First Full Day At Sea

Panic set in this morning when the alarm did not go off. Rather than getting up at 5:15 AM as we had planned to start off the day at the fitness center Keith looked over at the clock and discovered it was 7:00 AM. This is a first for us. Keith later discovered my mistake as he had inadvertently set the clock for 5:15 PM rather than 5:15 AM. The good news is that we slept later and since today like almost every other day on this ship is a sea day we just rearranged our schedule.

The seas have been somewhat rough which is part of the course on a crossing. We did wake up from time to time last evening, just not at the right time for the morning wakeup. ☺

We enjoyed a nice breakfast in our room. The butler told us about the rough seas that this ship had encountered on its South America sailing, which we had heard about from people who at the time were traveling on that sailing.

After breakfast Keith saw the on board-booking specialist while Anne Marie went to see the doctor. She had a cold several days ago which seemed to be getting better but then she started to get much more congested. She has an upper respiratory viral infection. The doctor gave her various medications.

While Anne Marie rested in the room, later in the morning Keith went to the first lecture of this cruise which was given by destination lecturer Dorinda Nicholson who presented” Pearl Harbor Child”. Dorinda witnessed the attack at Pear Harbor from her home opposite Battleship Row when she was just six years old. Anne Marie stayed in our room to get some rest. Keith enjoyed the lecture.

At 12:00 Noon Keith attended team trivia and met for the first time the two couples who we will be teamed with throughout the cruise. There were lots of teams playing. We did well but not good enough to finish in first place. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

After Team Trivia Keith met Anne Marie and we had lunch in the main dining room.

In the afternoon, Keith went to the Fitness Center a unique experience since we always use the center in the mornings on our cruises. Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine and there were not many people in the center during the workout.

Keith enjoyed some other activities on the ship in the afternoon while Anne Marie followed the doctors orders and got plenty of rest and drank lots of water.

Before we knew it the evening was upon us and we attended the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception. Our Captain for this sailing is Captain Ralf Zander who is new to Crystal.

After the Captain’s Reception we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the main dining room. The food and service were superb as we are accustomed to on each Crystal Cruise. We each enjoyed a wonderfully prepared salad, lobster, along with our favorite steamed vegetables.

Tomorrow evening we will dine with Ambassador Peck and his wife, Ann, at Silk Road. Silk Road is the Japanese Specialty Restaurant. This restaurant is on the Crystal Serenity and was added to the Symphony in the spring of last year. This will be our first time to dine at Silk Road on the Symphony after dining there countless times on the Serenity. We are looking forward to this dinner. This will be our third cruise with the Ambassador and his wife and we have been fortunate to have dined with them a number of times on our previous cruises; each time at Silk Road. We look forward to wonderful conversation and of course a wonderful meal.

Keith & Anne Marie