Live From Crystal Serenity – A New Adventure – Vancouver to Los Angeles

[PaulMCO]

Flying is generally not fun anymore (me after 7 million miles), as we just arrived in Amsterdam. 

 

But of our course cruising is... Bon Voyage Mr. Keith....

[travelberlin]

Bon voyage Keith and Anne Marie 👍

 

Ivi

[imabigcheese]

Oh, thanks for the heads up about doing some of the Canada entry paerwork online in advance. I have learned so much from your posts.

[Txcotn]

I love your updates and especially your food pics!

[doglover214]

Does anyone know which cruise director will be on the cruise?

[Keith1010]

19 minutes ago, doglover214 said:

Does anyone know which cruise director will be on the cruise?

Cruise Director Rick Spath.

 

Keith

[doglover214]

Thanks Keith. 

[Keith1010]

Thank you to those who posted yesterday with the nice wishes.

 

We are having a wonderful time in Vancouver. Yesterday, we went on several walks in the morning and afternoon.

 

Morning included a stroll along the waterfront and wandering up and down several streets downtown.  Later in the morning we visited Gastown.  In the afternoon we walked towards Stanley Park and tomorrow we’ll go back and walk the park.

 

We had the sidewalks to ourselves early in the morning. Later, that changed as more tourists were out and about and passengers debarked cruise ships.

 

In the afternoon many pedestrians were on foot as we walked the path by the water as were lots of people on bikes.  

 

We love cities as they offer lots to see, and there is an excitement to most of them. To us they are active and vibrant.  

 

Early view of Canada Place from our room along with a visitor.  They call him Steve.  

 

 

 

Breakfast before we started our walks.

 

 

 

 

Some photos from the morning including the clock in Gas Town.

 

 

Some photos from the afternoon.

 

 

Safe travels to those of you making your way to Vancouver now and over the next couple of days and for those of you who will be traveling to Europe to pick up Symphony. For those of you on Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity keep enjoying every minute. There is so much to enjoy when sailing with Crystal.

 

Cheers

 

Keith 

[USCAdventurer]

glad you and anne marie are enjoying vancouver.  it's one of my favourite cities too!  thanks for the pictures.

[Keith1010]

Beautiful Day.  These two words which were the title of a U2 song describe yesterday.  They also describe Yesterday which happens to be the title of..... Yes, a Beatles song which was written by Sir Paul McCartney.

 

Those Boots Were Made For Walkin (no g in the title of the song) which was sung by Nancy Sinatra.  Although we were not in boots our sports shoes are made for walking and that is what we did yesterday.

 

After Breakfast we went on a nice walk to Stanley Park.  Many people were walking, jogging and on bicycles. We walked by the water and took in views of all of the yachts and other boats along with mountains and various buildings. We have visited this park on all our stays in Vancouver.  We viewed the Totem Poles.  As we headed back towards the hotel we detoured to walk on some side streets.  

When we began the walk the weather was cooler with a breeze. On the way back the sun came out and it became warmer.  We couldn't ask for any better weather.

 

We went back out for a couple of hours after lunch and strolled Gastown and surrounding areas and then Canada Place to see the ships in-port.

 

We look forward to another full day in Vancouver.  Tomorrow we embark on Serenity.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Txcotn]

Totem poles are awesome!

[Stem to Stern]

[Keith1010]

Yesterday, we enjoyed our final full day in Vancouver.

 

Like the other days, the weather has been a delight.

 

Unlike the previous two days with three cruise ships in port each day, yesterday there was one ship in port. We welcomed Mickey Mouse at around 6:30 am.

 

Shortly after breakfast we took a morning walk. We first stopped by Canada Place just to check out where we will go tomorrow. From there, rather than walking along the water we took a different route. We enjoy cities as we find many of them to be active and vibrant with lots to see and do. 

 

If we were 30 years younger maybe, we might have gone ice skating when we saw the outdoor ice skating rink.  Since it's been many years, we thought it wise not to risk broken bones.  LOL.

 

After a short rest, some lunch and packing, we went on another walk in the afternoon.  We have enjoyed a great stay in Vancouver. Today, we return home to Crystal Serenity.

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[goldengatecruisers]

Wishing you both a wonderful day as you return “home” to Serenity later today.  We shall be following along with your blog.  

[Keith1010]

Just taken a couple of minutes ago.

 

Keith

 

 

[ryndam]

Have a great voyage, Keith & Anne Marie. Our paths will almost cross in 2 weeks on the pier in LA!

 

Rob & Jim

[dimundsR]

Never gets old seeing either Crystal ship.  Have a wonderful voyage. We came back the end of May from a month + in the Mediterranean and I haven't been the same since.  Malaise has set in.  Need to plan something . . . . .

[Keith1010]

We are thrilled to be back home with Crystal.

 

We always are excited to cruise and today was no exception.  As we mentioned, our first Crystal Cruise was in 2002 with our children and future son-in-law on-board Crystal Harmony.  We sailed an Alaska Cruise R/T San Francisco.  

We had a wonderful time and were Crystalized shortly after we boarded.  We celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary on that cruise.

 

We have sailed Alaska on board Harmony, Symphony, and multiple times on Serenity and on three other Cruise ships.

 

We have sailed the equivalent of almost four years on Crystal Serenity so returning to Serenity is the equivalent of returning home.

 

Our hotel room had beautiful panoramic views including looking over Canada Place.  While we were eating breakfast we could see Serenity under the bridge and in time she sailed towards Canada Place.

 

While we waited to board we spoke with two different couples we have known for years. This is another aspect we love about cruising Crystal knowing that when we sail we will know other guests and of course the wonderful crew.  

 

We saw several familiar members of the crew including Front Office Manager Marco, Senior Head Butler Rao, Cruise Director Rao, members of the Crystal Security team.

 

As per our tradition we had embarkation lunch at Waterside and we enjoyed a Cobb Salad and Flute of Champagne and toasted our love for one another and another wonderful adventure. We saw Paolo outside Waterside and Leo the Restaurant Manager is now back on board and greeted us along with Senior Head Waiter Jacques and we were taken care of Senior Waiter Marcin who took care of us during the Holiday Cruise and Waiter Nitish who is new to Crystal. Great lunch.

 

We spoke with several nice guests, Norm and his wife, Carolyn from CC and Nancy plus as we were leaving we saw Allen and his lovely wife.

 

We are going to end now. We are very excited to be back on Crystal Serenity and sailing with our number one cruise line Crystal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[dimundsR]

So happy to see all those familiar faces, including yours.  We were always used to having the main dining room open for lunch on boarding day, but on Symphony they were closed. Remi said that the dining room was closed on boarding day from the time Crystal came back.  Happy to see this has gone back to the old way.  Didn't really like boarding and being told to go to Tastes, etc. to wait for our room.  Like you, we liked to enjoy a glass of champagne with the seafood plate - in your case the Cobb.

[Keith1010]

Daily Refections From Today.  

 

You will note that all resort casual on this voyage even though eight nights.

 

Keith

 

August 13 Reflections.pdf

[USCAdventurer]

so happy for you and anne marie that you're on board serenity now.  my next cruise is back on symphony in november from rome to venice.  i sure hope waterside might open for lunch on departure day as i would love to enjoy a cobb salad!  pleasant sailing and wonderful adventures!

 

 

[sidwich]

6 hours ago, USCAdventurer said:

so happy for you and anne marie that you're on board serenity now.  my next cruise is back on symphony in november from rome to venice.  i sure hope waterside might open for lunch on departure day as i would love to enjoy a cobb salad!  pleasant sailing and wonderful adventures!

 

 

 

When we boarded Symphony in June, Waterside was closed for lunch on embarkation day.  The buffet was open, though, and the Cobb salad was there!  Clearly, they know what the people want!  😉

 

(There were also plenty of other lovely lunch items available on the buffet, and Tastes was open as well).

[seasack]

9 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Daily Refections From Today.  

 

You will note that all resort casual on this voyage even though eight nights.

 

Hi Keith when I was looking at Refections it shows Aug 19th as a Formal night?

[Keith1010]

A few items.

 

While many of us book cruises early that is not always the case for others.

 

During the muster drill I spoke with a couple who are on their second Crystal Cruise although the wife's parents have cruised Crystal for years. They booked the cruise one week ago.  After the muster drill we spoke with the husband who we have known for several years along with his wife who booked the cruise less than three weeks ago.  He said everything aligned perfectly.

 

We knew this from others who mentioned this but as a reminder dinner opening times are 6:30 PM. For those who made reservations before the change at 6:00 PM you can be seated then.

 

I wanted to give a shoutout to the folks who staff Canada Place starting with the personnel in the parking area.  They were plentiful, very friendly and well-organized.  As they guided our vehicle for us to be dropped off and signaled to the driver I thought we were on an aircraft and direct to the gate. 

 

I also want to thank those who are part of the vendor who Crystal uses for embarkation and debarkation at the port. Again, very well organized, very professional and very friendly.  

 

A shout out to those in security at the port and to the USA customs agents.  

 

Great job by all.

 

Keith 

[Keith1010]

7 minutes ago, seasack said:

Hi Keith when I was looking at Refections it shows Aug 19th as a Formal night?

Good catch.

 

This is an interesting one that I will have to ask about.

 

My Account showed one formal night and on the 19th. The on line reflections shows the same. When I made the comment about all casual nights I was looking at the hard copy of the on line version which said casual for all evenings including the 19th. I will try to remember to ask about that today. We brought clothing for the 19th as if it was formal so either way we are prepared. Many thanks for noticing this.

 

Keith