We enjoyed another nice evening on the Crystal Symphony last evening.
We began the evening by attending the Crystal Society Cocktail Reception, which was held before dinner. This reception is for all guests who have completed one Crystal Cruise. It provides a nice reception for the guests and allows Crystal Cruises to recognize all of its Crystal Society members and to also provide special recognition for those guests who have sailed on a significant number of cruises with Crystal Cruises. This type of voyage attracts many Crystal Society members because of its overall length and the number of sea days and there are 651 Crystal Society members on this cruise.
One of the highlights of the reception was dancing by four of the Crystal Cruises dancers including Beverly and Curtis who are on this voyage as it is a special Crystal Society voyage. Another highlight was seeing two long terms Crystal Cruises with a significant number of cruises taken begin recognized. We have sailed with both of these guests on several voyages and it was a pleasure to see them recognized.
This cruise is also appropriately a Crystal Society cruise and, as such, there have been some extra activities, events and amenities for the guests. So far this included the kickoff party held the first night of the cruise, a morning reception, and the opportunity for each Crystal Society member to receive a complimentary 8 X 10 photograph of their choosing to commemorate this cruise.
After this reception, we enjoyed a very nice dinner in the Main Dining Room. This evening was the French Dinner where a nice variety of French Cuisine was on the dinner menu. For example, the Chef’s suggestions included Escargots Bourguignonnes, French Onion Soup, Broiled Fillet of Red Snapper, along with Soufflé Grand Marnier. Other notable choices included Vegetable Salad Nicoise, Vichyssoise, Seafood Rendezvous, Soupe de Poissen, Coq au Vin, Veal Escalope a la Cordon Bleu, Champs Elysee and many other items too numerous to mention.
We had a special Caesar Salad that was made for us by the Head Waiter and we each had the Red Snapper, which was one of the best entrees we have ever had.
After dinner, we stopped by the second Crystal Society reception so that we could see fellow guests who are in late seating. We saw several familiar faces.
When we returned to the room there was a nice letter from Gregg Michel, President of Crystal Cruises, along with a beautiful 8 x 10 photo frame commemorating this sailing.
We slept well last evening. While there was some rain, the seas were very calm. Keith was up first to the Fitness Center and for most of his workout he worked out by himself until two other guests arrived including Roy. Keith spoke with Roy for a little while and then stopped by the Lido Café to get some coffee. Keith also spoke with fellow guest Chuck. Afterwards, Keith did some laundry while it was Anne Marie’s turn to workout. We enjoyed another fine breakfast in our cabin.
This is the first time we have visited Cartagena, Brazil. We originally had booked a shore excursion. However, we ended up canceling the excursion since the weather forecast called for rain and since we will be visiting this port of call again in January.
Cartagena has a population of approximately 1.25 million inhabitants. Pedro de Heredia founded the town in 1533. Initially, this town became the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast and the major northern gateway to South America. It stayed under Spanish rule for 275 years until November 11 of 1811 when it declared its independence.
This was Keith’s second visit to Columbia as he traveled to mainland Bogotá, Columbia in the 1990’s and this is the first time that Anne Marie has been to Columbia.
A little while after the ship was cleared we walked down to the pier and then over to the cruise ship terminal, which was relatively close to, the ships berth. There were a few stores and outside the area there was some nice foliage. We stayed for about an hour and then headed back to the ship. Docked alongside of us was the Celebrity Infinity, which was one of the ships that was in Grand Cayman with us on Tuesday.
Once on the ship we spoke with several friends including Chuck, and Jim Brochu.
We did some reading and writing and Keith played Paddle Tennis with one of the Sports Directors and then we enjoyed lunch in the Lido Café.
In the afternoon, Anne Marie took another nice long walk on the Promenade Deck and then she sat out by the pool area. Keith ended up playing a lot more Paddle Tennis with several guests and also with a couple of the officers.
This evening is an informal night and we will dine by ourselves in the Main Dining Room.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”
Anne Frank
Keith and Anne Marie
Beautiful pictures ! Hoping that all is well as I see that you are in some heavy weather. Looking forward to your next post and that you and Ann Marie are well and finally in calm seas.
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