We enjoyed last evening on-board Crystal Serenity. Before dinner we attended a Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party. Cruise Critic is a site that allows those who share a common interest in cruising to share and comment on their experiences and to ask questions of each other. If ten or more people are on board a particular voyage and sign up for this party, Crystal Cruises hosts a party for them. Crystal does the party better than any other line we have sailed with several nice touches including having additional members of the food & beverage team on hand to serve drinks and canapés. This was one of the best Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle Parties we have ever attended. There was a large turnout of Cruise Critic Members and also many officers such as the Hotel Director Hubert, Cruise Director Rick and Head Housekeeper Maria were in attendance and everyone was so upbeat. Some of the comments we heard the most were how much fun everyone was having, and how fortunate people felt to be part of this epic and historic voyage and to do this on such a special ship and cruise line. Met so many nice people and many for the first time along with some who we know from other voyages. Keith took photos at the beginning so they are all with the crew. With a wine glass in his hand and the number of people at the party it just wasn't practical to get photos as we circulated to speak with the guests in attendance. After the party, we went to the Japanese Specialty Restaurant Silk Road for dinner. We dined their with dear friend Ileen who we first met several years ago on a cruise and since that time have been on different cruises with her every year or two. We had dinner with her in Vancouver. Our waiter for the evening was Richie assisted by Ruel. We remember Richie and Ruel when they were Lido Deck Stewards and a few years ago they were promoted to the wait-staff of Silk Road. They were fabulous and added to our overall enjoyment of dining at Silk Road. Food was wonderful as usual as was the service and the overall ambience of the dining venue. We liked it so much we will return. LOL. As to the food the first item includes many of the nobu special sashimi items. Next food photo is lobster tempura. Next one is a platter of sashimi and sushi. Next photo is a mushroom salad. Mushrooms come warm with a tasty sauce. Keith had the hot soba noodles as his entree and rather than having them with tempura had three scallops placed inside the soup bowl. Anne Marie had an appetizer portion of the wagu beef. All three of us had a fruit plate for our dessert. Two variety shows were performed featuring Vocalist Jamila, Instrumentalist Kenny Marytn and Vocalist Michel Bell. They were accompanied by The Galaxy Orchestra. This was their last show for this voyage as they each got off Serenity today in Nome while other land based entertainers came on board today. Since this is such a long cruise Crystal Entertainment will have some land based entertainers coming on from time-to-time with others leaving the ship. This is no easy task given the itinerary. Their performance was quite good and we enjoy the variety shows as in one show you have the opportunity to see two to three or even sometimes more entertainers to perform. Sunset came close to 11:00 PM last night. The seas were relatively calm and the weather was very nice. Today we began another terrific day on Crystal Serenity as we sailed to Nome, Alaska. This is a maiden port of call visit for Crystal Cruises. We began our day as we have since boarding Serenity. This included a workout at the Fitness Center for Keith, a walk outside by Anne Marie, Breakfast and even an indoor cycle class for Keith. There was some minor confusion as the classes are always at 8:00 AM and when the signup was done yesterday it was for 8:00 AM. Unfortunately, there was an error in Reflections and it was shown with a start time of 8:30 AM. Most of us knew 8:00 AM. A few showed up at 8:25. There is a silver lining. Fitness Director Kyle taught the class a little longer so we got even more of a workout and those who got there a little later (two people) got a little more time to make up for the confusion. Always remember to err is to be human. LOL, but it is so very true. By the way a great class. Kyle pushed us hard. Thankfully we had plenty of time to change. Before we left for the tour we got to Face Time with our son, daughter in law and grandson Jackson. We then got ready for our first visit to Nome, Alaska. In 1898 Nome was the last of the great strikes for gold in Alaska. Nome is a relatively small city with a population of around 4,000 residents. Its size is 21 square miles. Nome has retained quite a bit of its charm and feel from the past as it is frontier-like town. It is actually located closer to Siberia than to Anchorage. We took what is called a community visit shore excursion. On this epic voyage complimentary community visits are being offered for many of the ports such as all of the Northwest Passage Ports. We were escorted around the town on a school bus. The driver, Dave, along with his brother owns all the school buses and provides buses for all of the schools. In fact, school begins tomorrow. The guide, Bob, works most of the year diving for gold. He also does other jobs from time to time when he is not diving for the gold. We made several stops. The first one was where we met Mayor Richard Beneville who showed us how to pan for gold. He was a hoot. He was an actor in New York City theatre but eventually made his way to Alaska. Our next stop was to a facility where we Gay Sheffield whose expertise involves sea life spoke to us about the sea creatures that live in this area of the world. This included Seals, Whales. Walruses as well as other animals such as Polar Bears who can be found on land at at sea. She spoke about changes that are occurring; some of which cannot be explained. For example certain types of seals have become ill since 2011. At the same time because of changes in water temperature certain sea life is leaving the area while other sea life is arriving to Nome. Kay also noted that the depth of the water in this area is only 90 feet and that crabs, and clam beds can be found at the bottom of the sea and they attract the sea life such as the seals and there is concern that changes in the environment could impact the clams and the crabs which, in turn, could impact the source of food for some of the sea life. She along with Bob the tour guide spoke about the importance and nutritional value of the sea life and animals on land to the people who live in this area of Alaska. They make up about 70% of the food that is eaten by the locals. This is because other items are very expensive. For example, one artichoke costs $8.00 and one ear of corn cost $3.00. Our next stop was to see the pack of dogs that pull a dog sled. We met a family that owns this pack. This includes a husband, wife and daughter. He gave us a very thorough talk about raising the pack and dog sledding. Our next stop was to see a herd of Musk Ox. There are a few hundred in the area. We made another stop and then they showed us around town. Many items were for sale at the community center. Our visit was a big to do for the community. They receive about six expedition ships per year that carry up to 200 people on each vessel. The largest ship to ever visit Nome prior to today’s visit was The World, which carries significantly fewer people than Serenity. They have been preparing for our visit for quite sometime. We also learned about life in Nome. It’s not an easy life but for many it is their life and they are happy to be here. Many have lived in Nome their entire lives. Some moved to Nome from other parts of Alaska and still others such as the Mayor moved to Nome from areas outside of Alaska. Unless you are in industries such as Oil, your income is relatively low Yes, there are some subsidies but not as large as we had thought and this varies by area. There was a light rain for parts of our visit but it didn’t dampen our spirits. We walked away with a very nice impression of Nome and its people. This is true Alaska. We hope that we (Crystal Serenity and its guests and crew) left the residents of Nome a good impression of all of us. We didn't edit any of these photos. We had pre-ordered a salad to our room before we went on tour knowing we would get back around 1:30 PM. Keith had a commitment at 2:30 PM and knew he needed to shower so having the salad entree in our room worked out perfectly.
We are enjoying the rest of the afternoon on Serenity. Keith & Anne Marie Comments are closed.
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