Final Day At Sea

This will be our last post while on board the Crystal Symphony.

We posted two pictures today.

One is of us with the wonderful dining room staff, which includes our Headwaiter, Senior Waiter and Waiter. They have been extraordinary. The other picture is the final one of our stowaways that we took after we got back to the room last night. Our stewardess has come up with more scenes for them then we could possibly imagine.

We just wanted to recap last evening. We had a wonderful time at the Captain’s Farewell Reception. We have enjoyed the band and now that Anne Marie is feeling better each day we enjoyed dancing to some of their music. The Captain did a nice job in his first farewell talk as Captain of the Symphony and as usual Cruise Director Paul McFarland showed a very nice sense of humor.

Dinner was very nice in the main dining room. Once again, we enjoyed wonderful service and food. We each had the veal medallions with asparagus ravioli and vegetables and the presentation was outstanding along with the taste of the food.

Last evening we thanked the Main Dining Room Maitre d’, Josef, our Headwaiter, Vlada, and our Senior Waiter and Waiter for all that they did to make our dining experience as wonderful at it was. They are all true professionals

Speaking of quality, we have been very impressed that with so many consecutive sea days that lots of fruit is still available along with all sorts of vegetables for salads. For fruit, items such as blueberries and strawberries are still readily available and the quality of the bananas is still perfect. We know that the ship has special equipment to keep items much fresher than we can at home but this has been simply amazing.

As many times as we cruise with Crystal we are amazed at the entire food and beverage operation. If this was a land based restaurant it would be extremely challenging to provide the level of service and the quality that is provided given the number of passengers that dine each evening. Add to this the challenge of doing this while at sea and operating on a 7 x 24 schedule and it is amazing.

Today is our final day at sea as we sail to Hong Kong. It has been a glorious cruise.

Keith started off the day with a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center. As has been his routine, he brought back coffee after the workout and then later we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the room.

There have been lots of activities today.

Ambassador Peck gave a wonderful lecture in the morning and the title of his presentation was “Peck’s Postulates: The Four Keys to Total Understanding of International Relations.” As usual, the Ambassador gave a wonderful talk.

Afterwards, we enjoyed the final Rap with the Rabbi for this cruise. These have been wonderful sessions and the Rabbi has done a wonderful job leading them and giving lots of time for all of the passengers to share ideas.

In the morning, we also went to the Hong Kong mandatory check for all guests. During this check they are taking each passengers temperature. We went through this last year as well. The good news is we passed with flying colors. ☺

Today was the final day of Team Trivia. Two teams tied for first place with the team that has won many of the games winning the tie breaker. We finished in second place.

Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Café. We can’t thank the Lido Deck Stewards enough for all that they do to make our dining in this venue so pleasant. They are so dedicated and work so hard to please each passenger. How they learn so many of the passenger names and many of their food preferences is truly remarkable.

This evening we will dine at Silk Road with Ambassador Peck and his lovely wife. We look forward to wonderful food, service and conversation.


Keith & Anne Marie