Before dinner we attended a reception at Captain Birger's Quarters. When we arrived we were greeted by Captain Birger and Crystal Society Hostess Jaque. We always enjoy attending these receptions as it provides a nice opportunity to talk with senior officers and staff who are in attendance as well as our fellow guests. There were more people at the event than usual and that was nice as there were many people to talk with. The Captain is sporting his recently full beard that he has been growing for the Northwest Passage Cruise. By the end if the cruise, it will be shaven. We enjoyed dinner at the Crystal Dining Room and we were joined by Cruise Director Rick and Vice President of Crystal Cruises Entertainment and Enrichment Keith Cox. We first met Keith the other day. Recently, he joined Crystal Cruises and is in the process of visiting each of the vessels including River Cruise Vessel Mozart, Crystal Serenity and in a few days Crystal Symphony followed by Esprit. He has had a long career in the entertainment business. We did not take photos of the food but have posted the menus. We both began with shrimp cocktail, followed by salads and then Anne Marie had scallops for her entree while Keith had salmon. After dinner, we made our way to the Stardust Lounge where we attended a Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party. Crystal Cruises does a wonderful job organizing these parties and personnel are on hand to serve drinks and canapés. Some officers and senior crew members were there along with several members of Cruise Critic. All of the people we met we had not yet sailed with before. Lots of nice people and all are having a very nice time. Afterwards, we attended Across The Pond which is a production show featuring mainly songs from the British Music Invasion of the USA from the 1960's and does include music of Keith's favorite group; The Beatles. We always say that our social schedule is busier at sea and last evening was an example of that. We slept well last evening as Crystal Serenity sailed to our next port of call of Juneau, Alaska. We kept to our regular morning schedule of an early workout for Keith at the Fitness Center, breakfast in our room, followed by a one hour walk by Anne Marie. We arrived to Juneau, Alaska at around 7:00 AM. It was very overcast with rain consistent with the forecast. August is a month where these areas do tend to get lots of rain. After all that is why they are so lush in greenery. We have visited Juneau many times starting with our first cruise of Alaska and on each succeeding Alaskan cruise. We have done many excursions on prior visits including whale watching on a very small vessel and visits to a rain forest and also to Mendenhall Glacier. Juneau is one of Alaska's largest cities in terms of its population with almost 35,000 residents. It attracts many cruise ships during the summer season. It is one of those towns that has a mix of business establishments and homes and other facilities from its days of past before the influx of so many cruise ships along with many jewelry stores that one sees in the Caribbean. Juneau is the capital city of Alaska. It is home to the Governor of Alaska and to its state legislature. Some of the highlights include: Alaska State Museum; State Capitol Building; Governor's Home; St Nicholas Russian Church built in 1893, Alaska State Museum established in 1900, Mt. Roberts Tramway completed in 1997, and the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. Some of the nearby attractions and things to do include Mendenhall Glacier, Whale watching and exploration, Flyovers, The Rainforest, along with different methods of visiting and viewing these areas. We chatted with the two representatives from the local tourism office who came on board Serenity. We asked them a few questions and they asked us if we were continuing on for the Northwest Passage. They knew quite a bit about it including other ships who will be with us as we transit the passage. As was the case with the woman shop owner who we spoke with yesterday they were very excited for us and also wish they could be on this voyage. Since we have been here several times we just walked around the town and nearby areas. Although the forecast called for a 40% to 60% chance of rain we were fortunate to not have any rain while we were out and about. A few times a slight mist. Because of visibility issues some tours such as the ones involving helicopters were cancelled due to safety reasons. Since many passengers from all the ships in port were on morning excursions or waiting until a little while later to go out, we had most of the town to ourself for the first half of our walk. We worked our way through town and over to a couple of churches, museums, the state capitol and the governor's residence. The state capitol is under renovation as you can see from the photos. On our return to the ship many more tourists were walking around. We were one of four ships in port today including Crystal Infinity, Holland Zaandam and Norwegian Sun (anchored). There are days when seven ships are in port. First three photos are from earlier in the morning shortly after arriving to port. Next photo is of Anne Marie and Shore Excursion Assistant Manager and Swing Manager Joyce. We enjoyed lunch back on-board Serenity. While some guests prefer dining off the ship, we very much enjoy the food on Serenity. Once in awhile we dine off the ship but it is the exception.
What do you think we had for lunch? Yes, we each made salad entrees. Spoke with some fellow guests and members of the crew. Stayed a bit longer than usual as it started to rain. Keith had hoped to play Paddle Tennis. Maybe tomorrow. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on board Serenity. We both went to the Fitness Center together and Keith helped Anne Marie with her first workout on the Elliptical Machine. After a short workout Anne Marie went on a one hour walk. Keith continued working out on the Elliptical Machine and afterwards tried out one of the stationary bikes. He plans to try out all of the equipment over the next few days. This evening we have plans to have pre-dinner drinks with two other fellow guests. We will then have dinner at Tastes. Keith & Anne Marie Before dinner last evening, we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon. We had dinner at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. This was our first dinner at Prego during this cruise. For us, dining at Prego is similar to dining at a small restaurant in Italy. We enjoy the charm, service, cuisine and ambience of the restaurant. Having sailed with Crystal Cruises and on Crystal Serenity for several years, we enjoy the familiarity of the outstanding wait staff team including Specialty Restaurant Maitre d', Antonio, Head Waiter Mario and the many waiters and the two sommelier's that make dining so very special. Our waiter for the evening was Costa who has taken outstanding care of us for many years. We saw him earlier in the day and he mentioned some of the items that he knows we enjoy from the special salad that Keith has to even the dressing that he prefers. To us, this is amazing. We also were taken excellent care of by sommelier Jiri who we also have had the privilege of knowing for many years. Jiri knows the types of wines that we enjoy. He already selected a wine that he knows Keith enjoys with the only change being it is a more recent vintage. We had a nice table by the window and enjoyed the beauty of the Alaskan Coastline as we sailed towards our next port-of-call in Hoonah. We began our meal with salads; caesar salad for Anne Marie and a simple salad for Keith of lettuce, fresh mushrooms and tomatoes. Anne Marie had for her entree Veal Scaloppine. Keith usually has either a seafood specialty (menu addition) if it is on the menu or the sea bass that is a regular on the menu. It has been well over ten years since he ordered an entree at Prego that was not seafood. Well, there is always a first and last night Keith had the Roasted Rack of Baby Lamb. We thought both entrees were absolutely delicious as was a side order of grilled vegetables that Keith had. Anne Marie thought that her entree was better than ever and Keith felt the same way about the grilled vegetables and we learned that there is a new chef in Prego who previously was a chef in the Crystal Dining Room. She is clearly great at what she does. We didn't have it but the additional item featured last night was pigeon. Yes there is a more formal name for this. This was a first for Prego. We heard the presentation was amazing and Costa said that it is quite good. We slept very well last evening. There were strong winds but Serenity sailed calmly on our way to Hoonah, Alaska. We began our morning as we normally do. Keith was up early enjoyed his workout at the Fitness Center. He tired the other style elliptical machine and with the stiffness he has had with his neck and the muscle issues he found that worked much better for him. He made a quick detour to the Lido Cafe for some coffee before returning the the room. He spoke with each of the Lido Deck Stewards including Jun, Martin, and Max. Once back to the room we both enjoyed coffee from the relatively new coffee maker in the room. There are several choices of coffee. Jijo brought some additional variety of coffee pods for us to try. We enjoyed breakfast in our room while catching up with the news of the day. For those wondering about the coverage of the Olympics on board the ship, there is a television station that features full coverage of the Olympics. Afterwards, Anne Marie took an hour walk on the promenade deck. We arrived to Hoonah close to the scheduled arrival time of 10:00 AM. Crystal made its maiden port of call stop to Hoonah earlier this summer. This is our first visit. Hoonah is relatively small with a population 750 people. Hoonah is located in Alaska's panhandle 30 miles west of Juneau. It is known for its screwy and wildlife. It holds many records from a record number of humpback whales (161) which were identified in 2007 to holding the world record for a 440 pound halibut which was caught nearby. We originally booked a whale watching shore excursion. We decided to cancel it a couple of days ago. Keith has been experiencing some soreness of the neck and muscle spasms from his shoulders down his back and we just thought it best to avoid the movement of the boat and the potential for cold on the water. Instead we walked around the area right near the terminal as this offered many more things to see and do than the downtown area. The actual town is only about a block long. We enjoyed nice views and saw two eagles as we made our way over to the museum and the shops and restaurants. The weather was a little windy and it was drizzling most of the time. The museums focus was mainly on salmon including the different types of salmon, how they are caught and how they are processed at the cannery. We walked through many of the shops. A few were your typical shops selling tourist items. Others carried hand made items. We stopped off at a shop where the owner made her own items and we ended up speaking with her for quite awhile and asked her lots of questions about life at Hoonah. She has lived in Alaska for many years and has moved around a few times. She prefers small towns such as Hoonah and called them authentic towns. Hoonah will receive 78 cruise ships this year which is quite a lot less than the larger cities. This is the only form of tourism. When the season is over there are no tourist and this town does not have any hotels. Unlike the larger cities where some of the workers stay for a few months and then work in the Caribbean or in places such as California, all of the people who work at the local shops live in Hoonah all year round. Many fish and/or work at the Cannery. This is the major economic driver in addition to tourism. The woman was so kind that we purchased a couple of items from her. This include a trivet which could also become a basket and a coaster. We wanted to mention that the vest Keith is wearing we purchased on our very first Crystal Cruise which was in 2002 on the Crystal Harmony when we sailed Alaska roundtrip to/from San Francisco. The third photo is Anne Marie with friend Barbara. We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe. We made our usual salad entrees.
We each exercised this afternoon. Anne Marie walked for an hour and Keith worked out on the Elliptical Machine Later in the day we each met up with friends. This evening we have dinner in the Crystal Dining Room with two people joining us. We have two receptions to attend; one before and the other before dinner. We are posting now and will post tomorrow about dinner and the receptions. Keith & Anne Marie We had a wonderful time on Crystal Serenity last evening. Highlights of the evening included Black Tie Optional night and a wonderful dinner in the Crystal Dining Room including Anne Marie's favorite; lobster. This was followed by Captain Birger's Reception and by a production of "My Life: The Music of Billy Joel" which stars James Fox. Before dinner we stopped by the Crystal Cove to visit with some fellow guests some of whom we had not yet seen since boarding Serenity. We then made our way over to the Crystal Dining Room for dinner. As mentioned, this was a Black Tie Optional Evening and on this night one of the traditions is to serve Lobster on the menu. Since Anne Marie really enjoys the lobster we usually dine in the restaurant on the first Black Tie Optional night of the cruise. For this cruise this is the one Black Tie Optional night. The rest of the menu also features many special items. The only down-side is that many of our fellow guests think the same way we do so the dining room tends to be very busy and the noise level tends to increase given the number of people dining and especially after some have had a drink or two or maybe more. LOL, but this is true. With that said, this was not the case last night. The dining room was not completely full and it was not noisy at all. We have posted the menus from last evening which you can find on the Menus/Programs bar towards the top of the website. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Cruise Director Rick joined us for dinner. Keith started with tuna tartare which Head Waiter Augusto made for him and Anne Marie had shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. We each had salads and we had the lobster. The lobster was delicious and cooked to perfection. We wish we could cook it so well. After dinner we went to the Captain's Reception. We did walk through the line where we were greeted by Crystal Society Hostess Jacque, Captain Birger, Hotel Director Hubert and Cruise Director Rick. The Captain was sporting a beard which he has grown for the Northwest Passage and it will be shaved of towards the end the voyage. A few others have gotten into the act including Hotel Director Hubert, Bar Manager Ross, and Shore Excursions Manager Daniel. Captain Birger clearly has the fullest beard of them all. We know we are in wonderful hands with Captain Birger at the helm. We have now sailed with Captain Birger several times. Another highlight of the evening were the two performances featuring singer James Fox performing the show My Life: The Music of Billy Joel. If you close your eyes, you easily feel that you are attending a Bill Joel Concert. For those of us on the Northwest Passage Voyage, we received the jackets that Crystal Cruise is providing for this voyage. The other items that we ordered from the web site will come to our room sometime either right before or when the adventure begins. We are happy that we purchased another suitcase in Vancouver because these jackets alone could fill up most of that suitcase. We slept well last evening as we continued to sail towards Ketchikan. The good news is prior to going to sleep we set the clocks back on hour to account for the time zone change. We always enjoying moving the clock back rather than forward. Keith has had some muscle issues so he took a morning off from working out. We both enjoyed coffee in the room with the new coffee maker that is now available. This was followed with an early breakfast in the room. Serenity arrived to Ketchikan shortly around 8:00 AM today. Keith went for a haircut which will be the first of three cuts he will have on the ship. His stylist Ingrida who has cut our hair before. Ketchikan is a very popular stop for cruise ships sailing Alaska including those sailing the Northwest Passage. Often you will have several ships in port that between crew and passengers exceed the population of this town which total around 8,500 residents. Ketchikan is the most sizable city in the southeastern area of Alaska and has the fifth largest population of the state. It calls itself the salmon capital of the world. As a result of its rich Indian heritage, it is home to the largest collection of authentic totem poles at Totem Bight. Within the town there are many places to see including the historic creek street. Other highlights near town include Totem Heritage Centre which is home for many totem poles which were retrieved from various uninhabited village sites outside of Ketchikan. A few miles from Ketchikan is Saxman's Native Village which has a display of 34 totem poles. Another attraction is Misty Fjords National Monument which is located in the Tongass National Forest where one can see spectacular views of majestic fjords, waterfalls and rugged cliffs. These are a few photos Keith took from the ship as we were getting close to Ketchikan. Keep in mind that it was overcast with a slight drizzle. Afterwards, we got off the ship. We have visited this port of call many times in the past and like the other ports on this itinerary we did not plan a shore excursion. This is a great port for Salmon Fishing. We did that many year ago with our children and then on our first time sailing Crystal Keith did the Salmon Fishing excursion offered by Crystal Cruises along with our son and at the time our future son-in-law. Anne Marie and our daughter visited the Totem Bright State Park. We have also visited some other areas of this charming area. With this in mind, we walked around town. We also wanted to visit one specific store that carries an absolutely wonderful assortment of outdoor clothing. We wore our waterproof rain jackets to be on the safe side even though it was overcast and the forecast did not call for rain. Like most weather forecasts it was wrong and we experience a light drizzle for a few minutes. Overall the weather was still great as this is the rainy season. The temperature was in the 60's (F) and although it was cloudy after all this is Alaska. We walked over to Creek Street and passed by Dolly's House which we had taken the tour of in 2012. It was part of the red-light district until the activities taking place were outlawed. We also visited the Salmon Hatchery, the Tongass Historical Museum, the City Park, the Totem Heritage Center. We also viewed different streams where we could see just a few salmon. Finally we stopped by the Tongass Trading Company. The main floor sells touristy items, but one floor up is an entire level with lots of outdoor clothing and outdoor gear. Anne Marie needed one more pair of waterproof pants which we could not find in Vancouver and found it there. In 2012 while visiting Ketchikan on Serenty we picked up several items there. Earlier in the morning we receive a text and e-mail from one of our neighbors. We watch each others homes when we one of us are away. For this trip they are watching our home for part of the time except the time we both are away and our dear friends and neighbors are watching it now while we are all away. Our neighbors are on the Holland America Noordam who was in port until 2:30 PM today. We agreed to try to meet each other but they were on a tour. Coincidentally on the way to our ship, we passed their ship and they just had gotten off the tour bus and saw us so we got to spend 15 minutes together. It is a small world. We tried on the jackets that we received yesterday for the Northwest Passage Adventure. Keith felt like hen had long hair. They are warm and cozy, and will do the trick. Not very fashionable though Shortly after returning to the ship, we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe. We made our usual salad entrees. We sat by a window and the weather changed from time-to-time from cloudy and overcast, to partially sunny and to a brief rain drizzle. As they say, this is Alaska weather.
In the afternoon Anne Marie walked for an hour outside on the Promenade Deck while Keith worked out in the Fitness Center. Keith also met up with dear friend Bob. This evening we will be dining at the Prego Specialty Restaurant for the first time since we boarded Serenity. Keith & Anne Marie We enjoyed another good night's sleep last evening. Serenity left Vancouver later in the evening and today sailed the Inside Passage on our way to our first port-of-call in Ketchikan, Alaska. Although there are many wonderful places to visit throughout the United States of America including some that are rustic, Alaska is considered to be the last great frontier. Much of Alaska is undeveloped although travelers visiting some of the major areas of Alaska sometimes can forget this. A cruise of Alaska is different from many other cruises. Alaska is not the place to work on your sun tan. It is not the place to visit major historical man-made sites and museums. On the other hand, Alaska offers the opportunity to see some of nature at its best and to take in the majestic beauty that is right there in front of you to enjoy. Sometimes there is luck and that might included the weather and being in the right place at the right time when it comes to seeing wildlife and other times is arranging tours to take you from the major towns to the more remote places on land and at sea. We pretty much kept to our normal routine to start our day. Keith was up early for a long workout on the elliptical machine and took care of our remaining laundry. Afterwards, he was off to the Lido Cafe for some coffee. The only change from the routine is that Keith didn't have to bring back any coffee for Anne Marie as she took full advance of the recently installed coffee maker that was added to some of the rooms concurrent with the recent dry dock of Serenity. , Jijo brought breakfast to our room at 7:00 and shortly after breakfast Keith took his first indoor cycling class of this cruise. Signups started yesterday at 4:00 PM and all the slots were filled with some on the waiting list. This was expected on a cruise such as this one as there is a wide range of guests on board. We suspect there might be less demand on the Northwest Passage Cruise. Keith knew two guests taking the class. One of them, Mark, we have known for several years he and attended most of the classes with Keith and his spin buddies during World Cruise 2015 and the other guest, Bob, we met in 2014 when he took spin as well. Keith met Fitness Instructor Martin who he had for today's class during the early May cruise. Keith started to do indoor cycling around six years ago and recently became a certified instructor and is now a substitute instructor at our nearby fitness center that is only a five minute walk from our home. He assisted some of the guests with the set up of their bikes. This was a terrific class and Martin challenged each person to give it their all. All twelve bikes were in use between the eleven guest and fitness director Martin. There was a wait-list of around eight people Anne Marie was able to get in her one hour walk. She was able to walk part of the way outside and the rest inside. Clothing for Alaska was being sold in the Crystal Plaza since this is the first day of the cruise. It appeared that several people were purchasing Jackets, gloves and hats as they might have realized that they didn't bring enough clothing to keep them warm. We actually had two prearranged meetings this morning with two individual members from the crew. One of them was with Head Sommelier, Ditmar, for an upcoming Vintage Room. On sea days Crystal offers 50 or more enrichment related programs throughout the day. Today was no exception. The morning included two talks. The first one was given by Destination Lecturer Ed Larson who spoke about some of the history of Alaska including the Alaskan Gold Rush, Russian Settlement, American Purchase, and the Road to Utopia. We watched this later in the day on our room television. Although much of this we already knew from our formal education and previous trips to Alaska it was still very informative and we still picked up some new information. The second lecture was given by World Affairs Lecturer Ken Walsh and the title of this one was Divided America: Presidential Campaign of 2016. For those from the United States it highlighted many items we already knew and for those from other countries it likely provided a great deal of new information. We also watched the lecture in the afternoon from the comfort of our room. We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe. We made our usual salad entrees with lots of salad items and some protein. We sat with good friend Barbara. We also ran into friends Ashley and Kelly shortly after that and will be getting together with them for drinks on this voyage. In the afternoon we watched lectures and Anne Marie walked. The weather wasn't conducive for Paddle Tennis. Keith also met up with dear friend Bob. This evening we plan to have a pre-dinner drink and then will have dinner at the Crystal Dining Room. Afterwards, we will attend Captain Birger's reception which will be held at 7:45 PM. We will post all about this tomorrow.
Keith & Anne Marie One of the places that Keith checked out yesterday afternoon was the Fitness Center. The Fitness Center was redone as part of the May, 2016 Crystal Serenity Dry Dock. Machines are new as is the flooring. It even smells new. Keith was very impressed with the redo and looks forward to daily workouts at the Fitness Center. Keith also checked out the Children's area called Fantasia as this area was also redone during the recent dry dock of Serenity. We plan to have our entire family on board for a cruise next May, including our three grandchildren. Later in the afternoon Keith met up with dear friend Bob. It was so great to see friends Bob and Glo. While Keith was with Bob, Anne Marie unpacked all but one of the remaining suitcases. The final suitcase arrived right before we left the room for a pre-dinner drink and she finished unpacking that one after we returned from diner. Each afternoon while on-board Serenity instead of having canapés before dinner, we have fresh fruit. The fruit was very ripe and tasted delicious. Before dinner, we had a drink in the Avenue Saloon. Often we go to the Crystal Cove but given that it was already 5:30 we knew it would be quite busy. It was very quiet at the Avenue Saloon and we spoke with the wonderful team that works this lounge. We then went to the Crystal Dining Room for dinner. It was relatively quiet in the dining room since we have an overnight and likely some of the guests were having dinner in port. We saw Maitre d' Leo for the very first time since we boarded and he escorted us to our table. Head Waiter Guiseppe stopped by to say hello as did several members of the wonderful dining room waitstaff whom we have known now for many years. We are in excellent hands in the dining room. Our Head Waiter is Augusto who always takes great care of us. Our Sommelier is Ricardo. Although this is our first time with Ricardo we have known him these past few years when we would come into the dining room for lunch and he clearly knows his wines. Our Senior Waiter is Lylian and our Waiter is Alexsander. We go to dow Lylian the past couple of years when having lunch in the Lido Cafe as she is one of the dining room senior waiters that works the Lido Cafe. This is just an absolutely great team. Dinner was fantastic. We each began with Shrimp Cocktail and Lylian suggested we have it on a dinner plate rather than in a bowl. We have to say it makes it much easier to eat the shrimp this way. We each had a salad for our next course followed by fresh Salmon. Yes, we are getting quite a bit of our share of salmon but it is the time of the year for it and we are in the right place to have it. For dessert, Keith had mixed berries and Anne Marie had a sugar free dessert. The wine was also terrific and a highlight was a Chilean Cabernet. As soon as Keith smelled the wine he knew this was a winner. The aroma was fantastic. All in all it was a wonderful meal. We slept very well. We can't attribute it to the rocking of the ship as we were docked in Vancouver. Maybe it was the wine. Or the bed. For those of you who noticed, we are on the starboard side of the ship in the same location of the deck but just on the opposite side. Keith intentionally selected this room as he felt it would offer better views of the scenery for the Northwest Passage. Coincidentally we had this room in August of 2015 when we sailed the British Isles only because the room we normally stay in was not available. This time around we pretty much could have had any room since Keith booked the voyage the minute it was available for booking. Keith was up first and enjoyed his first workout of this voyage. He also took advantage of the quiet time and did the laundry. He did his entire workout on one of the new Elliptical Machines. It took him about 30 minutes to get used to it as it does for any new machine. On his way back to the room he ran into Dennis who does room service at night after the butlers are off duty. Dennis is yet another crew member who we have known for years and a few times over they years assisted us with room service. One time was that long night that we spent at a hospital in Japan when Keith had fainted before dinner and when we got back to the room close to midnight it was Dennis who brought a light meal for Keith. Afterwards, Keith enjoyed coffee in the Lido Cafe where he saw so many familiar faces from the wonderful Lido Deck Steward team including Jun, and Max. We had an early breakfast For those of you who have followed our past travels, you know that we tend to keep breakfast very simple and typically eat on the ship what we eat at home. For Keith it is oatmeal each day and for Anne Marie it is usually oatmeal or cereal. Today she also had oatmeal. We each have a banana and Keith has some stewed prunes. After breakfast Keith took care of a few items around the ship and Anne Marie got in her first walk of the cruise. She walked outside on the Promenade Deck for one hour. JiJo brought our breakfast and set it up on the table. Normally all guests embarking Serenity would have gone through United States Customs/Immigration before boarding the ship yesterday. However, the customs/immigration officials notified the ship that they wanted to do it differently. For those of you who have arrived on a ship to the USA and stayed on for another cruise leaving out of the USA today worked the same way. All guests had to be off the ship before anyone would be allowed back on board. At around 10:15 AM passengers started to disembark the ship to go through customs. We were asked to leave the ship by group number. It was extremely organized with lots of people in the terminal guiding us along. We eventually made it to the kiosk and then with our receipt printed turned it into an immigration person. We then sat in a designated area. At around 12:10 PM someone made the announcement that the ship was at a zero count meaning that all guest had gone off the ship. We were asked to return to the ship based on row and people were really good about following directions. We were back on board at 12:15 PM and then went to the Lido Cafe for lunch. It was fairly quiet as some guests might have gone into town for some last minute touring, shopping and or dining. We not only enjoyed lunch (salad entrees) but also ran into many members of the crew and fellow guests who we know so very well. Keith went back to the fitness center for another workout and Anne Marie walked on the Promenade Deck for an hour. In addition to the makeover of the Fitness Center, new equipment was installed on the aft (back) of passengers decks 8 and 9. This is the equipment on deck 8. Deck 9 equipment. Shortly before dinner we attended the mandatory life boat drill. We then stopped by the Crystal Cove to say hello to some people and we saw Jonathan Hawkins who is an absolutely wonderful entertainer. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner at the Crystal Dining Room. We each had three courses; salad, pollock fillets from the modern menu for our entree and fruit for dessert. We have posted the menus from this evening. If you place your cursor over menus/programs and then click on menus you can then see the menus from this evening. We will depart Vancouver in a few hours.
Keith & Anne Marie We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Vancouver and will carry wonderful memories of our visit for the rest of our lives. We will remember the beauty of the places we visited including Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, and the surrounding areas, the wonderful people, dining, and the hotel. We wanted to give a shout-out to the Pan Pacific Hotel. You can't beat its location. We enjoyed being at Canada Place to watch cruise ships arrive and leave and its proximity to so many different sites and restaurants. We found all areas of the hotel to be clean from the public areas to the individual rooms. While we have stayed at many luxurious hotels, some more luxurious than Pan Pacific taking in the collective hotel staff we haven't stayed at a hotel with better service. Prior to our arrival we found service to be very courteous, prompt and thorough from the reservation agent to the hotel concierges. Members of the Club Floor Lounge concierge team made several restaurant reservations for us. They were all taken care of correctly the very first time. One time Keith wrote to them at 5:00 AM their time. He received a response at 6:30 AM the same morning from the concierge noting that he had received the request and as soon as the restaurant opened at 11:30 AM that they would make the reservation and confirm it back to Keith. Sure enough by 11:45 AM, Keith received the confirming e-mail. Should you need various services once at the hotel, you could just push the Service One button on the telephone. The phone was quickly answered and most importantly each request was handled professionally, efficiently and accurately. We would request early make- up of our room, early turndown service, and other requests such as asking for more coffee and creamer. Each item was taken care of correctly the first time. Everyone from the hotel staff was very knowledgeable and very friendly. It must be Saturday because before our final breakfast at the Club Lounge, we saw the arrival of Crystal Serenity from the lobby level of our hotel. Embarking the cruise ship was made easy by the hotel staff. We arranged to have the three pieces of luggage we planned check-in at Canada Place Pier picked up by the hotel staff for them to bring over to the pier. We had inquired about this the other day at the bell stand after the Club Floor Concierge told us about this service, and the provided us with a business card with the details about this service. We were asked to call them between 7:00 AM and 11:00 AM and within minutes of calling them the manager of the bellmen department arrived to our room to pick up our luggage. As was the case with all of the hotel personnel he was thorough and courteous. Phil carefully checked each piece of luggage to ensure that the Cruise Line luggage tags were on correctly, that all of the zippers were closed and that our luggage locks were securely placed. He walked through the process of embarking the ship and he knew that in our case that the registration is done on board Serenity. He asked us to verify that we had our passports in hand an not in our luggage. It doesn't get better than this. He noted that unlike the other two cruise ships that are in port, our luggage would not be placed outside. Rather because of the smaller size of our ship, the luggage would stay inside the hotel at all times as it makes its way over to Serenity. As many times as we have cruised, we always are excited the day we board as if it is the first time we have ever cruised and today was no exception. We took the elevator from our floor to the ground level of the hotel and then transferred to an adjacent elevator to go to the lower level garage for a one-minute walk over to the entrance of the cruise ship terminal. We went through security, through United States immigration/customs and then waited until we could board Serenity. Once on-board we ran into many familiar faces of the wonderful Crystal Serenity crew and this continued throughout the day seeing crew members who we have come to know so well and fellow friends who are on this and/or the Northwest Passage sailing. This included Hotel Director Hubert, Bar Manager Ross, Food & Beverage Manager Walter, Assistant and Swing Shore Excursion Manager Joyce, Cruise Director Gary Hunter (in the photo below) who goes home today, and many others. For those of you who follow our travels, we normally have Rao as our butler. Rao is home on a very well deserved Holiday. Butler JiJo will be taking great care of us. JiJjo was our Senior Waiter on two previous Crystal World Cruises in the Crystal Dining Room and has been a butler for three or so years. Also stopping by our room was Sneha who was promoted to a supervisor this year. She had been our stewardess on various voyages. We enjoyed our traditional embarkation lunch in the Crystal Dining Room of Cobb Salad. We also toasted to the start of our voyage and for our love of each other with a flute of champagne. We ran into several guests who we know as well as members of the Dining Room team such as Head Waiters Augusto, Carmello and Ivon. We are going to conclude today's post now and will post about dinner tomorrow. We are so very excited to be on-board Crystal Serenity and to be sailing such an exciting journey.
Keith & Anne Marie This is our third and final full day in Vancouver as we will embark Crystal Serenity tomorrow. We began our day with breakfast at the Club Floor Lounge. We both had cereal and fruit as we have done on the previous days. We sat with dear friend Ileen who we dined with this evening. We all shared stories from what we did yesterday. Ileen took a float plane over to Victoria where she joined the rest of the tour who took the ferry over there. Our first destination of the morning was Yaletown. The area is home to apartments, offices, boutique stores, bars and restaurants. It was cloudy and a bit nippy walking over to Yaletown but by the time we walked in the opposite direction it began to warm up. Upon our return to the hotel we saw the two cruise ships that are in port today; Sun Princess and Celebrity Millennium. There is a three-day animation convention at the convention center which is connected to our hotel. Many young people were registering to attend the convention and several were in costume both outside and inside the center. It is never hard to remember what day it is when you take on of the Pan Pacific Hotel Elevators. Our next destination of the day was Gastown which we visited the day we arrived to Vancouver and during our first full day in Vancouver. The sun came out and it was in the high 60's during our walk and lots of tourists like ourselves were out and about. Gastown has along history. It was named for Gassy Jack Deighton who was a seaman, steamboat captain and even a bartender. It was home to many warehouses. In the 1900's it was home to many wholesale distributors. In time, it became known as the drinking area of town with 300 licensed drinking establishments in operation in the 1930's. Following the depression, Gastown fell into disarray. By the 1960's citizens spoke up about preserving the history of this area and put pressure on their local representatives to focus on the revitalization of this area. Today it is a tourist destination featuring many restaurants, boutique and other stores and has also attracted many companies to call this area home. Gaston's famous landmark is the Gastown Steam Clock. It was built in 1977 to cover a steam grate which is part of Vancouver's heating system. It was placed in this area to prevent street people from sleeping there in the cold winter months. Every fifteen minutes the Gastown Seam Clock sends the Westminster chimes and a blast of steam skyward. We went back to Restaurant Freshii to pick up our lunch. As we have done each day we each had a salad entree which we ate back at our room. We spent this afternoon packing the luggage we will check-in when we board Crystal Serenity tomorrow. This included the two pieces we brought with us from home plus the new piece of luggage we purchased in Vancouver. As mentioned, we knew we would need the additional piece of luggage for items we have ordered for the cooler weather in the Northwest Passage from the clothing outfitter company that Crystal Cruises had recommended for this voyage which will be delivered directly to the ship when we arrive to Seward for the start of the Northwest Passage. The challenge was how to fill the three pieces of luggage realizing that if each piece is not filled correctly than one or more could easily dent. We removed some items that we originally had in our carry-on luggage and also spread items more evenly and that seemed to do the trick. Late afternoon we met up with dear friend Ileen who will be on both voyages with us and we walked over to Joe Fortes Restaurant. We first dined at this restaurant with our children in 1997. A concierge at the Pan Pacific Hotel had recommended it to us during our first stay in Vancouver We enjoyed it so much we returned the following year. Dinner was terrific. The restaurant was quite busy between those arriving for dinner and those who were there for happy hour. There was lots on the menu to choose from. All three of us had organic salad and Anne Marie and Ileen had wild salmon entrees and Keith and a seafood trio special of link cod, salmon and shrimp. It was lots of fun to catch up with Ileen and we look forward to being with her for the next 42 days on board Crystal Serenity. Keith & Anne Marie
Between all the walking we did yesterday along with the quietness of the hotel, we slept very well last evening. We kept to the same morning routine as we did the day before. Keith awoke first and read and wrote. He also enjoyed coffee and hydrated with water. Shortly after Anne Marie awoke, we walked over to the Club Lounge for breakfast. Similar to the way we eat at home, we kept to a simple breakfast with just some minor differences. Keith often has oatmeal for breakfast with fruit. Although oatmeal was available he had cereal with fruit and Anne Marie did the same. While we were eating we saw dear friend Ileen and we chatted for quite awhile. Ileen will be with us on both the Alaska cruise and the Northwest Passage Cruise. From the window on the lounge we saw the Silver Shadow cruise ship make its way into port. We sailed this ship from San Francisco to Vancouver in August of 2009 which marked our only time on this ship and first of two times we have sailed Silversea. We also spoke with concierge, Joel, who is one of the three concierge's who works at the lounge about visiting Granville Island. He gave us a map of the island and pointed out the various areas to visit and also provided us with additional details about getting to and from the island. After freshening up we took a taxi over to Granville Island for our very first visit. We had the taxi driver drop us of at the market. We walked the inside of the market admiring all of the fruit, vegetables, seafood and baked good items along with other items for sale. From there we walked all around the area which includes stores, restaurants and even a brewery. We then proceeded to the area with two rows of house-boats. From there we walked on the footpath around the Seawall Promenade where we took in beautiful views of the surrounding area. We considered walking all the way into downtown Vancouver but decided to return to the market to walk it one final time. We then took a taxi into the downtown area and had the driver drop us off about a mile from the hotel. From there we walked several streets and then back over to the area where our hotel is located. We got a close-up of the Silversea Shadow. We also walked over to the other side of the terminal and saw Silversea Discoverer which is one of Silversea's expedition ships. After taking a short rest we went back out and took another walk and then went to a restaurant to get salad entrees to take back to our room. After lunch, we took another very long walk. We didn't have a particular destination in mind. The weather was terrific with highs in the low 70's with sunny to partially sunny skies. It was just fun to walk around the downtown area and to gaze at all of the scenery and to just stop from time to time to take it all in. This evening we dined at Kirin which is a Mandarin Restaurant. We were one of the first people who arrived but by the time we left it was almost 100% full. We had a three course meal. We began with wonton soup and we followed that up with spring rolls. We shared two entrees; shrimp with cashews and vegetables and chicken with cashews and vegetables. We thought the food was quite tasty. Our only suggestion would have been to prepare the entrees with far fewer cashews (we only ate some of them) and in lieu of them serve more vegetables such as broccoli. All in all we enjoyed another wonderful day in Vancouver.
Keith & Anne Marie After returning to the hotel last evening, we finished getting organized and ready for our first full day in Vancouver. We slept extremely well. Our room is on the 23rd floor so we did not hear any street level traffic and we have run into very few people on our floor. The bed was comfortable. Keith was up first and read and wrote before we had breakfast. The layout of our room is perfect. Keith can use the living area and the bathroom is located in a common area so it does not disrupt anyone's sleep. Since the club lounge doesn't open until 6:30 AM, we asked for extra coffee for Keith and he utilized the coffee maker in the room. In addition to breakfast available in the Club Floor Lounge our room package includes a buffet breakfast in the lobby restaurant. Since we are not big breakfast eaters, we opted to eat at the Club Floor Lounge. Believe it or not when we booked the room it was a lower price to select the room that included the breakfast buffet than one that did not. We each had cereal and fruit. The honeydew was the best melon that we have had in years. Each day the breakfast in the lounge features two different hot items. Today they had eggs benedict and pancakes. They looked great but we passed on them. While eating breakfast we saw the arrival of two cruise ships. One was the Island Princess and the other was the Holland Volendam. After freshening up we went on our first long walk in Vancouver. We did so little walking these past two days that it was great to be out for a nice long walk. There was a light drizzle so we each carried umbrellas and wore waterproof jackets. It was mainly a light mist. We walked over to Stanley Park which we had visited on our second trip to Vancouver in 1998, again in 2002 and in 2012 when we were here on a stop on-board Crystal Serenity. On our way over to the park, we passed by the restaurant that we dined at this evening. In spite of the mist, for the better part of our walk, we enjoyed beautiful views of the bay and the landscape as we made our way to and from Stanley Park. One of the attractions that Vancouver is known for is its beautiful parks. Stanley Park is slightly over 1,000 acres. It is surrounded by Vancouver Harbour and English Bay. The park has close to one-half million trees with several dating hundreds of years. The park also features an aquarium which opened in 1956. We didn't visit the aquarium as we have visited there on two previous occasions. Many animals live in the park including 200 species of birds, including several species of water birds. There are no large mammals inhabiting the park. Rather, the mammals include rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and coyotes. We went by the totem pole area. Shortly after returning back to the hotel we went out again. This time we walked over to Gastown. We returned to a clothing store where we bought some items when we were here in 2012. We were looking for a couple of specific items for Anne Marie that she plans to use on the Northwest Passage portion of the trip including waterproof pants. They didn't have them and recommended a North Face clothing store about fifteen minutes away. We purchased one of the items at The North Face shop they recommended and then right nearby was a Nordstrom's where we found the other item there. We also needed to purchase one additional piece of luggage and we did this at another department store. This is needed as ordered several items from the company that Crystal had recommended for gear for the Northwest Passage voyage which is being sent directly to the ship. We each had salads for lunch which we picked up from a restaurant called freshii which features salads, wraps, burritos, soups, juices, smoothies, and even frozen yogurt. This turned out to be a great decision. This evening we dined at Cardero's Restaurant & Marine Pub. We walked over to the restaurant which is almost one mile from the Pan Pacific Hotel. The weather was just amazing. The sun came out and the temperature was moderate and we could see all around us. The restaurant offers beautiful views of the harbour and is known for its seafood. We were seated at a four person table right by a window. We could see the two cruise ships leaving, various sea planes as well as the beautiful yachts and sailboats. The interior of the restaurant was beautiful and the service superb and the food was memorable. We each had a salad; Anne Marie a Caesar Salad and Keith a Mediterranean Salad. We were served humus with a very tasty bread complement from our concierge and the restaurant. For our entree we each chose the seafood special which was wild sockeye salmon. We were pleased with our selection. Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel. Lots of people were out and about. We ended up logging slightly more than fifteen miles today. We are having an absolutely wonderful time in Vancouver. Keith & Anne Marie
After checking out of our hotel, we took a one-minute walk over to the airline counter to check-in for our flight to Vancouver. Once again, getting through airport security was relatively painless because of TSA Pre Approv. We were fortunate that our flight utilized one of the gates at the terminal that our hotel is connected with so no need to take any of the airport transportation to get between terminals. We waited at the airline club lounge until it was time to walk over to the gate for our flight. We experienced something for the first time when boarding our flight. We were first in the first class line and boarding began. We made our way to the plane and as soon as we got on board the flight attendant said, we are not ready for you. As it turned out the gate agent started the process too soon. We along with about 10 other people made our way back to the foot of the bridge where we waited about ten minutes for the boarding to begin again. We did encounter about one hour flight delay. Initially the delay was because when they did an inspection of the plane there was an issue with one of the exterior latches. Once the repair was made they had to do the necessary paperwork. We then encountered a second delay. The sink in the first class restroom was not working properly as the water would not stop running. They were unable to fix the problem so they closed off the sink and left toilettes for our use. The good news is we made up about twenty of the minutes in the air. Other than these issues, the flight was uneventful. We enjoyed the breakfast and we each had egg strata. Upon arrival we went through Canada immigration, got our luggage and then went through Canadian customs. We then made our way over to the designated private car service area. Based on the advice of others we didn't pre-book a transfer and used a car service company that has exclusive rights at the airport for pickups. We waited about fifteen minutes for the vehicle and then were taken to our hotel in downtown Vancouver. We are staying at the Pan Pacific Hotel located directly at Canada Place where the Passenger Cruise Ship Terminal is located. We stayed at Pan Pacific on two prior cruises almost twenty years ago. There are several hotels near the terminal including one of the Fairmont properties located right across the street from our hotel and another beautiful Fairmont Property down the street. We chose Pan Pacific for its convenience and because of our memories from the two other times we stayed there with our children Jennifer and Eric. The hotel also offers exquisite views of the city and the harbor. We enjoyed an easy check-in at the club floor lounge and the good news was our room was ready for us. We ran into dear friend Ileen at the lounge and learned that she had arrived about thirty minutes before our arrival. Ileen will be on both cruises with us. We dropped off our items in our room which is only a few steps from the lounge and then went back to the lounge for some fruit, water and soft drinks. Two of the three concierges who work the lounge were there and we spoke to them for quite long time. They were very helpful. We want to note that over the past month they also have been very helpful with very quick turn around times for assistance that we needed for three of four restaurant reservations that we made. We took a few photos of our room. It is overcast today with some rain and Keith used his iPhone so the photos came out a little dark but this should still give you a sense of our room. We are in one of their suites with a separate bedroom and a separate living room. After getting settled at the hotel, we took a walk over to Gastown to pick up some wine and to get some fresh air. We had an early dinner since our internal clocks are two hours ahead of Vancouver time and Keith had booked a restaurant just a few minutes from the hotel for the convenience of not having to go to far to dine. We ate at the Cactus Club. The restaurant is more on the modern side. We were placed at a table in a quieter section of the restaurant with a beautiful view. Food was delicious. We each had a salad and a salmon entree. Both were great choices. Afterwards, we took a walk for awhile around the area before walking back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will enjoy the city.
Keith & Anne Marie |
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