We each had the Broiled Fillet of Fresh Tasmanian Salmon Entree. It was delicious and was served on a Potato Roesti, with Lekks and Carrots and Watercress Beurre Blanc.
We shared a side order of Pan Seared Sea Scallops.
Thursday, February 24, 1011
Highlights From Yesterday And Today
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Hobart
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While we visited Hobart in 2008 we didn’t have time to see the city. We took a full day tour that day that took us out quite far away from the city where we went to an area where we saw various animals of Australia up close and we could fee many of them and then we went to a beautiful park where we also went on a hike. It was a wonderful day so it was nice to get back to Hobart again so this time around we could spend our time in Hobart.
After three days of cruising which included the one-day in the three sounds, along with the rough seas that we had on the prior two days at sea, everyone we spoke with was ready for a nice day in port. Our wish did come true and we had a lovely day in Hobart, as did so many members of the crew and fellow passengers who we spoke with. Hobart is a delightful city to visit by foot. We took in beautiful views of the city, the coastline along with Sullivans Cove and the Derwent River. We were fortunate to have had such nice weather, which simply added to our enjoyment of this city. We loved the architecture of the buildings, the friendliness of the people, and the ease in which we were able to get around. Just like our love for New Zealand we feel the same way about Australia.
We wanted to highlight some of the places we visited.
The General Post Office, which dates back to 1905 and has to be one of the most beautiful post offices we have seen on our visits to cities around the world. City Hall, which was build in 1915, which is another beautiful building. The Parliament House, which was build between 1835 and 1840. Franklin Square which is the site of Tasmania’s first Government House. The Ingle Hall, which is one of the oldest buildings in all of Hobart. It was completed in 1814 as a private residence for John Ingle and in 1846 it was used as the first home of the Hutchins School. The gas Works, which was established by the Hobart gas, Company in 1854. The Theatre Royal, which is Australia’s oldest functioning theatre, that open in 1837. The Royal Hobart Hospital, which was, first built in 1938. The Blundstone’s Factory, which was a boot factory that was, built in 1912.
The Overall Experience
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We try to detail in our posts much of what we experience on and off the ship. However, the reality is that time does not allow us to detail all that goes on off and on the ship. Even if we had the time to write all about it, you wouldn’t have the time to ready it anyway.
We hope what we are conveying in our posts is what a wonderful time we are having on and off the ship. Off the ship we have truly had a wonderful time visiting so many places and there is no question that so far that our visit to New Zealand has been a major highlight for us as we feel certain Australia will be given our experience in both of these countries in 2008. We have found the people of these two countries to be most friendly and helpful, and the countries to be quite beautiful and we are humbled to have the opportunity to be able to see places that our parents could only read about, as they didn’t have the means to visit them on their own.
While some people prefer land vacations so that they can spend more time in more place or get more inland than what they can see on a ship, this leads us to the experience on board the ship. For us, taking a long voyage is the most enjoyable and best way for us to see places around the world and to increase our knowledge about a wealth of issues and to also share these experiences with others.
We feel that the ship provides us with the opportunity to see many more places than we could see on land and it has also opened up our eyes to the world. There are some places that we might not have chosen on our own if we were building our own itinerary and these have turned out to be places that have been extraordinary. Likewise, there are some places weren’t up to the same par we might have expected. For us, cruising works best as we find that we get to see a much wider range of places that we could see on our own and we also find it much more comfortable to travel by cruise ship than by trains, planes, or automobiles (yes, we know that is a name of a movie). On top of this we love the program that is available to us from Crystal Cruises. This includes an enrichment program featuring many top lecturers where we can learn a great deal about each destination on the journey along with a wide range of other topics including politics, government, theatre, the fine arts, sports, finances, medicine, and a slew of other topics. At the same time we love the other aspects of a Crystal cruise such as service that we find to be second to none in the cruise industry along with the outstanding service, evening entertainment and all of the other components that make up this voyage.
In the end though what makes this so very unique and special is sharing this adventure with so many people on board the ship including our fellow passengers and the crew. When one takes a long voyage such as this the ship really becomes a community and that makes it very special for all of us. With so many crewmembers who have been around year after year and so many fellow passenger’s who sail Crystal we can often talk with one another not only about our current experiences but those events that we experienced together in prior years.
For the two of us all of this is quite extraordinary and we are humbled in many ways by all that we learn and get to see first hand on these long voyages.
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We enjoyed another lovely dinner in the Crystal Dining Room.
Let’s begin with the dinner menu.
Appetizers included Fried Softshell Crab, Beef Tartar, Asparagus “en Fete”.
Soups featured Cream of Carrot Soup and Chicken Broth with Matzo Balls.
Salads included Crunchy Greens Tossed in Windsor Blue Cheese Dressing and a Heart of Iceberg Lettuce both of which were accompanied by several interesting items.
The Pasta Special was Conchiglie Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Roasted Vegetables and Buffalo Mozzarella and the Salad Entrée featured Golden Fried Froglegs accompanied by several different items.
Main Fares included Broiled Fillet of Fresh Tasmanian Salmon, Whole Roasted Duckling, Pan Seared Sea Scallops and a Braised Oxtail in Burgundy Red Wine Sauce. The two Traditional Main Fares items were Grilled Filet Steak and Plain Grilled Chicken Breast.
The Vegetarian Selections included a Traditional Falafel which is seved on Eggplant Puree, Topped with Tossed Mesclum and Warm Tomato Vinaigreette. The Lighter Side entrée included a Roasted, Skinless Duck Breast.
The Sweet Finale featured an “Apple Tasting” which was an Apple Cinnamon Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream, Caramelized Apple Cubes and Calvados Sabayon and a “Harlequin” which was White Chocolate Cognac Mousse, Chocolate Melt Cake a la Mode and Chocolate Praline.
The Sugar Free items included Mascarpone Coconut Cream and Pineapple Ragout with Diet Ice Cream.
There were many wonderful Classic Desserts to choose from and of course that wonderful cheese trolley with a nice assortment of international cheeses and premium crackers.
We began our meal with salads. Keith had his favorite standing order salad and Anne Marie enjoyed a Crunchy Greens Tossed Salad which was Garnished with Broccoli Roses, Dried Apricots and Honey Roasted Walnuts. We each had the Broiled Fillet of Fresh Tasmanian Salmon, which came on a Potato Roesti, and Watercress Beurre Blanc. We also shared a side order of Scallops.
We enjoyed a nice side order of vegetables with our entrees.
Anne Marie enjoyed a low fat yogurt with a decaffeinated cappuccino coffee and believe it or not Keith had the Pineapple Ragout with Diet Ice Cream rather than mixed berries.
Dinner, service and overall cuisine were simply wonderful.
We slept fairly well last night. When we first went to sleep there was a fair amount of rocking and rolling of the ship so we were wondering if this would be a repeat of the more recent sea days but the good news is that a short time later there was far less movement of the ship and the feel was more like relatively calm seas.
Keith was up very early and back in the Fitness Center for a ninety-minute workout on the Elliptical Machine. For most of his workout, no one else was there until towards the end when a few people showed up to workout. The good news is that all of the satellite channels are now available so there was a nice diverse set of news programs that Keith could watch along with some sports stations.
Afterwards he stopped by the Lido Café for some coffee. Keith spoke for a few minutes with Lido Deck Stewards Ray and Mel.
Around the time that Keith got back to the room, Anne Marie worked out on the treadmill.
Afterwards, we enjoyed breakfast in the room, which was beautifully set up by Alexander. While we had breakfast, we watched the daily morning show that was hosted by Cruise Director Gary Hunter and World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston. One of the items that Gary spoke about was the fact that the staff and crew of Crystal Cruises have the lowest turnover of any crew at sea. There is no question in our minds that Crystal has very high standards and expectations for the staff and the crew while at the same time treating them very well. Gary also mentioned that the President of Crystal Cruises, Greg Michel, would be on the ship in a few days. On each World Cruise, Greg Michel and, Thomas Mazloum, SVP whose responsibilities include both the Hotel Functions and the Marine Operations join the ship for a few days, which is always a wonderful opportunity for us to hear from them about Crystal Cruises, and they enjoy meeting with guests to hear from them. As usual, there were a few trivia questions and Keith got the one correct about which National League Team plays in the smallest stadium. Keith named not only the team but also the stadium.
There was a good lecture given in the morning by William Gurstelle who talked about the rise and fall of the enormous engines that for nearly two millennia were the most expensive and important machines on the earth.
At 10:30 AM Crystal had for the very first time their new panel that is called Ocean View. The moderator was Cruise Director Gary Hunter and featured Harm de Blij, Ken Rees, Garrick Utley and Tony Zini. It was an outstanding panel discussion and we’ll post more about this tomorrow.
At 12:00 Noon we played our final game of team trivia for this leg of the World Cruise. We didn’t win this one but still had a great time.
In the afternoon, Keith played paddle tennis although it was a bit chilly and windy on the deck. Anne Marie walked for an hour and we both read and wrote and spoke with other passengers.
This evening is formal night on the ship. We plan to dine at Silk Road with another couple, Buddy and Lynn, and we will post about our dinner and the rest of the evening tomorrow.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..
“Whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery.” - Anne Frank
Keith and Anne Marie
Keith, you summed up perfectly why I choose to cruise. Yes, there are times when a longer stay would be great. But there's no better way to cover so much territory. And coming 'home' to the Crystal crew every night is an added bonus. I'm enjoying this journey with you both.
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