Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Singapore
Morning Of Disembarkation
We will be disembarking the Crystal Serenity in a couple of hours and then will spend the next few days in Singapore so we thought we would post from the ship.
We dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant last evening. There were very few guests dining at this venue as many were either in the Crystal Dining Room, dining in their own rooms or dining ashore.
The nice quiet atmosphere in Prego was perfect.
We were greeted at the entrance by the Specialty Restaurant Maitre d’, Antonio, and then seated at our table by Headwaiter, Bruno. Boban was our waiter for the evening and once again took perfect care of us. We also spoke for awhile with another waiter, Rossi, who we have also known for several years who has a wonderful sense of humor whether we see him in Prego or at lunch at the Lido Café we see often as we select our food.
We began our meal with our favorite salads, followed this with a beef consommé and enjoyed the specialty of the evening, which was a striped bass. Striped Bass used to be on the menu but has been replaced with a different fish entrée. This Striped Bass was out of this world. It was very moist like almost no other fish we have tasted and was paired magnificently with a nice homemade red sauce, spinach, and mashed potatoes and then there was a light olive oil that was gently placed around the fish. Christian the Executive Chef visited our table twice, first when we ordered the fish and then a little while after we started to eat the entrée and once again we said Bravo. The recipes that he comes up with for these specials have truly been outstanding. We also had some steamed vegetables with the entrée. We ended the meal with some fruit and some frozen yogurt.
Before leaving Prego we wished Bruno and Boban a wonderful and well-deserved vacation. We look forward to seeing them both again on the Serenity. We thanked others such as the several of the other waiters, both Sommeliers, Antonio and Christian for making this adventure so wonderful each and every time we dined at Prego.
A few minutes before breakfast, Keith went to the Lido Café to bring some coffee back for Anne Marie and spoke with several members of the crew. This included Rossi from Prego, Prego Headwaiter, Bruno, Silk Road Headwaiter, Sigi, Silk Road Waiter, Sheila, Lido Deck Stewards, Nat, Ross and Rosano and a few other members of the crew.
This morning we had breakfast in our room, which was set up perfectly by Alexander. This may surprise some of you but we didn’t have oatmeal this morning. Anne Marie had Pancakes, and Keith had two soft-boiled eggs, toast and a little cereal. Alexander will be coming back to the room shortly so we can say our goodbyes for now until we meet again. We will see Alexander on our next adventure.
To be continued………
AN ADDITONAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy
Keith and Anne Marie
Photo of Christchurch in New Zealand taken only five days before the catastrophic earthquake struck this lovely town.
We visited many Botanical Gardens throughout this adventure in New Zealand and in Australia.
The USC Marching Band that kicked off the 2011 World Cruise
Singapore
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
NOTE: We are posting this earlier than usual since we are departing the ship on the morning of Tuesday, March 15, 2011 ships time, which for those of you in the USA is the evening of Monday, March 14.
We also wanted to begin by saying that we learn so very much about the world through our cruising experiences. Many times when events occur around the world it gives extra meaning if we have visited these places ourselves. For example, the turmoil in the Middle East has even extra meaning for us as only last year we were in places such as Barhrain, Egypt, including Alexandria, Saudi Arabia, three ports in Oman along with visits last year to several other ports of call and countries in the Middle East. Likewise, the recent catastrophic earthquake in Christchurch had extra meaning since we had just visited there five days before the earthquake. We remember in 2008 we visited Phuket, Thailand around one year following the devastating Tsunami that destroyed most of the resort area and claimed an incomprehensible number of lives.
Today the world is much different than it was before 24 hour news began on CNN and especially with the rollout of the smartphones and internet sites where events around the world can be almost instantly seen. If you think about twenty years ago we would not know anywhere near what we do about the horrific Tsunami and Earthquake in Japan or all of the demonstrations that have occurred in the Middle East. As they say a pictures if worth a 1,000 words and a video has even more impact on how we see events unfold. If you add to this the ability to see many of these places with out own eyes through travel it is even more enlightening and impacting. We know that we have grown so much from our travel and the most significant travel that we have done has been with Crystal Cruises. We can think of no better way to see the world than cruising with Crystal Cruises.
Last evening we dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant for the final time of this voyage.
As we’ve done for most of this adventure we wanted to begin by highlighting items on Crystal Dining Room menu.
Appetizers included Macadamia Crab Cake, Vitello Tonnato, and Carmelized Onion Tart. The Soups were Minestrone and a Chicken Broth and the salads included a Traditional Caesar Salad and a Heart of Iceberg Lettuce Salad. The Past Special was Routelle Pasta which is served with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Cream, Pancetta, Roast Cauliflower and Fresh Herbs. The Salad Entrée was Chef Franz’s Favorite Chopped Salad which is Crunchy Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Green Beans, Celery, Sweet Melon, Roast Beef Tenderloin, Lobster Meat and Boiled Egg. Main Fares included Grilled Fillet of Mahi Mahi and Garlic Prawns, Whole Roasted Duckling, Pork Char Sui and Grilled Black Angus Filet Mignon and Braized Short Ribs along with Traditional Main Fares of Grilled Black Angus T-Bone Steak and Broiled Fresh Salmon. The Vegetarian Entrée featured a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni Served on Gingered Tomato Sauce and there were other Vegetarian and Lighter Side Selections. The Sweet Finale included “Mojto” which is Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with Chocolate Sauce Anglaise and Vanilla Ice Cream and “Maroni” which is Chestnut Napoleon Slice with Rum Raisin Ice Cream and the Sugar Free desserts included Orange Zest Custard and Pistachio Cream Cake. There were lots of Classic Desserts to choose from along with the Cheese Trolley.
We had another wonderful dinner last evening, dining at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. The Specialty Restaurant Maitre d’ Antonio who sat us at a very nice table greeted us at the door. It was fairly quiet at this dining venue. Headwaiter, Bruno, came around several times. Our waiter for the evening was Boban who has done an outstanding job of taking care of us each on most of the evenings that we have dined here. Boban and Bruno will be going home tomorrow for well deserved vacations. We each had a nice beef consommé soup, our standing order salad, the fish entrée special and we ach had a nonfat French Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. The meal was absolutely delicious. The service was impeccable. The ambience of the dining venue is outstanding. You get the picture. Dining at Prego has been a wonderful experience each and every time we have dined there during this adventure.
Tomorrow morning our plan is to have our farewell (that sounds better than final) breakfast in the Crystal Dining Room so we can wish our Senior Waiter, Jijo, our Waiter, Grenold, and our Headwaiter, Giuseppe all of the best until we meet again.
We have thoroughly enjoyed this cruising adventure and it has truly exceeded all of our expectations. We have made many memories both on and off the ship that will last a lifetime.
We have been asked from time to time by several of you if we felt that we missed out on anything by taking part rather than the full World Cruise as we have done in the past. While we certainly enjoy the additional features of the full World Cruise, we have had enjoyed a wonderful cruise and have had a wonderful time on board the Crystal Serenity.
As Captain Glenn often says, if you want to have a good time you will and if you don’t want to have a good time you won’t. We have certainly had a wonderful time because that is how we approach our travels and we do focus on all that we enjoy rather than spending time worrying about those items that don’t go as well as expected or that we can’t control anyway.
As we visit countries around the world we are reminded how lucky so many of us are. And, we do mean lucky because we are fortunate to have grown up at a time and been born in a country that was full of opportunities. This is not always the case for a significant percentage of the total worlds population.
Through our travels we recognize that there are many people around the world including our own nation whose worries are quite significant. This may include whether there will be enough food to feed themselves and/or their entire family and where they will sleep that particular night. For many their diet is essentially rice and possibly a few other items. Even if a meal does not go precisely as we thought it would we remind ourselves of what these people have to deal with. All of this just adds to our appreciation that goes with cruising and our ability to see the world in an environment as nice as the Crystal Serenity.
Our experiences on the ship have been outstanding. This includes the fantastic enrichment program and evening performances, the outstanding service that gets better each and every year, and the wonderful cuisine that we enjoyed in each of the dining venues. We have made new friends and renewed friendships with past passengers. We have gotten to know some new members of the crew for the very first time and enjoyed seeing so many members of the crew who we know from previous cruises.
Before the cruise we were especially looking forward to returning to several places that we had visited in 2008 especially in Australia and New Zealand as well as looking forward to visiting ports of call in these countries and in some other locations for the very first time. We can’t say enough for the beauty of Australia and New Zealand and for the warm and friendly hospitality that has been shown to us.
It is hard to believe that so much has occurred throughout the world while we have been on the ship including the changes that have and continue to occur in The Middle East along with the tragedies that have occurred from the catastrophic earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand and in Japan.
It is interesting to note that on the Crystal Serenity that the crew represents somewhere around fifty different nationalities and that they get along so very well and that the passengers on this voyage have represented close to twenty-five different nationalities. If only all of the inhabitants around the world could get along as well as those on the ship the world could be a better place.
In the end, we truly believe that what has made this adventure so very special like the others we have taken, is the people. The members of the crew are truly outstanding in all that they do as are the many people who work at Crystal Cruises Los Angeles Headquarters. We truly believe that you can have the most modern and sophisticated and up to date cruise ship ever to sail the high seas but with the wrong people operating and working on the ship it will not be a good experience. In the end it is the people who make the difference. Likewise, we have sailed with several nice passengers from countries around the world many of whom we have sailed with before. At the same time we have also benefited from so many of the people who make up the enrichment and entertainment program which for us adds so much to the overall experience. Kudos to Crystal Cruises for once again exceeding our expectations and raising that bar up yet another notch.
We hope that you have enjoyed following our voyage through our daily posts and through our photos. A few days after we arrive home we will put together some final thoughts. We also hope that you will be a part of our next journey.
We will spend the next few days in Singapore before returning home to our family and our friends.
Until next time………..
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…….
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Lawaharal Nehru
Keith and Anne Marie
We will be heading for Hawaii tomorrow & I'll be looking for that Opah fish on the menu. Thanks for reminding me about it!
ReplyDelete