En Route To Huatulco, Mexico

(Picture From The Other Day After Our Team Won The 20th Anniversary Team Trivia)

(Art Work Being Sold At The Pier In Costa Rica)

We had another very nice time on the Crystal Symphony last evening. After two consecutive nights at Silk Road, we were, once again, seated at our very nice table in the Main Dining Room. The food was wonderful. We each had the grilled Portobello Mushroom Appetizer, followed by a salad and for our entrée we had the Grilled Queens Seabass Fillet. The Fillet was just delicious. Like so many of the other seafood entrées that we have had the fish was very tasty and also very moist. For dessert, we had fruit.

We love the Senior Waiter and Waiter that we have for our table. They are very kind and very professional and they check up on us frequently. They are very nice individuals who work as a superb team.

When we entered the Main Dining Room there was the Maitre d’ Norbert with a hand sanitizer in each hand and many guests like us used it. While Anne Marie carries a small bottle with her all the time for both of us to use we still took advantage of the opportunity to use the one that Norbert had. Many other passengers used it as well.

After dinner we strolled around the ship for a while and ran into several members of the crew and fellow guests.

Today, we enjoyed a wonderful day at sea as we sail to Huatulco, Mexico.

Keith was up early and started his day off at the fitness center. About 30 minutes into his workout Steve came up to the center and then a little while after that Roy came by and then after that Chuck also came by to workout. Keith stopped by the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room and then he did some laundry. At this hour, it is a perfect time to use the machines. After he got back to the room Anne Marie also had a nice workout at the fitness center.

After breakfast in our room we got ready for another wonderful day at sea.

Keith took the spin indoor cycle class back up at the fitness center along with fellow guest Gaylord.

After the class, we attended the lecture given by Roger McGuinn, co-founder, lead singer and lead guitarist of the Byrds who spoke about the history of the Byrds. This lecture along with his first lecture was fascinating. He shared so many interesting tidbits.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room.

In the afternoon, Keith played paddle tennis for a couple of hours and Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck.

At 5:00 PM, we will attend Zero Hour, which will be presented by friend and celebrity entertainer Jim Brochu. We first saw Jim perform this show a couple of years ago on the Crystal Serenity. It is about the life of Zero Mostel. This show has been performed off Broadway in New York City and has won several awards including the New York Drama Desk Award for the Best Solo Show, the Washington Helen Hayes Award for Best Actor, the South Florida Cabonell Award for Best Actor and the Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best Play.

This evening we will be dining at the Vintage Room as the prize for being on the winning trivia team. We look forward to our first experience in the Vintage Room.

One of our core beliefs is the sum of the team is greater than the sum of the individuals. This is proven all the time whether in business, in sports, in school and in a variety of other areas. We see this day in and day out on each Crystal ship. With this in mind here is today’s thought for the day.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

Keith and Anne Marie

Welcome To Caldera, Costa Rica

(On The Way To Caldera)

(From L-R Ann Peck, Keith,Anne Marie, Ann's Mother And Ambassador Peck)

(Sushi and Sashimi)

(Sushi)

(This Photo And The Photos Below This From The French Fry Challenge)

(Group Photo Of Those From Cruise Critic Who Attended)

(Ricki, Keith And Anne Marie)

(Those Yummy French Fries)

(Chuck, Steve and Keith)

(Nancy And Danny)

(Keith Is Not Going To Eat All Of Those French Fries)

After we posted earlier yesterday we enjoyed another wonderful evening on the ship that even included a pleasant surprise.

Keith participated in the “Ultimate Team Trivia” contest before dinner last evening. Teams ranged from five to six guests. The good news is that our team won and as the winning team we will dine in the Vintage Room on Monday, November 15. Each member of the team can invite one guest to join him or her so Anne Marie will be going as well.

So, now Keith is wondering if the French Fries turned out to be nutritious brain food, which assisted us in winning the trivia game. Now the challenge is eating the rich food that is served in the Vintage Room. This will be our first time for us dining at the Vintage Room. Keith did ask the Head Sommelier who is responsible for choosing the wine parings for a lighter paring of foods so all should be great.

For the second night in the row we dined at Silk Road. We had the pleasure of dining with Ambassador Peck, his lovely wife Ann, and Ann’s mother in Silk Road. We have dined with the Ambassador and his wife several times over the years on both the Crystal Serenity and on the Crystal Symphony at this wonderful dining venue. We had a wonderful time. The food was fabulous, along with the service, the cuisine and the overall ambience of the dining venue. Keith did the majority of ordering of the sushi and sashimi for the table and we feasted on wonderfully prepared items. It seemed to be a meal in itself but we still had room for deliciously prepared entrees and a couple of other items.

It was easy to get up this morning as we set the clocks back one hour as Caldera, Costa Rica is located in the Central Standard Time Zone. Keith was up first and enjoyed anther wonderful workout on the Elliptical Machine. Steve stopped by for a little while and using his little video like flip camera took video of Keith working out and also interviewed Keith about his contribution to trivia. About 30 minutes later fellow guest Roy worked out and Keith and Roy chatted for a little while. By the time Keith finished a couple of other passengers were also working out.

In between all of this Keith watched a show on the television monitor of the Elliptical Machine about Joe Dimaggio titled appropriately where have you gone Joe Dimaggio. As an avid New York Yankees Baseball fan for all of his life, Keith enjoyed watching the show, which included many clips from the Yankee Clippers playing days and interviews with many of those who played with him and covered his career. The documentary was made several years ago.

After stopping by the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room, Anne Marie headed over to the Fitness Center for her workout on the Treadmill. Afterwards, we enjoyed another very nice breakfast in our room.

Believe it or not, today marks our first visit to Costa Rica.

Caldera, Costa Rica has become another popular tourist destination in what is considered to be one of Latin America’s most peaceful countries. It is located between two great continents. It offers the tourist a beautiful landsape with very friendly local residents.

Since we have another cruise scheduled that includes this port of call we decided not to book a shore excursion this time around but we will definitely take a shore excursion on our next visit.

We took the complimentary shuttle from the pier to Puntarenas to Caldera and walked around for a short time. We were fortunate to have a nice tour guide on the shuttle who told us a great deal about Costa Rica and the areas nearby. We had nice weather, as this is part of the dry season. When we arrived back to the pier where there were many little shops set up and spent some time looking at the local items that were available.

In case you were wondering about the Celebrity Infinity ship, she was in port with us again today but docked right in Caldera.

Back on the ship we chatted with the Medical Officer of the ship who we first met while on the Crystal Serenity earlier this year and we also learned that we will sail with him again this coming January on the Serenity.

A little while after arriving back to the ship we had lunch at the Lido Café.

In the afternoon, Keith played a few hours of paddle tennis and Anne Marie took a nice walk on the Promenade Deck.

This evening we will dine in the Main Dining Room and tomorrow we will post about our evening on the Symphony.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”

Mark Twain

Keith and Anne Marie

En Route To Caldera, Costa Rica

(Ricki, Keith And Brian At The French Fry Challenge)

(Chuck, Keith, Jim and Ricki)

(Ricki, Keith And Anne Marie)

(The First Ever Cruise Critic French Fry Event)

(Steve Performing The Song For Us That He Wrote; "The Night Crew")

Keith With His French Fry Shirt Presented By Ricki)

(From L-R Brian, Ricki, Steve, gary, Chuck, Keith And Anne Marie)

(Anne Marie)

(Keith With Steve And Ricki)

(Last Evening Dining At Silk Road With Ernie And Debby)

As a few of you noticed, there were times that we incorrectly referred to Cartagena as being in Brazil rather than Columbia. We do want to note that the city has not moved to another country and is part of Columbia. J

We wanted to mention how much we enjoy transiting the Panama Canal. It was sunny for the first two hours of the transit and then it rained for the next few hours. The rain actually gave it an interesting look as we saw all sorts of foliage on each side of the ship making it quite interesting. The last couple of hours of the transit ranged from being overcast, to partial sun to some sprinkles. All in all it was a wonderful transit.

We viewed the first portion of the transit from the open deck of the ship. When it rained we viewed the next portion of the transit from the Palm Court, which provided us with wonderful panoramic views. We viewed the last portion of the transit from the open decks as Anne Marie walked the Promenade Deck while Keith was playing Paddle Tennis and during the time he was not playing had a perfect view of the canal and all of its surroundings. It was a glorious day. Since 2007, we have now transited the Panama Canal two times and the Suez Canal three times.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner at the Silk Road Japanese Restaurant with Ernie and Debbie. We enjoyed a wonderful conversation along with the outstanding cuisine and ambience of this dining venue.

We had lots of our favorite sushi and sashimi and Anne Marie enjoyed the mushroom salad while Keith had the spicy soup and we each had the Nobu Lobster as our entrée. We ended up staying there for about two and one half hours.

This morning we awoke early. We have had a running challenge with several members from Cruise Critic. The challenge was how many members of Cruise Critic would workout at the Fitness Center with Keith and that for each person who attended Keith would have a French fry. To quality they had to arrive to the Fitness Center by 5:00 AM. In honor of this challenge Keith arrived by around 4:30 AM. Between 5:00 AM and 5:30 AM others joined in on the phone including Anne Marie, Steve, Chuck, Ricki, Brian, Gary, Ernie and Roy. It was a lot of fun and afterwards most of us went to the Lido Café and sat at a table to enjoy coffee. Ricki and Brian presented Keith at the end of the workout with a shirt that says got French fries?

We enjoyed breakfast back at the room

Many activities were held in the morning and the afternoon since today was a sea day as we sail towards Caldera Costa Rica.

We attended the French Fry Challenge in the Palm Court at 9:30 AM. We had a large turnout of Cruise Critic Members and there was Danish and of course, a vast number of French Fries. After everyone had gathered Brian gave the background to this event and then Ricki presented Keith with a hat to wear and brought over a large plate of French Fries for Keith. The agreement was for Keith to eat eleven (11) French fries and Anne Marie fed Keith the first fry. Keith did eat all eleven and afterwards there were fries available for all who wanted to eat them. We took lots of pictures along with the group photo. Afterwards, Steve performed a song for us called The Night Crew, which he had written a few years ago about the wonderful night crew who work for Crystal Cruises. Thanks to Crystal Cruises for hosting this event for us which is probably the first French Fry event held on a ship and our thanks to Ricki and to Brian for all of the planning for this very fun event.

Today is also the ultimate team trivia challenge scheduled for 5:00 PM where the winning team wins an exclusive dinner in the Vintage Room. Each winner also gets to invite one guest to the Vintage Room.

This evening we dine in Silk Road with Ambassador Ed Peck and his wife Ann. We will post more about this tomorrow.

The good news is that before we go to bed this evening, we will be turning the clocks back one hour as we sail into a new time zone.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.”

Lucille Ball

Keith and Anne Marie

Transiting The Panama Canal

(First Lock Opening)

(Crystal Photographer taking A Picture Of The Ship Getting Ready To Enter The First Lock)

(Water Being Added To Raise The Ship)

(Some On-Lookers)

(Celebrity Infinity Which Was Right Behind Us As We Transited The Canal)

(Transiting The Canal)

(David, Ricki, Chuck, Jim And Anne Marie During Last Nights Jazz Performance)

(Jim Brochu And Anne Marie)

Once again we had a wonderful time on the ship last evening.

While we dined in the Main Dining Room, in addition to being able to dine at either Prego or in Silk Road another option was casual night dining on the Lido Deck. This is typically offered twice during the cruise on the Crystal Symphony.

The attire for Prego, Silk Road and the Main Dining Room was informal. We each enjoyed a wonderful salad for dinner and we had the Broiled Fillet of Atlantic Salmon, which was accompanied, by Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, Vegetable Julienne and Honey Mustard Sauce and we also enjoyed a large bowl of steamed vegetables. We each had fruit for our dessert. The salmon entrée was just delicious as were the other items.

After dinner we listened to the Jazz performance by the Crystal Orchestra, which was wonderful and we chatted with Ricki, David, Jim, Chuck and others who were also watching the performance. These extra touches by Crystal are always wonderful.

Keith woke up early and worked out in the fitness center. For a good portion of his workout he was alone until Steve made it up there and then a little while later Roy. It was nice to get the morning workout behind him. Keith stopped by the Lido Café for coffee and spoke with Chuck for a little while before returning to the room to do some laundry and by then Anne Marie was getting ready. Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck. Afterwards, we both enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the room.

The highlight for today was the transit of the Panama Canal. This is the second time we have transited the canal and it was even more exciting this time as it was the first time. Aside from all of the challenges constructing the canal, just like the Suez Canal what is amazing is the vision that selected individuals had to build these canals in the first place. Like so many things in life, it is the vision which then turned into an idea which then becomes a plan which then gets implemented is what makes the world such an interesting place. In addition, many ideas take time to implement and many times there are major challenges and failures. That was certainly the case with the construction of both the Panama and Suez Canal. In these days of 24 hour news where people what instant results we all have to remember that great things do take time to implement and many times they are not perfect right away. To us, this is a lesson that we need to remind ourselves about.

Construction of the Panama Canal began in 1904 and finally was completed in 1914. The Canal stretches 48 miles and joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In its early years the canal was traffic to around 1,000 ships annually and more recently annual traffic totaled around 15,000 vessels.

A ship that sails from New York City to San Francisco and sails via the Panama Canal travels 5,900 miles versus a trip of 14,000 miles that would be required without the Canal.

Like the Suez Canal, the concept for this canal had a very early beginning and the first attempt to build this canal began in 1880 under the leadership of the French. The French eventually abandoned this project after almost 22,000 workers died from malaria and yellow fever and landslides.

The success of the Panama Canal is attributable to the involvement of The United States of America who initiated a second effort resulting in the opening of the Canal in 1914. During this effort there were close to 5,600 deaths. The United States controlled the Canal under its sole leadership until the 1977 treaty was executed which allowed for a transition from 1979 to 1999 at which time on December 31, 1999 the canal was transferred to the command of the Panama Canal Authority who is an agency of the Panamanian Government.

While it rained a couple of hours after we entered the canal it was a great day transiting the Panama Canal and certainly one of the highlights of the voyage.

When it started to rain we went inside and viewed the Panama Canal from the Palm Court Lounge, which provides beautiful panoramic views of both sides of the ship. We sat for most of the time with Ambassador Peck and his wife Ann. Afterwards we had lunch with the two of them along with our friend Chuck. Later on Ricki and David also sat with us and we all had a great conversation.

In the afternoon, Anne Marie enjoyed another nice long walk on the Promenade Deck and Keith played a couple of hours of Paddle Tennis and we both enjoyed the beautiful views of the Panama Canal.

This evening we will dine in Silk Road with Ernie, Debby and Philip and we’ll post about that tomorrow.

Today’s thought of the day relates to new ideas and how we all can see things a bit differently.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

Keith and Anne Marie

Welcome To Cartagena, Brazil

(The Beautiful Crystal Symphony In Cartagena, Brazil)

(What Else - Columbian Coffee)

(Outside Cruise Ship Terminal - Cartagena, Brazil)

(Right Before Last Evenings Crystal Society Party)

(Dancers Beverly & Curtis)

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

En Route To Cartagena, Columbia

(Getting Ready For Another Spin Class)

(From L-R Steve, David, Chuck, Ricki, Anne Marie And Keith)

(Some Pre-Dinner Food Items)

(Delicious Pre-Dinner Canapes)

(Champagne For A Pre-Dinner Toast With Good Friends)

After we posted yesterday afternoon, Keith ended up playing more paddle tennis. Paddle Tennis has been quite popular on this voyage so Keith has met quite a few passengers playing this game. He also had the opportunity to play a few rounds with one of the fitness directors before other fellow passengers arrived.

We also watched a lecture on television that we had missed from the day before. The lectures was given by Celebrity Lecturer Roger McGuinn.who was the lead guitarist for the Byrds in 1964. This is one of the groups of the 1960s that Keith enjoyed and yes, he had the 45 rpm which included Turn Turn Turn and Keith’s brother had the LP with that song and several other classics. Do you remember Mr. Tambourine Man? Another classic. All we can say is , wow!

We had a great time with friends Ricki, David, Chuck and Steve last evening. We had them over to our room at 5:45 PM for some pre-dinner canapés and for a champagne toast. Sabastian organized all of this for us and we greatly appreciate all of the tasty items that he served.

We then feasted at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. We had spoken with headwaiter Willie who we have known for many years first sailing with him for several years on the Crystal Serenity and had pre-ordered a couple of items for the table. As usual, the food, the service and the ambience were just wonderful. Everyone ordered some very interesting sushi items.

It was great to share a wonderful evening with our friends

We have been enjoying another wonderful day at sea as we sail to our next port of call in Cartagena , Columbia. This is the first time we will visit this port of call.

Once again, we slept very well last evening as the ship rocked us gently to sleep.

Keith arose very early and was in the fitness center alone for most of his workout. Towards the end two other guests joined him. One of them is Roy who Keith has spoken with the past few days during portions of his workout.

Afterwards, it was Anne Marie’s time to workout and she worked out on the treadmill for an hour.

We enjoyed breakfast in the room and got ready for another nice day at sea on the Crystal Symphony.

Keith took his third spin class of the cruise and enjoyed the class. At first there was just Keith but he was able to get one other guest to participate as well. Afterwards, he saw fellow guest Brian on the treadmill so Keith walked on the treadmill for a little over 30 minutes while enjoying a nice conversation with Brian.

Anne Marie took a nice long walk on the promenade deck.

Since we are in port tomorrow over the Veteran’s Day Holiday, at 11:00 AM this morning a special Veterans and Remembrance Day get together was held on the ship to recognize all Veterans. We would like to say thank you to all our veterans and to all current military personnel.

We enjoyed another very nice lunch in the Main Dining Room with another couple, Jim and Nan. In the afternoon we attended the lecture given by Celebrity Lecturer and Entertainer Jim Brochu who presented the life and films of Katharine Hepburn. It was an outstanding presentation and we say bravo to our friend Jim.

Anne Marie ran into a familiar crewmember earlier today while on our deck. It was our cabin steward that we had earlier this year on the World Cruise. The cabin steward immediately knew Anne Marie’s name.

This evening is formal night on the ship and as part of the evening events we will be attending the Crystal Society Reception. We will be dining in the Main Dining Room with Lecturer Ken Rees and his lovely wife Lynn. We have the pleasure of getting to know the two of them throughout the 2010 World Cruise.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

Mother Teresa

Welcome To Grand Cayman

(Picture Taken Around 9:30 AM And Already Many People Drinking)

(Four Of The Five Other Ships Calling On Grand Cayman)

(All The Other Ships Were Using These Ships To Tender Passenger's Back And Forth Because Of The Number Of Passengers On Board The Ships)

Crystal Symphony Was The Only Ship Using Its Own Tenders)

Last Nights Dinner

Seated From L-R Arthur, Mary-Catherine, Shoko

Standing From L-R Rita, Keith, Anne Marie

(Keith Playing Paddle Tennis Yesterday Morning)

We had another wonderful evening on board the Crystal Symphony.

Before dinner, we attended a reception at Captain Egil Giske’s quarters with some of our fellow passengers. It provided a nice opportunity to speak with the Captain and some of the other Senior Officers and to also socialize with some of our fellow guests. For a good portion of the reception we enjoyed a very nice conversation with Hotel Director, Josef Matt, and with the Director of the Loyalty Program and Guest Relations, Mary-Catherine Wilks.

After dinner, we dined in the Main Dining Room with Mary-Catherine Wilks who as we mentioned is the Director of Crystal Cruises Loyalty Program & Guest Relations. Department. This was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Mary-Catherine. She is a wonderful person and has an excellent rapport with the customers of Crystal. Three other passengers who we know so very well from previous cruises with Crystal also joined us. We were the last guests to finish dinner as we all enjoyed a wonderful conversation.

When we returned to our room there was a letter from the captain letting us know that due to issues in Acapulco, including serious incidents in the downtown area, that we will not visit Acapulco on November 17 but will instead visit the resort city of Huatulco on November 16. This was a very wise decision by Crystal Cruises and we commend them for making this itinerary change.

We slept very well. The seas were relatively calm and we find that we sleep very well when we sail as we find the slight rocking of the ship to make it easy to fall to sleep.

Keith was up early and was working out in the Fitness Center by around 5:00AM. He worked out on the Elliptical Machine. The Fitness Center has been great and Crystal has a sufficient number of cardio machines and other equipment to meet the needs of the vast majority of passengers. . For a portion of the workout I spoke with fellow cruise passenger Leroy. Around the time that Keith finished his workout, Anne Marie began her workout on the treadmill.

After we finished our workouts each of us brought back some coffee to the room and then we enjoyed a very nice pleasant breakfast. Speaking of our room we wanted to highlight how wonderful the room staff has been. Our Stewardess is Jurgita who has worked for Crystal for many years and she is always on top of everything. Milena, the stewardess in training ably assists her. Sebastian is our butler and he is a long-term employee of Crystal Cruises and just an outstanding butler with a wonderful sense of humor.

We arrived to Grand Cayman by around 9:00 AM.

Grand Cayman is actually the largest of the three Cayman Islands. There are two distinct sides to this Island. On the Western side of this Island is Georgetown, which is the capital. One will find lots of resorts, restaurants and shopping on this side of the Island. The Eastern side of the Island is fairly undeveloped in comparison to the Western side.

As is the case with so many of the Islands in this area of the world, tourism plays a major role for the local economy. One of the features that attract major tourism is the spectacular scuba diving and snorkeling that awaits those tourists traveling to this Island.

Many different governments since the time they were discovered by the Europeans ruled the Cayman Islands. Christopher Columbus first sighted these islands in May of 1503. The first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands dates back to around 1700.

Over the years we have visited Grand Cayman numerous times, most recently in January of this year. It is a tender port meaning that it is not equipped for docking by Cruise Ships and each ship takes passengers to and from the port via tender boats. Unlike when we were here earlier this year, the port was quite busy with several cruise ships visiting Grand Cayman.

We took the tender over to the Island and walked around for part of the morning. We originally booked a private shore excursion through Crystal Cruises that was put together for those members of Cruise Critic but it was to be cancelled due to damage done to the miniature golf course from a recent storm.

We walked around just for about an hour. From our cruise ship we could see four other ships but as we tendered in we noticed a fifth ship. There were three Carnival ships, two Celebrity ships, and of course, our ship. To put this into perspective, when we were in the Caymans in January of this year there was only our one ship. The reason there are so many ships is that this week marks the start of the cruise ship season for these islands and on Tuesdays this island tends to be busier than on other days of the week since many ships leave from Fort Lauderdale and Miami over the weekend, arriving here on Tuesdays.

A short while after we returned to the ship Anne Marie relaxed on the open deck while Keith played paddle tennis. We then had lunch with Ambassador Ed Peck and his lovely wife Ann.

In the afternoon Keith read, wrote and took care of a few other items while Anne Marie took a long walk on the Promenade Deck.

Before dinner this evening, we are having friends Ricki, David, Chuck and Steve to our room for some canapés and champagne. Afterwards, the six of us will dine at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. We have pre-ordered a couple of favorite items for everyone to enjoy.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….

“But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

Robert Frost

Keith and Anne Marie