Several Beautiful Trees Lined The Beach Area In Tauranga, New Zealand.
Sunday, February 14, 2014
Happy Valentines Day From The Crystal Serenity
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Highlights From Yesterday And Today
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We wanted to highlight the town of Tauranga and New Zealand
This is an absolutely beautiful area. It has become a tourist area for visitors from other parts of New Zealand, Australia and other areas of the World. It is absolutely with a lush landscape, beautiful mountains, and a wonderful beach and shoreline.
The town that we visited nearby the pier was beautiful from the shops and cafes to the homes and condominiums many of which are rented out certain times of the year.
We were very fortunate to have wonderful weather during our visit. In the morning it was partly cloudy and by the afternoon there was not a cloud in the sky. Mid-February is equivalent to August in the United States Of America in terms of when Summer will end but the weather was certainly more like a day in June.
It was great to see the country-side on our morning tour and it was a great deal of fun to walk around the town and then over to the beach and over to the large mountain in the afternoon.
Tauranga is another example of a lovely place to visit in New Zealand. While it is substantially smaller in population than Auckland and it is a town rather than a city it does have a lot in common and that is the hospitality and friendliness of the locals and others who now call New Zealand their home. The local we spoke with were very kind and we felt completely safe throughout the day. Once again, traffic moved in an orderly manner without anyone honking their horns as they do in the States.
As we walked the town we saw so many members of the crew and fellow passengers and everyone seemed to have a nice smile on their faces.
We certainly had a wonderful twenty-four hours in Tauranga.
We had another wonderful time on the ship last evening.
As we mentioned, we had dinner at Tastes with our friends Bob and Glo. This was our first time dining at Tastes since 2007.
The Main Dining Room had unassigned seating for the main and late seating’s last night as there was a shore side event that was held for those on the full world cruise. This meant that those from the main seating and late seating’s were asked to arrive at their normal dining times but they weren’t necessarily seated at their regular table. Open seating was not possible as is done from time to time because even discounting those on the full world cruise there were too many people still on the ship to accommodate one continuous open seating.
Nevertheless, we thought this would be a nice opportunity for the four of us to dine at Tastes.
Tastes is open on many evenings on each voyage. It is not opened on embarkation day, the night before disembarkation and on each formal night as the personnel who work there is needed in other areas of the ship. The attire is casual for this venue regardless of whether the attire in the other dining venues is Informal or Casual. It just so happens that the attire for last evening in the other dining venues was casual.
The tables are located around the indoor pool. No reservations are taken and there is table service. Each guest orders from a menu.
The wonderful Lido Deck Stewards are mainly the wait staff for this venue. They take the food orders and then serve the food. Crew from the lounges takes the drink orders. They do a wonderful job in this role as they do in all of the other roles they perform around the ship. As we’ve said numerous times these folks in our humble opinion are the heart and soul of the ship. They are wonderful people who work tirelessly day-in-and-day-out. Most of these stewards have been with Crystal Cruises for many years and this say not only a great deal about them but also of Crystal Cruises who does a wonderful job in retaining their personnel.
We wanted to mention items on the regular dinner menu of the Main Dining Room even though we did not dine there.
The appetizers included Coulibiac of Salmon, Creamy Crab Meat Tower and a Salad of Grilled Mushrooms.
Soups and salads included Cram of Spinach with Bay Scallops, Beef Consommé, Sliced Tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella and a Red and Green Caesar Salad.
There was a Penne Lisce Pasta Special and a Farmer’s Vegetable and Chicken Entrée Salad.
The Main Fares included a Fillet of Fresh Tarakihi Fish, Roasted Tom Turkey, Pork Medallions and a Grilled Black Angus Rib Eye Steak. One could also order Grilled Filet Steak and Broiled Sablefish.
The vegetarian entrée included an entree of Braised Cabbage Roll, which is filed with Brown Rice and Root Vegetables and served with Celeriac Puree and Red Beet Chips. There were also lighter side items to choose from.
The Sweet Finale Desserts included “New Zealand Apple Bake” which is Oven Baked Apple Pudding with Filo Dough, Light Vanilla Custard and Butter Pecan Ice Cream and a “Macadamia Chocolate Delight” which is a Macadamia Nut Tart with Chocolate Sour Cream Mousse and Rocky Road Ice Cream. The Sugar Free desserts included Napoleon Slice and a Pumpkin Mousse and there were numerous Classic Desserts to choose from and of course the Cheese Trolley.
We each started our meal at Tastes with a salad. Anne Marie had the pizza for her entrée and Keith had the salmon. Keith had berries for his dessert and Anne Marie had the decaffeinated capuchin coffee. Keith also tried a piece of Anne Marie’s pizza and really enjoyed it.
There were a fair number of people dining at Taste’s and we had a nice time dining there with good friends.
We slept very well last evening even though the ship was docked in port.
Once again Keith woke up relatively early to begin another day in the Fitness Center. He worked out on the Elliptical Machine and enjoyed another ninety-minute+ workout. He watched the news to keep up with world events including the situation in Egypt. About thirty minutes into the workout a few other passengers arrived.
After the workout he made his morning stop to the Lido Café to bring back coffee to the room. Keith spoke with Lido Deck Stewards Mel and Ray.
Anne Marie took her one-hour walk on the Promenade Deck.
Almost to the minute there was a knock on our door at 8:00 AM and it was Alexander with our breakfast. We enjoyed oatmeal and fresh fruit and some coffee, as we got ready for another nice day on the ship.
We sailed for Napier at around 9:00 AM.
We attended the Rap With The Rabbi at 9:05 AM. There was a nice turnout with some new passenger’s who boarded in Auckland, NZ who attended. We had a good discussion with a lot of participation. The subject and discussion mainly related to the Golden Rule of doing onto others, as we would expect other to onto us. It is a great rule and one that we should all remember each and everyday.
We chatted this morning with several members of the crew including Stacey the World Cruise Hostess, Jamie the Cruise Sales Consultant and Leo the Maitre d’ of the Main Dining Room.
Many people are in red or pink today for Valentine’s Day including Anne Marie who was wearing a red top.
There were two lectures in the morning. Dr. Gavin McLean who spoke about New Zealand with emphasis regarding Wellington, Christchurch, Picton and Dunedin gave the first. Ambassador Robert Hunter gave the second lecture and he spoke about the situation in Egypt.
At 11:45 AM there was a Valentine’s Day Mixer which featured music by The Galaxy Orchestra, and complimentary beverage were served. There was also dancing.
At 12:15 PM we attended our first team trivia of this leg of the World Cruise. The questions were hard but we did finish second for the day.
Afterwards, Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie took a nice one hour walk on the Promenade Deck.
At 1:30 PM there was a very interesting lecture given by William Gurstelle who spoke about the Future Car. He talked about what driving would be like in the year 2025. He spoke about self-driving cars, flying cars and cars that won’t use fossil fuels.
This evening we will attend the Captain’s Formal Reception and this evening is Formal Night. We plan to dine at the Main Dining Room.
Since today is Valentine’s Day our thought of the day is about love.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY……..
“When you are in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams." – Dr Seuss
“In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” - The Beatles
Keith and Anne Marie
Thanks for the wonderful pictures and detail. I read the blog daily and enjoy it so much. Like you, I enjoy fish entrees and the wonderful fruit on Crystal. Thus, it's enjoyable to read about your meals. Can you comment on the number of passengers on each leg of the cruise?
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Keith and Anne Marie, am enjoying the blog with my coffee each morning. Just wish the coffee was being served by the Lido guys, and I was seeing you on the treadmill and the cross-trainer! My best to everyone. - Chuck
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