Headline News. It didn't rain today and even the sun came out. More in a moment. We wanted to mention that yesterday we received two booklets delivered to our room by our stewardess. One book provides names and biographies in many of the people from the Expedition Team. The other booklet provides a wealth of information about the Northwest Passage including a section on each village we will visit. This was a photo taken yesterday afternoon with Anne Marie and wonderful Lido Deck Steward Nat who we have known for many years. Always has a wonderful smile and takes wonderful care of the guests. Last night was one of two Black Tie Optional Evening's planned for this voyage Before dinner, we had a drink at the Crystal Plaza. Afterwards we were back at the Crystal Dining Room for dinner where we were taken care of by the wonderful wait-staff team. Even though the dining room was fairly full it was not as loud as a typical formal night which was good news. We decided to have appetizers. Keith had the White Sturgeon Caviar and Anne Marie had shrimp cocktail. The caviar was served with Smashed Chive Potato. For our second course we each had a salad. Our entree was Anne Marie's favorite which was Fresh Maine Lobster served with Asparagus and Leek-Truffle Risotto. Lobster was cooked to perfection and very tasty. Following dinner we attended the Captain's Reception which included music and dance and a talk by Captain Birger. For those of you who have sailed Crystal Cruises we have never seen so many guests at one of these parties since inclusive rolled out. Everyone was very upbeat which we think is simply due to the excitement to of this epic voyage. In addition to many guests attending many officers and senior staff were in attendance as well. Captain Birger gave a very enthusiastic talk about our sailing. He said that he and the crew would be on top of all aspects of the voyage. He did ask the guests to take responsibility for one item and that is the weather. LOL, but true. We don't think there is much we can do about the weather either. We've included some photos. First photo is with Northwest Passage Hostess Stacey and Vice President of Shore Land Programs and Port Operations John Stoll. Second photo with Assistant Shore Excursion Manager Joyce. Third Photo with Joyce and on board Cruise Sales Consultant Daniele. Fourth photo with Chief Concierge Max. Next two photos with Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Antonio. Last two photos are of Cruise Director Rick and Captain Birger when they addressed those in attendance. It was more than a reception. It truly felt like a party. The entertainment was performed by Toy Award Nominated Broadway Vocalist and Crystal Headliner of the Year, Michel Bell. Michel is one of several popular entertainers who performs on Crystal Cruises several time each year who was selected to entertain during a portion of this voyage. We slept well as we continued to sail towards Dutch Harbor, Alaska. We began the morning as usual with exercise followed by breakfast in our room. We arrived to Dutch Harbor at 8:00 AM. Our first and only visit was on Easter Day in April of 2012. There were snow flurries on that day and lots of snow on the ground. Originally Crystal had one tour scheduled but due to the lack of available transportation and overwhelming demand for the tour Crystal provide complimentary hop-on/hop-off bus services and provided complimentary ticket allowing guests to visit the World War II center and the Museum of the Aleutian. Please keep in mind that very few cruise ships visit this port so the infrastructure that is in place for tours is quite limited. The WWII center opened in 2002 and pay homage to the role played by the United States Armed Forces based in the Aleutian Islands. The Museum of the Aleutians is a cultural center opened in 1999. Its mission is to collect, research and preserve the ethnography and the history of the Aleutian Island Chain. The population of Dutch Harbor is close to 5,000 residents. Very few cruise ships visit this area given the distance from the most popular ports offered on seven to ten day Alaskan sailings. We took the first shuttle (school bus) over to the WWII museum. It was a bit chilly and cloudy so we thought it made sense to go for the short drive. We toured the WWII museum and then we walked about another mile into down. While in town we also visited the Museum of the Aleutians, and made stops at the Safeway and the Alaska Ship Supply store. We picked up a couple of shirts and a couple of other items between both stores. We then walked back to the ship. On both of our walks we enjoyed the beautiful scenery on both sides of the road. There is very little sidewalk so for the majority of the walk we walked on the shoulder of the road. It had rained most of yesterday so it was fairly wet on the shoulder of the road and a little muddy. Most of the people we saw were either guests or members of the crew. The sun actually came out from around the clouds which was a nice treat. We saw a couple of eagles and included a some photos. Keith didn't take his large DSLR cameras with him as he wasn't complete sure about rain so he used a point and shoot for all these photos. The town hasn't changed from 2012. In many ways that is very nice. We are enjoying a relaxing afternoon on the ship. We had a long and leisurely lunch as we chatted with Cruise Director Rick and one of the land based entertainers. We both exercised and also spoke with some friends.
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