We began last evening with a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon. We dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant with friend Marvin. We first met Marvin on World Cruise 2007 and since that time we have sailed with him on several World Cruises. We had a wonderful time. We enjoyed the conversation, the cuisine, the service and of course the overall ambience of the dining venue. We started with appetizers. Anne Marie had a creamy king crabmeat salad and Keith had the slow-poached lobster tail which was the first time he has tried that. We each had salads for our next course. For the entree Anne Marie had wild mushroom risotto with grilled tiger shrimp and Keith had roasted rack of baby lamb. Most of these are items we normally don't have but we have to say they were delicious. We had such a nice time that we dined for over two hours. That is the nice thing about dining on board Serenity. You are not rushed and can enjoy a nice meal with terrific conversation . The other day we received lanyards for our key cards. Some guests are using them now. We plan to use them when we take the zodiacs to and from the ship from the Northwest Passage Villages and that is why Crystal came up wit the idea to provide them in the first place. We slept well. The ship was definitely rocking and the sea swells had picked up. When Keith walked up to the Fitness Center he was very careful as he made his way up the steps. We kept to our normal routine. We had breakfast in our room. Keith went to another indoor cycling class. The class was full and quite a few people were on the waitlist. Anne Marie walked for an hour. Maria Kita who has taught Yoga for most of the World Cruises and her husband Joe who assists with Yoga and also teaches Memoir Writing are on board and Anne Marie took the Yoga Class. Later in the morning we both went to the first of the Enrichment Lectures on this epic adventure. Let us say that if we were excited when we booked this voyage and two years later boarded Serenity we are more excited after hearing this lecture. The talk was led by Expedition Voyage Team Leader Tim Soper and members the expedition team and focused on the introduction to Crystal Serenity's Northwest Passage Expedition. He spoke about the planned route we will take, sites planned to visit and expedition activities along the way. This is not done very often but the broadcast was also conducted live. As usual it was rebroadcast through the day. John and Linda thought about you two as Keith sat in John's favorite seat. There was so much interest that all seats were taken and some people stood in the back. They noted that their planning and involvement with Crystal began three years ago. As we sat in the lecture we quickly learned that the effort and planning that went into this was done in Crystal fashion. The length of the Northwest Passage totals 7,000 nautical miles. He mentioned that John Stoll, VP of Land Programs went on a small Russian ship to see all of this first hand as part of the planning to determine if this would all work. John did many of the adventures such as Kayaking and came back so enthused he said that he would like to work this out so that Crystal guests can experience all that he did. He noted that this voyage has attracted a lot of attention from the media. We know that it has not all been very positive Tim went on to say they visited the communities and asked if it would be OK for a ship the size of Serenity to come and visit. Those in attendance were overwhelmingly enthusiastic. They returned to the communities earlier this year and the sea was frozen as they checked the sites and met with the communities. This also included Captain Birger and others from Crystal and the Expedition Team. They have worked closely with the local communities. They spoke with the locals to discuss how they can receive the guest and that included providing training to them as some of them will be involved with guiding the tours. They have a team of 40 people who are involved with logistics. Some are on board now and the rest will be on the Ice Breaker. The expertise is incredible. They noted that the key is flexibility and patience as this voyage is unlike any other voyage. Tim introduced one of his colleagues to speak about the history of the Northwest Passage. About 220 ships have sailed the entire Northwest Passage. There are currently six scientific ships sailing the passage some over a multi year period. Tim also introduced National Geographic Photographer Flip Nathan who shared photographs and experiences with us. One was a person in a Kayak with a whale pushing the back of the Kayak up above the water. Tim introduced the ships Geologist. As he said the ships “rock” star. He spoke about the wide range of water depths comparing where we are sailing right now where the water is some of the deepest in the world to some of the shallow waters we will be in . He noted that the amount of sea ice in September has been dropping tremendously the past thirty years. He noted that in 1980 we could not have done this voyage. Tim also had Conrad Field a Naturalist speak to us to give us tips on how to view the scenery. We have on board the ship telescopes and high powered binoculars to enhance the experience. He noted that we are squeezing through the door between ice and dirty /melting ice. He said we are on one of the best ships for viewing wildlife such as whales because of our angle. Crystal also had binoculars placed in each and every room. He encouraged us to take our binoculars with us as we go around the ship. Tim noted that once we leave Nome in a few days the expedition truly begins. He noted that ice is exciting but timing is very important as ice can prevent the voyage. He said the timing of our voyage is optimal. We were glad to hear that. At the conclusion of the talk Tim noted that there will be a mandatory talk on the 23rd. It will cover several items including guest etiquette when visiting the villages as well as safety issue including the zodiacs. We also received the items that we ordered from the web site this morning with various clothing items to keep us nice an warm. The third photo is Keith wearing shirts that we were given several months ago by one of the wonderful members of the Crystal Serenity Team. In keeping the the focus of this adventure later in the morning Special Interest Lecturer Ed Larson spoke about the North Pole and talked about the history and the challenge of the quest to reach the North Pole. We watched this talk on television later in the day. The talks continued in the afternoon as Expedition Voyage Team Lecturer Captain Ken Burton spoke about the forgotten battle. This began in June of 1942 when the citizens of Alaska awoke to a Japanese invasion of parts of the Aleutian Islands and the Bombing of Dutch Harbor. This marked the first time since the war of 1812 when a foreign military invited and held American territory. We enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe as we often do and we each made salad entrees. In the afternoon we each exercised. As they say you have to work off those calories from the delicious food we enjoyed each day. Later in the day we tried on some of the items we had ordered and received this morning. Other items we ordered included sock, gloves, hand and foot warmer inserts and a waterproof backpack. Today was a very exciting day. We know that we are blessed to have an opportunity to sail such a remote part of the world that very few people have ever seen through their very own eyes. We are humbled to be part of such an extraordinary adventure.
Keith & Anne Marie Comments are closed.
|
Archives
September 2016
Categories |