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 Comments are closed.
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