooms and caponata sauce. The swordfish was cut and cooked perfectly and it was delicious. We also had a very large side order of vegetables. For dessert we each had fruit. Anne Marie had a mixed fruit plate and Keith had a large bowl of blueberries and strawberries. The fruit has been especially good on this leg of the cruise.
The menu had many wonderful items to choose from in addition to those that we selected. The appetizers included Seafood Canneloni, Tasting of Heirloom Tomatoes with a number of interesting items that were part of this appetizer and a Salad of Roasted Chicken Fillets, Avocado, Red Onions and Olives. There were two soups, which were a Slow Roasted Napa Valley Vegetable Soup and a Veal Consomme. There were two nice salads to choose from which including a California Grown Greens Tossed in Fig-Balsamic Vinaigrette, with cheese truffles, pecan nuts and fresh black mission figs and the other salad was a Heart of Boston Lettuce accompanied with Black Bean Salad and Palm Hearts.
There was also a Pasta Special which was Papardelle Pasta with over-dried tomatoes, California grown Chanterelles, Fave Beans, and Basil in Alredo Sauce and there was a very nice Salad Entrée.
In addition to the Swordfish Steak, the Main Fares items included California Cioppino which was a seafood stew with fresh Dungeness crab, shrimp, salmon, cod, black mussels, clams and vegetables in a herb flavored tomato broth, served with warm garlic bread. There was also grilled lamb chips and pink roasted duck breast. There were also alternatives, which were grilled black angus filet steak and grilled chicken breast.
There were numerous side orders including steamed vegetables, zucchini parmigiana, gratinated tomato, red beet gnocchi farfalle pasta with tomato sauce, steamed white rice and mashed potatoes.
The dessert menu included Golden gate which is California Citrus Shortcake with Marinated Strawberries and Whipped Cream, and Turtle Creek with Honey Glazed Pecan Tart, Dark Chocolate Mousse and Vanilla Sauce Anglaise. There were two sugar free desserts Pumpkin Mousse and Apple Pie a la Mode. There were also many other Classic Desserts to choose from. This included Vanilla Crème Brulee, Chocolate Ooze Cake a la Mode, Apple Crumble Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream, Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip, Rocky Road or Strawberry Ice Cream, Freshly Frozen Nonfat Passion Peach or Chocolate Yogurt, Refreshing Tequila Sunrise Sherbet and Homemade Cookies and Seasonal Fruits.
There is also the Cheese Trolley.
By the way, the sommeliers have also been trained on cheese so they are also Cheese Sommelier’s.
After dinner we had invitations to two parties. One party was for our travel consortium, Signature and the other one is called a Meet and Mingle Party for Cruise Critic. We went to the Cruise Critic party for the majority of the evening and we had a very nice turnout and it was wonderful to meet so many nice people for the very first time along with some people who we know quite well. We had a nice range of cruisers. We had some who are on one leg of a cruise, others who are on more than one leg including some like ourselves who are on the ship until Singapore, and we had a couple of people on for the entire World Cruise. We had first time Crystal Cruisers and some who have taken a significant number of Crystal Cruises and a few like ourselves who have taken multiple World Cruises.
In conversations many talked about how much they enjoy cruising Crystal for so many of the reasons we mention often including the feeling of coming home to fellow passengers and crew, the enrichment program, the evening entertainment, the ships, the outstanding service and cuisine and the itineraries
Last night is an example of Crystal. They provided a very nice venue for our party, they had several crew present serving us drinks and canapés. The drinks are not just your basic drinks but you could order a wide range of drinks. There was also a nice array of canapés.
Cruise Director Gary Hunter came by for quite and we really appreciate Gary spending the time with everyone.
Afterwards, we went over to the Signature party. We had told the agent on board that likely we would not make the party but did stop by just to meet the agent who is on board and her husband. In the past while other consortiums had an agent on board for the entire world cruise our consortium would rotate agents. This is the first time they are going with one agent.
We enjoyed another nice sleep last night as the ship rocked us both to sleep.
Once again, Keith was up very early to the Fitness Center. By the time he left our friend Mary was already working out on the treadmill and one other woman was also working out. This has been the pattern for this first leg of the World Cruise. Keith enjoyed his usual 90-minute plus workout on the elliptical machine as he watched some television to keep up with news of the day.
Today is a reminder to us how quickly the years can go by. It is hard to believe that it was fifty years ago on this date that John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as the President Of The United States Of America. Many will remember the famous quote from his inaugural address “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country” as if this took place yesterday. While Keith was watching Morning Joe this morning an author was being interviewed who recently wrote a book called “Ask Not” and it is amazing that this book focuses on that one great speech, not only on the content of the speech but all that went into its preparation and delivery. In terms of how quickly time goes by, this is a reminder to us to enjoy each and every day as if it is your last, and to see that glass as being half full. Often in our posts you will see the enthusiasm and passion that we have when describing our experiences cruising and part of this is because we realize that there is so much good to enjoy each day we are sailing the high seas. Just as President Kennedy was taken from us from that terrible violent act in Dallas, Texas in November of 1963, we have seen first hand the loss of friends and family members at very young ages. This has reinforced how we approach life because we realize that each day in our own lives is analogous to a novel and that we don’t know when the novel will come to an end. So, rather than focus on the glass being half full, we instead focus on what is good and the glass being half full.
After his workout, Keith stopped by the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room. He spoke with Lido Deck Steward Alvin as he was getting coffee. Then on the way out he spoke with Lido Deck Steward Clark (alias Clarke Kent and Superman) and they chatted for a few minutes. Keith was reminding Clark that we set the clocks back by one hour this evening so that meant either more sleep or even an earlier start to the workout. Clark quickly responded by saying it might also mean more “party” on the ship. They both laughed.
Anne Marie worked out at the Fitness Center for an hour and then around the time she got back to the room there was a knock on the door and it was Alexander who set up our breakfast.
While we enjoyed breakfast we watched the daily morning show with Cruise Director Gary Hunter. He had Roger McGuinn on the show. Roger will be lecturing today. This is Roger McGuinn’s third time cruising with Crystal and we were fortunate to have sailed with him this past November. On the show he performed a portion of the song Hey Mr. Tambourine Man. Just hearing him sing the song takes us back to the 1960’s.
Today was another wonderful day at sea as we sail to Hawaii.
With each passing day we are running into more and more people we know from previous cruises as well as getting to know other passengers for the very first time. One of the people that Keith played Paddle Tennis is a woman who was on a couple of legs of last years World Cruise as her Mom was on the full World Cruise and was taking up Paddle Tennis for the very first time as Keith did last year. She will be on for the first leg of this year’s World Cruise.
There were several great lectures today, which we attended.
Before we begin there was definitely a buzz on the ship about yesterday’s lecture on the ship about the assassination of JFK and the conclusions of the Warren Commission.
Special Interest Lecturer Owen Ullmann presented “The Global Economic Outlook for 2011. He talked about how we got where we did and the outlook for not only the USA but the rest of the world.
Afterwards, Roger McGuinn who was the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the 1960’s group The Byrds gave a talk titled Mr Tambourine Man. As we mentioned, we were fortunate to here Roger McGuinn give several talks on the Crystal Symphony this past November from New York City to Los Angeles. This was a wonderful talk and it brought back very fond memories for us. We will be dining with Roger and his wife Camilla in a couple of nights and look forward dinner with them.
After the talk, we played our first game of Team Trivia during this leg of the World Cruise. We didn’t win but we had a fun time.
We each enjoyed a nice salad entrée for our lunch. After lunch, Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie took an hour-long walk on the Promenade Deck. Anne Marie also sat out by the pool.
While we don’t talk about all of the activities available to the guests we just want to note that there is an extraordinary number of activities to enjoy on each and every sea day. For example, today’s activities included Pilates, Armchair Aerobics, a second Pilates Class, a Golf Clinic, A Fitness Seminar, Walking with Nordic Poles, a second Golf Clinic, a Circuit Training Fitness Class, Paddle and Table Tennis, a Yoga Class, a music class, three bridge classes (beginners, intermediate and advanced), three lectures, a gemstone seminar, a Spanish class, napkin folding, skin care seminar, a computer class, two movies in a cinema including the movie The Social Network, a dance class, a needle point get-together, Team Trivia, Social Bridge, Duplicate Bride, a second Spanish Class, an Afternoon Tea time, a wall hanging arts class, and a few other activities that we didn’t mention.
Likewise at night there is dancing to various bands, piano playing by two different pianists, music by a string quartet, the evening shows that will be performed twice, a movie, and late night dancing.
This evening we will dine in the Main Dining Room. Afterwards, we plan to attend a show called The Unexpected Boys, which is a musical tribute to Franie Valli and the Four Seasons. While in New York City this past November, we attended Jersey Boys and love the music associated with that play.
Today has been another wonderful day on the ship as we sail to Hawaii.
Two thoughts for the day.
TODAY’S THOUGTH OF THE DAY………
Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country”. – President John Fitzgerald Kennedy - January 20, 1961
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” - Robert Francis Kennedy
Keith and Anne Marie 
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