Pictures From Hong Kong

Here are some pictures from Hong Kong.

The Clock Tower taken at night

The Dining Table in our Hotel Room

Anne Marie outside the Peninsula Hotel

The fountain outside the Peninsula Hotel

The Crystal Symphony Leaving Hong Kong

The Crystal Symphony Leaving Hong Kong

The Crystal Symphony At Dock

The Crystal Symphony At Dock

Keith & Anne Marie

Time To Say Farewell

Before we tell you about last evening we wanted to share some statistics and final thoughts.

During the course of this cruise, we sailed 7,178 nautical miles, which is equivalent to over 8,254 land miles. This is a vast distance over a seventeen-day period. Just take a look at a map to put this into perspective.

As we have said, this has been a wonderful cruise. Obviously, it is different than most other cruises, as we didn’t select this cruise for the ports. Or should we clarify this to be singular as in port. Instead, we selected this cruise to enjoy the amenities of the ship and all of the activities that were available to us and of course to enjoy the time with the crew and the passengers. Last afternoon as we were walking around the ship, we agreed that this cruise has exceeded our every expectation.

As many times as we have cruised we have the same feelings at the end of each cruise. A cruise provides the opportunity to develop a bond with so many people that you come into contact with during its course. This includes passengers and crew alike. At the end of the cruise, we realize that some of those we have met we will never see again. At the same time, we know that there are others who we have cruised with before, crew and passengers alike who we will see again or others that we have met for the first time, crew and passengers alike, who we will sail with again.

For us, Crystal Cruises is a very unique cruise line because of the retention rate of the crew. We know that the next time we come aboard that we will know several of the crew members because many of them have been with Crystal for many years.

As we have said often, sailing on Crystal is like sailing with ones extended family. We refer to this as the “Crystal Family”.

We do realize that all good things have to come to an end so when the cruise comes to an end, we know its time to say our farewells. At the same time we will look forward to the next cruise we have planned with Crystal.


We enjoyed the last evening on the ship. We attended comedian Kenny Smiles performance. He had two performances; one before the main dining and the other before the late dining. Afterwards, we met Ambassador Peck and his wife Ann for dinner at Silk Road. Often, we have found Silk Road to be fairly quiet on the least evening of the cruise but this was not the case. Many others had the same idea that we did and it was actually quite busy.

The food was great along with the service. We all shared a few plates of sashimi and sushi. We each enjoyed a different entrée. For dessert, the women had a sweet dessert. Anne Marie waited for the last evening to enjoy her favorite which is a chocolate soufflé. Keith decided to end the night with some more Sushi. He has a particular one that is not on the menu so he enjoyed that. The Ambassador had what we normally have which is the fruit plate.

We were touched during the evening when our Senior Waiter from the Main Dining Room stopped by out table in between the mail and late seating to say his goodbyes to us and to give us a large envelope, which contained all of the dinner menus. It was a touching moment for us and we hope that he will be on the ship when we sail again.

After dinner when we headed to our room our stewardess came by to thank us for the note and gift we had left her. She also said for us to say goodbye for her to the “toys”. ☺ She has been a delight.

This morning Keith woke up a little later than usual and after showering went up to the Lido Café. He ran into one passenger who he sees and talks with each morning at that hour that was sitting with two other passengers. Yes, the first word was, why aren’t you wearing your workout gear. Keith told him that today was his day off. ☺

We will shortly have our last breakfast in the room and will say our farewells to the butler.

We expect to disembark the ship at 9:00 AM and then make our way over to the area hotel.

Keith & Anne Marie

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

En Route To Hong Kong

We have included a picture from last evening’s dinner at Silk Road. It was taken near the end of our dinner.

We enjoyed an excellent evening at Silk Road last evening. As we had mentioned we dined with Frantz the Chief Concierge, Joe Kita who is teaching the Memoir Writing Class and a couple who we know through Cruise Critic.

This is the first Crystal Cruise for this couple, although they have traveled on other cruise lines.

The conversation at the table was wonderful. We all shared information about the various areas of the world we have traveled to and we shared stories about the wonderful experiences we have had sailing with Crystal. We ended up staying at the restaurant for close to three hours.

The food was just wonderful. We all shared a variety of sushi and sashimi and there were a couple of special items that were created by the chef for our enjoyment. And, we enjoyed other courses including the wonderfully prepared entrée.

This was just a wonderful evening.

So, this turned out to be the latest that we stayed up during this cruise.

We slept well and Anne Marie slept the best she has since getting sick. She slept in bed and did not have to sleep sitting up as she has done for several notes on the sofa. So, let’s hope that she is almost back to herself.

Keith somehow made it up at his normal hour and enjoyed a nice workout at the Fitness Center. There was no one there for much of his workout but about ten minutes before he finished up two other passengers had arrived and were working out on the elliptical machines as well.

Keith stopped by the Lido Café and brought back coffee to enjoy with Anne Marie back in the room.

We enjoyed breakfast in our room. Afterwards, we took a long walk on the Promenade Deck. The seas continue to be calm. It was overcast while we walked but the temperature was quite nice. There were several others passengers out and about.

As has been the case throughout the cruise, there were lots of activities offered throughout the day. A couple of lectures were presented this morning,. Destination lecturer gave a presentation titled “Hong Kong: The Last Colony or Just Under New Management?”. Later in the morning, a presentation was given titled “The Life and Films of Rita Hayworth…Goddess.” In the afternoon two other presentations were given. One by Biologist Bill Toone titled “Water – Our Most Abundant But Severely Endangered Resource”. The other one was a presentation, which covered the introduction to Chinese Herbs.

Once again, three movies were shown in the Hollywood Theatre.

We attended the presentation on Hong Kong.

We attended today’s memoir writing class. Joe Kita had Carolynne and George DeMott read portions of memoirs from those written by six of the passengers. The writings were quite good.

Afterwards, we attended Team Trivia. We did not win. ☹ The team that won many of the earlier rounds won today. We have one more game tomorrow.

We enjoyed lunch in the Main Dining Room. We had a very nice talk with the senior waiter who had been on the Crystal Serenity with us in 2007. He told us a good deal about his home area; a place that we will visit on the Serenity in 2010.

Tonight was the forth and final formal of the cruise. As such, before dinner we attended the Captain’s Farewell Reception. It was wonderful to see so many passengers’ all dressed up in formal attire. The Captain gave a very nice talk at the reception and we look forward to sailing with Captain Ralf Zander on a future Crystal cruise.

This evening we will set the clocks backwards for the final time as we sail into another new time zone. Tomorrow is the last full day on the ship before we reach Hong Kong.

Keith & Anne Marie

Final Three Days At Sea

We were able to post four pictures today.

Two are recent pictures of the stowaways who our stewardess has arranged in other positions. She has been very creative including the one where she put out a snack for each of them. ☺

The third picture is of Michele Lee and the forth picture was from the recent Sunday Jazz Brunch.

This morning marked the final three days of this cruise. We have enjoyed it immensely. It provided a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy all of the amenities on the Crystal Symphony, talk with the crew and the fellow passengers, and to learn a lot from the various lecturers and from some of the other activities.

Given that we set the clocks back another hour last evening, Keith woke up early and enjoyed his daily workout in the Fitness Center. For much of the time he was alone in the center. He has enjoyed having many news channels to choose from and he kept up on the news about the financial situation on a variety of news and business channels.

Anne Marie is doing better but her cough still continues. Sometimes she is perfectly fine while other times the cough just returns. As such she continues to pass on the Fitness Center and then joins Keith for a nice long walk on the promenade deck later in the morning. Keith continues to help out around the cabin. ☺ Today, was wash day as we prepare for the time we will stay in Hong Kong following the end of this journey. He also brought back coffee from the Lido Café for Anne Marie to enjoy.

Speaking of Hong Kong, we have been notified that before we reach Hong Kong that at a predetermined time each passenger will have to have his or her temperature taken. We went though this last year.


Later in the morning, we enjoyed breakfast in the room. After breakfast, we enjoyed a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck. The weather was just gorgeous. The seas have been very calm today and there are times that we can’t even tell we are moving.

One of the things that we enjoy from our sailings is the opportunity to meet a variety of passengers on each cruise as they come from so many backgrounds from various States around the USA to various countries around the world. This cruise was no exception.

We took a quick count of the number of passengers on board who are listed in the guest list and it came to approximately 560 passengers. There likely are some additional passengers on board the ship who chose not to have their names listed in this booklet. The vast majority of the passengers have sailed with Crystal previously. In addition to those passengers from all across the USA, there are passengers on board from several other countries including Australia, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Spain, The United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, South Africa and Taiwan.

Today was another busy day for activities including various fitness classes, the French class, the music class, the memoir writing class, the various bridge classes, the golf clinic, a cooking demonstration, and too many other activities to list. For those who enjoy bingo there have been two bingo jackpots held each day.

There was also a lecture by American Musical Theatre Expert Dr Herb Keyser and the title of his presentation was “The Life and Music of Stephen Sondheim.

Once again, in keeping with the theme of the cruise three movies were shown today.

We enjoyed the morning session, which was a question, and answer session with Michele Lee. This is her first time lecturing on Crystal Cruises or any cruise line for that matter and she has done a remarkable job.. The Q&A session was very nicely done and we learned a great deal about Michele Lee from theatre, to film to her role in the Knot’s Landing Television Series.

Rap with the Rabbi, was also held this morning. We have covered a nice variety of topics, which mainly were based on suggestions from the passengers. As we have mentioned, there is a nice cross section of passengers attending from various religious faiths.

Our team did very well in Team Trivia. We finished in second place answering thirteen of fifteen questions correctly. Two teams had gotten fourteen correct. We are happy that another new team won today’s game so that everyone wins a prize.

Once again, we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Café. We sat outside and enjoyed the wonderful weather and the views of the ocean all around us.

In between all of this we talked with a variety of passenger’s, and staff and enjoyed another perfect day at sea.

This evening we will dine in Silk Road, with a couple who we know from Cruise Critic, Joe Kita who teaches the Memoir Writing Class. We sailed with Joe and his wife on both the 2007 and 2008 World Cruises. In 2007, they took their daughter on the cruise and in 2008 they took their son. Coincidentally, in the January edition of a magazine that Anne Marie brought with us on the cruise there is an article that was in the magazine that Joe wrote about taking their daughter with them on the World Cruise. This occurred in her last year of High School. Also rounding out our table will be Frantz who is the Chief Concierge. We will provide more on our dinner in tomorrows post.

Keith and Anne Marie

En Route To Hong Kong

So, we know you are asking what exactly are the first several pictures all about?

Well, sometimes we all need a bit of humor.

So, first some background.

There are many unsung heroes on the cruise ship who make the overall cruising experience so enjoyable for all of us. This includes the Stewardesses who take care of the passenger cabins. Our stewardess and her assistant on this voyage are no exception. They have kept our room perfectly clean and have taken care of everything that we have asked from them, and even more.

Over the past few days they have also shown their nice sense of humor. As you can see from the picture there are a couple of stowaways in our cabin. Each day we have left the room we come back to find these stowaways in various positions around the room. We have captured some of these on our camera and thought we would place them on the Blog.

As they say, you are as young as you feel inside. So, today we are feeling quite young. ☺

The pictures include these stowaways each wearing shower caps and wrapped in towels, each with copies of the 2010 World Cruise Preview Brochure, on the notebook computer, getting ready to fill out a breakfast room service form The last one is most recent. When we returned to the room the television set was on and the two of them were placed on the bed with a television remote control directly beside them.

The final picture we took the other day and it is from the Silk Road Sushi Bar. It was taken earlier in the day when one of the Sushi Chefs was doing some preparatory work behind the Sushi Bar.

In addition to humor, we wanted to share some thoughts about passion.

As we reflect on yesterday, one of our takeaways is passion. Yesterday, we saw passion from Michele Lee; both in her lecture and on the 5:00 PM show with the cruise director. She exudes passion. Maybe, this is why she looks so much younger than her actual age.

We saw passion last evening when Josef the Restaurant Manager Maitre d’ and Vlada, our headwaiter, talked with us at our table. They consistently display passion in all that they do. They work in a very challenging industry and an equally challenging environment. If this were a land-based restaurant it would be quite challenging. To us, the operation of a restaurant at sea is even more complex since it is essentially a 7 x 24 hour operation. It is evident to us that they love what they are doing. They provide outstanding service and want to provide their guests with the best experience possible. They are true professionals.

We thoroughly enjoyed last evening’s dinner with the Rabbi and his lovely wife. We had special ordered an entrée for the four of us, Dover Sole, and it was outstanding. The best part about the dinner was the wonderful conversation we had with them and by the time we left the table we realized that we were one of the last guests to leave the dining room. We had also enjoyed lunch with them earlier in the day at the Lido Café. We could have still talked with them for hours upon hours. It was another special evening and we look forward to dining with them again.

Before we forget, for those of you who want to know who won the crew tug-of-war event held yesterday afternoon it was the Engine Room Crew. Typically, this department either wins or does very well in this event. Other winners that we have seen in the past, include the dining room wait staff and one time we saw a win by the Bar Staff.

Today has been another wonderful day on board the Crystal Symphony. We realize that in just a few days that this cruise will come to an end. It has been a spectacular cruise. Yes, it is definitely unique because there was just one port of call but it has provided a nice opportunity to talk with so many of our fellow passengers and the crew.

Keith enjoyed a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center in the morning. As we have done throughout this cruise we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the room.

Right after breakfast we took the first of two morning walks on the Promenade Deck. Initially, we walked for about thirty minutes, but it became windy, cool and it began to rain. About forty-five minutes later, we walked again and it was sunny and the temperature was quite nice. We enjoyed a nice walk. We also spent a little while talking with Josef, the Main Dining Room, Maitre d’ with a few questions we had about another voyage. As usual, he was very helpful to us. We also stopped by the Cruise sales Consultants desk to talk with Nikki who assisted us with a few questions that we have. We have known her for so many years and she is always so helpful to us. When we talk about the Crystal Crew so often we say similar things. They are courteous, professional and genuinely nice. We actually reflected on this as we walked around the Promenade Deck. We can’t stress enough about the difference that the crew makes in the pleasure of the cruise.

We did fairly well in today’s Team Trivia. We had eleven of the answers correct and finished in second place. Another new team won today which is great. We have a few more games to go before the end of the cruise.

After Team Trivia we enjoyed nice lunch in the Lido Café.

There were lots of activities in the afternoon. In keeping with the theme for the cruise there was a presentation on Garbo and once again three different movies were shown in the Hollywood Theatre.

We enjoyed a quiet dinner by ourselves in the Main Dining Room.

After dinner there was a concert given by Pianist Naki Ataman. This was followed by the highlight of the evening; Liars Club. The stars of Liars Club included;

“Legal” Liar Bob Hales (Bob is the Estate Planner who lectures on the ship).

“Diplomatic” Liar Ed Pack (Ambassador Peck also lectures on the ship)

“Hysterical” Liar Kenny Smiles (Kenny is a comedian who first appeared with Crystal in the Spring of 2008 and now appears on both the Symphony and the Serenity).

“Can’t Tell a Lie” Rabbi Morrie Hershman (The Rabbi is on variousl Crystal Cruises each year)

The host for this event was Cruise Director Paul McFarland with assistance from Assistant Cruise Director Carolynne DeMott.

This evening we move the clocks backward another hour as we sail into yet another time zone.

Keith & Anne Marie

A Day At Sea

It has been difficult to post pictures on the Blog but finally we have succeeded. These are pictures from earlier in the cruise.

First picture is from dinner at Silk Road with Ambassador Peck and his wife.

The second picture is of us in the Crystal Cove before dinner on the evening we left Honolulu.

Third picture from another informal evening on board the ship.













We really enjoyed last evening. We sat at the Crystal Society Reception with Ambassador Peck his wife and the Rabbi and his wife. If we remember correctly both the Rabbi and the Ambassador will both be participants in the Liar’s Club this time around with the comedian. It is always enjoyable to talk with all of them.

Afterwards, we both enjoyed another wonderful dinner at Silk Road. In all our times at Silk Road on the Crystal Serenity we had never sat at the Sushi Bar and here were sitting at the Sushi Bar for the very first time and also in our formal attire to boot. We really enjoyed the experience. We are always amazed with the Sushi but to see the chefs prepare each piece with the care and artistry that goes into it was amazing. Keith went with their recommendations in terms of the sashimi and added in a few choices on his own. Anne Marie went with the rolls. There was one passenger next to us who made a few recommendations as well.

Now, probably a first at the Sushi Bar. While Keith is using chopsticks as he always does throughout the meal, Anne Marie asks for a fork and knife. Keith always kids with her that if she can thread a needle or do so many of the other things she does, then she can use chopsticks. Aside from being concerned she will drop some of the food she does prefer to cut the items into smaller pieces. However, once in a while Keith is successful in encouraging her to ask for the chopsticks with training wheels. So, after a couple of minutes of laughing about the fork and knife she did agree to use the training wheels. ☺ And, she did very well. Maybe, one day she will master them so she can stop using the training wheels. ☺

After enjoying some sushi we enjoyed the rest of the meal at a table and it was wonderful as it always is. The restaurant was actually a little busier than it was on the last formal night but still relatively quiet.


Today marks our seventh consecutive day at sea. This is the longest stretch of sea days we have enjoyed since we began cruising and there are several more days to go.


We set the clocks back another hour last evening so it continues to be a piece of cake to wake up early in the morning. Keith enjoyed a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center and, yes, he was the first person to arrive. But, before he left, two other passengers were working out. Yesterday, they added several more news and sport stations so there was a lot of programs to choose from today. Keith learned that the even the wedding industry is being significantly impacted by the recession with overall average spending considerably lower than in the recent past.

Keith went to the Lido Café to bring back coffee to the room and there were also just a couple of passenger’s there. Since it was Sunday morning, we think more passengers chose to sleep-in this morning.

We enjoyed another nice breakfast in our room. Following breakfast we took a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck. The weather was quite nice and the seas have been relatively calm.

Today was yet another day with so many activities to choose from.

One of the highlights of the day was the talk given by Michele Lee whose title for her presentation was “Behind the Scenes – Broadway Film Stars and Stories. Her presentation was wonderful. She showed us lots of pictures and told so many nice stories about the various actors and actresses she worked with over they years. She also shared an film showing several outtakes from Knot’s Landing.

Today, there was also a Sunday Jazz Brunch Buffet. On selected cruises of longer lengths in addition to the Grand Gala Buffet there is also the Sunday Jazz Brunch Buffet. This includes a wonderful assortment of brunch items as well as complimentary Mimosas. Adding to the festive atmosphere is live Jazz music by the Crystal Galaxy Orchestra. We stopped by today’s buffet to admire all of the wonderfully prepared items and then ate lunch in the Lido Café.

Additional presentations were also offered throughout the day. This included one on Acupuncture and how it can be used to manage arthritis pain. There was a presentation given on Estate Planning and one on on the Ancient Jewel of the North.


On many afternoons, Keith has spent time with a few fellow passengers who I have talked with on a regular basis since the start of the cruise. One of the passenger’s I know from last year on the Serenity and the others I had not met before. We are all from different places including a couple of us from different parts of the USA, one person from Australia, another person from the United Kingdom and yet another person from Asia. It’s been interesting to share perspectives on a variety of subjects and issues and to hear how each of us thinks on a particular subject. There are similarities and of course differences on subjects. What’s also been nice is that each of us can express views on various issues and subjects even at times having views that are in direct contradiction from each others. Yet, at the same time we have done this in a respectful manner. By closely listening to one another and hearing what the other has to say in some cases ones thoughts on a particular subject may actually change. If not, at least each of us has come away with a better understanding of how others might see a particular issue and to understand there is normally more than one way to approach a particular item. This is one of the nice aspects of travel that we have enjoyed over the years.

This evening we dined in the Main Dining Room with the Rabbi and his lovely wife. We have enjoyed many nice dinners with them on several Crystal cruises and we cherish our friendship with them. We had made arrangements with the Headwaiter and ordered Dover Sole as the entrée for the four of us and it was delicious.

Keith & Anne Marie