We departed the New York Harbor on time and it is always so very exciting to sail from New York City. Keith’s first sailing from New York City was in 1968 when he sailed with his parent’s, brother and grandmother. That was back in the days when passengers could still throw streamers from the ship. The next time we sailed from New York City was on a cruise to Bermuda in the early 1990’s and since that time we have sailed on other voyages to and from this beautiful city. It is always exciting to sail by the Statue Of Liberty and to recognize its meaning to those all around the world.
We shared the excitement of the sail away with several friends and it was very exciting. We had a beautiful view of the New York City Skyline and of the sun setting behind the Statue Of Liberty.
During the sail away we also saw several members from Crystal including the head of the Crystal Society Program from the Los Angeles Office and the Crystal Society Hostess who we met on our first Crystal Cruise in 2002.
We enjoyed our first dinner in the Main Dining Room. We love our table and its location and the wait staff. Our Senior Waiter is Gerald, Sandi is our Waiter, and our Sommelier is Lazlo. We also spoke with the Main Dining Room Maitre d’ Norbert before and during dinner and we really appreciate his kindness and professionalism.
When we entered the main dining room we saw our senior waiter from our sailing in April of 2009 and he remembered our names. We find this truly amazing.
After dinner there was a special kickoff to the Cruise held in the Crystal Cove, which is located right outside the Main Dining Room. It was called the Ultimate Cruise Bash and featured the Crystal Galaxy Orchestra, Cruise Director Paul McFarland, dancing by Curtis Collins and Beverly Durand and a toast by Captain Egil Giske. After the toast we both danced as the balloons and confetti came down. We also enjoyed a nice talk with dancer Beverly Durand. We even did one dance as the balloons came down.
We slept very well as we cruised towards Philadelphia. It’s so very nice to be back on the Crystal Symphony.
Keith arose very early in the morning as he normally does and began his workout around 5:15 AM. He was not the first person there but the second one to arrive. He worked out on the Elliptical Machine for a little over an hour and then he ran on the treadmill for about another fifteen minutes and then he spoke with fellow passenger, Ernie for a little while. He stopped by the Lido Café and the fairly new café is just beautiful. As he arrived back to the room with his coffee, Anne Marie was just leaving for her workout and since it was still very early in the morning he did a wash. Anne Marie had a nice workout on the treadmill.
We both enjoyed our first breakfast on the ship in our room.
We arrived to Philadelphia at around 10:00 AM. We took the first shuttle into the city and walked around for a little while. On the way into town, we had a wonderful conversation with Ambassador Peck and his lovely wife Ann Peck. We have sailed with them many times and it is great to be sailing with them again.
Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn. There is much important history associated with Philadelphia. After all, it was the home to both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It was the second largest city in the British Empire prior to the American Revolution.
Philadelphia is a very culturally diverse city. Philadelphia is the fifth largest city in the United States and its size is 129 square miles with a population of over 1.5 million people.
Philadelphia has lots to offer the tourist including many important historical sites to visit in a relatively compact area in the historic district. It features the Liberty Bell; Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was prepared and signed; Congress Hall; Carpenter’s Hall, where the delegates of the first Continental Congress met and aired their grievances against the English king; and the Old City Hall, home to the U.S. Supreme Court from 1791 until 1800.
We enjoyed lunch back on the ship at the Lido Café and then later in the afternoon we had two visitors on board the ship who we saw for awhile. One of the visitors was Cheryl who we sailed with earlier this year on the seven-day Miami Round Trip cruise out of Miami. They enjoyed lunch in the main dining room and then we met them. It was wonderful to see Cheryl once again along with her Nancy. We took them all around the ship and then we all went to the afternoon sea.
Later today we will attend a party that Crystal is hosting for those guests who are members of Cruise Critic and we will dine after the party at 9:00 PM at Silk Road which for us will be a late meal but we didn’t want to rush through dinner before the party.
“But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you've got to compromise. You've got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward.” - Colin Powell
Keith and Anne Marie
What a perfect quotation at the end -- especially today!
ReplyDelete