Keith1010

Will do Rob. We had great performance on the Serenity Vancouver R/T and Vancouver to Los Angeles cruise. I guess I shouldn't have taken the satellite dishes over here. 🤣 😂 Keith

Greetings from Crystal Symphony We enjoyed a great night on-board Crystal Symphony last evening. Dinner at Umi Uma the Japanese Specialty Restaurant featuring cuisine by Nobu. We enjoyed a very nice dinner with a friend. In fact, dinner was so much fun that between the great service and cuisine and conversation I forgot to take photos of some of the items we enjoyed. Today, Crystal Symphony arrived in Greenock, Scotland. We like to space out tours and with one tour this cruise and three the next cruise plus one the post cruise we didn’t select one of the tours to Glasgow or to Edinburgh due to length of the tours and the driving times involved which is close about one hour and thirty minutes and three and one-half hours respectively to and from each city. In addition, Anne Marie’s late sister lived in Scotland for many years, and we had the opportunity to visit with her in Glasgow and in Edinburgh several times when she lived in each of these cities. Instead, we visited Greenock. Greenock has a population just under 50,000 residents. For many years, Greenock was known for shipbuilding, for its large harbor in addition to fishing. Today, it is known for tourism, and for its art and its museums and for those visiting as a gateway to Glasgow and Edinburgh. I went out in the morning to walk around portions of the city. It was pleasant to stroll around. We’re enjoying the rest of the day on-board Crystal Symphony. I’ve included a photo collage of Jade Night Club which features late night dancing and entertainment with DJ Viviano. Even in Scotland there are fast food places (see photo) which makes you feel that you are in the USA. LOL. Added a video from Jade. Be sure to turn up the volume. IMG_5170 4.mov Same goes for a video of Violinist Inga Marceliene IMG_5175.mov Cheers, Keith

LouChamp, Aloha from Scotland. Thank you so much for your very thoughtful comments. It's fun being grandparents so I can certainly understand prioritizing time with the family. Best to you. Keith

I am glad you are enjoying the posts and hopefully we will meet you both. Equipment is provided for Paddle Tennis and Pickle Ball. If he has tennis shoes that is ideal to wear. I play Paddle Tennis and not Pickle Ball. They do have on the sdheeule open play so that could be an opportunity for him to learn. Keith

Always enjoy listening to this music. Just a snippet. Keith IMG_5175.mov

One thing I wanted to comment on was the TV and Internet for these two voyages. I found the TV much improved over our prior cruises with New Crystal with very few instances where it was frozen while watching a show or there was an outage. The internet was very good. Overall, I thought it was great on the first two voyages of the restart of Crystal starting 7/31/23 and continuing into August other than a few blips. I thought it was very bad during the 2023 December Holiday Cruise. Too often the connection was up and down and speeds very slow. Thankfully on these two voyages the internet was very stable and I can only think of once when I was on-line that it momentarily dropped and I believe one time where it was down for a minute or so. Bottom line we were very pleased with the stability and speed of the internet and of the stability of the satellite TV. Keith

Tastes Luncheon Menu. Keith Tastes Luncheon Menu.pdf

Colin, I've have caught up with your most recent posts and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts from your cruise. Many thanks, Keith

I will digress with a few comments about the location of guest rooms and washing and drying clothes. First, relates to location of accommodations. I realize that apartments and condominiums on land may come with a higher price based on location in a building and often the higher priced accommodations are located on the top floor. I get that. I've never understood why this has been applied to cruise ships. Unless you prefer motion being lower on the ship and more mid-ship has its advantages. Traditionally on Crystal the higher priced suites were located on Deck 11 Serenity and Deck 10 Symphony. On other lines often you might find some of the higher priced suites at the stern or the aft of the ship which are prone to more motion. In the case of Symphony when the first added suites this was done on Deck 9 in the 2017 dry dock and we had one of them in 2018. In 2023 when they added accommodations we were interested in this was part of the new suites on Deck 8. I chose the Deck 8 suite over the Deck 10 suite for this cruise since it was new and thought we should see what the new suite was like. I knew an added benefit would be location and I really like the location. We are close to mid-ship which I prefer and we are close to mid-deck which is an added plus for someone who prefers walking rather than the elevators. Given that dining is on Deck 5 and 6 as are many other public spaces it's a breeze to get between Deck 8 and Decks 5 and 6 or 4 for tenders. At the same time getting up to the other areas inside and outside the ship only involves going up a couple of decks. At the same time we have less movement being on Deck 8 than say Deck 10 and appreciate being close to mid-ship. The other item is the laundry room. The placement isn't as mid-ship as say ones I am used to on Serenity on Decks 10 and 11 but it's not a very long walk either. The machines are ones that I know have been around for years unlike say ones that replaced the on Serenity on Deck 11 and I believe Deck 10. In this case, old is good because using the washing machine or the dryer only involves turning one knob for temperature and one knob for the desired setting. I don't even need my reading glasses to accomplish this. As many times as I have done the wash on Serenity each time I do the laundry I need my reading glasses and have to study which buttons to push and with each setting comes the complexity because some settings prohibit you from doing other things including choosing water temperature or dryer temperature. So this is a case which for me old is better than new. Keith

Please fine below the daily Reflections and the Dinner menu for Waterside for September 12. Keith September 12 Reflections.pdf September 12 Waterside Dinner.pdf

You are very kind. Thank you so much. Keith

I've been following up with Crystal and this one is being worked on. I had advised them the other day that reservations could be made on any of the other days for Osteria or Umi Uma but not for Tastes and they are aware of that. It is being worked on. Keith

Julie many thanks for organizing the get together and Anne Marie and I enjoyed visiting with you and Whipsnade . Keith

Greetings from Crystal Symphony Last night was the one formal night of this sailing. Our evening began with the Captain’s Welcome Reception and Crystal Society Party. It’s always a pleasure to attend these festive receptions to hear from the captain, see who is recognized from Crystal Society, and mingle with members of Team Crystal Symphony and fellow guests. We enjoyed the reception. There is a nice story to the couple who was honored for their 95 Crystal Cruise. Years ago, when they celebrated their 25 milestone it was on their 25th wedding anniversary. Today when they celebrated their 95th milestone it was on their 47th Wedding Anniversary. We returned to Waterside for dinner and wouldn’t have missed it. It included several favorites and for me that is Caviar and for the two of us Lobster along with other delicious items. We were in great hands with this amazing waitstaff team including Head Waiter Eva, Senior Waiter Hannah, and Sommelier Sanella.I use the word team because they truly are a team, and this extend to the rest of Food & Beverage and throughout the ship. Remember the adage, the sum of the team working together is much greater than the sum of individuals who do not work together. The pace of the meal was fantastic. The evening show featured Rachel Dudt along with the Crystal Showband. At the same time, you had guitar and vocals and a pianist alternating at the Crystal Cove, the Heartbeat Duo performing in various venues including Palm Court and the Starlite Club, Karaoke, with DJ Viviano at the Jade Night Club and Piano Melodies with Dan Davies in the Avenue Saloon. We enjoyed some rocking of the ship last evening. LOL. Today we anchored off Oban, Scotland. Before guests could go ashore, we had to go through a mandatory immigration inspection. Oban is a small town with a population of a little over 8,000 residents. During the tourist season, the town swells to almost 25,000 people. We decided to make today a sea day and just enjoy the ship. I am also including some photos from yesterday afternoon and some photos of the Avenue Saloon and one photo from inside the Connoisseur Club. Also, photos with Nino who we have known for many years. He worked on Symphony from early 2000's until 2009 when he moved to Serenity and last year he was assigned to Symphony. It is so great to see him. He is wonderful. Videos of Captain and Cruise Director. IMG_5156.mov IMG_5155.mov Cheers, Keith

Julie, Anne Marie and I plan to be there. Keith

It is hard to believe that today is the 23rd Anniversary of 9/11. I had just flown into Washington, DC for meetings the night before. Once the second tower went down, our meetings ended and we took our rental vehicle and the four of us drove back to Texas. We listened to the events evolve on the radio. In 2016 five days after 9/11, Anne Marie and I arrived to NYC on Serenity as part of the Northwest Passage cruise. We walked from the pier over to the 9/11 memorial. We walked by the elementary school where children were out on the playground when the first plane crashed into the tower. This is a photo from the memorial of some of the people who tragically died that day. We must never forget. Keith

It's almost breakfast time here so I thought I would post the Waterside Breakfast menu. Cheers, Keith Waterside Breakfast Menu.pdf

September 11 Waterside Dinner Menu and Daily Reflections. Keith Sept 11 Waterside.pdf Septemeber 11 Reflections.pdf

Good information Tricia. We will be on that cruise too. Keith

Great advice by Nancy. New Crystal has not only maintained the standards of old Crystal but has expanded them including enhancing both ships and enhancing the cuisine. I have sailed Serenity on several voyages since the restart and I am on Symphony right now and both ships are offering a consistent product which IMHO is better than ever. Keith

Crystal will likely offer a day room (group room) for those with late flights if that is an option for you. Again group rather than a private day room. You or your TA could write to on board guest services to find out if a group room will be offered for those who select the Crystal transfer to the airport. Most flights to the USA from Bueno Aires are night time so there will likely be a lot of demand for this. Their e-mail is: obgs@crystalcruises.com Keith

Specific dates have not yet been announced yet. Keith

Live views. A good day to say indoors. Cheers, Keith

For the salad lovers on this board (are they any of you out there) these both were on today's Waterside Luncheon menu. Chef salad on the left. Greek Salad on right which was listed under appetizers but they made it larger for me. Cheers Keith

Greetings from Crystal Symphony where we are having an amazing time. As the Captain had correctly noted in yesterday's talk from the bridge, late yestarday afternoon brought sea swells which were quite strong prior to dinner last evening and rather evident while getting ready for dinner. The good news is by the time we went to dinner seas had calmed a bit making it much easier to walk down the stairs from our deck to deck 5 and not feel that we had something with alcohol to drink. LOL. We dined last evening at Waterside for our first dinner at this dining venue of the cruise. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner including delcious swordfish, and we were taken care of by an extraordinary team. It began with Restaurant Manager Remi seating us and extended to Head Waiter Eva, Senior Waiter Hannah and Sommelier Sanella. Also, Senior Head Waiter Bojen and Head Sommelier Goran stopping by a couple of times to check on our meal. The seas behaved themselves and it was much calmer when we dined compared to one or two hours earlier. The service was superb It was attentive, personable, and professional. The only downside to the perfect evening was returning to our room to learn we must forward the clocks by one hour. LOL. Sometimes I say when at sea it is easy to sleep with the gentle rocking of the ship and even with a little more rocking beyond gentle this was the case last evening. Today is a sea day and this showcasing Crystal enrichment with close to forty events on the program and that doesn’t even include breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or snacks. LOL. Three lectures that covered Unity and Diversity in the UK, the Future of the Royal Family, and British English/American English: Our Common Tongue? Divided or Shared Language. The emphasis was on the UK given where we will be sailing. An ideal spot to get those steps in this morning was Deck 6 where most of the public lounges and restaurants are located. During our walk we took a break to talk with Dr. Soto and that is when we met Cruise Director Vicki for the very first time. Later, we saw Captain Nenad who we last sailed with in 2018. on board Symphony. We sailed with the Captain many times when he was Vice Captain on Serenity prior to going over to the former Crystal Esprit Yacht as the Captain. We will see them all this evening at the Captain's Welcome Reception. I’ve included a collage with photos of the Starlite Lounge for anyone who has not sailed Symphony. It's been another wonderful day on-board Crystal Symphony with many more hours left to go but I will close now so we can enjoy the additional sea swells. This is all part of the experience. Happy Days and have a great day everyone. Cheers